Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish all my fellow Americans and anyone else who wants to celebrate a Happy Thanksgiving Day. I hope you are enjoying a day with family and friends and most important of all GREAT FOOD!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish all my fellow Americans and anyone else who wants to celebrate a Happy Thanksgiving Day. I hope you are enjoying a day with family and friends and most important of all GREAT FOOD!

Friday Projects Update: Tomb King

I don't have much to show for this week as I got to play a few games and I am getting ready for Thanksgiving Vacation.

What I did finish was my 2nd Tomb King. This one is on foot and I usually run him as a Tomb Prince in a unit of Skeletons. I painted him similar to my Tomb King in a Chariot, but different enough that it can be used as another character.

I did manage to play a game with one of my daughters this week. Out of no where my 17 year old asked if I would teach her how to play. She picked my Vampire Counts as her army and I played with the Dwarfs. We did a 2250 point pitched battle. She was a quick learner and began to recognize how the Vampires played and managed to hold me to just a minor victory.

She had a good time and it looks like I may have another gamer in my family. She already wants to play again when we get back from our Thanksgiving trip.

-BJ

Friday Projects Update: Sister of Battle/Eldar

I didn't get a whole lot of painting this week as I played a few games and have been getting ready to go on Thanksgiving Vacation starting this weekend.

I did manage to finish off two more Sisters of Battle. These two are armed with Heavy Bolters and get me a little closer to having all my sisters finished.

The other 40K project I finished this week was my Eldar Vyper Jetbikes. After reading an  Tactica article Fritz, of Way of Saim-Hann, Posted on BOLS. Fritz talked about way to use Vypers and some loadouts he used. When I read about using Multi-Laser mount with an upgraded Shuriken Cannon underneath, I knew this was exactly what my Ulthwe themed army needed. So I got to converting some Shuriken Cannons and then painted up the squadron below.

These little guys give my Ulthwe some much needed firepower. I get 12 36" Str 6 AP 6 shots as well as 9 24" Str 6 AP 5 shots. This will be enough to help widdle down just about any unit.

That's all I got this week. I am not sure how much posting I will be doing as I visit the family next week, but I will be back as soon as vacation is over.

-BJ

When did the 40K hobby become a competitive sport?

I have been wanting to write the post since early last week, but I decided to not post while I was irritated. I have had some time to contemplate what exactly I wanted to say, so I decided to go for it and post today. Before I go into my rant I just wanted to say this is not directed at anyone in particular and it is just me being frustrated with some of the things I see happening in 40K.

As my title suggests I am trying to figure out when 40K became so competitive. When I first got into playing 40K I was already a Fantasy Battle player. I started 40K because I honestly loved the back story and since I was already into the Hobby with fantasy it was easy to cross over to 40K. I am a D&D player at heart so I enjoy the story of the game as much as playing it. Last week I got very frustrated while reading some posts on other blogs and forums. There are a few trends I have seen in posts that have just gotten under my skin.

This is a Hobby not a competitive sport: Over and over I keep seeing people argue about 40K tournaments and why there shouldn't be soft scores in tournaments. I am not debating this as there are some valid reasons out there that I completely understand. What irritates me is all the people that use competitive sports as a comparison to make their points. First this is a Hobby War-game, not a competitive sport. The comparison makes no sense to me as you often have 2 different armies which have different rule sets to follow. In competitive sports you have two teams that must follow the same set of rules. Even people who compare 40K to chess are not making valid arguments as in chess both players have identical "armies" with identical rules and rely on their skill to play. 40K has different rules for different armies and relies on players skill as well as unpredictable dice rolls. So no matter what you think GW should do you will never have the same type of competition as you see in sports or chess for that matter.

Is the internet to blame: I love the internet, I spend too much of my free time on it. Does it have an impact on power gaming in 40K, hell yes! I blogged earlier about my issues with what I call "Cookie Cutter" armies. Pretty soon every Ork list has Nob Bikers, Every Eldar list has a Jetbike Seer Council. The list goes on and on. Then someone will post an alternative list and the power gamers jump on them... "This list sux, you got no Nob Bikers... noob! I love going through the book and reading about each unit and deciding how I can make them work together, but it seems this is a dying art as players just wait for the power gamers to post their killer list then they copy them.

Is the Hobby aspect of 40K dying: I sure hope not as I feel if it does then 40K itself will die. I worry when I read post that want every hobby aspect of tournament scoring removed. I understand some of the points on removing soft scores, but this is a hobby and some of us players enjoy building a fluffy list, as well as painting our miniatures and for me comp scores and painting scores help support the whole hobby. I can see a problem with the Sportsmanship score, but I also feel that power gamers brought this problem about. The idea that you do whatever you need to do to increase your chance of winning fostered the idea of screwing your opponent with a bad score. Do I think it should be removed? Most definitely because it is just another tool for power gamers to abuse.

Another issue I have seen creeping up is requests for GW to make pre-painted models. I understand that players can be apprehensive about painting but it is part of the hobby. I sucked at painting when I first started but I took the time to learn and practice. I am no Eavy Metal class painter but I am proud of what I paint and it helps make my army mine. I love playing other armies that are painted and converted, it makes the game more fun and immersive. I understand that not everyone is great at this aspect but it only takes asking for advice from the community to get you started.

The last thing I want to gripe about is the attitude that 40K can't be fun unless you are trying to win. I have actually been called a liar on forums when I say I have had just as much fun losing games as I do winning them. I don't know if it is because I got into gaming through RPGs like D&D, but the idea of playing a hobby game like 40K is first for fun, then for the narrative, and lastly hanging out with and making friends. I like to win but in the end it doesn't matter to me as long as I am having fun.

I often do moves in games that might not make the best tactical sense but it is how I feel my army would play in a situation. Recently I was playing a tough Guard list with my Black Templars. He was blowing up my Rhinos like nothing and most of my army was on foot by the end of turn 2. I had my Emperor's Champion lead his squad through insane fire in an attempt to get into the guards line. In the end I lost the game but seeing my Champion (the lone survivor of a 15 man squad) make it to the guard line and wreak havoc made the game both exciting and fun. I played my army fluffy, I lost, but I had fun and have a good story to tell when my buddies and I are talking about gaming.

I am going to bring this to a close as the post is starting to get long winded. I am just voicing some frustrations I have with trends I see in 40K. I by no means think my opinion is correct but I do want to open this up for discussion to see what you all think. I hope no one is offended, and by all means take this opportunity to voice your opinions on the matter, I would love to read them.

-BJ

The Beastmen are coming!

Well I know I am late on posting this so I am sure you already know that Beastmen have been confirmed for a February release. Well let me just say I am very excited about this news. I have a "Beasts of Chaos" army that I purchased many years ago when the army first released. I shelved it after playing a few games and then my interest fading to 40K for some time. Needless to say I have a full army already and will just need to look at what new monsters will be in this new book.

One of the things I am most curious about is what their new magic lore is going to be like. It is going to be full of damaging spells or will it fill more of a support role for the army. One of the biggest things I will have to change may be my list as I was running a Tzeentch heavy list and I am not sure if that will be an option in this new version.

Well as we anxiously await more information on this new release I am just curious of what changes you would like to see? What do you think the new Magic Lore will be like? What should Beastmen keep from the old book?

Snow-Tex: Add good looking snow to your models!

Well with Space Wolves just being released and fresh in everyone's minds I thought I would review the product I use to add snow to my miniatures. The product is DecoArt's Snow-Tex. This stuff is easily found in most hobby/craft stores this time of year, but can also be easily ordered off the web all year long.

When I first purchased my Beastmen army for Fantasy I wanted to give them snow bases. I bought some of the GW snow flock and personally I couldn't stand it. It doesn't look right to me no matter how I mix it. I then bought another company's (I forget the name) snow product and while it did look cool at first, after clear coating and a few days had passed the snow began to get a yellow tone to it. I was not happy with the effect and decided to shelf my beastmen army until a later time.

Then, 2 years ago, my buddy Brandon asked me to paint his Space Wolves. He wanted snow bases and I cringed, but I was determined that I could make this work. It was the Christmas season and my wife wanted to go to Hobby Lobby to look for some decorations, while she was looking I decided to check out their paints. I was looking through the stuff when I noticed a bottle labeled Snow-Tex, the Jar was under $5.00 so I decided to buy it and give it a try.

Not only was I pleasantly surprised, but I was blown away. The stuff was already textured and had a very white appearance to it. I starting applying it to a few of the Space Wolf miniatures and the outcome was amazing. I still had my reservations, though because I had luck with the product that turned yellow, so I sprayed on a clear coat and then set the models aside for a few days. When I came back to look at them the snow was just as white as the day I painted them.

Here we are two years later when Brandon asked me to paint him some more Space Wolves in anticipation of the new codex. I asked him to send me a few that I had painted so I could make them match up. When the models got here the snow was still just as white as the day applied it to the models.

Needless to say I am sold on this product. It can be applied by brush, sponge or palette knife. It dries to a hard finish with little (if any) shrinkage from how you originally place it on the model. It can be thinned with water and can be tinted using other acrylics, so those of you who want a bluish tint for icy snow, it can easily be achieved.

This product has many other uses than just snow, you can tint the color and make it look like stucco for building walls, or it really makes a great mud when tinted or painted up with browns. I have used it to give bases some texture or small mounds and it is much cheaper than using green stuff to accomplish this.

Throught this article you can see some of the ways I used Snow-Tex on Brandon's Wolves, and below you can see how I used it to make textured rolling ground for some objective markers. I hope you find this review useful and if you decide to give Snow-Tex a try feel free to post here and let me know what you thought.

Friday Projects Update: Dwarf Thunderers

Not much to post this week as I spent most of my painting setting up the this new blog. The only fantasy minis I finished were the Command Group for my Dwarf Thunderers. The good news is this bring the Thunderers to completion.

With this unit finished I am down to 20 Quarrellers, 20 Rangers and a few characters till this army is finished. I have even less to finish on my Tomb Kings which means I am about to have 2 fully painted Fantasy armies. Not only that, but these are the two armies I have had for a few years, so it feels good to finally be able to play Fantasy with fully painted minis again. Now I just need to not sell them as I have usually done in the past.

After I finish those two Armies then it will be a matter of deciding which to paint next, Vampire Counts, Warriors of Chaos or Beasts of Chaos. I am leaning towards the Vampire Counts at this time, but we shall see how I feel in a few weeks.

Friday Projects Update - Sisters of Battle

Well it was a slow week on the painting table for me this week. I have a few other miniatures almost done but they won't make the blog post this week.

I did manage to finish off the last of my Sisters with bolters. This gets me ever so closer to having my Witch Hunters/Sisters of Battle completely painted. I am down to about 27 figures and 5 vehicles. I should be able to have the army completed by the end of November. My goal is to have 4/5 of my partially painted armies complete by the end of the year. Right now I am 1/5 (Black Templars) but very close on 3 other armies.

Well I am keeping this one short tonight so that I may get back to painting. As always any comments are welcome.

-BJ

Casket of Souls - Is it worth taking?

I am getting ever closer to having my entire Tomb King army painted, and as I get closer I have started looking at models I have never or rarely ever fielded. The top of that list is my Casket of Souls. So I started to ask myself why I never use the Casket. Well in the past my answer has been simple, it costs 165 points, it can't move and it uses up a rare slot on my roster. Those 3 reasons alone have kept me from using one for many years now.

Well now that I am getting close to painting the model I started to look into ways that I could make the Casket more useful to me. Then I started reading the rules to the Casket more closely. First thing I noticed is that it can be taken as an upgrade for a regular Liche Priest. I have no idea why but ever since I started playing the army I thought it had to be taken by a Liche High Priest, which I never use. This really got me interested in taking one, but how will it help my army?

Well first off the whole unit (casket, liche priest and guards) count as a war machine and crew. This means added protection from shooting as the hits must be randomized against the war machine and crew. This manes on a D6 roll the crew are only taking a hit on a 5/6. Then this gets further randomized between the crew and the liche priest. Furthermore unlike regular war machines the Casket itself ignores any hits against it.

Ok so protection from enemy fire is pretty good but what about from a charge. Well first and foremost the casket and crew cause Terror, so any wanna-be charges will need to pass a leadership test first. Then the crew themselves are basically Tomb Guards, only they have 2 attacks instead of 1 and come complete with Tomb Blades (killing blow).

The casket power, called The Light of Death, is just full of potential. If you take your time and place your Casket effectively you will be able to effect the majority, if not every unit in the enemies army. The power works on every enemy unit that has line of sight to the casket. This means that you have the potential to cause wounds with no armor save to every unit in their army every turn. The casket even have some anti-magic use for as long as it is on the table enemy wizards take a negative to their casting.

All of that is pretty great as it is, but the biggest advantage I realized is that most players will not just ignore the casket and will save some dispel dice to deal with it. This means that my Lich Priests and Tomb king will have more of their magic getting through to better supplement the army. I think this was the final selling point for me.

I know that my latest Tomb King list now has a Casket of Souls in it. I hope I have made some good points for other generals who are debating on fielding one. I would love to hear any feedback on the use of a casket in a Tomb Kings arrmy.

-BJ

Sisters of Battle Army List Revamp #1

With all the psychers being fielded lately I thought I would make some adjustments to my Sisters of Battle list to give me a little more psychic defense.

My original list was a strictly Sisters army, but now I have decided to add in some Inquisition units. I threw in 2 junior Inquisitors and gave both Hammer of the Witches psychic power. I then took 2 small units of Inquisitorial Storm Troopers. My thought is the Inquisitors can join the Storm Troopers and sit in the back guarding objectives and throwing out 2 Hammer of the Witches each turn to mess with the enemy psychics. I am hoping that this coupled with my sisters Shield of Faith can nullify much of the psychic powers being wielded lately.

I have also decided to take a priest so that I can field 2 Penitent Engines. I know a lot of people feel that the engines suck but I want to give them a try. I figure to run them straight at the enemy, this will hopefully draw fire away from my other units and if they make it into the enemy lines they can be very effective in HtH if my rolling is good for their amount of attacks.

The Order of the Valorous Heart

HQ:  1 Canoness (407 Pts)

- Book of St. Lucius; Rosarius; Melta Bombs; Inferno Pistol; Eviscerator

7 Celestian Retinue

- Bolter (x5); Flamer (x1); Heavy Flamer; Banner Bearer

1 Veteran Sister Superior

- Power Weapon; Combi-Flamer

1 Priest

- Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol; CCW

1 Rhino

- Storm Bolter; Hunter Killer Missile; Smoke Launchers

Elite: Inquisitor (56 Pts)

- Hammer of the Witches; Close Combat Weapon; Plasma Pistol

Elite: Inquisitor (56 Pts)
- Hammer of the Witches; Close Combat Weapon; Inferno Pistol

Troops: 14 Battle Sisters Squad (196 Pts)
- Bolter (x13); Heavy Flamer
1 Veteran Sister Superior
- Book of St. Lucius; Bolt Pistol; CCW

Troops: 14 Battle Sisters Squad (196 Pts)
- Bolter (x13); Heavy Flamer
1 Veteran Sister Superior
- Book of St. Lucius; Bolt Pistol; CCW

Troops: 5 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers (65 Pts)
- Frag Grenades; Targeter; Hellgun (x3); Flamer (x1); Meltagun (x1)

Troops: 5 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers (70 Pts)
- Frag Grenades; Targeter; Hellgun (x3); Grenade Launcher (x1); Plasmagun (x1)

Fast Attack: 4 Dominion Squad (168 Pts)
- Bolter (x1); Meltagun (x3)
1 Sister Superior
- Bolter
1 Immolator
- Twin Linked Heavy Flamer; Smoke Launchers

Fast Attack: 4 Seraphim Squad (172 Pts)
- Frag Grenades; Jump Pack; Krak Grenades; Twin Bolt Pistols (x3); Melta Bombs; Twin Hand Flamers (x1)
1 Veteran Sister Superior
- Jump Pack; Simulacrum Imperialis; Frag Grenade; Krak Grenade; Melta Bombs ; Bolt Pistol; Eviscerator

Heavy Support: 2 Penitent Engine (160 Pts)
- Dreadnought CCW (x2); Dreadnought CCW (x2); Heavy Flamer (x2)

Heavy Support: 4 Retributor Squad (168 Pts)
- Bolter (x1); Heavy Bolter (x3)
1 Sister Superior
- Bolter
1 Immolator
- Twin Linked Heavy Flamer; Smoke Launchers

Heavy Support: 1 Exorcist (135 Pts)
- Exorcist Missile Launcher

Total Roster Cost: 1849
 
I wanted to know what anyone thinks. Is this list missing anything? I am considering taking an Inquisitor lord to get the Psychic Hood , do you think this would be a better route to go? Anyway feel free to throw out some suggestions as I am open to improving on the list.
 
-BJ

New Blog for Warhammer Fantasy Battles

When I first started Extremis Diabolus, I intended it to be a Warhammer 40K blog. Well after reading over a few of my last posts, I have noticed that I am letting Fantasy Battles creep into my posts more and more. I started to play around with the idea of starting a Warhammer Fantasy Blog, low and behold The Winds of Magic was born.

The Winds of Magic is going to be a sister site to Extremis Diabolus that caters to the fantasy side of the hobby. I will post about tactics, fluff, rumors, as well as pics of my miniatures as I finish them. I welcome anyone who follows Extremis Diabolus to come join me for some good Fantasy Battle discussion.

While working on the Winds of Magic I messed around with different free templates on the web. I really like how the blog turned out so that means I think this blog will be getting a face-lift in the near future if I can find a template that fits the blogs background.

As always thanks for stopping by my blog and I hope to see some of you venture of to The Winds of Magic.

-BJ

Welcome to The Winds of Magic

Where to begin? Well I have been running a 40K blog for about 4 months now and I have really been enjoying it. Recently I have been painting 2 of my Fantasy armies and was posting about them on my blog. This got me thinking about how few blogs I follow actually due articles on Fantasy Battles. So I toyed with the idea for a few days, then decided to start The Winds of Magic and dedicate it to Fantasy Battles.

I have been playing Fantasy Battles since 1998. My very first Army was Bretonnians which I played for a year before buying Orcs and Goblins. I played both armies for about 2 years before selling them and acquiring various other armies. Today my Armies tend to lean more to the evil side of Warhammer. My two main armies are Tomb Kings and Vampire Counts, but I also own Beast of Chaos, Warriors of Chaos and the Stalwart Dwarfs.

I am not a power gaming when it comes to Fantasy, I truly enjoy just playing the game. I love to play fluffy lists and I tend to treat it more like an RPG than just a miniature war game. I rarely field named characters and tend to make up my own characters and backgrounds for armies and units.

I will use this blog to follow the painting of my armies as well as post tactics, battle reports, and general discussion on everything that goes with playing Fantasy Battles. I welcome all feedback on the blog and any ideas on ways to improve or what to cover on here.

Thank you for taking the time to visit The Winds of Magic and I hope you will return again.

-BJ