Progress report - 5/12/10.

Oi! Look at this poor neglected blog! No pictures, no updates, no modelin' and what a sad lack of drinkin' related posts!! Something must be done...

Not a lot of WHFB in my life at the moment. Spent last weekend smashing things with a sledgehammer and avoiding a variety of spinning blades while helping my "in-laws" prep their summer garden. Also went to the local farmer's market, had some breakfast at one of my favorite diners, and spent some time playing board games (Pandemic and Small World) and Left 4 Dead 2, but no games of Warhammer...

I did manage to assemble (and complete some minor greenstuff work for) my first Warrior/Chosen for the Malal themed force, although I have not begun to paint him yet (need more paint). There is also one Beastman/Marauder I am in the process of painting, hopefully I will have some pictures of that up here soon for everyone to look at.

Also spent some time writing Vampire Counts army lists for the upcoming Bell of Lost Souls convention in Austin, TX later this summer. I have a couple lists in mind but I need to get some practice games in before I really commit to one over the other. Perhaps a poll here on the blog would help me decide which way to go? I don't expect to win the whole thing, I just need a good reason to "finish" my VC army before I really dive into the Malal WoC army, and I have a lot of models... so...

Yup. Life here has been pretty busy, mostly with social pursuits outside of Warhammer, although I am hoping to get some games in this weekend ... who knows!? Maybe I will even put up a battle report or two if the games are interesting enough?!

In the meantime... something that has been severely lacking from this blog as of late - BEER!

Lagunitas Brewing Company - Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale

Beer Type: American Double / Imperial IPA

Appearance: 22 oz. brown bottle with a green label that pictures a farm. Beer poured a medium golden color with a short head that hung around.

Smell: Hops. Lots of hops. Something else comes through too .. perhaps grapefruit or some other citrus.

First Drink: Hops in the front, followed by sweet malt, grapefruit, and some bitter pine flavors.

Mouthfeel: Crisp and a little oily (probably the hops). Not too much carbonation, seems just right.

Last Drink: A lot more bitterness from the hops as this beer warms up. I am getting a lot more pine flavors now.

Drinkability: Well this is a pickle. I love this brewery, and I am growing to love IPAs, but the pine flavors in this brew are a bit much for me. It isn't bad but I wish the flavor was just a little more mellow.

Notes: This beer was given to me by an ex-coworker! Ah the days when people brought me free beer...

Verdict: 3.75 out of 5. Well crafted but not really my favorite (I like their regular IPA better).

Links: Beer Advocate and Lagunitas Brewing Company.

BoLSCon Wrap-up.

Well I made it out alive! The first annual Bell of Lost Souls Con for me by the numbers: 2 days - 7 games - 2 wins - 5 losses - several beers. Overall it was a really fun and memorable event and I am already looking forward to next year when I will hopefully be able to take a slightly more "competitive" army (if I ever finish these damn Vampires).

I did not find the time to create any extensively thorough battle reports (honestly I can't say I want to remember most of my games with a few exceptions). Here is a quick run down of the games I played last Saturday and Sunday during the tournament:

Saturday

Saturday - Game 1 (vs Patrick's WoC)

• This WoC list was led by Valkia with a force of Maruders, two units of Chaos Knights, Exalted Hero on Juggernaut, Hellcannon, and a level one Nurgle scroll caddy.
  
  
• Turn 1 the Scraplauncher scored a direct hit on the unit of Marauders with Valkyia directly in the center. She failed here Look Out Sir roll and I rolled a 6. BAM. Valkia is dead.
  
  
• Tyrant charges out of the Bullstar unit to run down a pack of Chaos Warhounds, then pursues into a unit of Marauder Horsemen who flee off the table.
  
  
• Bruiser BSB goes on to smash an the Exalted Hero in a challenge and run down the unit of Khorne marked Knights who were baited into a nearby woods by Trappers.
  
  
• Bruiser BSB continues his smashing streak by crushing a Hellcannon that has pursued a fleeing unit of Ironguts.
  
  
• Game ends on Turn 5 - a Massacre for the Beer Gut Tribe with only one unit of Marauders left on the table.
  
  
• Great game, Patrick was a really fun opponent and dealt well with the terribly lucky (for me) Scraplauncher kill of his Lord on Turn 1.
  

Saturday - Game 2 (vs Mike's HE)

• This HE list was led by Teclis in a block of Spearmen, flanked by two units of Dragon Princes, a unit of Archers, two chariots, Great Eagle, two level 2 casters, mounted HE character with super bow, and three Repeating Bolt Throwers.
  
  
• Scraplauncher was the MVP of this game as well - raining pointy death on the HE pointy ears.
  
  
• Leadbelchers obliterated one chariot in a stand and shoot, then holding their ground and smashing the other remaining chariot on a charge.
  
  
• Characters and Bullstar stalled out behind a hill in an attempt at avoiding the massive amounts of shooting and magic coming out of the enemy. Never actually left the deployment zone and did nothing all game.
  
  
• Slavegiant almost Terror checked Teclis off the board after he left his unit to attack him with magic. Tecilis rolled a 10 and stayed put only to Pit of Shades my poor Slavegiant off the board.
  
  
• Scraplauncher took 4 wounds from Bolt Throwers but managed to survive until the end of the game, slowly taking it's toll on the HE units but failing to do enough (damn high scatter rolls!).
  
  
• This game was a little frustrating (as Mike's list was meant to handle Daemons, VC, WoC, DE, etc.. not Ogres) but it was awesome to jump to table 2 before having my ass beat. I expected something like this to happen so I still had a fun game overall.
  

Saturday - Game 3 (vs Zach's WoC)

• This WoC list did not have a named character (it used to have Sigvald until Zach realized how crappy he was), but it still had plenty of magic and WoC scary stuff. Big block of Knights with Sorc Lord, Exalted Hero, and level 2 Tz caster inside. Another level 2 was flying around on a disc. The rest of his army was Marauders, more Knights, Chaos Warhounds, and a Warshrine.
  
  
• Game started off good for me with some excellent deployment and first turn moves. Managed to charge the Tyrant out of his unit to smash through some Horsemen and overrun into some Marauders.
  
  
• Shortly after that Zach rolled 12 on the Eye of the Gods table making his big block of Knights practically unkillable - with a 1+ armor save and 3+ ward save.
  
  
• The rest of the game was a series of really bad movement phases on my part, allowing the WoC forces flank charges on all of my units.
  
  
• Bullstar was run down and killed and the rest of my units fell shortly after that.
  
  
• This is the worst game of WHFB I have played in my life. I don't know what happened to me but I vow to never play that poorly again. The game went from a win/draw to a horrible loss in the space of one movement phase due to some really bad choices (not thinking).
  

Saturday - Game 4 (vs Will's VC)

• This VC list is the one you don't want to play. Mounted Vamp Lord with Frostblade, Red Fury, Infinite Hatred, Beguile, etc, in a big unit of Dire Wolves with two other killy Infinite Hatred Vamps, and a Wight King with the Dickenhoff regen banner. The rest of the army was comprised of three minimum units of Zombies, a block of 6 Blood Knights with Hatred banner, and a huge unit of Wraiths (6) with Banshee.
  
  
• This game was the splitting point between the championship and consolation brackets for the second day of the event.
  
  
• Horrible game - my army was wiped off the board by the end of Turn 3.

For those keeping score at home that put my record at 1 win and 3 losses for the first day. I score a total of 24 points on day one and left the event really frustrated and unhappy. Was day two better?

Sunday

Sunday - Game 1 (vs David's HE)

• This HE list did not feature Teclis but it did have a Star Dragon with "unkillable" Lord on top. The rest of the list was standard 2,250 fare with three Repeating Bolt Throwers, a unit of Archers, two units of Dragon Princes, Lion Chariot, Great Eagle, and a unit of Swordmasters.
  
  
• Scraplauncher landed several direct hits on HE units only to scatter 8 to 10" away each time.
  
  
• Tyrant charged out of the Bullstar to crush a unit of Dragon Princes, followed by a unit of Swordmasters, and did not take any wounds.
  
  
• Star Dragon attacked the flank but was flank charged itself by a march blocked Slavegiant. Slavegiant took one wound from the Lord before Headbutting the Dragon and tying combat.
  
  
• This allowed a unit of Ironguts to charge in, whiff all their attacks, pass their Break Test after losing one Ogre, and stand in place for a flank charge from nearby Dragon Princes.
  
• Slavegiant is killed, unit is wiped out, and the nearby Scraplauncher passes it's Ld test and stands.
  
  
• Scraplauncher charges the Star Dragon and whiffs all of its attacks before taking one S7 wound and exploding.
  
  
• Meanwhile the Bullstar rampages across the board and panics off the unit of Archers and a Bolt Thrower crew but takes heavy losses as flank shots from the other remaining Bolt Throwers take their toll.
  
  
• Game ends with the Bullstar dead by Dragon charge and the Tyrant hiding in a woods.
  
  
• Fun game even though it was my second hard fought game against High Elves.
  

Sunday - Game 2 (vs Mike's HE)

• Hey look it's Teclis again! (same list as before)
  
  
• Mike went "easy" on me, selecting lores he would not normally use like Death and Heavens.
  
  
• His goal this second time around was to destroy the Scraplauncher.
  
  
• Bullstar ran up the farthest flank only to be march blocked by a Great Eagle for 3 turns before a unit of nearby Leadbelchers were able to blast it off the board.
  
  
• Tyrant ran out to destroy two Repeating Bolt Throwers before being magic'd and shot to death by characters with just as much movement and 360 line of sight (stupid single model rules that Ogres don't get).
  
  
• Scraplauncher misfired on Turn 5 allowing Mike to roll a shot of his own. He rolled another misfire and then a 1 - removing the Scraplauncher from play.
  
  
• A fun but futile game that resulted in yet another loss for the Beer Gut Tribe.
  

Sunday - Game 3 (vs Sam's WoC)

• WoC force led by ARCHAON in a big unit of Knights surrounded by Throgg and Trolls. Also had Wulfrik in a large unit of Marauders coming off the board, and a level 2 Tz Sorcerer on disc.
  
  
• We decided to play "beat face" in the center of the board and left all the terrain on the far table edges.
  
  
• Archaon charged the Bullstar and challenged - Karnov (my Tyrant) accepted.
  
  
• Greedy Fist proceeds to eat after failing two ward saves. Karnov punches Arcahon in the face and knocks a wizard level out of his head. Bruiser BSB smashes three knights and the combat is a draw.
  
  
• Next turn my Ironguts charge the flank while Leadbelchers blast off the Trolls (who fail to make any mutant regen saves). Karnov survives his challenge again taking no wounds and dealing another two.
  
  
• Archaon lose combat and flees 11" with his unit of Knights.
  
  
• Bullstar and Karnov pursue 12" when I roll box cars.
  
  
• Game ends as a victory for the Beer Gut Tribe on Turn 2.
  

All in all it was a great event and I am glad I attended. It would have been nice to not play the same player twice, but the general lack of Fantasy players made this almost unavoidable. I blame you (the reader) for not coming out and playing some WHFB! Perhaps next year will be a better turn-out.

Until then I have a ton of Skeletons and other Undead nasties waiting for paint. Back to the painting table...

The big black mystery box.

What's in the box?

The Beer Gut Tribe is in the box!

All packed up and ready to head out to BoLSCon tomorrow morning. Manged to get everything painted (not super but painted), based, and magnetized to movement trays. Looking forward to some fun games and a beer or two.

If you are reading this, are in Austin (or nearby), and are not planning on going to this tournament with your painted army... why!? I saw the massive mountain of prizes and have to say if I head home empty handed it will be a shock. It was like Christmas!

BoLSCon or BUST - 2,250pts of Ogres!

Surprise! Last minute convention attendance ho! I've decided to make my way out to BoLSCon this Saturday and Sunday here in Austin. I put together a somewhat competitive list based on the models I have the most paint on. I would have liked to take Skrag but I haven't even finished applying a base coat to the fat monster and I don't have the time to get him and the rest of the list fully painted by Saturday.

With this self-imposed "painted or mostly painted models only" restriction in place here is the list I will be taking with me.

LORDS: (316)
Tyrant – Heavy Armor, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Longstrider, Wyrdstone Necklace, Greedy Fist, Siegebreaker (316)

Longstrider is there to worry the Fast Cav and Knights that will threaten to harry my big block of Bulls, while Siegebreaker allows me to smash Steam Tanks and gets my Tyrant to the dreaded S7 chariot smashing territory. Greedy Fist is just too much fun - nothing like eating your opponent's high cost magic weapon or punching a wizard leevl or two out of an unlucky caster.

HEROES: (574)
Bruiser – BSB, Lookout Gnoblar, Heavy Armor, The Tenderiser (214)
Butcher – Gnoblar Thiefstone x 2, Skullmantle (180)
Butcher – Bangstick, Dispel Scroll (180)

Bruiser BSB and Thiefstone Butcher go in with the Bulls. I hate running the Bruiser with so little protection but hopefully his unit will have Trollguts or Toothcracker on it for some added protection.

The Bangstick Butcher will run behind the main block or the flanking Ironguts; popping out to blast away at choice Bangstick targets (mmm Fast Cav and Skirmishers). Debated dropping the Bangstick for a second scroll but hopefully the Thiefstone's MR2 will keep the main block safe from most magic leaving me 4 DD to counter other threats.

CORE: (779)
Bulls x 7 – Bellower, Champion (275)
Ironguts x 4 – Bellower, Champion (222)
Ironguts x 4 – Bellower, Champion (222)
Gnoblar Trappers x 10 (60)

Champions allow for randomization of hits for the magic and shooting attacks that will be flying my way. Hopefully all 4 Ironguts can make it into Close Combat as that is 13 S6 attacks - nothing to sneeze at even with a crappy WS of 3.

SPECIAL: (405)
Scraplauncher (165)
Leadbelchers x 2 – Champion (120)
Leadbelchers x 2 – Champion (120)

Same again here; Champs allow for randomization which is great as people just love to shoot at Leadbelchers! Assuming them survive they will be used on the Flanks - great and busting rank bonuses with their smaller frontage.

RARE: (175)
Slavegiant (175)

The big pincusion himself. 175 points of "Shoot me! Shoot me!" and if he makes it into combat against smaller things he is usually good for a laugh. I love the model, although this is one that still needs a lot of paint to be up to snuff for this weekend.

Total Points: 2,249 (of 2,250)

And there you have it - my BoLSCon list for better or worse. This list hasn't been approved as of yet but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be. I don't expect to win it all but I do expect to have some fun, get some pictures, and maybe win a prize or two. Comments, questions, and suggestions on the list are welcome and encouraged!