Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A mixed bag...

THE TABLE

So, all my plans for painting, modeling, blogging etc. went out the window this weekend when I was asked by some friends of mine in the UK to paint up a Citadel Realm of Battle gameboard from Games Workshop so they could take it to GenCon this week to show off some of their new miniatures.


I picked up the board on Friday night, primed it then, and got it painted on Saturday (around a great afternoon of grilling with old friends). On Sunday I was able to get it flocked and ready for pick-up today.

This board has come under varying levels of flak from across the hobby spectrum, primarily for the wildly increasing price on its release (originally slated at $175 before release it went through two price rises and is now $290). Due to my "change of employment" situation I never picked one up until Friday, and I must say it's a nice piece of kit.

Painting and flocking a 6' x 4' table in such a short period of time - while looking after my daughter, preparing for and hosting a party for 12 people, and attending a local production of Hamlet (thanks for a great show Phil) - was pretty amazing. The only things that weren't too smooth were the pits of skulls (cool but time-consuming) and the darker flock from the GW Terrain kit (VERY clumpy, it required several sifts through a kitchen strainer to get most of the flock to separate, again time-consuming). All in all though, this is a very cool table with a lot of potential.

The friends who'll be using it are the guys from Mantic Games. You can check out their website here and their blog here. Not too much info right now, but I'm sure they'll be flooded the interwebs after GenCon. I'll be painting some of their Elves soon.

THE LIST

I mentioned I would post a copy of the Blood Pact list I intend to take to the Battlefoam Wild West Shootout in October. Well here goes:

Blood Pact (IG) list - 1750 points

HQ

• Company Command, plasma pistol, Regimental Standard, vox caster, 2 Plasmas - 100

Elites

• Psyker Battle Squad, Chimera - 165

Troops

• Infantry Platoon

- Platoon command, vox caster, 2 flamers, platoon standard – 60

- Infantry Squad, plasma gun, vox caster, - 70

- Infantry Squad, plasma gun, vox caster, - 70

- Infantry Squad, meltagun, vox caster, - 70

- Infantry Squad, meltagun, vox caster, - 70

- Heavy Weapons Squad, 3 autocannons, - 75

- Heavy Weapons Squad, 3 missile launchers, - 90

• Penal Legion Squad – 80

• Penal Legion Squad – 80

Fast Attack

• Hellhound, - 130

Heavy Support

• 2 Medusas – 270

• Leman Russ, lascannon, heavy bolters – 185

• Leman Russ, lascannon, heavy bolters - 185


Feel free to have at it. Please remember, however, I build lists with models I like, not necessarily with those that'll kick some butt for me. I'm not in it to win, just to put in a good showing.

THE TRUCK

The arrival of the PDF is imminent. Thomas is in Arizona as I type. He'll send me the PDF once he's back in town (this weekend) then I can get it to you, faithful reader, at some stage next week.

EVENTS

It is less than two weeks til BoLScon, do you have your tickets yet?

Cheers

Dave



13 comments:

  1. I wish I had room for a game table in my house.
    I would either go Gates of Terra or Boucherock(13 hours)
    My Blood Pact are very happy to hear about the PDF coming soon ,they are getting Bunions and Blisters from hoofing it.

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  2. I was surprised to see you picking that table up this past weekend. Its a nice table, but too pricey for me, and besides I roam the bunker if I need a table to wreck some fools. ;)

    I like your Pact list....did you get the Medusa's figured out yet?

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  3. Dave - Have i missed something, or you have 1 chimera?

    You know - you have 6 close quarters squads and one of them with flamers,so my question is - how are you going to use flamers when you play with horde armies, if they have mostly cmove-harge distance better then 12" (trukks, fleets, etc) and you have 14,5" of move-fire distance?

    2nd thing - your BP is like... not veteran ;]

    3rd thing - 'bout hounds - I think that cooker version is both better (on nobz etc.) and more funny than statick h.bolter, but that's just my ;p

    PS thing - and what about, you know...? :D

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  4. Minor list notes...
    I'd switch out the hull lascannon for heavy flamers, just for the whole 'Aw, you got into my lines...DO THE BURNY DANCE!' Every time I've gotten close to a guard player that goes heavy flamers, I've regretted. Vehicles are their counterassault.

    Past that, the only other big thing that comes to mind is maybe break up the heavy weapon teams and put the heavy weapons into the platoons. Otherwise, it's easier to slam the heavy weapons down, and then dance with you at range. It'd be a small re-organization, but I think it'd get you some mileage.

    Any way you cut it, though, the army's going to look freaking sweet on the table.

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  5. Why did you use the GW Terrain kit, as opposed to Woodland Scenics? Is it a contractal obligation?

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  6. Hi guys!

    @BigWill and steve - Soon ; )

    @CylonDave - I'm sure it looked strange, on a Friday night and all. Yep, Medusa design almost complete.

    @Amdor - I have to take another look at the list and perhaps try to shoe-horn in a second chimera. True on the vet status, I'm a horde IG player, I just can't get the hang of elite troops, just ask most of my opponents at the Baltimore GT last year ; ) As for that other thing, I'm just waiting on Larry.

    @Raptor1313 - Yeah, must admit I'm still not sure about the seperate HW squads. I loved them in 4th, but I think I need to play a few games to get a good feel. Ditto with the heavy flamers.

    @kingworks - convenience more than anything. I was there, it was there... fortunately my "clients" were paying for it and the speed of completion.

    Cheers
    Dave

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  7. Are you going to be at Bolscon? I hadn't heard - it would be great to meet you, as well as see your work in person.

    I guess I'm like a ton of other dudes out there that enjoyed White Dwarf most during the period you and John Shaffer had a ton of space.

    Good on you, sir.

    Brent

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  8. Hi Brent

    Unfortunately I won't be at BoLScon : ( I'll be at the beach instead with my family.

    However it will be a great show, of that I'm sure! I hope you enjoy it. Say Hi to John Shaffer for me.

    Cheers
    Dave

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  9. I'm a little shocked the price tag on that project, you can accomplish so much more through home depot than that board, I've built 3 tables, all 4x6 for less than the final price tag for that one table, which it's only advantage is it's somewhat modular and compact.

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  10. Hi Great Ambition

    Yep, it's a pricey one, but getting it done in under four hours (over the weekend) and being able to fit it in a car to send off to GenCon without having to strap a piece of hardboard to the roof of my car and cover my back yard in sand and sawdust was priceless ; ) If my mates hadn't been willing to go for it, I'd have had to find a dodgy solution.

    Cheers
    Dave

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  11. Just curious since I've not seen one of these in person, are the hills a gentle enough slope for miniatures to stand up without problem? I know that's the biggest issue with me when trying to build a hill is making it so that a top heavy regiment won't topple over if they try and go up or down the hill.

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  12. That is one of the advantages too. The hills are a good blend of gentle slope, straight sides, and flat tops. As close to realistic as they can be while being incredibly playable. Mind you, I still have some standard bearers that would struggle to stay upright while facing downhill ; )

    cheers
    Dave

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