April 27, 2009

Weekend Update 4/27/2009

Didn't really get too much done this weekend. The wife went to Michigan with the middle child to visit her twin sister, so I had the oldest and youngest with me for the weekend. We visited my sister on Saturday and went to lunch at a nice little grill in downtown Glen Ellyn called "2 Toots Train Whistle Grill" its a neat concept where all the tables/booths are next to a Lionel train that runs on the counter and delivers your food to you. Not too many choices on the menu, but the kids enjoyed it. We then swung by the Battle Bunker to chat with friends and to pick up the latest copy of White Dwarf. As soon as I walked in, the Bunker Manager came to me with a copy and had to show me that there was a picture of myself along with everyone else who attended GitD 2009. I guess I'm a celebrity!

Sunday morning we decided to visit Brookfield Zoo for a few hours. It rained off and on, but it was not crowded, so that was nice.

Once we got home I finally got to start painting the Land Raider Crusader. I'm about half way done with it. Hopefully should be done later today/tomorrow. I'll try and get some pics up once its completely done.

April 25, 2009

W40K: Salamanders Update 4/25/2009

I was able to finish Tactical Squad 3 this week for the Salamanders and my son and I threw down for a practice game last night at the Chicago Battle Bunker. I have around 1250 pts of the Salamanders now completed, and I added a primed Land Raider Crusader to his list for a 1500 pt game. I decided to throw down with my Black Templars. I've been playing them a lot lately and I'm getting pretty comfortable on how they play.

The Mission was Seize Ground (4 objectives) and the deployment was Pitched Battle. My son got high die so he choose to go second. I got to pick my table edge and deploy first.

The game lasted 6 turns and all I can say is WOW! I made some pretty bad errors in judgement and should have done a lot differently. The Salamanders just about tabled the Black Templars except for 1 Tactical Squad I had left and he captured 3 out of the 4 objectives and only 1" away from capturing the 4th.

It was a good game, and I hope enjoyed playing with his Salamanders. The Land Raider Crusader really helped him a lot in this game.

I think for the time being I will be make a slight change for his 1750 pt list. Originally it was going to have 4 Tactical Squads with 4 Razorbacks. I think I am going to keep 3 Tactical Squads with 2 Razorbacks and then throw in the Crusader. So at 1750 points he'll have the following:

1750 Points:
1 Vulkan
3 Troop Squads
2 Razorbacks
2 Dreadnoughts
1 Squad of Terminators
1 Land Raider Redeemer
1 Land Raider Crusader

This will be I think more fun for him to play with. I'll eventually add the 4th Troop Squad and 2 Razorbacks and then this will round out the list nicely at 2000 points.

I'm looking forward to a rematch..... but I think I'll have to bring out my Dark Angels with all my Lascannons or even my Dark Eldar with Bright Lances....

Ok, onto painting the Crusader.

April 22, 2009

W40K: Planetstrike

Planetstrike will be the next expansion for Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 due out for Summer 2009. It seems to be a mix between W40K 5th Edition and W40K Apocalypse with the scenarios being geared toward more of Attackers vs. Defenders. Here is a teaser trailer from Games Workshop.



April 15, 2009

April 10, 2009

W40K: Salamanders Update 4/10/2009

A week before AdeptiCon I decided to start on my sons W40K Space Marines Salamanders Chapter. He started buying the models just before Christmas, so I thought it was finally time to get them painted. I plan to paint these in phases, and hopefully get them all completed by the end of April. Only 3 weeks left.

1000 Points:
1 Captain (primed)
2 Troop Squads (completed)
2 Razorbacks (completed)
2 Dreadnoughts (completed)
1 Squad of Terminators (primed)

So thats where I stand as of now. I hope to have the Terminators and Captain done by this weekend so we can start playing some 1000 point games next week.

For the next phase, he purchased a Land Raider Redeemer.
1250 Points
1 Land Raider Redeemer

At 1500 points, we plan on adding the following.
1 Vulkan (replacing Captain)
1 Troop Squad (minus Razorback)

At 1750 points, we plan on adding the following.
1 Razorback to Troop Squad
1 Troop Squad w/ Razorback

So at 1750 points, he'll have the following:

1750 Points:
1 Vulkan
4 Troop Squads
4 Razorbacks
2 Dreadnoughts
1 Squad of Terminators
1 Land Raider Redeemer

We'll see how we expand it after that.

April 2, 2009

AdeptiCon 2009 - 1 Day Away

Well AdeptiCon 2009 is officially just one day away.

"dot the i's, cross the t's" thats what this morning was all about.

Display Base for my son's LotR Singles Championship is done.
Matte coating of my Fantasy movement trays are done.
Printed lists are done.

All final tasks for AdeptiCon 2009 are now done.

Its going to still be a busy afternoon. I have to make two airport runs today. My friends Tim K and John L are flying in from Phoenix and landing at 1:00 PM at O'Hare airport, and my friend Sean R will be coming in from Tucson and landing at Midway airport at 2:35 PM.

So I need to pick up Tim/John from O'Hare and then drop them off at the hotel and then continue on to Midway to pick up Sean. After the airport runs, we'll probably chill out for awhile, then all grab some dinner tonight at Portillo's and pay a visit to the GW Chicago Battle Bunker. Tim and Sean and never been to the bunker before.

So onto this weekend, what's in store for me and my son.

Me:
Friday: Run the LotR Singles Championship
Saturday: Team up with Sean R and play in the LotR Team Tournament
Sunday: Team up with Chris W and play in the Warhammer Team Tournament

Son:
Friday: Play in the LotR Singles Championship
Saturday: Play in the Warhammer 40K Team Tournament (I found him a team that was looking for a fourth person.)
Sunday: Play in the Warhammer 40K Youngbloods Tournament

Friday/Saturday night we'll see if there is any room to play in the Legends of the High Seas big game that Tim K will be running.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. I'm teamed up with two great Generals in both of my events, so I'm hoping that we fare pretty well in those events. Win or Loss, it will be a good time.



March 31, 2009

Project Updates: 3/31/2009

Well its been almost 2 weeks since my last post and an update is well overdue. Been busy with various projects, playing games, and weekend birthday parties and of course getting ready for AdeptiCon which is taking place this weekend.

Besides running the LotR Singles Championships this Friday (which I really did not have to much to do beforehand, Jamie W is the TO for the event and he had written all the scenarios/scoresheets, I'll just physically be running the tourney.) I was tasked with making Tournament Packets. I used to do all the packets for AdeptiCon years ago, but with the event growing every year, I only had time to put together the following: Battlefleet Gothic, Bloodbowl, LotR Singles/Doubles, Necromunda, Warhammer 40K Combat Patrol, Warhammer 40K Youngbloods, Warhammer Ancient Battles Singles/Doubles. Thats still a lot of packets and it is very time consuming to make them all nice and pretty. Then the TO's sometimes have typo's and I have to go back re-edit and re-PDF the packets. I'm happy to say that the packets are all finally done.

Now onto some of the projects and what's left to do.

AdeptiCon:
Display board for my sons LotR 350 point army: Almost done, board is put together and base coated. Need to dry bush a highlight layer and then flock with static grass. Its nothing fancy, just something to make it easy for him to move his army around between games.

Movement Trays: Trays for my Empire Fantasy army that I will be playing in Sunday's Team Tournament have been repainted to match the new color of my bases. All thats left is to "matte" coat them.

Army Lists: Need to print multiple copies of all Army Lists for my son and I.

Batttlefleet Gothic:
Imperial Navy: I had about 1200 points of Imperial Navy (mostly from the starter box) so I built and painted these up last week for my son to play. We also played another game of BFG last week and it was good time. No pics at the moment, but I'll try and get some up soon.

LoTOW:
No updates to report. Models are still sitting unprimed. Unfortunately these slid down a little bit on my list of projects.

LoTHS:
No updates to report. Not sure when I will get to finish these guys.

LotR:
No updates to report. The last model I finished was the Mordor Troll. Waiting for WotR to come out this weekend and then I'm sure I'll have plenty to assemble and paint.

Warhammer Fantasy:
Empire: Re-based 1000 points so I can match my teammate for the AdeptiCon Team Tournament. Eventually I will get around to re-basing the rest of the army.

Dark Elves: No updates to report. Besides buying some models in Arizona before I left for Chicago, they have been sitting untouched.

Dwarfs: No updates to report. I have about 2000 points of Dwarfs painted, and about another 2000 points that need basing and touching up.

Wood Elves: No updates to report. This is my sons army, and I have not touched it in awhile.

Honestly I thought I'd be playing more Fantasy when I moved back to Chicago, but I prefer playing LotR and W40K over Fantasy. Plus the model count is a lot less. (until WotR gets released). Once in awhile we will throw down a Fantasy game, but I don't see myself finishing up any of these projects in the near future.

Warhammer 40K:
Dark Angels (son): He's had his DA army for quite a few years and we have been slowly adding to it. Recently we purchased some Terminators so he can run a Deathwing list. The models are all assembled and primed, they just need to be painted. This one also slid down the list a bit since I am painting a new army for him.

Salamanders (son): Shortly after the new Space Marines Codex came out at the end of 2008, my son and I have started to purchase models for him so he can play a "generic" Space Marine list that will be themed after the Salamanders. Since he purchased a lot of these models with his own money, I have slid this army to the top of my painting list. We have about 1000 points already assembled and primed. This past week I finished painting his 2 Troop Squads, they came out quite nicely (pics to come soon). Last night he purchased a Land Raider Redeemer. We'll be using this in his 1250/1500/1750 point lists. Its all about having fun with your toys. I know at 1250 its probably overkill, but who cares, let him have some fun. My goal is to have 1500 points painted by the end of April, 1750 would be nice.

Chaos Thousand Sons: No updates to report. I have close to 1000 points painted and have 1750 assembled and primed. Eventually these will get done.... I did say eventually.

Orks: No updates to report. Close to 1750 points are assembled and just sitting bare plastic. I decided to go with a "horde" army. Oh well, I want to get these done just to have another evil army to play, but I have other armies I prefer playing instead. I don't mind playing these "bare" for now. This is one army I am highly considering outsourcing to paint, but that will be pricey. Never know, maybe I'll ship them to my friend Tim K in Phoenix to paint for commission :)

Ultramarines: No updates to report. Back in Phoenix I assembled and base coated a 1750 point Ultramarine Drop Pod list after the new Codex came out. If I have time in April (after the Salamanders) I'll start adding some of the highlights. This is one army I really want to finish and I have plenty of other models/vehicles I can expand with this army. The Ultramarines will eventually become my Space Marine army that I will always expand on.

Imperial Guard: Well the new Codex for Imperial Guard comes out May 2nd. As always I got the itch then to start an IG army. I had a very nice one years ago, but never played it much and then sold it to a close friend. Now I'm regretting it, but it allows me to start fresh. I've been slowly picking up some of the Cadian Troopers. Right now you can get 20 Cadians for $35.00. The rumor has it they will start to be packaged as 10 for $22.00. So a lot of people are picking these up now. I'll hold off on the tanks for awhile until I see what kind of variants Games Workshop releases. I'll probably start assembling some of the Troopers in downtime (or just when I dont fell like painting) and move this army to the top of the list for the month of May.

I can see the IG and UM as my future W40K Armies that will be expanding. I'll always have other armies to play with, but these will grow.

March 19, 2009

BFG: First Game

Well its been almost 4 years since I painted my Chaos Black Legion Fleet for Battlefleet Gothic and I finally got in my first game of BFG on Monday night. I scheduled an intro game with my friend Robert at the Battle Bunker, (Robert will be the Tournament Organizer for BFG at AdeptiCon 2009).

We played with 750 point fleets just so I could get a hang on how the game plays. Some of the advanced rules like ramming and boarding we did not cover in this session. Again I just wanted to get a feel on how it plays.

It was very fun, and its very different. Tactical is all I can say. There were times where I didn't want to move because I like my position for the shot, but in BFG you must move each ship in the Movement Phase at least half its distance. The thing is, you cant go backwards, always forward and most ships are only allowed one turn.

I'm looking forward to getting a couple more games in under my belt so I can fully understand the rules. I was hoping to get back out there last night, but I didn't finish painting my sons Imperial Fleet in time. Hopefully Friday night we'll head back out.

Here are some pics of my Chaos Black Legion, again these were painted close to 4 years ago.


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March 11, 2009

LotR: Mordor Troll

After GitD 2008, I picked up the new plastic Mordor Troll and it's been sitting on my shelf for months. With WotR coming out next month, and my urge to work on my "Dol Guldur" list for LotR, I decided to break out my Mordor Troll.

I spent Saturday with my oldest son showing him how to build some models while I worked on the Troll. I started painting the Troll on Monday, and finished him yesterday.