My lootas are officially aces!

Last night I downed by 5th flyer of 6th edition (not counting the ones that have gone into hover mode).

I don't see what's the big deal.   They seem to die pretty easily. In fact only one flyer has survived against me, and that's because my opponent made all his flickerfield saves..then it zoomed off the board.

Of course pumping out between 30 and 90 S7 shots may have something to do with that..hehe.

Lootas currently are the best anti-aircraft unit in the game, by a wide margin.

My turn, bitches!

I was planning on taking Space Wolves to the Bay Area Open but that plan is currently on hold both for financial and rules reasons.  As soon as they figure out what they are going to do for BAO 2013, and of course the next 'dex or two plus upcoming BRB faq's, I can figure out what I want to do.

That won't leave me a lot of time to buy, assemble and paint anything. At this point I'm leaning towards playing Orks. I think could improve the paint level and basing on a 2k army in just a couple months.  I would probably add in a Farsear ally depending on the points level.

There is also word that Faeit (who is local to me in the Portland area) is planning on a real GT in the area, something that has not happened in a while to be around the same time as the BAO.  Don't know if the wife would let me out that much :)

Hobby update: Dark Eldar, project box clean-out

After digging through my project box, I decided to work on a couple things.

First is the Ork Stompa commander. he's all done, a few layers and highlights here and there.

Next is the Dwarf captain model. he's all done. I wanted to dive into this a bit more but the model just didn't lend itself  to too much detail.  I did blend the fur cloak and did some zenith highlighting on the armor.  I went with a Caucasian skin mainly to make it stand out from the otherwise grimdark paint job.   The red gems and bright gold were done with the same idea. I do like how the grey hair turned out.

And finally starting in on the Dark Eldar Venom for Toys for Tots. It's a new experience for me, never done elves before, but not any harder then grots.  The gunner is almost done, the guns as well. After that is the flag and then breaking out the airbrush for the body.

Very fun to paint, that's for sure. Love the hair color, again chosen mainly to provide contrast to the otherwise dark paint scheme.

That's all for now.

Still open for commission.  Check out the pricing on the services tab and contact me at da40korks@gmail.com

Brief 40k OFCC afterthoughts and the last game of 5th edition, ever..

I had a good time at OFCC this year.   I ended up 4-1 and the team ended up dead middle.

Just some quick notes on how my list worked and some observations.

1. Every game but 1 I put the 10-man assault squad in the stormraven. I never put the SG in it, though I think I should have.
2. An empty rhino is incredibly useful. I used it for mobile cover, for blocking transport advancement, as a unit to score points in the opponent's deployment zone and (baring a failed terrain test) for last second objective contesting.
3. Empty rhinos are ignored.  Completely.
4. Dante is awesome. I love hit and run.
5. I still hate attack bikes.  They only miss when it really matters.  They are good for bullet magnets.
6. Blood Angels are fast. Really fast. I was able to get around the board so fast every time. Against MC heavy 'nids I was able to move and shoot over and over, stay far enough away and then go in for the kill at the end.  I was able to drop in one side, kill a threat, then jump/flat out my way across the board with little effort.
7. I got lucky several times.  From Dante making 7 invulnerable saves against fists to getting a single hit on a trygon prime with the libby and killing it with the force weapon.   Better lucky then good!
8. I rarely had the tools I needed to deal with something.  Twice I had to face a 40+ marines, and I just don't have the bodies to deal with that. If not for luck (see #7) I should have lost 2 of those games.
9. It is possible to make a really, really bad GK list. I've seen it.

This was the largest OFCC ever, and the largest even put on by Ordo Fanaticus.  Both of these will probably be broken next year.

My very last game of 5th ever will always give me a sad face. First, I made a couple of key mistakes, but even with that I was starting to crawl my way back into the game.  Then the dice really took a dump on me. Even though at the end of the game I still had the chance to fight for a tie, but the dice thought otherwise.  In the last turn I hit with the multi-melta on the SR, only to roll 1&2 for armor pen.  Then later that turn I lost a combat by 2, only needing a 7 and roll boxcars. Sigh.

Even as we were cleaning up I was starting to think about next year, both OFCC and my planned trip to the bay area open.  But that's a discussion for another post..

OFCC 40k, two day tournament.. can't sleep!

So one of the biggest tips anyone can give when playing in a tournament is get sleep!  Normally I stay up pretty late (as I don't have to be to work until 11am) so trying to get to bed early didn't work.

I do have lots of water to pack, ice, food, etc.  Just no sleep lol. 

If you have not heard of OFCC before, it stands for Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge (Ordo is the gaming club) and is heavily comped, sports and painting-centric event.  In fact "tournament" isn't entirely accurate. Ya there are prizes for winning games, but that isn't the focus.

This event has been in planning for months, and the lists were submitted long ago so it's going to be a 5th edition event.  It will be very hard to go back to the old rules, even just a month into 6th..

I had to make what I consider a pretty bad list. I got it rated 2 out of 3, with bordering on a 1.

The one thing the list does allow is a great variety of deployment options.

HQ: Dante
HQ: Librarian, shield and unleash rage

Troop: Sanguinary Guard, 1x Fist, 1x pistol
Troop: 10 Assault marines, 2x melta, fist
Troop: 10 Assault marines, 2x flamer, power weapon, meltabomb, rhino w/sl
Troop: 5 Assault marines, melta, power weapon, las-plas razorback w/sl

Elite: Sanguinary high priest, power weapon, jump pack

Fast: 2x MM attack bikes
Fast: Baal Pred, HB sl

Heavy: 5x Devastators, 4x ML
Heavy: Pred, LC sl
Heavy: Stormraven, MM

The primary deployment is I'll be dropping Dante with the full squad of 10 guys and the priest.  The SG will ride in the SR maybe with the librarian, maybe put him in the razorback.

Another option I'm considering is putting the 10-man squad in the SR instead of their rhino, then either with the priest or libby. I'll do this against a heavy shooty army like IG and drop the SG with DoA.  This is the all-reserve deployment.

Against armies without too many power weapons or ap1/2 I'll drop the SQ with Dante instead.

I don't have any real answer for units of 10 TH/SS termies, or for grey knight anything in general. Hopefully I won't have to play too much of that kind of stuff.

It seems I've been playing 6th for the last year and half..

6th edition is very new, and most everything will change over time as new faq's and codex's drop. So I've been playing some practice games over the last month, getting ready for the August league at Guardian Games.

I've been basically tweaking my 5th edition list, and I'm really liking how it's going. I didn't have to throw out everything I had been doing for the edition change.  I guess it seems I've been playing 6th edition for the last year and half :)

Dropping from 2k to 1750 pretty much means I had to drop my allies. But I think I'll survive that, despite not being able to hurt a bastion at range. I don't expect too many of them at 1750 anyway.

Here is what I'll be running for competitive play this month:


HQ: Big Mek, KFF, bosspole (90)
HQ: Warboss, Bike, pk, squig, bosspole, cybork, bosspole (155)


Troop: 30 boys, shootas, 3x rokkit, nob w/PK & bosspole (250)
Troop: 30 boys, shootas, 3x big shootas, nob w/PK & bosspole (235)
Troop: 7 nob bikers, 2x PK, 1x big choppa, 1x waggh! banner, painboy, cyborks (450)


Elite: 10 lootas (150)
Elite: 10 lootas (150)
Elite:  9 lootas (135)

Heavy: 3x lobba, 3x ammo runts (84)

Fortification: Da wall of awesum (aegis defense line) (50)


1749pts


It's all pretty strait forward. The lootas hide behind DWoA (hehe) getting a 2+ cover save when needed. The nob bikers rush forward as both hammer and distraction. I'd rather have people shooting at the nobs then the lootas.  Most of the time the nobs don't last long, usually by the 3rd turn only the boss and painboy remain.  But when that happens everything else in my army is untouched and the lootas have been blasting away at threats.


The boys almost seem..unnecessary.  Seems weird to say that, huh?  They usually spend the game running up to die or sitting back and waiting.  


Anyway I'm just blowing stuff off the table time and time again. I'm fearing the lack of psychic defense, but you can't have everything..

A quick look through the project box

I'm sure everyone has one, a box or bin or something where projects sit for months..years..between times getting touched.  I keep mine close by.  In addition to the box, I have large bins I use for more current/pressing/larger projects.

So left to right. First is a misc bin with old bases, part of a Finecast KFF mek, and 3 Wargames Factory stormtroopers I put together for painting practice...and are still primed. Plus some bits and other misc models.

Next over I have a couple single model projects. Mainly is a Hawk Lords tactical marine I've been trying to get back too for a very long time. I'm using glazing to do the highlights, and really like the results so far.  I need to finish it, and I'm sure it wouldn't take long if I actually did it.  

I also have a Finecast Boss Zagstruck. It's been kinda waiting for me to get to cleaning up the stormboys.  Very much back burner. Also have the mek from the stompa kit, I want to paint this up and put him on the stompa.  Lastly is the Dwarf I won from Badgrendel's giveaway. I was going to try NMM on him, but he has so very little plate showing I decided to wait.  I did a drybrush of black metallic, then doing zenith highlights of boltgun and chainmail, finally a black wash.

Hair and beard will be done as grey, representing his character status.  getting to the face is going to be hard with the shield in the way.

Last bin has a few mushrooms I made for my Orcs & Goblins, the bits from the stormraven. I finished hightlighting these things, just waiting on the finished product. I got the first highlight on the flyer itself at least!  I also have my objective markers I made for the 6th mission with 6 of them. But I realized as I was making the last one they should have been on 40mm bases. Still trying to figure out how to work around it..

So that's my project box. Other stuff I have in bins is the 10 remaining Orcs with HW/Shield and Grimgor, and the jet battlewagon.  Other non-wargamming projects is the Revell helicopter and the very long-forgotten ME-262 model.

So that's the stuff I have sitting around being ignored. What's on your "project box" list?

Lootas are king!

Last night I got a chance to play with lootas behind an aegis defense line. I have to say the combo sounded good on paper and even better once I played it in game.

Is it perfect? No, of course not. nothing in this game is invulnerable. There is always a counter to every tactic and/or unit.

But getting a 2+ cover save and still able to pump out 6-20 S7 *hits* a turn is nothing to laugh at. At all.

Add in the fact that while the lootas are behind their wall of awesome, there is a unit of Nob bikers in your face gives them at least a turn or two of worry-free shooting.

At 1750 I lack any allies, which means to psychic defense. Can't have everything!

I'll keep trying this combo out, and I'm sure I'll get up a couple videos on Ork-ifying the Aegis.

Orks vs Necrons: