Battle By the Beach Fundraiser

Well T-minus 18hours until the Battle By the Beach fundraiser for DefCon begins and good lord its been a tough week with still so much to do. Before work tonight I must finish this damn Black Templar Commander for the auction otherwise I'll never fogive myself...well I might considering I really want to keep it...darn. Everyone else seems to be doing the same, licks of paint on old models here, re-gluing there preparing rules for games. Goodness, we are on thin ice here.

We hope to get a good amount of money tomorrow from the various events we have planned: the Battle by the Beach itself, which is our big tank battle with some pesky input from the Last Chancers throughtout the day, an Eldar v Necrons Kill Team (yes, remember 4th edition??) table which is looking awesome, speed painting and blind painting. The death race table being set up by Fraser is spectacular and I adore the rule-set he;s come up with. Oh and the character bash will be good times too.

Tomorrow I'll post up some pictures from the event, just to get the juices flowing for some people who are interested. In the meantime, here's mr unfinished who I'll be putting in the auction, pardon the sub-par camera being used by the good digital has picked today to die.

Not quite finished...


More to come.

Def

DefCon Logo Update

DC Progress #1

So first DefCon post XD.

Crazy week, emailing GW and the local council, however it seems we have the situation with both in an amicable place which is always good. Our initial goal of 30th August seems a little pie in the sky at the moment, so myself and the team are now considering sometime in early October. A bit of a blow, but hey, you take your lumps.

We'll be holding our Battle By the Beach fundraising event in the 27th June in Ayr and so far there has been a great response from the local gaming community. Hopefully it will turn out to be a great day.

Finally, in this short update, I need to thank my old mate Andrew who has kindly taken it upon himself to do the artwork for the event, so here is his initial WIP.

More to come.

Def

Announcing DefCon 09

Well hasn't it been a while yet again. However, this time I have a tangiable excuse.

About 3 weeks ago I pitched an idea to the club, and boy, did they love it. So Blogger folks, I present to you for the first time...


DefCon 09, is a 1500pts tournament for Warhammer 40,000, with particular emphisis from the event being on the experience of the tournament player his/her experience. The event will be played over a single day with 3 games deciding the winner.

DefCon will take place on the 30th August 2009 in the Citadel Leasure Centre in Ayr, Scotland, tickets being priced at £20 per player. Don't worry folks, you get some bang for your buck, there will be prize support ;)

If you are in the area and can come along, I highly reccomend it as we are are putting out heart and soul into this tourney :)

More to come.

Calling all Scots and Northern England/Irish gamers!

Right, now, this is a bit of a lead on from my news post, regarding GW's exit from the Tournament scene in the US. On the back of this decision, so the rumour goes, GW are also going to be pulling out of the Conflict scene in the UK. No great loss as I'm sure you'll agree, those of you who attended Conflict Scotland this year will remember the poor organisation of the tournament, especially the farse that occured with the second 40k game (40 minute time limit for a doubles game? What the hell?!). The problem is now, for those of us outside Nottingham who are perhaps unable to attend GT have NO significant tournament scene outside local run club games.

My idea, came on the way back from CS. I believed that gamers could run a better tournament if they had the drive to make a great day. Hell, look at the US and Australian independant scene, some of the best gaming in the world happens there!

So, for those in the UK and Eire, i have a few questions for you:

1) How willing would you be to travel to the west of Scotland for a tourney covering all GW main games with the inclusion of battles and games for spectators, along with GD-esque painting comps and other such goodness.

2) How many points per system would be acceptable for a 1 and a half hour game - 3 of which will be played.

3) How important is a "Gladiator" style event, and would you wish one? (Adepticon style).

4) How much would you expect to pay?

5) Would it be more appealing if a deal on a hotel was arranged?

For those in the US and other areas, what advice would you give?

Goffic Rulz

Contrary to what the title of this post suggests, this is not a question about the rules of Battlefleet Gothic, nor is it about the Orks! My main question, tho those of you playing BFG is what is a "standard" points game, and what should be my ratio of Escorts - Capital Ships in my Eldar fleet. I've played BFG a little before, but myself and the boys have decided to make a little venture into the game.

Furthermore, wee query on "Veil of Tears" in codex eldar - a character attached to the unit still benifits from it? As the wording is "the Shadowseer and the unit she is with [benifit]"...

Duh Duh Duuuuuhn!

It seems around the blogger universe these days that people have had a bug of neglecting thier blogs in the month of May! Indeed, I cought such a bug, with exams and uni connected shinanigans outside of hobby time, it's been a little hard to find time to update. However, alas good friends, such a time is at an end.

So, since Apirl a number of developments have hit the hobby that we all love, so here is my definative list of WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED!


BONG!!

1) The Rumour Mill over the ever closer release of the Planetstrike has gone into overdrive with GW leaks of boc covers for the Imperial/Chaos Bastion, Aegis Defence line, the Space Marine Characters Koroso Khan and Vulkan He'Stan and various other sets. Further, GWs sneak peak - being far superior to other youtube efforts (Gordon Borwn's shameful attempt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBXj5l6ShpA&feature=channel_page) seem to reveal that an expansion far superior to the sub-par Apocalypse will be the focus of our Summer Lovin'

BONG!!

2) All the rumours are confirmed and GW has made Guard players everywhere just a little big happier with the release of the plastic Valkrie kit and its inclusion in the new Codex: Imperial Guard. The new codex is heralded as a balanced effort, with far fewer "stinker" units as previously feared. Sly Marbo, that little rascal is all but compulsory. You godda love that little sniper pistol, poison blade, suicide bombing charlatin.

BONG!!

3) GW pulls the plug on their tournament scene in the US for the next few years, provoking perhaps unfound protest from GT gamers - lets face it, I'm in Scotland and even I know that Adepticon is better than GT. Their decision comes off the back of wanting to improve their management of the scene in future years. If GW tournaments in the UK such as the Conflict events and the GT are anything to go by, GW pulling out can only be a good thing and will provide a new opening for the independant scene to flourish. Huzzah!

BONG!!

4) The price increase details for June 2009 are revealed to not be as painful as first believed, the majority of the range (in the UK at least) staying roughly the same price. Strange perhaps random increases however can be seen in certain LoTR ranges however, and the even increasing price of hobby materials is pushing many more painters and modellers elsewhere for supplies.

BONG!!

5) Rumours regarding a new race for fantasy.40k are rife, with GW stating :"we don't know how we've kept it secret for this long", prompting rumour of a necron/inquisiton revival or, most prominantly, a return to fantasy for the long sumbering Chaos Dwarves. Go on you little badboy beardy b&s%a£ds!

BONG!!

6) Def painted a new model! But he chipped it! BOO!

7) The entire blogger community was stunned when it turned out Ron's wife and daughter could paint better than many of us. Beaten by a woman and an infant...makes ya feel so special doesn't it...

BONG!!

8) And Finally... you godda love Sir Trevor

Back in the Groove

Big love to Oni for his advice on getting out of a slump in your hobby time. By taking inspiration from my fellow FTW bloggers it seems I've managed to drag myself out of the doledroms of idleness and have completed a Farseer and warlock project that has been dragging on for far, far too long. Hopefully in the next week I'll be focusing on finishing those blasted 3rd ed Dire Avengers (red ones in the background) and getting them tabletop ASAP. In the meantime, here be my progress this week.



Cheers

Def

Slump-city, population: me

Ahoy all, me again. It's been a while my dear friends, alas I am at a slump in my hobby enthusiasm - diverted away by the way of the student and my near fanatical devotion to running Dark Heresy for the boys. It's a strange time, where rather than focus on armies on the battlefield, you have to worry about a smaller group of people who you have little control over. Ah, the joys of the GM.

However, I digress. Gentlemen (and ladies) my question to you is how do you get out of the habit of putting the hobby to the sideline?

Yes, twas just a short one today, bigger update tomorrow with my entry for best squad in Golden Griffon at Conflict, but here is progress one one of my Eldar Pathfinders.

40k W.A.Gs

My girlfriend is a regular attendant of the gaming club on a Saturday afternoon, as do the girlfriends of a couple of my fellow gamers. "The Girls in the Corner" as their namesake suggest, come in to see their men, but end up congregating in the seated area in the corner and generally take up space. I do feel for the girls, I really do; they come all the way into town on a Saturday (not as if they wouldn't anyway I suppose) come up to our local sports centre (ooh the irony) to see their charming men, and for 30 minutes to an hour at a time, get neglected for small, plastic man-dolls. Some of the girls take it better than others, but on the whole this causes problems for us, the men - do we abandon gaming and our responsibility to the other gamers to run the club, playing, reffing and generally bantering, for the sake of our girls? The answer should be yes to that, but oft at times in this hobby thats difficult, with people harrassing you for games, rules calls etc.

The guys at The D6 Generation seem to have the right idea, converting their adored ladies into gamer girls. Is this the way forward gentlemen? Indoctrinating our loves into our cult of GW? How great would it be guys, if we could sit and gladly talk to our spouce or partner about the merrits of a mech tau list in 5th edition? Sadly, I've only managed to convert my dear woman to the Xbox as yet...but soon...soon.

So I was wondering, for all you guys out in the 40k nation, how do your wives and girlfriends react to your little painted, plastic crack-men?

Some completely minis

Thoughts on Conflict

So for everyone not from the UK, Conflict is a tournament run by Games Workshop at a reigonal level, sort of like a combination between a GT, a Convention and a tourney at your local game store. The guys at our local gaming club are big fans, and big winners to boot, with a 1st place and a 2nd place (by your truely) in the trophy cabinet, 40k being our fortay...k...

The rules;
Doubles
500pts list x2

So here are my musings for this year, as you shall learn soon dear friend, I'm a keen Dark Angel and Eldar fanatic

Farseer 55
Jetbike 30
Fortune 30
Doom 25
Spirit Stones 20
Singing Spear 3
163

Jetbikes x 7 154
Shuriken Cannon x2 20
174

Jetbikes x3 66
Shuriken Cannon 10
76

Jetbikes x3 66
Shuriken Cannon 10
76

----

War Walker Squadron x3 90
Shuriken Cannon x6
120

Vyper Squadron x3 135
Shuriken Cannon x3 15
150

Guardian Defender Squadron x10 80
Brightlance 30
Warlock 25
Enhance 5
140

Rangers x5 95


I'm considering dropping a bike from the big squad and giving the Farseer, Runes of Warding, for a good old fashioned Psyker Shutdown, but we shall see how testplay goes.

More soon.

Def

Well hello there blogger types

So, having cruised around the waves of the interweb for quite some time, lurking in forums, listening to some fantastic podcasts (WRN guys, you all rock) and absorbing the knowledge from some fantastic blogs all on the subject of my favourite, plastic flavour crack, warhammer; I've decided to record my musings and projects in my own little slice of ingnorance.

This perhaps isn't even for the benifit of the reader, my friend, but perhaps myself, just to kick myself up the arse to finish projects, record my own musings on the game that we love and the people that play, and just liase with the Warhammer nation in general.

So i guess all there is to say is, welcome dear reader, and I hope to be posting some more soon.

Def