The Lion's last ride in 10th

   With the new edition being released soon (as of this battle, certainly not this publishing!), we had to get a game in with the Primarch I had embarassed many moons ago and try to gain redemption to end the current 10th.  I still brought that army list, but the Lion had come with a new strategy and we were playing a different mission and setup.  That last game saw everything working in my favour, but I was a little less confident.  It is Lion El'Jonson, after all!

  Now, admittedy, I must admit that it's been so long that we played this game, so the details will certainly be lost.  But my focus won't really be about the game in this case.  I'll still include a gazillion pictures and announce the winner at the end, of course.  But I really want to talk about the experience a bit.  First- it was my son that demanded this rematch, and he's been so busy that getting a game in seemed like an old story from days long past!  That kind of excitement can be a little contagious.

  But this was more about a new routine being built.  First, there is a new game store that's actually closer to both my work and my house than the other store in town (and that one is awesome!) and it's got a small 40k group there.  The group is filled with newbies and the gaming area is totally stocked by these people.  The store focuses on Pop figures (I'm still so surprised that it's such a strong industry!) and card games (MtG keeps game stores alive- duh!), but they've started carrying some GW products and Army Painter paints.  

  The store owner, Mike, is awesome and is constantly seeking feedback and improving the store (from the outside to the inside- every week something is better!).  He's a blue-collar, like me, but wanted to do something fun and suddenly this popped up!  The gamers there are pretty friendly (there's a couple guys there that just want to be left alone, but that's to be expected) and were constantly inviting us back to play again and again, and even asking for rules advise on things they didn't quite get.  My son and I are, after all, veterans at this and breezed through the game like we always do.  It's nice to be 'the guy' for a bit...

  Beyond the new environment and peers, we also decided to play with the official 10th edition terrain rules based on mission and deployments.  My buddy at Only War gave me some terrain and I bought another set (such a good set!!!) with the templates.  We opened the tournament pack PDF and found the official layout and laid out the terrain.  It was interesting to us because we always do the 'open deployment' where we place objectives and then fill the table.  For the first time (probably ever), we set up a battlefield that all those tournie-bros use.  We were as 'official' as we could be... for the last game of 10th edition!

  We will make a point of going to the game store on Sunday mornings and becoming part of the crowd (well, I will and I hope my son finds the time but he uses the other game store more often right now).  Better, this new routine may include going to a local family bar that has 'Game Night' on Saturdays.  I alaready have everything and provide the tablemats, terrain, armies, dice, rules, and just my own enthusiasm.  This new environment, new crowd, and new edition all give me the opportunity "un-retire" from the gaming world again.  That being said, I have some other distractions and that's some more posts for later.  

  Okay, now that all the ranting is done, let's go to some pics of the battle!  I don't remember what the actual mission was (we had to use a Post-It notepad to track- I missed my whiteboard from my game room!), and I don't remember what the deployment looked like.  Sorry (this old brain ain't so sharp these days).  But here's some pics!

Word Bearers vs. Dark Angels

  By this point in the game (Round 2 or 3), the Word Bearers had built up a bunch of points and pushed the 1st Legion boyz into their own quarter.  But then the Lion showed up and mayhem beset the heretic forces.

  By the time the smoke had cleared, The Lion had killed two Daemon Princes and finished off another unit before the combined firepower of the Land Raider and the Annihilator finsihed him off.  The Dark Angels had been reduced to little more than some Terminators and scraps trying desperately to break an armoured core of hateful survivors.  The score is now lost to time, but the Lion's vengeance delivered to so many heretics was a glory to see.  Lion El'Jonson may have fallen by the end, but the toll he took was well beyond 'even'- over 700 pts so his less than 300...  Ouch!

  We had such fun and it was a joy for my son to actually get to be a part of one of our games in a store.  While I have the experience running thiousands of demo game and being part of almost a dozen tournaments (hell, even 3 times at Adepticon!!!), but he's only played me at home.  And he saw how much of a blast it can be!!!  I wonder if he remembers the score of that game...

  Keep an eye out- I'm 'bombing' my blogsite with a lot of posts right now.  You'll understand as I go throug them, but just know that 40k isn't going to be a priority for a minute...  11th edition should be interesting, even if I'm unhappy to restart the cycle.  But I have other projects too, so don't fret.  11th edition 40k is coming...

As always, Happy Gaming!

Decals...

   I've never been a fan of decals.  From the mythical days of my childhood and building model cars and airplanes to the current times of retired professional, I just never had good luck with them.  Waterslide transfers, or decals, just never 'do it' for me.  I don't like the way they leave the border, the way they shine against the matte model body, or the way they look too 'clean' compared to a hand-paint job.  But I want to use them as I have hundreds of sheets of them lying around.  But they never work out and I just default to freehanding (which I am talented enough, just not motivated).  

  But I decided to paint up an old tank for my Chaos Marines and figured to do some research and give the pro methods a try.  Flat surfaces (Space Marine shoulder pads are the bane of decals!) make for good learning.  And, as promised in the post about that tank, the attempt would make a great post for later!  So after watching others' videos and reading their blogs on the process, I found that I wasn't far off- the process hasn't changed much in 40 years!  

  As with any hobby project, you have to first gather the materials.  For this, you will need a small tub or cup of warm water (they're called 'waterslide transfers' for a reason), a small paintbrush (I used a new 'layer'-sized brush), paper towels, a set of tweezers, a sharp hobby knife, the decals (of course), and a couple of products from the interwebs- 

  Once you have all those materials and some calming music playing in the background (I tend to enjoy some Bach or Mozart, or early Metallica), it's time to begin the fun.  The first step is to coat the area of the model with gloss varnish (or 'ardcoat in this case).  Be sure to use quite a bit of water in the varnish as the goal is to make a very smooth surface.  While that varnish is drying, cut out the decals (as close to the image as possible) and drop them into the warm water.  

I cut out the decals and staged them 

Applied 'ardcoat to all the target areas...

And started dropping decals into the water.

  As the decals are slowly washing off their sheets, and obviously well after the 'ardcoat has dried completely (I rushed this and I'm not confident that it didn't have an effect), brush some Micro-set onto the area.  This vinegar-smelling chemical is a very weak adhesive and allows the decal to cling to the surface better.  Then, remove the decal from the water with the tweezers and, using a paintbrush, slide the decal from its sheet onto the surface that you'd like it to go.  

Lay down the 'set...

slide the transfer/decal to the area...

and adjust as needed until the decal is placed perfectly.

  Once the decal is placed on the model where it's meant to go, use a paper towel to gently smash it into the surface.  This is to flatten the decal, remove the excess water and Microset, and push out air bubbles.  If the decal is being placed on a rounded or irregular surface, this may still leave folds and bubbles as the flat decal doesn't fit well.  This is where that sharp knife may be necessary to cut some micro-slits, but that needs a video to show.  Otherwise, applying the other 'micro'- the Microsol, will help as this chemical slowly melts the decal.  There is a risk that the image may be faded off, but focus the brush with Microsol around the edges and any folds in the center.

So much 'feathering'...

  Once the decal is completely dry and fits on the area it's supposed to, go back and slather gloss varnish over it again.  This is to 'fill the edges' as well as seal the decal onto the model.  As warned before, be sure that the decal and chemicals are all dried as the effectiveness could be lessoned if you move too quick (ask me how I know...).  

And slather the 'ardcoat again!

  This post is wholly motivated by my Predator tank and the attempt at this stuff again.  Therefore, pics of said tank and the placement of all the decals must be shown:

I even 'stacked' the decals for this one!

  Once all of everything is dry and the decals are solid and set, it is time for the final step.  At this point, spray the entire model with matt varnish (I used the Munitorum stuff from GW)- this will 'flat' all the shiny decals and join the texture to the rest of the model.  Be sure, of course, to retouch anything that was supposed to be shiny with 'ardcoat after- those headlights got me!

  I haven't taken any pictures of the end result because I'm not a fan of the final result.  All of the reasons that I don't like decals, as listed above, still showed.  Now, I have to give credit in that the decals did fit quite a bit better than past attempts and they are certainly sealed in (I did the chip-corner test and nothing moved!), so there was some obvious success.  But the glossiness still showed and many of the decals still had 'edges'.  This could be because I rushed much of the process and didn't have the patience for the results, and it could be that I'm VERY paranoid with spray varnish as I don't want to ruin a good paint job with the fog (PS- that's what happened to the Termie Lord you see above- I'm a little upset by that), so I always go too light.  

  Overall, I'm certainly closer to conquering the decal-life, but I'm still not a pro at it at all.  Through trial-and-error shall I learn this, so what will my next victim be...

Happy Hobbying!

Annihilator in red!

 

  I have been 'flitting' between games and armies in 40k lately, being too busy and stressed to focus on any one thing.  But I still needed to justify my insane investments, so something had to get some paint.  My brother was excited to build a couple of units to add to his Combat Patrol, and I decided I would do the same.  Plus, my Combat Patrol disappoints me and NEEDS some additions, and a tank is always a good choice in my mind.  

  This particular model has been in my collection for a long time.  I acquired it from someone years and years ago and it was painted so poorly that it sat in a bitz-box, nearly forgotten.  Then, many editions ago, I dug it (and a ton of Destructor bits to build- the sequel to this one, planned for some point in the future) out and realized (again) that it needed severe attention.  With the addition of skulls, spikes, and stars, I emptied a can of Mephiston Red spraypaint (or airbrushed it- I really don't remember after all this time) and turned it into a usable unit for my Chaos Marines.  I must've played this model (despite being annoyed by the unmoving lascannons and ungainly weight distribution of metal with thin plastic) a hundred times by now, but never got around to just painting it.  Now it is time...

Basecoat all metal bits with Iron Warrior- my favorite silver base colour right now.

Basecoat all 'weird' areas black- remember that this is a rogue-trader era model!

Wash all of the areas with Nuln Oil, of course.

Some bone on the skulls, some yellow in the headlights, and it's playable!

I taught my bro how to 'gem' on these easier, flat surfaces.  He got it!

Line in all the panel-breaks and inside corners with Khorne Red and black mix to add more detail

Ah, line highlighting black...

So many options, and I eventually just chose the basic 'black' for the casing and cowlings.

Time for the blue lascannon glow- start with Corax White basecoat,

wash heavily with a blue wash,

and then just highlight the coils.  Not great, but done!

Always gotta remember to highlight the skulls!

  Here's where things got fun- I spent a couple of hours (spread over all day) painting all the red, silver, and black details but now I needed to add markings to really make it stand out!  I was more excited about the addition of decals than I was painting, so the quality of my paintwork isn't the best (nor rarely is, to be fair).  I'll have another post about how I worked on those decals...

DONE!

  After a couple of decades (at least), this model is finally finished and useable like I'd prefer.  This is a 'Deimos' pattern Predator, reflecting the ancient stockpile of the renegades.  The veterans of the long war would not have new equipment kicking about, so they'll be extra dependent on the old stuff.  My son described it as 'tiny' and a 'block of red'- success!  It is smaller than the current scale (not by enough to affect gameplay) and is certainly very red.  

Happy Hobbying!

Faith versus Perfection

  The Emperor's Children, once paragons of perfection and models for all Astartes, had just begun their muster when they were challenged by the Word Bearers.  Their depravity and lost grace drove them to accept and make haste to an abandoned Imperial world to teach the preachers some things.  While the force was a hodge-podge collection at this point, they were eager to see (and feel) pain again, and these challengers were asking for it.  

The forces

  The Word Bearers brought the same force that took down the Lion- two Daemon Princes and their Warp Talons, a Master of Possession and his Possessed, a Lord with Chosen and a Dark Apostle with Chosen, and the vehicle fleet of a Helbrute, 2 Predators, and a Land Raider.  It's not the most powerful force in the world, but there was some 'min-maxing' involved...

  The Emperor's Children had to depend on a lot of daemons to fill out the ranks.  They brought a Lord and his Infractors, a Sorcerer and his Tormentors, a couple units of Noise Marines and a couple more of Emperor's Children squads, a single Maulerfiend and Terminators for that 'heavy' element, all backed up by Spawn, Daemonettes, Seekers of Slaanesh, and a Keeper of Secrets.  

The mission and objectives

  This mission is super-easy!  With 12" deployment zones and each objective giving victory points (and more if a character is holding it), the mission were very easy to remember.  Even better, the battlefield is mined, so any advance roll of '6' will cause damage- Emperor's Children are very fast and known to advance often, so this was a huge (if only psychological) advantage to the Word Bearers!

 The Emperor's Children counted the Word Bearers' characters and chose Assassinate, and knew their own speed, so chose Engage on All Fronts.  

  The Word Bearers, realizing their own speed and the ability to deep strike made the Engage on All Fronts secondary mission and must as well, and they reinforced this with Behind Enemy Lines.  This is surprising considering the Word Bearers are playing an 'armoured' force while the Emperor's Children is lauded for their speed!

Deployment

  The Word Bearers started by deploying everything to flanks, leaving only the Predator Annihilator to hold their home objective in the middle.  One unit of Warp Talons and their winged Daemon Prince remained in reserves, do deep strike into the abandoned enemy zone.  The Chosen and characters rode in the Land Raider and followed the other unit of Warp Talons on their left flank, while the Possessed had a ton of support all deployed in and around the ruins on the right flank.  If the enemy is going to use speed, then the Word Bearers would bait-and-drag to surround them...

  The Emperor's Children, still trying to understand their muster, deployed in a wide flank all the way across the board.  Some Daemonettes and the Terminators stayed in reserves while more Daemonetts and Seekers skittered behind the squads of marines to lend their support.  The Spawn and Keeper deployed to the flank to hunt the enemy leaders.  

  Both sides cajoled each other with their false worship-styles and prepared to teach the other a lesson.  Ironically, the Emperor's Children couldn't be 'perfect' just yet while the Word Bearers did not have too much faith against them.  This battle was going to be little more than hate-filled brother versus hate-filled brother.

Round 1

  The Emperor's Children won the initiative roll and so got to act first.  The entire force moved forward, much advancing (slowly to avoid the mines), and threatening the enemy quickly.  To really drive the point home, the Seekers leapt forward past their escort and settled right in front of the Possessed to tease them.  Slaaneshi followers don't do things 'normal'!  Meanwhile, the Tormentors shot at the Annihilator in the center to cause minimal damage, and a unit of Noise Marines tried to do the same to the Possessed and completely whiffed.  

  The Word Bearers reacted as a Khorne-aligned force would and simply unloaded on everything they could.  The Possessed claimed dibs on the Daemonettes, so the Destructor and Daemon Prince fired at the Noise Marines to kill over half the squad.  The Possessed, instigated by the daemons teasing, then led the charge and helped wipe out the smart-mouthed cavalry.  

On the other side of the battlefield, the Annihilator had claimed the Maulerfiend as the Focus of Hatred and unleashed all three lascannons, but failed to finish the armoured beast off.  The Land Raider crawled forward and disgorged all the Chosen and their leaders and contributed its four lascannons against the Maulerfiend and still failed.  The dice were not in the graces of the Chaos gods...  Finally, the Warp Talons moved to help fight the Spawn- needed all their claws and the help of a Chosen Champion to kill them.  The other unit of Chosen and the Lord charged the Flawless Blades screening the Keeper of Secrets and destroyed all but one.  Not to be denied his prodigous skill, the surviving Blade took down a Chosen in return.  

End Rd 1- Emperor's Children 0, Word Bearers 0

Round 2

  The Emperor's Children were reeling from the sudden onslaught and nearly paralyzed as they tried to formulate a new plan to respond.  Their enemy had reacted too quickly to their plans and, even with poor dice, managed to stymie the advance and cause some significant damage!  The army simply moved up and depended on passing their Battleshock tests.  To start, they still claimed their own home objective (the Tormentors had 'marked' it before moving away), giving the army three victory points so far. The Tormentors continued their advance forward, peppering the Possessed unit and trying to utilize their precise weaponry to attempt to kill the Master of Possessions, yet their efforts were unfortunately unrewarded. The Noise Marines standing alongside them had no choice but to stand idle, as the Emperor's Children found no interest in units that were already under attack by one of their own. On the other side of the battlefield, the Infractors moved up to claim the center objective and engage the Daemon Prince, and the final Flawless Blade retreated to allow the Keeper of Secrets to engage the two units of Chosen who had slain her favorite mortal followers. The rest of the army watched in glee as the carnage began to escalate.  The Lord, leading the Infractors, tried to hurt the Daemon Prince and failed only to see two of the veterans hacked down by the monster.  But the real action was with the Keeper of Secrets, who let out a other-worldly howl to begin its rampage.  The Chaos Lord and his Chosen were well-prepared and popped the 'Strike First' rule- his hammer causing eight mortal wounds and adding a couple more from his bodyguard, infuriating the massive creature.  The Keeper decapitated three of the Chosen from the Dark Apostle's squad.  The preacher and his survivors put another three wounds on the Keeper, completely flipping the turn's momentum!  The Emperor's Children army had lost the glee from only a moment ago and now understood the dread.  

This is COMPLETELY opposite of the last dice- the return of probability!

  The Word Bearers (having changed dice between turns and now confident with newfound luck) only had to press their advantage and win.  They controlled two objectives and the Dark Apostle was one of the controllers, earning them 12 victory points.  They chose the Keeper of Secrets as their Focus of Hatred to ensure success as they retreated everything from it.  With that, the Land Raider unleashed all the Soulshatter Cannons to kill the greater daemon and signal for the rest of the armoured elements.  The Annihilator finished the severely-wounded Maulerfiend and the Destructor mowed down many Daemonettes.  The end of the cacaphony of cannons signaled the charge for everyone- the Possessed charged the surviving Daemonettes to finish them and then contacted the Noise Marines, the Lord's Chosen joined the Warp Talons to charge the other unit of Daemonettes and wiped them out, and Daemon Prince continued to battle their Lord and Infractors, suffering only one wound but wiping them out.  The Emperor's Children could only watch their own massacre, and missed another unit of Warp Talons and a winged Daemon Prince appearing in their backfield.  This gave them another 7 victory points for 'Engage on All Fronts' and 'Behind Enemy Lines'. 

End Round 2- Emperor's Children 3, Word Bearers 19

End of the Game

  While the game is supposed to be five rounds, this one was called after two.  The Word Bearers were now so far ahead in points while their opponent didn't even have enough units to claim objectives, so there was no way to win for the Emperor's Children.  

  With a final score of 3-19, it was a very clear Word Bearer's victory. The Emperor's Children had tried their first battle and apparently had a long way to go to achieve that perfection they are [in]famous for.  That being said, the army was only just started and had no options to choose from- my son had to dig out his Daemon collection to fill the ranks.  Worse, the fledgling army had to face against a Primarch-buster list and probably wasn't a fair judgement anyway.  But this was a chance to learn the special rules and make a plan for expansion...

  The abandoned Imperial world resolved into silence as the red-armoured heretics had cleared and claimed it.  Their own brothers, arrogantly challenging the seasoned force, thought their reputation would carry the day, but the Word Bearers were ready.  The Lord of the Emperor's Children knew that he would need to muster much more to threaten the veteran army and retreated in chaotic order.  Next time, heretics, next time...

Happy Gaming!