Sunday, January 29, 2012

Captain Maverick

This is Maverick, one of my Crimson Fists captains.  I started out just wanting to do a double-fisted pistolier model then figured out how to make it work (see below).  His head is the most cowboyish of the Space Wolves heads and really has great character for what i was going for.  He doesn't have much for detail for a captain, like fancy shoulder pads, but maybe he's past all the frills.  Mav's more about kicking butt than dressing the part.  His trophy is an ork head from the AOBR set with some greenstuff brains leaking out the back (my first sculpting attempt).  I need to revisit him and hit the highlights better -- I'm still perfecting my highlighting techniques and tend to be pretty conservative with them, still building courage for high-contrast work. 





So here's Mav's unique stats and gear:


WS
 BS
  S
  T
  W
  I
  A
 Ld
   Sv
    Pts
  6
  5
  4
  4
   3
  5
3 (4)
 10
 3+ / 4+
    145


Pistolier:  Maverick has mastered his own duel pistol combat form.  He can fire both weapons each shooting phase, and as they are both assault weapons can assault the same turn and gains +1 Attack for wielding two weapons.

Gear:  Power armor, K & F grenades, iron halo, plasma pistol, Nova Pistol

Nova Pistol:  The Nova Pistol is a relic of the Crimson Fists trusted to Captain Maverick alone.  The chapter techmarines act as custodians for the weapon, who study it in hopes of rediscovering ancient advances in plasma technology; the Nova fires in two different modes and is not prone to over-heating as other plasma weapons are.  In close combat its bolts burn through even the toughest armor (counts as a power weapon). 
In the shooting phase Maverick can fire in one or two modes:
        -- bolt [R12” S6 AP4, assault 1] 
        -- blast [R12” S3 AP6, assault 1, blast]

*  *  *

So is it legal?  Yes, it is.  The big secret behind the Nova pistol is one simple 15 point option: the Auxillary Grenade Launcher.  The AGL can be fired in addition to another shooting weapon, fires frag or krak grenades, and is assault 1.  For another 15 points I bought him a power weapon, which combined with his plasma pistol (another 15 points) gives him Attacks +1 which ignore armor.

Is he effective?  Well, I think I've actually only used him once, against Known as Ben's dark eldar and I don't think he got to fire a single shot!  His command squad was assaulted by incubi or wyches and were tied up until eventual death.  But I still like him.

Technical Ineptitude

I'm having a hell of a time figuring out how to work this thing.  For example, i hit "reply" to respond to those kind enough to leave comments but nothing happens.  And i'm now somehow a follower of my own site ( i'm not trying to artificially swell my numbers, i swear).  One of these days i'll take some time to play on here and network with other like-minded bloggers.  hoping to take a week of leave next month just to be home and relax.  until then....  i'm trying. 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Writing for Adults

I'm frustrated.  Well, anyone trying to get some writing credits under their belt today is frustrated.  There are probably a million (literally, maybe more) would-be writers out there and like 100 spots for their stories to appear, and it seems like a select handful are getting some of those limited spots over and over again.  (For example, I saw a magazine/anthology with new stories by Stephen King, Ursula K. LeGuin, and others on it -- if these heavy hitters are sending stuff to the small mags, what chance do the rest of us have?!  Shouldn't they have other avenues for their work?  But I digress.) 
Aside from being as frustrated as any other would-be writer out there not able to squeeze a story into the limited lime light, I'm especially urked because the markets seem to me to be too politically correct, to be soft, to be gender and age neutral -- if publishing shorts in general is tough, it seems super-tough to get a story for adults published.  I'm not talking porn, just the use of bad language and a little sexual content, you know, stuff the adult world does on a daily basis.  But not in publishing -- we need to keep it PC there.  You can't tell me there's not a market for gorwn-up stuff -- I know I'd rather read a story with realistic dialogue and gritty content over nerfed stuff made softer to appeal to everyone. 
Of course, admittedly, I'm guilty of not reading much of what's out there personally, which is a terrible thing for a writer trying to break out.  My excuse is that if I'm reading all this stuff I don't have time left to write.  So maybe I'm wrong, maybe there's plenty of grown up venues out there and I'm just talking out my butt, but....  I kind of doubt it.
(Just venting.  Hey, maybe it's not the adult stuff, maybe my writing just sucks.  That could be too.)

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Holding Back Hell

Good news:  I actually got a game in today!  My first in over 6 months and my first in San Antonio.  I'm dont think it's worth writing up any full-blown battle report but I fought against a Daemon army and DAMN was it a rough list!  Definitely a "competative list", which I don't make much of myself, but for having not played in so long and forgotten several things that would have been to my advantage, I think I did pretty good!  Annihilation game that I took all the way to turn seven before giving up my last model, and after facing a stampeeding horde of Blood Crushers (bloodletters riding juggernauts--terrible!) and a greater daemon character who gave nearly everyone rerolls on all their saves (they'd have died a LOT sooner without this), I feel pretty happy with the results.  Did I good amount of damage myself too.  The Crimson Fists did Pedro proud today.

(and here is an older family pic of my models--the piclooks better than the real thing i think...)


Vamp ReVised

Okay, how about this one?  Basically the same but I changed the making undead slaves rule, plus added those resurrected Suitors as a unit choice.  Giving up bringing your shooters and heroes to life, however, reduced her points cost. 


Decembra, Queen of the Damned

A countess of the nobility of an Imperial world, her orgies and human sacrifices drove her further and further into the clawed hands of the Chaos Powers.  She eventually became as close to the mythical vampires as any of their fallen servants.




WS
  BS
   S
   T
  W
    I
   A
  Ld
  Sv
  Pts
   5
   4
   4
   4
   3
    8
   3
  10
--/5+
  190


            War Gear:  Love’s Cold Touch – This is the name she’s given to her sword, a dreaded weapon that drains the blood and soul from its victims.  This is a power weapon that inflicts Instant Death on any to-wounds roll of 6 no matter their toughness.
            The Deepest Eyes:  Decembra’s gaze goes beyond enchanting.  Her beautiful dark eyes become endless wells that swallow the mind of anyone who gets lost in them anyone looking her way can’t help but notice their sinister shine.  She and any unit she joins counts as having both offensive and defensive grenades in close combat.  In addition she benefits from the Preferred Enemy rule. 
            Shadow Walk:  Appearing from the darkness itself, Decembra may Infiltrate, Ignores Difficult Terrain, and may pass through Impassable Terrain.  She may also start the game in reserve and Deepstrike, bringing any unit she’s attached to with her whether they normally Deepstrike or not.
            Bloodlust:  She is an Infantry model that counts as a Beast (thus Fleet and charges 12”) and gets +2 Attacks for charging instead of +1.
            Immortal:  Having absorbed hundreds of souls over the millennia, she is an Eternal Warrior and her save is invulnerable.  If Decembra is killed she doesn’t die but is placed back in reserve.  She may reenter by outflanking (per Infiltration), deepstriking (per Shadow Walk), or entering on her own board edge.
            Queen of the Damned:  So alluring are her wicked charms that souls not strong enough to resist are forced to follow her for eternity.  Infantry, Jump Infantry, Artillery crew, Cavalry, Bikers, and Jetbikers who are personally killed by her make a Ld check upon their death.  Any killed as a result of a Sweeping Advance by her unit do so at -2 Ld, so fierce is her wrath.  Those that fail return to life as Suitors immediately following the combat phase and may immediately join her unit or be placed 2” away to form a new unit (only one new unit may be formed this way, not several, and must have at least 3 models to do so).  Replace the slain model with a suitable Suitor (probably an undead fantasy model of some kind). 
            Suitors:  Those who have given their lives for her embrace go on in undeath as her Suitors.  She may begin the game joined to one unit of them; they use no slot but are otherwise treated as a HQ choice.  An army that includes her may have additional units of Suitors that count as Troops.  Their stats/rules are as follows:


WS
  BS
   S
   T
  W
    I
   A
  Ld
  Sv
  Pts
   3
   3
   3
   3
   1
    3
   2
   5
  6+
   7


            Unit:  Infantry, 3-12 per unit.
            War Gear:  Cold clammy hands with gnarly fingernails (CC wpn)
            Undead:  The Suitors are soulless slaves who are Fearless and Feel No Pain.
           

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Blood Thirsty

With all the Vampire buzz on the WHFantasy side of the house I got to thinking of a vampire character for 40K.  She'd be a Chaos HQ choice and she's pretty heavy-duty.  Then again, all the new codexes have outrageously powerful characters so maybe she'd fit right in with the newest generation.  Now I just need to find someone to let me use her! 
The model I'd use is included here, the new Isabella Von Carstein.



Decembra, Queen of the Damned

A countess of the nobility of an Imperial world, her orgies and human sacrifices drove her further and further into the clawed hands of the Chaos Powers.  She eventually became as close to the mythical vampires as any of their fallen servants.


WS
  BS
   S
   T
  W
    I
   A
  Ld
  Sv
  Pts
   5
   4
   4
   4
   3
    8
   3
  10
--/5+
  220


            War Gear:  Love’s Cold Touch – This is the name she’s given to her sword, a dreaded weapon that drains the blood and soul from its victims.  This is a power weapon that inflicts Instant Death on any to-wounds roll of 6 no matter their toughness.
            The Deepest Eyes:  Decembra’s gaze goes beyond enchanting.  Her beautiful dark eyes become endless wells that swallow the mind of anyone who gets lost in them anyone looking her way can’t help but notice their sinister shine.  She and any unit she joins counts as having both offensive and defensive grenades in close combat.  In addition she benefits from the Preferred Enemy rule. 
            Shadow Walk:  Appearing from the darkness itself, Decembra may Infiltrate, Ignores Difficult Terrain, and may pass through Impassable Terrain.  She may also start the game in reserve and Deepstrike, bringing any unit she’s attached to with her whether they normally Deepstrike or not.
            Bloodlust:  She is an Infantry model that counts as a Beast (thus Fleet and charges 12”) and gets +2 Attacks for charging instead of +1.
            Immortal:  Having absorbed hundreds of souls over the millennia, she is an Eternal Warrior and her save is invulnerable.  If Decembra is killed she doesn’t die but is placed back in reserve.  She may reenter by outflanking (per Infiltration), deepstriking, or walking on her own board edge.  
            Queen of the Damned:  So alluring are her wicked charms that souls not strong enough to resist are forced to follow her for eternity.  Infantry, Jump Infantry, Bikers, and Jetbikers who are personally killed by her make a Ld check upon their death.  Any killed as a result of a Sweeping Advance do so at -2 Ld, so fierce is her wrath.  Those that fail return to life as her slaves immediately following the combat phase—those that are Infantry immediately join her unit.  These models are exactly as they were in life and are now Fearless and subject to Rage unless joined by her.  Models of different types must form units together.  If Decembra is killed all current undead slaves are instantly removed from the board.     

31 flavors

I quick intro of my indecisiveness for Warhammer 40k.

I currently sport basically three armies, expanding into at least five.  Eldar were my first way back in the late 80s/early 90s, and again my first when I got back into it about 3 years ago.  When I was on my way to serve in Kuwait I started getting into Space Marines--I remember laying in my rack after training with a notepad dreaming up what kind of units I wanted to run--and so when I got home again, being single and having spent time where I could spend no money, I quickly bought a buttload of marines.  And of course I've always liked Chaos--my fantasy warhammer army back in the 80s (Khornate), and what's not to like about bad guys and big ugly monsters?

Eldar are my Tooty-Fruity.  What I like most about them is not the psykers or the tanks or the wraith constructs but the aspect warriors.  All superior specialists in the their fields and colorful to look upon.  I like to run lots of aspects and prefer Phoenix Lords to Farseers any day.  More recently, I've been trying to imagine a "fast and dirty" Eldar force, which lends more to Dark Eldar (very freaking cool in the latest revision, especially the models) and now the newest buzz is Eldar Corsairs, a list put out by Forgeworld.  I really like the idea and some of the things they've done, kind of best of all worlds attempt, though really, it's a best of Forgeworld attempt, as many unit choices are exclusively produced by them (funny how that turned out, eh?).  I will likely further explore that list and my own ideas at a later time.

I've heard codex Marines referred to as "vanilla".  I disagree.  I run my codex boys as Crimson Fists for many reasons: iconic chapter, maybe the most iconic chapter; I like the modern storyline with them being nearly wiped out, thus the hard-edged survivors, the underdogs of the Astartes universe; and really, I like the color scheme.  But vanilla???  No way.  The codex guys can be played a hundred different ways, depending on units and HQ and tactics.  And I rarely run the same list twice, though I have figured out my basic Marine list (and will explore that another time).  I also like Marines cuz I'm military and can relate.  I like the discipline and elite factor, and they're hardasses who take a big beating and keep coming.  I would like to play a horde army someday--really, if I were a billionaire I'd have one of almost every army, maybe not if only a millionaire--but I prefer the force were everyone counts and stands strong versus having to be okay with watching waves of your guys go down and hope sheer numbers works for you in the end.  As far as Codex goes, I also like White Scars and would probably give Ravenguard the time of day if I passed them on the battlefield.

Other Marine flavors I like: The green and bone of Dark Angels.  Cool storyline and style, but if I'm going to run a DA army it has to be the what makes them different.  Dark Angels have the Deathwing termies and Ravenwing bikers.  Never been that big into terminators but I really like bikes, and these guys compliment each other nicely.  The tricksy signature move for them is this: Ravenwing squadrons can make a scout move before the game begins, thus zipping across the field from the deployment zone, and all carry teleport homers.  The Deathwing can then deepstrike with upto half of their termie units on the first turn instead of having to wait for turn two.  Thus you zip your bikes in close before the fight, then teleport your best guys down right next to them on your first turn.  I also like that the deathwing can mix and match weapons within a squad (assault and shooty) and that if you take the corresponding HQs both wings can be Troops choices.
Another chapter I'd like to branch into is Space Wolves.  Again, story and style, and to play up to their flavor I would run wolfriders for sure, use more than 2 HQs (which unfortunately sucks up a lot of points), scouts who outflank like no other, Njal the weather master, and a pack of big bad wolves (not that effective but oh how cool!).

Blood Angels, I should note, are assholes but it's not their fault.  They are cool, I can see why you'd want to play them, but they're just too suped-up.  They're cheaters, designed with every super power and no real flaws (rage is not a flaw when it comes with furious charge and feel no pain and relentless and improved deepstriking and dreadnought psykers and land raiders as dedicated transports (thus no heavy slots spent)... you get the idea).  

And then there's Chaos, the original sin.  Another Tooty-Fruity ice cream cone if you drop it on the ground a few times and spike it with cocain, LSD, and razor blades.  I have come up with a lot of combos for them too.  Thematically, as long as the list has monsters and daemons and mean muthas, I'm good.   

Friday, January 13, 2012

Big Plans of a Frustrated Bastard

I'm trying, I swear!  As I said, I'm time-poor.  Starving to death, is more like it. Bankrupt for time!  I finally got seated and my damn computer working and now I have to go again.  But I got plans, big plans.  I want to do book reviews (not many, as a read at the rate of a fifth-grader who's just as time-poor), lots of 40k post ideas, talk about (vent) the frustrations of trying to break into the writing world, etc.  I also have to find time to explore the cyber-landscape, check out other folks' blogs, get to know the Matrix as it were (referring to Gibson's original cyberpunk, not necessarily the Wski-Bros movies).

Okay, and a passing car just hit its brakes and honked, which probably means the stupid dog is in the street.  Maybe after I retire I'll get to play on this damn thing.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

The Most Precious Commodity

Time.  There's never enough of it.  I am more time-impoverished than ever before.  But mostly in a good way.  Basically, my current position with the Navy sucks up more time than I'd like (work always does, that's why it's called work).  What time is left my wife and son get first dibs on.  That leaves some old ATM receipts, a loose button, and some off-colored belly lint in my pocket.  I'm time poor, begging on the street corner outside a hippy coffee shop with a ukulele, a trained monkey, and an empty coffee mug.  "Can you spare a little, mister?"

This blog will serve several purposes.  First, it will drag me reluctantly into the 21st century.  I am NOT a cyber-dude, don't care to be.  But I suppose if I don't make an effort to join the modern world I may be left out of it.  (Would that be all bad?) 

The primary topic of this blog will probably be nerd hobby, namely Warhammer 40k.  It's about the only thing I can comment on on a regular basis.  But as this is my voice in cyberspace, I'll be saying whatever the hell I care to, so I expect to occasionally talk about writing, reading, and ranting in general.  Maybe given enough time, folks will actually tune in to hear what  ihave to say (both 40k geeks like myself and others).

Though it'll probably be a long time before I figure out just how to work this thing...

Okay, my son's trying to crawl into the clothes dryer, I guess my blog time for today is spent.