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 

Fantasy Poster Girls in the Age of Sigmar (...Sort of... ... Mostly...)

So Ladies and Gents,

Its been a wee while since I last dipped my feet into the well of possibilities that is Age of Sigmar. So today I thought we would have a look at,  in one of my opinions,  one of the game systems strongest attributes - strong female representation.

Now I won't get into the mirky mess that is, feminism in gaming, and the lack of strong female character models in other gaming systems, as this has been covered by people more knowledgeable than myself,  though for myself I have great expectations for Warhammer 40,000 in particular with the re-release of Saint Celestine, in her beautiful new cast (I can't wait to get my hands on her model...  Wait...  That doesn't sound quite right... Swif-tly moving on...), the Geminae Twins and, what this may mean for the return of Sisters of Battle.

So getting back to the Age of Sigmar,  this foundation of representation of female characters could only be achieved by the stellar work that was put into the Old World and exhibiting it with Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

...Thrums Melodic Harp... 

If we take a trip back down memory lane (for me,  what are you doing here in my head? Wait for me to type it...), just before the End times were upon us in WHFB, I was in a hobby rut,  so I did what any heathen and Heretic would do,  and started looking at other gaming systems.  Not wanting to stray too far from the pack,  I began looking into the fantasy range of miniatures by Games workshop.

But making such a decision is always hard to make,  so I turned to the most important person in my life,  my other half Kelly. After much humming to and fro over what army to start we settled on the Dark Elves, primarily because of the amazing hairdos that the Witch elves had (you can imagine which one if us used this as the major deciding factor... Bonus hint I am going bald 😝).

That's some proper rockers hair there,  bring back memories of being able to mosh

But if we look past the hair for a moment we can see a breakthrough in the development and production of these figures. No longer was dynamic and accurately (for the time) body proportions used outside of character models,  but to showed that games workshop could design the female form for base units, without necessarily being used for titillation as many other companies were, and are won't to do even today (I'm looking at you raging heroes - yes they look amazing but they are just miniature titillation).

At this point it would be remiss of me not to mention the Bloodrack Medusa,  also produced at the same time as the Witch Elves, and the infamous breast that was brought up at the time on the Internet.  But if we look at the concept of the model, that it is aiming to show the twisting of, what is considered to be beautiful, to the horrific, we can see that showing of what maybe consider taboo has gone beyond merely physical to something more psychological and deeply troubling. Maybe I'm reading into this too much,  but I like to think these sort of considerations go a long way to making a great model,  and personally I think the medusa is.

Who says snakes can't be blue

At the start of the article I showed a picture of my WIP for Valkia the Bloody, another great model (but one I wish they had kept in metal, only because her spear Slaupnir really would benefit from pinning due to the small joint at the wrist). She is our power fantasy for females, and in my opinion the best character in the Bloodbound Battletome. Just like how she plays in the game she is aesthetically modelled to be fast,  agile and utterly deadly. A misconception I have seen previously, is that power fantasys are usually limited to the over-muscled killing machine,  and though Space Marines fill this aspect nicely nine come close as Skarr Bloodwrath. Dude is ripped, so ripped he looks like he burst out of his skin.  So I love the juxtaposition of these characters, diametrically opposed aesthetically,  but filling the same outlet as a painter and a gamer.

Games Workshop has a great opportunity coming up with the highly anticipated Aelves releases for all of the previous iterations (High,  Dark and Wood), which has been shown with the recent Mistweaver Saih for Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower,  to really make some astounding female characters. I look forward to seeing what they bring us soon.

Soon my pretty... Soon it will not be too wet to base spray you... 

Until next time
Jonathan

The New Year Plan... Or lack thereof...

Hi again everyone,

I find myself on a cold Halloween night, brush twiddling between my fingers (not actually painting anything...),  thinking about what the new year will bring for me and my hobby (not that this will be up on Halloween... my scheduling skills still need some work).  I've begun to take stock of this year,  what I have done and think, could it have been better? Did I manage to achieve everything I set out to do?

No. Hobbyists' never seem to reach the lofty heights of truly believing they have completed or achieved everything they wanted to. (I blame Games Workshop and all those damn fine models...). But in my case as in many other boring real life seems to get in the way. So it's time to prepare myself to trim the fat set serious goals for the year ahead. . To this end I've come up with a plan...

OK maybe not so cunning... 

1. Set the target

I am provisionally down to attend a tournament in February next year being run by the brilliant Dave Weston over at Confessions of a 40k Addict (www.40kaddict.uk) (go check it out).

Dave first came to my attention when I started to attend the Blog Wars 40k tournaments run by Alex over at fromthefang.blogspot.co.uk (also definitely worth a read if you haven't stopped by). And with no word on whether Alex currently will be running an event until likely mid year,  I've set my sights on Dave's event.

I love running different armies at each event I go to,  and though not the most fiscally sound decision,  I will likely need a new army to play for the event.

2. The Faction

Currently at previous events I have run Necrons,  Dark Angels and Chaos Space Marines. I had intended to run Khorne Daemonkin at the most recent Double Trouble Event run by Alex at from the fang,  but unfortunately real life scuppered that.

Though I didn't run my KDK at double trouble I'm ready for a new painting challenge,  now I just need to decide what to do (which is harder than it seems with Thousand Sons almost all but confirmed and Sisters of Battle taunting us from afar...

So depending on what gets released between now and Christmas will determine what faction I will have a crack at.

3. Additional Tools 

I have been flirting with the idea of getting an airbrush to try out.  I am enamoured by the effects one of my regular 40k buddies,  John Causton can achieve with an airbrush. His craftworld eldar,  which he recently took to No Retreat in Gibraltar (run by SN Battle Reports),  taking away several painting wins for single miniature and single vehicle, are at the level only some of us can dream to be at. . They look gorgeous to play against,  and are deadly to boot across the table.

I am in no illusion that I will be able to reach these sort of lofty levels,  but if it helps batch painting units it will go a long way to getting myself ready for February.

4. Other things to do 
So with all of the above in mind I think it would be great to try some of the below as well,  and might make for some interesting reading for everyone here:

- My Airbrush Journey; Day by Day entries on my experiences with Airbrush painting,  and possibly some tips from other airbrush users.

- Faction Progression Log; Once I've a faction,  small updates on how they are progressing and what I will be actioning next.

- Battle Reports; Dependant on availability I might get some test battle reports completed in the new year before the tournament,  however depending on how long my army takes this might get pushed back to later in 2017.

- Thoughts on whether to run my own event...; This is a big one,  and I've not put a lot of thought into it yet,  but seeing Dave Weston running a birthday tournament makes me think about doing one as well,  especially as I turn 30 this year and it would be great to see if I could do something mad like this too. Maybe I'm mad,  maybe not,  will have to see how the cards fall on this one.  I have a good relationship with the owner of the local independent retailer so maybe I could sort something there...

5. The Hardest part of all

Paint one unit at a time!  Don't get distracted by all the shinies! 

So what does everyone think? Any ideas on my next faction to build and paint? Anything else you would like to see on the blog?
Let me know in the comments.

Until next time
Jonathan

Thoughts on Leadership in 40k

Hi Everyone!

It's been a bit of a while since I posted, with many things in work life and home life getting in the way of hobbying the blog took a bit of a step back.  But I have returned today so that we can speak about the lowly step child stat of 40k:  The Leadership Value.

Now I will try and avoid as much as possible the ground trod in relation to ATSKNF; I think we are all aware that as a rule it needs an overhaul of some sort, due to its mitigation of so many USRs.  However it came to me as a thought, what is the point of leadership these days? Has the potential of this stat been lost?
Leadership feels less about leading and more about how to save your skin and running away...

So why have leadership in the first place? In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future only crazy ass lunatics can get anything done? Right?

Wrong.  The 41st Millennium is full of stories of the little guys plucking up the courage to get what needs to be done, done. But there are also plenty of examples of big characters making mistakes and making bad leadership choices.  This is the underlying principle of leadership.  Everyone has different psychological reactions under pressure (except for Khorne Berserkers... dem biatches be cray cray).  And so we have our leadership value.

Pinning Checks, Moral Checks, ad nauseum all should still be impacted by the leadership value.  How these are used is fine in my opinion at the moment with the exception of the quantity of morale boosting abilities.  The use of morale debuffs currently within the game has been neutered.

But what if Leadership had another use? A very important use especially in these days of formations and faction specific detachments?  Leadership rolls now feel merely a way to keep your units where you want them at that time.  Which is realistic except for those situations for example where a courageous guardsman stands up and bayonets a daemon prince all because he had the courage. Leadership should do cool things to help units.  Also I say to you, how would our games be impacted if the extra abilities of the formations was linked to the leadership value?

Now I can hear some rattling of sabres in the background but hear with me.  Leadership would have a significant impact say if I was using the hammer of caliban formation.  I want to use monster hunters usr on a unit of carnifexes, but my techmarine must roll to see if the order goes through.  I fail, I lose the ability.  Maybe those carnifexes survive a little bit longer? Maybe they get into close combat and rip me to shreds...

Obviously some inherent abilities wouldn't need this check.  I can’t imagine a Chaos Lord shouting at his raptors to "Get Scarey!!!" to cause fear for example.  They just are. Now I know this treads on some of the gameplay mechanics of guard at present, however all armies issue orders.  Some leaders are better than others getting stuff done.  Sometimes no matter how good you are as a leader your men just won't do what you want, or do it badly....

What do you think?  Does this fall down when in use? Does the idea of more dice rolls fill you with terror? (Take a Moral Check 😝)

Let me know in the comments
Until next time
Jonathan

Age of Sigmar: Evolution of a Setting and the hope of Global Campaigns

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all doing well today? Today we hop into the world of Global Campaigns, and my experiences (or lack thereof) of them.

Games workshop has brought an end to the Age of Sigmar Season of War Campaign.

Games workshop once a long time ago was quite happy to run this format of play,

with a focus on our battles affecting the overall story and setting of the hobby

games that we play.  I remember the feeling of being distraught that the last campaign that was

run for 40k way back in 4th Edition (The Fall of Medusa V), I couldn't take part in.

Now this was less to do with the fact that I hadn't been in the hobby for long enough to

construct a viable army; it was however impacted by the fact of where I used to live...

(Starts to play the Flash back harp tune...)

Now I haven't had a chance to fully script up an about me page yet (this will follow soon for

those that would like to know...), but as a youngling I grew up in Northern Ireland, and without

many friends, access to the internet, or a hobby store; let alone a Games Workshop was nearby.

The only stockist for Games Workshop models was the local department store, and you had to order

items direct from the in store catalogue (who remembers the good ole GW catalogue?).  So as a

young fresh faced tyrant (Chaos all the way ba-bay!!!)  I came across the Fall of Medusa V in

White Dwarf.  It blew my world away...  Here was a chance to have my games truly matter in the

way that they should have in my mind.  No more games where it was just me versus my dad or brother

who begrudgingly helped keep my hobby alive in those dark times.  The thing was...  The closest

place to play in the campaign was in Belfast, which was too far away for me to play.  I had seen

the sweet tasting fruit of true storyline impactful play...  And I couldn’t take part.  Years went

by with hope I scanned the pages of white dwarf waiting for the next global campaign to begin. 

It was too good a thing to repeat I kept telling myself.  But a lie to oneself is still a lie...

Now I remember that with Warhammer Fantasy (I hadn’t started any fantasy armies yet) had the Storm

of Magic campaign, and however not taking part, my hope had been kindled anew.  40k was bound to

get a campaign soon...  And the waiting began anew...  And it didn't happen once more. 

Time past, and my hobby enthusiasm for 40k had dwindled, I needed a new challenge, and so I began

to get a Warhammer Fantasy army (Dark Elves for the win!!!) which was coincidentally chosen by my

now fiancée.  The End times began and all was good, it wasn’t a global campaign but it was fun.

And with a bang the Fantasy world ended but hope bloomed anew for the fantasy range of models.

Many gnashing of teeth was had over the Age of Sigmar, but as always a lover of the models I was

drawn in.

And finally my faith had paid off!!! Age of Sigmar kicked off the latest Global Campaign and my

Khorne Bloodbound were ready to take the fight to the scions of order, destruction and death!

My tyrannical megalomania would have a global backdrop.  My battles would have a meaning.

And yet,  I was only able to get in one game during the whole campaign.  Illness had decided that

this time I could not represent for my side as much as I could.  All I could do was paint my models

and hope that I could help chaos take at least one of the cities to be claimed.

But I am not delusional,  I think everyone expected Order to carry the day.  Maybe not as much as they

did, but I'm sure everyone expected a big turnout for the Good Guys especially after the last world

was destroyed by Chaos (it was a good day 🙌 ).

And so with barely a foot in the water of Global Campaign play I think to myself, was it all worth it?

Would I take part in another Global Campaign?  The answer is a definite yes!

Not matter how you feel about Games Workshop or the Age of Sigmar, I think we can all agree that

Narrative campaigns that affect our hobby worlds are a good thing.  Having a chance to affect things

can bring real meaning to a hobby, knowing that your battles aren't just random happenings in a vacuum.

I definitely want Games Workshop to continue with the Global Campaigns for Age of Sigmar, and definitely

want them to bring it over to 40k as well.  There is a new found drive on my part to finish more

armies for Age of Sigmar and 40k, hoping for more of this format of play.  I can’t wait to see what the story

implications of the campaign have on the setting, and it will be a massively missed opportunity if it isn’t taken

to its final conclusion.

Let's just hope that the wait isn’t as long as last time.

Let me know in the comments whether you took part in the Season of War, who did you play and why?

What do you think of the results and would you play again, for Age of Sigmar and 40K.

Until next time

Jonathan 

Everyman and His Beard: A Return of Monthly White Dwarf

Morning Everyone,

Hope you're all doing well today?
As I am sure you are all aware, the return of Monthly White Dwarf is due to hit the shelves of Games Workshop, or your local tender, be it FLGS, hobby store, or even from the bowels of the interwebz and GWs online webstore.  I think we can all agree that excitement is running high on this one. From the veterans of yonder year who still have shelves bowing under the weight of older editions back in the day, to our new bloods who never had a chance to hold the original beast in their hands.

Yes I picked the sisters for the retro cover... Bring back Sisters of Battle... With new models dammit!!!!


What does it mean for us as hobbyists? Will it even truly change any of our hobby attitudes or habits?  No one can know until we get a few months in our hands and see what the team have for us in store.

Personally, I think it's a good move on Games Workshops part.  The weekly magazine, though not always having amazing content, occasionally, a gem would shine through here and there, but I personally never purchased it religiously. Not like when it was a monthly back in the day.

But will it definitely be the same as it once was?  We all know battle reports are coming back; and not that they were masterful insights into playing, they were definitely a good read.  Especially when we got a bit of narrative to go with the games. For me, I want to see more hobby content, more advice on painting, spotlights on private as well as GW sponsored events, store spotlights on who the regulars are, who they play and what systems would be great, help on building your own personal narratives; and one definite thing... More even page counts for each game.  Not everyone plays 40k and AoS... On that point, more expansions on the new box set games like deathwatch overkill, Imperial Knights Renegade, kill team, and hopefully we won't still be waiting for it too much longer: Blood Bowl!!!! WOOOO!!!! BLOOD BOWL!!!! (I'm not biased really....).

What are you hoping for? Have I missed anything? Are you completely meh about the whole situation, let me know in the comments.

Until next time
Jonathan

The Red Laughter; Or how I learned to Love messing with my gaming buddy's brain

Hello again Everyone,

Today I was thinking we should sit down and discuss something a little bit fun, a little bit crazy, and a great psychological poking stick to ram into the ribs your Gaming Buddies.

As we all know from a core perspective, not only table top wargaming, but including; computer games, console games, rpg games, board games (the list goes on and on... and let's not get into all of the real life examples of this concept...) that if you can remove enough dudez you will win by proxy.  A dead obstacles is no obstacle at all.

This mentally has always been around, and to visualise it in the perspective of 40k we cast our minds back to the past and the eponymous Imperial Guard leafblower list. A list purely designed; dependant on personal preference (I remember both infantry and tank varieties of the list) to be durable yet have enough attacks to sweep you're opponent off the board.  Why wait to play a whole game when you can just get it over and done with. This concept has never gone away, and I think never will go away from the hobby.  The power levels of each army change so they become the new hot flavour of the edition to capitalise on this approach.

Now I am not a very competitive player, and I won't tell you how to meta a list to beat these sort of armies (sorry), but what I am going to tell you about is my experiences with the Khorne Daemonkin; The Troll-tastic hunks of beef that will make your opponent think twice when it comes to sweeping you off the board.

As I am sure you are all aware Khorne care'th not from whence the blood flows.  And this is where I have began to start to play this army, from a fluffy mental perspective.  Your Warlord on the board is your avatar; so will you cry as your forces die in droves? Or will you send in the next wave with a gleeful grin upon your face.  Every death, gaining you favour with Khorne, and possibly new minions to fight on your behalf.  And this is where Daemonkin comes into its own.  It is never really a viable option to try to sweep the army, as new units will appear as the blood flows and you gain Khornes' favour.  For your opponent it becomes a game of half measures and risky attacks to avoid killing your units.  And ho' boy he really doesn't want to get stuck in combat, as either he kills you or you kill him.  This is exactly where the Daemonkin want to be.

Khorne Daemonkin is a brilliant fluffy army to play, more so than many other armies in my opinion, everyone can tap into that 80s villain lurking deep inside; a maniacal grin on my face begging my opponent to kill my army.  I've seen my opponents stop in horror, hesitating to drop the final blow, killing Khorne Daemonkin does them no favours...  My over the top tirades that they aren't killing me quick enough, slowly eating at their sanity.  "But... But... This isn't how it is supposed to be in 40k they cry"... My cackling continues as does their hesitation.

A hard fight to win has just become closer, objectives are secured, units are destroyed, as the other army runs away.  Khorne is pleased.  And at the end of it all, should you be tabled, it doesn't matter... Khorne is pleased... He Care'th not for where the blood flows...

And really, at the end of the day, win or lose, the Daemonkin player is always winning.  I love this army, it's fluffy, well rounded and messes with your opponent.  I have been tabled many times but never once have I not been happy at the end of a game.  I really suggest giving it a go, especially with a grin and a red laughter upon your lips...

Let us know in the comments below how you are pleasing your diety of choice when you hit the tables.

Until next time
Jonathan