The Complete IoB Guide for High Elves

In this post, you'll find that the "tactics" I recommend doesn't just cover gameplay mechanics, but it'll also cover some smart buying options to save on money before the next wave of releases.  Before we begin, let's see what we actually get from the Island of Blood starter set.  I will only list the things that are important to High Elves since I can give a damn about Skaven.

With each box, you get:
1x Mini-Rulebook
1x High Elf Prince on Griffon
1x High Elf Mage
10x Sword Masters in Full Command
10x Lothern Sea Guard in Full Command
5x Ellyrion Reavers w/ Champ

Points wise, it looks something like this:
1x Mini-Rulebook = Priceless (grab one ASAP)
1x High Elf Prince on Griffon = 350 without any upgrades
1x High Elf Mage = 100
10x Sword Masters in FC = 180
10x LSG in FC (Shields) = 155, 145 without shields
5x Ellyrion Reavers w/ Champ (Bows) = 112, 92 without bows


The breakdown of points to percentages look like this:
Total points = 867 without any upgrades
Lords = 40.37%
Heroes = 11.53%
Core = 16.72%
Special = 31.37%

So what does this tell us except that GW has no idea how to follow their own rulebook?  You need more shit.

Here's what you do in bullet point fashion:

1. Buy two boxes of Island of Blood.
2. Keep a rulebook for yourself, sell the other one for greatly inflated prices since everyone and their dog wants one.
3. Sell the Skaven.  Package them with the rulebook to make the offer look more attractive.
4. Design your army list with all the units left over.
5. Learn the rules, spam some games and buy sparingly.  I will cover more of this as I go.

NOTE:  Personally, I would keep only 1x of the Prince on Griffon and sell the other one.  The Prince on the Griffon is a subpar choice and almost always a point sink.  The model is great, but sell the other one to get more on your return.  Besides, there's almost no reason to ever, ever take two in a army list unless you want to get laughed at.  Not only is it illegal to play the Prince on Griffon in games under ~1500 points, but if you want to take a large flying cannon-bait Prince, the Sun Dragon is always a superior choice.

Now that you have 2 boxes of IoB, here's a sample army list you should use.  It's fast, it's fun and it doesn't suck ass.  Before you ask, let me first explain the odd number of 17.  Well, the IoB boxes comes with figures that pre-set as the Champion, the Standard Bearer and the Musician.  Your second box will contain similar models and thus you have to subtract 3 from your list.  That is, unless you want to use those 3 models and just pull them off first so you don't ruin the aesthetic feel to your army.

Here's a sample army list.  Comes out to 994 points.

LORD:
Lv.3 Archmage (Silver Wand) = 235
High Magic

CORE:
17x LSG (FC, Shields, War Banner) = 266

SPECIAL:
17x Sword Masters (FC, Banner of Eternal Flame) = 295
5x Ellyrion Reavers (Musician) = 99
5x Ellyrion Reavers (Musician) = 99

Since the IoB box comes with a great Mage model, there's quite a few things you can do with it.  For the purposes of this army list, I have given my Lv.3 Archmage a Silver Wand.  This gives him an extra spell, so when rolling to pick spells, he'll get 4 over the regular 3.  As a Archmage, he also has a extra wound and higher leadership than a regular Mage on top of the +3 to cast and +4 to dispel.

This, however, does not mean that you have to take the Archmage.  Feel free to downgrade him to a Lv.2 Mage with Seerstaff of Saphery.  This gives you a Lv.2 Mage that can pick the spells that he wants instead of rolling on the table.  When building army lists, that kind of flexibility is something that other races wished they had.  There's 8 magic lores in Warhammer and High Elves know them all in addition to High Magic.

Another cool thing you can do is take the extra Sword Master champ you have from the 2nd box of IoB and call him a Noble.  Give him a Great Weapon, Armor of Caledor and Dawnstone or Guardian Phoenix and you're in business.  Nobles are great fighters with WS6, I7, S6 with a Great Weapon and a 2+ armor save, 5+ ward that's immune to fire attacks.

Now that you have your leader, what about the rest of the units?  The LSG are great units because you can be deployed in 6x3 formation, shoot and reform to fight anything.  Full Command always, Shields always and take a War Banner simply because you can.  If you want, you can drop the War Banner and give your Archmage a Seerstaff to pick 3 spells from any lore.  I personally like the War Banner because it helps you familiarize yourself with adding up your combat res.  It has also won me a couple of games in the past where that extra +1 can make or break the situation.

Sword Masters should almost always deploy wide.  I personally like 6 wide myself because I find 7 too unwieldy when maneuvering around the battlefield.  Each of these badass swordsman have WS6, 2 attacks each with S5 and ASF w/ re-rolls.  Once they hit combat, a lot of people will drop dead.  Keep in mind that their performance ties directly to what magic lore you take.  My Archmage has chose High Magic so I can sub any spell I want for Shield of Saphery which gives me a 5+ ward on my Sword Masters.  The fact that they also carry the Banner of Eternal Flame makes them chew through anything with Regen like a hot knife through butter.  For a better explanation of what magic lores to take vs. what army, I suggest you look through my magic tactica for High Elves.

This leaves me with the two units of Ellyrion Reavers.  I kept them dirt cheap with just Spears and a Musician because I wanted them to be fast flanking units that can hit from the flanks and rear.  With Vanguard movement and a 18" march + free reform, they can loop around the table and get to all those hard to reach places.  This gives you protection against enemy warmachines or missile units since you want those tied up ASAP.  Who cares if they get shot and die, they will die gloriously in battle as your LSG and Sword Masters move up the field unharmed and ready to kick ass.

+++++++++++++++++

Alright, that's that.  You have a 1k army to play games with for a good long time and all the units you get are from 2 boxes of IoB.  So the question now is:  How do I expand?

The best way to do this is know the current rumors:

"This October is devoted to the scions of Asuryan, as we release a series of new High Elf miniatures."

4 Plastic Box Sets.
White Lions, Dragon Princes and Phoenix Guard.
The fourth box is a new battalion, including 20 Archers, 20 Spearmen, a Repeater-Bolt-Thrower and a High Elf Chariot.

2 Metal Box Sets.  No idea what these are yet.

A new blister for a Prince on Foot.

A deck of spell cards for High Magic.

So what does this mean?

Proxy your Ellyrion Reavers as Silver Helms and Dragon Princes before you buy so you know which ones you want.  Do NOT buy anything that's metal right now and is rumored to be in plastic soon.  That means White Lions, Dragon Princes and Phoenix Guard should only be used in proxy games.  Ask your friends, I'm sure they'll be OK with it.

Personally, my recommendations will be the following for what units to buy and in what order:

1. Prince/Noble box set.
2. Spearmen box.
3. Chariot box.

All of these won't be updated anytime soon and if you want to expand your army, this is the way to do it.  The Noble BSB is one of the most important units for High Elves and you don't want to miss that.  Spearmen, even though they're questionably looking, is one of our best units on the battlefield and the Lion Chariot just looks amazing.  It also eats things in combat so you might want 1-2 of those.

Alright, I typed enough for now.  Take from this what you will.  If you have any more questions, feel free to ask here.

That thing you love

For me, there's always that one thing that stands out that makes you want to play the faction you play in whatever game.  Be it RTS, FPS, MMO, RPG, Table-top, it doesn't matter.  Some people pick their race or faction based on that faction's playstyle.  For example, a friend of mine plays Dark Elves because they're fast and has great special rules and items that makes them powerful.

Believe it or not, I don't pick armies based on their playstyle.  I pick them based on whether or not I think they're cool or not.  The army has to appeal to me first and then I mold my playstyle to fit the design of the army.  If the army requires me to play with fast, offensive units to be effective, I will do that.  If the army requires me to play more defensive and patient, I will do that too.  I am flexible.


Here's a list of games that I've played in the past and why I picked them:


GDI in Command and Conquer
They're the good guys.  I have an affinity with good guys for some reason.. but I also thought the Ion Cannon was pretty bad ass.

Terran in StarCraft
I love Siege Tanks.  They go boom and things die.  I love tanks and I like Marines.  To me, they're the epitome of man and I find that very attractive.

Counter-Terrorists in Counter-Strike
If I had a choice to pick CT or T in the beginning of a pub, I would pick CT.  I like the good guys.

Gondor in Battle for Middle Earth
Once again, the good guys.  I actually picked up this game simply because I watched my brother cast Word of Power from Gandalf when he reached Lv.10.  Seeing everything on the screen get destroyed in a blink of an eye made me drop everything I was doing and pick the game up.

Dwarves in Battle for Middle-Earth 2
They're honorable, tough, a little bit slow, but that's because they're buff and manly.  I like buff and manly, because I am buff and manly myself.

Humans in WarCraft 3
They're humans.. I have an affinity towards my race of man.. and they're the good guys!  The Archmage and Mountain King are also my favorite heroes in the game.

Axis in Company of Heroes
I've always liked the German Wehrmacht since the earliest days of my childhood.  No, I am NOT a Nazi.  I like the weapons that they used and the tanks that they drove.  I also admire their generals and their strategies.

Portugal in Age of Empires 3
I saw some Cassadors being used in a demo and I decided to pick these guys up right away.  I also invented the Fast Fortress strategy (wrote a guide for it) to get Cassadors faster.. and within a day or two, everyone and their mother from GameReplays and AgeSanctuary was doing it with their factions.  Damn you France, you were so OP with FF when the game first came out.

Human Mage in World of WarCraft
See WarCraft 3.

Dudley in SF4
I saw his throw and that was enough for me.  Boom Boom Pow!

Space Marines in Warhammer 40K
Since I play Grey Knights, Space Wolves, Death Guard and Blood Angels, I'm not sure what to say here.  They're all manly and amazing.  Grey Knights has some amazing lore, powerful warriors and fantastic models.. Space Wolves are fucking Dwarfs in space but like 5 feet taller.. and Death Guard.. well, I went to school for Pre-med (Virology) and my favorite movie when I was young was Outbreak.  I guess I like diseases?  And yeah Blood Angels.  Why?  Because they're the good version of Khorne Berserkers.

High Elves/Dwarfs in Warhammer Fantasy
I like Magic and Dragons and High Elves have the best of both.  That's why I really enjoy playing my Teclis and Star Dragon lists (although my SD list is retired).  I also like the fact that they're the few, the proud, the elite.  Oh.. and Dwarfs/Dwarves is kinda self-explanatory at this point.

Cygnar in Warmachine
At first, I wasn't going to get involved in WM because I didn't like the whole steampunk look.  Then I flipped through my friend's Cygnar book and saw Allister Caine (epic version).  Equilibrium anyone?  It all went downhill from there.


So to sum up my preferences as a gamer:  I lean heavily towards the "good guys", I favor "manly" things, and I'm a sucker for pretty graphics.

Playing someone else's game

So I was watching a game of Warmachine tonight (damn you OT!) for about 15 minutes and I think I made a critical gaming error.  The error is:  Playing someone else's game.  Giving advice is one thing.. especially to a rusty player that hasn't played in a couple of months.. but giving him the game winning scenario is just wrong.  I don't know what I was thinking actually, it must be all this overtime that's frying my thinking process.

Here's what happened:  It was 35pts of Retribution w/ Kaelyssa vs. Cygnar led by pNemo.  Both of these guys are my friends so it was a fun, casual game.  At the end of the Retribution player's turn, Nemo had like 5 HP left because of Backlash and mass shooting had that left a Lancer dead, a disrupted Charger and a dying warcaster.  As a Cygnar player, I looked at what my friend had left over and the game winning strategy came to me immediately.  Keep in mind that the Cygnar player hasn't played in god knows how long.. so he's still fiddling around with his cards and re-remembering what his units did.  Like a dipshit, I blurped out:  "I think I see a caster kill here".  I didn't go out and say what order of operations he needed to do to secure absolute victory, but I watched as my words sank in and guided his Defender to take a boosted shot at Kaelyssa that left her with 7 hitboxes.  Needless to say, I went back to my desk and minutes later, my other friend (the Retribution player) texted me that Cygnar won after I left.

Now's the time to feel like ass.  As much as I wanted to help the Cygnar player, sometimes the best thing to do is just watch as a bystander.  Advice is one thing, but a game winning tactic should be kept mouth-shut until the game is over.  It's not as bad in 40K and WHFB because the game isn't as sudden death like WM is, but that's no excuse.  After the game, you can brag, laugh and slap eachother in the face all you want, but during the game, there should be a "no advice zone".

Just wanted to share with you this quick experience.  I'm sure it's happened to everyone and I know no one likes a passenger-seat player messing with your game.  This is one of my biggest pet peeves in all of wargaming and I really fluffed it up today.  Alright guys, your turn.  Story time GO!

Feelin' some Warmachine

You know what game I like?  Warmachine.  It's one of the most down to earth, get in your face table-top games I've ever played.  After playing 8th Ed. Fantasy for a good long time and getting back into 40K as well, I think to myself:  I feel like I'm missing something.  Could it be the risk of instantly losing the game?  Could it be the more realistic cover system?  What about the more robust combat system?  Or how about the fact that the game is just faster to play?  I think it's a combination of all them.


So to show off some of my Cygnar army lists, here are the ones I've been playing with for a while:

Points: 35
Captain Allister Caine (*5pts)
* Ol' Rowdy (9pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Defender (9pts)
Rangers (5pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1pts)

This is my eCaine assassination list.  It's hell of a lot of fun to play but it's not for the weak of heart.  Every move has to be thought of in the most extreme of detail and a wrong move can be mean the death of your caster or a vital piece of your game winning equation.  Instead of the Rangers and the Stormcaller, I can also opt to take B13 and Gorman for more gun utility and shenanigans.  eCaine can be played in a multitude of ways, but the method I prefer is by opening assassination lanes by pushing or by knock down.  Ol'Rowdy and the ATGM UA'd Defender can help in some of that.

Points: 35
Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane (*5pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Stormclad (10pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)

This is my Siege list.  It has 2x Defenders to take advantage of Siege's Feat round and the Stormclad is there because it's a solid beatstick.  The B13 is generally a solid staple to most Cygnar lists and Reinholdt is just mandatory for that extra shot.  Arlan is good in this list since it takes some focus off of Siege, but he can easily be replaced by another utility merc such as Gorman.  As you can see, I like Gorman di Wulfe a lot.  His chemical bombs are just amazing at adding extra damage or blinding a warcaster for assassination.  Siege has enough utility by himself to make the rest of the army proud though.  He's seriously the only Cygnar warcaster that has an answer for everything.

Points: 35
Major Victoria Haley (*5pts)
* Thorn (8pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Stormclad (10pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Stormblade Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)

This right here, is my poledancer list.  The two big win conditions here is a clear shot to the enemy warcaster with 2x boosted Defender shots with TK and TA.. or a straight out charge from a fully-loaded bonded Stormclad with all of Haley's tricks and whistles to set up the kill.  B13 just because I can and Stormblades to do solid damage and act as a fire magnet.  They also provide the SC with a free focus so I can utilize Haley's focus to throw out more spells.

Flames of War?

So I've been looking into Flames of War lately simply because I LOVE World War II.  I'm such a WWII buff that when I went to Europe and visited Normandy, I knew more about the history and events than our tour guide.  If I ever move to Europe, I would probably consider being a guide.. I just have to learn a couple of languages first.

Right, so how does this tie into minis?  Well.. for one.. I got confused to all hell when I first started doing research on the game.  I come from the GW's line of wargaming so I'm spoiled by army books and codexes.  Yeah.. there's no such thing in Flames of War.  In order for you to build an army list, you must first choose the era that you want to play in (early, mid, late war) and then choose a campaign book to build your army from.  This pretty much means you have to have a good idea of what you wanted to play.  There's 4 main factions in this game:  Germans, Russians, Americans and the British.  There's also sub-factions within these main factions like the Finnish and the Canadians; but aside from a few special rules and minis, they don't really add too much.

Personally, if I was planning to play this game, I would go late war and go Germans.  That's when their soldiers are the most veteran and when the technology of the game is the most advanced.  If you like big tanks, die-hard troops and earth-shaking artillery that can rock the field, late war is the place to be.  From a historical standpoint, it makes perfect sense too!  The Germans are mostly on the retreat with Allies gaining air superiority and better priced units (to show the economy advantage).  The Russians are pressing hard on the Eastern Front and things are pretty intense on both fronts.  I don't know enough about the game to say anything about the balance just yet.

For anyone who wants to get involved, I would imagine that you need to know what you wanted to play.  An example of this would be:  I want to play.. Armored Rifle Company, Russian Tank Company, Germans with a mixed arms approach with both Infantry and Tanks, Paratroopers, Mass artillery, Tanks + artillery..etc.  Once you got that, you need to hunt down the campaign that has that army.  For a non-WWII buff, you probably need to do some asking around on the official forums so those guys there can point you to the right direction.

With that being said, how exactly do you make a army list in FoW?

1. Pick out the Era you want to play in.
2. Pick out a campaign book that has the army you want to play.
3. Construct a army list with the list requirements.

For me: Late War, Germans with Tiger Tanks and a strong army list that can take on all-comers.  I used a few pdfs found on the FoW main website, the Cobra campaign book and the Villers-Bocage book to make my two army lists.  The first is just Wittmann + Tiger tanks and the second one is more balanced:

1750
101.SS Schwere

Wittmann = 350
Tiger 2iC = 240
2x Tigers = 480
2x Tigers = 480
3x Squads of Motorized Scouts = 200

+++++++++++++++++

1500
1.SS LSSAH

Company HQ + Shreck = 80
3x Panzergrenadier Squads (SMG + Faust) = 250
3x Panzergrenadier Squads (SMG + Faust) = 250
2x MG Sections = 155
2x Pak40s = 135
3x Nebels = 150
2x Tigers = 480

Now that my army list is done, I need to read up on the rules. For some reason, the rules look a lot more complicated than GW's games. They make sense from a historical game design standpoint.  A veteran unit will hit a non-trained conscript a lot easier..  a Confident soldier will make his motivation roll more frequently than a "reluctant" soldier.. or if you penetrate the hull of a Tiger tank, you have to roll to see if the shell detonates or goes right through by rolling for firepower values. You know, stuff like that.

It's a little daunting at first since so much info is thrown in your face. No wonder why the starter set has like 2 German tanks and 3 Allied tanks and that's all you get (plus mini-rulebook). They don't want to scare you away with all the crazy infantry rules (the assault phase is incredibly complicated imo). I think at the end of the day, I'm stilling standing between the fence. On one side, the game is cool because it's WWII and I love the German Army.. but on the other side, I have inflexible lists (something I'm not used to), a less popular game and complicated rules. Any help?

The cover system for 40K is terrible

So I played a game yesterday with my friend Adam and he was using Tyranids vs. my Blood Angels.  The game was really fun and we went to 7 rounds.. ending up with a draw at the end.  One of the things that came up during the game was when 13 Gaunts were behind cover and 12 of them weren't.  Now I don't know about you guys, but I find it extremely.. extremely frustrating when something that looks completely unrealistic like that gets a 4+ cover save because the rules say so.  All his gaunts were wildly spread out, maintaining the bare minimum of 2" coherency just so they can milk that cover rule.  Not only did it look visually unappealing, but the rules looked really written.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the cover system in 40K at all.  The fact that everything fits under the 4+ cover category is mind-boggling stupid.  Now I'm not saying this just to get at his Gaunts, I would say the same thing about my Space Marines if they were visually unappealing and taking advantage of such rules.  I mean, look at current 8th Ed. Fantasy.  They have soft cover and hard cover that reduces your BS by -1 or -2 depending on what type of cover you're in.  Does it reduce the number of possible wounds you can inflict?  Yes.  Will it work in a system like 40K?  That's debatable.

In my opinion, the vast majority of the cover saves in 40K should of been 5+, with anything better than that being 4+.  It's far more realistic than having half of your wounds being cut simply because the units you're shooting at says so.  What do you guys think?  How do you think the metagame will change if the majority of cover saves are 5+ instead of 4+?  How would the game change if we switched to soft and hard cover?  You tell me.

What does "cost effective" mean?

I know that by now, you guys must be asking yourselves:  Hey, this guy talks about cost effective units all the time.. but what the hell does it really mean?  In short, being cost effective means the "best bang for your buck".. in gaming terms.

This isn't going to be a terribly long post.. since I'm currently worked to shit and I'm kinda tired.  First, a short bio of who I am and why do I think cost effective choices are the way to do things.  For starters, I've played RTS games since I can remember clearly.  My first game was Command and Conquer, then I moved onto StarCraft, WarCraft, the expansions, played Dawn of War, Company of Heroes, all the BfME games, all the Age of X games... basically, every single RTS game ever made.  I'm currently in Diamond Legaue in SC2 and I barely get to play.  Not to brag or anything, but I have a natural affinity towards playing these kind of games.  I know how to optimize, adapt and execute on my strategy.

You know what all these RTS games have taught me over these long years?  That being cost effective is the way to victory.  There's no way in hell that I'm not going to take something that's cheaper and can do the same job as something more expensive.  It just doesn't make sense to me.  Like a computer trying to run a program in some language it doesn't understand.  When fluff players talk to me and brag how they like to take 10 Terminators in every game, my head draws a blank: A real life question-mark.  A state of confusion.  Pretty much a giant WTF.

When I first started playing minis games 10 years back, I used the same RTS mentality and skill and applied it to Warhammer 40K.  In a game like StarCraft, if I was given 2k minerals and I was told to construct a solid Terran army (pretend that nothing costs gas), I could hand you Marines, Medics, Tanks, Sci Vessels and some Goliaths.  Apply that in 40K terms, I'll hand you a bunch of Grey Hunters in Rhinos, some Long Fangs, a Rune Priest or two and some Terminators in a LRC.  That's just how my head thinks.  I see every table-top game as a small "macro" game in StarCraft which sole purpose is to maximize on damage vs. all types of enemies.  This is why my lists always come out strong, powerful and can take on any foe.  This, is the very definition of min-maxing and the only way you can truly understand how to min-max is by knowing your shit.  Maybe that's why I can play Marines effectively.  I understand the value of PPM (Points Per Model) and I know that wound saturation does not mix with a poor PPM ratio.  When building an army list, I make sure I use every available facet of knowledge I have in the game and construct a army that's both powerful and balanced.

I'd like to finish this post off with a very rewarding quote from a very respectable person.  It just comes to show you that no matter how many times you lose, you will always walk away a winner..  As long as you learn from your mistakes that is.

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
-- Michael Jordan

PS - I'm currently looking into Flames of War stuff.  I'm a huge WW2 buff and I've always wanted to play Germans in a miniatures game.

Min-maxing is NOT WAAC

I'm going to be frank here: I hate it when people relate min-maxing to Win At All Costs. Being point efficient with your army because you want to be competitive does not mean you are a WAAC player. First, let me give you my definition of min-maxing and WAAC.

The min-maxer player is a competitive gamer that maximizes his army book and his army list.  He is first and foremost; a competitive player.  Not only does he understand the game, the rules, and his army book very well, he understands other armies very well as he believes that the key to victory, is game knowledge.  He likes taking units that best suits the needs of his army, often times being molded and shaped by the ever-changing metagame. He understands that the current meta has vehicles and thus melta weapons are the key at punching through armor at close range, just as an example.  The min-maxer also recognizes that to not take the most cost effective unit is to throw a wrench into a otherwise well-oiled machine (such as his army list) and thus he does not do so.  He is essentially the player that always takes what he views, is the best bang for your buck.  I am a min-maxing, power gaming, competitive player.


Now what is a WAAC player?  He is exactly as his name suggests:  Win At All Costs.  It doesn't matter if you're having fun, it just matters if he wins or not.  He is the kind of player that moves your/his models when you're not looking to gain an advantage.  He is the kind that measures so quickly and charges before you can confirm 6".  He is the kind that throws dice behind terrain so if he rolls a "1" for a Terminator save, he'll say it's been saved.  WAAC means simply that he's a cheat.  I've seen players like these and I've played against players like these.  They're arrogant, sleezy and downright pathetic to play against.  Truth be told:  I've seen a dude measure the length of his forearm and try to guess measure with it on the table before.  I mean come on, seriously?  Do you really need me to tell you that you're trying to measure cannon shots with your arm?  Give me a fucking break!  This is a game with miniature toy soldiers.  If that isn't pathetic enough (and awesome!), how sad do you have to be to cheat.

In RTS, the WAAC player plays with Map Hacks.  In FPS, the guy uses aimbot.  In Table-top gaming, the dude will bend the rules, fake his dice or do anything to win.  I don't know about you guys.. but here's how we handle cheaters in my neck of the woods:

There is a key difference between someone whose pushing his army design skills to the test and someone who measures with his forearm is quite apparent.  You can be a WAAC player that min-maxes his lists, but a person that min-maxes his army doesn't have to be WAAC.  That goes without saying that a WAAC player that doesn't know how to min-max and just outright cheats should be purged by fire.  With that said:  Never confuse the two and never relate the two in the same sentence.  It's both insulting and downright incorrect.

I finally painted something

After 2 years of getting shat on by my fellow Blizz Wargamers, I finally painted something.

This makes me extra sad because I used to have 27 of these Terminators.. and 30 Power Armored Grey Knights.

If it's true that Grey Knights will come out in early 2011.. I'll probably end up picking them up again and painting all of them like this.

The paint scheme used was:
+++Primed with PP White+++
1. Boltgun metal base coat.
2. Mithril Silver drybrush
3. Badab black wash
4. More mithril silver drybrushing
5. Shining Gold on the gold lettering
6. Ogyrn Flesh on the shining gold.
7. Mechrite red on the books and medals.
8. Menoth white followed by menoth white highlight.
9. Devlan mud on the red and the menoth.
10. Enchanted Blue, then Icy Blue, then Asurman Blue wash on the Psycannon and Eyes.
11. Frostbite dot on the Psycannon + middle of the eyes.
12. Chaos Black on the outer pat of the psycannon.
13. Asurman blue wash on the sword a couple of times.

Total time: 4 hours.

I left out the scribe-work on the scrolls because my hands are no longer as steady as they used to be.. sadly.

Anyways, please enjoy.

Grey Knights nostalgia

Damn.. this sucks.  I have High Elves coming out in September and November.. and now I have Grey Knights to look forward to.  I am going to be SO poor!

So going back in time.. Grey Knights was the first army that I ever owned.  The first time I walked into a GW store, I was asked to pick out a blister and paint a free mini.  Guess what I bought and painted?  A Grey Knight Terminator because the model was absolutely bad ass.

My paint scheme was...
Prime White
Boltgun Metal basecoat
Black Ink wash
Mithril Silver drybrush
More washing on the parts that needed it
Enchanted Blue + blue ink wash on the eyes
Red Gore + Blood Red + black ink wash on the books
Bleached Bone + Skull White mixture + brown ink wash on the Scrolls
Shining Gold + Chestnut Ink wash on the gold parts
Blue ink wash layering on the weapon

I painted so many of these bastards and to let them go for a measly 350 bux is just really really sad face. I had something like 27 Grey Knight Terminators!  This just comes to show you guys.. NEVER EVER sell your minis.. especially your painted ones.  If you get bored from playing them, just shelve them for a later date.

Sigh..


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As for the current rumors.. here's what we know so far:

Codex: there is much less focus on Inquisition aspects, and no SoB. No Allies. A GK army.

Boxes:
Storm Raven. obvious choice. Options for BA, GK and ???
TA knights: 5 pack, Paladin upgrades, squad upgrades. Psycannon, NFW, SSTH, banner?
PA knights: 10 pack, justicar upgrades, squad upgrades, extra bits. NFW, psycannon, incinerator, banner?
Walker: There have been some rumors of a GK driven walker. I have not personally seen this in any incarnation. However, there is a boxed walker of some type. I suspect this is a dreadnaught box set that will also have bits for BA.
Tank: I have not seen mention of a GK troop transport. Rhino based with psycannon options has been in some PT. I list this as possible, but unlikely, 4 box sets of this size are about par for a release, 5 would be a surprise.

Blisters:
New Stern
New Chaplain?
Justicar upgrade character
Paladin upgrade character
Inquisition character
2 other blisters unknown contents

Other:
Later release of GK themed terrain set? Concepts are out and some "preview" shots are floating around if you hunt. Nothing more I can say on this.

Rule bits, these are very subject to revision, but not for much longer, to hit a Jan/Mar window codex needs to be tied up and sent to printers soon:

NFW lose the changing abilities based on rank of user. standardized to PA NFW is PW with special abilities vs Daemons, TA NFW is FW with same.

Some interesting Psychic abilities. just about all squads have psychic options. Heavy on they disabling side. Enemy psychers beware.

Not a lot of Mech. But quick to deploy.

Psycannon profile PT changes to 24" H3 AP3 S6, special against daemons and psychics. or if unmoving 5" blast 36" range

Army wide. Daemonic Infestation makes summoned demons less instable?

No allies from/to other Codii. new fodder units in codex. not same as guard units.

New options for Dreadnaughts including libby. psycannon arm. Purge weapon...large pie plate, special abilities include forcing instability test for daemons, including DoC armies, pinning in other armies.