Build a bastion, er, bunker, er, both!

What's that?  That's right, I'm talking about some terrain today.  I need to switch my focus completely to getting my Adepticon army in order and painted to a standard better than 'done', so what did I do?  I built some terrain instead...

That's right, I'm always focused on what's important in this hobby.  As it turns out, building terrain can be important too.  In this particular case, it was.  You see, I'm running a Planetary Empires campaign in my game group and we needed a bastion to fight over.  Seeing as how the other players are mostly newbies, I had to 'take one for the cause' and finally build one of mine.  And it was fun.

It was fun because it was very easy, but it was also enlightening.  I don't have any money these days, so buying the new bunkers and trench lines isn't an option, yet I really wanted a bunker.  Is there a way to build the bastion and still be able to make it into a bunker as well?  Why, yes there is!  GW was brilliant when they designed this kit, and a little less glue than normal can give it a dual purpose.  Let me show you a whole series of pics and give you the basics on how to do it all:

First, get all the bitz cut and cleaned up.

Secondly, build the base.  It's easiest to glue the triangular corners to the facings and then glue it together.  Make sure it's 'squared' up.  Plastic glue can move too much sometimes...

Then build the second layer.  I made sure to build the gun-mountings and install them after everything is done.  Really, I wanted to focus on getting the sides done right.  After all, a gun-mount is only as good as the concrete holding it, right?

 Of course, the next step is to build the parapet walls.  Same thing here, make sure you pay attention to 'squaring it up'.  I did this at each step by test-fitting each layer on the layer below repeatedly until it held.

No good deed goes un-noticed, so I have to show off the fitting of everything.  Note that there is no glue between the layers, just a snug fit.

Now comes the important part- adding the flooring!  I built the floor separately and then dropped them in.  In fact, I found the floor may have been a safer bet for testing the 'square' status.  Luckily, it all fit perfectly and proved that my years as a carpenter actually mattered...  Please note, again, no glue for this.

What about the next layer?  Same thing, no glue, tight fit, perfect!  And not gluing the floor down means I can easily switch this thing anytime I want.

Finally let's see how this looks all built up:

See bastion done.  Done, bastion, done.

See bunker done, minus the middle layer.  Shrink, bastion to bunker, shrink.

And that's it!  Simple, sweet, and almost like it was designed this way.  I know most of you have probably built your bastion the same way and thought the same thing when you bought the kit, but if there's anyone that hasn't- hopefully this helps!

Now on to making this blog worth reading...

How many people bring fortifications into their army?  I don't see it very often.  When I do see someone bring a fortification, all I see are Aegis Defense Lines.  I know they're cheap and that makes it easier to include the too-often-necessary AA Quad-gun, but think about this:

A bastion is only 25 more points, comes with four more heavy weapons, two levels of fortification (AV 14 building and 3+ cover-giving parapets), plus the same weapon options.  Do I have an Aegis line?  Of course I do!  But 25 additional points to gain that much extra stuff is a deal, to say the least.

What about players that refuse to bring any fortifications in their lists?  Those players are, unfortunately, very much like me.  I appreciate terrain under player control, but I appreciate my army more.  That usually means I would rather spend the points on more troops or a bigger, meaner HQ or tank.  But hey, terrain is just as important to the game as the toy soldiers themselves are.  The fact that GW included this option is one of the many things about 6th edition that I LOVE!  It may not be the wisest idea, especially in the competitive meta, but the cool-factor alone more than makes up for this.  Plus, who doesn't like having bunkers from Turn 1 for those heavy weapon squads?

Let me know if you like fortifications and, if you do, which ones you take and why.  Otherwise, Happy Gaming!

The game of Love and Hate

I'm sure all of you know by now that I am happy to share my opinions about things.  I've stopped sharing my opinions on real-life things (for reasons that I won't go into here) but my propensity to share about fantasy crap continues unabated.  On this particular blog, I've found it wholly refreshing to share some of those opinions in as hilarious a manner as I can, and somehow I've even gathered a few followers for it.

Today, I plan to rant some more, but I'm going to rant about opinions I shared before and how I have to rescind a bit.  I've found myself changing my mind lately and that upsets me, since my opinions are well-supported and entertaining.  As it turns out, though, I can still be entertaining when I change my mind.  So what am I talking about?

Let's start with Chaos Space Marines army.  I have a large Word Bearers army (somewhere around 4k points and steadily growing) and I am so focused on the heretics in crimson that I feel lost when I pick up any of my other armies.  Why is this an issue?  Well, if you would have talked to me two decades ago, when I was a noob and had only began collecting my second army, I would have told you that anyone that plays Chaos is an anti-populist and overwhelmed by their need to 'be different'.  I would have waxed philosophic about how Chaos is the stupidest army in the game because following a path that leads to guaranteed damnation and probable soul-consumption is moronic.  I would have preached about the glory of belonging to the Imperium, where the massive organization is the only hope humans have in a galaxy that's trying to eat them, or Eldar, where the greatest empire in galactic history is at least focused and concise on their goals.  And yet, for the second time in a decade, I've fallen to the dark side.

You see, Chaos is everything they're supposed to be- evil, sadistic, single-purposed, and chaotic (duh).  Following the Chaos gods is certain to end a human soul in the belly of some unfathomably evil being, even though hundreds of years of great power are promised and usually given.  Donning a mark will end in nothing but regret and hatred for the entirety of a human's life, even if it bestows unique gifts and skills.  But it does offer two things that the Imperium cannot offer- cooler toys and lots of spikes and chains!  I have to admit that my Word Bearers are attractive to me (my favorite colour is red and that helps alot) since they have much more 'manly' traits than my good-guy counterparts.  The vehicles are alive and angry and the troops are very visibly intimidating.  I love my Ultrasmurfs and enjoy my Dark Angels muchly, but they aren't nearly as mean-looking as my Word Bearers.  I find myself happier to pull out the army and stare at the models than I do with the good guys.

Now let's talk about some of the models that I have expressed displeasure with.  The first is the Heldrake.  I hate the Heldrake.  I think the model looks stupid.  I think the background for the model is contrived at best.  I know I would prefer to have a FW Chaos flyer more.  I don't like the cartoony look of the Heldrake, or the fact that it's so different from anything else in the game.  I don't like to see Power Ranger enemies sneaking onto the 40k battlefield.  Then something crazy happened...

The other day, I had my entire IG Armoured Company spread across my table.  Rows and rows of Leman Russes and Chimeras sat lined up, with the guns of Basalisks and super-heavies casting a shadow over them.  But sitting behind the mess was the newly-built Heldrake flyer.  There was something about that image that still makes me smile today.  You see, I realized just how different the model was.  Dozens of boxy, basic tanks sat arrayed in neat formation in direct contrast to the spike-ridden beast suspended in mid-air.  The particular view evoked images of a massive beast-machine swooping down on order and devouring hapless Imperial tanks.  It just fit so well that I couldn't help but to appreciate it.  And then I realized that I suddenly liked the model.  Dammit!  I still hate the model with a passion, but it appears that the feeling is conditional.  Lo and behold, I rescind my total hatred of the model.

Finally, I move on to the Defiler.  Now this is a bit different as I have already sermonized about my love of the Defiler.  But I seem to be rather alone in my love of the model.  Better yet, this isn't about love of the model at all, but that I love the rules for the model (except the armour value, of course).  Everyone I talk to thinks the same of the model as I do of the Heldrake model.  But I am very different in this way.  I think the Defiler fits the Chaos army better than the two new Daemon-engines.  Whereas the Heldrake and the Forge/Mauler-fiends are copies of one another, the Defiler is an obvious 'normal' machine that has been 'adapted' for its role as a vessel of Daemons.  It's little more than a Leman Russ with a shrunken body, a magnified turret, and legs.  Add some spikes and more weapons and BLAM! new machine.  It fits all-too well.

Let me expand on my love of the Defiler for a moment...  I had a thought last night that made my day.  I was thinking about my love of the Defiler and my inability to convince myself to add a Helbrute or Vindicator.  I like the Helbrute for when it touches the enemy and gets to go crazy all over the Imperial lapdogs (or Xenos scum that I happen to face far more often these days), but I don't like its inability to cause any real damage at range.  I like the Vindicator (so much, in fact, that every Imperial Space Marine army I have includes at least one) for the big pie-plate it lays down on those pesky Imperial Terminators (or anyone else I have to kill).  but I don't like how easily it dies as it gets closer to the enemy.  And then it hit me- the Defiler is a cross between the two!  I get a walker, with a 5+ invulnerable save and more attacks, plus a pie-plate (at slightly lower strength) and a couple more weapons.  And it all costs less points than the Vindicator and Helbrute combined (although not much less, to be fair).  So the Defiler gives me two models of effectiveness for only one slot.  How can you not like the machine?

But I digress.  The Defiler model isn't bad at all.  But I do have to admit that the model seems outclassed compared to the other, newer Daemon-engines.  I enjoy the Defiler more than most anyone else in the hobby, but I do have to give credit where it's due, and the model could probably stand a bit of an update.  Again, I rescind a previous opinion, although this one a little less than the last one.

So here's the deal:  I prize my Defilers and Heldrake more than I should.  I may strongly believe that the Undivided aspect of my book isn't as strong as some Marks, but I think the models more than make up for it.  I don't like the look of the strongest troops in that book, the Plague Marines, but I absolutely love the look of the less-effective models.  And for that, I must conclude that I hate to love these things but love to hate nonetheless.  A barely-understandable contradiction, right?  And therein lies the game...

This pic gets better every time I post it.

Let me know what you guys love to hate or hate to love.  And, of course, Happy Hobbying!

I made something actually good!

I finally made the one model I needed to make my Word Bearers scary.  It wasn't that I didn't own the thing, it was just a matter of finding the time to do it.  And I did.  I actually built this model last week as the final act before returning to work.  And it made my week.

What is this model?  Well, what is the single model all Word Bearers should have besides the Dark Apostle?  The answer?  An even more badass Dark Apostle!  "But, Jay..."  I hear you saying, "how do you made a Dark Apostle more badass?"  Hmmmm, that's a great question if you've never played Chaos before.  What do the Chaos gods do to make any worshiper more awesome?  They turn them into Daemon Princes!

Yes, I already have a Daemon Prince.  But that one is rocking the sword and is obviously a very normal Warlord-turned-Daemon, and that just will not do for my evil Chaplain.  I picked up a plastic Daemon Prince model a couple of months ago and let it sit on my shelf, not thinking that it would matter anytime soon.  But I've been losing alot of games lately and I figured it was about time I started focusing on 'upgrading' my collection.  I've added a ton of Cultists, I've bought a Heldrake, I've recently built a new Destructor, but I still felt that I was missing something.  Then I remembered the Daemon Prince model...

I made sure that this one had three big things:  the first is obviously Power Armor.  40k is too full of bullets to not take that.  The second is Wings.  After all, the ability to get up close to the thing you want to hit is rather important.  Plus, Flying Monstrous Creatures are pretty beast in 40k right now.  Finally, the third thing is the most important of them all- the Black Mace!

The Black Mace is 45 points of 'awesome' in the hands of a monster.  It's the same strength as the wielder and AP 4, which means that putting this weapon on the normal Chaos Marine of any type just seems like alot of points without a lot of gain.  But in the hands of a Strength 6, AP 2 monster, this weapon really becomes valuable.  Add to that the 'Daemon Weapon' rule (+2-6 attacks, usually) and the 'Cursed' rule (AoE T tests or death vs. the enemy), and this is a cocktail of amazing!  Plus, it's a Daemon Prince with a Crozius, making him the perfect stand-in for an 'elevated' Dark Apostle.

Do I believe that this model is going to win me more games?  Maybe, but I'm certainly going to have more fun bashing in faces.  Any Chaos Marine player I know insists that this model is almost a 'must-have', but I've put it off.  I finally added it, and I'm happy.

By the way, for those of you wondering how I made the mace- I took the Daemon Prince's axe, hacked the blade and spike off, and added the three Chaos star-halves.  Those 'stars' are from the banner-tops found in the Chaos Space Marine box set, and I just happened to have three extras.  Simply cut the 'teeth' from the bottom, shave the area flat, cut and shape the axe-head area to being however many sides you need, and then glue the 'stars' to each side!  It was simple and took me about ten minutes (6 of which were ripping through my bitz box looking for anything I could use).  If this doesn't make sense, I apologize.  But I guarantee it was very easy to do.  

I hope you enjoy this model as much as I do.  As always-  Happy Hobbying!

Undivided sux...

I've settled on my army list for Adepticon and it's not good.  I've been playing a bunch of games in my game group and it hasn't gone well.  I've tried to stick to a theme, but that theme is wholly undivided.  I don't have Plague Marines (always a win), nor do I use Tzeentch-marked Terminators or Nurgle-marked Spawn.  Every time I talk army lists with one of my 'cheezier' gamer buddies, he tells me the same thing-

Undivided Chaos is terrible!

I've tried to argue his point, citing such things as lower points-cost and background-laden precedent.  But my experience on the battlefield has shown my arguments to be wrong and this basic truth to be, well, a basic truth.

Everyone who knows me will tell you that I love my Word Bearers.  I don't like Khorne, I hate Slaanesh and Tzeentch, and I wholly ignore Nurgle.  I think that Iron Warriors and Night Lords are too limited, the Black Legion is too basic, and the Alpha Legion are a bunch of morons.  So that leaves me with Word Bearers.  And that leaves me with 'undivided' troops.  I can have Marines, Marines with jump packs, Marines with heavy weapons, and Marines with daemonic bitz coming out of them.  I can even add some Cultists and ally the ever-present Daemons.  But there's no such thing as non-Tzeentch Thousand Sons or Word Bearer Berserkers.  So what do I do?

Well, that's a great question.  I have come at this from two angles so far:

On the one hand- I can simply play the 'book-version' of the Word Bearers, including little more than Marines and Possessed with no marks, and just take the losses like a man.  I don't mind losing (I have been known to be a poor sport, buuuut...), but I have to feel like my army isn't what's failing me to have a good time.  The dice have always hated me and my luck has never worked to my favour, but my tactics and list design aren't supposed to be that bad.  With my Chaos armies right now, it feels that bad.  

On the other hand- I can take marks and play 'counts-as' units to take advantage of some of the fun stuff in the book.  I've recently built a unit of robed Chaos Marines and attached them to an old metal Sorcerer to count them as 'Thousand Sons'.  I even have a unit of Berserkers built and plan on, someday, converting a plague-ridden squad to count as 'Plague Marines'.  I have entertained the idea of tossing Marks on my regular troopers to indicate a special 'blessing' that the gods have given my extra-faithful warband.  But I feel dirty every time I do.  I feel like I'm spitting in the fluff-bible's eye.

Oh how I would love to have some T5 Marines and Spawn running around.  Oh how I would enjoy Terminators with a 4+ invulnerable save or a Lord rocking the Axe of Blind Fury.  A unit of Raptors sporting the mark of Slaanesh and some lightning claws wouldn't be horrible.  But I'm too much of a fluff-bunny.

And for that, I lose.  Hmmm...

Let me hear y'all's thoughts!  And, as always, Happy Gaming!