Meatball's 2011 To Do List!

I have seen a few of these popping up around the blogosphere and so I thought I would post my own for what I plan on doing hobby wise over the next year. I didn't come close to my goals for last year, so I am hoping to maybe set more realistic expectations this year. These are in no particular order, other than how they developed in my head.

1. Finish painting my Sisters of Battle ( Only got 3 models to paint)
2. Finish collecting Drop Pods and updating paint job for the Space Wolves
3. Finish painting my buddy Mike's Cygnar army
4. Update paint job on my Orc and Goblin army
5. Begin painting my 40K Orks
6. Begin painting my Imperial Fists
7. Re-surface my gaming table
8. Continue to build and collect more terrain (Fantasy and 40K)
9. Finish painting my Protectorate of Menoth
10. Get into a new P-n-P RPG, most likely one of the 40K ones

I am only making one hobby related New Years Resolution: I will not buy any new armies this year. I will focus my spending on models for armies I already own or Terrain.


Well that is it. Let me know what you think.

 - Meatall

Storm Wardens Drawing Is Today

Today is the BIG DAY! They will be drawing the winner of the Storm Warden army on Jawaballs Live at 2pm Eastern Standard Time. 

Not only will they be drawing the winner of this awesome army...

but there are going to be additional prizes draw as well. You can read more about it here!

It has been so amazing following this project from its humble beginnings and I just find it amazing that the 40K community came together to make this project happen. Even more amazing to me is the fact that the community was able to raise $16,107.00 for the charity Doctors Without Borders.

So if you are interested in seeing the winners draw live be sure to tune into Jawaballs Live. 

I would just like to end by congratulating the entire Storm Wardens team for an amazing job! My hat is off to you Gentlemen for a job well done!

-BJ

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online Trailer

Sisters of Battle: What do I do?

Well there have been numerous rumors floating about on sites like Warseer, Librarium Online and BOLS relating to the Inquisition and their possible release this summer. The one rumor that has me concerned is the rumor that Sisters of Battle will no longer be included in the Inquisition codex. I don't consider this a bad thing as I would love to see the Sisters get their own codex again, but it has brought up so questions about how I want to proceed with painting my army.

My main problem is what do I do with my Inquisitorial units? I haven't painted any of them yet. I usually prefer to run an all Sisters army on the field so I am feeling less and less motivated to paint them at all, especially if the rumors are true. So I think my new plan is going to be focusing on my Sisters units and just setting my Inquisitor units aside until I see come confirmation from GW on what the Inquisition book is going to contain.

The good news is by removing my Inquisitorial units I am almost done with my Sisters army. I will only have a few vehicles to paint. The bad news is I really have no interest in an Inquisition army, so I will have a bunch of minis with no use, I guess maybe I can throw them up on the Barter Bucket so that other gamers can get a use out of them.

What rumors have you heard about the Inquisition codex(s)?

How will this effect you if the Sisters are no longer included in the Inquisition codex(s)?

Relax, The World Is Not Coming to an End!

There had been panic building on some websites and blogs, as always happens with the release of a new codex, but this time a good friend of mine was one of those crying doom. My buddy and I discuss war gaming all the time, mostly 40K and Fantasy Battles. I enjoy our discussions and though we don't always see eye to eye he is very rational and easy to talk to about our hobby. Imagine my surprise when he called me a few days ago and told me he was quitting 40K. I was even more surprised when I learned his reason was due to the new Blood Angels codex.

Now like I said my buddy is a pretty rational guy so I was very surprised at this reaction to a new codex. Unfortunately we didn't have long to talk and he has to work this weekend so I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him again to dissuade his quitting and show him why I feel the Blood Angels are not the end of the world for 40K. Hopefully I will get to talk to him tonight, but in the meantime it has given me something to blog about.

I don't have the codex and most of what I am about to talk about comes from what I have read on other blogs and seen on Beasts of War's Seven Days of Sanguinius videos, so if I get anything wrong please feel free to correct me.

From my limited conversation with my friend, I know one of the things he found most disturbing is deep striking Land Raiders. I admit, I myself was worried about this, but after seeing some of the info on the web this is not as fantastic as it sounds. First, the deep striking Land Raiders do not get the benefit of Decent of Angels, which means one bad roll of the scatter dice and you could lose the entire Land Raider and anything in it. Secondly, it is still a deep striking unit which means they can not assault out of the Land Raider the turn it comes into play. This also mean you get a free turn of shooting/assaulting before their next turn as well.

Another unit some people seem to be worried about is the Death Company. I think these guys are better on paper than they actually will be in game. You might think it is nice that they are a troops choice, but they can not hold objectives. They seem quite expensive for the basic guy then if you want things like power weapons/jump packs their price really starts to go up. The worst part about the unit, and forgive me I can't remember the name of the ability, is they must move towards the closest enemy unit they can see. This gives the enemy player the ability to kite the Death Company where you want them, setting them up for heavy fire or an assault.

Don't get me wrong I think that the Blood Angels are going to be a good, hard army. They have allot of really good units and rules that have the ability to really hit the enemy hard. Unfortunately many of these really great units are elite choices so it gets harder and harder to get all of the cool units in the game at one time.

Anyway I don't want to keep rambling, at this point I would like to turn it over to you all for your opinions on the new Blood Angel codex. I am hoping to maybe get myself some more ammo to talk my buddy out of quitting 40K.

So what do you think?

- Does the Blood Angels Codex worry you?
- Are there any units/combos you are scared of?
- How are you planning of fighting Blood Angels?
- Do you think Blood Angels is a broken codex?
- Will the Blood Angels Codex ruin the game of 40K?
- Anything else you would like to add?

As always thanks for reading my blog and all comments are welcome!

-BJ

That Sinking Feeling

I am not usually one to complain when a new codex comes out and I am posting this without first hand knowledge of the new Blood Angel Codex so I may just be panicking without cause.

My friend who is the GW rep for my FLGS got his copy of the Blood Angels codex and the new sprues of blood angels. The good news is he says the new Blood Angel sprues are amazing. The bad news came to some of the things he was reading me out of the book. It just seems with every new codex that is released my two main armies, Black Templars and Sisters of Battle are falling deeper and deeper into obscurity.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy for Blood Angel players, they needed a real codex. It is just that when I hear they are getting things like fast Baal Predators with scout ability for 115 points I start to get frustrated and debate if I should just shelf my armies until they get a new proper codex.

This isn't a rant about Blood Angels but more of a rant on lack of rules updates for older armies. I mean I would be completely satisfied if they made a FAQ that just gave my Templars the same points cost for things like Rhinos, Command Squads, Speeders etc. I mean I am fine with the new armies becoming more powerful and cheaper, but some where GW needs to realize how this effects other armies as we have a less effective force that cost more play.

I have other armies to turn too, I am building an Imperil Fists army and I own Orks, I just would like to field my favorite armies without feeling like I lost before even showing up. Anyway I don't want this to turn into a long winded rant so I just pose this question to all of you other players using dated codices. How are you dealing with the new armies as they come out? Any advice for my Templars or Sisters of Battle?

As always all comments are welcome and thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

-BJ

EBAY SALES for a good cause!

My friend Brandon's daughter needs surgery for ongoing kidney problems and he is trying to raise money to help with the medical bills by selling off some of his 40K stuff, so please if you are looking for any of the items below consider bidding in one of his auctions.

I normally wouldn't post something like this on my blog but he is one of my best friends and it pains me to see he and his family going through this, so all I am asking is that you take a look.

CHAOS SPACE MARINE NURGLE MEGA BADGE







http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260558356517&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

40K LIMITED EDITION BATTLEGEAR COLLECTION 







http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260558352521&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

40K DEATHGUARD CHAOS SPACE MARINE ARMY 







http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260558369467&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123




Thank you for taking the time to look through these auctions!


-BJ

Sorry for my Absence

January has been a particularly bad month for my family for medical issues thus I have had very limited time for the hobby and even less time to blog. Luckily I think that with my wife's shoulder surgery today we are finally done and I should have more free time in the next week or so.

My buddy Brandon has added more Space Wolves to his commission work so I will be painting wolves again very shortly.

My upcoming projects include finishing off my Sister of Battle and beginning work on my Imperial Fist army.

So for those of you who have been checking in on my blog, I am sorry for the lack of content but I appreciate you taking the time to stop by. There will be more content in the very near future.

My 40K New Years Resolution

Well 2009 is coming to a close and I am looking back on what hobby related resolutions I made last year and deciding what to do for this New Year.

Well for my resolution last year I had 2 that were 40K related. The first was to make a 40K dedicated blog. It took a little longer than I had originally wanted but if you are reading this you can see I accomplished that resolution.

My 2nd resolution was to finish off 4 of my partially painted armies, Black Templars, Tzeentch Chaos Marines, Necrons and Sisters of Battle. Unfortunately I only managed to complete the Necrons and the Black Templars, but I have made substantial progress on my Chaos Marines and Sisters of Battle.

Well this year I have 3 resolutions that I am going to shoot for. The first is to finish the Sisters of Battle as well as the Chaos Marines. The 2nd will be to finish converting and then painting my Imperial Fists with the hopeful goal of having the my version of the entire 3rd Company with some auxiliary units from the 1st and 10th companies. Lastly I am making it my goal to play many more games this year as what is the point in painting and modeling all these armies if I never use them for what they were intended.

Well there you have my review of last year's resolutions as well as my new goals for 2010. Let's hear how well you all did with your 2009 resolutions and what you are planning for 2010.

-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

My Must Have Unit: Sword Brethren

Ron over at From The Warp, has asked all of us members to take part in another collaborative post with the topic of our Must Have unit. In Ron's own words he is looking for " the one unit you always find a way to squeeze into your army, regardless of how well it does or how points effective it may or may not be".

This was an easy topic for me. I fell in love with the Black Templar Sword Brethren the day I bought my codex and first saw their models. I thought they were some of the most amazing Space Marine models GW had ever created and to this day I still do. I couldn't wait to get my own and start painting them.

Now as far as a unit goes I am sure some people will tell me I can do better, and I am sure I can, but I never play my Templars without these guys. They cost 19 points each and have the same stat line as the 16 point Templar Initiates, but where they really shine for me is the fact I can get two power weapons in the unit and have a choice of Furious Charge, Counter Attack or Infiltrate for free.

I run my unit as pictured above, an 8 man squad with 6 armed with BP/CCW, 1 BP/PW and 1 Pair of Lightning Claws. I give the unit Counter Attack and then mount them in either a Rhino or my Crusader depending on what list I am running. This unit has been very effective for me even though they seem far inferior to Codex Marine vets. When combined with my "Accept any Challenge, no matter the odds" vow this little unit can become quite a killing machine.

So there you have it, my must have unit is my Sword Brethren. They have become a permanent part of every Templar army I run. They may not be the most points efficient unit out there but I love the unit. The models are fantastic and their fluff is just how I would imagine Templar veterans.

-BJ

What is your life?

My honour is my life.

What is your fate?

My duty is my fate.

What is your fear?

My fear is to fail.

What is your reward?

My salvation is my reward.

What is your craft?

My craft is death.

What is your pledge?

My pledge is eternal service.

Cookie Cutter/Flavor of the Month Lists

Earlier in the week I was on BoLS and read a post called 40K Editorial: What Really Matters? I read the post and in it Jwolf ask us players what we think of List Maximizing, Wargear Spamming and Denial tactics. It is a great article because you get plenty of opinions from other players. I highly recommend reading it.

While reading the article I decided that none of the topics Jwolf asked about really bother me. I like to play tough lists as I find it improves me as a player. Then I started thinking about what does bother me. My biggest complaint when playing 40K is the cookie cutter or Flavor of the armies that always show up. What do I mean by cookie cutter of FotM armies? Well those are armies that always, no matter who is playing them consist of one or two of the same proven hard hitting units. I will give a few examples, the Mech Eldar with mandatory Seer council on Jetbikes or the ork army with Warboss and Nobz on bikes with a painboy. Those are just two examples I am sure you know the others.

As I stated earlier, I am all for playing a tough list, but when every Orc player (Orks were chosen at random, feel free to insert any army) has an almost identical list it does tend to get boring to play against. Sometimes it feels like people no longer put thought into their list, they just look on the net or copy what they have seen others use in a tournament. This is not a matter of I hate playing a tough list, for me it is about not enjoying playing the same lists over and over again.

Now I have two questions, first how do you players out there feel about these cookie cutter lists? Secondly is it a problem where you play or am I just unlucky in that aspect?

As always thank you for reading the blog and I welcome any responses you may have.

-BJ

Inquisitor Lord or Canoness?

Today I finished reading the 40K novel Faith and Fire, and have now been inspired to finish my Sisters of Battle army, the Order of the Valorous Heart. I have had this army in a partial state of painting for years so I am excited to feel like painting them again.

I starting playing the Sisters before they ever belonged to the Witch Hunters codex. Since becoming a part of the Inquisition I have had a hard time deciding between using a Canoness or a Witch Hunter as my HQ. Both have their upsides and downsides to using them.

At this time I am leaning towards a pure Sisters list. My thinking on this is I can get two units of Celestians without taking up an additional elite slot. Another benefit seems to be that the Canoness and her squad seem to be around 30-40 points cheaper than the Witch hunter squads I would want to run. The down side is that I lose the Witch Hunter's abilities against psykers and the use of Assassins.

I am going to play around with a few lists before making my final decision, but I wanted to put this out there to get some feedback on what other players see as advantages/disadvantages to each. I appreciate any feedback from my fellow games.

-BJ