Something to wash the 40k taste out of my mouth...

As I posted last week, I got my 40k Tournament Tau list done to go to an ITC event.  I knew that it would be complete cheddar due to being ITC based, but had no idea how bad it could be.  I expected cheddar, but the mildest cheese there was Blue!  Wow....

Don't get me wrong, if that's your thing, go for it, but the game has devolved to rock paper scissors at the army design level, once you are in a game it is too late!  To be fair, everyone I played was great to play and super friendly, they pretty much all thought the game has gone too far, but like me love the models and fluff, so keep playing.  Also, the organizers did a great job, things ran smoothly, on time, and they had tons of space available, tons of terrain, and a great looking setup.  It's just really too bad that they chose to use the ITC format, but like I said, to each their own.

So... to come to the point of this rant...  For the last 20 years, coming home from a 40k tournament I get anxious for my next project.  Like a junkie, I need my next fix, I have seen something that is just too cool, and I have to start a new army.  This has happened every tournament for 20 years....

Not this time.  Looking around the tournament, there were lots of amazing models, amazing armies, and paint jobs, but none screamed to me to start them.  In fact, seeing the direction the game has gone, I came home with a strong desire to paint something that would actually be FUN to play!

So, here is what I have done in the last few nights....

First up is a fleet of Venetian Galleys from Skull n Crown that Greg twisted my arm into picking up recently.  I started 1 of the ships in between washes on some of my Tau figures before the tournament, but finished the others up Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night.

They are laser cut plywood and come with all the flags, awnings, and side graphics. They are super easy to put together, but work better painting them in 2 main assemblies so that you can rig them through the supplied holes and then glue the two sub assemblies together afterwards.

Greg had already chosen two fleets before I decided to get in on the action with him, but he hadn't picked the fleet I wanted so all was good.  I figure if you are going to play a game, you really should have your army fit your personality.  As you all know I have a very evil, cynical, twisted take on things, therefore what better fleet for me than the most corrupt and evil faction of the time, The Vatican!  That's right, I am playing the Papal Fleet.

So far I have 1 large Lanterna, 1 Galley, and 2 smaller Galiots fully painted and ready to go.  Greg, what's the hold up?  Get yours done already!  Being at the lake is not an excuse!

The painting I did was very simple and plain, almost no shading or highlighting, yet on a flat surface I feel it works.  Adding too much to such a simplified take on the Venetian galley just makes the shape look wrong in my opinion.  The simplified block style design works great with these ships, I just feel its better to keep the paint simple as well.

Next up I got in a pile of 6mm figures to do Flames of War: Team Yankee with and had to start on them. I liked playing Team Yankee with Greg and Curt, however like Flames of War, really dislike the size of the figures vs the ranges on board, so am doing the game in 6mm where I feel things balance out better.

The first unit here is a group of T-72's that I actually painted a few weeks back, but never posted. 

The second unit is a group of M1A1 tanks, my favourite tank.

Both squads are done with very simple desert colours, then washed, and weathered with powders to give some depth.

I then based them on some bases I printed up that have lips around the area where I put labels, so that you can tell units and vehicles apart at a glance.  Oh, and to go with tiny labels, tiny magnets.  No, not for the labels.... I magnetized all the turrets, so they can turn to face the enemy.

To show how tiny these things really are, here is one next to a 40k model (who has turned his back to us in shame over the state of the game).

There we go, I have gotten the bad taste out of my mouth now. Next up in the queue is a mix of more 6mm to finish up some armies to do a Team Yankee game and some figs for a GW game, but not 40k.  I have an alternate Necromundia Gang to paint up and would like to get them done sometime soon.

Tau Hospitality

While in Winnipeg, I had the chance to have a game of WH40K with Byron, at his place. Steve, a friend of his, came for a visit and provided some precious advice at various moments of the game. I don't play 40K very often, and last time I did was with the 5th Edition of the rules. So I had lots of reading to do before this game.

To give some more context, during the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, I painted two 40K armies and since I have been waiting for an opportunity to field one of them. Well, I am happy to report that the Viet-Cron army just had its baptism of fire. Unfortunately, I don't think I will have a chance to play with Greg, who inspired the theme behind the Viet-Cron, before I leave Winnipeg, but I am sure we will have a chance to meet sooner or later for a friendly encounter.

Byron prepared a table with some awesome scenery. Many of the buildings visible in the picture are his creations and I really like how they are linked by small bridges.

I deployed my Destroyers on the right flank, ready to engage a squad of Fire Warriors.

 On the left flank, a group of Viet-Cron Warriors engaged a group of Tau Battlesuits and even managed to scare them away for a few turns. The posters, the billboards and the solar panels really make the city something special.

Right in the middle of the battlefield stood the "Temple of Metal", shooting all around. I thought the thing was invincible...

... so I moved it (it's on the right edge of the picture) closer to the heart of the city, ready to wipe out any target coming within range....

 ... then BOUM! some Battlesuit equipped with an array of fusion weapons blew up my big unit with one well aimed shot. The Spyder is positioned just behind where the "Temple of Metal" was standing a few seconds earlier.

On the right flank, things were going well. Two Battlesuits and the Tau Warriors were vaporized.
 

A final view of the battlefield. The Tau obviously have a strong foothold in the city while the few remaining Viet-Cron units control most of the forest.  Point wise, it was a Tau victory, but fun wise, it was a blast for both players!

I had a chance to take a look at some of Byron's outstanding miniatures and scenery before heading back to the downtown suite. A cool gaming evening like this is one of the reasons why I always look forward to my yearly trip to Winnipeg.

Astronomi-con Winnipeg 2015: Army Showcase

Another year, another Astronomi-con. This time the event was held at the Holiday Inn Airport Polo Park (a refurbished HoJo's). This year's tournament is the 15th annual Winnipeg event! Astro as an event has waxed and waned over the years; this year's Toronto even (last summer) had its usual 50 or so entrants. However, Winnipeg's event was down to just under 20 players. The fact that it was Grey Cup weekend, in Winnipeg, had to be a factor.

40K 7th edition has been around for awhile now, and two things are clear: (1) I hate the Psychic phase, which adds even more randomness and extra time to games; and (2) the newer codices are very powerful and well balanced amongst their own units, allowing multiple builds. There were four Eldar armies present (including my own Swordwind force)!

Here's a quick view of some of the other armies on display.

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Wes brought out an all-Harlequin force. Beautifully painted, the army was also hard as nails. Wes deservedly won Best Overall at the tournament.



Steve brought out one of the power builds of Codex: Eldar Craftworlds. Every Windrider jetbike you see is armed with a Scatter Laser (a Range 36",  S6, Heavy 4, gatling laser). Very fast, very hard hitting.



The Phoenix Lord Maugen-Ra leads Steve's army.



Mike brought yet another flavour of Eldar, with his Alatoic themed Ranger force.



Derrick has come back with a vengeance, fielding Tau.



I really love this beautifully converted Tau battlesuit. Derrick won Best Single Miniature with this piece.



Ben brought out a very well modelled Cult Mechanicus/Skitarii force.



Ben won Best Army for his considerable efforts.



Tom brought out another hard-as-nails army. With this Necron force, Tom  was in contention for Best General.



Kevin brought out an entirely new army this year. No Tiger Marines or Imperial Guard! These Tyranids are very nicely modelled.





Mike fielded a balanced Chaos force. The plane and artillery are nasty, but there's a lot of low-toughness squishy bits in this force.



Thomas won Best General with this Grey Knights force.The Paladins are very cool.



I have been playing 40K games against Lance since 1988! Some of these models date from that time period (that metal landspeeder is RT-era). The flyer is a cool conversion using parts from an IG Valkyrie.



I like how it holds a (magnetized) Dreadnought to drop into combat.



Greg brought out his Salamanders again.



He said he's been trying to beat me for 6 years; this year he did!



Ian brought out some Chaos-y goodness. That Contemptor Dreadnought throws out 8, Strength 8, AP 4 shots a turn!

Mechani-Kon 6: Army Showcase

Last month Alex and Thurston organized their sixth and final Mechani-Kon Warhammer 40k tournament. I was able to attend, and had a great time fielding a kinda retro version of my Eldar Swordwind. The TO's are not big fans of the current (7th ed.) iteration of 40k. For the event, there was no "comp" score per se. The TO's limited attendees to a single force org, so there were no allies allowed (and thus no dreaded "Tau-dar or other such ploys). The tournament was sold out, with people bringing out a lot of well-painted, themed armies.

Here follows the pictures that I was able to take of various armies. I shall post a brief batrep of my games in due course.

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Conscript Byron deservedly won the award for Best Appearance with his Chaos army (note that the roads and signs are laser cut wood from Byron's company, SG2 Creations):





Lovely converted Helldrake flyer.









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WesS won Best Overall while fielding a beautifully painted Dark Angels force:









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SteveB's beautiful Chaos army.









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CodyB's cool Tau:







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More armies:
























































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Asurmen's Academy

But for the Nightwing Interceptor aircraft, the Eldar force I brought was something I would have fielded in the early 2000's: Asurmen leading several squads of Aspect Warriors, supported by a Night Spinner artillery tank. At the time of the tournament, several of my units had not seen play for years, due to the vagaries of changes in the basic rules, and an aging codex. For example, I had not played with my Howling Banshees since maybe 2009.



Howling Banshees led by an Exarch. They were rock stars during the tournament, accompanying Asurmen as his bodyguards. With the recent release of the 7th Edition Codex Craftworlds, the Banshees don't even suck any more.



Asurmen, the Hand of Asuryen. This Phoenix Lord tanked shot after shot during the day, and got stuck into  close combat every game. The artillery tank also was a thorn in my opponents' sides, dropping clouds of mono-filament webs from across the table.



With Codex Craftworlds I shall be going back to fielding large (8-10 strong) Dire Avenger and Fire Dragon squads.



My Warp Spiders, painted by Conscript Brian. Always a part of my forces, they are now (in Codex Craftworlds) one of the best Eldar units.



The Nightwing, a Forge World resin model. During the tournament, half the time it was shut down by enemy anti-aircraft weapons, the other half  of the time it blew up stuff real good.



As for my placement in the standings, I won the highly coveted "First Loser" award! (Because winning second place overall with no other award is truly to be the first loser!)

This reminds me of my Astronom-con experiences, where I have placed 2nd overall 4 or 5 times...