Anyone interested in getting in some small games?

http://agentlemansones.blogspot.com/2011/11/special-operations-killzone-giveaway.html

:-)  Might be something to throw down with between/before League games at the Gopher...  I've always been a fan of playtesting things, being fairly good at math/tactics, etc...  I can usually find the broken things/combos...

Waiting for my next meeting, at least there is coffee here, $.27 for unlimited refills (after you buy the "official" mug)...  Just guessing that the University is losing money on this where us IT geeks and the like are concerned, but it is really quite a nice little cafe setting to get a bit of work done outside of the office with the great Wi-Fi here as well...

Building Blocks...

So, the building blocks of the Wolf army I am fielding…  It seems that ~115 points is a key number here.  Wolf Scouts with Melta and either 2 Plasma Pistols or Power Weapons or a combo, though I’ve been finding the Pistols to be more useful…  This comes to 115 points.  My Dreadnaught with Assault Cannon or Multi Melta and the DN CCW w/ Heavy Flamer or the Twin Linked Auto-Cannon arm also comes in at 115.  Grey Hunters without their Razorback are 105 the way I run them…  The Wolf Priest and Rune Priest are both in the 110 or so range the way I run them…  So, building blocks.  Not intending a MSU setup really, just seems the way it works out when I build a Wolf list…

At the 1000 points I think I’ll be fielding the Scouts more than the DN, depending on who I end up facing…  The Melta/Plasma troops appearing in the flank or back side of the field are really quite powerful…  But still trying to it too much in the 1000 point lists I think…  1500 and above will be far more interesting…

More Wolf Guard...

So, modifying more of the ancient Wolf Guard I have…  Magnetized weapon arms for the Terminator Armor…  I have a “few” claw arms, making more “Combi-Weapons” in the Plasma and Melta variety for the lads….  Still debating how the unit will deploy, I have the ancient Spartan class Land Raider they have deployed for me in over the decades or whether I have them walk on the board with the Wolf Priest and his “Saga of the Hunter” for the stealth and the “walking fortress”…  Plan on having Logan walk on with Long Fangs and the Wolf Guard will deploy next to them.  Since Logan gives them Relentless, I’ll not lose the extra turn of shooting, and Logan can slip over to the Guard once the Fangs are in place should HtH seem imminent…  Preferred Enemy and Wolf Claws make for a terrifyingly effective combination.  I’ve seen my Guard tear through things they should not have, at least not that quickly J…

So, on the fence about the Land Raider and Dreadnaught(s)…  The “ranged” DN I typically deploy with the Assault Cannon/TLAC arms I find less effective as time goes on.  I find myself locked in HtH with things that while I can kill them…  Maybe… It takes too long and I lose the fire of the DN for too long.  So I think I’ll run the AC/DN CCW for a bit and see how well it holds…

Yeah, need to figure out the camera...

Working on Combi weapons for my Wolf Guard and...  Well frankly all of my Terminator armies in at least a limited fashion...  So, magnetized arms with the "somewhat less useful" Storm Bolter changed out for the Combi-Plasma or Combi-Melta...  My Wolf Guard can use them all over the place, and even with the one shot Melta or 1-2 shots from the Plasma are well worth the 5 points...  So...  Just need to get the pictures to turn out for the work in progress and figure out how to get more of them out there :-)

End of the season...

Riding season that it...  Made it to 21 November :-)

So, that's her when she's "all together"...

Turned a few wrenches and reminded myself that a degree in "Mechanical Engineering" does not in fact make one a "Mechanic".  Also reminded myself why I used to wear a LOT of leather and denim...  Not a fashion statement, it would have saved a bit of my calf from the 3rd degree burn from the exhaust :-)  Messed up back and dismounting incorrectly....  The 'wing was kind enough to point out my error...

Well, on to gaming, getting MUCH more into my Wolves...  Played out a "Logan Wing" at 1000 points...  Frighteningly effective, and I'm thinking that the Wolf Guard with the Claws and Logan's Preferred Enemy made for a REALLY effective assault phase...  Going to have to convert out the combi weapons and the like...  Should be interesting at least...

Wow, this week is flying past...

So much going on, and it is all going by so quickly...  Especially with Maggie working full time as well, so much to do...  So, some cooking, cleaning...  The normal stuff, just more of it.  Tired all the time, but so much is getting done...

Hobby wise, my old 40K army is getting redone...  At times I do kind of wonder just how much I actually have in terms of points I could field.  Then I think, probably best NOT to figure that one out, because then I might get around to thinking about just how much I spent over the years :-)...  But like Chip and I figured in the old days, when we more or less quit drinking and shifted the money we WERE spending on going out almost every night to the bar(s) to 40K...  At least we had a bunch of stuff at the end of it :-)

Anyway, found yet another box of Wolves...  Stripped and re-painting now...  Just not so much this week yet.  6 DN bodies laid out on the painting table.  Never realized I HAD that many of the 2nd ed DN's.  Setting them up for swappable weapon options, most of them already have the magnets installed by now.  Long Fangs I haven't fielded since 2nd ed...  If I ever even did then...  Can't say I ever really used heavy weapons much with the Wolves after RT really...  I used to run Grey Hunters with special weapons, Blood Claws with loads of CC weapons and Wolf Guard all loaded out with Special Weapons and various CC weapons like Power Axes, Power Weapons, Power Fists, etc...  In the old days of course no limits on these things, at least on the Wolf Guard...  So, for a number of the ancient Wolf Guard, this could very well be the first time I've ever actually fielded them...  Just trying to get the whole painting fur thing down now....

Necrons…

So, the more I look at them, the more I think that some things like Heavy Bolters, Heavy Flamers and Autocannon/Assault Cannon are going to make a HUGE comeback.  4+ armor on a lot of the Troops and other things hitting the table.  Missile Launchers and above being needed for the AV 13/11 stuff since you’ll have to punch through the AV 13 to drop the shields on a lot of things.   So, other than a slight increase in the “marginal” weapons like HB/HF’s not a lot changes really…  Missile Launcher spam looks like it will be a very effective way to deal with a LOT of their stuff…

Their (Necron) lack of immunity to Melta these days means that unfortunately, the Melta swarms will still be the way to deal with vehicles.  GK with their Str 6 Heavy Bolter Razorbacks and Psycannon will probably not notice the Scarab swarms that will cause other armies (looking at IG/DE/Tau) to completely freak out…  Looking at my own forces: IG, I doubt the Scarab swarms will do much against me, but I tend towards a “defense in depth” like I was actually taught in the ancient times with my Praetorians…  Now a min/maxxed force with Melta Vets in Chimarae (Chimeras?  Yeah, Latin isn’t one of the languages I speak well) will simply get swarmed and taken apart I suspect…  My Wolves look like it will be a rough fight, but not one I am particularly concerned about honestly…  Win or lose it will be a fairly well balanced game I am guessing…  DA Terminators?  Depending on how silly, I suspect the Deathwing will win this one easily…  The same for the way I play my Grey Knights…  I tend toward the actual Knights, not the Inquisition’s forces, so MY lads should be just fine…  BA (Fleshtearers) I think might be one of the rougher ones…  Iff I can get to HtH, they’ll win easily enough, just the not getting shot to pieces or having my vehicles dropped to AV “tissue paper” before I do so might be a problem…  

We'll see :-)  I suspect there are at least 2-3 Necrons out there lurking at the Gopher...

Week 2, last at 500 points...

So, heading into week 2 of the escalation league...  This time I will actually bring some Troops...

Wolf Scouts (5, 2 PP, Melta Gun, Sniper rifle/MotW) 133
Grey Hunter Pack (Razorback w/LC TLP, Melta Gun, Power Fist)
Thunderwolf Cav (PF/SS, SS)

So, reserve if needed, but counting on the Scouts again to come out where they are needed and deal with stuff...  Grey Hunters sit in their box and try to shoot things from afar...  TWC run out there and distract/scare the opponent...  Mind even the 2 will destroy small squads in a turn, so it IS a real threat...  Looking forward to 1000 points I have to admit...

Ancient Wolves hitting the table again...

So, sculpting is every bit as much a pain as I remember it being…  Going for something in a Green Stuff shoulder pad for my Wolves…  Going with my old standard “Night Hunter”, the one with the Wolf howling and the full moon in the background…  Sadly I got fairly good at free handing it, just a bit different trying to go 3 dimensional…  Guess I give it another shot this weekend...

Breaking out another box of random ancient things I dug up…  2^nd edition Wolves, probably another 1500 points or so, depending on how they are equipped…  I do have to reassemble the Rhinos…  5-6 of them looks like.  Razorbacks, Predators, and Whirlwinds oh my…  Stripping some, but they lads are all getting painted, some sadly for the first time…

Veteran’s Day tomorrow, wandering over to Maurgen’s class for something…  We’ll see about hitting somewhere for one of the free lunch things J…  Not really something I’m much into “celebrating”, but a bit annoying that the Federal holiday is not a University holiday…

Week 2...

Last week @ 500 points, so thinking something along the lines of:
Wolf Scout Pack (loaded out, 133 points for Melta, 2 PP or 1 PP/1 PW, MotW)
Grey Hunters ( Melta, Power Fist, Razorback w/ TLP/LC or TLLC)
Thunderwolf Cav (2, 1 w/PF/SS, one with SS)

So, actual Troops to snag objectives, Scouts to appear wherever and hopefully kill something, TWC to run across the board and be targets...  Oh, and absolutely EAT anything they can reach :-)...  Though with only 2 of them to start with might not be nearly as overpowering as the unit of 5 was...  We'll see :-)  Looking forward to the 1000 points...

Ah, Necrons :-)

Reading over a lot about the new Necron codex…  Looks neat, and I expect the FAQ pretty soon because there are some really poorly worded ones there.  The “Death Ray” is the first one I’m curious about… 

“Death ray: To fire the death ray, nommate a po1nt on

the battlefield anywhere withm the weapon's range. then

nominate a second point within 3D6" of the f1rst Then, draw

a straight hne between the two poonts Every un1t (fnendly or

enemy) underneath the fine suffers a number of hits equal to

the number of models 1n the umt underneath the hne. tf the

veh1cle's other weaponry •s fired in the same shooting phase,

1t must be flfed at one of the unJts hit by the death ray”

So, it either means for every unit that gets hit, every model in that unit gets hit OR it could mean that every unit that gets hit, count the number of actual models hit by the line, the that unit takes that number of hits…  Could be either one really, I’m assuming the first, but honestly the first time I read it I took it to mean the second…  But then I’m just an Engineer, I can’t be expected to understand these things J…  So, either way, it is a HUGE priority target for just about anyone facing it…

Feeling more Lupine these days...

So, back to Wolves….  Now, I’ve been playing these lads the longest through a bunch of different incarnations…  Started out when “Leman Russ” was just a normal Marine who happened to be the commander of the “Space Wolves” Legion.  Have the old Mini, though I apparently lost the 2 Wolves that came with it at some point in the last few decades.  RT era, so the scale is WAY off against the current models, he makes an excellent “Scout” mini though…  And I do find it amusing to put it out on the table…  Who is to say that when Russ returns that he won’t simply slip in with the Wolf Scouts?  Guessing the Ragabash among the Scouts would find it a VERY amusing joke/trick to pull off and would likely go far out of their way to assist…  J  Well, more than their natural loyalty to their Primarch of course… 

So, on to modeling and renovating…  Picked up some “Instant Mold” and liquid Green Stuff last week, but still haven’t broken it out…  Will I think be making GS shoulder pads and Storm Shields for the lads.  We’ll see how well it works out. 

For a weapons loadout, I’m looking at a few Terminators with Chain Fist and Storm Shield for the weapons, though that is 68 points…  So, it’ll be a weird loadout, but one I think I can convert fairly easily.  The dual “Wolf Claws” might work, but with only the 5++ save I am concerned they might never actually get to hit anything in HtH.  WC/SS might be a better loadout, but EXPENSIVE.  Scouts are fairly well set, just have to decide on 2 Plasma Pistols or 1 with a Power weapon…  The Mark of the Wulfen on the one Sniper Rifle in the squad is amusing, and while I seldom use the SR, it is nice to have on occasion…

So, running a LOT of Scouts and Wolf Guard…  Very much like my old 2^nd edition army, though lacking the jump troops…  I just can’t bring myself to field them these days.  And Long Fangs…  Fortunate I suppose I have a LOT of the old models, so I’ll be fielding at least 2 Packs…  We’ll see how well this stuff works out…

Back to Wolves I guess...

Playing a few weeks at the 500 point level, so it'll be a fairly "gimmicky" game in any case...  Looking like I'll field my ancient Confrontation Wolfen in the Gunn kilts with Wolf Scouts and see how they fare...  No HQ or Heavy options for the first 2 weeks, and unfortunately, the basic Troops of the Wolves really need the support...  The other option I see is a Wolf Guard unit and Grey Hunters...  The WG can help out the leadership and such, but lacking any heavy weapons really...  Just too much they could come up against that they simply cannot handle...  Mind, at the higher point levels, they wouldn't be the only things there to deal with it...

Got a few things in mind for the higher point levels, we'll see how they actually work out.  Wolf Priest with Saga of the Hunter for Stealth to run with Logan's Wolf Guard.  Makes them fearless, gives Preferred Enemy against one "class" of thing, Infantry, Bikes, MC, choose at the beginning of the game...  The Long Fangs are coming out, and I'll likely have a mix of weapons rather than just all Missile Launchers with the Necrons and the like hitting the table...  AV 13 from them and the Sisters, 14's from the loads of Land Raiders we have in the store....  And of course, with the Terminators out there...  That and I've always been a big fan of mixing out the weapon loads, kind of a holdover from when I carried that silliness myself.  AT-4's, LAW's, Recoilless Rifles, M203's, .50's, etc...  We'll see how it all works out as I continue breaking more of the 2nd edition lads out of deep storage and repainting them...  Yeah, maybe I had too many Wolves back in the old days...

Craptastic...

Well, Adepticon opened up registration Tuesday and I missed it...  The 120 spots on the Team Tournament got taken REALLY quickly, less than 24 hours...  We're #19 on the wait list, so there is I guess a chance of fielding a team up there...  Wait, #18, so we've already moved up...  Still, getting the 4 players together and given the distance some of the teams are travelling (Sweden being the farthest I've seen thus far) means that most folks who signed up will very likely actually go, I'm not holding my breath...  So, looking like more "regional tournaments" before the big "national" level ones...

End of year League...

So, back to my first army, Wolves or keep with the Grey Knights for the time being?  Painting a bunch of the ancient Grey Knights I have around, Purifiers and normal lads...  Trying a different paint scheme for the Purifiers, we'll see...  At the least they'll stand out among the silver armor out there.

Also, painting a group of old Wolf Scouts in preparation for that army...  Dusting off the Wolf Guard and Logan Grimmar himself for the 1000+ point lists.  Grey armor everywhere.  And I'm finding more of the ancient missile launchers around...  Time to get them painted up since I'll be fielding a group of them...  Wonder how fast I can get a fully painted Wolf army up and about...  'course I'll be using my Clan Gunn Wolfen from Confrontation as the "Wolf Cavalry"...  Should be interesting at least...