The state of the game

      Good morning and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Mine was fine. Thank you. I have had little time to myself & hobby time over this period, between preparations, visits, and the day to day stuff that goes on in my regular life. Though, there is one thing that keeps bugging me terribly. When I did get to forums and podcasts in the past couple week, I was incredibly surprised and disappointed about the amount of negativity and immediate denial of all the new material we got for 40 k in this past month. With 2 new books and data slates from the advent calendar, isn't this what all the old timers loved about this game? Wasn't this the way rogue trader and 2nd edition like? I started playing Warhammer 40000 in 2nd edition. I remember when I bought my first Eldar squads. Those units I bought all those years ago wouldn't even make a feasible list now, even with how "out of control" these expansions are claimed to be. When planet strike came out, there was not this kind of hatred towards a new way to play the game. The people that didn't like it didn't play. Period. Why is it so much different today? The community has been asking for more content. Well, you got it. If you don't like the way Escalation plays, Don't include it in your group. To me, It is Apocalypse light and that is it. We won't be playing here unless we agree to, just like Planet Strike, or Cities of Death or Kill Team or 1250 points games or Battle Fleet Gothic. Sometimes that's what we want to play and sometimes we don't. It's a game. It's our game. I even heard it called a gentleman's game. Let's play the game we want to play it. If it's not fun where you are playing, you can always come visit me for a game. Please feel free to comment on this. I would be interested in hearing other people's opinions.

Holiday painting.

      Well, as you can imagine, there has been none.... Sorry. But I did want to wish anybody that is out there and reading this a happy holiday from me. I think there is not enough Christmas cheer to be had, sometimes. Today, I share mine. I hope that the elves brought you something you can enjoy for a long time to come. My blessing came from the innocence of youth. Introducing my children into making crafts (including painting little men) and giving gifts that they made, is what inspires me to do what I do. Just seeing the pride they had knowing they made someone smile with something they made. There is no greater pleasure to me that enriching the next generation. Thanks to everyone that takes to follow or at least read my blog. There will be plenty more next year.

Progress from the Webway

      Hi guys. I just wanted to put a bit of progress that i have been doing on the Eldar. My Fire Dragons are done and got some headway on the Howling Banshees. I also made considerable forward motion on an autarch that would go great with the fire dragons, but he is not part of the list. You may have noticed I have a habit of straying straying from the path a bit. Unfortunately, the pictures did not come out well enough to post. And remember, no bases until the end of the project. I hope you enjoy these. There are more to come.  Don't forget to keep an eye out for something coming soon.

Battle Report: Come the Plague

Death Guard

Saim Hann Eldar

                  Plague Marines


                          vs.



                Saim Hann Eldar



        For the first time in months, I got a game of 40k in this week end. What a glorious time had by all!!! Well, by both of us. My friend brought over his plague marine army to play. His army in basic was a lord with the burning brand in terminator armor, a sorcerer, 2 squads of plague marines, a chosen squad, terminator squad, and havocs with autocannons. I brought out my Eldar. I just haven't had enough games since the codex came out, sadly enough. I brought a farseer, fire dragons in a falcon, 2 squads of dire avengers in wave serpents, warp spiders, jet bikes, dark reapers, and a squad of guardians on foot for scoring.

      I felt really good about my chances by seeing the lists and the table setup. Then came my greatest downfall. We rolled dawn of war.(no problem) Then the mission was rolled......... Purge the Alien!(Ugh!)
Now what do I do? He has a total of 7 kill points. I have almost twice as many. He goes first. Big help for me. I have range and mobility. I just need to get rid of those havocs. I set up mostly out of sight. All the shot he got off were havocs which were insufficient and my shooting was a bit lack luster. If I remember correctly, I killed 2 plague marines. Then turn 2 came. His terminators all dropped in with the lord. He barbecued my warp spiders and dark reapers. Let's just say at the end of turn 2, he was beating me 3 to nothing. It took until turn four for me to even get a kill point. Damn toughness 5 and feel no pain. When the game ended, I had lost 7 to 2. I performed well in my opinion, but I just couldn't kill off the last guy in each squad. Neither warlord died. I did get line breaker. So, off to the next one.

         Keep your eye here for something special coming soon.

Back from black

      Once the Thanksgiving is over and most of the leftovers are eaten. The craziness of black Friday shopping began. (oh, the deals!)  Even as that insanity ended, Small Business Saturday began. This is the day that is most dear to me. I hope everyone out there supported their local hobby center or game store. If you haven't gone out this shopping season. Please, support your local game store. Without them, most of us would not be in a miniature wargaming hobby.

The future has been foreseen.

        Ok. Ok. So this is a little late. This week my house has been hit by all manner of catastrophes. From plagues and floods to power outages. Well, I am exaggerating a bit. (It all happened!) Then there has been the Thanksgiving preparations. Let's just say it has been a bit busy. No excuses, I know. On the bright side, I got my bastion assembled and painted. I just have yet to paint the quad gun, comms relay and lascannon. Though, I have four of the bases painted. Not quite sure why I painted so many, but we have options.


    Next, to the business at hand. The list to paint for my next project. The voting was close. The Eldar won out by one vote. I thank those who left comments. This is, again, an addition to my existing Eldar collection. I think the list would be fun as is. I would probably drop some points (howling banshees, most likely) to get another wave serpent or two in to be more tournament competitive. Here it is:

1850 Points - Codex: Eldar Roster - Eldar hobby goal

   1 Autarch - TL Shuriken Catapults; Shuriken Pistol; Haywire Grenades; Plasma Grenades; Forceshield; Banshee Mask; Laser Lance; Reaper Launcher (Starswarm); Eldar Jetbike
   1 Farseer - TL Shuriken Catapults; Rune Armor; Shuriken Pistol; Ghosthelm; Eldar Jetbike; Singing Spear
20 Dire Avengers
   9 Dire Avengers - Avenger Shuriken Catapult; Plasma Grenades
   1 Dire Avenger Exarch - TL Avenger Shuriken Catapult
   9 Dire Avengers - Avenger Shuriken Catapult; Plasma Grenades
   1 Dire Avenger Exarch - Power Sword; Shimmershield
6 Fire Dragons
   5 Fire Dragons - Fusion Gun
   1 Fire Dragon Exarch - Fire pike
1 Fire Prism
   1 Fire Prism - Prism Cannon; TL Shuriken Catapults
20 Guardian Defenders
   20 Guardian Defenders - Shuriken Catapult; Plasma Grenades
7 Howling Banshees
   6 Howling Banshees - Shuriken Pistol; Power Sword; Banshee Mask
   1 Howling Banshee Exarch - Shuriken Pistol; Executioner
3 Warlock
   2 Warlock - Rune Armour; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade
   1 Warlock - Rune Armour; Shuriken Pistol; Singing Spear
10 Warp Spiders
   9 Warp Spiders - Death Spinner; Warp Jump Generators
   1 Warp Spider Exarch - TL Death Spinner; Powerblades
1 Wave Serpent
   1 Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers; TL Shuriken Catapults; Ghostwalk Matrix
3 Windrider Jetbike Squad
   2 Windrider Jetbike Squad - TL Shuriken Catapults; Eldar Jetbike
   1 Windrider Jetbike Squad - Shuriken Cannon; Eldar Jetbike
5 Wraithguard
   5 Wraithguard - Wraithcannon
Total Roster Cost: 1848

Dead Heat.

      Here we are. Two day later. I have an even tie for what army to work on next. I was sure when I  put the last post up that I certainly would not have a three way tie between Imperial Guard, Eldar, and Tyranids. (sigh). Well, I'm going to explain my armies a bit. First off, Chris is quite capable of painting his own bugs, but I will help him as the need arises. Though there is some strange irony in painting bugs before my IG. I'm sure the will be some compensation involved.(hint, hint). Next, my Eldar of Saim-Hann. I already own an allotment of jetbikes at my disposal. What I plan on painting is farseers, warlocks, guardians, dire avengers and a few grav tanks for filler. The IG army I collected is fully intended to fight tyranids. My brainstorm was to be an air cavalry army. Unfortunately, 6th edition put an end to that. Besides, the reality of that many Valkyries just doesn't work. So, I shorted the air support and added Leman Russ tanks. So, again I ask. Which army should I work on next? I am leaving this up to you. One comment can change my life for the next 6 months or so.