play: dreadball league: da albinorks

My FLGS started a seven-player Dreadball league last week and there was no way I wasn't in. Having played my Forgefather team, Rammers of Krass Brokkr pretty much exclusively since Adepticon 2013, including a five-player league in January/February, I decided en route to my first game that I'd switch over to Da Albinorks and see what they had to offer.

(Apologies for this being a text only post. I get so caught in playing that I forget to take pictures of my games. I hope to rectify as the league progresses.)

The league is set up in two week time periods where we're required to play two matched games set up by the league commissioner. In addition to the usual player advancement, player death, league scoring, and monetary winnings, these games net a +5MC "appearance fee" just for showing up. During the same time period, we're allowed two "off books" games that retain the player consequences and potential monetary winnings, but have no appearance fee and do not count in league scoring. They're truly a gamble, and add a bit of excitement outside of the regular league games.

Da Albinorks: Starting Roster
#	Name	Role	Exp.	Rank	Move	Str	Spd	Skill	Armour	Abilities	Value
1	Bule	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
2	Cracker	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
4	Gringo	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
5	Redneck	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
6	Peckerwood	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
9	Honkey	G		1	5	3	4	5	4		13
11	Whitey	G		1	5	3	4	5	4		13
14	The Man	G		1	5	3	4	5	4		13
				Dice:	1	Cards:	1	mc:	0	Total Value:	100

I kicked off Da Albinorks' season with a scheduled match against an equally fresh human team with a rookie coach. The humans put up a good fight, but a 3-turn slam in the first Rush followed by a 4-point score in the third set a pace the Humans just couldn't match. Over 11 turns, the Humans' dice failed them whenever it counted, and Da Albinorks walked away with a 7-point victory that saw both Peckerwood and The Man level up.

Da Albinorks: After Game 1
#	Name	Role	Exp.	Rank	Move	Str	Spd	Skill	Armour	Abilities	Value
1	Bule	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
2	Cracker	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
4	Gringo	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
5	Redneck	J	1	1	5	5	3	4	4		9
6	Peckerwood	J		2	5	5	3	4	4	A Safe Pair of Hands	14
9	Honkey	G		1	5	3	4	5	4		13
11	Whitey	G	1	1	5	3	4	5	4		13
14	The Man	G		2	5	3	4	5	4	360 Vision	18
				Dice:	2	Cards:	1	mc:	10	Total Value:	127

Da Albinorks, riding high on their success accepted an off-books invite from another Human team. This game was crazy, with the Human coach using his underdog bonus to secure both Rico Van Dien and The Enforcer to help him out. And help him they did! The Enforcer killed Bule on the first Rush, Rico scored on the third, and the Enforcer again quenched his thirst for blood in the 5th. After that, Da Albinorks had had enough. Whitey's rage took over, killing both The Enforcer and a Striker on Rush 6! Despite additional kills and 3-turn hits from Whitey and Honkey late in the game, Da Albinorks just couldn't get their offense together and lost by 5.

Da Albinorks: After Game 2 (off-books)
#	Name	Role	Exp.	Rank	Move	Str	Spd	Skill	Armour	Abilities	Value
1	Ghost	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
2	Cracker	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
4	Gringo	J		1	5	5	3	4	4		9
6	Peckerwood	J		2	5	5	3	4	4	A Safe Pair of Hands	14
9	Honkey	G	1	1	5	3	4	5	4		13
11	Whitey	G	1	2	5	3	4	5	4	Can't Feel a Thing	18
14	The Man	G		2	5	3	4	5	4	360 Vision	18
				Dice:	2	Cards:	1	mc:	12	Total Value:	124

I've managed to get a jump on our second two-week interval and things are starting to heat up. Stay tuned for further updates!

play: saga tournament: jomsvikings

Last week, with more than a little trepidations, I set off to Texas Toy Soldier for their July Saga Tournament. You see, I'd last played the game in February and had little-to-no clue what the last two expansions brought to the table. I also had spent the prior week or so trying to finish my vikings, but fell short of the mark. They were past a 3-color standard, but the bases texture was straight out of the sand box and the shields were all a flat brown.

My mind was soon put at ease. All the guys participating in the tournament were understanding regarding both my lack of recent play and not-quite-complete figures. Most were even highly complimentary of how they looked, despite their unfinished nature. A total of 7 players started the tournament, which was to be best of 3 rounds all played with the "Kill the Warlord" scenario. Winner by best win-loss ratio, total points killed as the tie-breaker.

GAME 1: Jomsvikings vs Scots - A fiercely bloody battle with some very wily Scots. This one came down to a single die roll. On the last turn we had a Warlord on Warlord clash where the Scot had to make 1 save on 3 dice to stay alive... and flubbed all three. I killed his Warlord despite a Scottish 20-19 point lead.

GAME 2: Jomsvikings vs Byzantines - First time playing against the Byzantines, and I didn't enjoy it. It wasn't my opponent's fault, he was a good guy and played his forces well, but between the inherently strong defense of a fast and shooty army with a mounted general able to cower behind a mass of troops, "Kill the Warlord" is a tough road to hoe with a foot-slogging, melee only army. Add in consistent denial of Wraith by my opponent, and I was a sitting duck. Byzantine win by points, 11-2.

GAME 2: Jomsvikings vs Pagan Rus - First time playing against these guys as well, and I've got to say I like 'em. Some incredibly nasty tricks up their sleeves led to the near annihilation of a warrior unit that got caught out in the cold. "You can only move 4 inches. Oh, and your unit that isn't within 6 inches of anybody is now max fatigue. Oh, and every unit on the board with a fatigue marker takes off that many models - the fatigue stays." is a nut-buster of a combo. Fortunately, I was able to use my battle board to deny the Rus some of their other shenanigans, and managed to pull away with a 26-14 point victory.

After the bodies were laid to rest in their foam trays, it was determined that three of us were tied for first with a 2-1 record. When the points were tallied... I somehow came in on top! Netted me a $20 store gift certificate for my efforts, which I'm still trying to figure out how to spend. I was pleasantly surprised with how well I did, despite the lack of experience, and am looking forward to getting in more games soon. The Jomsvikings will definitely be staying on the painting table 'till they're done.

play : adepticon 2013

In the weeks leading up to Adepticon 2013, I was debating whether this year would be my last. I've made the 15 hour drive five consecutive years now and, to be honest, I ended Adepticon 2012 on a particularly bad note (Through no-one's fault but my own). For that and other reasons, I've been eyeballing the potentially greener pastures of other conventions - GenCon, WargamesCon, DuelCon, etc. Now that Adepticon 2013 is over, I find myself reinvigorated - jazzed on mind-blowing displays of hobby, gaming and friendship. Sunday night, while chatting post-con with friends who came into this year's con with a similar mind-set, we resolved to once again make the pilgrimage to Chicago next April.

Highlights of the convention, and things that swayed me into coming back include, in rough chronological order...

• "Give me your muffin!" - Celso
• X-Wing Miniatures Game - Ran several folks through demoes of this one and most bought in by con's end. It really is a fantastic little game, even without the 2nd set of ships. I definitely learned the value of a Y-Wing equipped with an Ion Cannon! Depending on schedule conflicts, I could easily see playing in a tourney of this next year.
  
• The William Wallace Burger - a nice, thick hamburger with a sausage & beef patty, gently breaded and fried, topped with a fried egg. Serve it quartered, pulled to the edges of the plate with a heaping helping of beer-battered onion straws drizzled with ketchup and a side of blue-dyed ranch just big enough to dip half of each burger in. (Doesn't exist, but MightyTim and I think it should. Makes more sense than Tilted Kilt's "Braveheart Salad.")
• Cards Against Humanity - Yes, it often devolves into racist, sexist, sexual or grotesque humor... but I'm okay with that. I laugh too damn hard not to enjoy the game. I particularly liked when, "Life for the Native Americans was forever changed after the white man introduced them to scalping," and "White people like smallpox blankets." were played within cards of each other.
• Dreadball - Fast paced game with crazy simple mechanics. Played in the tournament on Friday and had an absolute blast. I plan to do a better write up of the tournament later this week, but the short of it is that I'm dying to get the local guys into it and start a league. Teams are cheap, and I think they'd love it if they gave it a try.
  
• "Slaanesh!" - Damon... at first. Then e'rybody.
• Display boards - Always inspired, often inspiring, these monuments to gaming and hobby never cease to be a highlight of Adepticon for me. One of these days, one of 'em will be mine.

  

  

  

• Roman - anyone looking to go from gamer or hobbyist to artist needs to watch this guy in action. His build process is downright Bob Ross-ian in it's flow - he's got a general idea of what he wants to do, but lets it come out organically, ebbing and flowing with each new addition to the base. His paint style isn't much different and provided my biggest "Holy crap! Mind = blown!" moment of the con. What he does is amazing. And it's art - not the rigid process that Games Workshop uses (for better and worse) to get people into the hobby. I'm already looking through models to see what inspires me to work in a similar fashion.

  

• The people - I got to catch up with old friends (Celso, Damon, Fish, Rich, Tim, etc.) and make new ones (Loopy, Starminer, Jen, et. al.). I got to hang out with folks whose work I've been wowed by for years and they got to be wowed by my "Rice Whiskey Treats with Bacon." No matter how much time I spend with these people, when Sunday rolls 'round I'm jonesing for the next year to get here so I can hang out with them again.
• Portillo's - Between the Italian Beef & Hot Pepper sammich literally dripping with au jus and the diabetic bliss of a Cake Shake, it's probably for the best that I don't live anywhere near one.

  

• BootaTown - MightyTim did a stellar job taking the abandoned reins of BootaTown and putting together a fun, laid back event for Sunday. Fun people, fun games, amazing swag. The fact that he's already soliciting advice for next year makes me confident that BootaTown is in fantastic hands for the foreseeable future.
• The atmosphere - The Adepticon council made several changes this year (separate vendor hall, changing order and length of some tournaments) that I think drastically improved the overall vibe and feel of the con. I've been coming for 5 years straight, and I don't think it's ever felt this relaxed and accessible. Big thumbs up to Hank, Greg, Matt, Jeff and the rest of the crew.

For the above reasons, and many more, I had an absolutely fantastic weekend. The doubt is gone. I'll be queuing up to register for Adepticon 2014. Can somebody save me a spot in the VIG line?

play: army list: iron warriors, 2000 pts

When I first started looking to take my Iron Warriors past 400 points, I kitted them out all the way to 2500 points with designs on using a significant amount of ForgeWorld to make it happen. However, due to recent developments 'round the house I've had to take a closer look at hobby expenditures and expectations. We all understand expenditures, but expectations may not be something you struggle with. I do. While a 2500 point army sounds great, I've got a proven track record of stalling out on large hobby projects. It pains me to write the following statement, but it's true and bears noting: "I have never finished a tabletop ready 40K army."

I've started several. I built 10 tanks and 2 ancillary vehicles for my "Armorked Krumpany," but stalled out when it came time to chip and paint them. I built the "Sons of the Forge" 5th Company, a DIY Iron Hands successor chapter, but they sit in my hobby room having never seen a drop of primer. I came really close to completing 400 points of "emORKgency!" for Adepticon 2011's Combat Patrol, but I didn't get the last coat of white on 'em before the tournament and couldn't muster enough "give a shit" when I got back from Chicago.

With that in mind, I've spent a good chunk of the two weeks back at the proverbial drawing board - really a red folder containing plain white paper, a Codex, and a pencil - trying to work up a list that minimizes expenditure, controls model count, and allows enough fluff and modeling challenge that I stay jazzed on the concept 'till completion. Reading Graham McNeill's Storm of Iron while I sorted this out helped make some tough decisions. Without further ado, the list:

Iron Warband of Warsmith Thokcha SIEGE ASSAULT Iron Palatine Gibeon's Breaching Squad Aerugo (358 pts) . . . Chaos Lord . . . . . . mark of Tzeentch . . . . . . daemon weapon . . . Plague Marines x6 . . . . . . plasma gun . . . . . . flamer . . . Chaos Rhino - "Chelonian III" . . . . . . dozer blade . . . . . . havoc launcher Iron Ascendant Scoriæ's Slaughterers (291 pts) . . . Chosen x6 . . . . . . icon of Khorne . . . . . . meltagun x2 . . . . . . paired lightning claws x2 . . . Aspiring Champion . . . . . . paired lightning claws . . . Chaos Rhino - "Fornax" . . . . . . dozer blade . . . . . . twin-linked bolter Iron Aspirant Sikhote's Breaching Squad Ferrugo (276 pts) . . . Plague Marines x6 . . . . . . plasma gun . . . . . . flamer . . . Plague Champion . . . . . . power fist . . . Chaos Rhino - "Scutum IX" . . . . . . dozer blade . . . . . . havoc launcher TRENCH DEFENSE Captain Ahnighito's Zigouilleurs (175 pts) . . . Chaos Havocs x5 . . . . . . heavy bolter x2 . . . . . . melta gun . . . . . . flamer . . . Aspiring Champion . . . . . . power weapon . . . . . . combi-melta Polybolos Alpha (200 pts) . . . Chaos Space Marines x11 . . . . . . plasma gun . . . . . . lascannon Polybolos Beta (200 pts) . . . Chaos Space Marines x11 . . . . . . plasma gun . . . . . . lascannon AUXILLIARY Sturm (120 pts) . . . Chaos Dreadnought . . . . . . additional CCW . . . . . . extra armor . . . . . . heavy flamer Drang (120 pts) . . . Chaos Dreadnought . . . . . . additional CCW . . . . . . extra armor . . . . . . heavy flamer Von Steyr (130 pts) . . . Chaos Vindicator . . . . . . twin-linked bolter Dulle Griet (130 pts) . . . Chaos Vindicator . . . . . . twin-linked bolter Total Roster Cost: 2000 points

All told, I shaved off 500 points and about $150 of extra expenditure. I started with the goal of getting an infantry-heavy core of 1250-1500 points, and I think I've accomplished that well enough. If you remove the Auxiliary section it comes to 1500 points exactly. I think the list looks pretty adaptable to for games from 750 points all the way up 2000.

You may have noticed that I named a Warsmith for the army, but that he's nowhere to be found. Well, just like the Chapter Master may not be at every battle a Space Marine chapter fights, the Warsmith may not be either. In point of fact, the Warsmith is barely in Storm of Iron, letting his subordinates follow his commands from afar and showing up only when he needs to. And when he shows up, he shows up in style!

The plan is to have Warsmith Thokcha be no different. Once the list above is completed - built, painted, and played - I am then allowed to, when funds allow, craft Warsmith Thokcha and retinue. I'm thinkin' a Terminator Lord and his posse in Tactical Dreadnought armour rollin' 'round in a tricked-out Land Raider. I haven't pointed them up yet, and I've no idea how I'll fit him in the list, but he's my reward for a job done. Well or otherwise.

As you may be able to tell from all the links above, I spent quite some time crafting names and stories for this Warband. I'll try to include some of that in as I finish building/painting each unit.