Painting Status Part 2

As mentioned previously, local Warhammer players are starting up a Warmachine league. I decided to hop on board this one, and give it a go. I decided to start with the Cryx faction since one of their Warcasters is a hottie.

As of yesterday, I finished assembling and base coating the minis from the initial box and now I'm trying to decide how to do them. I'm thinking that I'll use the Faction Box in 10 Days : Cryx method over at BrushTralls as an exercise. I want these figs to really shine, since I've been doing my Space Marines with the "how fast can I get them to the table" method.

I was dismayed that the initial faction box was missing a couple parts for one of my Bonejacks, so in the short term I picked up a Bonejack blister and shot off an email to Privateer Press. Within 8 hours, they responded with an apology and asked for my address so that they could send me replacement parts. Now THAT is customer service! With me, [i]sometimes[/i] making a bad situation right makes more of an impression than always getting it right, because it shows that the company really does care about it's customers.

So far I have the basic Cryx Battlegroup, a couple extra defilers, and Pirate Queen Skarre (after all, she has a "Great Rack" - read the rules for more). How will I expand the group you ask?

• Pistol Wraith


• Skarlock Thrall


• A few more Deathripper


• A Satyxis Raiders Unit, or two


• A few big Helljacks

My thought is to do a themed army of big bots and mean women. Cryx allows this and seems to follow the tactics of hitting fast and hard, which is my playstyle in most games (40k, D&D, City of Heroes). If I can blitzkrieg in a game, I'm a happy camper.

Painting Status

Since I've finally settled on an army list, I can work on getting everything painted and ready. This includes flocking the bases and sealing the mini.

So far:

On the Completed "pile", I have

• 1 Chaplain
  
• 10 Veteran Assault Marines
  
• 6 Regular Assault Marines
  

Currently I'm getting together the following models

• 4 Regular Assault Marines
  
• 10 Legion of the Damned Marines - (I use them for Death Company) Just needs touch up and flocking, really.
  
• 1 Speeder (Just needs to be brought into my colour scheme)
  
• 1 Librarian (painted, but hideous, may strip and redo)
  

Started (Half-assed paint job so I don't feel guilty about fielding them):

• 10 Assault Marines
  
• 1 Vindicator
  

Assembled

• 1 Baal Predator
  
• 1 Speeder
  

Unassembled

1 Baal Predator - I'm currently using a regular pred as a proxy.

40000 Things to Remember

We all know, I'm still a newer Warhammer 40k player, having only started seriously pursuing it in August. When I've asked other players they've indicated that I need to lose a LOT of games before I can expect to become a more dangerous player (on the order of hundreds of games).

If you are trying to get better at playing Warhammer 40,000, I've found that it is best to scan and reread the rules on a regular basis. The fact is, the rules are SO complex that you cannot get everything the first time (or even second time) reading.

For example, over the weekend I found a little tidbit that I could kick myself for missing, as it could have meant fewer losses on my part.

Warhammer 40k Rulebook - Page 31

Melta Weapons
Melta weapons are devastating short ranged 'heat rays'. Melta weapons roll an extra D6 when rolling to penetrate vehicles' Armour Value at half range or under. See the Vehicles rules later for more details on armour penetration.

I use meltaguns a great deal in my army because they are strong and reliable even though they require a close range (12" - 24"). This means my speeders and veteran assault squad are even nastier than I first thought. Now, I wonder if I can shave 5 points off of my list to fit in a second meltagun on my Assault Squad. The extra punch may be worth it. After all, even if I need to use the veteran assault squad as a close combat squad, the meltas automatically wounding upon hitting AND the powerfists in the group certain won't make it lack for anti-personnel power.

Sealing painted miniatures

Now that I've decided on colours with which to shade on my figs, I'm finally starting to finish my Stormtrooper Space Marines. However, I've been dismayed that even with 2-3 layers of matte varnish, I could not get a seal that would not scratch. You know how it is, sometimes you are playing, and you drop a fig, or one tips over and slides and whammo - paint needs a touch up. If you prefer pewter, as I do, the problem is even worse. Well, I decided to try something a little stronger so I don't need to keep touching up figs. Perhaps I'm unusually hard on my figs, but still....

Now, I'm sure that we all know about the "Minwax dip" method of shading painting. While similar, this is not what we are doing.

It occurred to me that there is polyurethane sealant that does NOT have any type of shading, but is almost completely transparent. As an experiment, I picked up a small can of Minwax Polyurethane Clear Gloss varnish. This is the finish you put on that should not change the colour of what you are finishing.

I dipped one of my troopers into the goo, shook off the excess and left it for 3 hours. Then I added two coats of GW Matte Varnish.

What I end up with is a very SOLID finish. The matte sealant kills any glossiness and I have a very tough finish. Furthermore, the shading that I painted is still visible and looks just as good.

Now, be warned, I've found a minor issue with it. There is the slightest of yellow tints to this. For non-white colours, you likely will not notice this, but I recommend a "sacrifice" to be sure that the army isn't going to be ruined.

Just thought I'd share.

A Victorious Slaughter

As most people know, I'm one of the worst Warhammer 40k players in Austin. I'm extremely good at City of Heroes and I'm mediocre at playing World of Warcraft. But for Warhammer 40000, I'm LOUSY. Well, I've been playing it a great deal recently and I think some of my efforts have finally been rewarded. On Saturday, I played against the "Imperial Lancers" (also a Blood Angels variant) run by a buddy of mine, named Chris. I managed to Score a solid victory on him in a friendly cleanse mission. Afterward, I headed to Ethereal Council's homeworld for a 2k pointer against the Tau. While I lost very badly, he gave me a few pointers which helped a bit in my thinking of strategies in future.

Today, was the Ninja Pirate Tournament. There were an insufficient amount of tables, so I ended up getting what is called a "By" which is when you need to sit out a round. I missed the 2nd round. So, the first round was getting badly pummeled against the Tyranid Hordes commanded by bullymike. We had a great deal of fun (even though I had to remove a tank in round one which I accidentally deployed). I'll let him provide a full accounting of our action, since he will no doubt have a more detailed account than I could provide. I got to put a couple of the things I'd learned from The Ethereal Council into action which didn't help a great deal, but certain permitted me a slightly greater control of the situation than I expected.

The third round presented me with a situation that flatly STUNNED me. I got a Victorious Slaughter against the Forces of Chaos run by a friend of mine. The game ended in round 3 when I finished destroying the last thing on the table. I killed off all 1497 points of his army, while he killed a grand total of 100 points of mine. Now, to be sure, he is NOT a bad player. He is also a very FUN player and a regular up at Ninja Pirate.

Another local 40k player has talked a bunch of us Ninja Pirate players into giving Warmachine a shot. I figured, what the hell, and so I'm starting to look into it. I figure I'll play the Cryx as they look rather distinctive, especially Skarre the Pirate Queen.

Eldar

If you are reading this then you either know nothing about Warhammer 40,000 OR you know far more than I do. I use the blog as a sounding board for myself and my learning of various gaming things (as you can see in my early posts about the Statesman Task Force in City of Heroes - I was ahead of the curve there, in 40k I'm still behind the curve). I'm going to talk a bit about 40k in such a way that is probably only appealing to me. Its my blog, deal with it.

Anyway, I've started studying Codex: Eldar so that I have a better idea what to expect when I face them in Warhammer 40k. My initial observations indicate that they will give me fits in combat.

I play my Space Marines with the Blood Angels Codex. It lets me use a lot of assault marines and lets me get up close - I've found that I like being in close combat in most games I play. Most Eldar seem to have the same or higher initiative than I do on average. Furthermore, their "Weapon Skill (close combat attack to hit) are the same or higher than mine. Their strength is lower though, so they will be more likely to hit, but less likely to hurt. Eldar saves seem to be all over the board, but I know there are a lot of invulnerable saves.

Ah, the joys of Space Marines...

For the most part, I try to stick to a static list because its just easier that way. However, if I play in a campaign in the future, I have an idea how I need to focus my forces. While maximizing on shooting would be better, but it doesn't fit "Blood Angels" style of play. Those who know me, I'm much of a "style over substance" type of person. I'm all about making jokes and having fun.

Now the HARD part will be dealing with Eldar tanks. Any quick scan of 40k boards reveal that Eldar tanks to be built to be almost unkillable. So, I need to develop some tactics to deal with this situation with the troops I have.

Next - the Chaos Codex.

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - Crystal Critter Cadre part 2

We estimated that we were on the island for 8 hours so far and were heading toward the stone lizards. We agreed that a wand of healing would be useful, but...oh well. We realized we were getting hungry. We ate the rations that Gal had stowed away as we progressed.

The land turned to sandy dunes and after running across a few animals that had been turned to stone, Tesla sent his owl Amp up to scout. He located a 'large lizard' which the party progressed toward. Gal scored a critical hit, Kerin hit, and the Giant hit. The basilisk died before it could strike back.

We make camp.

The next morning we set out for the lightning lizards. We make our way to a hilly area where we believe that one is to be. Gal shifted into cat form to scout and encountered a "huge" blue lizard with many legs. Tesla immediately charmed the creature only to have a second one appear and attempt to eat him. However, even as combat began, the creature placed Tesla on it's back. This allowed it to attempt to eat Kerin. Tanaqu'el plucked Tesla off of the beasts back and steps away. Kerin cast Balor Nimbus on herself, causing her to emit flames from her body which immediately killed.

The battle having ended, Tesla asked the charmed one for the indigo crystal. It responded "anything for a brethren" and brought it to the group. The group proceeded to the trash leech.

We find the trash leech's lair; a cave full of smelly garbage. We dispatched it.

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - The Enemy Within

Dinner that night is served. We rest. When the morning rolls around, breakfast is served. The Castellan arrives bringing our equipment. The Castellan transports us to the island (via his crystal) and we start off trying to find the crystal critter cadre.

We make our way to the mountains on monster island to the area where the giant (a stone giant) seems to live. We barely managed to defeat the giant (Tanaqa'l), with Gal almost dying even though she shapeshifted into giant from. We talked with the giant afterward who seemed to be ambivalent about helping us. Tanaqa'l observes that he'd be willing to help, but he wanted a mate (because it gets lonely) and points out that being freed would be better than having to listen to the Castellan who gives him his "marching orders."

Thanaqa'l said that he got leftovers from "the Castellan's secret" in the cave. Gal shifted into a panther and stealthily crept into the cavern. Gal discovered a small army of female orcs doing battledrills (who, unlike the Time Lords - are not vegetarian, but carnivorous). In return for the giant's assistance, we offered to help him and Tesla gave him his Lion of Wonderous power.

We proceeded to where the "Land Shark" lived. With little warning, the shark (Bulette) erupted from the ground. Gal responded by throwing herself (she was in her normal half-orc form) into the Bulette's mouth. As the battle began, Gal shifted into Stone giant size and started attacking (hence the title of this missive). We made short work of the critter.

We proceeded to where the Ettins were. We found them beating something that was dead. Buff spells were cast, and Tesla gave the crystal cat to Tanaqa'l. This provided a great burst of speed to Tanaqa'l who ran up with the rest of the group to start fighting.

We defeated the Ettins.

Session ended.

In the not too distant future.....

One of the biggest influences on me was the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was a show that provided me with so much laughter in my first couple of years after "growing up and moving out". We know that it went from Comedy Central to the Sci-Fi channel to the void.....but.....big news

I think it's going to be at Cinematic Titanic.

If this isn't big enough for you, I don't know what is.

Furthermore, other aspects of movie mocking still live on with 2 projects that Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett are doing...

• RiffTrax.
• The Film Crew.

And finally, IF you live in the Central Texas Area....

• Master Pancake Theater!
  

Negative Calories?!?!?!

As many of you may or may not know, Celery is a vegetable which actually causes the body to burn more calories trying to digest it than it provides. The common yet misleading name for this is "negative calories". However, today I discovery that there are MORE foods that fall into this category. I bring this up, because it turns out that my current favorite snack falls into this category.

APPLES!

I adore apples. I refrigerate them for a nice, cold, crisp snack. I grew up alternating between Red Delicious and Granny Smith apples. However, my current favorite is Honeycrisp. If you haven't had a Honeycrisp apple, you are missing out. They are in season right now, so you should be able to get one at your local grocery store. Yes, they are $3/lbs. While that may seem like a lot, when you try one, you will understand WHY they are worth it. The flavor is similar to a Pink Lady, only it's a little sharper and more intense. I highly recommend them.

Other foods with "Negative Calories" include more of my favorites: peas, spinach, peppers (I wonder if this includes my beloved jalepeno and green chile?), blackberry, raspberry, peaches (no mention of variety), Strawberries (OMG!) and Grapefruit (have you noticed a distinct lack of Texas Ruby Reds recently?).

I'm not someone who chases "fad diets". In fact, I'm very comfortable with my current weight. I feel good and I DON'T need to go to Casual Male Big and Tall. However, when I see some of my favorite foods listed in a category like this, I sit up and take notice. After all, I could make a meal of spinach and strawberries.

Death Company!

I played a game of Warhammer 40,000 last night when I was up at Ninja Pirate. I played against a friend of mine who also does Space Marines with the Blood Angels Codex. The REALLY cool thing is that his space marines are painted Oregano. Why is this cool? It is the exact same colour as "Army Men".

Anyway, I FINALLY won a game of Warhammer 40k last night, and it was against him. Most of this success I attribute to my "Death Company". I don't have official models for them so I use my Legion of the Damned models. Here is why they are cool.

1. You get 1 free Death Company model for each squad you have in your army (Max 10 models).
2. Furious Charge - You get 1 extra attack and a +1 to Strength when you charge.
3. Attacks are Rending - if you roll a six on your to-hit, it is an autokill.
4. Led by a Chaplain with "Litanies of Hate" - Reroll misses when you charge.
5. Led by a Chaplain who makes his squad "Fearless".
6. Feel No Pain - Except for exceptionally powerful attacks, you can roll a D6 after every save. On a 4 or better, you shrug off the damage.

While this may seem really broken to a non-40k player, it isn't quite as broken as you'd think. Every army has some funky sets of powers that makes them "uber". Eldar have their Falcon, Necrons have their Monolith, Tyranids are insane in close combat, Chaos.....are Chaos, etc.

Anyway, I maxed my Death Company and they pretty much ate EVERYTHING they came in contact with. The fact that they all had jumppacks meant that I could get them where they were most effective quickly.

Oh, one more thing. Ninja Pirate had the Space Marine "Masters of the Chapter" box. I wasn't originally planning to get it, but they had it in stock.

...

I WANT IT!

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign

So we had our D&D game on Thursday. Previous campaign notes can be viewed here. Its abbreviated, but it is enough to catch you up.

Cast

• Galathiel - Half-Orc Druid
• Kerin - Human Cleric
• Iridanae - Human Ranger
• Tesla - Elven Sorcerer (my char)

Last nights sessions went thus. (Note the Doctor Who references :) )

The Castallan came in and asked us if we wanted to go to "Monster Isle" and collect "The Rainbow" - a series of stones that the timelords use regularly. Realizing that this was the only way that the council of the Time Lords would hear us, we agreed.

They still didn't have meat for Woof-woof (our half-orc druid's pet). The odd thing was that we knew that meat was loaded on to the ship that we set sail on to get to "Atlan". Kerin seemed to conclude that the Castallan knew about this meat even though he insisted that meat was not imported.

He gave us a map (nicely colour-coded). We will have 24 hours to collect the various items and then left us to our planning. The Castellan said he would return tomorrow.

Last night, Lendor (the god of time in this world) visited us and gave us various magic items to assist us. He also advised us that we should try to talk to the Giant (after we beat him up).

• Lightning Lizard - Indigo
• Twisted Ettin & Raging Dragonette - Blue
• Rock Giant - Violet
• Land Shark & Poison Giant - Red
• Stone lizard & Sea Snakes - Orange
• Spidermen - Green
• Trash Leech & Swamp Thing - Yellow

After talking to a servant, we found out that there was an "expert" on Ettins (one of the critters we need to defeat). We asked that servant to relay a message to the expert "Glargofage" that we would like to speak to him.

Glargofage arrived (a short orc who seemed a little dimwitted). However, he seemed to know about the monsters there.

• Twisted Ettins tend to absorb magic they are hit with. Apparently they've been twisted by magic.
• Trash Leeches tend to absorb any healing magic in the area. magically altered also.
• The Raging Dragonettes are small dragons that can go into a "blood frenzy" and can tear one to pieces.
• Sea Snakes he thinks they are like "Sea Nagas" (we faced those before).
• Spidermen are also twisted by magic. They are humanoids melded with magic and can fire webbing around. They have poisonous bites and keep huge poisonous spiders as pets.
• The Swamp Thing is an animated semi-humanoid plant that shambles around swamps.
• Lightning Lizards are like dragons that breath lightning. They can swallow a person whole.
• Stone Lizards have a gaze attack that can turn you to stone.
• Rock Giant is just a normal giant that lives in the mountain.
  
• He didn't know about the Poison Giants nor Land Sharks.

He also told us that "monster island" is just a place that the Time Lords leave their "failed experiments". Though he also indicated that specimens were collected for study and were possibly experiments by other groups. The island is about 20 miles "tip to tip".

I asked him about the Temporal Sliders. He seemed surprised that we'd been in the timestream. He seemed amazed that we'd actually fought them. Apparently, the council created them millenia ago - one of their successful experiments.

The session ended early because the GM needed to get early.

Houston!

This past weekend I went to visit my cousin - as seen HERE, HERE, and HERE. I had a very fun weekend with her and her son. The four of us (The Informatician Extraordinaire was there too) be-bopped around Houston. It looks like I may be getting the kiddo hooked on the idea of painting and Warhammer 40,000, he's about the right age to start looking at that. I picked up a little paint starter kit for him. I think it provide a bit more of challenge and learning experience than his Playstation or Yu-Gi-Oh (not that there is anything wrong with those). I also helped him buy Final Fantasy X.

While there we went to dinner at Lai Lai's Dumpling House in Bel Air. This is a great Chinese restaurant. If you are ever in Houston, I recommend looking it up.

Wow that's a lot.

First up. This lady is my new hero.

Now...

OK, so I have the figs in my Bretonnian Battleforce box assembled and primed, FINALLY. And now they go into the queue of stuff to get painted. Couple this with the new figs I got yesterday and it is apparent that I've got a TON of stuff to paint.

I've noticed that many people tend to fall into the trap of "more stuff than they can paint", and now I know why. There is a solid case of "Oooo, that is pretty, I want that", which outstrips the time it takes to get them ready. Oh well. The lady friend has an other civil war trip this year, so I'll be home alone for a week. Perhaps I can clear out most of the stuff I want painted by then, including the fig for "Tesla" the Elven sorcerer in the current Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

So what do I have on tap? In no particular order:

1. House Escher Necromunda Gang
2. Sisters of Sigmar Mordheim Gang
3. Tesla (fig is Celeborn from the Lord of the Rings game by Games Workshop)
4. Sejana - Paladin (fig is Eowyn from the Lord of the Rings game by Games Workshop)
5. City of the Spider Queen set of Drow from Wizards of the Coast (I love the Dark Elves).
6. Bretonnian Battleforce - 16 Men at Arms, 16 Archers, 8 Knights, 3 Pegasus Knights)
7. Princess of Hell - Scantily clad Demon girl from Reaper Miniatures.
8. 3 Warrior Nuns - Also Reaper, I'll probably do these with the Sisters of Sigmar
10. 10 more Assault Squad Space Marines.
11. Finish off the 10 Scouts I am painting faces on.

Yeah, that IS a lot.

Pod..errr Netcasts!

One of the things many do not know about me, is that since getting my iPod, I have been addicted to netcasts (as Leo Laporte calls them because you don't need an iPod) of various types. Its inexpensive entertainment that I can listen to while driving or when I'm caught with nothing to do. While the list of casts I'm subscribed to is FAR too big to list here, here are a few choice casts to which I listen.

• DL.TV


• Revision 3's Netcasts - The Totally Rad Show, Tekzilla, iFanboy, Diggnation


• Twit Network - This Week in Tech, The Tech Guy, Windows Weekley, net@nite, Daily Giz Wiz, Munchcast


• Fear the Boot (RPGs)

Just to name a few. I'll go into a little more detail about each netcast I listen to since there are very many good ones out there. The FEW I've listed above I consider some of the cream of the crop. Keep an eye for cool netcasts and drop me a line about them.

Events of the Weekend

Last Friday, I observed/played a demo of Rackham's AT-43. It is a rather simple miniatures game with some nice pre-painted minis. Apparently, I played it with a bunch of Steve Jackson Games employees who had decended on Battleforge games to give it a try. That was an interesting experience. I didn't care for the static quality of the maps and the rules seemed to be unclear in certain situations, but all-in-all it's a fun game and worth a look. It was also kinda neat to realize that I was playing with people who work in the industry of which I'm a consumer.

Saturday, I headed back to Battleforge for a Warhammer 40,000 tournament. I like tournaments because I can get 3 games in in a day and I like the random quality of not knowing what mission I'll have nor what person I'm about to play against. As usual, I did get seriously beaten down but I did do better than I had. I've been trying a slightly different Space Marine list using the "Blood Angels" chapter codex. I like the "in your face" close combat quality and the fact that I can use my "Legion of the Damned" squad for Death Company. Of course, while I did come in dead last, I did get a Bretonnian "Damsel of the Lady" blister to add to the Warhammer Fantasy Army I'm building.

Sunday, I went and hung out at another local gamestore called Ninja Pirate. I was hoping to get another game in, but that ended up being a no-go because of the fact that they'd hosted the 'Ard Boyz tourney the previous day. I like that they stepped up their support with Thor's Hammer (my previous hangout) vanishing. So I chatted with a few people (one of whom I'd not seen for a few years) and worked on my Bretonnian battleforce box. This week, I gotta basecoat them. Then I can get them assembled enough to field and paint at my leisure.

There has been talk about playing Mordheim and Necromunda recently. I've always wanted to play these games and at the very least wanted to get the minis. Well, I've gone ahead and ordered House Escher (Necromunda) and Sisters of Sigmar (Mordheim) warbands. I've decided that aesthetics should be the primary deciding factor for picking miniatures from now on. Also, because I'm now wanting to make sure my local game stores are supported, I made sure to buy these from Rogue's Gallery instead of ordering them online.

Now the only problem is that I need to hold off before I can pick up the Dungeons and Dragons Rules Compendium. This looks like it is going to be a useful text for me, so I'm strongly considering picking it up. Every rule listed in Alphabetical Order to make rules easier to find. They also seem to have been edited a little bit for clarity. There is a preview over on the Wizards of the Coast website, click here if you are curious.

So, where has Rachael been?

Yes, I admit, I've not been in Paragon much. I've only been lurking around invisibly when I've been on so I can run a mission or two then log off.

I love City of Heroes, and I like what I know about Issue 11, but I think I let myself get burned out running the morning STFs (the primary reason I created this blog).

Well, the Stone Goddess has instead travelled to the grim darkness of the far future where there is only war and has been commanding an army of Space Marines in battle playing Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000. This has been a fun change of pace as I've gotten to meet many people in RL and have a new challenge to master (feeling that I've mastered almost everything CoX has to throw at me).

I've wondered to the disposition of this blog. It was originally meant to be a CoX blog, but I'm figuring I'll expand it to my general gaming experiences. I certainly don't play World of Warcraft enough to warrant listing that here. If I do, I'll certainly keep the "Rachael" identity as I'd prefer to keep my gamer half somewhat divorced from my "tech" half. I've still run into many people who don't get "table-top gaming".

Q-Force

I wish Aaron Williams would do more CoH inspired comics.

The New High-Level Rikti TF!

The Issue 10 Beta has finally gone public, soooo.....

Rikti Co-op Task Force

The Rikti Co-Op Task Force is available for both Heroes and Villains. It is for 6 to 8 players, level 45 – 50. The mission is given out by Lady Grey, leader of the Vanguard. Co-operative missions create a new layer of depth and story as heroes and villains work toward a common goal.

The regular STF team needs to work out a time to do this.

Let Freedom Ring

Let Freedom Ring!

South is one of the STF regulars and a good friend .