Portable Hobbying

I wrote this blog post ahead of time because I'm actually going to be in New York City for a few days.  I got a new job at work and travel is part of the gig.  I may end up in NYC as often as once every couple of weeks.

As such, I need to work out a "travel hobby kit".  I'll end up having lots of nights bored and alone in hotel rooms.  I could go out on the town, but that's actually sort of depressing when you're alone.

So, what do people do?  These days, there are inherent difficulties with travelling with lots of paint or the tools I'd need to assemble models.  To the uniformed, a hobby tool kit makes you look like you're going to try to take down a train all by yourself through some sort of shenanigans.

Am I best off getting something like the Citadel Project Box that GW sells?

Or should I get a small Tupperware style container?  Whatever I get will need to fit in a carry on along with all of my other clothing and what not.

I'm at a bit of a loss.  I'd like to be able to spend those nights doing a bit of painting, but transporting models and paints, etc. presents some unique challenges.  I don't want to break models or spill paints or risk some overzealous TSA agent taking my toys away!

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Imperial Assault - Play the Damned Mission

My friends and I met to play some Imperial Assault a couple of nights ago only to find that I'd stupidly not brought any of the rule books...  including the campaign book with all the missions.  As such, we weren't able to continue the campaign we'd started.  Instead, we played a couple of the expansion pack missions.

Now, to preface this, I've lost 5 missions in a row and won none at this point.

This first mission we played went just like the last 5.  I felt frustrated and at a loss as to what I was supposed to do.  I deployed my guys.  I shot at the Rebels.  I did Imperial things.  None of it mattered.  Afterwards, we talked about what went wrong.  The Rebels had to get down a corridor and open a door to progress a mission.  Instead of blocking that corridor, I basically did this...

I tried shooting at them and spread my troops out a bit too much.  I should have just bunched up and forced them to burn a few turns dealing with me...  which is exactly what I did in the second mission.  Now, the second mission arguably favored the Empire, but I still had a solid victory.  It took me six losses before I had a single victory.

The huge take away is something I should have realized.  I'm constantly telling the players that they need to play the mission.  I also need to play the mission.  If the mission progresses when a door opens, protect that door and clog the hallway with Stormtroopers.  If terminals need to be activated, stack up on one or two and defend it.  If the Rebels need to kill a specific model, have him run and hide.  Use double movements and try to block line of sight as much as possible.  Most of these missions have a time deadline.  Forcing the Rebels (or Empire depending on the mission) to waste time greatly increases your chance of victory.

I think I'll do much better next game.

Weekly Weight Update

End of Week 3
Up 0.2 lbs since last week and down 2.4 lbs overall. I'm actually going to call this week a win.  I saw my family three times, which is pretty uncommon.  I also ate out a fair number of meals due to various social obligations.  The fact that I remained pretty flat from last week shows that I did say no a lot and practiced better portion controls.  This coming week is looking like it'll be much easier.

Iron Warriors Apothecary Kitbash

So...

I'm not entirely happy with these.  I decided last night to try and throw together some Apothecaries for my slowly growing Iron Warriors army.  I used a variety of bits I had laying around to do so.  I'm seriously debating just scrapping them and ordering the MkIV Apothecaries from Forgeworld.

Thoughts?  I could really use the feedback.

The way I see it, I have four real options.

Option #1 - The Forgeworld Models.  Would cost about ~36.5 USD for the two models.

Option #2 - Buy two GW Command Squad kits and mix the Apothecary bits with Betrayal at Calth models.  This is probably the best option, but also the most expensive.  Would cost anywhere from $20 to $70 depending on eBay availability.

Option #3 - Use the models I kitbashed.  Would be free.  They're a little too tall and not quit the Heresy Era aesthetic.

Option #4 - This would also be a kitbash of sorts.  At least, it would require more than a little conversion to get rid of all the Blood Angels iconography.  Cost is 30 USD per model.

Give me your thoughts!

Star Wars Armada - Regional Recap

The Pittsburgh Regionals from the Perspective of Sixth Place

BiggsIRL did a very good write up of the overall tournament, so this post isn’t about reporting on a loss or even the games exactly (though I did recap below). Instead, I’m just going to talk about the tournament from my point of view and how things went.

First, Mr. Nice Guy Games is an awesome store filled with awesome people. Maybe it’s the years of mental and emotional abuse I’ve suffered playing 40K tournaments, but the Armada community is full of friendly folks. Pittsburgh is no exception. Everyone I played as warm and inviting. This is especially nice, since I’m from Philadelphia and sometimes, our reputation precedes us.

Second, the Pittsburgh meta is the strongest I’ve seen — or read about. I went to this tournament with two friends and met a third on site. We prepped for this event like it was the MCATs. Not just play testing lists, but reading tournament reports from the local and surrounding metas. We discussed what effect of the Steele Open might have as they were both on April 30. We talked through various commanders and how they would play against our lists. I did the best of any of us and came in sixth (the other guys came in 8th and 13th ). To be honest, that includes a few points of luck.

We spent a lot of the tournament staring at our opponent’s board trying to riddle out what they knew and we didn’t. The answer is Rieekan. The Philadelphia meta has developed over the last six or seven months to value killing a ship mid-turn before it activates to win the game. It’s a sound way to play, and honestly, it’s how 40k works. Unfortunately for us, Pittsburgh figured out that Rieekan counters that Ackbar, raider spam, and most other lists built on the kill before activation philosophy.

The result was an eye-opening experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world, including winning that tournament (I’m playing two other regionals and nationals). It’s always the unseen knife that kills you. And we had played around with Rieekan a bit in Philly, but never really grasped what he could do until that day in late April.

To me that’s what regionals are about: learning what exists outside the local bubble. Sometimes that lets you be super dominate and slaughter your opponents. Sometimes it’s the reverse. Either way it helps me feel and understand that I play in a much bigger galaxy than my own backyard.

Third, the tournament software is super buggy. But we all know that from other reports.

Now for the quid pro quo.

Here is the list I used.

My first game was against one of my friends. There were only 16 players and there were 8 first round byes (7 store champs and one natural). I won 7-3. The second game I lost 2-8. It came down to a bad choice I made at the end of turn sixth, which cost me my whale and Ackbar. Then came game three…

I was talking with a gentleman before that game who said he was dropping because he was low enough in the standings that he wouldn’t be in the prizes. I commented that I only had 9 points and the top table was a battle between two players that had earned 18 apiece, but I wanted to play it out. Hey, I’m here, I paid for it, and I’m learning all sorts of Rieekany goodness. I left to hit the head before the start of the round.

I came back to find him standing across the table from me with no ships and an odd smile on his face.

Then the conversation went something like this:

Me: You decided not to drop. Great! Lets do this.

Him: No, I have to go.

Me: Okay?
Him: Intentional draw?
Me: No. I can’t go back to Philly with an intentional draw on my record. (Plus, I don’t agree with that rule’s existence.)
Him: I have to go, so…

Me: We’d better call the TO over.

Long story short, the player had marked drop on his form after round two. The TO asked him to confirm the drop prior to pairings at which time the player decided not to drop. We double checked the rules. I ended up with a 10-0 victory with a 400 point MOV without even setting up.

I realized this was going to skew the standings. The byes resulted in a close points spread. So, I considered what I would want another player to do, and decided to tell everyone what had happened (including my final score), thereby allowing them to adjust their play style accordingly. It only seemed fair under the odd circumstances that everyone be made aware.

I have no idea why he did what he did, and I don’t care. I feel robbed of a game. I would have finished lower in the standings, and I’m okay with that. I was mathematically eliminated from winning the tournament at the end of round two. So, the next time you’re considering dropping be sure either way when you turn in your round scores. We all came to play. No one wants to sit out.

Until next time—She’s Got Admiral Ackbar Eyes.

Perturabo

Yeah, so I'm totally gonna order Perturabo.  I thought about my list over the weekend and decided that adding a Primarch is not only super fluffy, but it's also a great way to get the army up there in points.  Perturabo is around 440 points or so and can go higher if you equip him with his optional hammer...  which I totally would.  He's quite expensive from Forgeworld directly, but only runs about 44 USD from our Russian friends on eBay.

Having thought about the Leviathan and Sicaran, I've decided that I want to stick with an Infantry heavy army.  The Dreadnoughts aren't bad, but it's my intention to stay away from the larger tanks.  Perturabo is perfect for an Infantry heavy army.  I'm not actually a fan of the giant base they have him on, so I'll probably just mount him to a normal sized base with my normal cork and sand style.  I want to make sure he matches the rest of the army.  He comes on a 40mm base that insets into a 60mm base.  I figure that I'll just use the 60mm base and jazz it up a bit.

Once I have more than 50% of Betrayal at Calth painted, I'll put in the order.

Considering a Leviathan

I'm at a point with the 30k army where it's almost playable, in the sense that most of the models are assembled.  It's time to start thinking about where I want to go with the army.  I'm seriously considering getting a Leviathan Dreadnought.  They're pretty badass looking and seem to represent the intermediate stage between the Contemptor and the more modern Box Dreads.  I can get one from our "Russian friends" for $59 with free shipping.

I'm also considering going with a Legion Sicaran Battle Tank.  They're just damned cool looking.  It also doesn't hurt that the Forgeworld sample is painted up as an Iron Warriors tank...

I'll probably keep thinking about it.  The other possibility is to just steer clear of the heavy hitters and get a couple of Rapier weapon platforms.  I'd probably be looking at the Quad Mortar as it seems to fit the Iron Warriors fluff the closest.  Time will tell.  I have plenty of time to think about it.

Orktimus Prime

I didn't do this, but I totally want to.  This is amazing.

Weekly Weight Update

End of Week 2
Down 1.0 lbs since last week and 2.6 lbs overall. I would have been down more, but yesterday was my brother's birthday and my mom cooked a good, old fashioned southern meal.  That means too much food.  I'm 7.60% of the way to my goal of 200 lbs.

Iron Warriors Chaplain Complete

I got a little bit of motivation yesterday and knocked this sucker out.  I like how he doesn't look significantly different from basic Tactical Marines.  I decided to put the "hazard stripes" in his helmet crest mainly because there was nowhere else convenient on the model to do so.  I went with a dark grey/black cape because I feel like the Iron Warriors would avoid flamboyance at all costs.  In Angel Exterminatus, they weren't too happy with the Emperor's Children.  Way too fancy.

Here's a shot of all of the models I've finished so far.  The little white blob by the grass on the Chaplain is just glue that hasn't dried yet.  It'll dry clear.  I was just tired and didn't want to wait!