30/40K, and Store Championships this week

So, looking like Warhammer 40K will expand to include 30K and the Horus Heresy…  On one hand I am thrilled.  Forgeworld has put out some absolutely AMAZING minis, and to be honest I think their rules are pretty well balanced and every bit as good as the ones put forth by the main company.   Not setting the bar very high I know.  And if they do things like make the Siege Shields into Storm Shields and get the Grav Guns consistent between the systems then it will be a very good thing.  Since I really like the “old” style Armor, having it in plastic should get the price down a bit or at least I would hope…  Heck, Knights, Titans and Superheavies are already in 40K so the old argument of “those things do not belong in 40K” should be dead.  I suppose that the Chaos folks who wanted to play Legion forces might get to as they essentially did not really change much from the end of the Heresy…  Well, the Thousand Sons did, but, when you go with the “Changer of Ways” and his keen sense of irony (For those not familiar, look up what happened to the Legionnaires with the Rubric of Ahriman) you take your chances I guess.

Lots of Ingress being played…  I was quite content to keep my own little “Fortress Tolono”, but a few players on the other team seem to have other plans and have gone out of their way to mess up my little setups.  So, I have gone forth and attacked, moving more to the role of a “line breaker” and destroying a lot of stuff…  Almost level 10 now, certainly would not be had I been left alone…    So, kind of the Shadow philosophy from Babylon 5 with conflict making the next generation stronger in some ways.  I have gotten quite good at tearing down Resistance fields and have actually walked almost 500 km, despite the particularly bad weather.  Almost time to get back to running, I still plan on running in the 5k race at the end of June, so need to get in much better shape by then.

Narrowed down my lists for the X-Wing Store Championships at the Gopher to:

Ten Numb — B-Wing	31
Veteran Instincts	1
Ion Cannon	3
Mercenary Copilot	2
B-Wing/E2	1
Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing	22
Fire-Control System	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing	22
Fire-Control System	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7

Or

Corran Horn — E-Wing	35
Push the Limit	3
Fire-Control System	2
R2-D2	4
Engine Upgrade	4
Dash Rendar — YT-2400	36
Lone Wolf	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Navigator	3
Engine Upgrade	4

Not a LOT of difference I guess really…  First gives me 3 B-Wings to stay back as best I can and take long ranged shots.  Ion cannon there to try to get the unblockable hit and mess up the TIE Phantoms and their cloaking annoyance, or mess up other higher PS fighters.  The dual Heavy Laser Cannons are just there to hit things hard at range.  Nothing subtle, hopefully free Target Locks to help get more hits on the big ships.  Second one is more interesting, the E-Wing is VERY hard to kill and has the potential to get in 2 4 dice attacks with Target Locks and it is FAST…  Dash just dances through the asteroids and has a great deal of potential there.  Usually dies as his ship is probably one of the weakest Large ships…  But fast, maneuvers well and with a turret, it almost always HAS a shot.  I still do not like the “donut” with the Outrider making the cannon a turret.  No range 1 shots at all then if you have the Heavy Laser Cannon…  When the “Mangler” Cannon comes out, this will I think change for me.  And word is this week, so MAYBE before Saturday for this Store Championship…  The other store in town I am allowed in has theirs next month, so almost certainly by then…  And the Scum and Villainy faction will have hit in full…  Ordered most of what I intend to buy already from the Gopher…  When the boats unload and the Firesprays (Boba Fett’s ship) hit again, I will be getting one of those…  A lot of things that can be this faction or another…  The Scum Y-wing looks REALLY fun to fly, and I am looking forward to that…  Beyond that?  Eh, not sure I have any real interest in most of the “new” ships…  Kind of hoping FFG keeps going when the new movie(s) hit and there are some new things in the pipeline…  But one never knows when dealing with the Mouse….