Never mind the blog wars aftermath

Hey everyone,

Just got back from nevermind the blog wars, the aftermath is I'm shattered from a long ass day, but had plenty of fun, just waiting for the final standings, and once I know a bit more ill update further.

Thanks to all my opponents for a great day!

Now for sleep
Jonathan

Updated: I wonder who this is....?

Not mine, was sent by a friend...

Looks like a sleepy friend is coming back...

Update: so this turns out to be an old conversion, see here: https://imgur.com/a/mmy5j

Pre-event Gibberish

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to today's entry, where I will be discussing the statistics for the armies that will be coming to the Never Mind the Blog Wars event coming up in November. I would suggest you swing by Alex's blog and behold the pie-y goodness he has prepared before continuing with my thoughts (he put a lot of effort into them and I'm not going to steal them 😝). So, stop dilly dallying and pop over to fromthefang.blogspot.co.uk, and I'll see you in a moment...

Back? Excellent! Onwards with my ramblings!

So firstly, don't expect me to follow the pies an exact order, these are just my thoughts as they come... So! It would appear that not every army taking part is solely isolated to those with codexes alone when looking at the split between xenos, Chaos and imperium. Granted some of these armies will be additional Detachments, but it is still good to see that players (apparently) aren't immediately jumping on the bandwagon of codex released armies.

After talking with my good friend Ian it would appear to be that every player will have a 1-5 chance of drawing a guard list in the first round, and with my expectations of absolutely ridiculous gun line armies this may present an issue for some. Rules for damage limitation, such as disgustingly resilient or the tau's stimulant injectors will only go so far when you have to save against multi damage weapons (can anyone say leafblower? 😜). I know mortarion, can be blown off the field from concerted artillery fire and multi damage weapons, even with how tough he is to crack. On the other side of the coin, guard players drawing another guard list will be a long struggle through the mud, it will be interesting to see how well guard lists will do at the event.

One army in particular ill be interested in seeing make it to the event, will be the adeptus custodes army. I have yet to see a painted army in real life so that will be a pleasure to see, (and play against if we are both drawn against each other).

Interestingly enough, Roboute Guilleman won't be making any appearances for the armies of the imperium, though I expect some space marine/guard/soup lists may see Saint Celestine make an appearance due to her (reasonably) low cost. On that note, come on GW, give us sisters already!!! Primarchs will be limited to chaos, and as such it will be interesting to see if either mortarion or magnus comes out on top after the event. There is also at least the chance for an epic duel at some stage between the chaotic brothers.

Lords of War particularly Imperial knights are seeing a reduced appearance this time round, though I expect we would have seen more baneblade variants in guard lists, had they been one wound lower, or the wound limit for the event being one lower.

I think Alex has made a brave choice in putting in the limitations of 25wounds per unit, and no more than 3 detachments. Though this did seem to cause some tension on social media in the lead up to the event, I feel that it is the right choice for now, until more players have a chance to become more used to the system, and Alex has a chance to see how things play out at a tournament level.

It wasn't a surprise to me the most common detachment was the battalion, it gives extra cp and is close to what everyone is used to from previous editions. It will be interesting to see how this changes as more armies get codexes and the different play styles for each develop further.

Key to the event will, in my thoughts be Admin management, and really knowing your list. I'm taking 3 Detachments from DG/Daemons, so hopefully this won't be too bad for myself. This will be, I imagine the first singles tournament of 8th for many, so sticking to the time limit and getting the best out of all your units will be key,especially if you are using several different armies in different Detachments. Let's also not forget sticking to the mission as well, tabling your opponent won't always be the best course of action.

Well, that's all I have for thoughts right now so it's just the waiting game now until the big day. I hope you all enjoyed reading my attempt at random punditry.

Oh, and who will win? Who knows, I won't pretend to know all I'll say is #chaos

Let me know what you think down in the comments. 

Until next time 

Jonathan 

The Infection progresses: NMTBWs Tournament Talk

Hi Everyone!

It's been, a bit since my last article about modelling, and there has been a considerable increase in progress in relation to my burgeoning Death Guard/Nurgle Daemons army that I will taking to my next upcoming tournament in November, Never Mind the Blog Wars, run by our good friend Alex over at fromthefang.blogspot.co.uk

With this being my first event of the new edition, this will be quite the learning curve, not counting the fact I have yet to play a test run with my list! To anyone that ends up playing against me I hope I don't make the day less enjoyable for you! For now all I can do is try to brain-damaged the codex to make sure this game don't go too slow.

So what have I decided to take I hear you ask? Well, read on for the list!

Nevermind the Blog Wars - Death Guard/Nurgle - Jonathan Lyness

Patrol Detachment (Chaos - Daemons)

HQ
Herald of Nurgle [70pts] X1 Psychic power

Troops
3x Nurgling Swarms [60pts]

Plaguebearers [115pts]: Daemonic Icon, Instrument of Chaos, x9 Plaguebearers, x1 Plagueridden

Fast Attack
Plague Drones [167pts]: Daemonic Icon, Instrument of Chaos, x2 Plague Drone, x1 Plaguebringer

Battalion Detachment +3CP (Death Guard)

HQ
Daemon Prince of Nurgle [156pts]: Hellforged sword, X1 psychic power, Relic: The Suppurating Plate

Lord of Contagion [137pts]: Manreaper

Malignant Plaguecaster [110pts]: x2 psychic powers

Troops
Chaos Cultists 109pts]
x23Chaos Cultist w/ Autogun
X1 Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon: Flamer
X1 Cultist Champion: Shotgun

Chaos Cultists [100pts]: x24 Chaos Cultist w/ Autogun
x1 Cultist Champion: Brutal assault weapon and Autopistol

Plague Marines [158pts]
x1 Plague Champion: Boltgun, Plague knife, Power fist
x5 Plague Marine w/ boltgun
x1 Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Poxwalkers [60pts]: 10x Poxwalker

Poxwalkers [60pts]: 10x Poxwalker

Elites
Noxious Blightbringer [70pts]: Plasma pistol

Fast Attack
Foetid Bloat-drone [158pts]: x2 Plaguespitters, x1 Plague probe

Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment (Death Guard)
Mortarion [470pts] x3 psychic powers

Total: [2000pts]

I originally had the plan to include a foul blightspawn, however, as I am sure everyone here is aware, the units' popularity has made getting a hold of one on time difficult, so I've bulked up the cultist squads in place of it. You'll notice in the images above (such as the title image) the cultists aren't present, this came about from the fact that battlescribe (the version I had been using) was incorrectly costed for most of the units. Alex before the list submission highlighted the issue and I found I had a lot of points to work with, so for the event no lists would be submitted via battlescribe files and would be built directly for the sourcebooks either index or codex. I've managed to get everything table ready for the tournament, but there are a lot of small details that really need looking into after the event, so we'll see how that goes moving forwards.

Some here may worry about posting my list before the event takes place, but fear not! List submissions for checking have begun, so this won't be a problem, and as Alex's events are normally on the fun side of the meta-spectrum for competitiveness, people seeing my list isn't an issue.

More foetid bloat drones will come in the future as well as more plague marines and possibly some plague burst crawlers, so next tournament I may be taking a death guard single list.

Hopefully everything goes great at the event, and I'm sure I'll have a great time, win or lose!

Check back next time when I'll be highlighting/reviewing my thoughts from the pre event breakdowns Alex will be sure to find put up soon. Amy thoughts you have on the list, please feel free to chime in below.

Until then, take it easy
Jonathan

The Gardener and the Girl

A warm wet miasma wafted through hanging leaves, the rustling of dark, mottled, rotted flora, a constant comforting din. Occasionally, the lonely clang of a drop of dew from the leaves sounded out from the metal grid that the trees had sprouted from.

Cracked leather boots gently walked through the developing undergrowth, each small step carefully placed to avoid stepping upon one of the grandfather's creations.  It was a great boon for family that his garden had taken root here. Only a small garden in the depths of the ship, but a blessing none the less.

Her steps took her closer to to the destination, the observatory occulus. It was one of the most beautiful places upon the Placid Eye, a place to look upon the sea of stars, so barren of the caress of Grandfather, a place to look upon those who would soon know his blessings.

Darrelia, slim, almost willowy, showed few of the blessings her family had received, many having joined the jovial oblivion of the walking pox. Her sunken eyes, and small stature were the only hallmarks of the blessing she had received, a blessing to be kept deep not only in her heart but in her soul.

The soft settling of a claw cupping her shoulder startled her but for a moment. Beresius had arrived from the depths of the gardens oubliette, a small walk from here.

"Konor, some would think was a failure, but do not worry my child. Life will thrive again in the shadows, and our grandfather will be happy".

"Where do we go now Father?" Darrelia whispered to Beresius.

"Grandfather's chosen grandson will lead us and his blessed sons to a new world, a world to bless, a world I will not see, for I have been called"

Darrelia, looked in confusion as her father shambled to the closest tree, sitting down beneath its rotten bows. The roots slowly enveloping him.

"I must go now for the Grandfather has called me to his garden in paradise. Tend this garden here, until another comes, then you too will be called to walk in the true garden of nurgle".

* * *

Outside in the dark of the void, a rusted hulk floated harmlessly, dangerously towards the edge of the system. From afar, the flickers of sublight engines would be all that would herald the departure of the Vectorum Ephfluvious.

SOMEONE CALL A MEDIC!!!!

Hello Again Everyone!

Following on from my last post, we again today progress through my models from the Dark Imperium starter set.

Having worked out my colour scheme, more by luck than design I moved onto painting the Lord of Contagion. And as before he is starting to grow on me, but the posing could be a tad better. I image the artwork was the leading factor in this, in such a way that the models themselves could be presented as per the box artwork for Dark Imperium.

Trying to build onwards from the Noxious Blightbringer, I decided that with such excessive distension of certain parts of the Death Guard range, specifically the gut on the Lord of Contagion, I wanted the armour to look rotten, but the flesh to counter balance it with a fresh bloody look.

This invariably lead into thinking about the weapons that the Death Guard characters are holding. The Manreaper the Lord of Contagion wields is a horrific weapon when you think about it (try not to think too deep about whoever it was at GW that designed it... I am sure they are completely cogent and not in any way a secret maniac 😜). So getting it all bloody... It's going to make on helluva mess to the Lords armour,so I've tried to draw the blood in arcs across his armour to mimic the blood spray.

Let me know what you think in the comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Jonathan

Fighting back from the brink

Hi Everyone!

Long time no rant at. It's been a tough couple of months since my last post, and oh boy did things change! I shan't go into the specifics of why things have been tough, but I will say, keep your friends close when you're feeling down, you may not talk about what is wrong, but it's good to have those who care about you close by. Even if it's just to talk smack about your army or give you encouragement on how your painting is coming along. And if you do need to talk, they will and should be there for you.

So! What has been going on with me you ask? Well, funnily enough I've been painting; painting a long lost friend from the hazy days back in time when I first started in the hobby... The Return of the Death Guard!!! The Slimy Doom!!! The Fecund Fellowship of the Flu!!! (OK... I'll stop! I'll stop!...).

Having nabbed the Death Guard half of the Dark Imperium box, I felt it was a good time to rebuild my forces of the sons of Mortarion. I won't be talking about the Primaris half of the box as I've only seen the pictures and not the models, but I definitely think the Death Guard won in the aesthetic department, solely on the fact the lanky space marines just looked bland next to their Heretic counterparts.

I will caveat the above with the fact that the Lord of Contagion model (which is slowly growing on me now I've started painting him) is probably the least appropriately posed. The Lord has a strange sideways pose the makes him look quite thin, but we'll discuss that more in a future post.

So, finally after skirting the main thrust of this piece of rambling, we should get it on to what I am doing. Which is not actually what I am doing... Because it's already done. (I'm out of practice with this so you'll have to bear with me 😜).

The Noxious Blightbringer!!!

Wooooooooooooooo!!!.......

This is actually probably my favourite model in the whole of the set, and strangely enough has another wierd pose... Almost like he's leaning back after blowing something up with shocks at how much damage his plasma pistol has done... I guess the overcharged shot worked haha. I also have only 1 photo in decent lighting and only at one angle, all being well I cam get some better images at a future date.... Really need that decent camera...

The model is based in Zandri Dust, and washed with Coelia Greenshade, before dry brushing a light dusting of Zandri after drying. Finished with a very very very light edge drying brush with Flayed one flesh. Tarted up with the standard paints for bronze trim and he's pretty much done.

If you have any questions on other paints used drop me a comment below, and I'll be happy to answer.

And as always C&C are always welcome!

Now back to the painting table... Those poxwalkers aren't going to paint themselves...

Jonathan

Failed my Pinning and Morale Check... Adeptus Biologis confirms no need for augmetics

Hi Everyone,

Just a short one today, as I am sure you are all well aware there hasn't been much in the way of articles from myself for an extended period of time.

Basically I was involved in a work based accident were I got injured (it could have resulted in me being actually killed so someone was looking out for me that day... Praise the Emprah!) and have been recovering from quite bad Whiplash since. This has made it a real struggle to paint or even read. This has unfortunately meant that all my hobbying has taken a back seat. I would have missed the teaser for Mortarion and the Death Guard but for a close friend. And it has been wierd feeling so disjointed from the hobby and the community.

But I am on the mend, and with some luck hopefully I'll be back to bringing you the same service I have previously given.

For now,  be safe and may the Dice God's roll in your favour!
Jonathan

Birthday Bash 2.0, After Event Thoughts - The Armies

In the words of Alexander the Meerkat...

Welcomes!!!!

Following on from yesterday's entry we're having a short one today to have look at some of the armies from the Birthday Bash Tournament.

Everyone put in a lot of effort getting their armies ready for the event, which really helps to bring it up to an enviable standard. See if you can guess the winning entry in the comments below, now let's get to all the juicy photos!!! (Anyone who's army I missed drop me a message and I'll add it to the article 👍).

I think everyone should be amazingly proud of what they brought.  Well done chaps and chapettes! 👍

Until next time

Jonathan 

Birthday Bash 2.0 After Event Thoughts - Wargames, Southport UK

Hello Ladies and Gents!

Whether it be morning, evening, other time of the day for you, lets have a wee chin wag on my thoughts about the Birthday Bash event run by Dave Weston, and kindly held by Wargames in Southport, UK.  Also we'll have a few thoughts on how I performed (or didn't...) at the event, in another upcoming post.

So kicking things off to start, lets talk about Wargames!  To start, I was highly impressed with the store the moment I first saw it. Having travelled from Liverpool up to Southport on the train, it was a pleasant surprise to find that the store could be found right in the middle of town, being a paltry 5 minute walk on foot from the local train station.  This here was not an independent games store relegated to the musty dark corners, be it of town or city, that I am more used to.  Right in the centre of town and easy to find was a great start to the day.

The store was immaculate.  It was well presented, and the staff were kind, helpful, and really sold this as a new venue for me to travel to play 40k and Age of Sigmar, and all being well Ian will be happy to start going here too.  The store had given the majority of its footplan to areas to game in, with well presented shelves displaying a whole gamut of wargaming awesomeness, not just Games Workshop or other wargames including warmachine, or bolt action for a few.  Many board games were also present, and in a quieter moment, i would love to peruse all they have to offer. Other small but important aspects included, appropriate heating, which was comfortable, but not oppressive (especially when so many people congregate in a small space for an extended period of time).  In fact I wouldn't be surprised if there was air-con present, as the gaming areas did not (and I mean this in a non-mean way), have the aroma of many people stuck in a small space.  Another important aspect, was excellent lighting throughout the store, not too bright or too dim, which is important as this can exacerbate headaches for many people including myself.

There was also a second floor above!!! 

Moving on to the gaming area, a lot of effort has been put into ensuring that each board is unique and game friendly. Each board also used a game map, which for long game sessions is always appreciated.  Fighting to place a model on a moulded gaming board has driven me mad more than once...  From a cursory glance these all appeared to be either Fat Mats or Games Workshops own gaming maps.  I may have missed other variants, but lets just focus on the bonus of having a reasonable floor for your models to clamber over for mini-glory!

On the food front, a buffet was laid out for all the attendees, and arrived in what I felt was a good time (well a good time for me..., my first game had just ended), i can't pass judgment for other attendees where their games went longer.  Though at the end tbere was still food left over, and I was tempted to go clear the rest of it away before my second game (I was hungry... I resisted... But I was hungry...).  Drinks wise, there was plenty of tea and coffee on tap, and for the adults amongst you, a reasonable selection of beer, and I also believe spirits, but i didnt ask for any of these (and also the excellent staff could bring them directly to during the game, so no need to rush off to wet your whistle, as you shout your throat dry and you command you forces to victory!).

You can definitely tell that Wargames was a labour of love, and, I must say I wish it was here in Liverpool so it was even closer (yes I am that lazy that a 40min train ride is something I'd love to avoid). I probably should have taken a bit more time to get more images from around the store,  and speak more to the owner (I forgot your name...  Sorry!!!), I definitely will next time. It was a great choice to hold the event, and I really look forward to my next visit.

Until next time
Jonathan

Pre-Tournament Update (The final last gasp)

Good Morning Ladies and Gents,

Apologies for the delay in getting something up but as always the joy of personal life impacts, such as work, and health have impacted myself in writing for the past 2 weeks. But we shan't dwell on such matters, let's get down to the nitty-gritty of why we are here - to see the shoddy state that is my army for the Birthday bash tournament!!!

This will be a short post as I'm pretty bushed even without painting a whole new army for the event (like some people Ian...), but see! I have actually been busy...

Night time painting without appropriate lighting... Excellent... 

There was a few painting aspects of my Necron models such as the carapaces that I wasn't very happy with, so in desperate mad dash, I've recoloured all of them in Caliban Green (this not a nice paint to work with,  it has a tendency to streak badly even after watering down). Not having as much time as I would like, I would edge highlight all of these areas for the event, but alas I had a lot of basing to complete as well.

I feel that the force looks much better than it was,  however the warriors definitely need stripping or replacing as they have been over painted several times in the last 8 years.

Right now I just have some minor repairs to do on the Canoptek Tomb Stalker as I managed to knock an arm off (would just happen wouldn't it...).

Otherwise have a wee look at the Force I'm taking to the Birthday Bash Tournament! Next time hopefully I'll have something up that is more up to my current standard of painting, and as always apologies for the shoddy camera work!

The event is this Saturday,  and I'll get as many photos of the armies attending and how I faired in the event (for good or for ill!). If you want to follow the post event run down from Dave Weston,  pop over to 40kaddict.uk

Also I have been working on St Celestine and the Geminae Superia, and I'll hopefully have these completed soon! 

Until next time, 

Jonathan