Ow ow ow

That tournament was rough. Apparently 5th edition is all about stupid objective claiming missions.

So how did I do? Dead last. Why? Short answer: mostly because I'm stubborn. I should have just let them take the easier win, but I like fighting until the last (which you get penalized for now) which let my opponents get extra points.

Also, there are just a mess of crazy new rules that I haven't encountered before.

Game 1: Enclave vs Dark Angels. The DA have got some crazy rules about what they can do. Apparently bikers and terminators are allowed to shoot, then move, then assault all in one turn. That wiped out all of my troops in turn one. I took out the bike squad with an orbital bombardment as a revenge act. I did my fair share of damage, but ultimately the loss of those troops lost the game for me right then and there. Make sure you split up your troops people. Hide them behind vehicles.

Game 2: Enclave vs Chaos marines. I think they were a Khorne army. Seize objectives, bodyguard. I'm going to have to look up the entry for the guy riding on the juggernaut.. 15 attacks a turn? That one model got about 30 kills. Basically, he outplayed me just by using his elites to keep me boxed in while his troops hid behind cover the entire game. Obliterators, while slow, are great to take down transports.

Game 3: Enclave vs Chaos Daemons. Never played against daemons before. The first half of the game was a rout for them. My shotgun scouts pretty much wiped out a squad of bloodletters, my troops took care of some more. Then the skull taker, bloodthirster, Epidemus, and Nurgle squad of confusing rules popped out onto the field. That Nurgle squad apparently gets stronger when ANYTHING dies, so at the end, they were pretty much autokilling my marines. At the end, all I had was 2 rhinos left. One was immobile. Not pretty.

Game 4: Enclave vs Dark Eldar. Holy crap. As far as epic battles go, this is the one I thought I had prepared for. Eight vehicles. Some, perhaps most of them, were Ravagers. The problem is, they all looked the damned same to me. Would it be so hard to paint a stylized red R on there somewhere for clarity? Anyway. Immobilized most of his fleet, and a scout missile launcher/Telion combo took one of the vehicles out with a single shot. Rolled to see if the game would last for a 6th turn, but it was clear that he was going to just steamroll me with those Ravager guns. In all fairness, this should have been the fun battle. But the guy had zero personality, and no fun. Which is sad to me. At the end of the day, this IS supposed to be a game. Games are designed to have fun. Everyone else, I had at least a bit of a laugh with, but that guy..

Anywho, learned most of the new rules, got my ass handed to me each time (mostly my fault though) and I realized three things about 5th edition:

1. Troops are thy god. Imperial Guard, now is your time to clean house.
2. Antitank weapons are needed. Like a bunch. My autocannons and lazcannons are good, but not enough.
3. Most armies have some unit that gets just retarded attacks. See turns 1-3 above. Space Marines get the shaft for this. We have a couple of semi-decent things, but nothing just straight up destructive. I'm going to have to look through the codex for anything I missed the next time I'm going to play a game.


.. I'm also going to look into getting a bike squad made. With flamers. Cause that one I can duplicate for my army.

1250?!

Okay, so apparently there is a points limitation on the tournament. That's fine. I have more than that number.

I just have to manage a miracle and win with only half an army. Any Imperial Guard troop forces will simply steamroll me on turn 3 though.

As it stands, I have most of my forces painted and ready to go, but I have a few that aren't even close.

HQ: Painted. Mostly. Needs some assembly.
Troop 1: Painted. In box, ready to go.
Troop 2: Half painted.
Fast Attack 1: Painted, in box.
Fast Attack 2: Painted, in box.
Elite: Mostly built, not painted at all yet. Waiting for most of the glue to dry.
Heavy: Some painting, some assembly.

Tournament checklist

Enclave:

Chapter master: 90% built, around 85% painted.

Assault squad one: Painted.
Assault squad two: Painted.
Assault squad three: Pending painting.

Sniper scouts: 20% painted, 90% assembled.
Telion proxy: Pending painting.
Shotgun scouts:

Predator: Pending painting.
Chronus: Pending painting.

Terminators: Painted.
Dreadnaught: 50% assembled.
Sternguard: Painted.

Not bad for three days work. I'll get some pictures up. You guys will enjoy the chapter master the most probably.

I need sleep. Can't sleep until I get the dreadnaught's arms attached and somehow stabilize the legs. I've been putting it off for almost a year now.

The Enclave will prevail. Maybe even win a trophy.

Tournament in 7 days?!

Okay, so, slight variation from the usual around here, I was given a flier earlier for a 40k tournament on the 24th. Assuming I can make it, I have to wonder what to bring, and to that end, I thought I'd ask you.

Should I bring..

My Ultramarines. Essentially the only finished army, but also the worst painted, and most outdated, who haven't been used since 3rd edition?

My Lamenters. Incomplete but getting close, 4th edition army, who have roughly no anti armour capabilities and need some work to get two vehicles done in time.

The Enclave. 30 assault marines, 20 scouts, an incomplete leader and two incomplete vehicles I'd have to rush to try and finish.

The Imperial Guard. Almost no chance of getting them done on time, no vehicles done at all, most troops not even done (aka insane challenge time)


Voting will happen until the 23rd, but vote quickly please.

Interesting wrench in the works

So, I was out shopping the other day, and I happened upon some neat little discoveries.

Did you know that Hot Wheels makes motorcycles now? I didn't. Granted, I haven't kept up with them since I was like.. 4 or 5. But the point is. They make motorcycles. In the scale of warhammer. For next to nothing. I got a chopperesque one, which I think would look awesome for Chaos, and a 3 wheeled cycle (think the Halo 3 atv, but with just one big back wheel) that will be going to my Ultramarines most likely.

I also stumbled upon my most hated of all army vehicles; the Hummer, while looking for some vehicles for the Spectrum army. So, why did I bring home five of them? The price. I don't have a ton of money. Sucks, but it's true. And at three dollars each, I figured 'Hey, five Chimera standins for less than one actual Chimera.' I hate the vehicle, but unlike the Chimera, you could fit at least eight models in the thing. I'm going to give them a nice makeover. You know, make them actually look like a military vehicle. They'll all have the following stats: Hull mounted heavy bolter, turret mounted heavy bolter, pintle mounted heavy stubber, smoke launcher, extra armour.

"So why do you hate the Hummer so much?"
Because, they made a crappy suv that's supposed to look tough (it really isn't.) to replace tanks (no chance of that in the long run) it has crap for armour, can't equip heavy weapons, looks ugly, etc. I get it. It's supposed to be a workhorse. It's supposed to be fast and adaptable. It's still crap though. Give me the m113 and m163. The m113 was the Rhino and Chimera's inspiration. It worked damned well. It wasn't broke. It didn't need fixing. It certainly didn't need to be abandoned by the military. Especially not for a soccer mom's overcompensation device.

"So why'd you get five?"
The Spectrum army in the show had awesome tanks for nearly everyone. The catch is, for an Imperial guard army, I'd need no less than about twenty by the time my army is on it's feet. Five hummers will give about 2/3rds of my army some mobility (I'd have gotten more if there were any more left..) If I had gotten GW Chimeras, the minimum I would have spent would be roughly $1650 for the full army to be transported around in. That is a lot of money to me at the moment. My 5 Chimera standins set me back only about 15$. Pretty clear why I chose them yeah? Plus, my IG will be saving the Imperium. Miami style.

Oh yeaaaaaaaah! *puts on sunglasses*

Revolutionary ideas

I've written out my IG armylist about six times now. I'm tired of doing that. So. Here's a brilliant idea that I saw over on another site. I forget the name off the top of my head, but I'll update tomorrow most likely, so I'll give credit then. She basically made big trading cards with all the unit's stats and info on it, also some cute art. I'm going to try and make something similar for my Spectrum army. The idea for mine is, I'll make cards for each squad, but have each leader on a seperate card, and any squad-specific vehicles, so that way, in a binder with the plastic protecters for cards, I can just have it arranged so that its Leader > Squad > Transport. Plus, with the card thing, it should be easier to arrange the armylist if I'm using a different force instead of just piling everything on the table.

So far I've got captain Scarlet, captain Blue, and captain Grey all drawn.

I also saw some neat alternative ideas for the Imperial Guard earlier, like having the rough riders on jetskis, leman russes being powerboats with weapon upgrades.. I love the idea of having an actual Imperial Navy.

I was going to try and write up a story for Blue's squad, but I don't think it'll be forthcoming, so I'll probably post the squad with Blue's card, and the squad card tomorrow.

Feel free to steal the card idea by the way. I think it's brilliant.

Spectrum Introduced

A hush fell over the already quiet room as Colonel White entered the conference room, flanked by two scarlet clad stormtroopers, who took up guard positions on either side of the door. Colonel White walked to the head of the hololithic table and glanced around the room.

"Are you all seated comfortably? Then we'll begin."

The light level dropped as a holographic display of a planet made of overlapping blue lines hovered over the table.

"This is planet Rigel Seven and it's believed that some of it's inhabitants have turned away from the Emperor's light."

A few of the more experienced attendants traded knowing glances, but quickly returned their attention back to White.

"Now, as you all know,the Imperial Guard does one thing very well, and that is win wars."

Now it was the less experienced officers turn to agree; they did so with vigour. White smiled at their youthful exuberance, then continued.

"Unfortunately, this is not open war that we have here, I'm afraid. What we have here is a war of nerves, ladies and gentlemen. Normally the Inquisition would deal with this problem but their resources are spread too thin across this segment of the galaxy, and this sector won't recieve assistance for almost a decade. We cannot allow this sector to turn. We will not."

All in attendance nodded solemnly, their coloured caps bobbing in the pale light.