All I can tell you is 'My gut says maybe'

Moving In 2011

2011-01-02T21:38:00.003-05:00

I'm going to moving this blog over to my other Google ID and folding this one.

The new blog will be located at http://allicantellyouismygutsaysmaybe.blogspot.com/

Thanks everyone.

The First Heretic - Review

2010-12-19T20:43:00.002-05:00

I actually went through this book fairly quickly. I've see a couple of reviews which basically take it as the Word Bearers going from devout Emperor-worshipers to Heretics in only a few pages.

Oddly enough, I really didn't find that. The Word Bearers going rogue was definitely more rapid than I think most people anticipated, but it's somewhat understandable. I mean after you've been doing things one way for a century and your god-figure pops in to say you're a miserable failure; it creates a rather insane situation. Best case, you say "Dude, you couldn't have filled me in on this little nugget say like 99 years ago?" Bottom line though, when you go from zero feedback to 'You've been doing it wrong for years', people don't react well.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The story flowed well and I'm generally a fan of authors trying to portray the Warp and its various entities. The author actually did this quite well in my opinion. In both cases, he gave enough detail to get your imagination started and left it at that. When you're trying to describe something that malleable, it's one of the ways I prefer to see it done. The characters were pretty much what I expected in terms of the Word Bearers. Devout, loyal and stoic. I'll also say that I think the main characters; Argel Tal, Cyrene and Xaphen would had more depth than they appeared to in the book. The lack of interaction with other Legions and units made it somewhat difficult to see what made the Word Bearers unique. The comparisons we saw between Lorgar and the other Primarchs like Magnus needed to be done on a Marine level rather than between Primarchs. At least, that's my thought.

The other thing I would have liked to have seen was just the Word Bearers prior to their censure. Again, it would have provided a valuable comparison, but really I was just interested in seeing how they originally did things.

All in all though, I enjoyed the book. The beginning seemed a little odd, but it made sense easily enough. There weren't many important characters and while the cast could likely have been expanded a bit, you definitely didn't need to bust out the glossary to keep track of everyone, which was nice. The Word Bearers were interesting enough and Lorgar was well portrayed as the odd man out in terms of his brothers. The Adeptus Custodes were funky and the Possessed Space Marines were cool. The book definitely fits well with the rest of the series.

Another Morning Post

2010-12-07T07:26:00.002-05:00

Apparently I'm starting to wake up earlier. Lots of fun at any rate. Up here, when you wake up, it's basically cold and dark. Needing something to do, I've started posting here a little more.

At this point, I've decided to finish up my Bastion. It's been sitting there just needing detailing for a while now. The building itself is largely finished. I just need to add things like some of the Servo-Skulls and sensors. The greater part of the work actually comes from the add on bits like the laser cannon and communications array. At any rate, it'll let me putter about this week (and probably next while my mouth heals).

Sparky and I chatted a bit last night too and the consensus was that we should have something to do other than our little 40K campaign in the event that we have folks not showing up. Makes some sense, so now it's off to the drawing board on that as well. That's part of the reason for doing the Bastion next. Very little in terms of large painting to do, but it'll let me do an Aquila here and a sensor there while I build a scenario or two.

It's Cold and Dark

2010-12-06T06:49:00.002-05:00

Yep, it is. -13 with the wind and the sun won't be up for a half hour or so. It's one of those mornings. I couldn't sleep, so I took a crack at that priest with the eviscerator. Unfortunately, the good ol Space Pope didn't turn out well, at least the blade of the eviscerator didn't. I tried a yellow and just wound up with too much paint on the blade. So, it's into the strip bucket for him. I'll clean him off and take another crack later on. Now, it's back to figuring out what I want to paint next.

In other news, I went over the Daemonhutners rumours from Blood of Kittens. They're somewhat interesting for me just for the fact that it might mean some heavy changes for my Witch Hunters army if the weird Inquisition units don't also wind up in the new Witch Hunters book (whenever that actually makes it out). Basically, I was going for a force of Inquisitors, Priests, Arco-Flagellants and Penitent Engines. I wound up grabbing some (Ok, quite a few) Sisters for Troops since I like the models. At any rate though, if the oddball Inquisition/Ecclesiastical units aren't repeated in the new Witch Hunters book, it looks as though I'll wind up with a second and third army rather than just a second army in terms of the Witch Hunters. Not a huge concern until a new Witch Hunters book comes out, but still, something to consider.

Death Cult Assassin

2010-12-05T19:34:00.003-05:00

I finished my second Death Cult Assassin. The washes worked out well. The swords didn't. This model was one of a batch that I sprayed flat black before painting. I'm not sure I should have done that. Some of the flat texture made parts of the model a bit odd. I likely should have just put some Citadel Foundation straight onto the metal, but that's part of life.

I had a rather nice surprise when I gave Mike his Chaplain. He handed me a bag with a Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer kit and the Battlewagon Accessory sprue in it. Rather an early Christmas present from an old friend. So, thanks Mike.

I'm currently resisting the temptation to loot the shiny new Land Raider. It should be doable since I've a looted one I picked up from eBay which I've not finished yet and I think it might be a great home for a Deff Rolla........

At this point, I'm debating what to do next. I'm thinking either some Catachans for Nic, something Chaosy for Sean or something Orky for a change of pace. At this point though, I'm thinking a Witch Hunters Priest with an Eviscerator is probably going to win out since I've got his robe near done with spare paint from the assassin up top. I can likely have him done this week, which is rather tempting. I'm getting a wisdom tooth out on Friday and having my paint area clear of projects while I'm getting over that is kind of tempting.

Jump Pack Chaplain Finished

2010-11-29T19:00:00.003-05:00

Well, this model officially has taken me longer to get a picture of than any other one. I fiddled around fixing imperfections on the model for about and hour before I decided that if I didn't take the picture, I'd wind up stripping the thing down and starting over. Since Mike's picking it up on Wednesday, that just wasn't going to happen.

At any rate, that's my Jump Pack Chaplain. It was a fun model to paint with lots of detail (and a corresponding number of nooks and crannies. I think I got the bling about right, but I need to spend more time on the armour and add some free hand to the parchment next time I do one of these guys.

I've decided to finish up a Death Cult Assassin next. I sort of started some coats on her with paint that I had left over from my Rhino.

Willie Nelson Charged With Possession

2010-11-27T21:31:00.004-05:00

Um yeah. Call me crazy, but I kind of saw that one coming.

At any rate, on the painting front, my Multi-Melta Servitors.

My Order of the Sacred Rose Rhino (it'll be an Immolator too once I get that turret finished).

I think that's about the latest update. Hopefully, I'll have that Chaplain done tomorrow.

End of November

2010-11-27T12:41:00.000-05:00

Well, November is heading out and I still can't seem to post regularly. At any rate, my batch of Multi-Melta Servitors are done and I'm nearly done the Jump Pack Chaplain for Mike.

Today I'm in an Online Learning class and the topic of blogs came up, which twigged me to post on mine.

02 October Tourney at the Gamer's Lair

2010-10-03T19:34:00.000-04:00

Well, the bad news is that I didn't take my camera and I kind of regret that now.

The good news is that the tourney went pretty well.

I didn't have enough Witch Hunters painted to field an army and I didn't feel like breaking out my Orks (though in retrospect, I can't recall seeing an army there that would have had an easy time of dealing with them), so Sean helped me out with some models and a list. From there, I loaded up my templates and dice and went intending to just goof around.

We played through three Astronomicon scenarios. Each one was a little different, but they were definitely fun. The first one we did was a downed pilot theme and that mission just had a lot going on in it. The next two simply had easier rules to follow, so it all worked out.

The games themselves were just plain fun and each one was better than the last. I can definitely say that the players are what keeps me going back to the Gamer's Lair for tourneys. It's just a solid and fun group.

An interesting change this time in that the prizes were in the form of Gamer's Lair coupons instead of trophies, but nobody seemed to mind.

Indian Summer is Over.....I Think

2010-09-26T19:28:00.008-04:00

Well, I seem to be running about a post per month. Busy fall I suppose. Anyway, I should have a few free weekends in October, so maybe I'll get more done.

I got my Inquisitor redone, though she may get a second trip to the strip bucket once I figure out a better way to get the paint off of the model. It's definitely lacking the clean edges, mostly due to accumulated paint in the crevasses of the model.

I got a Genestealer something done for Nic, though I need to do some additional inking on the plasma gun for contrast.

The final Possessed model is finished.

As is the Cryx Bloat Thrall I picked up last year.

In terms of stuff to work on right now, I've an Immolator on the go, which is proving interesting, but problematic as well, at least in terms of touching areas up. I'm working on the various guns at the moment to take a break from the hull. I still have to magnetize the weapons and finish the turrets. I'm holding off on the hull until next weekend when I pick up some brush on white primer.

Second Battle Sister Squad Finished

2010-08-16T21:03:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted, but honestly, not much has happened yet. Once again, this summer proves that I'm not exactly built for heat. I haven't been terribly productive as the painting goes.

Sean, Sparky, Mike and I are getting together for a game on the 21st and I've gotten what I need painted up for it at this point: My second unit of Battle Sisters!

I've also gotten the bastion cleaned up, my Inquisitor partly finished, a Gun Servitor partly finished and my first Immolator partly assembled (yes, I realize I'll be cleaning up these part projects for a month). I also finished up one of Sean's Possessed.

As to the rest of it, Sparky and I are still working on the missions for this weekend and I'm going to try to get my Inquisitor and Servitor finished up.

Finally, some normal temperatures

2010-07-31T14:19:00.002-04:00

By now, everyone has probably seen the hottest summer on record bit. Well, it is. Since my last post, I've gotten a Possessed and a couple of Sisters done and it's been a few weeks. It's just been way too hot to do much of anything.

Temperatures have cooled off though, so I'm looking at getting a bit more done now that things are livable.

Gamer Appreciation Day at the Gamer's Lair

2010-07-11T13:14:00.004-04:00

We're entering the quiet season for tournaments, at least in this neck of the woods. When summer comes to Canada, folks tend to frolic outside and things to that effect. With that in mind, Doug set up a little get together at the Gamer's Lair for everyone with a few little prizes, medals, cake, that sort of thing. Maybe not a major event in gaming, but certainly a nice thing for a store owner to do.

Back from Big Bay

2010-07-06T19:06:00.002-04:00

Not a whole bunch to tell here. I went up to Big Bay with Sparky and it was just a relaxing weekend. We got some stuff figured out for the August game and I got an inventory of what he had in terms of my Inquisitorial stuff to base.

We did some cooking, had a fire and checked out some vintage Transformers cartoons. There was apparently a GI Joe cartoon marathon on a few days ago. I'm pretty sure that one would have broken my brain.

Latest Stuff

2010-06-28T19:20:00.004-04:00

The latest Possessed I've done for Sean and my Heavy Flamer Sister.

This guy wound up alright, but like most of this batch, I'm not entirely happy with him. I tried to get them done quickly for Sean for our last Apocalypse game and the models just wound up with too much paint on them. It's a lesson learned for next time. On the other hand, the conversions have worked our fairly well and Sean will have a full unit of unique Word Bearers Possessed based off of the old models.

This one worked out alright, though I definitely need to get better at faces and eyes. I'm also going to have to take a look at the actual fit of the heavy weapon Battle Sisters since things don't seem to be going together entirely right. It doesn't require a tonne of green stuff to fix, but it does take more than I'd like.

My First Witch Hunters List

2010-06-27T17:31:00.002-04:00

Since we've more or less figured out that we'll have our next get together in August sometime, I've taken a bit of time to look toward what I'll want to bring as an army. For a change of pace, I'd like to do Witch Hunters. Given what I have and what I have painted, I'm looking at:

HQ:

Inquisitor Lord & Retinue - 190 points
Inquisitor Lord - Stormbolter, Word of the Emperor, Psychic Hood
3 Gun Servitors with Heavy Bolters
2 Sages

Priest - Eviscerator, Rosarius - 95 points

Elite:

6 Arco-Flagellants - 210 points

3 Death Cult Assassins - 120 points

Culexus Assassin - 120 points

Troops:

Battle Sister Squad - 270 points
9 Battle Sisters
Heavy Flamer
Flamer
Imaginifier
Frag Grenades
Sister Superior - Plasma Pistol, CCW, Book of St. Lucius, Brazier of Holy Fire
Rhino with Pintle Mounted Stormbolter and Smoke Launcher

Battle Sister Squad - 270 points
9 Battle Sisters
Heavy Flamer
Flamer
Imaginifier
Frag Grenades
Sister Superior - Plasma Pistol, CCW, Book of St. Lucius, Brazier of Holy Fire
Rhino with Pintle Mounted Stormbolter and Smoke Launcher

Fast Attack:

Dominion Squad - 247 points
4 Dominions
4 Meltaguns
Sister Superior - Combi-Melta, Power Weapon, Book of St. Lucius
Immolator with Smoke Launchers and Multi-Meltas

Heavy Support:

Retributor Squad - 205 points
5 Retrubitors
4 Heavy Bolters
Imaginifier
Sister Superior - Book of St. Lucius

2 Penitent Engines - 160 points

Orbital Strike - Melta Torpedo - 80 points

Probably not the best list possible, but it does have the odd things the I find interesting like Arco-Flagellants, Assassins and Penitent Engines. At only 4 Faith Points, it's a bit light on that end, but I figure it's a descent spot to start and to goof around a bit. It also has the benefit of my having most of the models already. I just need to get some additional Meltagun and Heavy Bolter Sisters, one Heavy Bolter Servitor and the Tanks.

One Should Never Watch The A-Team If One Has Unpainted Orks

2010-06-27T09:52:00.002-04:00

Kind of a goofy time right now. First off, it's been hotter than a snake's ass in a wagon rut the past week or so. Not the end of the world, but it doesn't help my getting stuff painted one bit.

Second, I've been playing a fair bit of Borderlands and watched the A-Team with Sean last night. Combine that with my freshly reading Imperial Armour 8 and I'm fairly itching to do some Orks again. Sounds great right? Not when I'm trying to get a second squad of Battle Sisters done!

That aside, project wise, I'm fairly excited. For the short term, I'll probably try to build my Ork Army to the Ork Dread Mob list form Imperial Armour 8. Mostly Dreads, Kans, Lootas and Wagons with crazy weapons on them. The list will blow in terms of claiming objectives, but the model count will be low and it's going to be fun as hell to play. For Chaos, I'm still working on Sean's Possessed, but that's in the home stretch thankfully. Finally, on the Witch Hunters side, I've finished the Heavy Flamer Sister that I plan to include in Battle Sister Squad Primus. After that, it's on to the models in for Battle Sister Squad Secondus. Somewhere in there, I also need to pick up a couple of Immolators/Rhinos to transport the units.

Inquisitor Finished

2010-06-20T21:24:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I know he's actually a Daemon Hunters Acolyte, but he just looks more Inquisitorial to me.

I still need to do some inking and detailing and something with hit boots, but he's at least tableworthy at present.

A Muggy June Evening

2010-06-20T00:07:00.003-04:00

It's been hot of late and fairly slow going in terms of painting.

I've managed to finish up two Heavy Bolter Sisters and one with a Melta Gun. Presently, I'm working on the Acolyte from Inquisitor Cortez's retinue, though with all of the other Acolyte models I have, I'm thinking he'll be used as an Inquisitor more often. The model is just a great fit for an Inquisitor with a Psychic Hood and Inquisitorial Mandate. I'm at the point of getting him cleaned up and ready to go. I'm really not in the mood to detail the various scripts on him though, so those will wait a while.

The Sisters Have Arrived!

2010-06-12T20:19:00.003-04:00

Battle Sister Squad Primus is ready for the table!

The Sisters Are Coming!!

2010-06-03T21:52:00.006-04:00

The Apocalypse Game (or more accurately the speed painting trying to get ready for it) dulled my desire to paint for a week or two.

I finished up one of Sean's Possessed and promptly put my Big Mek with the Shokk Attack Gun and the rest of the Possessed aside. It turned out I was less burned out on painting than burned out on painting those models. Sounds a little silly I know, but there it is.

To that end, I picked up a piece that I thought would be kind of goofy and fun to play around with. I figured it was go big or go home, so I went for the biggest......the biggest hair in 40K that is.......Jain Zar!

I did he up to match (somewhat) with the Mirror Sword Exarch I did for Mike. The pose is just plain nutty, but the model turned out alright.

With Jain Zar done, I decided to change my pace from Orky Green and Chaosy.....uhhh....Chaos and look to getting a small force of Witch Hunters ready to put on the table.

Yep, apparently, in the grim darkness of the distant future, there is only models and paint. Who knew?

So, it came down to what I already have and what I need.

If I'm going to take my Witch Hunters to legal games, then I need my HQ and two troops.

Good news here! I've got an Inquisitor and a Preacher painted, plus a small batch of henchmen! Actually, that's great news for early games since and Inquisitor Lord and buffed up Retinue can actually compete with a kitted up Mob of Nobz in terms of soaking up points. I might not be able to do the exact HQ build I want, but I've definitely got one to field for my early games with the army.

Now for Troops...........crud.

I can go with Inquisitorial Stormtroopers or Battle Sisters. Really no contest here, the Battle Sister models rock far more than the Stormtroopers. I also do have some Sisters that V painted up for me. She went with kind of an Order of the Sacred Rose scheme with reddish/burgundy robes rather than black. I've got to admit, it looks seriously good. They're not a full unit, but they're a good start.

In that picture, I've got the following models:

Sister Superior with Plasma Pistol
Sister Superior with Power Maul and Combi-Bolter
Battle Sister with Flamer
Battle Sister with Storm Bolter
Battle Sister with Imaginifier
3 Battle Sisters with Bolters

I also have two Battle Sisters with Heavy Bolters that I've finished up.

So, to turn this into two troop choices, I need to get the following models painted up from my To Paint Box:

3 Battle Sisters to finish up the first unit.

To complete the second unit, I definitely need some more models painted:

6 Battle Sisters
1 Battle Sister with Imaginifier
2 Battle Sisters with Heavy Flamers

Also nearby on the to do list are:

Battle Sister with Flamer
Battle Sister with Meltagun
Sister Superior with Plasma Pistol

That will give me two reasonably identical and very bury Battle Sister squads.

I'll be able to round out the rest of the army with Assassins and a Penitent Engine at this point.

So, all in all, a nice start and I'm finding the smaller models somewhat refreshing compared to the bulkier Chaos and Ork stuff.

Crusader Finished

2010-05-24T19:11:00.003-04:00

Once again, I'm apparently not great at project logs, at least the sequential ones. I finished up my Crusader today and he turned out pretty well.

I also took a few minutes to go through the Witch Hunters Codex to figure out what I need to fill out my army. Looks like just a few Sisters of Battle with various weapon upgrades and things for Infantry and then the vehicles, so I'm pretty close to done in terms of models. Painting though, that's another matter.

I think I've also got the next weekend game at Sean's figured out. The guys wanted to do another campaign, which is good. The progression on the HQ's got a little out of hand last time, but I think I've got that figured out. Just got to get stuff down and we should be good to go.

Back to work tomorrow and I'll probably move on to paint something else.

Crusader In Progress

2010-05-24T09:29:00.003-04:00

I started this one pretty normally. He came primed black. I based the model with Charadon Granite Foundation, then added a base of Mechrite Red to the red areas.

The metal has just been done with Reaper Blackened Steel so far. The "I" on the suppression shield was was painted with Reaper Carnage Red. The shade on the tabbard is is Reaper Clotted Red and the raised areas are the same Carnage Red used on the shield.

Victoria Day Weekend and its......nice out?

2010-05-23T18:57:00.003-04:00

Yep, I'm as shocked as the next person on that one.

It's been a rushed couple of months to be sure. The usual silliness for this time of year going on at work and there have been some other things going on too.

We did a 10K Apocalypse game at Sean's last weekend. It went fairly well considering. In the end though, we had planning not done and the game was just too big. We probably could have pushed it some, but I was feeling pretty rough that day too. As it was, I was feeling better on Sunday night, so at least I was alright for work last week.

I've also gotten a little burned out on painting, largely due to trying to get Sean's Possessed all done. I've really not touched anything seriously for a week or so with the exception of finishing up the flocking on an objective marker for Sean.

For my first real experiment with Verdigris Glaze, I don't think it turned out too badly.

I'm thinking that tomorrow I'll start to clean up the stuff on my desk.

Crusader
Big Mek with a Shokk Attack Gun
Jain-Zarr
4 Possessed

That should take care of the partially done projects. From there, I can move on to any number of things in my To Paint bucked.

There's also a Doubles Tourney at the Gamer's Lair on the 5th of June that Sean and I are going into, so we'll have to figure something out there.

The Next Crusader

2010-04-25T21:50:00.003-04:00

I picked up another Crusader with a pair of Sister Dialogus' I got from eBay. I figure I'll try to do a proper project log on this one, so we shall see.

At any rate, the mini arrived primed flat black (exciting I know). I base coated the cloak with Charadon Granite Foundation and applied a base/guide coat of Reaper Blackened Steel to the metal parts. This one is likely to have to be touched up later.

That's the mini as it sits now. Next up is the sword and some of the iconography.

This piece is likely to go slower since I'm working on a Bastion as well and it's definitely closer to being done.

April's Winding Down

2010-04-25T15:24:00.003-04:00

It's nearing the end of April and the weather has been warmer than I remember it ever being in April. No complaints here.

Yesterday, I was wandering home around dusk. It was cloudy and the air was cooling off, but not rapidly. It was one of those gray and hazy evenings when there was no wind and everything was still.

Rather a nice night for a walk.

Middle of April

2010-04-18T21:46:00.002-04:00

So, it's the middle of the month and I've not posted much.

I've been working on my Bastion and it's definitely been an experience. I'll try to get some pictures posted later this week.

To say that I've learned how to do it better next time is an understatement. Using super glue rather than plastic glue for this thing has caused me a major headache (part of which, I'm sure is from letting the thing dry in my room) in addition to far more filing and gap filling than is normally necessary with these models.

At any rate, the first and second story are on and attached. I'm in the process of adding the roof and the crenelations. One that's done, it's just a matter of painting the add on bitz like the Skull Probes, Laser Cannon, Escape Hatch and wierd communication thingy.

Once this piece is done, I'm planning to do up the Crusader I started simply on the grounds that it's a nice, small project.

We also had a tourney yesterday. I didn't want to bring a bunch of Orks, so I had Sean do me a Chaos list.

Fabius Bile
10 Possessed
8 Raptors - Mark of Nurgle, Melta Gun, Flame Thrower
10 Chaos Space Marines - Laser Cannon, Plasma Gun
10 Chaos Space Marines - Laser Cannon, Plasma Gun
3 Chaos Spawn
10 Blinged Out Terminator Champions with the Mark of Tzeentch

Everything but the Spawn was enhanced.

It was an entertaining list to be sure.

A couple of my units got into fights with themselves and my two troop choices wound up losing a model a turn in the first game due to their monstrous enhancements. Would have been fine if it hadn't been an objective mission.

At the end of the day, I took Best Presentation, which oddly fit since I was the one who painted the majority of the models I'd used. Sean took Best Overall, so now he's won every trophy at least once. In terms of generalship, I lost all of the games, but it was fun. Having a couple of Deep Striking units was pretty neat, though the concept of armour saves was a little strange. I usually don't have to worry about those with my Orks.

My Triumphant Return......Sort Of

2010-04-04T15:26:00.002-04:00

I'm back from an interesting couple of days in Owen Sound. I managed to see enough folks that it was a good visit and I certainly couldn't complain about the weather. I took some nice (for me) pictures of the various back yard critters at my parents' place and saw Clash of the Titans.

On the modeling front, my latest project has been a repair and refit rather than an entirely new model. I have a Stormboy Nob (which I didn't bother to take a before picture of for some reason) who was armed with a Slugga and Choppa. Not the end of the world, but there is a reason the Power Klaw and Bosspole are the armaments of choice for Nobz leading units. This particular Nob also came with an oddly kitbashed Slugga which I think was one of my early works. At any rate, with the amount of old Stormboyz I have, I've ample places for the pair of old Sluggas to go and, thanks to a box of the new Nobz, I have an ample supply of Power Klaws, Bosspoles and Nob sized Slugga arms. So, my Stormboy Nob got a refit.

March Goes Out

2010-03-28T21:34:00.003-04:00

That's about it. It's kind of cold and gray here, rather a lazy weekend.

For the most part, I've painted a bit, done some reading and played around with Torchlight, which is a pretty good game for five bucks.

I've done some work on my Stormboy Nob, but hes' not done yet.

Basically he's had both arms replaced and a Bosspole added to the Rokkit frame. I've still got to detail the actual model and do some washing and cleanup. I'll probably be another couple of days.

The coverage from Adepticon has been interesting. Most of all, the relatively high number of Guard Armies there. I'm guessing that the options in the new book which actually allows a player to do a small Guard Army have a lot to do with it. I suppose it shouldn't come as a huge surprise; with all of the Forge World support, there are a raft of beautiful Guard kits out there and army options other than 'lots of models on the table' mean that more folks are taking advantage.

How I Spent My Weekend

2010-03-22T21:05:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I wish.

In reality, I went out to Sean's place with Sparky. We had a good visit and a good Apocalypse game too. I did however, learn a few important things about running a big game:

Preparation is good. Having things like lists and stuff done ahead of time really makes the game go easier. Unfortunately, that also rules out the way most stores seem to run Apocalypse ("Just bring all your miniatures and we'll rumble").
Terrain adds at least 30% more fun. That's actually true for normal games too.
Know how stuff works, both yours and your opponent's. It's not crucial if you can talk to each other and come to an agreement, but it definitely saves time.
Walls of any kind are the bane of Ork Warbikers.
While the Strategic Asset 'Rok 'Em Boyz' is not a precision weapon, it it is cool. C'mon, dropping meteorites on your opponents is awesome.......even if they scatter D6 Feet.
Vortex Grenades are even more awesome.......even if they scatter back onto you and kill your Warbikers and your Warboss and your Trukk and your Trukk Boyz. Odd how it avoided those pesky enemy models.

Anyway, an entertaining game to say the least. Definitely have some things to do better next time though.

Two Down, One To Go

2010-03-16T21:40:00.002-04:00

Finished up two Possessed for Sean. On to the next one!

Orks vs The Cult

2010-03-15T17:47:00.002-04:00

Nic and I played a game on Saturday in which my Orks squared off against his Cultists (using the Guard Codex). It was an objective based game and I lost 4-1. Such is the fate of forgetting the Boyz before Toyz rule.

At any rate, a fun game with about 400 models on the table.

We also realized that I needed to start storing my terrain at home.

Back Home

2010-03-12T22:24:00.002-05:00

I'm back to Barrie after visiting Owen Sound for a week. Seeing everyone was definitely a good thing.

Back home here, the weather's been great. I snapped a quick picture of the waterfront on Tuesday.

Rain started today, but even at that, this ranks as the nicest March weather I've seen in quite some time

This week, I started to fix up some Orks, then shifted over to work on Sean's Possessed (I did get my one Kommando fixed up). I should have the first two done this weekend and that will leave next week for the really goofy one.

Finished Maugan-Ra

2010-03-06T16:22:00.002-05:00

So, in another case of me surging ahead and not getting any intervening pictures, I finished up Maugan-Ra. I wanted to finish it off today so I could leave it with Mike before I headed back to Barrie. All in all, he turned out alright.

Ted's Range Road Diner

2010-03-06T09:05:00.003-05:00

Got together with Sparky last night and went to Ted's Range Road Diner. Once again, the list of 123 of the best places to eat in Canada came though. I had some tasty kangaroo medallions. Nice, comfortable place to be sure.

Given that my pic didn't turn out well, I scooped one from the Meaford website.

Starting Maugan Ra

2010-03-02T18:00:00.003-05:00

So, I started up Maugan Ra today. I picked the model up when I was in Texas and it really just needs some shading and detail work since it's partially based already. The picture below is what I started with:

I just did some rough work last night, trying to get some definition and the colours down:

Kill Team?

2010-03-01T07:30:00.002-05:00

For our next get together, Sean has decided that he wants to do some Axis and Allies on the Saturday with the potential of some small 40K that night. To this end, we've been looking at smaller games like Combat Patrol/40Kin40Minutes and Kill Team. Basically small, quick playing games.

After re-reading the rules for these games, I've come to wonder how well my Orks will fare. In assault, well, they'll be Orks and just as well at that. The issue becomes whether they will be able to deal with a Brute Squad in a timely manner. Brutes with low toughness and/or poor armour shouldn't be an issue. Things like Space Marines though, the good armour and higher than average toughness can be problematic. In this regard, I'm thinking the lack of reliable shooting is going to be an issue. To that end, I'm considering a Kill Team of Stormboyz rather than Kommandos. I'd be losing out on the addition of a Burna, but I'd gain the flexibility of Rokkit Packs for quick movements.

Anyway, that's a random thought for the morning.

Ork Truk Part.....Uhh..It's Done?

2010-02-27T13:58:00.005-05:00

Well, I've a little bit of touch up and detailing to do and I'm intending to add some additional weathering too. However, I'm at the point where I'm not sure what I want to do and the things I'm trying aren't giving me the result that I want. Generally speaking, that's a pretty good indication that it's time to put the model down, do some research and playing around and come back later when things are fresher. The fact that the model is quite table worthy at this point helps too.

The nice thing is that I actually learned a fair bit from this model. Prior to the Trukk, the largest and most complicated thing I'd painted was a Deff Dread. More pieces to this one definitely and painting in stages and assembling is definitely worth while. The lessons though are pretty simple. First, larger brushes are good on larger models (yeah, yeah, shocking I know) and I've the feeling that a larger dry brush would have been handy here. Second, the layered approach I used (doing the metal and then the red paint job) worked, but I really need to start painting chips and things like that since it's far more efficient. Finally, the weathering with salt bit didn't work for me. Admittedly, I tried it late one evening and opted to go from memory. I'll have to reread the article on Brush Thralls and give it another go at some point.

At any rate, that's the Trukk. My next bit of work will be an objective marker I started for Sean last year. After all of those bits and pieces, I'm going to do something simpler. I'll probably try some free hand work on this one though.

Ork Trukk Part 3ish - Most of the Rest of It

2010-02-21T21:41:00.005-05:00

Well, it seems I've done the same thing here I usually wind up doing when I do project logs. I always seem to have a section where I do a fair bit without documenting it. Such is life.

Moving right along, I've had the majority of the Trukk assembled for a couple of days. I wound up reassembling some parts today when I added in the turret mount. I'm not sure what's more annoying, the fact that the images in the assembly guide are flipped or that it took me this long to realize it. At any rate, the Trukk is pretty much done in a bare metal finish. I've got to add the crew and essentially the 'fixins' such as boarding planks, rams, etc.

From there, I'm thinking I'll go with a weathered Evil Sunz paint job, then apply sufficient blue to use it as a looted Trukk for my Death Skullz. I've applied salt water to several sections of the panels with the intention of painting over and then stripping the areas off to create a chipped paint effect. I'll have to see how that one turns out. If anyone is curious about the technique, I found it here: www.brushthralls.com.

2010-02-20T22:41:00.003-05:00

Today was a 1850 point tourney at the Gamer's Lair. Since I'm finally back in Barrie, Sean and I made our lists, packed up our armies and headed over.

All in all, it was a pretty good day. Sean took Best General and I had a fun couple of games. Some very nice armies there.

Here's my list:

Mugwort’s Mad Horde – 1844 point Ork Mob

HQ:

Mugwort da Warphead – 90 points

Mad Dok Grotsnik – 165 points

Troops:

30 Grotz & 3 Runtherdz – 285 points

30 Grotz & 3 Runtherdz – 285 points

19 Grotz & 1 Runtherdz – 167 points

19 Grotz & 1 Runtherdz – 167 points

Fast Attack:

3 Wartrakk Skorchas – 150 points

3 Wartrakks – 120 points

Heavy Support:

4 Flash Gitz & Painboy & Ammo Runt & Grot Orderly – 310 points

Da Orkalith (Battlewagon)– 125 points

3 Killa Kans – 185 points

All of the infantry had Cybork Bodies and the Flash Gitz were fully kitted out.

So, far from a competitive army, but it's always fun to play and play against.

I brought my first Grot army to the first Gamer's Lair tourney of 2009 and it was great. This year, I actually missed the first tourney (I was still in San Antonio at the time), so I decided to bring the Grotz to this one. Two things stood in my way. First, I didn't have enough Grotz. A mob of thirty Grotz just wasn't going to cut it in a tournament this big, no way, no how. Nic came to the rescue with an additional 68 Grotz! Definitely a step in the right direction, but I was still light, so we put in Mad Dok Grotsnik and the Orkalith. Then, it became the game of 'what haven't I tried much?' in came the Flash Gitz, Wartrakks, Skorchas and the Warphead. In terms of scoring, I came in dead last in Generalship, but they're Grotz, so it's OK. I did however, learn a couple of things.

First, Wierdboyz are good and weird and entertaining. I figured it'd get old after a game, but it didn't. These guys aren't built to last though. The 5+ Invulnerable Save from the Cybork Body got used a fair bit, but even that is pretty much base level. The Warphead upgrade is pretty much crucial to giving him a shot at surviving his own powers. Fun unit, but a soft target, I'm thinking he's probably got a better home with a Mob of Shoota Boyz than a mob of Slugga Boyz.

Flash Gitz are also fun. If you want to soak points, the guys are second only to Nobz. I like the idea of the Snazzguns and the funky upgrades. You'd think it would take something besides random AP to make these guys fun, but that's about it. I'm probably going to make some Flash Gitz this year (I used Nobz with various Shootas to proxy at this tourney) because I've got some great ideas.

War Trakks. These were a huge win! Yes, I lost a total of four of them to failed dangerous terrain checks in the course of two games (losing two Skorchas that way during Turn 1 of my first game just made me shake my head), but the mobility was great and they were fun to use. Once I'm done with my current Orky projects, I'll likely add some bikes, buggies and War Trakks.

My army on the first game facing Deathwing.

Some Light Work Today

2010-02-16T22:31:00.001-05:00

Between work and some errands after work today, I wound up pretty tired. I put the firewall and gear shift onto the model and detailed the panel. I also got most of the next batch of parts cut from the sprue and prepped. I also took a look at the next few stages of assembly and realized that I'm mostly down to the smaller detail parts, which is pretty cool. I'm pretty impressed with this new kit. Like most of the new Ork stuff from GW, there's lots of detail (and sufficiently Orky detail at that) and it goes together well. In retrospect, I think my only real regret on the model is not getting to it sooner.

Ork Trukk - Part 2 - The Box & Engine Block

2010-02-15T21:43:00.005-05:00

This was actually one of the pieces of the Trukk which had me a little worried in terms of assembly and painting. The engine was the second. Both have been a breeze thus far, though I've not connected the various pipes to the engine yet. All in all, a pretty sound reason for me to read the instructions before planning a model.

Without further ado, I wanted to use pretty much the same paint scheme with the box as the chassis, but I also wanted it to look a little different from the remainder of the model. I went as before, but dry brushed Reaper Shadowed Steel to give the metal a darker look. Blackened Steel and Honed Steel were both used on the patch plates, but I can see having to go over them again since they don't stand out much presently. The inside of the window cuts was done with Reaper Honed Steel. I plan to follow up the remainder of the detailing similarly. The glyphs on the side were done in Reaper Sunburst Yellow. The wrappings on the roll bars were done in Citadel Grave Yard Earth, then dry brushed with Reaper Half-Orc Highlight and Reaper Leather Brown, then washed with Citadel Devlan Mud. The bed of the Trukk also recieved a dry brush of Reaper Half-Orc Highlight to try to make it look a little dusty. The verdict is out on that one.

The engine block was base coated with Reaper Adamantium Black. From there, I added a 50/50 mix of Reaper Rust Brown and Adikolor Rust to a few spots on the block. I dry brushed the entire thing with Reaper Tarnished Steel. I'm not entirely sure that the rust mix gave me the effect I was looking for, but I'll get some pipes test fitted to the block and take a look from there.

I seem to be using a lot of dry brushing on this model. I've found that's the best way to get a good, crappy, scrap metal look for Ork stuff. I'm planning to apply some colour using a fairly heavy over brush once the model is assembled. Hopefully that will give me a beaten up and cobbled together look for the Trukk.

Ork Trukk - Part 1 - Wheels and Chassis

2010-02-14T20:03:00.003-05:00

So, the first bit of my Trukk is largely done and assembled. The whole model was primed Skull White on the sprue. From there, I put on a base coat of GW Charadon Granite Foundation to darken the colour down. The metal frame was done with Reaper Shadowed Steel. The shocks and the plates on the wheels were painted with GW Tin Bitz, then dry brushed with Reaper Honed Steel. The rims are GW Tin Bitz with Reaper Shadowed Steel dry brushed on. The tires are a 50/25/25 mix of Reaper Pure Black, Reaper Blackened Brown and Reaper Stormy Grey with some matte medium mixed in.

Next up is the engine block. As with the frame, I've based with GW Charadon Granite and so far, applied Reaper Adamantium Black. I'll be adding some highlights and dry brushing for a used metal texture, I'm just not entirely sure of the scheme yet.

Work Started - Sort Of

2010-02-13T20:26:00.001-05:00

It's one week until the tourney and I've started on the Trukk. I was a bit delayed by a tired week and deciding to install Windows 7. At any rate that's done and I'm working through the wheels and chassis of the model as we speak. The good news is that building the Trukk seems to be much simpler than I originally thought. Always a bonus. I'll get some pictures up tomorrowish.

And the Winner Is....

2010-02-10T19:53:00.000-05:00

Looks as though my Ork Trukk is my next project.

The 7 Similarities Between Women and Fish

2010-02-10T18:21:00.001-05:00

Oddly enough, this came up in three conversations with three different countries today. Very strange.

1. Both attracted to shiny objects
2. More fun to catch while drinking
3. You must document great catches or no one will believe you — video preferred
4. There’s others in the sea and/or bar
5. Three words: catch and release
6. Both travel in protective groups
7. Can hook either with a great line

Another Model Finished

2010-02-09T20:59:00.002-05:00

I got the Chaos Warrior finished up for Nic. On to another project.

New Stuff From GW

2010-02-08T18:45:00.003-05:00

I got a look at the new Deff Dread and Killa-Kans from GW and those are some nice models. They went from reasonably klanky cans with legs to some really over the top engines of Orky destruction. The Deff Dread looks to be a little pricier than the current version while the Killa-Kans are the real deal of the lot. Going from $35 a piece for models which don't fit together well to a trio of models for less than twenty dollars more is simply excellent.

On the Guard side, the Basilisk and Chimera look like they'll be fine things to loot.

The big loser of that release has to be the Flash Git though. With all of the effort put into describing the Snazzgunz an the Flash Gitz, I kind of expected them to look cool and that model just doesn't. It does a fine job of a Shoota-Boy with a double barreled shotgun, but that's about it. Makes me glad I picked up some extra metal Nobz last year for the bodies. I'm thinking I'll stick with my plan to convert some Flash Gitz.

Regardless though, I won't have to worry on the new kits any time soon. I've more than enough to paint as it is.

I'm working on some sort of Chaos thing for Nic at present. He's coming along alright. I just need to finish his, well, whatever the Chaos equivalent of a Bosspole is and his head, then a bit of detailing and a wash with smoke and he should be done. I was trying for a partially glowing armour and playing with washes and dry brushing. The playing with washes on metals worked out alright. The glowing and burned armour, not so much. Live and learn I suppose.

Once this one is done, I'll have to talk to Sean and see what he wants to bring to the tourney on the 20th. If he wants more Possessed for it, I'll probably wind up working on them. If not, I might try to get my Trukk built and painted.

Well, I'm Back

2010-02-07T15:37:00.001-05:00

I came home a little over a week past. Despite the cold, or perhaps because of it, it's good to be home. I'll miss my friends in San Antonio, but I find that the past week or so has highlighted my appreciation for my team here. I take comfort from the singular sense of purpose that we all share.

I saw Avatar with Sean on Friday. To my surprise, the story was fairly descent, though I think the real win for the movie was the blending of live action and animation. I think special effects have pretty much reached the point which video game graphics reached a couple of years past; the point at which they're simply not going to get much better. Just as well by my mind. It may force Hollywood to concentrate on telling stories rather than just making things bigger. We shall see though.

A Pint on the Patio - In January!

2010-01-02T16:09:00.003-05:00

Well, I can't deny that even with a cool breeze, this is pretty awesome for a Canuck like me. Being able to enjoy a pint outdoors without gloves, a hat or a parka is a novel concept if nothing else.

At any rate, Nic and Heather have had their baby, a lass named Jayne. I'm very happy for them. They'll make good parents.

As for me, I'm still in San Antonio. Getting the training group down here is taking a little longer than I initially thought, but looking back, I underestimated the size of the group more than anything else. Lots of good trainers down here.

On the painting side, I've done a bit, but not nearly so much as I though I would. I posted the Techpriest I bought and finished down here, but very little since. I suppose I've not been a total sluggard give the fact that all of these were done in San Antonio:

And I've got three models in process at present:

We'll see how things play out from there. I'm here until the end of January, so hopefully I can make some additional headway on my painting and maybe find some good deals on laptops and the like.

I'll have to see to a Bruns' Night in town as well. I'll be surprised if there's not one in a city this size.

It's 2010

2010-01-01T17:05:00.001-05:00

And so far, I've done some work, done some painting, Nic and Heather have a wee lass named Jayne and I'm pondering a visit to the Flying Saucer.

The Day After Black Friday

2009-11-28T22:55:00.002-05:00

So, it's the weekend after Thanksgiving and I'm watching folks round here wander to and fro with loads of goods in their vehicles. I've been hopping t'wixt hobby stores and the like most of the day and people seem a little stressed. I spent most of yesterday puttering round with the Techpriest I picked up and he's turned out alright.

Aside from that, things have been pretty sterile here. My shift has swung every which way but loose and it's really not conductive to doing much besides work. In the company's defense, that is why I'm down here. We also discovered the Flying Saucer which is a very nice brew pub in San Antonio. The staff is friendly and they stock a descent selection of beer I usually drink. Finding Unibroue products was a pleasant surprise.

Sunny in San Antonio

2009-11-21T10:50:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy couple of months. Finished my first class here and they've turned out quite well. To say it's been a whirlwind of activity down here is an understatement. Lots of things going on to be sure.

The site opening is proceeding quickly. We're looking at around 1200 people on site at present and we're bringing more folks on tomorrow. ABay validation went quite well. Should be finished today.

On the non-work side, things have been just as busy. Seen some pretty neat things in town, lots of good food. Found a couple of the local hobby shops, neither of which seem to stock Reaper paints, which is a little puzzling. Definitely got some good deals out of the visits as well.

At any rate, back to it.

Everything Really Is Bigger In Texas

2009-10-13T11:34:00.002-04:00

Well, the food seems to be at least. I'm rapidly finding out that most of things I take for granted as coming in bottles or small containers at home seem to come in medium sized buckets here. I'm getting used to it though, just more partial containers in the fridge and the like.

The flight in wasn't too bad, though I could have done with a longer stop at O'Hare. Perhaps next time.

The hotel is quite nice and I'm finding the people here quite pleasant. As to the actual call centre here, it's massive by our standards in North America. This will be our largest site on the continent by a sizable margin once we're done.

Aside from that, the team is generally good and fun to work with. This weekend will be interesting I'm certain.

Back In Barrie......For A Couple Of Weeks

2009-09-28T19:26:00.003-04:00

Well, I think 'whirlwind' would be an apt description for the last while with me.

Work picked up from busy to nuts on quite a few fronts. I've divorced myself from the 'Client Who Shall Not Be Named' and one of our sites and dived into a brand new one. Bright House is picking up again in terms of training and the like, so I'm working updates and recursive training across four sites, seven teams and three countries. It's crazy busy, but my team is full of super stars. As insane as it is, we're making it look easy and it's pretty fun.

We've started work for Comcast in San Antonio and I'll be heading down there to train in a couple of weeks, so I'm on to the pre-planning and running reviews for my team on top of everything else before I leave. It's been a while since I've done a site opening, so I'm looking forward to that. I've never been to Texas before and it looks like a really cool area. Definitely taking in the Alamo, northern Mexico and Corpus Christi while I'm there. Looks like I'll be coming in to a nice jazz festival when I land too, so that's good. If anyone can suggest some other things to see, by all means, let me know.

I returned from Niagara Falls (more accurately Tonawanda) on Thursday. Good visit overall, saw the Falls and things like that again, but I was much more excited to meet my team. Great bunch in that site too, I'm happy to say. Went to some neat places and got to hang out with some very cool people.

Late in August, I got word that my Dad had been in for kidney surgery, so I packed off to Owen Sound for a couple of weeks. Spending some time with my family and with the team in Owen Sound was a pretty good thing all things being equal. It was a double boon since I'm not sure when I'll be back in Canada.

On the modeling front, it's been stop and start to a greater or lesser degree. I've been working on two boxes of Lootas for a couple of weeks now. It turns out that speed painting isn't my strong suit these days. I think I've been spoiled by too many HQ type units.

At any rate, the bodies of the Lootas are done and I'm working on the rest of the mob in pairs. If things go well, I might even have a couple finished up today or Monday.

On the other side of things, I've pretty much been working to get old projects off of my desk. Of course, me being me, I've managed to sneak in a few of those models which I really wanted to paint.

I finished up the Tallaran Officer Nic gave me to paint about a year and a half ago.

I've a Lexmechanic done.

And I couldn't resist doing a Death Cult Assassin because the model is just awesome.

I'm also working here and there on an Imperial Bastion, but there's not much to see yet.

I've also started puttering with a War Machine Bloat Thrall which will probably wind up going into Sean's army of Nurgly stuff.

In terms of current projects though, the main one I'm working on is my Lootas, at least for the moment.

Back In Barrie.......For A Couple Of Weeks

2009-09-27T14:14:00.002-04:00

Back In Barrie......For A Couple Of Weeks

2009-09-27T14:13:00.001-04:00

It's Been One Hot Couple Of Weeks

2009-08-19T20:33:00.001-04:00

That's about all I can say there, we've had a little heat wave and I don't do that well in heat. Surprisingly enough, I was alright up until last weekend. Brutally hot would describe the weather. I painted outside most of Saturday and the air conditioning felt good when I came in. On the plus side, my unit of Burnas is finished, capped off with a Mekboy I gave a looted Doomsiren too because it was fun. My last Crusader is done. I got a good start on Ghazdgkull and the Warp Spider Exarch which has been sitting on my desk for 18 months. Just finished that one up tonight. It's good to have it done.

I've been a little out of the photography mood of late, so I haven't gotten pictures of the models yet. A task for later this week I suppose. I'm going to take care of a Skull Probe next for a little change of pace and a small project, then I'll start drilling out the torson on the Ork Boss.

Busy Times

2009-08-09T21:02:00.001-04:00

Things have been pretty busy since I returned from Waterloo. Work's ramping up, well still and looking at doing the campaign at Sean's next weekend means that I have to have the campaign booklet done and the appropriate miniatures. Means lots of front loaded work. Should be fun though. Ivan gave me a Magic deck too, which was nice. Turns out there are a few other cards I'd like to have, so I'll get those, but I should be more than good to go once my little box is filled up.

A Trip To Waterloo

2009-07-31T21:22:00.002-04:00

Had a nice trip to Waterloo. I caught up with Sparky and V, did some painting and hung out. It was a lot of fun. Veronica painted up the first batch of my Sisters of Battle for me, which I thought was nice. I think they turned out well, though the pictures don't quite do them justice, the white is very bright and I'm trying to photo to models at night without a light box. I'm using the flash, but it reflects pretty heavily off of the Skull White. I'll try to get some better pictures tomorrow.

Ever find one of those models that just about paints itself?

2009-07-19T17:43:00.002-04:00

Well, I did today and it was added to a pretty short list. I've painted quite a bit (well, for me at any rate, I'm sure other folks have done more) and there are only a few models for which I've seen this occur. The old Possessed (what can I say, they're goofy looking and I like them), Boss Snikrot, the Vostroyan Sniper with the funky optic helmet and this Commissar Nic gave me. It's a great model and it got finished in record time. The only real pain in the arse was gluing the right arm on, but for a model this fun to paint, I'll deal.

Gaming and Painting

2009-07-18T21:48:00.002-04:00

A bit of an odd Saturday. I slept in and puttered away at my Crusaders. Talk about fun models to paint, they're beauties. I doubt they'll be as cool in game as they look, but I'll field them anyway. If GW ever comes out and does a plastic Inquisition Retinue kit, I'm sure they'd wind up with some pretty cool stuff. Nic gave me a Commissar and an Ogryn to work on as well and they're coming along well. I've gotten the Commissar about half done in the last hour or so. The Ogryn will take a little longer since he's a bigger model and he's getting a bigger gun as well, but that's alright.

Sean and I went to the Gamer's Lair today and played a game through. We drew the game at two objectives each. Sean brought out the Daemons and I went with a thrown together Ork list which worked pretty well considering. Aside from that, Doug mentioned that he's gutting the store in August to be rid of the rat maze effect and make room for more gaming tables, so that's a good thing. He showed Sean and I the drawings and it looks as though the place will be considerably more open when he's done. He's also going to start selling used models and things, which could be interesting. I know I've gotten some bits and pieces from Doug's used cabinet before and they've been descent deals, reasonably comparable to eBay when you factor in the shipping and things.

It's a cool July

2009-07-14T21:01:00.001-04:00

So people are saying anyway. I don't mind it. Good weather for wandering round.

Work's been busy and getting busier, par for the season. I've gotten three new trainers hired on and they're doing well, so there should be more breathing room now than before.

I've gotten Nic's Burnas done, which is a good thing. I hadn't painted in bulk in a while and doing so again was a bit of a departure. I can still do it, but it takes longer to get back into that groove than it used to. I guess I've been spoiled by doing too many command units and similar things. I've decided to work on either a Crusader or a Wolf Priest next, though I think I've settled on the Crusader. I want to play around with fabrics and see if I can make them look good with a bit of a cross between blending and dry brushing. If I get too frustrated with that though, I can pull out the Wolf Priest. Models like that make me wish I was making a Space Wolves army. Their regular Blood Claws and Grey Hunters are very nicely done and their character units like Rune Pirests, Wolf Priest, Wolf Guard and Iron Priests are just beautiful. At any rate though, we'll see how it goes.

Hotter Than A Snake's Ass In A Wagon Rut

2009-06-26T21:38:00.001-04:00

GMDF, it's been a hot and weird week.

It was after 19:00 when I got out of the office today, but thankfully, there was a nice breeze. Even with that though, I worked up a sweat walking haim.

Anyway, a really strange week of stuff coming from the wood work. I wound up a little jacked up, to the point where I stopped at Scotty's for a read and a pint after work just to be sociable. I'm not even sure which helped more.

At any rate though, I'm looking forward to a nice, reasonably quiet weekend. Might even happen. Who knows.

Games Day Toronto 2009

2009-06-21T13:20:00.001-04:00

Sean, Mike and I went down to Games Day yesterday. Lots of people there and it wasn't a bad day. We wandered round, took in the sites and greeted some friends, which was great. Then, we nipped out for lunch. We would up getting a little turned around in the city, so we just grabbed some McDonalds and headed back to pop into the Forge World shop before heading back to Barrie.

In terms of Games Day, it wasn't bad. Definitely better run this year than last. The volunteers seemed to be much happier with what they were doing and that's always a good thing.

The GW store was great this year in terms of selection (as opposed to the minimal stock they had last year) and while there were no prices on the kit, the volunteers were pretty much right there to lend a hand, so it wasn't the end of the world.

The Forge World store was pretty much a waste of my time since they didn't have anything I wanted. They offered free shipping at which point, I realized that the items of my list weren't really a priority, especially since they weren't picking up the duty on the stuff coming over. I've had enough issues with that sort of thing in the past that I wasn't about to do it again. The one bright spot though was the folks running that store. Very personable and efficient, even later in the day after they'd been run off their feet for hours. Really great job by these folks.

The Armies on Parade was a nice touch, though I didn't get over to see it later in the day when everyone had gotten their entries in. The ones which were there in the morning were some very nice armies though.

Golden Demon was there again this year too, but I didn't find it as impressive as last year. The entries which won deserved to win I think and there were some fantastic models there. On the whole though, there didn't seem to be as many models there as last year and the split between the ones which made the first cut and those that didn't was very obvious. More than a few of the entires were on par with what I paint up for the table top. Mike and Sean seemed to think that was because I'm getting better year on year. Hopefully they're right. If that's the case, I should have something worth entering next year.

The other thing I noted a distinct lack of was store tables. There were far fewer tables at Games Day this year (though there were some very big and very nice ones) and very few stores. I can't really say I blame them since they can't sell at the event. I've often thought it would be nice to let the stores sell and just have GW run the Forge World and Black Library stuff, maybe a small section for their Direct Exclusive stuff. Less maintainence for GW and for the stores, what a great way to be rid of dead stock. Of course, you'd probably also see things like sales at Games Day in that event too.

In the end, it was a descent outing. We went down, saw the place out, went round Toronto a bit, then came back to Barrie and did our shopping at our FLGS where Mike got his case and I found a deal on some Multi-Melta Sisters. If I've got to pay retail anyway, I'm pretty much going to buy where I play.

Back Home From New Brunswick

2009-06-13T21:08:00.001-04:00

I got back from New Brunswick on Thursday evening. It was a pretty entertaining trip back between Sam and I thinking we were running tight for time and the construction on the 400. The top chuckle of the day though had to be the drive back from Pearson to Barrie. With the 400 down to a single lane in a couple of spots, the drive actually wound up taking slightly longer than the flight from Fredericton.

It was a good trip though, I can definitely say that. Very different (and nice attitudes) in that Province. I got to meet my team in Oromocto after working with them for a couple of years from Barrie and we did a few touristy things. The Reversing Falls were pretty cool and St. John was nice, as was Fredericton. The big winner though was the Bay of Fundy National Park. All I can say is 'Wow'. It's a beautiful place. It's a good thing that my camera is smarter than I am.

On the way home, I also got word that Ivan and Bec are engaged. I gave Ivan a ribbing, but that's what guys do. I'm very happy for both of my friends.

Saturday - 1800 pt Rogue Trader Tourney

2009-05-31T19:04:00.001-04:00

Well, Saturday was the 1800 point RTT at the Gamer's Lair. I had some pretty good games. I played Eldar first and whittled them down in kill points. Next up was a narrow loss to a CSM player (should have charged in with my Shoota Boyz I guess), followed by beating a Space Marine Army. My final game saw my Orks massacred by Eldar, which was probably revenge for the first round. On the whole though, they were all good games. I placed 4th in Generalship, which is a good reminder to watch my units since I forgot to move units a couple of times and that had a pretty pronounced effect on the game. I did get best presentation though, which was nice after all that painting. Folks liked the Orkalith, which I borrowed from Nic. I made a point of telling everyone that it was a borrowed model though, so I'm happy with it. All in all, the Gamer's Lair continues to have a nice group to play with. I think Nic and I are going to the doubles tourney next weekend, which should be fun.

I Have An Ass Shock

2009-05-24T18:57:00.001-04:00

Yes, yes I do. I went out for a ride with Ivan and Bec today and noticed again that the seat on my bike was rather high. Well, Ivan took a look since I'd put it as low as I could and he knows more about bikes than I. Well, he found the seat was as low as it could go, but it was OK, because I had an ass shock.

Anyway, a good trip to the Outfitters got me some wash for my coat and a case for my camera. I was a happy camper, especially on the Gore-Tex cleaner. Last time I bought it (and this is going back a ways), the stuff was twenty bucks a bottle and you needed the detergent and the stuff to replenish the DWR layer. This time, 10 bucks got me a two in one, so I was quite happy to spend another $15 on a Pelican case for my camera.

Autarch Finished - Mostly

2009-05-23T19:46:00.001-04:00

I finally got that last Autarch done. He's been on my desk for around six months now, so it's good to have him not there. I need to clean up a couple of highlights, but that's about it. I'll be interesting to see how he does on the table in Mike's army as well. With the wings and the Fusion Blaster, he should be able to flit around annoyingly and roast some tanks and I'm hoping the Mandiblasters and Chainsword make him reasonably hitty in close combat. We shall see though.

I also finished another book (I seem to be reading a lot these days). I picked up Heroes of the Space Marines, it's an anthology from GW. Like most anthologies, some of the stories are good, some are mediocre and some are junk. This one was no exception, though I didn't find many junk stories. What I did find though, were lots of odd choices. While I realize that the setting for 40K is of the grim and dark variety, there were enough stories featuring betrayl, human sacriffice and chainsaws to the face (alright, both sides did that last one), that I wound up wondering if the Black Library folks had made a mistake on the jacket, intending to call it Champions of the Chaos Space Marines instead. Perhaps I've just a more conventional view of heroes.

Victoria Day

2009-05-18T22:07:00.001-04:00

Today went pretty well. I got the wings for the Autarch done and I just need to add some detail to the body and that's finished too. I also got some reading and some Dawn of War 2 done. Tonight was Star Trek with some friends, which turned out to be a good movie.

Long Weekend

2009-05-17T22:16:00.001-04:00

Well, what I originally thought would be a quiet weekend with lots of time to paint has turned out a little differently. Seems alright though. Friday I went to Chapters to pick up a couple of books and Sir Games-A-Lot to pick up a Trukk. I figured I'd have time to at least make a start on the Trukk and clear some outstanding stuff from my desk. Well, sort of.

Saturday, I grabbed some lunch and a book and killed a couple of hours that way. Then Ivan and Bec asked me to see Angels and Demons. Honestly, probably not a movie I'd have bothered with otherwise, but it wound up being a nice evening with a couple of good friends. The early show was sold out, so we took in the later show after another visit to Chapters and some Vietnamese food at Pho J&J (which I highly recommend, that place is fantastic with the best mango shakes I've had outside of Asia). All in all, a nice evening.

It turns out that we enjoy eachothers' company enough that we opted for breakfast today as well. What can I say, I've fun friends. Anyway, today wound up being a whirlwind. I was home for about twenty minutes before Terry and Jason swung by to pick me up to head for Tanesh's place. That was a nice afternoon of conversation and friends. Some folks didn't turn up for various reasons, but we had a cosy little gathering and Tanesh was good enough to send me home with some of her curry. Good friends, good food and good times.

Thus far, I've basically gotten nothing accomplished this weekend, but I'm OK with that.

Anyway, for the moment, I've decided to start working on an Autarch for Mike. I made a start on the body and the wings, but the model have been on my desk for months now and I'm in the mood for something a little different. Since you can't get much further from smoke belching, rusty, klanking monstrosity than the thin and elegant lines of the Eldar with their natural looking Wraithbone constructs, this seemed like a good choice.

Big Bang Theory & The Battlewagon

2009-05-14T21:31:00.001-04:00

Well, a second recommendation from work and this one is a swing and a miss, though I might give it another kick later on. We shall see. I'm beginning to think that I might be designed out of modern sitcoms (with the exception of How I Met Your Mother, but hey, Barney is awesome). Anyway, back to Big Bang Theory; I found this one much like True Blood, just uninteresting. Sad folks in general, but that accomplishes the fundamental effect of TV, making a person feel better about themselves.

On the Battlewagon, it's going on hold for at least a couple of days. It's shaping up a little too normal looking and I want to prevent that and get a better idea of what I want. I sort of started building hoping it would come together and that's not the best idea ever.

Anyway, I'll be back on it once I get a proper idea of what's what. In the meantime, I've plenty of other things to paint.

Wednesday Afternoon Off

2009-05-13T18:02:00.001-04:00

Yeah, I'm eventful. I took the afternoon off to do laundry and play around with my soon to be Battlewagon. This is really my first experiment with plasticard and it's been interesting. Next time though, I definitely work with raw models rather than ones already assembled. The thick paint on that Basilisk I picked up has been an issue a few times now.

40K Team Tourney - 09 May 2009

2009-05-10T19:30:00.000-04:00

The good news is that I went to my first team tourney at the Gamer's Lair this weekend. It was a pretty good time with two of the four rounds being pretty general, the first round being quite good and the third round being exceptional.

The only bad news was that I forgot the cardinal rule for any Ork Army: Boyz Before Toyz. I went with the following list:

Warboss with Power Klaw, Boss Pole, Twin Linked Shoota and Cybork Body

5 Nobz individually kitted with a Painboy

2 Mobz of 19 Slugga Boyz each with a Nob with Power Klaw, Bosspole and 'Eavy Armour

13 Grotz with a Runtherd

It just wound up being too few boyz for a 750 point list. More's the pity.

Still a good game though.

Reading of Late

2009-05-04T22:34:00.000-04:00

I picked up The Wanderer from the bargain bin and that one was proof that some books belong there. Maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea, I don't really know, but it definitely goes into the fairly short list of books that I've no inclination to finish.

On a brighter note though, after the OK showing of Mechanicum (I wanted to read about more crazy Ad Mech weapons and such than were in the book), I picked up a couple of other 40K novels. I'm in the midst of Scourge the Heretic and while it looks like a 400 odd page ad for Dark Heresy, it's at least entertaining. The real gems I've stumbled on so far are the various Space Wolves books from Lee Lightner. One could argue that they're not literary masterpieces, but they're fast paced, possessed of good imagry and the stories are entertaining. I enjoyed Wolf's Honour, so I picked up Sons of Fenris and have pretty much consigned myself to reading the books in reverse order.

On the modelling side, I'm frankensteining a Chimera and a Basilisk together to make a suitably klanky and smoke belching Battlewagon. It's been entertaining so far and it's my first time using plasticard, so that part has been pretty interesting. I've dumped the Earth Shaker Cannon into my bitz bin to eventually create a suitably Orky gatling artillery cannon. Obviously I need to get better at scratch building and obtain a few more Earth Shakers, but I'm dreaming big!

Starting a Blog

2009-05-03T18:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I decided to start one of these things rather than constatly abusing my Dakka Dakka article. Should be interesting.