Iron Hands: How Not To Play Them

Don't mind the red solo cup... I was proxying in Drop Pods...

Don't play Purge missions if at all possible. Iron Hands may be more durable than some other marines MSU armies... but it wasn't enough.

So anybody who thinks Orks can't be played effectively haven't met my friend. He plays orks, always has, and always will! Yesterday we played a 2500 point game, in which I brought my Fist of Medusa detachment with as many tricks as I could muster. He brought a double-CAD with a formation, which consisted of a nasty number of Nobz in Mega Armor, a massive Bike Squad, a Stompa, and lots of Painboyz.

You know what kills my Iron Hands quite efficiently? Lots of Str 8 or higher. Most of his Mega Nobz had Powerklawz, which was a hard counter to my FNP rolls. He also took lots of high-strength shooting with his Stompa, which spat out S10 Massive pie plates that would decimate entire units wholesale as they exited their pods.

I usually play my Iron Hands with a single Deathstar of some kind. It usually involves a Captain with the Gorgon's chain, a command squad with an apothecary and special weapons, and in this case also a Chaplain with the Tempered Helm (pseudo-preferred enemy to the shooting attacks of the unit). Unfortunately, I used a drop pod as the transport for the unit. This means that where I dropped them, they had to hoof it from then on. This didn't work out so well. I tried to killbox his trucks with meganobz by blocking them in a tight street with drop pods. It was not terribly successful... my dice rolling was pretty abysmal and my scatters took my pods off on tangents. But I still got them in there, I just made a pretty big mistake. I had hoped on effective shooting being able to kill the orks well enough that they would be unable to effectively charge... and I hoped wrong.

Powerklaws made short work of any unit they charged. Even my poor Centurions holed up in some ruins.

I'm going to be making some big changes to my list. We'll see what I can come up with to make this less of a one-trick pony.

Campaigns in 40k 7th Edition?

I've played a few games in 7th now, and am starting to get back into the local scene with a few friends. Friendly games are fun, but after a while the missions get pretty repetitive, and simply do not provide the narrative that makes the game so entertaining for my friends and I. So we discussed creating a game league, or doing a narrative campaign. Both ideas would reinvest interest in the game, but which one to pick?

Being a small area with a couple dozen players total, fewer of which would even participate in weekly matches, it seemed best to go with a narrative campaign. The Planetary Empires rules where a bit out of date though...

Then my friend suggested I read through Crusade of Fire. So I did. And I loved it.

Planetary empires... but new! With maps for different planets! And special scenarios for gaining ground on a new planet (like Planetstrike) or attacking a Hive city (Cities of Death). Better yet, it arranges its players into 3 factions. This sounds like pure gold... rather than have two sides gunning for each other all the time (or worse, every player for him/herself), you have 3 faction politics and all the hijinks that goes with it (If you have ever played Planetside on PC, you know what I mean!).

With 7th edition, however, and the prevalent use of Formations and Superheavies, the campaign system is going to need a glance over. I'll be brainstorming with the other campaign GM (seems like we are heading towards splitting duties) and I will keep you updated with what we come up with.

Foxphoenix's 1st Look at DZC

Above image (c) Hawk Wargames

   Finally got my box, and spent some time assembling the miniatures. The plastics are very clean, were very easy to assemble with no more than a pair of clippers and some plastic glue, and look fantastic. I am now eagerly awaiting the primer to dry so I can begin painting some of them this weekend.

   When I first got the box, I was impressed with the weight of the box. It had to be chock-full of goodies to weigh that much, I figured. I was right! The sprues were surprisingly clear of flash, and were not warped nor did they have any noticeable defects of any kind. The rulebook was clean, fresh, and smelled great! I was also impressed with the level of detail in the cardboard terrain... it was also very quick to assemble.

I am so impressed with the quality of this very inexpensive starter box. Two starter boxes would easily net you a full-sized army of each faction, and a spare set of rulebooks and counters to boot. I bought mine for around 90 dollars after shipping, quite a bargain, and so you could easily have a full-sized army for around that much if you went in and bought a pair of starter boxes with a friend.

What first drew me to the game was Bear APCs for the UCM. They look stellar. As I opened the box and handled the models more, however, the Scourge really grew on me. The models have a huge level of detail, but are amazingly simplistic. A few of the Scourge models were in no more than two parts, and the more complex ones didn't have many more components. The most complex models of the faction were their dropships, which was no more than 15 parts total, and took a few minutes to assemble.

I'll do a more thourough examination of the rules once I have some models on the table and play a game out or two, but so far I don't see any major complaints to be made. The rulebook is quite beautiful, with many full-color shots of the models on spectacular gaming boards. Looks quite tasty.

Until next time,
--FP135

The Future of Miniatures

Playing Around with SketchUp, this image is (C) Matt Darnell

New technology is spreading, at it will change humanity forever. Or at least us miniature gamers.

Surely you have heard of 3d printing technology... I firmly believe that with refinement and proliferation, this technology will replace the need for us to shell out our hard earned money to buy somebody else's idea of toys. It'll be like art, or books... you'll buy the examples you like, but you could always write your own if you want, or paint your own picture.

In the future, we'll be making our own miniatures.  Printing them will be as easy as printing a page.

I figured I'd get a head start on the 3d modelling software so I could start making the kind of models I always wanted. Today I took my first steps, learning how to use SketchUp 8 (which is free). The program is very easy to use, but difficult to master. The model I made above doesn't hold up to a 3d printer's needs, but it taught me a lot about the program itself.

Soon I hope to be moving on to models that can match a 3d printer's limitations. The sky's the limit, and I feel it calling.

Why iPhone Cameras Just Don't Cut It

Yes, I'm back after a long hiatus again. Hi.

I had some stirrings of creativity the last month or so and so finally tried to revisit the hobby to provide an outlet for all that energy. I did a decent enough job considering that all my paints are drying up and caking in the bottom of the GW pots (I'll be switching to Vallejo indefinitely after this). At least, I thought so!

However, it is something of a stifle when the camera just does not do the model justice.  This Dark Angel Librarian from the Dark Vengeance set came out fairly well, but the camera in the iPhone 4 just doesn't have the capacity to bring out the detail that I worked so meticulously on. No amount of lighting changes or background switches could help. I tried a multitude of different backgrounds and lighting situations... but in the end, I settled on this picture. This was the best of a bad lot and that is pretty frustrating to me.

Guess I'll be asking for a new digital camera for my upcoming b-day this month...

Editorial: Generation Critical

As I get older, it seems like negativity lurks around every corner, and seeps into everything in life. Lately, I feel that this is especially true in any place of public communication. People these days just genuinely cannot seem to keep their thoughts and comments positive. It has a way of getting in your head, and making you the same way. If you don't quite understand what I am talking about, take a gander at the following public forums:

Yahoo News comment pages
Dakkadakka.com
the Blizzard Forums

Pretty much wherever people can make their voices heard, they feel the need to voice their negativity and dissatisfaction. What was originally created to share ideas and information in a positive light, has now become a soapbox for every self-proclaimed martyr or dissident.

How can we expect our children to remain positive, and to solve their problems like mature adults, when our own generation result to this passive-aggressive behavior?

The irony is not lost upon me that here I am, writing my own dissatisfied rant. Maybe it is just how we are now? How do we change it? How can we get past our own dissatisfaction and ego-centrism?

I think the best way to keep myself from falling into the trap will be to remove myself from the company of those who are seeking something to complain about.

Dakka, I'm looking at you.

When to move on

Sometimes you start a project and it doesn't turn out how you expected. Sometimes it just takes too much time, or you feel like you aren't grasping the concepts.

This is the first time I truly felt defeated by a project.

I don't feel badly about it, it is an advanced technique. Source-lighting is not for the beginning painter. However, I feel that I must return to the basics before I will attempt to master this technique again.

Here is the result of my frustration:

A miniature I had spent a lot of time working on to enter into a contest.

Sometimes you have to chalk it up to a learning experience, and move on. I had spent 12 hours total painting this guy, and didn't have the heart to do it over.

So how long is too long? When do you chalk it up to a learning experience, and either re-do it or move on?

I don't feel like I wasted time, as I learned a lot about source lighting techniques. I do feel like this miniature will need work before it is complete, though.

Rising Costs of the Hobby, and First Look at ACTA: Noble Armada

It's that time again. Time where I look back and go "Sheesh, guess that New Year's resolution fell flat..."

So much for me posting more this year.

Oh well. I am sure most of you know that I no longer post regularly to my blog, and I hope you can forgive me for it. It seems that no matter what I do, I cannot justify miniature gaming anymore... or at least the price.

As the shipping rates go higher, jobs get scarcer, and gas prices skyrocket; we are left wondering how we are going to scrounge up enough money to buy ridiculously-priced toy soldiers. The simple fact is... I am not. At least not as much.

I have sold off a large majority of my models, keeping only my choice favorite singles, and a couple units that I just didn't feel that I would get my money's worth for. And even though I've had to let so much of it go, I can't help but wish I had more disposable income so I could buy the models that really strike me. It is unfortunate that certain corporations cater only to investors rather than to their players, but hey, what can you do?

So, I am officially off the GW bandwagon. They have now effectively priced me out. Gas in my area is four and a quarter, and it doesn't look like it has hit its peak.

-----------



Last month was my birthday, and I got a gift card to Ebay from my brother. Being heavily into the space-navy combat scene due to playing EVE online, I was perusing the few miniature manufacturers in this genre when I stumbled across a game by Mongoose Publishing (who put out some popular RPGs such as Traveller, Earthdawn, and Lone Wolf). It is called "A Call to Arms: Noble Armada".

Set in a strangely familiar setting (fans of GW will notice the parallels), this miniature game follows a similar style to that of Battlefleet Gothic or Firestorm Armada. It's most current permutation was released in 2011, and it seems to largely have gone unnoticed. This is a shame, as the models look pretty unique from that of other games, and the ruleset looks fairly solid. The ruleset can only be found as a hardbook or as a downloadable Ebook, but the hardback edition only costs 30 dollars and the downloadable Ebook costs around half of that. For the do-it-yourself-er, the rulebook makes it easy to print out the basic rules. The actual rules themselves only take up about 24 pages or so and it utilizes the space well. The writing is a bit plain but the simplicity of the rules makes up for it. The major fleet lists are also included in the book. This reduces the startup costs, as you don't have to by codex or army books for each fleet.

Poking around further, I found that the fleet starter boxes (ranging from 20-28$ on eBay) contain a fleet equal in value to between 1250-1700 points. The rules indicate that games range from around 500 points (small patrol battle with a handful of ships) to over 2000 points (massive fleet battles, akin to Apocalypse games in 40k). This means that the standard fleet boxes can get you an entire army's worth for under 30 bucks! I was sold. I picked up a fleet starter for two of the House Fleets and bought the PDF version of the book. So, my total investment into this game is around 60 dollars, and that included shipping.

Around a week passed while I waited for shipping, so I brushed up on the rules. It is conceivable that one could play this game without miniatures (in fact the rulebook mentions this) as the miniatures themselves are not a part of the game aside from an aesthetic addition. In the rules, I found the following snippets of useful information if you are curious about the game mechanics:

* The game is Initiative based, and Player-Alternating in each phase. This means that each fleet has an initiative value determined at the start of every turn, and play is alternated between players' ships in each phase. For example, Todd rolls a higher fleet initiative than Bob, so Todd decides he wants to go first. In the movement phase, Todd chooses one of his ships to move first. After Todd moves that ship, then it is Bob's turn to move one. After Bob finishes, then Todd may choose another ship in his fleet to move, etc. This continues until all ships in each fleet have been given the opportunity to make their moves. Then the Attack phase begins (similar to a shooting phase). This is very different to the style used in games such as Battlefleet Gothic, when going first can mean winning or losing.

* This game utilizes the D6, which although statistically inferior to the versatility of a D10 or D20 system, is convenient for the availability of the dice.

* Measurement is in inches, which also seems to be the norm. Standard-size playing areas measure around 4'x6', which is comparable to most other wargames. So at least you won't need a strange table size!

* While most fleet-based combat games are centered on destroying your opponent outright, ACTA:NA places additional emphasis on capturing your opponent's ships and using them against him. For example, in addition to the expansive rules on boarding ships, players receive double the points for capturing a ship rather than destroying it.

* Although a two-dimensional game surface, the game tries to make the mechanics reflect a 3-d battle. This means that only really large celestial objects (planets, dense asteroid fields, or nebulae) will obscure LOS to other ships.

* The rulebook not only provides a good spread of scenarios to try out, but also provides a detailed campaign section. Although set up in the typical fashion that seems to be an inherent flaw in campaign rules (making the strong opponents stronger and the weak opponents get shoved out), it is a valiant effort and looks to be well thought-through. It is a great way to enhance the re-playability of this game.

* The units are statted out well (meaning there are stats for things like ramming damage, rather than making you figure it yourself with a complex mathematical formula), and use a point value system to assemble fleets. There is no "availability restrictions on units" which can lead to spamming lists. However, with so many great options, and virtually no tournaments as of yet, I don't expect to see this often. With so many great models, why would you just want to spam one type?


After my wait was over, my models finally arrived in my mailbox. The boxes were smaller than they appeared, measuring only approximately 3"x6"x2". Inside, I found multiple sprues for the flight stands, which are probably the most spectacular feature about the models.

In Battlefleet Gothic, one of the worst problems that plagues GW model owners is the flight stand is prone to breaking at the stem. Little more than a plastic rod, these stems break from horizontal force all the time, which requires drilling out the original hole and gluing a new stem in, which can be a huge hassle.

For ACTA:NA, the ship's stands use a ball-joint design I have never come across before, but immediately took a liking to. You glue a coupling, not a fragile stem, into the pilot hole on the underside of the ship. The stem glues into a ball-joint which fits into the coupling after the glue is dry. This creates a stand that can flex when horizontal force is applied, so the stem remains protected. The coupling also has a wide area to grab, which reduces the likelihood of it breaking off inside the model like a stem. This coupler is more prominent than a stem, detracting from the look of the models a bit, but I feel that it is a small price to pay for not needing to re-drill and re-glue in a new stem every time I drop a model the wrong way.

As for the ships themselves, I found all the ships in one large plastic zip-lock inside the box. Most of the ships were single pieces, which was fantastic, though some of the molds left significant flash and mold lines. This was to be expected, considering the low price point of the models. Even so, it took little work to remove the flash and mold lines. They are made of fair-quality pewter, not too soft nor too hard. The detail is fair as well, and I expect them to look quite dapper after a good coat of paint!

Tonight is likely to be this game's maiden voyage, as I earned many brownie points with the missus by doing some extra housework. She loathes these kinds of games due to the rather plain aesthetics, but I think it should be entertaining enough.

I drew up our first campaign map as per the rules in the rulebook, and I'll share it here if anybody would like a generic solar system to use.

Making the Hobby Our Own: Specialist Games

Continuing the discussion of Making the Hobby our Own (First discussed on this blog in THIS post), I would like to bring up the topic of the Specialist Games provided by Games Workshop.

Sadly, while playing at my monthly game-meet, a lot of players I talked to had never heard of any of the Specialist Games outside of Battle Fleet Gothic and WH40k Epic. I found this shocking! A lot of the Specialist Games have their rule sets hosted on GW's website FREE TO DOWNLOAD. To introduce you to a few of the more popular ones outside of BFG and Epic, here are a couple of my favorites:




MORDHEIM-

Mordheim is set in the same universe as Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It is a "Skirmish" scale game, meaning you have only a handful of models for each player. The story goes: A big comet crashed into the town of Mordheim, and fragments of this comet possess magical properties. Naturally, this means everybody wants it. However, the city is much too dense and sprawling for traditional units to hunt for fragments of the so-called "Wyrdstone", and thus "Warbands" enter the city in small groups to try and scavenge as much of the precious material as they can find. When they run into each other in the decimated city, that's when the fighting starts!

What I like about Mordheim: Better than any other game system I have played yet outside of RPGs, Mordheim allows you to advance your warband's capabilities. Campaigns actually are worth playing! Campaigns allow you to develop your warband, in which you can form real attachments to some of your characters. My favorite character yet is the epic Norse beserker that has slaughtered dozens of a Vampire's Zombie minions! It has a simple-to-play system that GW is known for, and games can be played in around an hour, depending on the size of the warbands. You can also find tons of fan-created material, and there are several very-active communities of staunch fans!

What I don't like about Mordheim: There are some balance issues. Skaven notoriously overpowered, and there are some hiccups in the rules. However, there are a myriad of house-rulings and fan-created supplements to fix this. In fact, one ambitious team actually created a whole new version of the game known as "Coreheim," which is based on balancing the core rulebook as much as possible. Also, if you are primarily a 40k player, you have to make all-new terrain to fit the medieval theme of the game. This was a real pain for me, since a game of Mordheim requires a LOT of city scenery with a medieval theme.





INQUISITOR-
Inquisitor is exactly what it sounds like: a game about 40k Inquisitors. If you have ever played Kill-team, you have played an extremely-simplified version of this game. Inquisitor is even smaller in terms of model count, as each player might have around 4 characters in a warband. It is highly detailed in its rules, nearly combining elements of the Dark Heresy RPG with Warhammer 40k the tabletop game.

What I like about Inquisitor: All units of measurement in the game are given in yards, which means you can play this game with any scale of models that you choose. Though most play with 54mm models (1/32 scale) due to the higher detail one can achieve with the miniatures, you can also play the game with your standard 40k 28mm models. In fact, I follow one particular blog (INQ28) that specializes in playing Inquisitor in this scale. Some of his conversions are spectacular. Another thing I like about this game is that it completely throws concepts of fairness and balance right out the window. There are no "points", "force organization slots", or any other such nonsense to get in the way of your character concepts. If you want to have a bad-a** space marine in your inquisitor's retinue, you can! That is, as long as the Game Master approves it. Which leads me to my next point...

What I Don't Like about Inquisitor: The game needs a minimum of 3 people to play- 1 "Game Master" and two players. Like an RPG GM, the game master acts as both a referee and a plot-enhancer, helping to tell an epic story. While I understand that this is necessary for a "narrative" wargame, it does prove to be an inconvenience at times. I also didn't like the lack of balance at first, which I found a bit confusing, but now I have come to appreciate it. Not having limitations can make for really epic games! Lastly, the rules-set is completely different from any other GW game I have played yet. That in-and-of-itself is not a bad thing, but it did take longer for me to learn because of that fact. It also makes for very slow games at times, and necessitates the use of a calculator for some of the complicated math!




All in all, I love specialist games. If you have not played any of them, I strongly encourage you to give them a try. If you play either WFB or 40k, you likely have some models you can use in one of these games. In these times of increasing prices, free is GOOD...

--FP135

Making the Hobby Our Own: Alternate Models

Before you read my post, read this: http://www.tabletopwar.net/2011/05/cutting-costs-making-hobby-yours.html

It is a post by a fellow blogger posing the question: What is keeping you from using alternate models for 40k? Pretty much there is only one reason: tournaments (ok, maybe personal taste as well). However, since GW no longer puts on nearly as many events as independent retailers, I believe it is up to the independent retailers to make the jump and allow alternate models in 40k tournaments.

Obviously, this would need to be carefully regulated. For example, base sizes must be strictly adhered to. This helps prevents abuse of modeling for a gaming reason. Maybe "counts-as" models must be pre-approved, and detailed in the army list that you hand each opponent in the battle. Regardless of the particulars, I believe that it is our prerogative to "Make the game our own" by using non-GW products.



In the spirit of that school of thought, I am showcasing several models I commonly use in my local scene to play 40k. Above is a picture of a Cyberdemon from Fantasy Flight Game's OOP boardgame based on the ID computer game: Doom. Having re-based him on a properly-sized base, and giving him weapons modifications to match WYSIWYG, I now present him as a Daemon Prince in my CSM army. (Not many people do daemons as good as Doom!)




Next up are some zombie figures I use from the Wargames Factory. They sell several multi-part plastic models for gaming at affordable prices. I use the zombies pictured above for lesser daemons in my current CSM army. I believe it adds flavor to a Nurgle list!



Lastly, I offer another Wargames Factory plastic model, coupled with the excellent head pieces produced by Pig Iron Productions. These have replaced my IG, as they are nearly half the cost (18 troopers in a box for 15-20 dollars).

In the current economy, it pays to remember that GW is a publicly-owned company, and not really in it for the long haul outside of providing long-term profit opportunities to its investors. That is why you see things like staff-cutbacks, price raises every year, and so on. If the company is not turning a profit in the here-and-now, then the investors are not happy, which is bad news for the company as a whole.

What I'm getting at is: while the prices of models keep going up, I don't see my paycheck getting any bigger. In fact, with fuel prices being what they are, I'm seeing half my income going into the gas tank. That means I have less and less to spend on models these days as it is, and then some due to the price hikes. Therefore, if I don't buy it used, I'll be looking for alternative models. I suggest we all do the same, until GW makes some major changes to its business model.

Please feel free to discuss this via the comments box!
--FP135