Adepticonned? No, I am still alive.

Apologies to anyone who might be waiting for my "after con report", work has me in its sticky hippie grasp for the next few days and I won't have time to get one done until later this week.

The short version - the Furry Fatbacks went 2-1-0 and didn't place in the top. Final results have yet to be released so I am not sure if we made it close or missed the mark by a lot.

More to come so stay tuned!

The Beer Gut Tribe marches to war! - 1,000pt Adepticon Team Tournament list.

Hey look! It's Friday the 26th of March, which also happens to be the first day of the Adepticon events. Sadly, I was not able to afford the time nor money to attend all of the Adepticon events I would have liked, but I am still stoked to be playing in Sunday's Team Tournament event.

My Ogre models are painted, touched up, sealed, and prepped to go. But what am I bringing you ask? Well ...

Here is all of the Ogres my 1,000pt list contains. I'll let you take a guess at what I am bringing ...

No? Can't quite figure it out? Alright, just for you I present my "top secret" list:

HEROES: (312)
Bruiser - Heavy Armor, Great Weapon, Fistful of Laurels (157)
Butcher - Bangstick (155)

CORE: (612)
Bulls x 3 - Bellower (115)
Bulls x 3 - Bellower (115)
Ironguts x 3 (144)
Ironguts x 3 (144)
Gnoblar Fighters x 20 (40)
Gnoblar Trappers x 9 (54)

RARE: (75)
Gorger(75)

Total Points: 999 (of 1,000)

My teammate will be bringing 1,000 points of Skaven to back this up. The Furry Fatbacks will take home the gold!!!

This will be my first time at Adepticon, and from what I hear this is the biggest the event has ever been. I'll be arriving at some point on Saturday to poke my head into the events, say hi to folks, and check out the dealer room. Sunday is the TT event. Keep an eye out for me if you'll be there! I'll be wearing a maroon BattleForge Games shirt on Saturday and a red Austin Miniature Minions shirt on Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Ogre smackdown - Local Warhammer scene overrun by drunken brutes!

Huzzah! Verily did thou beateth thon yonder Warhammer newbs at ye local shoppe!

Err ... what I meant to say was I went to the open gaming session at Titan Games yesterday and beat the tar out of two (new) local WHFB players (both of which brought 1k Bretonnian forces).

Normally I don't like playing Brets, but I made an exception as I needed the practice for the Adepticon Team Tournament coming up next weekend. Not sure how my opponents felt about the games we played (two good-natured gentlemen who are new to the game) as both ended in as a Massacre in favor of the Beer Gut Tribe.

Sorry boys, its just the school of hard knocks. Sometimes you gotta lose to learn how to play the game. No hard feelings eh?

In other exciting new, the chances of being able to rope in some new WHFB players in the area seems pretty good. There were quite a few 40k players in the store who seemed interested in playing Fantasy (some new 40k players were lamenting the fact that they had started with round bases instead of square), and the store's new manager discussed starting up a regular tournament at another local business if there was sufficient interest. All good signs!

Next time I head out to open gaming I think I will bring my Vampire Counts. I am still tinkering with list ideas in the hopes of finding a build with lots of Skeletons that can actually work. As part of this I am in the process of building two new "casty" Vampires. Here are a couple quick WIP pictures of what I have so far:

I was going for a Necrach theme and feel with these two, both are based off of some old Reaper miniatures which I have cut up and added to. I am considering adding a crown or helm to the one with the book and skull staff in case I wish to make this my "casty" Vampire Lord on foot. Right now he just has a bit of ratty hair sculpted to his head with green stuff.

Suggestions, comments, etc are welcome and encouraged as always! Until next time ...

Progress report - getting back into the swing of things.

It has been about two weeks since I started my new job and lost my modelin' free time in the process.

I now work as the Grocery Manager of a small cooperative store here in Kalamazoo, spending lots of money to bring in new products while keeping the store fully stocked. It is unlike anything I have really done before, but also quite familiar in a lot of ways as well.

Long story short, this new job is currently kicking my ass and keeping me from doing much of anything when I get home each day. But I must soldier on! With Adepticon just around the corner I am in the process of "finishing" the Ogre models I will be using for my Team Tournament list by adding a few details and touch-ups on my older paintjob.

I have also been on the look out for a new group of WHFB players in my new (old) hometown, so far with very little success. I've learned a few things though:

• There are a lot of gaming nerds in this town. 
• There is no central forum/email list/website for them to congregate at. 
• As such, any groups that do form are very insular and nobody knows about them.
• There are only three public places where WHFB is played - a chain hobby store (two small tables in the back of the store on Thursday nights only), a WMU gaming club (which meets on Friday nights for two hours and mostly consists of RPG and boardgame players), and Titan Games (which has a lot more 40k and LoTR players than WHFB). 
• Titan Games hired a new store manager (a position I applied for but couldn't get an interview) who seems quite keen on getting more WHFB going on.
• Saturday is the "open gaming" day at Titan Games, but currently the few tables they have are mostly occupied with 40k players (I think they have open gaming on Sunday too but I don't know if anyone actually plays there yet).

So with all of that research done I realized I need to make a few decisions:

1. Start playing 40k - plenty of players here although they seem to be pretty low on the "quality" scale from what I have observed.

2. Find more people to play WHFB with - there are a few players here but they don't play that often.

3. Trick Get my friends to start playing WHFB - possibly by playing a few sessions of the Mordheim "gateway drug".

4. Create/encourage a local gaming group and/or community - a lot of work and it will likely be overrun by Larpers and CCG players.

I have to be honest, it isn't the most exciting set of options ... with any luck I will find a way to get my regular WHFB fix in a way that does not involve me spending a lot of time and energy. I plan on heading to the open gaming (at Titan Games) this Saturday, hopefully to find a game or two with my Ogres. I spent the afternoon last week watching two players stumble through a 1,000 point game so I know it will be a learning experience no matter what.

Speaking of experience, it has been awhile since I posted a beer review on the blog! Here is one I really enjoyed and probably won't be able to afford again any time soon ...

Stone Brewing Company - Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine 2009

Beer Type: American Barleywine

Appearance: 22 oz. brown bottle with a (now classic to me) Stone devil inked on the glass. Poured a reddish-brown amber color with a thick off-white head that left plenty of lace.

Smell: Citrus, hops, some darker sweet smells (brown sugar?). Something else I can't quite put my finger on...

First Drink: Hops, sweet malt, quickly followed by currant/chocolate flavors. A lot going on here but the levels of flavor seem a bit murky.

Mouthfeel: Full-bodied and a bit sticky-sweet. Left my mouth feeling a bit dry.

Last Drink: Beer opened up a lot once it warmed up a bit. More biscuit/malt flavors and a nice hops bitterness at the end. A bit of that "dirty" flavor I associate with a good Stout, not sure what that is.

Drinkability: This is a sipping beer for sure. Over 11% and will hit you like a train full of beer bricks if you aren't careful.

Notes: This is a tasty brew, it is too bad it is limited edition/seasonal! I was lucky to get a bottle - mostly because my girl bought me one from the Beer Troll. Thanks!

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5. Not too far off from the Stone Ruination but a lot stronger. Good times.

Links: Beer Advocate and Stone Brewing Company.

That's all for now! Hopefully I will have some pics of my WIP casty Vampires for my VC army in the next post, possibly some finished "new" Ogres as well! In the meantime ... did you notice the Black Library has a new website now? Pretty cool.

Rat Attack - new Skaven FAQ has been released!

Well I just finished my first day of a new job. Just when I thought this day couldn't get more exciting  I come home to find this! The Skaven army book FAQ was released by GW today. You can find it here.

Rahhh!! Rat power!!

So what changed you might ask (as you are too lazy or too uninterested to read the 8 page pdf)? Well here are a few choice bits I noticed:

• Several things lost the "Strength in Numbers" rule. 
• You can't take infinite Warp Pile items. 
• The Storm Banner is a once use only item (as if there was any doubt). 
• Master Moulder must be deployed in the front rank and do not count towards the rank bonus for their unit. 
• The Doom Wheel does not need to see a target to charge it but must still charge the facing it was in when it charges (and this might also apply to the Hellpit Abomination). 
• Shots from the Doom Wheel are not randomized among champions and Characters in units hit by the bolt?
• You can model Skaven character mounts on any size you want basically. 
• Same goes with the Hellpit Abomination. 
• Characters not mounted on a Screaming Bell or Plague Furnace can be deployed in their unit and become Unbreakable. 
• The Doom Rocket became even better.
• The Doom-Flayer is S4. 

There are some other things in there but these are the big "changes" I took from the pdf. I think the number of Errata changes says a lot about the (sloppy) quality of the editing for the Skaven book, but aside from the questionable 360 degree charge movement for the Doom Wheel and Abom this FAQ is pretty solid. What do you think?

In case you were wondering, moving isn't that fun.

Back in Kalamazoo in my new home but still in the process of unpacking. I haven't managed to do anything hobby related in a couple weeks with the exception of the WoC games I played right before I left Austin.

My time right now is mostly devoted to unpacking, moving boxes, finding a job, and setting up my new house. Which looks like this (in case you were wondering):

Yup. Still plenty of snow on the ground here, although the past three days have been really sunny and "warm" (around 35 to 40 degrees with lows in the 20's). Perhaps the sun followed me here from Austin?

My hobby area is still a major work in progress but I have staked out a space for it in the corner of my "man cave" (where my computer, comics, and music equipment also live). The natural light in this room is quite good and there is a ceiling fan and overheard light to brighten it even more. A major step up from the dingy back room I was working in before. 

So far I have yet to find any broken models while unpacking so I guess my shredded paper method of packing them worked alright. Now it is a matter of getting everything back in "order" so I can begin working on touchups for my Adepticon list. 

That's about all that has happened lately for me. Life = moving. If you are looking for hobby related content you could take a gander at a new blog I was reading today. It's called Dick Move, and the reason for the name should be pretty clear once you have read a few of the posts there. 

What do I think about the focus of that blog you ask? Well... I think it is important for anyone writing and "publishing" their thoughts on the internet to be aware of what they are saying and presenting, but it is also important for each blog to have it's own individual goals and focus. 

For example, I don't consider myself to be the "authority" on much of anything when it comes to WHFB. I created this blog to chronicle my progress in the hobby and to motivate myself when it comes to painting and modeling. I post the occasional "tactics" article and army list but I would never expect someone to take my ideas and win with them outright, nor do I profess my ways to being the "only" or "right" way to do things.

I do this blog 90% for myself, and 10% for anyone else who might be reading it. If you can take something from my work or writing and apply it to your games or hobby... great! I find inspiration on a variety of blogs and forums, and I am glad to be of any help I can for those who wish to receive it. 

Anyway... rambling now. I guess the point of all that is I am split 50/50 on the content and ideals of the Dick Move blog. If the focus doesn't rely on slamming other people and talking shit about their work I can see it being an interesting read. If the point is just being a dick and bullying other bloggers ... well I guess you could call that a "dick move".