Back at Legio!

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!

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...

Getting slow???

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!

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

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

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

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.

Nimphora VII Turn 3-Beginning of the End

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!

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...

Nimphora VII Campaign-Turn 2: Tremors Underneath

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

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

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

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!

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!

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.

Starting on the SCARS

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

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

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.

The Inquisition Wars

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.

Gathering Materials

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.