GEMPUR WIRA!

In Legio Again!

2010-10-23T00:09:00.000-07:00

Well, what can one say. I miss Legio, man. It's a great place to game, and to a greater extend, an awesome place for hobbying. As fortune would have it, I was in KL yesterday, and I made it back to the factory....

My opponent for the night was Arzmi's Empire. With a solid line of artillery supported by 2(!) Engineers (for the re-rolls). It was a very static list, with unwieldy blocks of greatsword and swordsmen. He made the most of the Lords choice, taking an Arch Lector on horse and a Level 4 Wizard on foot. He also had a BSB, a level 2 wizard and 2 engineers.

We played the pass scenario where we use the short table edge as our deployment zone. With a distance of more than 36" between his line and mine, my force had to endure his shooting for the whole game. My first misfortune was to have my General taken out by a well placed cannonball in the 1st turn of the game (sigh).

Then, my shooting and magic throughout the game was rather dismal, with the cannon failing to hit for the first 4 turns. The mortars were a bit better but distance really proved a factor in the game. His use of Lore of Light spells was very canny and it was put to good use, ultimately killing off 3 of my units. The steam tank was severely damaged in the 5th turn and that proved its undoing, although the machine survived the battle. I have to say, Terror has been nerfed to a great extend with 8th Ed.

Anyways, the game was great (despite the defeat) and I look forward for a rematch (where we deploy for pitch battle, hehe)

AIDILFITRI GREETINGS!

2010-09-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Salam! To all my muslim brothers, happy Aidilfitri! May this festive season be thankfully blessed besides your family and loved ones.

To all my non-muslim friends, enjoy the holidays and do try to get to any open houses availbale for some good food and times.

To the rest, enjoy your games and keep up the hobby!

ps: I will start work on my fantasy army after this festive season. :)

GAMING IN 8TH ED.

2010-09-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I was in KL and had the good fortune of having a fantasy game at CM in Midvalley, courtesy of Peter. It was a battle between my empire forces against his evil dark elves.

we played a 2000 points game, using the standard mission. He deployed the bulk of his troops, spearmen, corsairs, black guards and cold one knights in the center, flanked by a repeater on each side. On my side, a mortar and cannon was on the left while another mortar and the steam tank was on the right. a unit of knights and outriders were on the left ahile the crossbowmen and handgunners deployed in the center. another unit of knights deployed on the right with the flagellants.

I had first turn and started the turn by killing 3 of my knights from dangerous terrain rolls! lol. Then, my wizard cast flame storm (miscast!) and took out half of his spearmen. My steam tank failed to hurt anything from shooting but my mortars decimated his crossbowmen. my general on his pegasus managed to stay out of side to avoid shooting.

In his turn, he advanced his troops. His sorceress flying near my general, but out of sight. the witch cast something on my general but he came out unharmed. His shooting caused some wounds here and there, most notably on a unit of knights.

Then, in my next turn, my flagellants inched closer alongside the steam tank. The outrider champion managed to wound a level 2 witch inside the corsairs unit while my mortars, again reduced his troops. The cannon did great, wiping out a unit of 5 cold one knights from a flank shot, leaving a master alone.

HIs next turn saw his black guards charge my flagellants and his wounded sorceror killed my outrider champion with a spell. His lord witch then flew nearer to my flagellants and cast...Purple Suns! It was cast with irresistable force and after rolling on the miscast table, the witch suffered a wound and killed the other, already wounded witch. The vortex tore through my flagellants and stopped at the steam tank. Most of my flagellants survived but its bye-bye for my steam tank. His 12 black guards did some killing and won combat but the demented guys reduced their number to 4. with their unbreakable rule, they stayed.

My next turn saw his crossbowmen left with one guy and the spearmen block left with 2. The corsairs were wiped out from a shower of attention from 2 mortars, a grape shot from the cannon and the outriders repeaters. The combat saw the black guards taken down, but the flagellants were left with only 4 guys.

His next turn saw his witch again cast Purple Sun and this time, it took down half of my handgunners and crossbowmen. The handgunners remained on the field while the crossbowmen fled from such terrible injury. His repeaters managed to put down the remaining flagellants too.

And that was all the time we had for that game. with much book flipping and rules checking, especially with the spells. All in all, a fun game. I look forward to playing more of the same.

WARHAMMER REVIEW: MEASURING THE CHANGES

2010-08-18T00:32:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned previously, reading the huge tome that is the Warhammer 8th Edition Rulebook will take some time. As of today, I have yet to fully read every line as I intended and has only finished the rules section and part ways into the background and histories of the Old World. Unable to hold myself, I did flipped to some of the later pages, namely the magic lores and linked games section.

Games Workshop totally did a tremendous job with this Ruleset. As far as I'm concerned, it's clear, with little ambiguity in the wording, fully intended for an engaging and fun game. There were several typo mistakes but very minor in the larger scheme of things. Some of the rules will require further reading and mayhaps, full understanding through gaming.

Anyways, before I touch on all the aspect of the rules, let me start off with one of the changes that I find totally changed the way the game plays. Pre-measuring is allowed! No longer will generals wrinkle their brows trying to guess range, whether for that crucial war machine or desperate charge. Now, the distance between units is no longer a mystery and tactics and strategies can be formulated based on that knowledge.

Honestly, I'm of two minds when it comes to this. On the one hand, knowing how far the enemy is is undeniably a good thing, however, I find it a bit off when it comes to warmachines, especially when we consider their rather chancy odds of hitting anything. Well, it's just a small beef but one I can live with.

Unit strengths are no longer a consideration. The emphasis now is on model counts. Which is a good and bad thing. Good in that it will provide a very rich display on the tabletop by the number of combatants, and bad in that players will now have to fork out more to have that many models. If you can afford them, then, it's not a bad thing really but will really limit those with smaller spare cash.

The way army lists are being built now also has a significant impact. The emphasis on core choices really gives flavor to the exact nature of warfare in the Old World, where the common troops were, common, and the specialized and rare, less likely so. The cap for lords and heroes makes the appearance of "uber" characters less likely in smaller games and will really add flavor in larger games.

So, we'll probably see a surge of horde armies and infantry led attacks in the foreseeable future. The way armies are ranked and gaining bonus in combat has changed too, but we'll cover that later. For now, the rules looks to be quite solid with emphasis on the right things for a better and fun play. Next time, we'll look at that most crucial of phases, Movement.

Till then, keep on gaming!

Ramadan Greetings!

2010-08-11T05:55:00.000-07:00

To all my muslim brothers in arms, rejoice! Once again the Holy month of Ramadan is upon us. Gird yourself, cleanse and purify the soul. Hold oneself from all the earthly temptation and the heavenly rewards will be ours to reap.

Lastly,happy fasting(and keep up with the hobby)

WARHAMMER REVIEW: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

2010-08-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

Ahh....the smell of freshly printed ink.

After some wait, I am now the proud owner of my very own copy of Games Workshop's latest Warhammer Fantasy Battles 8th Edition Rule Book. The first thing I noticed upon putting my hand on it, was its weight. It is quite hefty and I think I'll go and find a scale to measure its weight.

Tearing away the plastic wrapping, I caught a wift of freshly printed paper. This smell became more apparent as I flipped the hard backed cover open. Pages upon pages of finely illustrated pages filled the tome's glossy pages, making this tome's purchased much justified.

To say I was blown away would be an understantement! GW did a remarkable job with this one and although I haven't delve that deeply into the rules, the book looks promising to say the least. Deep inside, I'm bubbling with excitement, much akin to what I felt when I had my first Warhammer book in 6th Ed. years ago. As then, I'll read every single line and feast my eyes on all the beautiful photos and illustrations within. It'll be slow, I'm sure, but hey, it's my book and I'll savor every moment of it.

As I progress through the book, I'll share my thoughts on what and how (if any) the changes has changed the way we play this game. I'm so excited by all this.

PS: I really love this line from page 3, "...and it is in this spirit that the rules were written." totally brings back all the awesomeness of Warhammer.

Back at Legio!

2010-07-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

And the feeling was awesome!

As you guys probably figured, its been some time (almost 6 months) since I last set foot at the hallowed halls of Legio Malaysia. I was fortunate enough to be able to drop by last night.

There was Jeff and Azlan fighting it out with Eldar and Thousand Sons. Soon, I was in a fight with Jo's Tyranids. As usually happens, when in a game, one tends not to notice what's happening around oneself. Anyways, during my game, Dann dropped in as well as Rizal and Iqbal. Oh. I forgot to mention, there was two guys I've never met before. They've gotta be cool fellas since they're at Legio, after all. My bad for not introducing myself to them but I was so excited for a game at legio that it blocked all other considerations, lol.

Also, I don't have the luxury to hang around until Legio closes and later go for mamak. So, what opportunity I got I use to savor the games being played and engage in conversations with old friends. Quite funny observing Iqbal's vs rizal match. i wonder who prove the better general?

In my game with Jo, we rolled a 1+1 mission with DOW deployment. He had first turn (whew!) and I dumped everything in reserves. It was a new experience for me as I've never faced such a list before. There was a swarmlord escorted by 2 guards, a tervigon, 2 trigons, a unit each of termagants and genestealers, 3 units of hive guards (2 each) and a whatchamacallit that has a big spout that fires s10 shots.

It ended a draw with my nobs and 'ard boyz dead. The grots proved pivotal once again in securing the draw when they sat on my objective after the menacing swarmlord was finished off by the faraway lootas. On Jo's side, he had the tervigon babysit his objective. Something I learn from this game was that it's better to get to grips with the MCs around as they don't cause instant death to my nobs. The best moment for me was when the trigon was taken down by the 'ard boyz and when the swarmlord was reduced to 1 wound by the 'ardboyz. Oh yes, the grots managed to pistol shot 3 gaunts who were threatening the objective after the lootas thinned their ranks.

All in all, itwas a fun game, and thanks to Jo for making it so. despite being able to make my life miserable, he chose to go easy on me last night and not play all his cunning tricks. Well, since my list is so predictable, what can one expect?

Okay, time to finish that IG list of mine.

Another Weekend of Gaming! Wheeeee!

2010-07-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

I had another good fortune to be able to pick up my dice this weekend. After a fortunate gaming last week, I manage to put in 4 games on Sunday (Yay!)

My first game was with Ian (who just got here from Japan) who fielded a themed Slanesh CSM list. By turn 4, his forces were wiped out in this 1+1 game. My next opponent was versus Lexiss's CSM. our KP game was a constant moving battle which see-saw until the end, when he beat me 4-3. Later, I met Edwin's monstrous tyrannid list, which has 3 Trygons!!! It was another KP game and I managed to shave a win by destroying his spore pods to lead by 6-4. I must say the Trygons can dish out a lot of hurt and that list will prove difficult to beat at times.

I was tired then but wanted to have another game. This time with Peter's familiar oblits list. This time, our showdown was a KP game and I was thoroughly TAed by Turn 7 lol. His opening barrage was painful to bear but I dogged played the game, knowing the probable outcome. I was glad I did as I saw a lone biker Nob reduce and utterly destroyed a 7 men Plague marine squad (the champion was armed with a power fist, too) over a course of 3 melee phase, what an Ork!

I doubt I'll have the opportunity to game again next week as I've got some work scheduled. Hopefully, i'll take up the dice again in 2 to 3 weeks time.

On another note, I've finally picked up the stuff I bought from Subhan. It's all Space Marine stuff that I've meant to use as part of my Space Wolf Project. I need to work on the models as their paint is too thick for repainting, so, they need to be stripped. That'll be tedious. When time permits, I'll post the background for my Imperial Guard project, the SCARS.

That's all for now, I heard that the Big Rule Book for fantasy will be in our local store by next week. I can't wait to have it in my hands...

I'm gaming again!

2010-07-14T02:47:00.000-07:00

Wow! After more than 5 months of not touching WH40K, I finally managed to drive to KL and have a blast of 3 games on Sunday! Let me tell you, the joy and sweetness of picking up the dice again was delicious.

After my long absence from the tabletop, it's not suprising to have me being rusty and making blunders along the way. Who cares? it's the fun that matters. Anyway, My first game that day was against Peter's "cheezy" oblit/lash list. it was a 1+1 mission and I managed to scratch a narrow win of 1-0 (whew). My second foray that day was versus John and his Eldar (Saim-Han wannabes). He totally trashed my army, leaving only 8 models left in that KP game (sob,sob). my last game was with Shazli and his ultramarines. My mobs managed a convincing win in that KP game, almost TAed him except for a damaged Land Raider (Yay!)

The next evening, Peter was kind enough to offer a game(rematch). This time, his CSM managed to draw, leaving the battlefield littered with dead from both sides. That was a fun game.

Well, at the moment, I'm waiting for my Warhammer Fantasy Rule Book (8th Ed). i wonder how the game will be?

2010-06-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

whew! i'm in the first week of my local Legends and i haven't done squat!

For your information, Legends is a competition organized by my local group. It requires participant to build and complete a tournament legal list from any game system that uses miniatures. Contestant have 6 weeks to complete the task. As you probably guessed, this more hobby oriented with emphasis on painting and theme.

Okay, what with all my new time and all, I do find it a wee bit difficult to hobby but I'm sure I'll manage. So far, I've come up with a list and I do have some ideas on how to go about this whole thingy, especially for the custom job required. Oh, for your information, I'm planning to do a 2000 points worth of Battle Fleet Gothic's Ork Fleet.

Since it's orks, I don't have to worry so much about constructing streamlined vessels, as the orks basically flies anything. So, hopefully the assembly lines will start churning out kroozers and the like next week.

Moving to the East Coast

2010-05-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hmm...Of late, I have not been able to attend many a gaming/hobby nights at my local club. The reason being that I am now effectively relocated to the east coast of Malaysia, Kuantan actually.

So, the reason of the move not withstanding, me and the family are liking it here (the no hobbying part is a bummer though). At the moment, and into the forseeable future, I plan to make at least 2 trips a month back to KL since I still have some of my clients there. Each trip will enable me to stay for a couple of days at least. Fortunately for me, my work doesn't have me stuck in the office and I can basically work anywhere.

To all my Legio friends, if I'm in KL on Friday nights, I'll be sure to drop by. And if I can only make it on the weekends, then I'll head off to CM or Alvin's place.

I do hope I could get my SCARS project done in time for the Legio Birthday bash this July. At the moment, I'm slowly building up my orky BFG fleet. And when WHFB 8th Ed finally comes out, maybe I'll finish off one of my unfinished fantasy army.

Fortentaf Diaries 3

2010-04-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

...from the campaign journal of Garis Weiner, engineer for Wrath of Erickheim.

We had just finished loading the Wrath onto the barges when riders appeared and met with the general. Soon as you know it, we were unloading the barges and headed back towards Tilman's Ferry. Sure enough, the place were being overrun by those furry skaven, and they had one of them abomination with them. Those creatures are damn scary I tell you. Oh, along the way, the general managed to recruit the giant, 'Ol Bold to fight for us. Of course, we had to part 3 heads of cows and a wagonful of good mead.

The general took charge of the left field and left the right field to the mage Marius, where the Wrath was deployed, along with the pistolkorps and Edgewaters militia. The center was held by Fort Fosburg's detachment of artillery and handgunners, as well as the crossbowmen. A company of mercenary knights were on hand too. The Braeme's archers took up position near the giant on the left.

The verminous tide came upon us in their multitudes, the abomination making its way towards the general and his knights. The dreaded plague furnace craked its rotting wheels towards the center while two large blocks of clanrats scurrying on the right, facing off with the Wrath and the pistolkorps.

Their magic was desultory, with the priest hurting himself from a miscast. Their shooting was a bit better with a volley from the jezzails killing a mortar crew. Fortunately for us, the lightning cannon overshot.

I put all steam into the Wrath's advance and we almost came to grips with the clanrats. Unholy magicks protected the priest from the well-aimed shots of the marksmen and the crossbowmen reduced the number of jezzail teams. "Ol Bold hid himself behind some trees, in the hope of catching the abomination by suprise. The suprise was on the giant, when the abomination slithered and smothered him in its many limbs.

Gravely wounded, the giant heaved his huge club and brought it down onto the monstrosity, splitting the putrid flesh. The wounds were too great for the beast and its previous injury from Jaeryd's fireball denied its body to heal itself. With a massive crash, the thing lay still.

Emboldened by their numbers, the clanrats marched closer to our lines, undeterred by the tank's terrifying presence. Another block of rats, this one led by one of their magic user, fled at the sight of Wrath, no doubt aided by Marius's dreaded Doom and darkness spell. These fleeing rats were easy meat for the pistoliers who scattered them.

The general led the charge against a unit of Rat Ogres and ran them down but 'Ol Bold was pulled down by a pack of giant rats. In the center, a second cannonball connected with the furnace, and with a mighty crash, the whole contraption came falling down. The priest emerged unscathed. Sporadic shooting by the handgunners and outriders picked off several more monks from the huge block coming towards our lines.

After failing to hit anything since the start of the battle, the mortar crew suddenly outshined themselves with an accurate round on a block of 30 clanrats. half of the rats were blown to pieces and the rest simply fled away from the battlefield. This freed up our right flank and we began to drive towards the center with the Wrath aiming for the skaven general's unit of stormvermins.

Having pulled down the giant, the giant rats continued their rampage and slaughtered the crossbowmen as they tried to flee from combat. The Wrath steamed towards the stormvermins and scalded them in hot steam. Unnerved, they ran but was eventually caught and most of them were grounded down. the nearby remnants of the jezzail team fled at the sight of the approaching tank

The remaining monks had swept into a band of flagellants and proceeded to wipe them out, but not before the prophet of doom managed to strike down the already injured priest. The plague monks swept into the nearby handgunners and again, their unholy rot prevailed. The cannon crew were next in line and it was then that the cannon failed them as the powder fizzled. Even as the remaining monks crested the mound where the cannon used to be, they did not have time to savor their victory as Jaeryd and Marius cut them all down with magical energy.

Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Early in the battle, the company of hired knights managed to destroy the warp-lightning cannon but they in turn were lost when they fled from the stormvermins and ran into the pack of giant rats. Goes to show you can't really rely on these showy knights-for-hire.

Now, after policing the field, we're on our way north again. I dread what we will face there.

Fortentaf Diaries 2

2010-04-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

...from the campaign journal of Arthur Hellas, of the Falcon Dragoons.

Several days back we had received Brother Kholmar's replacement. It was Brother Barik. The general arrived with the mage MArius and several other new detachments, including a contingent from Fort Forsburg, that included the steam tank, Wrath of Erickheim.

No sooner had the general arrived, we set out on the march to punish the Dark elves, for their complicity in the death of Brother Kholmar. Words reached us via the ogres, who had engaged the elves and we hasten to their last reported sighting. True enough, the evil ones were set up with 3 of their accursed bolt throwers on a hill and a regiment of cold one knights harrying up the flank. In the center, a large mass of corsair stood still, as if daring us to come to them.
Brother BArik immediately split our forces, with him leading an attack on the right and the mage Jaeryd leading the attack from the left.

The mortar battery had just finished setting up before they came under a withering hail of bolts. The first volley didn't take out the battery but the follow up volley surely did. The heavy volume of fire also took their toll on the archers, who were unnerved by the ferocity of the bolts in cutting them down. The hellish rate of fire also took their toll on my band of pistoliers. It killed Jarv and Talfer, and gravely injured Ormer. I had my revenge for sure, when i charge them crews with Farney at my side, wiping them out. Cutting them down was sweet, but it won't bring back the guys.

I heard from the Wardens how Master Marius's spell of Doom and Darkness harried the cold one knights, prompting them to flee the battlefield. They also told me of how the Edgewater militia broke ranks and fled from the charging corsairs. He also told me how an assassin leapt from the corsair's ranks as the knights charge hit its flank. He was aiming for Brother Barik, yet Sigmar's blessings was with the priest. The envenomed blade failed to pierce his armor and he, in return, managed to wound the assassin.

The heavy horses charge broke the corsairs and they were cut down as they tried to flee. The enemy general's whereabout is still unknown. Back in camp, I could see the engineers affecting repairs on Wrath of Erickheim suffered during the fight. All in all, we got off pretty lightly with few casualties. The huntsmen regrouped and rejoined the fray while the unnerved militia now has latrine duties.

The men's pent up anger over Brother Kholmar's death was spent, but we are determine to honor him by fulfilling his original mission. By Sigmar's will, we shall prevail.

Note: This is the second battle fought in Fortentaf by the Erickheimers. What challenges will the future bring?

Fortentaf Diaries

2010-04-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

...from the campaign journals of Bregan Harker of the Outriders squadrons...

It was the 12th day in our march towards Fortentaf when the scouts returned with news of another force converging on the road we were traveling. Brother Kholmar immediately despatched a small band of troops to gather more useful information.
As we neared the other force, we became aware of a multitude of heraldic colors and emblems emblazoned on their banners-Bretonians! Though not evil as some other creatures, the men of Bretonia are too far from home to be up to nothing good. Brother Kholmar sensed this too, yet his duty as emissary to the Baron required him to inquire of the knights' intent.
Escorted by his band of Border Knights, the monk rode up to the Bretonian commander. What transpired in the meeting is not known to me, but many whispered that the knights were feverish with thoughts of the warpstone and seemed obsessed with its claimation.
Barely had the monk returned that trumpets from the Bretonian side brayed their charge, pursuing Brother Kholmar. We roused and met them in a small clearing not far from camp...

From the letters of Battle Wizard Jaeryd Firemane to Baron of Erickheim...

My Lord,
Tis my sad duty to inform your lordship of the demise of your brave champion, Kholmar at the hands of Bretonians here in Fortentaf. We encountered the Bretonians on the road to Fortentaf and they attacked first, eager to spill our blood and restrain our search of the warpstone. Brother Kholmar wisely placed us in clever positions and we were able to harass the knights all the time.
In their eagerness to come to grips, they abandoned their pitifully wretched peasants behind and these were easily dispatched by the pistoliers detachment and myself. Using a band of free-swords, Kholmar managed to trick a group of knights into leaving behind their support. He hid himself behind a hill and caught the seperated group in the flanks. Alas, fate took a twist and a Paladin himself revealed himself in the group of knight. Although outnumbered, the remaining knights held their ground, no doubt bolstered by the courage of the paladin.
Trapped in combat, Brother Kholmar and his Border Knights could not react to the flanking charge delivered by another unit of knights. this proved their downfall as the melee swept them away and in the confusion, your champion was pulled down and slain. Too late to prevent their murder, the pistoliers and myself could only exact retribution.
The jubilant errant knights hoops of joy turned to screams of pain as a hail of lead pierced their mail and send several tumbling off their saddles. Unnerved, the cowards fled the field and scattered into the woods. The regrouped knights of the realm tried to escape the same fate yet the wind of magic was strong that day. Sigmar smiled on us and my bolts of fiery death claimed several more. Surely they have had enough, as even their general was weak enough to quit the fields of honor.
As you have often said, tis the crows that are the true winners after a battle. We scavenged what we could and buried our dead, as well as the enemy. For Brother Kholmar, we built a funeral pyre for him. His ashes we shall throw to the winds, so his spirit may protect the unwary, even as we continue on our mission.
Lest your lordship decree otherwise, the mantle of command lies with me now. Master Throngrave has shown me the visions and I too sense the danger in the winds of magic. Fear not My Lord, your command will be done. Tomorrow we will strike camp and move on. I entrust this letter and Brother Kholmar's hammer to your Lordship's side.
May Erickheim prosper under the blessings of Sigmar.

Note: Both entries are part of the ongoing warhammer fantasy battles campaign taking place at Legio Malaysia.

Re-Enjoying hobby nite

2010-03-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

after so many weeks of not attending hobby nites, I finally managed to squeeze just a bit of time to go to Legio Malaysia. As usual, there;s the good company of people chucking dice and hobbying. I had a game of whfb with peter that night where it ended a draw, with him managing to knock off my Empire's steam tank. In return, I managed to kill his Enchantress. Muahaha.

Azlan and Khairul were having a go at Battlefleet Gothic and I must say I am hooked. Sadly, at the moment my finances doesn't allow for any more new purchases. Currently, I'm paying by installments for several second hand wh40k vehicles, so, I need to finish that one first. After that, I think I'll start a small Ork fleet (grin).

Unexpectedly, i had some free time the next day, and I used well for another game of whfb with Peter again. this time, I changed my list and in the end, I suffered a minor loss. Regardless, it's a new list and will need some getting used to but I'm confident it'll work out fine once I've tweaked it a bit more.

So, although my schedule for the coming weeks doesn'y seem to ease up, I'll be sure to sneak off to hobby nights as often as I can get away with it.

A Short Break

2010-03-14T23:54:00.000-07:00

Whew!My schedule sure has been hectic over the past few weeks and will continue to be so for a few weeks more. Anyways, I took the opportunity of a breather yesterday and pulled out my dusty Empire army for a round with Peter's Bretonian. We didn't get to complete the game properly so it was all rushed and all that. It was fun to throw dice again after...several weeks of not touching toy soldiers (grin)

People say that the new GW's Battle Mission book is not worth the buy. I personally haven't read it so can't comment fairly. Will definitely try to get my hands on it(someone else' ,of course). I'm still travelling around, so, all my undone WIP for the SCARS will just have to wait(sigh)

My Kindred - Shot Down!

2010-03-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

Real world commitments has forced me out of Kindred. Fortunately for my partner, he has found a replacement. For those of you not in the know, Kindred is a Hobby tournament organised by a pair of brothers and run at Legio Malaysia this coming 6th March 2010.

I would have fielded my SCARS Imperial Guards for the event and partnered with a force of Ultramarines. Alas, that is not to be and so I wait for how the event will turn out. I wish all the guys who's making it the very best in their endevour for the Purity Seal and Best General.

Work has really taken its toll on me this couple of weeks. My last hobby action was during Iron Painter and I foresee it would be some time before I get back into the gaming scene. (sigh) The limited time has also forced me away from any further work on the SCARS. So, hopefully, by end of this month, I'll be back on track or something.

Iron Painter: Done

2010-02-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

Whew! What an event! I don't think I've sat that long for a session of painting before. It was a very productive day and kudos to Jeff for organizing it. Congrats to all participants who tough it out to complete their task.

We started off with 10 people and fairly got off at 10am.A few guys turned up late, like Shazli who arrived 30 minutes later and Khairul, who came in the afternoon after a round of golf. Dann and Ivan dropped by to hobby themselves. Redeye and a couple of his buddies turned up for some dice rolling too. Azlan brought his kids to watch the event, as did Maxcell.

I started the day quite doubtful as I have yet to completely assemble the command squad and another veteran squad. So, I spent the first 5 hours putting together the models and painting the tank. thanks to Iqbal's airbrush, the Leman Russ Demolisher turned out fine after all.

Thanks to Subhan's Nasi Lemak, I didn't have to trouble myself with lunch. So, I sat there trying to finish what I've started. First were Bravo Squad and I painted them green! With various shades of green. Then, I completed the others using black, semi-gloss black and highlights of grey. The last hour proved frantic for me as I had to finish basing them all. Thankfully, it was all done 3 minutes from time. I had painted myself 1010 points of minis!

Overall, the results were quite good. I especially liked Arzmi's washed orks and Stanley's CSMs. So, it ended with Jeff handing out mock certificates (he'll make proper ones later) to all who completed and Subhan and I got Iron Skulls while the rest made Iron Painter. Iqbal won the hobbyist choice and his first Legio Purity Seal. Congratulations!

Although I'm bushed after all that painting, I still need to complete my two vendettas for Kindred. And if there's another Iron Painter happening, maybe I'll plan better and prepare better.

Of dwarves and others...

2010-02-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

I went to hobby nite last night and had a game with Jade's beautiful chaos troll army. It had 27 trolls led by the troll king and a chaos lord, as well as a giant. I fielded my dwarves for this battle, and had as many burning runes I could possibly have to deal with their regeneration. Honestly, that army is tough and they just keep on coming. The anvil significantly slowed them down but the cannon and bolt thrower did their share of killing the monsters.

My longbeards did well in taking down the giant, luckily missing being crushed by its falling body. The thunderers and quarellers could not stand to the troll's charge. In short, the trolls prove strong in melee but they suffered through effective shooting and low leadership, as well as being subject to stupidity.

On other fronts, the last week has been really draining and I didn't get to do much hobby stuff at all. My SCARS project for iron painter is yet to be completed and the event is only 2 weeks away! I really need to find time to finish assembling the remaining models for squad Nova and Alpha.

For now, with time permitting, I'll focus on my dwarves and try to complete them. Oh yes, I also made a purchase of several second hand space marine vehicles from Subhan for a reasonable price.

Getting slow???

2010-01-30T15:25:00.000-08:00

Had a blast of a time last hobby nite!

Got trashed by Peter's chaos army and fought to a standstill with doc's orks. Totally fun with both games. After so many weeks of not touching my 40k stuff (in fact, I was gearing for a FoW or WHFB game that night), I could feel my bones creaking and the rust grinding in my mind. It has been that long!

Anyways, whatever happened is just a good indication of what is likely to be for a player after leaving the dice untouched for some time. In truth, I was becoming more involved with finishing my SCARS project and worrying about its paint job and assembly that I took off my gaming hat. On the plus side, it made me approach both games that night with an alarming dose of casualness, thus insulating me from feeling down when my units were taken out ignominiously. I discovered that my usual drive for victory was not up also, enabling me to much savour the game in a lighter mood.

So, I played both games without much thought to the tactical "orky kunnin'" and just played. Another reason could be because ever sincce starting on my SCARS project, my train of thoughts became more attuned to Imperial Guard lines, thus detaching from my normal orky self.

Whatever the reasons, Kindred is a month away and Iron Painter just 3 weeks away!

Friday Nite-at last!

2010-01-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I made it to Legio after 2 weeks of enforced absence. I had Peter and Alvin in tow that day. This time, I didn't play any games, just sat at the hobby table and put together 3 Pz IV for the upcoming Market Garden Campaign.

Having done that, I watched the games played. There was some FoW action going on with Nick and Jason. Peter was fighing it out with Subhan while Alvin and doc was having at it with their orks.

Had to go back early that nite but at least I've satisfied my need for some hobby action. On the home front, I'm busy completing my entry for Iron Painter and Kindred. I plan to have them assembled and primed by early February.

On that note, my Iron Painter entry will consist of the SCARS, namely Command Team Alpha, Squad Nova and Squad Bravo.

Nimphora VII Campaign: Turn 5-End Game

2010-01-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

In turn 4, the planet saw some destruction as the lands began to sink and disappear. The IG commander, Yee How, managed to escape the doomed planet at the end of turn 4, making him the second commander after Shazli's ultramarines to do so. At the moment, his Node lies unguarded in the Polar Waste.

The beginning of turn 5 also saw the search for Nodes intensify as Jin's Inquisitors, Mark's IG and Zaki's Hive Mind successfully sought out Nodes. In Mark's case, he placed it in his last remaining territory as all his territories were lost to the dying planet's crumbling.

As the planet continues its dying contortions, each commander's territories has dwindled drastically. Mark is left with Dread Anchorage. Zaki has Calidas Fertarii, West Coriy and Plains of Omen. Raymond is left with Noxa Irput, Oncalth and Demonstalk Vale. Jin's Inquisitors hold Roofspine Mountains, Coldaroth, Bloodfields and Crystal Isle. The chaos forces of Lexis owns Icefloe Shores, Icebridge Vale, Crag Mountains and Rock Arbor. Nahri's IG forces is keeping Tahiri's Throat, Tobrau, Mead Valley and Ilim's Fields.

Those with the Nodes will try to exact the Bloodprice to escape while those without will try and wrest it from those who has them. The end is at hand!

Nimphora VII campaign: Turn 4

2010-01-17T00:21:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of Turn 4, only the ultramarines have managed to successfully searched for and activated a Node of Power, hence they became the first force to evacuate the doomed planet. Hive mind Zaki too managed to find a Node but was unable to utilise it in time.

All the riots, raiding and general chaos attributed to the local populace has died down, in some cases suppressed with deadly force. What is left merely waits for the end, all hope gone. With darkness fully encompassing the planet, the ground continue to tremble even more violently than before.

In the north, the territories of Moonlight Ridge, The Bones, Floodplains of Beslan, Jendras Baxo and Gars Vinolin were swollowed up by the earth, wiping them out from the map. In the centre, Unggroth, Ingra Mobis and Kartonga suffered the same fate. In the South, only the Central Tundra and the Eastern Glacier were affected.

The Node stored by the Tyranids at Gars Vinolin were lost to the ground before it could be activated and the remains of the Ultramarine's Node too was lost. The territories has started to dwindle, even as the commanders enter the last phase for their survival.

Hobby: SCARS - Skuad Bravo

2010-01-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of WIP of Bravo Squad. This squad will take part in Iron Painter and Kindred. There will be some slight difference between their appearance in Iron Painter and Kindred.

The pictures are taken without their squad leader, Sgt. Feizal (a.k.a. Harker). The squad is a recon and pathfinder team for SCARS 1. They either deploy in advance of the main body or infiltrates the enemy lines.

I've tried to customize and personalize each model since I've given them individual names and kitting them out in appropriate wargear befitting their role.

Hopefully this army will mark my beginning to embrace the hobby side more.

Slow week

2010-01-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Been a bit of slow this week, what with work and all. On the hobby front, I've managed to assemble Bravo squad (minus the arms) and started on cleaning bodies for Nova squad. Since all of Bravo squad carry a backpack, I've yet to sculpt out the straps for them.

Nimphora VII campaign is entering its final phases tomorrow. I wonder what will happen?

Soon, Legio will turn its attention to Operation Market Garden, a FoW campaign. It'll be good to play with my WWII minis again.

Nimphora VII Turn 3-Beginning of the End

2010-01-03T15:30:00.000-08:00

The thickening malevolent energies of the warp has almost engulfed the planet in its entirety, panicking and affecting the local population in unexpected ways. Driven insane or purely out of desperation, the locals struck out at the nearest targets.

Disruption of supplies, raids, uprisings to name a few, all manner of local unrest prevailed in the territories occupied by the various commanders, forcing them to divert their forces and suppress the chaos.

This was most evident in the north. IG commander Mark lost control in half of his occupied territories of Brokeback Cape, Dread Anchorage and Sunken Swamps. Fellow IG commander Nahri too faced unrest in three of his territories of Jendras Baxo, Mead Valley and Ilim's Fields, effectively denying him use of two foundries and a communications relay unit.

The Ultramarines too were not spared from the unrest as the shield generator in Roofspine Mountains went offline when its underground cables were swarmed by mutated rodents. East Coriy too suffered a panicking influx of refugees fleeing the nearby tyranids. In West Coriy, the fleeing refugees set random fires that utterly confuses the Synapse creatures there.

In Jerdeh, Hive Mind Zaki faces an unnatural stampede of mutated beast that trampled through its killer broods. The central continent too saw the templar Raymond losing contact with his forces in Orkern's Nest and Unggroth. The Inquisitor Jinn had to contend with an uprising in Lakehome, temporarily suspending the operations of the nearby communication relay. He also lost contact with his forces in the recently occupied Crystal Isle as the last report indicated broods of genestealers infiltrating across the territory.

The recent offensive of IG commander Yee How has stripped his forces in the Polar Waste and the garrisons there were ill equipped to cope with the rampaging ice beasts that stalked the lands. The Black Legion of Lexiss were not immune to the unrest as a tide of uncontrollable spawn laid siege to the communication relay there and a freak and impassable storm lashed the regions of Icebridge Vale.

As the dying planet nears its end, who shall find the Nodes of Power to escape?

Nimphora VII Turn 3-Darkness in Despair!

2010-01-02T16:51:00.000-08:00

Turn 2 saw some reversals as players fielded bigger armies with which to pound their foes. Having replenished their forces, the commanders took to the field. In all, 7 battles were fought with the number of territories held by each almost the same.

Hive Mind Zaki still have the highest VPs score with Shazli's Ultramarines trailing a bit behind. With the start of Turn 3, commanders will have begun their search for the Nodes of Power. It stands to reason that someone is bound to find one, but could they hold on to it or activate it in time to escape the doomed planet?

Even as the planet heaved in its death throes, more special rules comes into play, to reflect the deteriorating condition of the planet. The end is near...

Musings-2009:What a Year!

2009-12-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

It has come to that, the end times (for the year, at least) and I fondly recall the memories of 2009. So, what happened in 2009?

The greatest moment for me this year was when my little princess was born in February. After 3 and half years of waiting,, my wife and I finally got our first bundle of Joy!

I also started blogging in 2009, insignificantly of course, though I hope to improve on my content and delivery in time.

Through Legio and Wargaming, I met more friendly folks sharing the same passion. At the same time, I finally got to finish my Ork army the way i wanted to. This was no mean feat for me as I was quite restricted in terms of resources and time. Of course, closing on the dateline for SPORE '09' certainly helped in motivating me to pick up the brush and start painting. Alas, it was not meant to be, and real life issues had to take precedence and I had to wave bye-bye to SPORE.

Despite that, the furious activity up to that point certainly aided in preparing the Madz Mob for the Legio League and upcoming RTT.

The Mob took part in Azlan's Arenxis Minoris Campaign, where it remained undefeated, despite being outnumbered at times. It participated in both League Season 2 and 3, where it crushed all comers (most of the times)and ended up winning me 2 Purity Seals, sweet! Of course, having one's arch nemesis absent is a Godsend LoL.

At the Legio RTT, "The Inquisition Wars", the Mob did well enough, losing one battle to World Eaters of AK, and winning the other 2 matches convincingly. Although I'm a bit sad for losing to AK, but the utter carnage we had was a salve to my ego. Truth to tell, it has been a long time since I had that kind of carnage that lasted as it did!LoL. Truly awesome! Multiple units engaged with heroes strutting their stuff, all in one big melee. The lessons learned here is that: never let yourself be charged by multiple units of WE :)

Having the Mob with me all year round, I found out that they're good enough to carry the day, against any opponent, unless of course, lady luck really deserts me. So, for 2010, I'll put them in semi-retirement (pull out in case of emergency) and try to finish my SCARS project.

SCARS is actually a dream I had when I first started IG few years back. With the unveiling of Valkyries, the vision gets better, as are the options. So, 2010 is the year I put my efforts to bring the SCARS into being, and by so doing, pay homage to my fellow camrades/instructors/recruits that I had the privilege of knowing during my stint in the Territorial Army or Wataniah. This time around, I plan to put more effort on the hobby side of things while building the army, taking particular pains to clean the models good before painting them. As for painting, I intend to beg some instruction on the use of airbrush for the valkyries and vehicles and I do intend to bring my painting level up a notch.

Workwise, things seems to go alright wiith me qualifying for my RFP affliate title (that's several moore modules for full RFP title) and with new stuff coming out next year, the insurance industry looks quite promising indeed, at least for me.

Hobby-wise, I've taken the initiative to start a small campaign in Comic's Mart Midvalley. It's called Nimphora VII Campaign and I have 8 players in it (I'm the Organizer, so, not playing). In 2010, I might take a hand in organizing a Mighty Empires campaign in Legio or perhaps a small warhammer fantasy league? Who knows, maybe we'll have another Warhammer Fantasy Tournament too!

Maybe 2010 will get me to play Flames of War again. Previously, my interest for it simply waned as there's not enough people playing, and you do get tired after some time. Another major reason I think is because the Late war era seems to be too chalenging for a German player. some of the historical scenarios are really cool but in a simple pick-up games, it's a very steep uphill battle for my germans, it's just not worth it. Jeff mentioned running Market Garden in 2010. So, I hope that'll kick start some fresh interest in FoW for me.

So, that's it for my ramblings. To all who know me, I wish you well and may the coming year bring betterment to you and yours.

Nimphora VII Campaign-Turn 2: Tremors Underneath

2009-12-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

Turn 2 started quietly enough with only 1 battle being fought (that I know of) on Sunday. It was a 1750 game pitting Zaki's Nids vs Mark's IG. The fight ended with the IG forces victorious (barely) with no serious damage on both sides.

I expect the action to pick up during the New Year.

Even as Nimphora VII is showing signs of deterioration, battle rages on to find the means to escape the dying planet.

Musings-Legio 3rd Season League Finals

2009-12-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

The finals were held on the 19th December 2009 at Legio Malaysia. 4 people qualified for the showdown. Me and Da Madz Mob, Khairul's Saim-Hann, Faizal's IG and a last minute finalist, Igbal and his Alpha Legion.

This season, I entered the League with a sort of lackadaisy attitude of "been there, done that" kind of. Not a winning attitude I know but that's what happened. Maybe having won a purity seal from the previous league made me a little jaded, perhaps?

We gathered at Legio early that day and by 0945, all was present, including Arzmi, who came to watch. The first game started at 1000 with me pairing off with Khairul on a black table and Faizal with Iqbal on a green table.

In my match with Khairul, we played 3 objectives with Pitch Battle deployment. For the first three turns, the eldar were doing fine, whittling bit by bit my orks and making me work hard for the objectives. The lootas, Snikrot and the deffkoptas were dead by then and he had only lost a falcon and some dire avengers.

The battle turned when the nobz took down Eldrad's wave serpent and pinned him! Khairul had to divert his Farseer council to rescue Eldrad and the dire avenger squad he's with from being mauled by the nobz. This took out some significant heat off the 'ard boyz who was securing one of the objectives. The seer council bravely charged the nobz and paid dearly for it. A wave serpent tried to contest one of the objectives but was less than an inch short.

We rolled for another turn but the game ended at the end of turn 5 with the orks holding 2 objectives and the Eldar none.

After a 15 minute break, I faced Faizal's IG army on the snow table. It was fully mechanized with veterans and command squad in 4 chimeras, 3 leman russ and a valkyrie plus 2 squads of stormtroopers. We played a Kill Points Mission with Pitch attle deployment. He had first turn and began to reduce the 'ard boyz. The boyz continued to take casualties as they close on the IG lines. The nbz then led the way, crashing into the IG lines, blowing up 3 tanks in a turn of assault. Snikrot was on a roll that day, blowing up a valkyrie and saw off 2 squads of stormtroopers and parts of a veteran squad.

The IG forces fought valiantly but died where they stood, save for one guy who fled off table. In the end, the orks won for the loss of the deffkoptas. The 'ard boyz were severely cut down to less than 10 boyz.

So, that ends the Madz Mob rampage in the league. Everyone was so much fun to play against and the whole hobby experience has improved tremendously.

What I find funny was that my potential opponents really did their homework and worked hard to defeat me. That's not without mentioning all the "advice" they got from "experts" on how to beat the Mob. Arzmi struck me as peculiar (or is it me?) when he was quite delighted to see me throw out some good-natured taunts at his brother during our game.

Here's hoping that the next season will be as much fun as this season.

Nimphora VII-New Forces On Planet

2009-12-25T01:28:00.000-08:00

New forces are on planet!

The rumored Space Wolves force remains a rumor, and in their stead, another IG force under Commander Mark and dubbed the jungle Boys has made Planet Fall.

Black templars astartes too has made their appearance, landing their forces in the still neutral territories on Nimphora VII.

Battles continue to rage across the planet even as the planet itself begins to crumble...

The Killing Begins-First Day On Planet

2009-12-22T15:49:00.000-08:00

I know I'm supposed to post only at the start of next turn, but the events on Sunday was really exciting and furious that I just had to post. To my knowledge, 5 battles were reported to have taken place. If there's more that I'm yet unaware of, please let me know.

The tyrannids under Hive Mind Zaki crushed all opposition after its brush of defeat with the Black Legion of Lexiss. Against IG commander YeeHow, the tyrannids came bursting out of the ground and took over the foundry in Ilim's Fields.

Elsewhere, Leexiss's Black Legion continue to consolidate in the south, expanding their control in the areas surrounding Icebridge Vale with control of Rock Arbor and Icefloe Shores.

Commander Nahri consolidated his victory against rival IG commander YeeHow by setting up a defensive line in The Bones.

The inquisition suffered badly this round. Losing several land raiders and several squads of precious Grey Knights. They even lost contact with the small force in Icefloe Shores as it was overrun by chaos forces under Warmaster Lexiss.

Deep in their defensive network, the ultramarines observed the battles raging around, biding their time to strike, even as two more chapters, those of the Black Templars and Space Wolves has yet to exit the warp.

NIMPHORA VII CAMPAIGN-TURN 1: PLANET FALL!

2009-12-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

Hi folks! Last Sunday was awesome. Although I did not stay to see all the games being played, I heard that more than 5 games were played, cool! Until I know how to fix my pics, I'm afraid my posts will be without them for a while.

Situation

With the roiling clouds fast enclosing the planet, the shipwrecked survivors of the various flotillas gathered their wits, and surveyed their new refuge. With hindsight, many commanders did not panic in their haste to abandon their vessels and guided their troops to safety and strategic positions on the ground.

The northern part of Nimphora VII saw the tight formations of Ultramarines drop ships making their landings in the mountain ranges, securing for themselves a strong defensive line from which they could strike out. They hold Moonlight Ridge (Command Module), Roofspine Mountains (Shield Generator), Heaven's Spine, Tolinaru and East Coriy.

Tyrranid Broods could be made out making planet fall on Gars Vinolin (Communications Relay) and West Coriy (Command Module)in the north as well as in the central Plains of Omen (Shield Generator) and Jerdeh. A last brood was seen landing on Crystal Isle in the south.

Grey Knights transports too made a tight landing, this time in the central mountains of Ingra Mobis (Automated Foundry) and Lakehome(Communications Relay) as well as its low lying plains of Bloodfields (Shield Generator) and Coldarath (Automated Foundry). A small group was also seen heading for the Icefloe Shores.

A Warband of Black Legionaires consolidated in the southern part of Nimphora VII. Staking out positions in the wintry Icebridge Vale (Shield Generator), Crag Mountains and the Central Tundra (Command Module). Encroaching the central plains, they hold Renanbrau (Automated Foundry) and Stonethrow Flats (Communications Relay).

Two Imperial Guard Regiments was amongst those making planet fall. commanded by rival commanders, one landed his survivors on the central plains, holding terrain in Tobrau (Automated Foundry), Hargona's Reach, Tahiri's Throat (Command Module), Mead Valley (Communications Relay) and Jendras Baxo (Automated Foundry).

The other Commander split his forces, half landing in the south, holding to the Polar Waste and Western Glacier (Communications Relay) while the other half struck North, landing in Sunken Swamps, Ilim's Fields (Automated Foundry) and the Flood Plains of Beslan.

The last force destined to arrived on Nimphora VII's final days has yet to exit the warp but rumors has it that the templars is in ill mood of their "diverted" passage.

Another group that has yet to make an appearance was believed to be astartes of the Space Wolf Chapter. NO one knows how they will fare and how they will deal with their enemies.

And so, that is how the survivors fare on their first day on planet. Scouts and recon groups strike out to learn the lay of the land, and in their course, meet and engage other hostile forces.

NOTE: I will post 1 post per turn. Whatever happened in turn 1, I will post at the start of turn 2, and so on. So, you guys are welcome to issue challenges, comment and boast of your exploits in such posts as this one.

WARNING!: Nimphora VII is a dying planet. It is deteriorating and slowly consumed by the warp energy that surrounds it. Expect the coming Turns to be more challenging with new "suprises" coming your way.

I hope everyone will have a good time.

Nimphora VII has a corner!

2009-12-14T04:41:00.000-08:00

Well, the meeting with Mr. William Phang (Owner of Comics Mart, MIdvalley) went very well. After explaining our campaign requirement, he graciously pointed me to the corner next to the warhammer shelves. It is a bit out of the way but just what we needed. He suggested that it's better to have it there, since people coming and going in the shop might 'accidentally' brush by the stuff had we put it somewhere more 'open'.

I'm quite happy about it and the space is just nice to fit an A3 size piece of map for the Nimphora VII campaign. I will have to talk to him (William) some more on the placement of strategy cards and markers in his shop and I foresee no problem with that as Jinn is part of the store.

Time really flies and the campaign is due to start this Sunday. I hope all the players are excited about this as I am.

Kitting out Bravo squad

2009-12-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

This squad will take part in Iron Painter, so, once I've assembled them, I'll just spray paint them black and leave it at that. They will also feature in the upc0ming Kindred LHT run by brothers Khairul and Arzmi. However, in both these events, the wargear loadout for the squad will be different.

Iron Painter Configuration
Harker
6 veterans with lasgun
1 veteran with flamer
2 veterans with grenade launcher

Kindred Configuration
Harker
4 veterans with lasgun
2 veterans forming a missile launcher team
1 veteran with meltagun
2 veteran with grenade launcher

I'm going for the LRJP look where the squad carry backpacks and various items. They'll also sport painted skins to better blend in the jungle/wood environs. I guess my palette for this one is limited mostly to shades of green. No bright, contrasting colors and only a bit of boltgun metal on the weapons.

I hope to be able to post some pictures of the ongoing works (when I get to upload from my camera's memory card, Grr...)

Starting on the SCARS

2009-12-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Assembled some models and earmarked which models/parts go to which squads. Since I've given each member of the squadron identities, I hope to convey that personality to the models (ambitious).

I should post pics,I know. Anyways, started to scrape the wing and skull off the scouts breastplate. I'm also getting rid of all Imperial eagles on the lasguns and helmets. This is in accordance to the Karaxian fluff whereby they regard the emperor as the supreme leader of man's dominion in the galaxy yet fall short of venerating him as a "divine/godlike" being, much to the chagrin of the ecclesiarchy, who wanted nothing better than to wipe them out, lest they infect others with their mindset. If not for the fact that the Karaxian stands as a stalwart defender in their sector of space and for a piece of pre-heresy parchment signed by the emperor himself (and confirmed by the tech-magi of Mars as authentic)giving the Karaxian a bit of leeway in how they do things, as long as they remain loyal to the Imperium.

Anyway, I'm planning to start with the command squad and work my way squad by squad.

Forming up the SCARS

2009-12-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

work really took their toll on me last couple of weeks. now, i have a little breathing space, so, back to wargaming :)

I think i wrote sometime ago that my IG stuff is here, so now I'm beginning to start them up. This time around, I aim to improve on my hobby side of thing for this army. (here's hoping)

Right, the army is basically an elite unit, hence the colorful acronym SCARS that stands for Special Combat And Rescue Squadron. Fluff wise, these guys are the best of the elites (without becoming space marines) for humans. They are part of the Karaxian Special Operations Group and are tasked for quick, lightning raids against high value targets deep behind enemy lines.

SCARS 1, 201ST SOG, RGKD

HQ
Company Command Squad Alpha w/count as Straken Colonel
Astropath
Officer of the fleet
2 Bodyguards

Primaris Psyker

ELITES
Delta Squad-5 man stormtrooper
Halo Squad-5 man stormtrooper

TROOPS
Nova Squad-veteran squad led by count as Bastonne
chimera
Echo Squad-veteran squad
Zulu Squad-veteran squad
Bravo squad-veteran squad led by count as Harker

FAST ATTACK
Ghost 6-Valkyrie
Vyper 8-Vendetta
Vyper 3-Vendetta

Its a 1750 points list. all the squads are equipped with carapace armor, except for Bravo, which acts as a recon/pathfinder team and equipped with camo cloaks. Nova is a fire support unit, Echo an all rounder unit, while Zulu is dedicated assault unit. The 3 Valkyrie/Vendettas will act as gun platform/fire support as well as transport for the troops.

Elements of this force will be seen in the Iron Painter Event at Legio and in the Doubles tourney. I plan to finish them , if possible before SPORE, but will not rush things if it cannot be done.

I'm using SM scout bodies for most of them and will use catachan models for Bravo squad. A few items are still en route but the bulk of the force is with me, awaiting assembly. I even managed to get 2 sets of Vendetta conversion kits from Forge World.

How this army will perform on the battlefield, I have no idea. But this kind of list I've dreamed of building since 3rd Ed. So, I hope everything work out well for me.

NIMPHORA VII CAMPAIGN

2009-12-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

I just posted the rules for this wh40k campaign I running at CM starting on the 20th Dec 2009. It should be fun and slightly bigger in scope compared to previous campaigns. So far, 10 players have signed up. I'll be running the thing as Campaign Organizer (CO) and won't play in it.

Basically, it is a race against time to escape a dying planet. The players will have to fight each other to gather resources and find the means of escape. There's a mix of Space marines, Chaos, Nids, IG, and the inquisition. Sadly,, no Orks, Eldar, De or Tau.

Slow times

2009-12-05T11:27:00.000-08:00

time has really been dragging this couple of weeks (hobbywise). the only good thing that happened was the arrival of my IG stuff via Alvin. Now, that was nice, opening up all them boxes and checking stuff.

I had to work the nite them boys had the battle of Dunkyrck at Legio as finale for Arenxis Minoris campaign, and so, project "Bluebyte' was left hanging.

I also missed out on the marksman honor mini-tourney yesterday, where the Saim-Hann eldar led by Khairul won the day. Thankfully, i have a lot to look forward to in 2010.

Soon, I'll begin on my new IG army.

Exciting times ahead!

2009-11-20T15:26:00.000-08:00

went to legio to attend a much needed members meeting.

we discussed several ideas for upcoming events and i think we got most of the year (2010) covered. Amongst the earliest would be a Flames of War campaign somewhere in December. This would be followed by an Iron Painter event in January, and maybe a doubles tourney.

IN feb, we might run a Mighty Empires (WFB) campaign. after that, season 4 league before we celebrate Legio's birthday (with kill-teams games) in May. In June, there's SPORE.

So, for most of the things happening will not have Jeff at the helm. he'll be the advisor along with azlan. so, it should be a cool 2010.

The Inquisition Wars

2009-11-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

Well, the tournament is over and done with, and it has been a BLAST!

Well done and congrats to Jeff and all who made this possible. I had 3 games with people I've never fought before (I've fought Tsui before, when he used nids). So, the result? For more detailed result, go check Legio site. Basically, I won 2 and lose 1. I managed to maintain my Appearance score and Sportsmanship score of 6 and 4 respectively. hehe

Now that the whole thing is over, I look forward to the upcoming League finals.

Cargo hold taking shape

2009-11-05T09:16:00.001-08:00

Started assembling the cargo hold today. seems i need to have more structural strength for what I had in mind, oh well, trial and error.

Need to remind myself to bring the extra cardboard tomorrow for the front section and to post up pics in this blogs...sheesh.

On another front, I've started doodling on a design for a klawstompa and a guntrakk. well, that one will have to wait while I finish "Bluebyte"

Cargo hold taking shape

2009-11-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Started assembling the cargo hold today. seems i need to have more structural strength

The cockpit taking shape

2009-11-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

Today I started work on the "Bluebyte" cockpit section. I took a cheap toy helicopter and hacked it to get the shape I want. The leftovers could be used for future modeling projects, like maybe a fighta bomma?

I've bought some glue and I should be good to start assembling it in a day or two.

"Bluebyte" project taking off

2009-10-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

Today I've started work on "Bluebyte". Some of the shapes have been cut, and the cargo hold is good for assembly. Next week, I'll start to put it together.

Production stalled!

2009-10-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hmm, as I was all geared up for full out production of "Bluebyte" real world issues occur that had to be dealt with.

Hopefully, all will be sorted out by the end of this week so that I can get back to my project. Here's hoping.

Gathering Materials

2009-10-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

As mentioned yesterday, I was sketching some designs for freighter like vessel to be used in the upcoming Apoc game. today I've decided to build the twin engined version.

So, rummaging through my bitz box and scavenging for stuff that can be used around the house, I think I have enough material to start at least cutting some of the basic shapes before I go into assembling them.

I'm trying to make this as cheap as possible, with as much discarded items I can find. However, the bulk of it will be the "chip board" I use for the body. Thin card will be used for paneling and bitz will go to enhance the finished "product".

If I put regular man-hours into this project, I expect to see it completed well before the 20th November.

Planning the "Bluebyte"

2009-10-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

"Bluebyte" is the name of the freighter I plan to build for the upcoming Apoc battle that will mark the closing of the Arenxis Minoris Campaign. Whether it will be used or not I leave that to the organizers, but it would be rather handy to have around, just in case.

Anyway, I've started drafting some simple sketch of the ship and came up with two basic design. One had twin-engines/thrusters while the other one only one. The single engine ship seems easier to build but is more angular, which might pose some problems while the other one seems boxy, with more detailed finishing.

At the moment, I'm still undecided. So, we'll see what happens in the next few days.

Breakout! (Battle #5)

2009-10-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

The ultramarines commander looked solemnly past his men as they filed past him and took to their bikes. The terminators of the 1st company boarded their land raiders even as the surviving guardsmen fired up the engines of their tanks.

This was it. The moment of truth. One last throw of the dice, to save all that remained of the 5th company on Haides. Their last holdout was overrun merely days ago, thanks to the treacherous Alpha Legions. Now, all that remained was assembled here, deep inside the bunker complex at the edge of the Kolborath Mountain Range.

"Eaglewing to Swiftstrike, Eaglewing to Swiftstrike, acknowledge, over" a distant voice crackled inside the vox receiver of the commander's helm.

"Swiftstrike, acknowledge. What is your ETA?" his curt reply queried.

"Site Helios has been compromised. Proceed to site Grackus. ETA 50 minutes" the other voice replied back.

"Understood, Swiftstrike out" the commander ended the conversation.

Turning to face the assembled astartes and guardsmen, "Move out!" he ordered as he stepped up to his bike and straddled it, igniting the bike's powerful engines.

In column formation, the entire force moved out of the bunker complex, hoping that their movement under the cover of darkness would go unnoticed.

Mission: Annihilation; Deployment: Spearhead
Opponent: Rizal Ultramarines 5th Company

Strategy Cards:
Home Ground (Ultramarines)
Night Fight (Orks)

Bonuses:
350 extra points on additional units (Ultramarines)
None (Orks)

The land raiders and Leman Russ executioner trundled swiftly in column, their tiny headlights the only indication of their movement. The land speeders and bike squads acting as outriders on each flank.

Sudddenly, the column swerved into a defensive line formation, the dreadnought taking up position between the excutioner and one of the land raider. "Enemy contacts up ahead. The orks were waiting."

Even as the outriders were making their way back to the column at their best speed, the darkness began to reveal a growing mob of orks. Their guttural voices marking where they are, despite the gloom. The 'ard boyz led the way, flanked on the left by the lootas and on the right by the nobz.

The darkness interfered with the marines targeting and their lights could not pierce the gloom. This saved the advancing orks from several crucial volleys. The nob bikers, attempting to outflank the land raider on the right, ran headlong into the ultramarine's commander and his large biker squad.

With righteous anger on their lips, and fervent prayer to the Emperor, the commander and his squad charged into the nobz. The commander himself challenging Warboss Grimfang. Clash of chainswords and choppas ring out of the darkness amidst the swirling dust thrown up by the bikes. In the end, only the commander was left facing the mighty warboss. Deftly avoiding the lumbering powerklaw, the commander thrust his power sword but was deflected by the fast moving ork bike. Charging head-on, the warboss crashed into the commander's bike, impaling the unfortunate astartes on his massive klaw. The massive shock was too much for even the vauted space marine's regenerative abilities, and the commander slumped, lifeless.

Once again, Warboss Grimfang hired the Vulcha boyz to do his work. They did not dissapoint. Landing right infront of the dreadnought and executioner, they immediately set upon the executioner, tearing up the turret and its hull lascannon. Despite the damage, the tank was still operable and retreated a bit.

The smaller biker squad appeared out of the gloom and raced past behind the left-most land raider even as the land raider disgorged its assault terminators into the stormboyz. Although clearly outmatched by the terminators, the stormboyz held under the stern-eyed gaze of their commander.

Zooming past the nobz, a single kopta made a shooting run on the dreadnought. Picking it out of the gloom, it sent a streaking rokkit into the thing's piston joints, jamming the actuator and immobilizing it. Despite its damage, the dreadnought continued to pour melta shots at the nearby 'ardboyz.

Jubilant after their short skirmish, the nobz revved their bikes and slammed into a land raider, immobilizing it as well as ripping away one of the sponson lascannon. Unperturbed, the terminators inside disembarked and assaulted the nobz. Lightning claws and thunder hammers ripped through the nobz and four of their number were felled. In return, 5 of the assault terminators were laid low, despite their storm shields, leaving a solitary marine against the rest of the nobz.

On the left side of the battlefield, the lootas spotted the shadows of the other marine bike squad and let loose with their deffguns. The volley cut down two of them but they remained stoic. The landspeeder squad came blazing out of the night and sent the solitary kopta to its fiery end.

The 'ard boyz, incessantly prodded by the Mad Dok finally reached combat. Piling into the terminators busy with the stormboyz, the mob pummeled the marines with their crude choppas and brought 4 of the terminators down. The immobilized land raider lost another wweapon sponson even as the last terminator was killed.

The damaged executioner, its crew resigned to death, held their ground and put out plasma bolts at the 'ard boyz as the mob surged past the broken bodies of the terminators. Zagstruk was alone by then, all his boyz dead or dying. So focussed was he on the executioner that he failed to notice the dreadnought aiming its meltagun at him, instantly vaporising him.

The marine bikers traded fire with the lootas, killing a few and lost another of their number in return. The grots were running everywhere, trying to get away from the oncoming speeders. With bestial fury, the warboss tore through the immobilised land raider and finally put an end to it, leaving it burning. Even as the warboss was tearing up the land raider, the rest of the nobz descended on the stationary executioner and blew it up, debris raining down for quite some distance.

The 'ard boyz charged the dreadnought pulled out its dreadnought close combat arm for the loss of a few of the boyz. Mad Dok failed to push through the press of bodies and could not lend his power klaw to the fight.

The two marine bikers assaulted the lootas and broke them in a one sided melee. The nearby grots too broke under the relentless attention of the flaming landspeeders, the sight of their burning comrades too much for the little buggers to take.

In a final push of speed, the warboss and his nobz fell upon the surviving land raider and destroyed it with well placed strikes using their power klaws.

The biker sergeant and two land speeders were the only ones to made it to the evacuation point from out of the entire force. Although it survived, the damaged dreadnought was too far gone, its fate sealed.

Victory to the orks! (7-4 KP)
As a result, all tiles on the Kolborath Mountain Range except for Chrystal Heights is under chaos control. Furthermore, this last battle removed the last Ultramarines holding on Haides.

Warboss Grimfang squinted at the night sky as the tell tale sign of the afterburners from the imperial craft made its way back to Thessalonicus with its paltry load of survivors. The imperium is truly and well on the way to being routed, he mused.

Already, work parties, under the supervision of meks were dismantling and cutting the armor plates from the wrecked imperial tanks. Big Mek Buzzboltz has promised him a suprise, and said it would be ready in time for the final assault on Polonia.

Inside the imperial transport, the crew chief glanced nervously at the astartes in the cargo hold. The briefing said they were supposed to evacuate around thirty of the marines as well as several dozen guardsmen. The 5 marines, their armor battle scarred and with wearied faces boded ill for the coming weeks.

He could still remember asking the astartes "Where is the rest of the column?" as the giant strode up the ramp. The glance the astartes gave him was enough to chill his marrows and the cold voice that answered reminded him not to cross any of these giants.

"We're it. No one else is coming."

Old World carnage

2009-10-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hi, had a WHFB game with Peter's Bretonians yesterday versus my Empire. It was my first time meeting his Fay Enchantress and that dame sure helped a lot in his battleplans.

As it is, now that I know what she's capable of, I hope to do better next time we meet. The steam tank really helped a lot and saved the game (it was a draw) for me when it ran off a unit of knights off the board and crushed another unit in combat...hehe

well, hope to get more fantasy games going. next year, i'll finish off my Orcs & Goblin army (get a new giant, some black orcs, spear chukkas, and paint them all up)

Killing Angels (Battle #4)

2009-10-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

Sitting astride his plundered ride, the mighty ork warboss, Grimfang stares sullenly at the gaggle of meks tripping over each other, trying to fix his Big Bird for the trip back to Grot's 'Arbor. Two still smoking bodies lay nearby on the tarmac, brute testimony of the warboss's short fused temper.

The meks were delivered of further example of the warboss's displeasure when Grimfang's lieutenant, a massive nob by the name of Killjaw rode down the ferrocrete runway and skidded to a halt in front of the warboss.

"Boss, we've got company" the normally taciturn ork reported excitedly. "Just now, we've got grots down in da woods running back wiv tales of marinez on bikes" he explains. "After whacking a few of dem grots flat, da rest keeps tellin' da same story. Souz I sents dem koptas to looksee. One of dem just got back wiv words dat deres a bunch of dem marinez bikers runnin' in da woods, probably tryin' to sneak on us 'ere" the nob pauses for a while ticking off his fingers for every important point he has reported.

"Da kopta boyz also says dat dem marinez wear black armor, and one of dem even got a flying bike, like dem panzies used" he finishes his report and looks expectantly at Grimfang, "Wots we gonna do boss?"

Mulling over the information given by his lieutenant, the warboss eyes glazes over as his tiny brain began to turn. With a grin, "Gather dem boyz, we'll go an' say 'ello to dem marinez. I bets its dem Ravenwing mob. Tryin' to sneak on us orks eh." Turning on the meks, " Youz lots betta finish putting dis bird together by da time I gets back, if not..." he left it hanging, the implied threat clearly understood as the meks cast furtive and nervous glances at his back way as he rode away to meet up with the rest of the mob.

Mission: Seize Ground (3 objective marker)
Deployment: Spearhead

The woodlands were unusually silent and only the soft whispers of the wind accompanied the heavy footfalls of the orks as they deployed in the woods. The lootas took up position in a dense copse of trees, having line of sight that covers a lot of the open ground in front of them, while giving them good cover from any return fire. The 'ard boyz loitered in the center, Mad Dok strangely absent. The nobz, led by Grimfang himself positioned themselves at the leftmost edge of the field, in anticipation of outflanking marines.

Looking out towards the general direction where the marines are supposed to come from, the orks could see no sight of them. It was some time before the roar of bike engines could be heard. The nobs too spotted some bikers but they turned back when they saw the waiting nobz. The nobz maintained their blocking position and did not give chase, even Snikrot and his komandos too took up blocking position next to the nobz.

As more Ravenwing units appear on the battlefield, they used the rolling hills to screen their advance, hiding from the lootas. Forming into an irregular column, they closed on the orks.

Mad Dok Grostnik decided to join the upcoming action, even the grots trotted besides the lootas, heading for the ork statue. Only the koptas are yet to be seen, still too far after the aid they gave the Alpha Legion.

Out of nowhere, the master of Ravenwing thundered onto the battlefield, gunning down two of the suprised komandos. Unnerved by the sudden attack, the komandos broke and fled, hiding behind the barricades. The leading biker squad too opened fire on the 'ard boyz, felling one.

Out in the open, the master of Ravenwing and his jetbike was a very tempting target for the lootas and they gleefully zoomed in their sights and let loose. The fusilade of lead and whatnot punched through the Master's armor, causing him to crash the jetbike, with fatal results.

Joining the 'ard boyz, Mad Dok immediately herded them towards the advancing Ravenwing units. Despite his demise, the Master's appearance has managed to displaced the nobz from their blocking position. This opportunity was used by a squad of bikers to pass the ork's line and they appeared behind the grots and lootas.

Advancing enmassed, two biker squad moved into rapid fire range and gunned down several more orks. They proceeded to assault the massed orks and tied down the 'ard boyz in a drawn combat. The nobz, having placed themselves near the central objective was stared down by two attack bikes that contested the same thing. In the confusion fo combat, the bike squad that appeared behind the ork's line forgot to close into combat. To make up for their momentary lapse, they charged into the grots and nobz bikers, ensuring that the nobz were pulled away from the central objectives.

The melee against the grots was no contest for the Ravenwing bikers as half of the gretchins were cut down. However, the nobz were another story as all six marines were easily despatched without loss. Invigorated by the victory, the nobz revved their bikes towards the central objective again and was just in range to contest it.

In the other melee involving the 'ard boyz, Dok Grostnik pushed himself to the fore and accounted for 3 of the bikers while the rest of the boyz crushed one of the squads and decimate the other squad. Braving the odds, one solitary managed to tie down the remaining 'ard boyz.

The Ravenwing sent up two of their attack bikes to support the lone biker and another biker squad to bolster their strength at the central objective. The two lost koptas finally appeared and proceeded to blast apart one of the attack bikes sent to aid the lone biker. The other attack bike was taken suprised by the lose of his camrade that they did not notice the warboss barrelling towards them, his power klaw shredding the attack bike into tiny pieces.

The lootas again hefted their deffguns and gleefully targeted one of the attack bikes guarding the central objective, destroying it in a flurry of shots. The nobz then advanced on the biker squad and remaining attack bike and cut both units down in a swirling melee of speeding bikes and dust.

The command squad was the only unit left in the Ravenwing force. Instead of retreating, they left their objective and sought to wreck havoc inside the ork's line.

Result: Victory to the Orks (2-0 objectives)

"Victor 58 Gamma, please proceed to landing pad Echo 85 Zulu, do you copy?" the ground controller of Chagoris Field hailing the incoming transport that had lifted in the early dawn, ferrying astartes of the Dark Angels chapter as it closed on the spaceport.

"Instructions received. Victor 58 gamma will proceed to Echo 85 Zulu. Thank you Chagoris. See you guys in a minute." the pilot's reply came over the vox.

The ground controller continued to look at his console and suddenly called out in alarm, "Large enemy formation approaching! Two formations closing in. One from Haides and another one from Port Hubris. "

"Launching ready fighters" another tech voiced out.

Suddenly, several loud explosion rocked the control tower. "What was that?" several voices asked nervously.

Then, over the vox, a stunned voice announced, "There's...err...there's orks spilling out of Victor 58 Gamma....we're under attack!" the last almost a screech.

As a result of the ill-fated raid by the Ravenwing, Chagoris Field spacceport tile was taken over by the orks of Warboss Grimfang.

Da Ruse, Da Raid, and Da Reapin'

2009-10-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

Commander Fariz leaned wearily beside the sandbagged pillar reinforcing the armorplast board, surveying the scene below the control tower, overlooking the main landing area of Port Hubris. Bulk haulers and transporters filled the scene, with scattering of navy fighters amongst them. Newly arrived troops and invaluable supplies were disembarked and hauled straight to the front lines. Ongoing repair works could be seen all around as the carnage wrought during the battle to evict the “Unclean” forces of Lord Minthras is still abundantly evident.

“Sir?” his reverie broken by a call from one of the tech-adepts manning the auspex console.

“What is it?” he queried as he hurried to the tech-adept.

“Multiple signals inbound from Haides. Some appear to be of Imperial origin while others are, um, unidentified.” The adept explained the situation.

As he was pondering on the growing situation, another call attracted his attention.

“Sir? We’ve got jamming coming our way and there seems to be a vox transmission from those signals” another adept informed him.

“Put the base on alert, inform the Lord General…” Fariz didn’t manage to finish as a clear vox garbled out, the voice obviously stressed, yet calm at the same time.

“Port Hubris, Port Hubris, this is Major Andi Kapinski of the Haides PDF. I’m inbound on your vector and I’ve got a frakking bunch of greenskins on my back.” The voice paused for a while “I have 6, I repeat, 6 haulers with me, jam-packed with refugees from Haides. We’re running out of escorts here” the last almost a yell “ Frak! There goes number 4. We’ve just lost a transport. Get us some air cover! For the love of the Emperor! Help us!” the plea almost a scream.

Fariz glanced at one of the techs and the adept nodded, “One of the Imperial signal is rapidly descending in the Southern sector, indicating emergency descent”

Without hesitation, “Scramble Blue Flight! Have Yellow Flight on Standby and prepare the flak batteries.” Fariz calmly issued his orders. Grabbing a binocular, he rushed to the balcony and scanned the sky.

Slowly, small dots interspersed with flashes appeared over the horizon. Increasing the magnification, he saw the bulky haulers come into view, some leaking smoke while tracer fire laced the sky from the buzzing ork fighters circling the transports.

As the drama continues to unfold, he began to have an uneasy feeling. Again, he searched the sky for any tell-tale sign to calm his unease. His gaze brought him back to the transports, and he realized, despite their seemingly erratic flight, they’re not badly damaged and the orks don’t seem to be hitting it at all.

“Blue Flight to Base, engaging the enemy” a vox transmission from the engaging fighters caught his attention. “Scramble the ready flight and have them escort the transports, tell them to watch out for anything suspicious” Fariz relayed another order to his aides. He put up his binoculars again and saw the ork fighters’ dog-fighting with Blue Flight even as Yellow Flight reached the transports, which had distanced themselves from their pursuers.

“This is Yellow Flight, we have eyeballs on the transports. Will pro….what the frak!” and the voice was abruptly cut off.

Flashes began to appear around the transports as Yellow Flight disintegrated under a barrage of well aimed missiles and lascannons originating from the transports themselves.

“Emperor, save us” muttered the astounded officer as he realized what is happening. This is the attack they’ve been waiting for. All those ready alerts and training simulation was for this day, and the defenders were still caught off guard.

“Sir, we’ve lost contact with the southern batteries. Outposts Beta-16 and Gamma-21 not responding to any of our hails” another aide informed him.

As alarms began to blare across the spaceport, he noticed that the transports were descending rapidly. Even as he looked up, he saw a fighta bomma plummet in a dive and loosed a speck of blackness towards the control tower. That speck continued to grow as it descended and realization filled the officer, his mind finally comprehending the big bomm coming his way. The final thing on his mind before the bomb exploded and ended his life in a fiery and violent explosion was that “Warboss Grimfang is here.”

Mission: Capture and Control
Opponent: Faizal Imperial Guard Cadian 7th Division

Strategy Cards:

Virus Bomb (Imperial Guard)
Careful Planning (Orks)

Bonuses:

Imperial Guard has an extra 100 points to spend on additional units.
Orks rolled 4+ (d6) for their command bastion and selected Fearless for the Nob bikers

The lead elements of the Cadian 7th reached the edge of the built up area and reformed from their column formation into a new battle formation. On the other side, the ork mobs began to mass and concentrate even as sporadic fighting started all over the spaceport between the greenskins and pockets of resistance.. In a panic reaction, the guardsmen released a virus bomb upon the orks. Five of the ‘ard boyz toppled with their bodies slowly dissolving into mush. Even the warboss was not spared and he could be seen coughing and wheezing after the attack.

When the virus bomb cloud cleared, the tanks of the imperial guard began to fire. Battle cannons, and Storm Eagle rockets rounds began to rain upon the milling orks. Several more boyz were blasted apart, as well as 2 of the biker nobz. The warboss was again wounded and his mood was getting blacker by the minute.

Wishing he had his regular ‘ard riding ‘an ass krushin’ nobz around him, the warboss sighed at the nobz mob surrounding him. “This bunch has just mobbed together and they sure are uppity about it” thought the warboss as he noticed the gleam of recklessness in the nobz beady eyes. “Well, I’ll just have to make do wiv dis nobz, then. At least dis bunch won’t run away crying becoz dem sure is eager to prove how gud dey is to me” the warboss mused in his head. Tossing aside any uncertainties, the huge warboss revved his engines, the nobz following suit.

With a loud cry, the warboss led his nobz across the landscape, bypassing shells of bombed out habs and warehouses, closing in on the tanks of the imperial guards. Amidst the swirling dust and smoke, the ‘ard boyz surged forward towards the enemy’s gun line and scrambled from ruins and rubbles, the Mad Dok cackling insanely as he led them forward. In preparation for the assault on the spaceport, the warboss has arranged for a surprise attack by his newly hired mercenaries, the Vulcha Boyz, led by the notorious Zagstruk. It remains to be seen if such an investment would turn out to be beneficial or not. Leaping from the antiquated Da Vulcha and deep striking in between 2 Leman Russ squadrons, the stormboyz scattered into cover, with everyone surviving the landing.

In the confusion, Snikrot led his komandos sneaked past the milling imperial guard tanks and disabled the Storm Eagle launcher on the manticore, as well as disabling the vehicle. The komandos paid for their daring and was subsequently gunned down by the alerted guardsmen. The tanks rumbled through the ruins and angled for better shots at the nob bikers, ignoring for the moment, the advancing ‘ard boyz.. Blast after blast came crashing down on the nobz and 3 more were blasted apart by shells. One of the hellhounds began to flank the ‘ard boyz and toasted some of them. The other hellhound went for the just landed stormboyz and in the rush to fire, managed to burn only 3 of them.

As the flanking hellhound unleashed its deadly payload, a mob of lootas appeared at its flank, their big shootas blazing. All the wild shooting hardly dented the armor and the meks could be seen arguing amongst themselves, blaming each other for putting paint pellets instead of black powdered AP rounds. A raggedy bunch of grots too could be seen making their way towards the ork statue behind the ruined hab complex. Left with only 3 nobz, the warboss led them into the guns of the leman Russ squadron, blowing one up in a spectacular explosion and leaving the other a burning hulk. The Mad Dok continued to urge his ‘ard boyz forward and they rapidly closed their distance to the imperial lines.

Zagstruk leapt into the air with his stormboyz in tow and they smashed into both the Leman Russ squadron and the solitary hellhound that targeted them just now. The demolisher tank was instantly crippled by Zagstruk’s klaws and the other tank in the squadron was left immobile and stunned. The hellhound fared better and escaped with barely a scratch. The lootas attempt to cripple the other hellhound in assault failed as the speeding tank easily avoided their clumsy blows.

Undaunted by the loss of his tank squadrons, the imperial guard commander ordered the chimeras toform a firing line and take down the warboss and his remaining nobz. The assaulted hellhound reversed its course and belched flame towards the lootas, killing four, yet the orks remained unshaken and continue to taunt the fleeing tank. A squad of veterans managed to outflank the nobz mob and poured fire from behind. Even the troopers inside the chimera used their fire-holes to contribute more firepower. After the blizzard of fire, the nobz were none the worse to wear as only one of them suffered a wound.

Dumbfounded by their apparent failure to stop the nobz, the newly arrived veterans did not react fast enough when the warboss came barreling towards them, his skorcha leading the way. 6 men crumpled into cinders and the rest were wounded by a single swipe of the warboss’s klaw. The remaining nobz thundered across the uneven ground recklessly and slammed into the rear of the command chimera and another chimera containing a veteran squad. The command chimera blew up, killing the officer of the fleet and another trooper. Despite the explosion, the commander managed to pick himself up and reformed his surviving command squad.

Zagstruk again led his boyz against the hellhound and this time, they also struck at the manticore damaged earlier in the battle. Zagstruk klaws tore off the hellgound’s turret and the stormboyz tossed in a couple of stikbombs into the hull. The ensuing explosion ignited the fumes and the tank easily brewed. An oily black pillar of smoke marking its demise. The dismounted crew of the manticore couldn’t defend themselves from the stormboyz and some well placed stikbombs ensured its destruction. The lootas braced themselves and let loose a fusillade of lead and whatnot into the other fleeing hellhound, stopping it in its track, smoke leaking out of its ports and slits. Soon, its highly flammable cargo caught fire and the tank was left burning furiously.

The ‘ard boyz finally made it into combat. Their victim, one of the disabled Leman Russ tank left alone by Zagstrukk. It did not take much to reduce the damaged tank into scrap metal, something that Dok Grosnik personally took care of. Elsewhere, the grots made a dash for the ork statue across the road, ducking behind cover where available.
The command squad, bereft of its transport, courageously charged the nob bikers after reducing their number to a sole biker with melta and plasma shots. Consolidating back into a crater, they await the inevitable onslaught of the ‘ard boyz. Bottled up in their transports, the remaining two veteran squads fired upon the ‘ard boyz, felling a few. The ever shrinking imperial line is now in a desperate situation.

The lootas, devoid of any viable targets decided to move up, to where the action is. The grots finally reached the statue and milled around it, looking confused, and out of breath. The ‘ard boyz called upon Da Green and declared a Waaargh! that propelled them through dangerous and difficult ground straight into the sides and rear of the disabled chimera. Infused with furious rage, the blows from the average choppas penetrated the armored skin of the vehicle, wrecking it permanently in many places. The unlucky veterans inside managed to disembark, saved by the orks attention on their doomed transport.

Zagstruk again leapt into the air, this time at great speed, causing one of the boyz to tumble from the sky as his rocket pack overheated and blew up, much to the amusement of the mob. This time his target was the remaining chimera. In no time, Zagstruk’s klaws easily ripped its armor, leaving the vehicle a twisted wreck. The veterans inside too had the misfortune to disembarked with enemies all around, yet they remained steadfast and did not panic.

The company commander, seeing the desperate situation he is in, stepped up to his men and issued “First rank fire! Second rank fire!” on one of the veteran squad. Falling back on their discipline, the veterans steadily took aim and unleashed a firestorm of lasgun shots at the approaching ‘ard boyz. Meltaguns added their fury to the mix and 10 were felled by the volley. Half of those groggily stood up after being brutally slapped and patched up by the Mad Dok. The other veteran squad picked on the stormboyz as their target and reduced the mob to just 4, including Zagstruk himself. Unfazed by his losses, Zagstruk ignored the annoying veterans and hunted for the imperial commander.

Scrambling over terrain and wrecks alike, the ‘ard boyz slammed into both veteran squads like a veritable avalanche, sweeping all before them, with a few losses of their own. The trampled, butchered bodies of the guardsmen ample evidence of the brutal bloodlust inherent within the boyz.

The commander suddenly found his escape route blocked by four rocket packs totting orks. One of them a big brute and the suddenness of the attack left the officer with no time to avoid his death as Zagstruk’s klaw crashed into his carapace helmet, straight to his skull, crushing it. His refractor field was too weak to deflect such brutal assault and his carapace suit might as well had been paper for all its worth. Dismayed at the loss of their leader, the surviving guardsmen were easily dispatched by the rest of the stormboyz. The assault ending as suddenly as it had begun.

With bloodlust still in their system, it was some time before the orks realized that there were no more enemies to fight. All the defenders of Port Hubris had either fallen on the battlefield or had fled from it. The spaceport is in orks hand! The cries of Waaaaarrrgghhh! and accompanying dakkadakka noise could be heard reverberating from the vicinity of Port Hubris for some time after that battle between the orks and its imperial guard defenders.

“Dats sum fight!” Warboss Grimfang muttered as he surveyed the scene of the Imperial Guard’s last stand. Numerous burnt out wreck littered the edge of the spaceport, testimony of their crews’ brave, but ultimately futile effort to stem the mobz.

As the warboss sat astride his big ride, a modified mek-special work based around an ultramarine bike, one of his nobz called for his attention. “Boss, dat Zagstrukk fella coming dis way.”

Looking up, as he is nursing the bloodied scar along his arm, the warboss could see the stormboyz boss striding towards him in his unique gait, courtesy of his bionic klaws.

“’ere boss, here’s sumfink speshul fer da boss.” Zagstruk grinned evilly as he dumped a pile of meat and clothing across Grimfang’s bar handles.

“wotzit?” the warboss looked the ‘thing’ over and poked his finger at it. It’s obviously dead, if nothing else.

“Dats da umie bossman, boss, hur, hur, hur.” Zagstruk explained.
A bright gleam appeared in warboss Grimfang as understanding dawned. “Ark, ark, ark. Dats gud. Too bad yer didn’t save me da head.”

Zagstruk merely shrugged at that comment and left the warboss to admire his newly acquired “trophy”.

Result: Ork victory (2-0 objectives), in addition, the imperial guard force was totally annihilated.

As a consequence, Port Hubris is now under Greenskin management (They are calling it Grot’s ‘Arbor)

Suprise Attack!

2009-10-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

"Youz lots! Getz up dere! Find yerself some gubbin' spot and start balstin'! Warboss Grimfang bellowed at the lootas hastily scrambling up the rickity construction, trying to gain some vantage point from which they hope to deliver some orky retribution.

Rushing past his nobz, Grimfang could see Da Dok's 'ard boyz rushing headlong towards the oncoming eldar. Grinning to himself, he waved for the nobz to follow him as they turbo-boosteed right across the settlement, kicking up dust and gravel.

Two deff koptas dashed groggily across the eldar gunline and was brought down by the seer council on jetbikes. All the shots seemingly hit, despite the speed the koptas were travelling and each causing a wound, despite their toughness. As both plummeted to the ground, Snikrot and his komandos unveiled themselves from the ashes and immobilized a fire prism. The grots arrived from the central camp and headed off to join the lootas (and cover!)

Grimfang and his nobz again turbo-boosted nearer to the eldar line, the prospect of close combat tantalizing near. With a fevered bloodlust, the 'ardboyz crashed into the seer council, taking one down for the lost of 2 of their own. Undaunted, the eldar struck back with uncanny percision as a newly arrived dire avenger squad took on the komandos. Aided by the disabled prism, the komandos were wiped out. A far shot from the wave serpent took down a grot, despite the cover.

In the continuing melee between the seer council and the 'ard boyz, both sides were drawn.

With a relish, the nobz descended on the dire avengers and the immobilized prism. The dire avengers were run down while the prism was left a mangled wreck. Across the field, a lucky shot from the lootas penetrated deep into the power core of another prism, blowing it apart despite its vaunted holo-fields and fortuned saves, the debris scattering far and wide.

Things were looking grim for the seer council as another rider was pulled down and the farseer himself left with one wound. Despite losing combat, their fearless state left the 'ardboyz mindless of their own casualties. Then, the guardian jetbikes arrived to try and tip the favor towards the eldar. Jetting past the landscape, they closed to the lootas position.

The surviving eldar vehicles too closed on the lootas position, killing one. Detecting the threat presented by the newly arrived jetbikes, the lootas let loose and killed 3 of the riders. The survivors did not loose their nerve and pressed on the attack. Again, Grimfang led his nobz on a turbo-boost ride towards the fleeing eldar vehicles, positioning themselves behind the vehicles. The drawn combat between the seer council and the 'ard boyz finally came to an end as both the farseer and remaining warlock was swamped by sheer press of numbers.

The remaining guardian positioned their jetbikes to fire on the grots but failed to do any significant harm, killing just one of the weedy grot. with precision, the guardians retreated their bikes out of the lootas sight behind a pillar of rock. The eldar witch Eldrad and his accompanying dire avengers disembarked from their wave serpent even as the fir dragons from the nearby Falcon too disembarked.

With eloquent movement and grace, the Eldrad cast upon the painboy within the nobz Mind war. the overwhelming attack proved too much on the ork and he tumbled from his bike, lifeless. In a hail of fire, the dire avengers unleashed their blade storm and the fire dargons too unleashed their melta fury on the nobz. in the aftermath, several of the nobz were sporting bloody gashes, even Grimfang sported an ugly burn across his forearm.

With all eyes on the oncoming angry nobz, the lootas took aim on the idling falcon and punched through its thrusters coil, immobilizing it. With vengeance in their eyes, the nobz toasted the dire avengers, leaving the exarch alone to face the coming onslaught. Even Eldrad was not spared, but survived to continued the fight. The exarch and the wave serpent they were travelling on became history when the nobs were done.

Despite having fortuned himself, Eldrad could not possibly survived the many blows coming his way and the great seer was laid low. Silent fell on the battlefield as the remaining jetbikes retreated and the crew of the downed falcon made their way to safety across enemy ground. They've been spared, but the cost of this misadventure is too high for a race that is dying.

"Dats it??! Dats all dey 'ave? Wot panzies! grimaced Warboss grimfang as he plucked a helmeted head from one of the fallen eldar. "Oi! Bugzboltz! Get me a Transmishun to da Vile Minthras! 'an I mean Now! Souz git!" pointing at his senior Big Mek with his power klaw.

Planetfall!

2009-10-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

Da orks 'ave arrived on Arenxis Minoris!

Siding with the chaos forces already on planet, the ork Warboss, Grimfang Blacktoof has agreed to aid the Vile Chaos Lord Minthras to rid the planet of all imperium forces and their allies. In return, the chaos lord has promised a bounty of rare teeth as well as the chance to fight some of the Imperium's finest!

Making a crash landing on Haides continent, the ork contingent hastily prepared a shantytown from which they will strike out. This base of operations of sorts was just completed when lookouts reported shadowy silhouettes moving closer towards the ork's base.

With a hastily assembled force, Warboss Grimfang leads his boyz into their first battle on Arenxis Minoris... (Read the battle report soon)

After Raya Gaming

2009-09-28T01:59:00.000-07:00

Back from AidilFitri and straight to the gaming tables! Wow!

I came back to KL on Thursday and was back in action at Legio on Friday. This time, da boyz met Alvin's Alpha Legion and managed to scrape off a close victory (1-0 objectives) The warboss was everywhere, holding da boyz together as the legion tried to advance. Dok Grosnik was put down along with da 30 'ard boyz, but they managed to hold da twin Lords, terminators and a squad of CSM for some time, enough for the nob bikers to destroy an oblit squad, a havoc squad, a csm squad, and a land raider.

Da deff koptas destroyed a rhino before being sent off the battlefield by the Ac toting havoc squad. The lootas didn't do much damage, just destroying a rhino and causing some wounds here and there. Both da twin Lords were taken down by da 'ard boyz and Dok Grosnik and the warboss took care of the last terminator who was threatening the grots. the nob bikers managed to destroy the last csm squad before running off da board hahaha.

In the end, the grots hunkered down behind cover and secured the objective. Victory!

In the next game, the mob met Khairul's Saim Hann Eldar. A very fast and mobile army with a seer council mounted on jetbikes. In the beginning of the battle, the eldar force redeployed some of their units and in the opening salvo, targeted the deffkoptas and 'ard boyz.

The biker nobz promptly retreIn the next turn, eldar reinforcements arrived and cut down the lootas. Luckily for the mob, the lootas stayed put and did not flee. Eldar shooting continued to cut down the number of 'ard boyz and the seer council moved forward. In the ork's turn, Snikrot turned up and assaulted the guardian jetbikes while dok Grosnik led the 'ard boyz in a Waarg! against the seer council. Warboss Grimfang moved up his nob bikers to support Grosnik's charge.

The guardian jetbikes were overrun while the dire avengers stood their ground under a hail of loota fire. the combat with the seer council was a draw but the farseer leading the group died under a power klaw. The next turn saw Eldrad coming out from his Wave Serpent and called upon his formidable psychic powers on the warboss and painboy inside the nob bikers squad. The painboy was overwhelmed but the hardy warboss merely suffered a wound.

Enraged, the nobs went on to toast the accompanying dire avengers and assaulted the remaining eldar surrounding Eldrad. Eldrad was crushed underfoot and his wave serpent lost its lance weapon. on another side of the battlefield, a duel was going on between the remaining lootas and dire avengers. In the end, the lootas prevailed, with only 3 survivors left, all hefting big shootas.

In the following turn, the grots made their appearance. The remaining lootas took potshots at the rear of a nearby prism and wrecked it, despite its holo field. The combat revolving around the seer council finally ended and the eldar were unseated from their jetbikes by the unrelentless choppas of the orks.

Further assaults against the remaining eldar vehicles didn't wreck them. although one was immobilised and the orks carried the day with 7-1 KP score.

Soon, the boyz will be involved in the struggle on Arenxis Minoris as well as Legio's own 3rd season league. How will they fare?

Aidilfitri is Here!

2009-09-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

Aidilfitri is here again!

So, happy celebrations to all my muslim bros and sisters.

May we return to a better and bashful Waarrgh! after this holidays.

On another note, I had a game with Rizal's 5th Ultramarine company at Legio on Friday. It was a 5 marker seize ground mission with pitch battle deployment. He had 3 land raider and tried to cover all the objectives from the get go. This split of his forces enabled my boyz to dominate a flank and turned on the rest as the game progressed. In the end, it was victory for the mob with a 2-0 victory.

Da Boyz Back!

2009-09-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

Warboss Grimfang resumed his Waagh! recently and plouged through human and heretics alike in his quest for a good fight.

1. Seize Ground (4 markers) win vs Nahri's IG

Nahri fielded his fledgling IG army and was still learning the ropes. His troopers appeared a bit "lost" and despite all the firepower thrown at them, my Nob bikerz managed to survive until game ends (albeit with only 3 survivors). His Marbo provided some ciinematic moments when he survived a round of combat against the 'ard boyz by making all his saves and refusing to run (double 1s') when defeated. Truly heroic!

My move-and-shoot big shootas caught him offguard and they wiped out his platoon command squad in a single round of shooting. The game ended on turn 5 with all his survivors running from the battlefield.

2. Seize Ground (3 markers) draw vs Shazli's Ultramarines

Shaz played differently this time. A consequence of some postings on multiply. It was a fun game and I suffered some bad rolls early in the game. My lootas and deffkoptas were destroyed without doing anything while the 'ardboyz were being toyed with by the scouts who lured them away from the main fight.

The biker nobz arrive on turn 4 and saved the day. from a defeat, they pulled it to a draw. Shaz lose focus halfway through the game and Warboss Grimfang pounced on him for that. If he keeps this up, he'll have a very good list in hand for any opponent.

3. Annihilation win vs Lexiss's CSM

My lootas distracted his attention from my bikers and 'ardboyz. His style of clumping his units close together made them vulnerable when the boyz launched their assault. I think he made a bad decision when placing the oblits. Added to that, Kharn managed to slay 3 of his own when he charged into combat.

Snikrot easily took down the havoc squad while the csm squad was gunned down by the nob bikers and komandos! Grosnik himself gained a plating from the chaos land raider when it blew up after his power klaw ripped it apart.

The higlight to me was when Lex tank shocked my deffkoptas and killed them both (twice tank shock, made death or glory and failed!) haha. In the end, only his raptors and that lucky rhino survived while i only lost those two deffkoptas.

hope to put in more games after Aidilfitri.

Raising A troop, 201st Squadron, RGKD

2009-09-10T01:35:00.000-07:00

It is the month of September and Muslims all around the world started fasting since the middle of last month. This month, I've began work on my new IG army. Based on a friend's advice, I've decided to complete the army according to the choice selection, (e.g.: HQ, ELITES, etc.).

At the moment, I'm working on my Company command Squad, with its attendant advisors. Orders for the new models to fill up the ranks have been made with deliveries expected somewhere in November or December, courtesy of Roll Some Dice.

Anyways, this is my new list:

HQ
Company command squad
Regimental standard, medic, meltagun, heavy flamer
2 bodyguards, astropath, officer of the fleet

Primaris Psyker

ELITES
5 Stormtrooper
2 meltagun

Soldier Marbo

TROOPS
10 veterans (grenadiers)
2 plasmagun
1 meltagun
1 lascannon

Chimera

10 veterans (grenadiers)
3 meltagun

10 veterans (grenadiers)
2 plasmagun
1 meltagun

Platoon command squad
autocannon

Infantry squad
grenade launcher
autocannon

Infantry squad
grenade launcher
auticannon

Special weapon squad
3 grenade launcher

FAST ATTACk
Valkyrie
Multiple rocket Pod

Vendetta

Vendetta

1750 Points; 14/15 Kill Points; 6/7 Scoring units

Finally, I get to build the kind of army I like. How it'll fare on the battlefield, only time will tell...

Ramadan & Gaming to come!

2009-08-19T02:49:00.000-07:00

Ramadan is here!Another month of fasting and self contemplating, and cleansing.

On another front, Legio is starting a league soon (season 3) and in November, the much anticipated Legio tournament, The Inquisition Wars. A few of us did get together to discuss possibility of running a Mighty Empires campaign. It's still in the works but we hope to get it off the ground in at least 2 weeks time.
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Apparently, the local gaming group here is keen to not see a certain ork army and Csm army win anymore leagues or tourneys. I'm sure they'll step up their efforts and I will get to see some fierce fighting soon. Waaarggh!

Da Waargh! is Back!

2009-08-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

Had my first WH40k in so many weeks last friday at Legio. I had the opportunity to play against Shazli's Ultramarines and Lex's CSM. Grimfang managed to pull 2 victories that night. In the fight versus the sons of Gulliman, the greenskin managed to overwhelm the SM with an astounding 10 kill points to 1(Snikrot's komandos). Shaz is restarting too so, I'll expect him to be better in the weeks to come.

In my second game, I fought Lex (this was our first meeting on the tabletop), he suffered very badly from his reserves roll, with his units coming in piece meal and his most important unit arriving in turn 5! It was a 1 + 1 mission and by game's end, all his troops were dead, including Angra (counts as Abbadon), with the exception of the land raider, which become the sole survivor. I lost my warboss and majority of my biker nobz and Snikrot's mob (again)

My third game was on saturday against Alvin's Alpha Legion. it was my first time fighting him using his CSM. Last time we met, he was using tyranids. It was a killpoint mission and I had an uphill task of getting to his units, which was surrounded by marines, oblits, terminators, havoks and twin chaos lords in mutually supporting positions. In the end, we drew. it was a narrow fight in the end but the oblits refused to die and we tied at 6 kill points apiece. my biker nobs were decimated and fled off the table. I attribute this dismal performance to lack of focus and lack of sleep on my part.

On the painting side, I've completed my lootas and Shaz commented they look bright and colorful, very Orky! I've repaired the broken boyz and grots and have only 3 more bikers to paint and basing for the biker nobz to finish for my army to be completely done. On the side, Shaz has proposed a themed apoc game somewhere in December and I get to play the role of neutral arbiter/organizer for this event. I've toyed around with several ideas and drafted a suggestion to shaz for him to look over. Once we've decided on what type of scenario we're playing, we'll go into detailed planning. watch out for more news on this.

Back to Waarggh!

2009-08-03T02:15:00.000-07:00

Now that the Warhammer tourney is over, I'm turning my attention back to the Greenies. I intend to finish off the army that was meant for SPORECON '09 and have them ready for the upcoming Legio RTT in November. As of the moment, only the Nob bikers and Lootas need any real work on them, while the rest are mostly done already.

1st Legio Warhammer Fantasy Tournament

2009-08-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

Wow!What a day!

I made it through the day despite lacking sleep as I pushed myself to paint up my empire army. Now, I can be proud of my painted army and look forward to my next warhammer project. How did I fare? Okay I guess, considering that most of the participants from Singapore came with strong army builds. I got massacred once, lose one and gained a minor victory. I was listed in the bottom half, but I intend to get better next time.

For a full result, go check out Legio site.

Restarting Again

2009-07-13T04:19:00.000-07:00

Whew!After being dormant for so many months, my fantasy armies are seeing the light again! I had my first game in (I can't remember how long), it was a re-learning process for me as I slowly work out the rustiness in me.

I tried out my 2000 points dwarves against Shazli's borrowed Empire army. The game highlighted some forgotten facts about WHFB for me and showed Shazli the difference found in WHFB as compared to whats in WH40K. Later, I managed to roped in Peter for another game. This time around, its aggainst his Bretonnian army.

The massed knights were daunting in the least and had I not played using my Empire army, he would've run circles around me. I see Peter eventually getting the hang of the game in the not so distant future and his knights did quite some damage when they reached combat.

Both games were fun, and it really struck me that I'm not prepared for the coming Legio Tournament. Aside from my models not being completely painted, my mindset and rules knowledge is badly in need of revision. So, in the coming weeks up to the tournament, I'll be busy preparing my army (at the moment, it's Empire) for battle.

Now, I've painted up my marksman from the handgunners unit. So, only the basing is left for these guys. I did some checking and most of the units need a bit of touching up to do before I can field them in battle. Both knight units need to have their shields glued on, the same for the characters. I might need to rebuild my crossbowmen with the newer frames to get better looking poses, while the outriders just needs a good paintjob with some conversion on the champion. The rest of the army is ready (minus the basing).

I spent the night looking over stuff. I also put together 5 new crossbowmen using the new frames. I found my mortar and has packed it in the army box. Incidently, I also found my dwarven anvil of doom model. So, maybe tonight I'll paint up some of the shields for the knights. I will also be shopping for some basing materials tonight. (07/15/09)

Finally decided on the list for me to take to battle. It will be roughly the 'ol Erickheim list with addition of the steam tank. I still need too properly use the tank, especially with regards to its charge arc. I took out my pistoliers and rely on the outriders to hold one of the flanks. My wizards are good, especially tooled like they are now, and could spring a nasty suprise to an unsuspecting enemy. (07/19/09)

Another day of battle! Unfortunately, my time for gaming this weekend is short. I went to Legio and had a game with Kadir's Dark elves. Having never fought against a dark elf army before, I jumped into battle hoping for the best. It was a slow game for both of us as we're regularly refering to the rule book for some particular circumstances and whatnot. Thankfully, Jospoon was around to help out a bit. Anyways, in the end, my empire army was soundly beaten. I attribute the defeat to my lack of knowledge about dark elves capabilities and having the wrong units face off against wrong enemy units. With this lttle insight on dark elven army composition, I hope to do better whhen next I face versus a dark elf army.

On another note, my preparation for the upcoming tournament is slowly underway. With less than a week to prepare, I have these to do:
1. prime all my unpainted models (some crossbowmen and the outrider's horsess)
2. assemble and paint the steam tank (which I got today)
3. put shields (painted ones!) on models that are supposed to carry them (knights)
4. basing with sand and static grass for the entire army

So, I had better speed up my work if I were to compete. (07/24/09)

Drums of War!

2009-07-02T02:29:00.001-07:00

Legio Malaysia is organizing a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Tournament on the 1st of August 2009. It'll be the first fantasy event for Legio. I'm definitely in. Although I dearly love to briing forth my Orks and Goblins Army, I have to be realistic enough to realise that I can't finish them in time for the event,

So, I'm entering the tournament with a Dwarven throng. My empire army I've loaned out to Shazli, to enable him to participate. This is really exciting as I haven't fought a fantasy battle for some time now. The rules will need to be read and familliarized again.

The expected turnout, according to Jeff, would be around 10-14 players. Vampire Counts looks strong, as well as the new Dark Elves and Lizardmen. It'll be great to play against these new incarnations of good armies. Some of the expected armies include Dwarves, Empire, Bretonnians, Ogre Kingdoms, Chaos, Dark Elves and Lizardmen.

I've written my army list, and I've prepped the neccessary models. Now, all that needs doing is to finish painting them in time for battle. For Glory of the Hold!

My New "Haven"

2009-07-01T05:07:00.000-07:00

Hi folks! For those who know me, this is my blog for all things wargaming, and, as the title might suggests, anything else that I think should be here. May it prosper and be lively!