Cap City Madness!

I've been running around for the past few hours trying to get everything done for Cap City tomorrow. I didn't manage to complete all of my painting but I got at least a base coat on everything. Hopefully that counts for something!

Went to the early registration this evening and got my player packet. Going to be playing some really fun scenarios that should be a fun challenge for me and the Beer Gut Tribe. One of them is about taking over all the taverns on one street. If I can't manage that I will be very sad! Wish me luck ...

Speaking of beers:

I completely forgot to mention that my first batch of homebrew was bottled and aged! About half of the batch is gone now and the verdict so far is ... its good! Second batch is bottled and aging now but I have a feeling it won't be quite as good. Picked up the ingredients for a cheap Black Ale but I haven't brewed it yet. Maybe after all of the GT madness is over.

Speaking of madness, it has been way too long since I posted a beer review!

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Left Hand Brewing Company - Polestar Pilsner

Beer Type: German Pilsener

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle a fairly classic example of Left Hand images (sawtooth, the logo, etc). Beer poured a light yellow. Just a slight head that quickly faded.

Smell: Grains (wheat, hay, grass), a little bit of lemon or citrus, and a bit of floral hops.

First Drink: A kind of grassy flavor with some of the hops followed by a sweeter lemon finish.

Mouthfeel: Light with what seems to be the right amount of carbonation for a pils.

Last Drink: Picking up a little more of a spice now? Makes me think of ginger or lemongrass.

Drinkability: Not quite what I imagine when I reach for a pilsner and overall I wasn't terribly impressed with this beer.

Notes: I haven't had too many beers from Left Hand but they have a large cult following. So far I have to say they are pretty low on my "breweries I like" list. I will give their other brews a chance before I stick to that verdict though.

Verdict: 3 out of 5. Far from the worst I have had but not what I would go for if I was looking to buy an expensive six pack.

Links: Beer Advocate and Left Hand Brewing Company.

A lesson in humility.

Took a moment out from my frantic painting schedule to play a 2,250 tournament at BattleForge yesterday morning. It was one of their "Heavy" tourneys, which really equated to a test run of lists for Capital City Carnage IGT next week. I brought my list to play for the first time but things didn't go so well.

The day started off with a closely fought game against Warriors of Chaos. My opponent had 3 or 4 units of Marauders with Great Weapons and the Mark of Slaanesh, a unit of Tzeentch marked Knights, a unit of Slaanesh marked Horsemen, a big block of Slaanesh marked Warriors, Tzeentch marked Warshrine, a Chaos Sorc on steed (in the Warriors), Exalted Hero BSB on steed (with the Knights), and a Chaos Lord on a Chaos Dragon (with the 75 point Flaming sword that does D3+1 wounds per wound). All of his list was pretty much bad news for the Beer Gut Tribe. With no Psych in effect, and a terrifying Lord on Dragon flying around, things got ugly very fast.

Match started with the Dragon flying down a flank to kill a unit of 3 Ironguts. Meanwhile his forces surged forward in the center of the table in an attempt to bait a charge. My Slavegiant rushed his Knight unit, took 3 wounds, and threw the BSB across the field into the Marauder Horsemen (killing 3). The Scraplauncher did well the first couple shots, dumping killing blow junk down on the Warriors and removing a rank bonus. Eventually my main Bull block with Tyrant, BSB, and Siegebreaker Butcher were surrounded by units in the middle of the board with little to no support nearby. The main block charged the Warriors but missed by about 1/8" and failed the charge. It was then countercharged the next turn by the Maruader Horsemen and BSB on the flank, Chaos Lord and Dragon in the rear, and the big block of Warriors in the front.

Chaos Lord challenged and Tyrant Karnov stepped up to test out his build. He saved against the Lord's first attack, eating his sword with his Greedy Fist, and turning the 75 point item into nothing special. The Dragon was very upset by this and dealt 3 wounds to the Tyrant, who answered with 4 wounds of his own on the Dragon. On the flank the Siegebreaker Butcher finished off the Marauder Horsemen while one lonely Bull swuared off against the Exalted Hero BSB, dealing the one remaining wound he had and killing him outright.

At the end of this combat the Ogres were most alive, but hurting. They lost CC by 1, but made their check and continued to fight on. The next turn the Warriors flank was charged by a unit of 4 Ironguts with a Butcher to help even the odds. The Tyrant stood up to more brutal attack from the Lord and Dragon taking 1 wound in the process. He answered back by hitting all 5 times with his attacks, but failed to do a single wound to the Dragon (rolling almost all 1's and 2's). Just one wound would have killed the thing .... such terrible luck.

As a result the combat was lost for the Ogres after taking heavy losses to the Bulls from the Warriors in the front. After failing to roll double 1's the unit broke and was quickly chased down by the Lord and the Dragon (no thanks to that damn Soporific Musk!).

The flanking Ironguts went on to crush the Warriors, chase them down, and eventually chase some Marauders off the board. On the other side of the field, the remaining Ironguts and Leadbelchers took out the unit of Knights.

Game ended in a draw. It was a really fun and exciting match up, and my Tyrant loadout worked exactly as I wanted it to (with the exception of failing to kill that damn Dragon!).

Next match was a quick one. The Ogres were horribly slaughtered by an Empire list with 2 units of Outriders (plus captains with sniper rifles and pigeon bombs, and all kinds of terrible stuff), a Great Cannon (which blew up my Scraplauncher in turn 1 on a fairly cheesy shot), a Hellblaster (which blew apart almost all of my Bulls with one shot of 24), 2 Bright Wizards (who burnt the crap out of me with Conflagration), and 2 Warrior Priests (giving the Bright Wizards rerolls for the lose), and a Steam Tank. This wasn't counting the 3 massive units of Knights, a unit of Swordsmen, and the two detachments of Archers (who along with the Bright Wizards killed my Slavegiant in turn 1).

I managed to kill 1 Knight, 1 unit of 5 Archers, and the Steam Tank (with my Siegebreaker Butcher). He killed everything else on the board with the exception of a unit of Gnoblar Fighter who were hiding in a corner behind a wall.

A really, really, rough game. Has to be the worst beating I have taken, and my opponent was making snide remarks about the Ogre Kingdoms and how my list sucked the whole game (he told me I lost because I didn't play MSU Irongut spam, even though I had 3 units of Ironguts). Aside from the snide comments he was a fairly nice guy, and I am sure he only made the comments in an attempt to offer advice. It was just the situation that made it really tough to listen to anything he had to offer.

Shortly after that horrible loss (in Turn 3) one of the tourney players had a seizure in the store. Games stopped, ambulance was called, things turned out okay (I guess), but it really put a damper on the mood. Combine this with my horrible loss,to Empire, a slight hangover (from homebrew the night before), and an extreme hunger and it was time for me to leave. Didn't stay to play my third game.

Still feeling beat up from that last game though. I have been replaying it in my mind and I just don't see too much I could have done differently (aside from rolling better). I was shot and magic'd to death while I tried to find cover (there was only a forest on one side of the board) and make my way into charge range. Even if I had made it into range he had 3 units of Knights waiting to destroy me. All in all it was a bad matchup for my list.

Now I am going back to the painting table in an effort to complete my tasks. It seems unlikely that I will finish everything before next Saturday but I am going to give it my best. Hopefully I won't have any more games like the ones from yesterday.

Quick update!

I haven't had time to devote to this poor dilapidated gnoblog lately and I feel guilty about it. A combination of things has kept me running around with just enough time to drink beer and paint models. The biggest thing on my mind in the world of Warhammer is my first every IGT showing at Capital City Carnage in a little under two weeks. I submitted my army list earlier this month and it was approved last week. What was the list you ask!? Well ...

LORDS:
Tyrant - Cathayan Longsword, Heavy Armor, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Beastkiller, Wyrdstone Necklace, Greedy Fist, Greyback Pelt (321)

HEROES:
Bruiser - BSB, Lookout Gnoblar, Cathayan Longsword, Heavy Armor, Giantbreaker, Gnoblar Thiefstone (212)
Butcher - Siegebreaker, Skullmantle (180)
Butcher - Bangstick, Dispel Scroll (180)

CORE:
Bulls x 7 - Bellower (255)
Ironguts x 3 - Bellower (154)
Ironguts x 3 (144)
Ironguts x 3 (144)
Gnoblar Fighters x 20 (40)
Gnoblar Trappers x 10 (60)

SPECIAL:
Scraplauncher (165)
Leadbelchers x 2 (110)
Leadbelchers x 2 (110)

RARE:
Slavegiant (175)

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

A little bit of everything that is hopefully enough for most situations. I don't expect to win all of my matches but I am hoping for an even win/loss ratio at least. There are two other players bringing Ogres to the event which was a bit shocking to me!

I have been painting almost every day for the past month in an effort to finish the models in the list in time for the tournament. Expect painted pictures this month assuming I can find the time to take them (and post them here).

Back from Prague, Ready to Paint.

Well I have managed to make it back to the United States in one piece. It was a long journey (about 17 hours all told) but it feels great to be back home. I had a wonderful time in the Czech Republic, and I would love to visit again sometime in the future (in fact I may have to do so for business again in a few months). I have lots of pictures and stories to tell, but none of those really relate to the subject of this gnoblog with the exception of one - BEER.

I didn't accomplish anything Warhammer related while I was in Prague (aside from finishing a couple of the Horus Heresy novels) but I did have quite a few of these little beauties. Beer (or Pivo as it is called in Czech) is quite plentiful in the city, and you can find it in almost every place you go. It costs less than water or soda, and in some cases it is almost half the price! With deals like that (the drink above probably cost $1.50 to $2.00 on average) how could I not have one with every meal?!

Now that I am back in the US I plan on drinking less and painting more. I hope to have my entire 2,250 list for Capital City Carnage assembled and painted by the end of next month. So far that has meant working on the assembly of my Scraplauncher, and the completion of my 2,250 list (which is due by 4/1). There is quite a bit of work to do on the painting front, but I feel confident I will be able to accomplish my goal with time to spare (we'll see how I feel in a few weeks).

Now I am off to wash my heaps of dirty laundry and curse this damn Scraplauncher model while I try to keep it together (by far one of the worst models I have assembled so far). Wish me luck!

(Beer) Progress Report - 3/16/09.

Sadly I don't have much to report from the wide world of Warhammer. I have been busy preparing for my upcoming trip to the Czech Republic! I will be spending about 10 days in Prague, leaving tomorrow (Tuesday 3/17) and returning towards the end of the month.

I have never been overseas (or out of the continental Americas) and I am really looking forward to it. The whole trip is being paid for by my company (it is a business tripe after all), so I just have to survive the plane trip (I hate flying) and then I get to have fun and work my ass off. Expect pictures of the historic city when I return.

While there has been little to no modeling or hobby related progress (still trying to finalize a list for Capital City Carnage in May), there has been quite a bit of progress with our first batch of beer. After a few days of furious eating, belching, farting, and wasting, the beer was ready to move into the secondary fermenter with the additional dry hops.

It is a bit cloudy right now, but in a few more weeks the yeast should clean up after themselves, and the beer will clarify. If it doesn't .. well I will have some cloudy and delicious beer to bottle and drink.

One thing that is not so delicious is the protein sludge left at the bottom of the fermenter when the yeast are done with their work. It is called "trub" and it looks and smells a bit unpleasant. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

Not the best looking stuff, but "trub" might make a good name for one of the Ogres in my tribe! Perhaps a Butcher or a Bruiser? Hold that thought, I will return to this once I have landed safely back here in Austin in about 12 days.

Progress Report - 3/8/09 (now with MORE BEER).

Progress and beer!

Last weekend's tournament didn't go so well for the Beer Gut Tribe. The Ogres fought bravely against swarms of Lizardmen, a wall of Goblins, and the hordes of Chaos Daemons, but in the end victory was not achieved. All in all it was a good time, and I learned a few new things about playing the game, and that is what matters (although winning is welcome too).

I didn't take very detailed notes so I will spare you from a rambling recount from memory over a week later. I am in the process writing my final list for the upcoming (and first ever) Austin IGT. The event is called Capital City Carnage (great name by the way) and it will take place in early May at the Austin convention center. I am planning on taking the Beer Gut Tribe as it seems unlikely that I will have my VC fully assembled, based, primed, and even partially painted. Speaking of painted models, here is another completed Irongut from the series of pictures I took a few weeks back! I really like the first one as the IG looks quite menacing!

In other news, I have discovered I have a fairly acute allergic reaction to the super glue I have been using. I switched brands last October, but did most of my major gluing and modeling in the months since December. During that time I have developed crusty spots on my lips and eyelids, red itchy bumps on my hands and fingers, and some rather nasty wounds in my throat and sinuses. I finally realized it was the glue doing all of this (and that I wasn't turning into a zombie yet), so I switched brands again. I glued a little bit yesterday (still recovering from the last time I used the old glue) and I noticed a big difference. Sadly, I got a little on one finger and it is itchy and red today. Maybe I need to wear gloves while I am working with it?

All in all it is a pretty crappy allergy to have for someone in this hobby and I don't recommend it. It has really slowed down the progress of my Vampire Counts army even though I have plenty of models to assemble and convert.

But enough about models and allergies and tournaments. What about the BEER?! Oh .. well there is beer, or there will be in a month or so to be more precise!

We (the girl and I) have purchased our first home brewing kit! Went out and picked it up yesterday, as well as the ingredients to make our very first batch of beer. It will be a Pale Ale (although a fairly hoppy variety, not an IPA) and it is already bubbling away.

Making beer is fairly simple really, but it can be quite complex if you want it to. We opted for the simple method of Pitchable Yeast. This saves some time and it is easier for novice brewers like us.

The only problem we ran into was finding a vessel large enough to cool down the multiple gallons of boiling wort (the mixture of grains, malt, and hops pictured above) to stop the last bit of hops from losing all of its flavor. We ended up putting it in our bathtub and cooling it down there (though not quite fast enough so we may have lost a little of the hops flavor from the last addition).

It can be quite nerve wracking to have this (possibly) living thing hiding away in a bucket where you can't see it (sort of a Schrödinger's beer cat). We finished the beer at about 7pm last night and woke up this morning to find it bubbling away! It's alive! ALIVE!! Now for another 5-7 days of yeasty action and we will transfer it to the secondary fermenter (the box on the left) and add more hops. Another few days of that and its off to the bottles (with some priming sugar) for aging and carbonation.

Then we will have some beautiful baby beers to drink. I can't wait to try it!

Off to another tournament I go!

Saturday is the day for FIGHTING!!

I am off to join the masses of sweaty nerds at BattleForge Games for my first WHFB "Heavy" Tournament. I was originally planning on bringing Ryan's Dirty Stunty Shootahs (aka Dwarfs) but after a couple practice games with the list I decided to go for fun and take the Beer Gut Tribe. Plus I will get to show off my new Tyrant model this way!

Here is the list I am using.

LORDS:
Tyrant – Heavy Armor, Cathayan Longsword, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Beastkiller, Wyrdstone Necklace, Greatskull, Jade Lion (331)

This Tyrant is loosely based on the build Wildcard has posted for his 2,000 point list, but I am taking Yhetees so I needed to drop the Greyback Pelt. The Greatskull is there for the Armor Save and also to make people even less likely to cast at the big unit with MR 2 and miscasts on double 1, 2 and 3s. I am still tempted to drop the Beastkiller bigname for Mawseeker, but I do want some way of dealing with monsters.

HEROES:
Butcher – Hand Weapon, Dispel Scroll, Dispel Scroll (180)
Bruiser – Ogre Club, Heavy Armor, Ironfist, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblars x 2, Mawseeker, Greedy Fist (199)
Bruiser – BSB, Lookout Gnoblar, Ogre Club, Heavy Armor, Sword Gnoblars x 2, Mawseeker, Gnoblar Thiefstone x 2 (214)

These guys are all utility based. Greedy fist is for punching wizards down and the Thiefstones are for the MR. Mawseeker should make them a little harder to hit, but they will all be in the front line anyway. Went with the club and Ironfist for the slightly higher Armor save on Mr. Fist. Butcher is just a scroll caddy and extra dispel dice. If he gets off some buffs on the big block or Ironguts .. GREAT! I don't expect that to happen though. I am a little worried about my lack of magic weapons, but I hope I can out CR any Ethereal troops I run into ???

CORE:
Bulls x 7 - Bellower, Standard, Lookout Gnoblar (280)
Ironguts x 4 - Bellower (202)
Ironguts x 3 - Bellower (154)
Gnoblar Fighters x 20 (40)
Gnoblar Trappers x 10 (60)

Pretty straight forward stuff. Put the Tyrant and Bruisers in the main Bull unit (in a 2 x 5 formation), run the Butcher behind or in the 3 model IG unit. The 10th trapper is there for a spare 6 points I had. Fighters will most likely be used for table quarters are as a flank speedbump.

SPECIAL:
Yhetees x 3 (195)
Leadbelchers x 2 (110)
Leadbelchers x 2 (110)

I don't really like any of these troops but I have the models and I need something to field. Maybe I can get away without misfiring all my Leadies to death every game!!

RARE:
Slavegiant (175)

I love this big guy. If I had two models I would drop the Yhetees or some Leadies for another one in a second.

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

I just lined up the big Bull/Bruiser/Tyrant unit on my worktable and it looked quite impressive! I am hoping to use this bit of psychological warfare to my advantage and take a few Ogre Kingdoms newbs by surprise.

Before I take my tribe to war, here are a few pictures of another Irongut to remember them by.