Saturday, 14 November 2015

X-wing Mat Unboxing video - Darksun life vol. 6

So, I've finished my latest vlog. It's a custom design that I got printed at an Italian printing company. I thought I'd do a vlog review of the mat, check it out here:



I found a design from http://www.thewolvesglade.co.uk/blog/ all credit goes to guy there. They are his designs, and it's his idea to go to that site!

The Italian printing site is: https://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/wide-format/printing-banners-mesh/

Next week I'll be showing of the yt-2400 in that video :)

Thursday, 12 November 2015

Unit Reviews From Blog Wars X: Winners and Loosers

I thought I'd review the performances of my units from BWX. You can watch a vlog here that details how I got on at the tournament. 

As a whole my army performed quite well, but some units did better than others. Some of my units were probably a dead weight, at least in terms of the armies that I faced, or how they performed.

The Guys (thanks mike for taking the photo!)





Telion - loser
My "sudo vindicare" gave away first strike twice! Twice! And the other game I don't think he caused a wound. Admittedly, one of the times he died he took the chaos deamon warp storm table to the face, but he underperformed. In a practice game he earns his place by killing nurglings. I'm still tempted by Marneaus Calgar.

Librarian - loser
But in addition to Telion giving away first strike, my librarian gave away warlord in the two games I won by blowing his own head of! The second time he did that, he also took a grav centurion with him! Useful for a bit of preseince, but I'm thinking about taking him out tbh. And maybe trying a bike captain.

Scouts & landspeeder storm - winner
Easily justified their cost. Gave me speed and objective secured, as well as holding my left flank in the draw until the 4th turn. Even then they only folded because they got charged by a greater daemon. If I'd of remembered in the 3rd game I could have got more points by using them better as well.

Tactical squad, with missile launcher, melta, combi melta and drop pod - winner
I was going to say that they didn't do a lot but hen I remembered that the one guy left alive was the whole reason I drew with Dan. His contesting of that central objective meant that I didn't loose that game :). None of the armies I faced classified a melta drop pod as a threat, but creative use in all three games meant that they got me line breaker (twice) and claimed a couple of points in mission 3.

2 squads of grav gun bikes. (3 bikes per squad) - winner
One of the strong performers in every game. In the first game, One squad deleted a trygon prime in a single shooting phase. In the second game they were also instrumental in the draw, helping to clear plaguebearers from my home objective and reclaim it. They were a massive bonus in the third game, giving me speed and shooting to take out two units of obliterators. As with BW9, the bikes repaid their selection.
10 sternguard in a drop pod, with 2 combi meltas, 2 combi plasmas and a lightning claw - winner
A unit that probably overperformed in the first game, was badly used in the second and in the third hit once and hard. Overall, they justified selection. In the first game, they killed a flying give tyrant and some Gaunts. In the second game, they killed nothing. (I probably should of gone for a different target!) In the third game, they dropped down, killed typhus and then got eaten by Chaos spawn and a helldrake. A good inclusion. Predictably used, but a reliable and strong addition.

Grav centurions in a drop pod - winner
This unit again had a varied experience. In the first game, their pod scattered back towards my deployment. This meant that they couldn't shoot first turn, but did end up killing hive guard, tyrant guard and the swarmlord. They turned a refused flank into a wall of death all by themselves. In the second game, as with most of my units they didn't do a great deal. They punched some chaos spawn in combat but hat was about it.

In the third game, they were amazing. Took out a land raider, a unit of chaos terminators, a chaos librarian and a helldrake. And only the raider was before the librarian blew his own head off, taking one of them with him. They made it impossible for my opponent to come towards me.
I think having them in a drop pod is excellent. Partly because it means my opponent can't pinpoint where they are going to be as easily in the setup, and then if I loose or don't have first turn they are protected.
 
Devastators 3x missile launcher, 1x lascannon
Again, a unit that piled on well i was doing well, and didnt turn the balance when i wasnt doing well. i dont know if these guys are worth it tbh. They cement my backline, and help with anti tank, but i was never in a sitaution where i thought "man im really glad i have these devastators." tbh, even in my most recent practice games they havent been pulling thier weight. Maybe i should try without them.

Lord commissar and guard blob squad with two Flamers - unsure
Overall, these guys held a space. In the first game, they held a flank against Gaunts and in the third game they infiltrated near some obliterators and then ran against them shooting (and killed one or two). In the second game, they did a job defensively in that they absorbed a charge (and then died).  The model count in my army would be very low of it wasn't for these guys, and they have the potential to absorb firepower because there is so many of them. But they don't contribute offensively very often.

Platoon command squad with four Flamers - Winner
These guys did very little, but they are outrageously good when they work. For 50 points you get for flamer templates and you could put them in a drop pod if you wanted since the one the centurions ride in is from the fast attack slot.

Stormtroopers - looser
These guys did not a lot. They got me line breaker in the second game, but in the first and third games they didn't do an awful lot. Maybe I didn't use them well in the third game, I tried to use the to kill a helldrake after all. I'm not sure if I'll keep them in.

Squadron of 2 wyverns - winner
These guys are probably my MVP. in the first game, they killed about 30 gaunts, including most of a 20 man unit of gargoyles. In the second game, their kills got me first strike and the draw, killing a unit of plaguebearers and a unit of nurglings. In the third game, they did actually die, but not before they eliminated my opponent's objective holding units of plague zombies, and most of a unit of chaos spawn. They are a key part of the "walk through your comrades corpses to get to me" strategy. So yes, definitely my MVP. 

Conclusions
Overall, these are my top 3 units from each side. im now thinking about addressing these going forwards, shifting the focus a bit. but i need to make sure its not just done on form. as they say, form is temporary, but class is permanent.  

Winners:
1: Wyerns
2: Grav Bikes (seriously better than i expected!)
3: Grav centurions (i know they get called a bit of a crutch, but they arent a knight or a superheavy.)

Loosers:
1: Devastators
2: Telion
3: Librarian (who doesnt normally blow his own head of but was useless on the day.



Sunday, 8 November 2015

Vlog 5: Blog wars X tournament report

So! Here is my vlog of our experiences at the north west gaming centre on Saturday. 10 of use went from Leicester sabres to Blog Wars X, a tournament run by Alex at From the Fang. 

He's just put the standings up, and I came 11th. Annoyingly, just outside the top 10, but I had a really great three great games, and came 2nd in one of the painting competitions. So a pretty good day! It was the last blog wars, meaning that of the 18 games I played at blog wars, I only lost the first one at blog wars 3. Since then, I've not lost! Winning 14 and drawing 3. Click today's video to find out how I did this time :)

Ill follow up with a couple of unit reviews this week - for now enjoy the video!

Thursday, 5 November 2015

X-wing repaints series - episode 1



One of the things in my long absence from writing on this blog I took up was the X-wing miniatures game. I've mentioned before why I like it so much, and one the major bonuses for many people (myself included) is that the ships are painted. 

However, as part of my heart is as a hobbyist I wanted to try my hand at repaints. In this series I will showcase my repaints of various models. I view this as a long term thing - I'd like to repaint all of my models but so far I'm at about 50%. Part of the reason for repainting them is that I want them to look a little bit like spaceships that get used! I feel like the paint jobs that occur "out of the box" have a way to parade ground feel. 


The first ship I wanted to show you is a b-wing. With a lot of my Rebel ships, I have chosen to paint them with red markings. I like the way that themes then together. Obviously the inspiration is red/rogue squadron, but I know that doesn't fit within the canon. 


I've painted this b-wing broadly following the pre-painted markings, just making sure that I emphasise the pipes/wiring that runs across the wings. The trickest bit was not painting over the  pipes on the wings when painting the red, and vice versa. Although when I say tricky, I don't mean shooting a whomp rat tricky. I have another two of these on the go st the moment, but the my aren't finished yet.


The other offering for the episode if one of my A-wings. The white stipe is to differentiate between ships, and also helps denote the elite pilot, should one be a higher PS than the other.  I'm really pleased with the engines on these guys. They glow a little bit, just like I want them too.


I have most of the rebel ships, and whilst A-wings aren't super competitive they are the most fun ship to fly. They've got a lot of good manevuers available, and the auto thrusters card has really given them another lease of life.

The one thing I'd love advice on is what to strip the paint off with? These guys are painted straight over, and they do begin to loose a bit of their detail. Any suggestions?

Sunday, 1 November 2015

Blog Wars X Unit Reviews - Darksun Life Vol 4

So, in a change to the advertised vlog (I will get to the x-wing one I promise, I’m just having more difficulties putting it together than I thought I would!) I’ve decided to vlog some of the units from my army that I’m taking to Blog Wars X!


It’s difficult to fit all of my 1850 point army into a short Vlog, but in summary it hasn’t change very much since last time. So still drop pods and Sternguard. The one change is that I’ve swapped Coteaz out for some imperial guard. Gives me a few more men, allows me to bulk up my line a bit.



My personal highlight from our practice games this weekend was Telion facing off against Ezekiel and half a tactical squad. He died eventually in combat, but because he died in my turn (after sniping Ezekiel the previous turn, resisting having his mind turned to jelly and then club a Tac marine to death in combat) Toph didn’t get the maelstrom points for that card.


Press play to enjoy! Feel free to comment below as well - is there anything you’d like to see me vlog in the future?

Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Star Wars X-wing miniatures game


(Me coming third at a recent event - although in Loughborough I'm still 5 wins 8 losses for X-wing!)

So long term readers of this blog will remember project far far away (where I converted and made a full Star Wars imperial guard army, including X-wing vendettas! Check out the far far away tag for more on that.) so it may only come as a surprise to me that I now play the X-wing miniatures game. 

As a kid I have to confess it was Star Trek, Stargate and then Star Wars in that order. But as I've grown up Star Wars has become much more prominent in my mindset. I still love the other two, but it's funny because I think Star Wars is probably the most socially acceptable. 

My #1 favourite thing about the game is how tight the ruleset is. They are constant evolving it, but the original ships in the original boxed set are still viable options. There is not a lot of room for misinterpretation or rules abuse, and when there is something I've noticed that FFG fix it reasonably quickly. 

My #2 thing is that it's so easy to learn and play. For a 40k player, it's almost like just playing settlers or something like that. There is a lot less to keep track of than munchkin for example. You're literally picking the template that corresponds to the thing you pick on your dial. No moving. That extra inch, or debating what's gone line of sight. 

The #3 thing that a lot of people mention is the fact that the ships are pre-painted! For me, I'd agree but u actually really enjoy painting them :) check out the blog later this week (probly the weekend) for a vlog showing some of them off!

There are a bunch  of other things, but to be honest the main one for me is the players. Even at the most competitive levels I've experienced, where prizes dished out by the manufacturer are stake (unlike 40k I hasten to add) there is never anything like the bad manners that I've experienced in 40k. It's so much nicer. Even thou it's a high standard of play, it's a high standard of sportsmanship as well. How refreshing. 

I'm taking my new, force awakens core set to blog wars to intro somebody, but should have a 100 point fleet with me as well. If you're around the night before and up for it, then let me know. Happy to run a larger intro game, or even get in a game :)

Saturday, 24 October 2015

The blog returns! With Space Marine Bikes

So, a long time no blog. In the time that I haven't blogged, the following has happened:
 - I've got married
- I got 2 new jobs (I now work for the Church of England)
- I've moved house 3 times and we have really noisy neighbours in the current place
- there have been two space marine codexes
- 7th edition happened
- I help out at my church youth group
- I now play X-wing 
- I now play bolt action
- I've been to various tournaments: Several blog wars, student nationals, X-wing tournaments, X-wing championships 
- I came third at a couple of tournaments (student nationals and an X-wing tournament)
- I came 4th at blog wars 8

Space marine bikes!


So tonight's blog is about bikes I'm painting for blog wars. Above there is pic, but below there is a video! I'm getting back into this blog partly because I want to try Vlogging. It's a good place to host the blogs & vlogs I'm hoping it will be successful. So here is the first attempt:


I read quite a lol if blogs and need to give a lot of credit to Michael  (http://standwargaming.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1), Dave (http://40kaddict.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1) and Alex (http://fromthefang.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1) for giving me good blogs to read! I'm hoping to contribute to the blogosphere now as well!