Ok guys! With Forge World releasing updated character stats while also adding and clarifying Chapter Tactics for the chapters they support I finally have the information I need to build an Astral Claws army list.
Sorry for not posting lately, things have been hectic. Here is a short update... I have been playing quite a few games lately (battle report below) and made my first army trade (video below). I have also been working on some terrain for my snow board (pics below).
That's it for now. Hopefully I will have something more in depth for you guys soon.
So when I decided to play Space Marines I was looking for a cool themed chapter and one that would give me flexibility. After I saw some awesome 3rd party accessory items with a lion theme to them I had to look up Space Marine chapters that had to do with Lions.
Well really I should have it this a bit ago but I was trying to think of something special to do for post 100... but I couldn't think of anything. But here we are now and let's keep going!
So last night I was playing a game at my LGS when a question came up that I have seen across the Internets a few times and I was pretty solid on my version of it and so was my opponent until recently. So what is this question?
So I have been in the hobby for over 13 years now and I am one of the "old men" in my gaming group as most of them started really playing in 5th edition. I have become the "go to guy" for most rules questions (right or wrong) and for some army advice as I have played the majority of armies and try to keep up on what other armies are doing based on what I see at tournaments I attend and what I read and see around the internet. So when I am approached by a newer player and I am asked what they should add or change about their army I am rather hesitant about giving advise at first, and I will tell you why.
Ok, so I finally have an update that is decent. I have been working on my Nerd Cave lately and found some time to do some hobby work!
So hobby stuff first!
I finished my May commitment for the Hobby Progress Challenge! YAY. I was a bit worried last week when I knew I did not have much time left and a lot to still paint. But I was able to finally find some time between work, after work meetings, and other family and social obligations.
So as you probably remember from my last post I committed to painting 11 drones, 5 XV8 Crisis Suites and a Devilfish this month.
Well it was quite a daunting task but here is the end result...
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still around. I know I haven't posted anything is almost 3 weeks, but I have been super busy with work and "other work". I am starting to work on something big that I hope to be able to announce later this year or early next year. I am still slowly working on my Tau as I did make a HPC commitment for this month, but I am not 100% sure I will be able to make it.
So my commitment for this month is 5 XV8s, 11 Drones and a Devilfish... wish me luck I still have a long way to go this month and I have less than 2 weeks left. I also have the last tournament I am running next Sunday and full day of gaming on Monday.
Also for those of you in the Southern California area make sure to check out Dice of War games grand opening on the 1st/2nd of June in Rancho Cucamonga! I am going to try and make it down for the event and support Alec (from Apocalypse 40k) and his new store. I hope to see some of you there. Till next time! Dracus Out!
So today is the start of a new month and another hobby commitment. Last month my commitment was to paint a 12-man Fire Warrior Squad and a Gun Drone.
Before:
After:
My commitment for May is...
11x Drones
5x XV8 Crisis Suites
1x Devilfish
And because I we excited about painting something different I ended up painting a lot more than just what my commitment was. So here is a group shot of everything I have painted/based this last month.
We have:
36x Fire Warriors
8x Pathfinders
3x XV88
2x XV8
2x Hammerheads
1x Devilfish
1x Gun Drone
lot of bases
The goal of the Hobby Progress Challenge is to have a fully painted 1850 point army by November, so far I have over 1200 points painted in the last Month+ so I am actually pretty close to being done already. Now I do need to change my list to fit the new Dex, but I am still not sure what I want to change/add to it. I am really leaning towards the Riptide, but I don't know if I can justify the cost at this point in time.
In the mean time I will just keep painting away. I can always just add some Devilfish to the list as I already have those and I am planning on painting them anyway.
So I have made a decision on what to do with the basing for the Tau and I started working on them last weekend. I made the decision to go with SNOW! I have not done snow in the past so this is something new for me, and I think that making them look good with the darker blue I have been using for the tau may be a bit of a learning curve.
Materials I picked up include a roll of Cork, snow flock, some "medium" bushes, and tall grass.
So with the new Tau book out for a few days I have really been looking at it and trying to come up with a list that is not only fun, but competitive and close to what mini's I already have.
As I signed up for the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge I will need to change up my list as the 1850 list I submitted for the Challenge is now about 212 points cheaper What do I put in there?
So over the last couple days I started priming and painting some of my new Tau. I am hoping to get the codex soon and really look at that is going to be a useful build. Till then on to more painting!
As mentioned before I am participating in the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge and so far according to my "old" army list I have painted about 671 points of the 1850 points needed for the challenge this week alone. That makes me feel pretty good as I started into the challenge about 3 months late.
So while I was at the FLGS this week one of our local tau players came in trying to sell his stuff because he is moving as did not want to take his 40k stuff with him. There weren't any takers and I was trying to talk a few friends into buy it because it was a good deal, but there weren't any takers. So as he was getting ready to leave he dropped the price by 1/2 of what he was asking before (and it was a great price before but my wife would have killed me) and I had to jump on it. I don't know what it was but I could not pass up a deal this good knowing that I was coming into some disposable cash after fixing come computers.
I have been pretty busy lately with hobby work, not necessarily all painting and modeling but trying to get a tournament together, traveling out of the area to meet up with some other gamers, doing Battle Reports and working on stuff for a Podcast.
As far has painting goes I am working on a Dark Angels Tac Squad that came in the Dark Vengeance kit. I am not done with it yet but getting pretty close.
As you can see I an not going for the normal Dark Angels Green, but
So I did some more work this last weekend on my Zone Mortalis Terrain. After lots of glue and paint I was able to have my first game. See the pics below. I still have some work to do and need to make some terrain for inside the Zone Mortalis.
So on Sunday afternoon after working some overtime I decided to drop by the craft store and pick up some foam core so I can start working on my terrain idea. After a few hrs of work this is what I have ended up with.
Sorry I have not posted anything for a bit. I have been really busy as of late and have not been able to take any pictures of my progress. The pictures will come soon I hope. But what I have been up to has been working hard on the new YouTube channel, I have 15 videos up now and hopefully more on the way shortly.
I have been able to get my Ravenwing Bikers from the Dark Vengeance set painted. I am now also planning on building some new terrain. I want to make a bunch of walls and walk-ways so I can make the inside of a bunker/command complex or interior of a Space Hulk. I have wanted to play these themed games a lot but have never had the terrain to do it. I think I have a bit of a spark at the moment to get motivated and get going on this project.
Well that's it for my updates at this point. I hope to have something more for you in the near future. In the meantime check out some of my videos. Here is my latest Battlegrounds BatRep, Necrons VS Chaos Space Marines.
Well I have been a very busy boy this last week. The weekend started with a 1,500 point tournament, continued with an extra gaming day on Monday while "Life After the Cover Save" recorded a show at Paper Hero's in Saugus, CA then I had my normal gaming night and did a bit of Painting last night.
So I picked up the new Dark Angels book last weekend and got my first game in with them this week. I have to say that my first impression of the book is that it looks pretty well balanced. I am a bit disappointed in the flyers. I would have really liked if the Nephilim Fighter had the Hurricane Bolters instead of the missiles. I think the amount of shooting you would be able to put out of it in conjunction with the TL-Heavy Bolter and the Avenger Mega Bolter would have made it worth taking.
Without further adieu here is the Battle Report. If you like it please make sure the "like" and subscribe. I would also appreciate some C&C as this is my first full game, video BatRep.
We hit the 10,000 views milestone! I would like to thank everyone who has been following my blog and those who just come across it by accident. I hope these 10,000 view have been as good for you as they have been for me.
On to the real news! I attended a 2,000 point tournament this weekend in Bakersfield, CA. This was my first time gaming in this area but my friend Biff has been trying to get me to come up for a while now. So I finally make the trip up and he ends up working! Typical Biff!
Anyway this was a chance for me to get to flex a bit of Forge World muscle as they were allowing it to be used in the tournament. I was actually a bit surprised that I was not the only one who brought the resin to the table.
Here is a video recap of my games!
I ended up going with List #5 from my last post. The one thing I have to say is I really don't like screamers and flamers anymore. With being 2 wounds each at 23 and 25 points seems a bit to cheap when you add in how hard they hit you and the Fateweaver re-roll. But I guess this is their time to shine as the book has not been very good over the last several year. Things will change again though, we just have to wait.
You may want to read Part 1 and Part 2 before continuing here on part 3. Here in Part 3 I want to look at another Space Marine list that uses only one FOC and a Chaos Space Marine list that uses 2 FOCs.
So I have been extended an invite by Biffomatic to make the drive up to Bakersfield, CA to play in a 2,000 point tournament next Saturday. The only problem I have is WHAT DO I BRING?
I seem to have a lot of options open to me as they are allowing Forge World in the tournament and as I have been running tournaments with Forge World allowed I have not seen any problems with it. On the other hand I have not had the opportunity to play with my Forge World at any tournament thus far.
So for Christmas I ended up getting a camcorder. Now I can start doing video BatReps and some video updates. Maybe this will help with showing off the models better and I won't forget details of the BatReps!
Well here is my first video ever! It is just an intro for the games that were played at the tournament. Let me know what you think!
