So...
The long awaited 6th edition is here, and with it a few changes for the army.
Not necessarily composition-wise, but with new rules there are definately som pros and cons to know about:
PROS:
- Hammer of Wrath
It is a sweet extra attack, which can add a lot for these small elite squads, especially against hordes which normally might tarpit you. You have to be very careful about whether you want the extra milage (JP in movement phase) or the hard hit (Hammer of Wrath) though, so be selective about using the Hammer only when you're sure you'll reach the lines (or can assault with more squads and it's not a tragedy if not all of them make it into close combat). As mentioned by I believe a Silver Skull Marine in the lore. "You don't want to rest i front of the big guns..."
- Deep Striking
Deep Striking is still a bit tricky in
6th, and a gamble you might say, which we have to consider carefully, especially viewed in concert with the cons to come. The mechanics are almost identical to 5th edition with regards to the chances of mishaps occuring, but the mishap table is more in our favour now.
In 6th only on a 1 will you loose your precious 200+ point squad outright. On 2-3 the enemy gets to place it without scatter in another location. This is surely to be the most uncomfortable plae you could've landed on the board, and might quickly end up with the same result as if you've rolled a 1, but at least you've robbed your enemy of some serious firepower to do it, possibly saving your other squads.
4-6, that's 50% of the table just shoves it back in reserve. Now this is not a good thing in itself since your army needs to attack in force to achieve something, but it's infinately more preferable to the above examples and an increase from 33% chance of this happening, to a solid 50% now is a buff for an army where every squad might deep strike (though sadly not at the same time!)
- New Power Weapon Rules:
Now there are some debate about how the new power weapon rules should be interpreted, but I've chosen to view the Glaive Encarmines as two-handed master-crafted power weapons. As such this gives you a lot of room for variation in your army between games as you can make them glaives (lances), axes, mauls or swords. Lances would be good for that first turn charge making it a +1 S Power sword. Sadly it becomes AP4 after a round so you can become bogged down against marine players. Power swords are AP3, so they are essentially what they were except against termies. Power Mauls will not see much use I feel. AP4 is not that good for this weapon since you have to rely on an unsaved hit to get the concussive effect. There are scenarios for this of course, since it would for instance allow your squads power fist to hit at the same time as the concussed foe. Axes will see a lot of use vs. termies and the like I feel.
The main strength of this rules change isn't your ability to customize though. It means that most power weapons will give you your full sweet 2+ save anyway now and the axes which might hit you will always strike after you, so you can hopefully remove them with a well placed charge!
CONS:
- Flyers:
With 6" range for our Melta the basic Sanguinary Guard squad takes a pounding while the flyer is in zoom mode. Hitting on 6s when you usually have just a few weapons able to hit hard enough to really dent a flyer.
Of course this can be remedied with starting a squad behind an Aegis line with a quad gun, but since there is little else to hit than your aegis line since you try to have most of your squads behind some cover, the lines might take a pounding.
Of course the situation is slightly remedied in Hover mode, but a good player with a few flyers will minimize these possibilities.
This can of course also be aided by having a very anti-flyer ally component, for instance...
- Furious Charge:
It is now "only" +1 S. So no more I5 destruction of the basic MEQ, they now hit at the same time as you do.This is a major bummer for my army since I needed to hit first with my 5 man squads to be able to survive what's coming in return! and is probably the biggest nerf to the way I wanted to play my army. I had hoped that lances would give you +1I when first hearing about these news (in addition to more strength and penetration on the charge), but sadly that's not the case! One can only hope for a FAQ.
- No more "Boh!" from the beyond!
You can only reserve half your army, and thus one of my main points about the army (fluff-wise more than effectiveness, although that's a big bit too) disappears. I wanted them to arrive myseriously where I needed them, take and give a beating and vanish again. Now half my army must footslogg it "onto the pitch" only to have the enemy blast them with whatever they have. Daemons for instance don't get this bit, but then they HAVE to deploy from reserve their whole army, we had choices.
- We need more character, mate!
- Your basic troopers, so to speak, is not characters. Thus you cannot "Look out, Sir!" to keep the weapons you want in your squads when casualties acrue. Thus you might be in big dodo, loosing that power fist, or whatver against that enemy that you just needs that special thing to be effective against.
- FNP hit by the nerf-bat (or not)?
FNP has decreased from 4+ to 5+, which of course is generally a worse save. You do get it on all but instant killing wounds now though, so the AP1/AP2 weapon which doesn't have double strength (yes, I'm looking at you, plasmagun!) will now warrant this save. Whether this is better than getting the 4+ on the whole depends on what you're facing of course, but while knowing this statistically worsens my whole armys survivability on the board, I feel it was a necessary change since every army and their aunt now sport something with FNP. It is also a lot more streamlined. No instant kill? I get my save...
Any and all constructive comments are welcome...
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
What is it about women and their sacrifices?
Time moves fast, and I've come to the "epiphany" that one of the reasons that not many people read my blog is because I seem to update it about 1-2 times a year. Hopefully that's gonna change in the future, but since family, work and friends take a lot of time there is no promises to be given, only hope for a future where I have more time for this, but I prefer what I perceive as quality over quantity anyway...
I'm in the process of moving back home after not having lived there for 11 years. When I say back home I really mean my home-city, not back with my mother and father, although we will be crashing there for the time being while we're looking for our own place and selling our existing apartment.
The reason for moving the length of this long country is that it's been hard for my wife to get a job in this city and now we finally seem to both become employed, which might mean that long overdue upgrade from apartment to house. A personal "huzzah!" is in order!
As I'm writing this my wife has moved ahead of my 3-year old and I. Our daughter has had to "endure" another 6 weeks with me alone because of the time I'm commited to my present job. We also wanted our daughter to spend as much time in the kindergarden here which she knows, as possible, before we had to move.
This means, put plainly, that I have to organise the entire moving process, take care of our daughter and work my butt of at the pharmacy to make sure everything stays together. I'm tired, I don't sleep well and I seem to have a semi-permanent dull headache. All of this I've come to terms with and I knew what I was getting into when we decided this. I knew it would be no picnic, and that's also not the basis of my rant...
What really bothers me is the following:
Since I've had to gradually terminate all the strings of our life up north, more and more people are getting aware that we're moving, and the details around our arrangement. With that I get the following sentence served at least once a week. "You know it it probably worst for her, right?!"
WRONG!!!
She "only" has herself and her job to think about at present, while I gotta move house, take care of our increasingly curious and "independent" daughter, not to mention sort out every detail AND do my job (which already is giving me heartburn when the stress peaks).
How could it possibly be worse for her?
I know they say the bond between mother and child is strong, jaddajadda, but for f**k sake!
I've got a lot of help from my inlaws and such and I'm not knocking the situation in and by itself because, as I said earlier, I chose this (knowing what I got into), but statements like these really bothers me!
(See also my earlier post on people telling you when it's time to have babies)
My wife, bless her, at present don't even have to cook all her own meals because she has them with my parents. And the people making these claims also knows this fact! And they seem to say these things because they think it might soothe me?! Guess what? It doesn't! It's also a lot of croc...
We talk together every night on FaceTime, if we're both able, so it's not like she's not seeing her daughter at all for 1 1/2 months either, and I don't doubt a second that she misses her daughter and hopefully me too. It's not a debate about that. The problem I have with it is that as a mother it seems to be so heart-tearing to be separated from your child this amount of time that it not only weighs up for all my other responsibilites, it actually trumphs them seemingly flat out. I can't and I won't buy that!
It is worth noting that only women have made these comments, and it falls within a truism I've perceived that many women seem to associate equality with women getting their way. These same women also seem to genuinely thrive on revelling in their own sacrifices. And when a man then tries to share their burden, do his bit for equality and all that jazz? They cheapen it with this horseshit!
The search for equal opportunities, equal pay, etc. is a noble goal, and one we haven't fully reached yet, I'll grant you, but sisters we also have to be realistic about the fact that there are differences between us! Women can supposedly sustain more pain than men. Ok! If that's a fact, it's a fact! Men are also generally stronger than women. Ok! Fair play! Women can supposedly get 9 times stronger orgasms. Enviable, but again, such is life! Downside is of course that they have to go through pregnancy and birth. These and I'm sure hundreds of other gender-differences are just there and we can't do very much about them, at least within a generation or two. We have to accept such facts! This doesn't mean that a man should get bigger pay just because he has a ridiculous piece of meat between his legs of course, but that's also not gender related. It's not a physiological fact that a Y chromosome means you must get more money. That comes from cultural and sub-cultural traditions and norms. Traditions and norms which are changeable!
People whine about how jobs typically held by women are paid less than jobs traditionlly held by men. If true, I'll grant you it's a travesty that needs some correcting, but are such comparisons just in that it is only because women traditionally had the job they are paid less, or does the job in itself scale poorly when judged versus other jobs? You can argue fiercely why for instance nurses need more money for the vital work they do, and it would be a debate of economics, social structure, and more. The same comparison betweeen two nurses with the same education, years of experience and any other measureable important quality for such a job where the man gets more paid is an enterely different discussion, and if provable shouldn't be a discussion at all. I do regularly however see many such comparisons made by groups who bias strongly towards these women, whether they're respective unions, loud-mouthed members of the work group, politicians or otherwise. When our kindergarden staff was on strike the last time for instance, their union compared the workers there to people in the city administration who normally at least have 3 more years of education? Is that a fair assessment then? It is very hard to weigh different strata of society versus each other because everything is intertwined and links to various things and as such many such comparisons become exclusionistic, crude and biased.
My profession - pharmacists - for instance used to have a majority of male practitioners in historical terms, but is today filled with more women, and since about 90% of the students also are women this will likely not change. Do you hear men scream about equality? No! Should we get a minimum percentage that HAS to be guys? I don't think so! I think that every job should be filled by the best applicant. That means the person who cynically viewed has the best qualities for the job. And I feel it should be that way across the board. Should we get more women as leaders because they're women? No! Should we get them because they're the best candidates? Yes! Should we also try to avoid the corruption where people are selected solely because they "know a guy" instead of their merits? Yes! Is this difficult to bring about in everyday practice? Hell yeah!
What I'm finally getting at is: There are differences, yes, and women have normally endured different hardships over the years like rape, abuse and that sort of things. You have been trodden on for the last 5000 years or more, and for that I beg forgiveness on behalf of my sex, but ladies not everything done today is done to keep you down and don't rob those of us who today are trying to do the right things of our credit!
I'm in the process of moving back home after not having lived there for 11 years. When I say back home I really mean my home-city, not back with my mother and father, although we will be crashing there for the time being while we're looking for our own place and selling our existing apartment.
The reason for moving the length of this long country is that it's been hard for my wife to get a job in this city and now we finally seem to both become employed, which might mean that long overdue upgrade from apartment to house. A personal "huzzah!" is in order!
As I'm writing this my wife has moved ahead of my 3-year old and I. Our daughter has had to "endure" another 6 weeks with me alone because of the time I'm commited to my present job. We also wanted our daughter to spend as much time in the kindergarden here which she knows, as possible, before we had to move.
This means, put plainly, that I have to organise the entire moving process, take care of our daughter and work my butt of at the pharmacy to make sure everything stays together. I'm tired, I don't sleep well and I seem to have a semi-permanent dull headache. All of this I've come to terms with and I knew what I was getting into when we decided this. I knew it would be no picnic, and that's also not the basis of my rant...
What really bothers me is the following:
Since I've had to gradually terminate all the strings of our life up north, more and more people are getting aware that we're moving, and the details around our arrangement. With that I get the following sentence served at least once a week. "You know it it probably worst for her, right?!"
WRONG!!!
She "only" has herself and her job to think about at present, while I gotta move house, take care of our increasingly curious and "independent" daughter, not to mention sort out every detail AND do my job (which already is giving me heartburn when the stress peaks).
How could it possibly be worse for her?
I know they say the bond between mother and child is strong, jaddajadda, but for f**k sake!
I've got a lot of help from my inlaws and such and I'm not knocking the situation in and by itself because, as I said earlier, I chose this (knowing what I got into), but statements like these really bothers me!
(See also my earlier post on people telling you when it's time to have babies)
My wife, bless her, at present don't even have to cook all her own meals because she has them with my parents. And the people making these claims also knows this fact! And they seem to say these things because they think it might soothe me?! Guess what? It doesn't! It's also a lot of croc...
We talk together every night on FaceTime, if we're both able, so it's not like she's not seeing her daughter at all for 1 1/2 months either, and I don't doubt a second that she misses her daughter and hopefully me too. It's not a debate about that. The problem I have with it is that as a mother it seems to be so heart-tearing to be separated from your child this amount of time that it not only weighs up for all my other responsibilites, it actually trumphs them seemingly flat out. I can't and I won't buy that!
It is worth noting that only women have made these comments, and it falls within a truism I've perceived that many women seem to associate equality with women getting their way. These same women also seem to genuinely thrive on revelling in their own sacrifices. And when a man then tries to share their burden, do his bit for equality and all that jazz? They cheapen it with this horseshit!
The search for equal opportunities, equal pay, etc. is a noble goal, and one we haven't fully reached yet, I'll grant you, but sisters we also have to be realistic about the fact that there are differences between us! Women can supposedly sustain more pain than men. Ok! If that's a fact, it's a fact! Men are also generally stronger than women. Ok! Fair play! Women can supposedly get 9 times stronger orgasms. Enviable, but again, such is life! Downside is of course that they have to go through pregnancy and birth. These and I'm sure hundreds of other gender-differences are just there and we can't do very much about them, at least within a generation or two. We have to accept such facts! This doesn't mean that a man should get bigger pay just because he has a ridiculous piece of meat between his legs of course, but that's also not gender related. It's not a physiological fact that a Y chromosome means you must get more money. That comes from cultural and sub-cultural traditions and norms. Traditions and norms which are changeable!
People whine about how jobs typically held by women are paid less than jobs traditionlly held by men. If true, I'll grant you it's a travesty that needs some correcting, but are such comparisons just in that it is only because women traditionally had the job they are paid less, or does the job in itself scale poorly when judged versus other jobs? You can argue fiercely why for instance nurses need more money for the vital work they do, and it would be a debate of economics, social structure, and more. The same comparison betweeen two nurses with the same education, years of experience and any other measureable important quality for such a job where the man gets more paid is an enterely different discussion, and if provable shouldn't be a discussion at all. I do regularly however see many such comparisons made by groups who bias strongly towards these women, whether they're respective unions, loud-mouthed members of the work group, politicians or otherwise. When our kindergarden staff was on strike the last time for instance, their union compared the workers there to people in the city administration who normally at least have 3 more years of education? Is that a fair assessment then? It is very hard to weigh different strata of society versus each other because everything is intertwined and links to various things and as such many such comparisons become exclusionistic, crude and biased.
My profession - pharmacists - for instance used to have a majority of male practitioners in historical terms, but is today filled with more women, and since about 90% of the students also are women this will likely not change. Do you hear men scream about equality? No! Should we get a minimum percentage that HAS to be guys? I don't think so! I think that every job should be filled by the best applicant. That means the person who cynically viewed has the best qualities for the job. And I feel it should be that way across the board. Should we get more women as leaders because they're women? No! Should we get them because they're the best candidates? Yes! Should we also try to avoid the corruption where people are selected solely because they "know a guy" instead of their merits? Yes! Is this difficult to bring about in everyday practice? Hell yeah!
What I'm finally getting at is: There are differences, yes, and women have normally endured different hardships over the years like rape, abuse and that sort of things. You have been trodden on for the last 5000 years or more, and for that I beg forgiveness on behalf of my sex, but ladies not everything done today is done to keep you down and don't rob those of us who today are trying to do the right things of our credit!
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Reinforcements to arrive...
I'm about to get the last of my models for the Legion from GW (hopefully today or tomorrow), and I started looking at what I can do with my army after a while. I want options so that I don't play an identical army all the time. Granted that would be a challenge, but after a few games your mates would invent ways to counter you more effectively. Thus I need options while still remaining true to my theme...
Here's what I ended up with...
HQ:
The Sanguinor - Expensive, but I like it... He's gonna be my Count-As Elam Courbray (8th Company Fire Hawks Assault Captain) if I include another HQ. T4 and W3 means he will need some attention to not go down quickly though since he can't hide in a squad. A real monster once he lands in close combat though.
Mephiston - Again expensive, but I also like him. 6 S10 attacks on the charge will murder tanks! He has to start on the table though, which means you have to be careful when deploying.
Librarian - Another one? Well, they are rather cheap, can boost a squad well and makes sure to add what powers you need for each mission.
Elites:
Furioso Dreadnought - I like these. I wasn't sure to include them at first, since the fluff says that most "equipment" were lost and reviving these dudes takes time. The Apocalypse Datasheet says you can take Dreadnoughts though, so I guess I might include one eventually. Will probably be a libby though... The main problem I have with them ruleswise now is that they have to have a Drop Pod to Deep Strike, and I want my force to arrive ethereally, not by a big hunk of "soon to be scenery"... The jury is out on this one!
Terminators - Might include these guys if I need to babysit an objective or something, since the rest of the army is more about assault than ranged combat. I'm also a huge fan of Bobinators flame-termies even if I don't want to have that much flames on my normal troops, I might make my terminators something like that (I only hope I can make as good a painjob)
Troops:
Assault Squad - These guys will result in more wounds for the squad, but worse save and worse weapons (Chainsword < Glave Encarmine). I might include a squad or two if I plan on going up against horde armies though. Tyranids and Orks spring to mind.
Fast Attack:
Vanguard Squad - These dudes are probably the first to see the light of day. One tactic I know I will face is pillboxing (IE. an army massing together (without my being able to use cover to reach them so that I have to land in front of them and be shot at by a whole army.) Vanguards save me from that fate by landing and hopefully charging the enemy in their first turn. Thus they will be in combat, can't hopefully be shot at, and their melee will limit what parts of the enemy army can shoot at the rest of my army which land on the other side of the melee. Can go massively wrong scattering into the army and dying of course, or can slay the first squad and be in a ripe range for retribution the next turn since I can't consolidate into another melee, not to mention coming on from reserves late leaving the others out of charge-range, but that's how it goes...
Obviously I will strive to arrive at the 200-230 points mark so that most units can just be switched with existing Sanguinary Guard ones...
Option A:
Minus: Dante, 4x Sanguine Guard squads
Plus: Sanguinor, 2x Assault Squads, 2x Vanguard Squads
Uses: Horde-armies (Orks, Tyranids) or possibly GEQ armies (IG, Tau)
Why: Exchange power weapon attacks with more bodies that delivers more attacks to take down whole squads. Not sure if I wanna change for GEQs though, since not removing the whole squad is preferable to being gunned down, but IG often have powers to reroll even made saves to run from the legion so I might just wanna stick to 2+ with FNP.
Option B:
Minus: 2x Sanguine Guard squads, Librarian
Plus: Sanguinor, 2x Vanguard Squads
Uses: Pillboxing
Why: First turn assault removes (hopefully) enemies chance of using the whole army against my squads piecemeal. Vanguard squads also means sergeants, which can benefit from the Sanguinors Blessings.
Option C:
Minus: 2x Sanguine Guard squads
Plus: 2x Terminator Squads
Uses: Camping objectives
Why: Better at camping, ensure you can still shoot at much of the enemy (24" Storm Bolters + Cyclone can go a long way) and will deny the enemy your objectives while you hopefully charge theirs.
So there you have it... More versatility might come later too, when I think up new combos. The point is that I should have something to wrongfoot each of my enemies up my sleeve.
Cheers! :-)
Here's what I ended up with...
HQ:
The Sanguinor - Expensive, but I like it... He's gonna be my Count-As Elam Courbray (8th Company Fire Hawks Assault Captain) if I include another HQ. T4 and W3 means he will need some attention to not go down quickly though since he can't hide in a squad. A real monster once he lands in close combat though.
Mephiston - Again expensive, but I also like him. 6 S10 attacks on the charge will murder tanks! He has to start on the table though, which means you have to be careful when deploying.
Librarian - Another one? Well, they are rather cheap, can boost a squad well and makes sure to add what powers you need for each mission.
Elites:
Furioso Dreadnought - I like these. I wasn't sure to include them at first, since the fluff says that most "equipment" were lost and reviving these dudes takes time. The Apocalypse Datasheet says you can take Dreadnoughts though, so I guess I might include one eventually. Will probably be a libby though... The main problem I have with them ruleswise now is that they have to have a Drop Pod to Deep Strike, and I want my force to arrive ethereally, not by a big hunk of "soon to be scenery"... The jury is out on this one!
Terminators - Might include these guys if I need to babysit an objective or something, since the rest of the army is more about assault than ranged combat. I'm also a huge fan of Bobinators flame-termies even if I don't want to have that much flames on my normal troops, I might make my terminators something like that (I only hope I can make as good a painjob)
Troops:
Assault Squad - These guys will result in more wounds for the squad, but worse save and worse weapons (Chainsword < Glave Encarmine). I might include a squad or two if I plan on going up against horde armies though. Tyranids and Orks spring to mind.
Fast Attack:
Vanguard Squad - These dudes are probably the first to see the light of day. One tactic I know I will face is pillboxing (IE. an army massing together (without my being able to use cover to reach them so that I have to land in front of them and be shot at by a whole army.) Vanguards save me from that fate by landing and hopefully charging the enemy in their first turn. Thus they will be in combat, can't hopefully be shot at, and their melee will limit what parts of the enemy army can shoot at the rest of my army which land on the other side of the melee. Can go massively wrong scattering into the army and dying of course, or can slay the first squad and be in a ripe range for retribution the next turn since I can't consolidate into another melee, not to mention coming on from reserves late leaving the others out of charge-range, but that's how it goes...
Obviously I will strive to arrive at the 200-230 points mark so that most units can just be switched with existing Sanguinary Guard ones...
Option A:
Minus: Dante, 4x Sanguine Guard squads
Plus: Sanguinor, 2x Assault Squads, 2x Vanguard Squads
Uses: Horde-armies (Orks, Tyranids) or possibly GEQ armies (IG, Tau)
Why: Exchange power weapon attacks with more bodies that delivers more attacks to take down whole squads. Not sure if I wanna change for GEQs though, since not removing the whole squad is preferable to being gunned down, but IG often have powers to reroll even made saves to run from the legion so I might just wanna stick to 2+ with FNP.
Option B:
Minus: 2x Sanguine Guard squads, Librarian
Plus: Sanguinor, 2x Vanguard Squads
Uses: Pillboxing
Why: First turn assault removes (hopefully) enemies chance of using the whole army against my squads piecemeal. Vanguard squads also means sergeants, which can benefit from the Sanguinors Blessings.
Option C:
Minus: 2x Sanguine Guard squads
Plus: 2x Terminator Squads
Uses: Camping objectives
Why: Better at camping, ensure you can still shoot at much of the enemy (24" Storm Bolters + Cyclone can go a long way) and will deny the enemy your objectives while you hopefully charge theirs.
So there you have it... More versatility might come later too, when I think up new combos. The point is that I should have something to wrongfoot each of my enemies up my sleeve.
Cheers! :-)
Monday, 28 November 2011
Finally some action....
I played my first game in about 5 years last friday... It was 2vs2 1000 pts. each. A weird matchup with Necron and IG vs. Orks and Space Wolves, but those were the armies present, so... I played Necrons and used my 3rd ed metal miniatures again which was kinda nostalgic too. It was a lot of having to go to the new codex to check stuff and naturally I didn't have any of the fun new stuff, just scarabs, immortals, warriors, destroyers and lord. I won't do a full battle report here, but suffice to say it was fun to play again although we lost in the end.
Thus I went home and tried to se what different armies I could think up for the new 'crons and see what funny stuff I could think off.
First off was the Special Characters:
I like the fluff of Imotekh, Nemesor, Vargard and Orikan, so I thought how to make a cool army for one of those. Nemesor + Vargard is to me perhaps the best all round combination, but I wanted to try and make a very special list and I felt this would just be a "generic" necron with a special lord choice only. I wanted a list that had some cool combos and could actually at least on a good day hold its own.
And no I won't make a Necron army before I finish with Legion of the Damned, but a guy can dream can't he? (...and make tons of theoretical armylists while at it?!)
The Sautekh Dynasty
2000 points Necron Armylist
HQ:
Imotekh the Stormlord
Harbinger of Destruction w/Eldritch Lance & Solar Pulse
3 Harbingers of Transmogrification w/Tremorstave
Troops:
9 Warriors + Ghost Ark
9 Warriors + Ghost Ark
8 Immortals w/Gauss Blasters
8 Immortals w/Tesla Carbines
Elites:
C'Tan Shard w/Writhing Worldscape & Grand Illusion
Fast Attack:
4 Canoptek Wraiths w/1 Whip
3 Canoptek Scarabs
3 Canoptek Scarabs
Heavy Support:
2 Canoptek Spyders
3 Canoptek Spyders
3 Canoptek Spyders
Total: 2006
The tactics is as follows:
Your Canoptek Spyders will take up a central role spending the whole game shitting Canoptek Scarabs to bolster your two swarms and close combat stuff that needs that monstrous touch.
The Scarabs should stay in range for 1-2 turns to get bolstered, so that they don't shoot so far ahead they are out of range of the Spyders reinforcements. Scarabs should ideally swarm transports and chew it to bits so that there are no room for disembarkation slaying the squad.
Wraiths are there to assault in concert with the Scarabs on dedicated close combat units or other stuff, forcing the worst parts of the enemy squad to I1, thus allowing the scarabs massive amount of attacks to finish the squads armour and possibly the whole squad. The Wraiths will lay into what's left. I'm not sure if that means the remainder will have no armour (it does say immediately, but then again I2 should strike at the same time, so...) but that's probably to be FAQed anyway.
The C'Tan is there to give you repositionings (Grand Illusion) to help you avoid bad judgements when placing troops or reacting to enemy placements. Your main use for him is just to have him on the board and use Writhing Worldscape to make all difficult terrain dangerous terrain for the enemy. He is also intended as a late game heavy hitter when the threats to his safety have been picked off somewhat.
The Troops are 2 units of Immortals and 2 units of Warriors in a Ghostark. Immortals for claiming defensive objectives and Warriors for offensive ones. The Gauss Blaster Squad is joined by Imotekh and the Destruction Harbinger. Each of the other squads get a Transmogrification one.
Turn sequence:
During the first turns Imotekh will give Night Fighting and pick off the odd model or two with his Lord of the Storm. The Cryptek in the same squad as him will give solar flare when night fighting are over to give you one extra turn of nightfighting. The unit of immortals can fire their Gauss Blasters 24" due to Imotekh being a Phaeron, and as such should coupled with teh Lance of the Harbinger be able to take down vehicles nicely, especially if softened up by scarabs of course (AV11 is possible, but scarabs can chew things down to AV 6-7 without problems in big swarms.)
The other immortal squad with their Harbinger and Tremorstave will target assault units to force them to move through difficult limiting their advance and making them loose some members also. The same goes for warriors who must broadside units and tremorstave them also, again forcing them to move through dangerous terrain.
Spyders should spend 1-2 turns boosting scarab swarms before joining the fray too.
Scarabs and wraiths should assault enemies as quickly as possible. Wraiths will assault with their whips to force the enemy into I1 on their most lethal members (Power Fists, Power Weapons, Monstrous Creatures, etc.) so that the massive amounts of scarabs can slay them before they can strike.
I feel this is a rather fluffy army, since it features the whole night fighting rather well, and whatever goes into the Storm will meet a host of uncaring machines both willing and able to slay whem with ranged or close combat abilities...
The army might of course have problems with fast moving dedicated assault units, but I still think it would be rather fun to play for both you and your opponent (provided you avoid the cheesier scarab congaline tactics, etc. perhaps?)
Cheers!
Friday, 26 August 2011
Peer pressure
People in northern Norway are pretty much well known for speaking their minds.
I wonder though why they have a facination with peer pressure in the "childrens department"?
First off, when you reach a certain age of about 25-30 (depending on how established you are of course, but as soon as you have a regular job and are done with studies at least) there seems to be common misconception that you get a freebie to come with "shouldn't you get a girlfriend soon?" comments at other people's expense. We're also talking about pretty much everyone across all strata of society here!
Luckily for me I already had one at that time, so I fortunately skipped that part. Though when that part is secured people start wondering out loud, to your face, if you shouldn't have children soon? And at this point I should point out that I honestly think this is worse for women because they have a tighter timeframe in which they can get children and the risks increase with age, etc. etc.
Now, these cheeky comments are to me just about the absolute peek of arrogance, and I will elaborate that point thus:
1) You don't have anything to say about if another person has sex or not (ignoring incest, rape and other illegal kinds of course). It is a private matter and none of your business!
2) How do you know the persons aren't trying to have children, but just aren't able to? Do you know for sure they're not trying IVF? Don't you think that if that's the case it might be a sore spot for you to trample on like that?
3) What the fuck do you know about the priorities of other people? Perhaps they really don't want children? Perhaps they dont want more than one? Perhaps they rather objectivly question their own abilities to be parents? Perhaps there are things in their lives they want to get straightened out before they start focusing on that part? You could just try to be a supportive friend and allow them to do the talking and decide if they wanna confide in you perhaps?
I honestly don't think that peer pressure is a requisite for humanity! I think people will try to have children when and if they feel ready for it. We all know it's a huge responsibility, so please respect other people's privacy and right to decide if that's their thing or not. Of course you get a sort of passive peer pressure when all your friends start getting children, but there's really no way around that part, and people will talk about what's on their mind, and for a toddlers parents that's mainly work and the little toddler. The important part here is for the parent to try and discuss previous hobbies you might have had in common or something so that it's not just poo, regurgitation and/or "babys first steps"-talk.
Like the other day in my job, I was asked by a colleague if I hadn't thought about getting a second child soon? Mostly I just want to snap out something like "Well, how's your sexlife?", but I know that will just be seen as childish and small minded. But this is from a person that's 25, with a boyfriend of her own who doesn't have a child of her own yet, and surely must start to "feel the pressure" too?
So is this something that's particular to the north of Norway?
No, but it might be more pronounced here, I don't know...
Does it stop after you've had your obligatory two children also?
Not by a long shot... My father was asked when I was about 5 (and my brother 8 or 9) if they didn't plan on having more children "since the first ones turned out ok". I don't even know where to begin with that sentence, but I guess I should start with something like: How the fuck do you know how kids will turn out before they've even reached puberty?!
And children aren't something that ends after their birth, that's when it starts and you will always have them there (hopefully at least) for the rest of your life. It's a huge financial burden, it's gonna consume all your avaliable time, but you'll also certainly love them to bits.
But in the end, shouldn't we, since we're living in a democracy, also have the freedom of choice about parenthood?
(Oh, and I know there hasn't been much miniatures talk on this page recently, but that's something I hope to remedy once I change jobs in december. I've bought the Sevrin Loth figure already, so I'm hoping that's gonna turn out nice in the end... Cheers!)
I wonder though why they have a facination with peer pressure in the "childrens department"?
First off, when you reach a certain age of about 25-30 (depending on how established you are of course, but as soon as you have a regular job and are done with studies at least) there seems to be common misconception that you get a freebie to come with "shouldn't you get a girlfriend soon?" comments at other people's expense. We're also talking about pretty much everyone across all strata of society here!
Luckily for me I already had one at that time, so I fortunately skipped that part. Though when that part is secured people start wondering out loud, to your face, if you shouldn't have children soon? And at this point I should point out that I honestly think this is worse for women because they have a tighter timeframe in which they can get children and the risks increase with age, etc. etc.
Now, these cheeky comments are to me just about the absolute peek of arrogance, and I will elaborate that point thus:
1) You don't have anything to say about if another person has sex or not (ignoring incest, rape and other illegal kinds of course). It is a private matter and none of your business!
2) How do you know the persons aren't trying to have children, but just aren't able to? Do you know for sure they're not trying IVF? Don't you think that if that's the case it might be a sore spot for you to trample on like that?
3) What the fuck do you know about the priorities of other people? Perhaps they really don't want children? Perhaps they dont want more than one? Perhaps they rather objectivly question their own abilities to be parents? Perhaps there are things in their lives they want to get straightened out before they start focusing on that part? You could just try to be a supportive friend and allow them to do the talking and decide if they wanna confide in you perhaps?
I honestly don't think that peer pressure is a requisite for humanity! I think people will try to have children when and if they feel ready for it. We all know it's a huge responsibility, so please respect other people's privacy and right to decide if that's their thing or not. Of course you get a sort of passive peer pressure when all your friends start getting children, but there's really no way around that part, and people will talk about what's on their mind, and for a toddlers parents that's mainly work and the little toddler. The important part here is for the parent to try and discuss previous hobbies you might have had in common or something so that it's not just poo, regurgitation and/or "babys first steps"-talk.
Like the other day in my job, I was asked by a colleague if I hadn't thought about getting a second child soon? Mostly I just want to snap out something like "Well, how's your sexlife?", but I know that will just be seen as childish and small minded. But this is from a person that's 25, with a boyfriend of her own who doesn't have a child of her own yet, and surely must start to "feel the pressure" too?
So is this something that's particular to the north of Norway?
No, but it might be more pronounced here, I don't know...
Does it stop after you've had your obligatory two children also?
Not by a long shot... My father was asked when I was about 5 (and my brother 8 or 9) if they didn't plan on having more children "since the first ones turned out ok". I don't even know where to begin with that sentence, but I guess I should start with something like: How the fuck do you know how kids will turn out before they've even reached puberty?!
And children aren't something that ends after their birth, that's when it starts and you will always have them there (hopefully at least) for the rest of your life. It's a huge financial burden, it's gonna consume all your avaliable time, but you'll also certainly love them to bits.
But in the end, shouldn't we, since we're living in a democracy, also have the freedom of choice about parenthood?
(Oh, and I know there hasn't been much miniatures talk on this page recently, but that's something I hope to remedy once I change jobs in december. I've bought the Sevrin Loth figure already, so I'm hoping that's gonna turn out nice in the end... Cheers!)
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Review: Ultramarines the Movie (Warning: Spoilers!)
Having finally gotten a hold of the film and viewed it 3 times now I thought I'd put up a review, and I've decided to compartmentalize a bit and then give an over-all score in the end.
Graphics - 5/6:
Now the graphics are in my opinion rather good. They are not spectacular (like some of the scenes in Avatar and so on) but they are good, and they convey the "mood" very well. I like the use of shadows to enhance the rather gothic feel of the universe, I like the "cathedral-architecture" look both in the outpost and on the ship. I both like and dislike the marines power armour decorations, but I understand that's down to personal preference of course.
The one thing that don't give it a pure 6 for me was that I think the skin-textures was a bit off.
Fluff - 6/6:
The story seems pretty consistent according to established fluff as far as I can see. Mr. Abnett has probably with purpose written about new planets, new characters and such, which of course means that it is easier to fit with the established fluff, carving out your own little corner of the 40K galaxy.
To begin with the opening states that "it is the 41st millenia" so we have narrowed the timeline down to that millenia at least. Seeing as Captain Severus is listed in the accompanying book to be the captain of the Ultramarines 2nd company we imideately know he will die during the film since Sicarius is listed as the present captain in the 5th edition Space Marine Codex. The action on Mithron is thus probably placed right before the Dantaro Campaign which was Sicarius first as captain. This campaign isn't given a date, so it's not conclusive. The first campaign I've found that Sicarius has been in which is given a date is the Crusat Minor Planet Strike (733.M41). We've shaved off at least 267 years of our estimate and i'll update later if we find anything else.
The planet Mithron is not listed, so it can be anywhere in the galaxy. The same with Algol which the marines set out from.
One might thus think that Abnett "cheaped out" and could've included a lot more "hooks" for us fluff-junkies, but I like to give the man the benefit of the doubt and think of it as a blank canvas instead. I just hope that the dots are filled in as time passes.
Characters - 4/6
Now this is a personal preference of course, but I feel that the characters are missing a bit of flavour. Especially the inducted scouts who became battlebrothers. Even Severus seemed a bit bland to me. The bit of fresh air of course was Pythol with his caustic wit, but I felt that the film was trying to tell a story too fast without giving much info about the squad. What's the different character traits for Hypax and Boreas for instance? Boreas seems to be hotheaded enough to charge in to help his captain besides given orders to remain where he was, but that seems about it?
Story - 4/6
Now I'm sorry but this is down to personal preference again, and I feel they have tried a bit too hard to be stereotypical in this movie. I also feel they've tried to tell too much in too little time. There are some nice touches of course, such as the sacred weapon is of course a warhammer since it's warhammer 40k (not say for instance a relic blade).The glass window had a rather well-known piece of ultramarine artwork we recognize from the codex, and such.
The whole theme for the film such as I see it is a "circle of life" variant where Severus trains the squad and then Proteus ends up training a new one, combined with the fact "chaos corrupts" and you never know who it ends up corrupting. The corruption of Severus is meant to be the big shocker due to his piety I think, but to me it just felt a bit off. The way I view it chaos only corrupts if you "let it". I feel moral decay is needed and demons can only really truly possess once this is achieved. If the person resists it becomes a battle of wills and Severus seemed battlehardened and pious. To me chaos can only possess dead flesh for a short period of time and thus I feel it was up to the deamon to corrupt him while they're falling or to inhabit his body shortly after he died from the impact. The whole circle of life thing too is a bit off to m e since Astartes are supposed to be super-human demigods. Of course they die in conflicts with Chaos, but it was a bit too much "die like a guardsman" for me, even if it captured the sacrifices needed to twart Chaos in a good way.
So for me the jury is still out on this one. I'll grant that it is good, but it doesn't get top marks from me.
Combat - 5/6
Now the combat is stunningly done visually for the most parts, but I feel it's tactically a bit off. I'm referring to the final clash against the chaos marines before extraction. We're talking about 10000 year plus veteran space marines here. To assault one by one instead of together and only get firesupport after half your squads have been shot down seems idiotic to me. There should've been way more shooting from the chaos lines and it should've been a gradual attrition as their bolts found their mark instead of one hit followed by 20 "finish him" shots on one marine. The way that battle was fought you either got riddled by bolts or none hit you. And we're talking static targets too, so shouldn't be that hard to hit for marines with millenia of practice.
Overall - 4/6
I liked it, it was a nice film, but it wasn't jawdropping in any way, and like so many others I would prefer 40K action about some other topics instead. That said I understand why this became the first film, and I only hope there will be others to follow.
Graphics - 5/6:
Now the graphics are in my opinion rather good. They are not spectacular (like some of the scenes in Avatar and so on) but they are good, and they convey the "mood" very well. I like the use of shadows to enhance the rather gothic feel of the universe, I like the "cathedral-architecture" look both in the outpost and on the ship. I both like and dislike the marines power armour decorations, but I understand that's down to personal preference of course.
The one thing that don't give it a pure 6 for me was that I think the skin-textures was a bit off.
Fluff - 6/6:
The story seems pretty consistent according to established fluff as far as I can see. Mr. Abnett has probably with purpose written about new planets, new characters and such, which of course means that it is easier to fit with the established fluff, carving out your own little corner of the 40K galaxy.
To begin with the opening states that "it is the 41st millenia" so we have narrowed the timeline down to that millenia at least. Seeing as Captain Severus is listed in the accompanying book to be the captain of the Ultramarines 2nd company we imideately know he will die during the film since Sicarius is listed as the present captain in the 5th edition Space Marine Codex. The action on Mithron is thus probably placed right before the Dantaro Campaign which was Sicarius first as captain. This campaign isn't given a date, so it's not conclusive. The first campaign I've found that Sicarius has been in which is given a date is the Crusat Minor Planet Strike (733.M41). We've shaved off at least 267 years of our estimate and i'll update later if we find anything else.
The planet Mithron is not listed, so it can be anywhere in the galaxy. The same with Algol which the marines set out from.
One might thus think that Abnett "cheaped out" and could've included a lot more "hooks" for us fluff-junkies, but I like to give the man the benefit of the doubt and think of it as a blank canvas instead. I just hope that the dots are filled in as time passes.
Characters - 4/6
Now this is a personal preference of course, but I feel that the characters are missing a bit of flavour. Especially the inducted scouts who became battlebrothers. Even Severus seemed a bit bland to me. The bit of fresh air of course was Pythol with his caustic wit, but I felt that the film was trying to tell a story too fast without giving much info about the squad. What's the different character traits for Hypax and Boreas for instance? Boreas seems to be hotheaded enough to charge in to help his captain besides given orders to remain where he was, but that seems about it?
Story - 4/6
Now I'm sorry but this is down to personal preference again, and I feel they have tried a bit too hard to be stereotypical in this movie. I also feel they've tried to tell too much in too little time. There are some nice touches of course, such as the sacred weapon is of course a warhammer since it's warhammer 40k (not say for instance a relic blade).The glass window had a rather well-known piece of ultramarine artwork we recognize from the codex, and such.
The whole theme for the film such as I see it is a "circle of life" variant where Severus trains the squad and then Proteus ends up training a new one, combined with the fact "chaos corrupts" and you never know who it ends up corrupting. The corruption of Severus is meant to be the big shocker due to his piety I think, but to me it just felt a bit off. The way I view it chaos only corrupts if you "let it". I feel moral decay is needed and demons can only really truly possess once this is achieved. If the person resists it becomes a battle of wills and Severus seemed battlehardened and pious. To me chaos can only possess dead flesh for a short period of time and thus I feel it was up to the deamon to corrupt him while they're falling or to inhabit his body shortly after he died from the impact. The whole circle of life thing too is a bit off to m e since Astartes are supposed to be super-human demigods. Of course they die in conflicts with Chaos, but it was a bit too much "die like a guardsman" for me, even if it captured the sacrifices needed to twart Chaos in a good way.
So for me the jury is still out on this one. I'll grant that it is good, but it doesn't get top marks from me.
Combat - 5/6
Now the combat is stunningly done visually for the most parts, but I feel it's tactically a bit off. I'm referring to the final clash against the chaos marines before extraction. We're talking about 10000 year plus veteran space marines here. To assault one by one instead of together and only get firesupport after half your squads have been shot down seems idiotic to me. There should've been way more shooting from the chaos lines and it should've been a gradual attrition as their bolts found their mark instead of one hit followed by 20 "finish him" shots on one marine. The way that battle was fought you either got riddled by bolts or none hit you. And we're talking static targets too, so shouldn't be that hard to hit for marines with millenia of practice.
Overall - 4/6
I liked it, it was a nice film, but it wasn't jawdropping in any way, and like so many others I would prefer 40K action about some other topics instead. That said I understand why this became the first film, and I only hope there will be others to follow.
White January
I love sugar. It's a scientifically proven fact. I can drink way to much soda and eat mounds of chocolate, cakes, etc. I could probably be the "posterboy" for the Burn energydrink.
The main problem of course is that I don't savour the moment, but just fork/gulp in as much as possible as quickly as possible, usually feeling slightly sick in the end.
This is of course not healthy in the long run, and so I thought I'd try to go a full month without any chocholate bars and any soda, since these variants stands for the vast majority of the sugar I get. I want to prove to myself that I can do it and that I'm not an incurable sugar-addict. Since many people have "white" periods where they abstain from everything from alkohol to sex, I chose to think of january 2011 as my special brand of a "white month".
The following posts are the story about how it went:
01.01.11: It's the first of january and I woke 08.00 with a slight craving. I didn't break at once, which I felt good about. It felt as if I had a purpose. The solution was to take a glass of drinking-youghurt insted. This has a bit of sugar, but nowhere near soda-levels, so I thought it was an ok compromise to bring the christmas high under controll.
02.01.11: The day went remarkably well. Focusing on eating less junk makes me more hungry though, so I would say I've probably started eating a bit healthier also. The cravings are still there and my mind wanders to these forbidden items. My inlaws visited and I had a cappuchino while they were here, but I feel that's ok, since it's not my normal routine and although it has sugar it's not on the list of things I wanted to avoid. I have to be carefull so I don't use other suger-sources to compensate though, cause then the point is a bit lost.
03.01.11: The day went ok since I spent a big part of it at work. Since work is rather stressful I often end up with the mentioned sugar-bombs as fast snacks to get going, but today I took the time for a real lunch. Felt good, but my problem is that I feel like I've got a slight headache, just below the threshold for what I'd describe as painful. It's more like a dull ache and I feel it's one of my "withdrawal-symptoms". After work I got the cravings again real bad, but now I used juice mixed with bubbly water as an alternative and ate some chips as an alternative. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
04.01.11: My daughter woke really early and although I got her to sleep again, I didn't. This is often the case and a period where I also take a lot of sugar in the form of energy-drinks to get going and not completely ruin my day. I feel more tired than usual now, but I just took a normal breakfast instead. Got the evening shift today, so this could get interesting. Went training and did 30 minutes worth of stepping feeling ok all the way through. Had a slight headache at work, but nothing too bad.
05.01.11: Very tired when I woke up, although I had just shy of 8 hours worth. Awoke my daughter and got her ready for kindergarden. Took her there and went to work. So far so good, but didn't get time to eat breakfast myself. Got a bit dizzy at work, but sorted out when I got a fast "breakfast". Halfway through the day though I got the dull ache again, but this time it jumped to a real headache which I had for the rest of the day. Got home and got dinner, but still it didn't go away. One tablet of Paracetamol and 30 minutes of sleep on the couch though and the headache was gone. Feel good now, but still a bit sluggish/tired. Haven't broken down in an orgy of sugar yet and that feels good, but that doesn't mean it's been sugar-free. I drink juice and such which of course has sugar, but I thin them out with mineral water so the idea is at least that I get a lot less. In todays society it is very hard to go cold turkey when everything has sugar in it too, but I feel confident. Still 26 days to go though!
06.01.11: The day went surprisingly well! Woke my daughter 07.20 and got her to kindergarden without trouble, and the workload was light at work so everything seemed ok. No real headaches, special cravings or anything either which was good. Not much more to say really... I'm hoping the worst of it is over with...
07.01.11: Awoke early by a daughter that felt that 06.00 was the perfect time for breakfast! After kindergarden and everything, lethargia set in and I was unable to feel compelled to do any chores, work or other stuff. About 14.00 when I was about to get ready for work the dull headache set in again. Not much for it though, so let's just hope it gets better.
08.01.11: Work-weekend. Didn't feel any cravings or headaches. Nothing else to report really... :-)
09.01.11: Stood up at 07.30 when my duracell-bunny of a daughter wanted to start the final chapter of the weekend...
Spent some hours playing with her before we all had breakfast. Felt fine at first, but later in the day got really tired. Ended up staying up until 11 pm, which was rather stupid thinking about the day to come...
10.01.11: Up at 5 to fly to a work-related IT-course. These are the moments when I miss my energydrinks the most. Sluggish all the way to the airport, on the plane and through most of the start of the course. Besides that the day went well and without incident. Felt a bit proud of myself when I didn't have breakfast due to oversleeping 15 minutes and having to skip that part, and hten resort only to "healthy" alternatives instead of the sugar-rush stash you normally find on airports. The same during the course where there were a lot of enticing sugar-drinks, but I went for the bottled water instead. It's a question about being consistent and have enough willpower at every crossroad to not relapse, but it's not easy when the substances are so readily avaliable and you actually feel like you need the kick they so deviously offer. I feel confident now that I shall overcome the month, but not that I can keep this up for ever... Time will tell...
11.01.11: Uneventful day. Nothing to report really.
12.01.11: Uneventful day. Nothing to report.
13.01.11: A very long day at work (09.00 - 20.00) which it was very tempting to fall back on my previous consumption. Wasn't much room for eating at all, and I had my breakfast at 14.00 since I didn't get a chance to eat before getting my daughter to the kindergarden. I know it's not healthy and I know that you really should eat before you get dizzy from lack of nutrients, but that's probably also a bit of the problem with why I ended up where I did in the first place.
14.01.11: Day has been ok as far as sugar is involved. A lot of stress at work this day, but that's life I guess. No real symptoms though, so that's good.
15.01.11: Saturday. I awoke after 3 hours worth of sleep. I have a headache of the type that tells you that you really need more sleep, but I was too awake for that despite insomnia itching around in my eyeballs cone and rod cells. Tried to do some aimless surfing and watch som Eddie Izzard for sleep, and managed a good 15 minuttes before my daughter woke up. The entire day was later coloured by these events and I was without initiative, sluggish and had the same dull ache the entire day. I hope it goes away til the morning.
We did a lot of tidying and cleaning during the evening and I found a bag of M chocholates (That's peanuts covered in a thin coat of dark chocholate for those of you who don't know) that imideately got my pulse running. I wanted them, my mouth was salivating and I placed them in the back of a cupboard to avoid the temptation. Now I felt confident that I wouldn't break by this time, but the idea that they're there and you can't eat them made it all just annoying. So much easier if there's no chocholate there to be tempted by. Also rather beautifully highlights the importance of helping each other to achieve a life that isn't controlled by sugar. All members of a family must do the same, or some of you will eventually break down in a frothing binge. I imagine this is true for getting rid of all addictions...
16.01.11: It's sunday, it's snowing and I woke early without any incident (alarms, daughter or other artifical means of being awoken, etc.). Just a bit tired, but no headache since I had a good 7-8 hours worth. I took a slow morning and it was wonderful. No sugar-cravings and everything seems splendid! Almost looking forward to my bension in 35 years time if it's like this all the time, but I guess it's not the same when you have nothing to relax from...
17.01.11: Nothing to report!
18.01.11: I spent the day with training, SPA and the like. Everything was fab and sugar wasn't an issue. I did Pepsi Max with my meal which I seriously think tastes foul compared to normal sugar. We really need some artificial sweeteners that taste almost LIKE sugar if we're ever to switch to the alternative imo. If you regularly drink that stuff it's because you don't want too much sugar, NOT because you really like it over the real thing.
19.01.11:
20.01.11:
21.01.11:
22.01.11:
23.01.11:
24.01.11:
25.01.11:
26.01.11:
27.01.11:
28.01.11:
29.01.11:
30.01.11:
31.01.11:
Summary:
The main problem of course is that I don't savour the moment, but just fork/gulp in as much as possible as quickly as possible, usually feeling slightly sick in the end.
This is of course not healthy in the long run, and so I thought I'd try to go a full month without any chocholate bars and any soda, since these variants stands for the vast majority of the sugar I get. I want to prove to myself that I can do it and that I'm not an incurable sugar-addict. Since many people have "white" periods where they abstain from everything from alkohol to sex, I chose to think of january 2011 as my special brand of a "white month".
The following posts are the story about how it went:
01.01.11: It's the first of january and I woke 08.00 with a slight craving. I didn't break at once, which I felt good about. It felt as if I had a purpose. The solution was to take a glass of drinking-youghurt insted. This has a bit of sugar, but nowhere near soda-levels, so I thought it was an ok compromise to bring the christmas high under controll.
02.01.11: The day went remarkably well. Focusing on eating less junk makes me more hungry though, so I would say I've probably started eating a bit healthier also. The cravings are still there and my mind wanders to these forbidden items. My inlaws visited and I had a cappuchino while they were here, but I feel that's ok, since it's not my normal routine and although it has sugar it's not on the list of things I wanted to avoid. I have to be carefull so I don't use other suger-sources to compensate though, cause then the point is a bit lost.
03.01.11: The day went ok since I spent a big part of it at work. Since work is rather stressful I often end up with the mentioned sugar-bombs as fast snacks to get going, but today I took the time for a real lunch. Felt good, but my problem is that I feel like I've got a slight headache, just below the threshold for what I'd describe as painful. It's more like a dull ache and I feel it's one of my "withdrawal-symptoms". After work I got the cravings again real bad, but now I used juice mixed with bubbly water as an alternative and ate some chips as an alternative. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
04.01.11: My daughter woke really early and although I got her to sleep again, I didn't. This is often the case and a period where I also take a lot of sugar in the form of energy-drinks to get going and not completely ruin my day. I feel more tired than usual now, but I just took a normal breakfast instead. Got the evening shift today, so this could get interesting. Went training and did 30 minutes worth of stepping feeling ok all the way through. Had a slight headache at work, but nothing too bad.
05.01.11: Very tired when I woke up, although I had just shy of 8 hours worth. Awoke my daughter and got her ready for kindergarden. Took her there and went to work. So far so good, but didn't get time to eat breakfast myself. Got a bit dizzy at work, but sorted out when I got a fast "breakfast". Halfway through the day though I got the dull ache again, but this time it jumped to a real headache which I had for the rest of the day. Got home and got dinner, but still it didn't go away. One tablet of Paracetamol and 30 minutes of sleep on the couch though and the headache was gone. Feel good now, but still a bit sluggish/tired. Haven't broken down in an orgy of sugar yet and that feels good, but that doesn't mean it's been sugar-free. I drink juice and such which of course has sugar, but I thin them out with mineral water so the idea is at least that I get a lot less. In todays society it is very hard to go cold turkey when everything has sugar in it too, but I feel confident. Still 26 days to go though!
06.01.11: The day went surprisingly well! Woke my daughter 07.20 and got her to kindergarden without trouble, and the workload was light at work so everything seemed ok. No real headaches, special cravings or anything either which was good. Not much more to say really... I'm hoping the worst of it is over with...
07.01.11: Awoke early by a daughter that felt that 06.00 was the perfect time for breakfast! After kindergarden and everything, lethargia set in and I was unable to feel compelled to do any chores, work or other stuff. About 14.00 when I was about to get ready for work the dull headache set in again. Not much for it though, so let's just hope it gets better.
08.01.11: Work-weekend. Didn't feel any cravings or headaches. Nothing else to report really... :-)
09.01.11: Stood up at 07.30 when my duracell-bunny of a daughter wanted to start the final chapter of the weekend...
Spent some hours playing with her before we all had breakfast. Felt fine at first, but later in the day got really tired. Ended up staying up until 11 pm, which was rather stupid thinking about the day to come...
10.01.11: Up at 5 to fly to a work-related IT-course. These are the moments when I miss my energydrinks the most. Sluggish all the way to the airport, on the plane and through most of the start of the course. Besides that the day went well and without incident. Felt a bit proud of myself when I didn't have breakfast due to oversleeping 15 minutes and having to skip that part, and hten resort only to "healthy" alternatives instead of the sugar-rush stash you normally find on airports. The same during the course where there were a lot of enticing sugar-drinks, but I went for the bottled water instead. It's a question about being consistent and have enough willpower at every crossroad to not relapse, but it's not easy when the substances are so readily avaliable and you actually feel like you need the kick they so deviously offer. I feel confident now that I shall overcome the month, but not that I can keep this up for ever... Time will tell...
11.01.11: Uneventful day. Nothing to report really.
12.01.11: Uneventful day. Nothing to report.
13.01.11: A very long day at work (09.00 - 20.00) which it was very tempting to fall back on my previous consumption. Wasn't much room for eating at all, and I had my breakfast at 14.00 since I didn't get a chance to eat before getting my daughter to the kindergarden. I know it's not healthy and I know that you really should eat before you get dizzy from lack of nutrients, but that's probably also a bit of the problem with why I ended up where I did in the first place.
14.01.11: Day has been ok as far as sugar is involved. A lot of stress at work this day, but that's life I guess. No real symptoms though, so that's good.
15.01.11: Saturday. I awoke after 3 hours worth of sleep. I have a headache of the type that tells you that you really need more sleep, but I was too awake for that despite insomnia itching around in my eyeballs cone and rod cells. Tried to do some aimless surfing and watch som Eddie Izzard for sleep, and managed a good 15 minuttes before my daughter woke up. The entire day was later coloured by these events and I was without initiative, sluggish and had the same dull ache the entire day. I hope it goes away til the morning.
We did a lot of tidying and cleaning during the evening and I found a bag of M chocholates (That's peanuts covered in a thin coat of dark chocholate for those of you who don't know) that imideately got my pulse running. I wanted them, my mouth was salivating and I placed them in the back of a cupboard to avoid the temptation. Now I felt confident that I wouldn't break by this time, but the idea that they're there and you can't eat them made it all just annoying. So much easier if there's no chocholate there to be tempted by. Also rather beautifully highlights the importance of helping each other to achieve a life that isn't controlled by sugar. All members of a family must do the same, or some of you will eventually break down in a frothing binge. I imagine this is true for getting rid of all addictions...
16.01.11: It's sunday, it's snowing and I woke early without any incident (alarms, daughter or other artifical means of being awoken, etc.). Just a bit tired, but no headache since I had a good 7-8 hours worth. I took a slow morning and it was wonderful. No sugar-cravings and everything seems splendid! Almost looking forward to my bension in 35 years time if it's like this all the time, but I guess it's not the same when you have nothing to relax from...
17.01.11: Nothing to report!
18.01.11: I spent the day with training, SPA and the like. Everything was fab and sugar wasn't an issue. I did Pepsi Max with my meal which I seriously think tastes foul compared to normal sugar. We really need some artificial sweeteners that taste almost LIKE sugar if we're ever to switch to the alternative imo. If you regularly drink that stuff it's because you don't want too much sugar, NOT because you really like it over the real thing.
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Summary:
Sunday, 12 December 2010
My already painted minis
Well, at least which I have pictures of...
Mind you, the following are old stuff several years old, but I felt I had to put up something at least vaguely model-based since it's supposed to be a modelling blog first and foremost...
So please be gentle with the criticism, since it's not my best work and it's also not the best pictures to give a bit of credit to a sloppy job.
Well, nuff verbal self-flagellation before the actual pictures... Here goes nothing...
A miniature model of my Damage Inc. (Online Roleplaying Forum) Deathwatch Veteran - Orz Nemoi of the Raven Guard Chapter.
Finished on a 2nd place in the forum painting competition with this one
(which would have been great if there weren't one winner and the remaining five entries got on a split second place :-<)
I feel I have to explain a bit about him though: As you can see from the two "I use a dot of Chaos Black to represent service studs" he's a veteran, and the jump pack and lightning claws mark him as an assault marine. I forget all the fluff about him, but he has a discrete "rotting flesh" stripe across his eyes where he's been wounded by tyranid bio-acid, which results in the discrete bionics I've sculpted.
I'm happy with two things mainly on the model, and that is the freehand Raven Guard Icon on the shoulderpad and the paint finish of his skin.
Mahr'Duk is my present Demon Prince of Nurgle for my Death Guard Army. He will get a successor one day, but for now he's the head honcho. I gave him the nick-name because in the fluff I wrote for him, he was responsible for the death of an Eldar Phoenix Lord. Naturally they sprout back, so no big deal in that regard, but it gives him a bit of "street-cred" and he had the stats to pull it off with a little bit of luck...
Viewing this model now several years later there are many things I would've done differently, but he was rushed to enter into a tournament, so no biggy in that regard. I would've felt worse if this was the result of weeks of hard labour.
The things I like about him are his left knee (I like the "old bone" texture I achieved and the glowing green eyes (not well shown in the picture).
I have actually gotten a lot of praise for the big worm in his abdomen (I jokingly called him Benny and he was my "nurgling infestation") which was a very easy conversion where I cut the two horns of a CSM head and greenstuffed them in place so they seemed to be extensions of each other. Since I planned on giving him a bloated gut in the first place it was just to stick em in there.
I used the Axe from an old Minotaur model since the scales was the same and I wanted something other than the standard deamon sword.
The wings and the wannabe-unicorn-horn are from the Zacharias the Everliving model which my local game store was kind enough to give me, since they got two by mistake and GW told them to keep the spare since it was their screw up, so I got it for free! Thanks again, Tom! :-)
..............................................................................................................................
So there we have it, my first and only to this date model pictures... Hope you like them...
Mind you, the following are old stuff several years old, but I felt I had to put up something at least vaguely model-based since it's supposed to be a modelling blog first and foremost...
So please be gentle with the criticism, since it's not my best work and it's also not the best pictures to give a bit of credit to a sloppy job.
Well, nuff verbal self-flagellation before the actual pictures... Here goes nothing...
A miniature model of my Damage Inc. (Online Roleplaying Forum) Deathwatch Veteran - Orz Nemoi of the Raven Guard Chapter.
Finished on a 2nd place in the forum painting competition with this one
(which would have been great if there weren't one winner and the remaining five entries got on a split second place :-<)
I feel I have to explain a bit about him though: As you can see from the two "I use a dot of Chaos Black to represent service studs" he's a veteran, and the jump pack and lightning claws mark him as an assault marine. I forget all the fluff about him, but he has a discrete "rotting flesh" stripe across his eyes where he's been wounded by tyranid bio-acid, which results in the discrete bionics I've sculpted.
I'm happy with two things mainly on the model, and that is the freehand Raven Guard Icon on the shoulderpad and the paint finish of his skin.
Viewing this model now several years later there are many things I would've done differently, but he was rushed to enter into a tournament, so no biggy in that regard. I would've felt worse if this was the result of weeks of hard labour.
The things I like about him are his left knee (I like the "old bone" texture I achieved and the glowing green eyes (not well shown in the picture).
I have actually gotten a lot of praise for the big worm in his abdomen (I jokingly called him Benny and he was my "nurgling infestation") which was a very easy conversion where I cut the two horns of a CSM head and greenstuffed them in place so they seemed to be extensions of each other. Since I planned on giving him a bloated gut in the first place it was just to stick em in there.
I used the Axe from an old Minotaur model since the scales was the same and I wanted something other than the standard deamon sword.
The wings and the wannabe-unicorn-horn are from the Zacharias the Everliving model which my local game store was kind enough to give me, since they got two by mistake and GW told them to keep the spare since it was their screw up, so I got it for free! Thanks again, Tom! :-)
..............................................................................................................................
So there we have it, my first and only to this date model pictures... Hope you like them...
Monday, 8 November 2010
The Joys of Parenthood
My little girl is about to become 2 years of age.
This is a period of great fun for me since it involves the child having developed her motorskills (and thus regularly trash the place twice a day) and now work furiously on her vocabulary. All the odd sounds which she makes trying to get a functioning set of communication skills up and running is hillarious and great fun.
But while I sat there watching the child trying to frame the Norwegian word for meatballs I thought about what communication actually is? I've heard said that "all communication is doomed to fail, unless you by an accident get it right!" By that we mean that everything is in context, and what I might call pink, you might call puce, etc.
Thus I started wondering about our little toddler trying to learn to speak. Every person has different backgrounds and thus different perceptions. And the task for the kid is to learn to speak so that every person understands her? Granted the mind works like a spounge at this age, but it is a remarkable feat which many of us work a lifetime trying to master.
But what is good communication anyway? I had a course in this during my studies before our practice periods when we were going to meet real patients for the first time. The instructor showed clips from a roleplayed meeting with an imaginary patient (played by a loal actor) made by former students. The goal of this exercise was to show who came across as insecure, arrogant and so on in the meetings and why. What they hadn't thought of was that the film showed one encounter between a former student and the actor, and the student was now one of the student councilors from a local pharmacy present in the room. No permission to show her first mistakes had been asked for, and they started of the whole session by claiming that they had. Granted the councilor didn't seem too perturbed by this, but what does a blooper like that from a self-proclaimed "communications expert" communicate to the audience? We couldn't be bothered to respect your feelings?
I work in a profession which is basically a new customer every 5 minutes.
I think of myself as fairly good at communicating to these people, but I have to admit that sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes people misinterpret what I say, sometimes they just don't understand it. Sometimes they're late to buy [insert items name here] and just want to get out asap and sometimes they haven't slept because they've just been told they've got cancer and are thus a bit snappy when I try to explain the ins and outs of the reimbursement rules for prescription drugs.
I would have to say that to communicate totally successfully you have to understand the other persons background as well as your own. To learn what meaning they place behind which words.
Thus I find great joy in seeing my toddler finding words which spark recollection with us parents at the dinner table. A bip might be called something completele different, and a visiting grandmother might not understand a word of it, but to me and my toddler it is perfectly clear. We understand each other because we have a knowledge of each others backgrounds. We have successfully communicated!
This is a period of great fun for me since it involves the child having developed her motorskills (and thus regularly trash the place twice a day) and now work furiously on her vocabulary. All the odd sounds which she makes trying to get a functioning set of communication skills up and running is hillarious and great fun.
But while I sat there watching the child trying to frame the Norwegian word for meatballs I thought about what communication actually is? I've heard said that "all communication is doomed to fail, unless you by an accident get it right!" By that we mean that everything is in context, and what I might call pink, you might call puce, etc.
Thus I started wondering about our little toddler trying to learn to speak. Every person has different backgrounds and thus different perceptions. And the task for the kid is to learn to speak so that every person understands her? Granted the mind works like a spounge at this age, but it is a remarkable feat which many of us work a lifetime trying to master.
But what is good communication anyway? I had a course in this during my studies before our practice periods when we were going to meet real patients for the first time. The instructor showed clips from a roleplayed meeting with an imaginary patient (played by a loal actor) made by former students. The goal of this exercise was to show who came across as insecure, arrogant and so on in the meetings and why. What they hadn't thought of was that the film showed one encounter between a former student and the actor, and the student was now one of the student councilors from a local pharmacy present in the room. No permission to show her first mistakes had been asked for, and they started of the whole session by claiming that they had. Granted the councilor didn't seem too perturbed by this, but what does a blooper like that from a self-proclaimed "communications expert" communicate to the audience? We couldn't be bothered to respect your feelings?
I work in a profession which is basically a new customer every 5 minutes.
I think of myself as fairly good at communicating to these people, but I have to admit that sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes people misinterpret what I say, sometimes they just don't understand it. Sometimes they're late to buy [insert items name here] and just want to get out asap and sometimes they haven't slept because they've just been told they've got cancer and are thus a bit snappy when I try to explain the ins and outs of the reimbursement rules for prescription drugs.
I would have to say that to communicate totally successfully you have to understand the other persons background as well as your own. To learn what meaning they place behind which words.
Thus I find great joy in seeing my toddler finding words which spark recollection with us parents at the dinner table. A bip might be called something completele different, and a visiting grandmother might not understand a word of it, but to me and my toddler it is perfectly clear. We understand each other because we have a knowledge of each others backgrounds. We have successfully communicated!
Thursday, 4 November 2010
"a Blood Angel successor chapter"?!
I've given a short description of what interests me about the Legion of the Damned in the previous post, and how I want to portray them.
I've thought long and hard about what set of rules would portray them best, from loyalist chapters to Chaos variants (1K Sons being foremost here.)
My goal is to make them seem as close as possible to the rules for LotD as GW intended. Thus squads in the SM codex or Apocalypse Datasheets are my options, while on the other hand use another set of rules to allow for a more close combat oriented version with faster movement for a more dynamic force.
To make them "codex" I would have to find a way to make them get a 3+ invulnerable save (hard), simulate the "aid unlooked for" rule (possible), make them fearless (plenty of options), and of course ignore the "slow and purposeful" rule since I wanna be faster if I want to portray them as in the codex.
If we view the Apocalypse Datasheet for them though we see a much more balanced way of fielding them as an army instead of a badass squad to ally to your own chapter.
Thus I will aim to match the Apocalypse rules instead...
To make them faster I need to either "mount them on bikes" or give them "jump packs", while at least give them a way to make them as survivable as possible, fearless and able to appear through deep strike.
I ended up with Blood Angels for several reasons:
1) The Red Thirst rule seems flavourful and fitting.
2) Descent of Angels rule allow rerolling of reserves and less scatter so my apparitions arrive more in unison and on target to a greater degree than normal Deep Strike. (This is a possible substitue of the "Aid Unlooked For" rule.)
3) Having an "all jump pack" army means that it is highly mobile and very suited to my theme. Jump Packs are substituted for ethereal movement akin to Warp Spiders jumping. I intend to do this by painting marines as partially "out of phase".
4) The Fire Hawks chapter which are the precursors of the present Legion of the Damned were successors to the Ultramarines, who I view as a "Vanilla MEQ Spartans/warrior monk" basic marines. Spartans used shield, spears and robes which pose a powerful imagery when coupled with power armour (although ultramarines also use a lot of Roman imput, etc, I know). Power Armour + Shield should give more protection than the standard power armour imo, thus Sanguinary Guard are used and the reasoning are thus: Power Armour + Huge Ceramite Shield = Artificer Armour! The wysiwyg of it is "If it has a shield: 2+ save, if not: 3+ save"
5) Using priests to cover most squads insure all the units have Feel No Pain, Fearless and Furious Charge rule which fits my idea perfectly. Dante and Codicier squads should be within 6" of a friendly squad at all times. I'll use cover to best effect to minimize weapons that can hurt me without saves and try to "get the charge" on any squad with weapons that ignore saves so the squads have as much survivability as possible. This also becomes what makes the army challenging to play. I thought about making an apocalypse army where every squad is a legion squad from the SM codex led by a suitably impressing commander (Lysander or Vulkan He'Stan springs to mind) but that would just mean I have a footslogging army which walks slowly towards the enemy doing the bolter death routine, and I have that with my Nurgle army and wanted something different. This is also the aspect of the Legion I have the most problem with. They should be more bloodthirsty and...ehrm...khornate imo.
My list is thus as follows:
Commander Altair (Dante)
Dante is a good commander model, but not really my first choice. But since I need to take him to make my Sanguinary Guard troops choices it's a no-brainer. He's a great combatant though, and his squad should be lethal against everything on the board. Making the SG troops mean that every squad can claim objectives though, which is a good thing.
Codicier (Librarian w/Jump Pack)
For my second HQ I chose a librarian. This has to do with the background I've chosen for my Legion, but it also provides utility powers and a great psychic hood. I would've prefered to use Mephiston instead of Dante and another librarian, but since Wings of Sanguinius doesn't give the Descent of Angels rule (and doesn't make SG troops) I'd have to start with him on the board alone, which hampers my tactics.
3 Lexicani (Sanguinary Priest w/Jump Pack & Power Weapon)
I include a lot of SPs. The reason for this is redundancy in getting Feel No Pain, while the models are great additions in themselves. Being independent characters I can detatch them if that is preferable too. A bit pricy perhaps, but good models. Giving (preferably) all the squads Furious Charge is also a godsend since it means I hit first with all my power weapons.
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard w/Chapter Banner & 3 Inferno Pistols)
The Commanders squad is rather buffed out. I include 3 Inferno Pistols and the commander own to be sure that they take out a vehicle on their first turn if that's preferable. In assault they get more thant 11 dead MEQs, so they should make short work of most enemies. If they get bogged down a turn the Hit and Run rule means that mobs (Termagaunts, Ork-boys, etc.) won't get to swamp them.
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard w/3 Inferno Pistols)
Another squad with tank-killing abilities to ensure that I can maximize my killing on the turn I arrive.
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard w/3 Inferno Pistols)
Another squad with tank-killing abilities to ensure that I can maximize my killing on the turn I arrive.
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard)
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard)
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard)
3 squads with "basic" SG. They are very durable against small arms due to 2+ save and FNP. I've just gotta keep thinking about positioning to avoid AP2 weaponry, with only 35 models in the army.
Whole force: 35 marines
Points: 2000 pts.
I've thought long and hard about what set of rules would portray them best, from loyalist chapters to Chaos variants (1K Sons being foremost here.)
My goal is to make them seem as close as possible to the rules for LotD as GW intended. Thus squads in the SM codex or Apocalypse Datasheets are my options, while on the other hand use another set of rules to allow for a more close combat oriented version with faster movement for a more dynamic force.
To make them "codex" I would have to find a way to make them get a 3+ invulnerable save (hard), simulate the "aid unlooked for" rule (possible), make them fearless (plenty of options), and of course ignore the "slow and purposeful" rule since I wanna be faster if I want to portray them as in the codex.
If we view the Apocalypse Datasheet for them though we see a much more balanced way of fielding them as an army instead of a badass squad to ally to your own chapter.
Thus I will aim to match the Apocalypse rules instead...
To make them faster I need to either "mount them on bikes" or give them "jump packs", while at least give them a way to make them as survivable as possible, fearless and able to appear through deep strike.
I ended up with Blood Angels for several reasons:
1) The Red Thirst rule seems flavourful and fitting.
2) Descent of Angels rule allow rerolling of reserves and less scatter so my apparitions arrive more in unison and on target to a greater degree than normal Deep Strike. (This is a possible substitue of the "Aid Unlooked For" rule.)
3) Having an "all jump pack" army means that it is highly mobile and very suited to my theme. Jump Packs are substituted for ethereal movement akin to Warp Spiders jumping. I intend to do this by painting marines as partially "out of phase".
4) The Fire Hawks chapter which are the precursors of the present Legion of the Damned were successors to the Ultramarines, who I view as a "Vanilla MEQ Spartans/warrior monk" basic marines. Spartans used shield, spears and robes which pose a powerful imagery when coupled with power armour (although ultramarines also use a lot of Roman imput, etc, I know). Power Armour + Shield should give more protection than the standard power armour imo, thus Sanguinary Guard are used and the reasoning are thus: Power Armour + Huge Ceramite Shield = Artificer Armour! The wysiwyg of it is "If it has a shield: 2+ save, if not: 3+ save"
5) Using priests to cover most squads insure all the units have Feel No Pain, Fearless and Furious Charge rule which fits my idea perfectly. Dante and Codicier squads should be within 6" of a friendly squad at all times. I'll use cover to best effect to minimize weapons that can hurt me without saves and try to "get the charge" on any squad with weapons that ignore saves so the squads have as much survivability as possible. This also becomes what makes the army challenging to play. I thought about making an apocalypse army where every squad is a legion squad from the SM codex led by a suitably impressing commander (Lysander or Vulkan He'Stan springs to mind) but that would just mean I have a footslogging army which walks slowly towards the enemy doing the bolter death routine, and I have that with my Nurgle army and wanted something different. This is also the aspect of the Legion I have the most problem with. They should be more bloodthirsty and...ehrm...khornate imo.
My list is thus as follows:
Commander Altair (Dante)
Dante is a good commander model, but not really my first choice. But since I need to take him to make my Sanguinary Guard troops choices it's a no-brainer. He's a great combatant though, and his squad should be lethal against everything on the board. Making the SG troops mean that every squad can claim objectives though, which is a good thing.
Codicier (Librarian w/Jump Pack)
For my second HQ I chose a librarian. This has to do with the background I've chosen for my Legion, but it also provides utility powers and a great psychic hood. I would've prefered to use Mephiston instead of Dante and another librarian, but since Wings of Sanguinius doesn't give the Descent of Angels rule (and doesn't make SG troops) I'd have to start with him on the board alone, which hampers my tactics.
3 Lexicani (Sanguinary Priest w/Jump Pack & Power Weapon)
I include a lot of SPs. The reason for this is redundancy in getting Feel No Pain, while the models are great additions in themselves. Being independent characters I can detatch them if that is preferable too. A bit pricy perhaps, but good models. Giving (preferably) all the squads Furious Charge is also a godsend since it means I hit first with all my power weapons.
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard w/Chapter Banner & 3 Inferno Pistols)
The Commanders squad is rather buffed out. I include 3 Inferno Pistols and the commander own to be sure that they take out a vehicle on their first turn if that's preferable. In assault they get more thant 11 dead MEQs, so they should make short work of most enemies. If they get bogged down a turn the Hit and Run rule means that mobs (Termagaunts, Ork-boys, etc.) won't get to swamp them.
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard w/3 Inferno Pistols)
Another squad with tank-killing abilities to ensure that I can maximize my killing on the turn I arrive.
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard w/3 Inferno Pistols)
Another squad with tank-killing abilities to ensure that I can maximize my killing on the turn I arrive.
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard)
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard)
5 Legionnaires (Sanguinary Guard)
3 squads with "basic" SG. They are very durable against small arms due to 2+ save and FNP. I've just gotta keep thinking about positioning to avoid AP2 weaponry, with only 35 models in the army.
Whole force: 35 marines
Points: 2000 pts.
New Project: Legion of the Damned
I have decided upon my next project for 40K. This has been tricky since there is the new Dark Eldar out and there is so many possibilities out there for funtionality and theme to spike my curiosity. I have decided though, and I've landed on an old idea I've had but never got around to: Legion of the Damned
Now you might think that this is just another dork grabbing hold of the latest "flavour of the month"-release, but the army and theme have been a long time brewing in my mind, and I've decided how I want to portray them.
First off, I like and dislike the image projected by GW:
I like the idea of an ethereal marine host appearing where most needed, leaving nothing but corpses in their wake.
I dislike the idea of them just trampling forward in a straight line, captain and battlebrother undistinguishable from one another, while firing nothing but bolters at their enemies.
I like the idea of using morbid iconography to associate themselves with death (kind of like the Death Korps or the Mortifactors)
I like AND dislike the current use of flames in the theme going too much over to the "fire and brimstone-purgatory" variant for me, but being cool-looking on the models.
So,... What to do to try and stay true to the core of their fluff while also taking the army to another level? I've read every bit of official fluff I could find on them and have tried to piece together the parts I like, rewrite or omit the parts I feel needs changing so I can make my own take on the Legion while still staying true to "the core" of their idea.
I settled for the following paragraphs, and try to write my own IA article about it, but bear in mind THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL FLUFF:
- The only reason for their daring escape from the warp was en epiphany by the Chief Librarian which he gathered to be an intervention from the Golden Throne, showing a way to rescue the remaining battle-brothers.
- The brothers expected to die, and to an extend want to to end their suffering, but as in all marines the power to endure, survive and kill is too ingrained to extinguish, even in their paranoid, psychosis-filled states.
- The brothers who have not yet succumbed to the disease have shown a strong emergent psychic potential, allowing them to enter and exit the warp to traverse short distances, a little like master librarians of other chapters. (13th Grand Company of the Space Wolves spring to mind!)
- The marines have seen what they believe are indications that those that slay the most enemies also gain most psychic power and in so doing shield themselves better from the other denizens of the warp and the inflicting curse upon their bodies. Thus it become a race to kill the most (in the Emperor's name of course) and in so doing I feel I change the aspect from silent automations which advance implaccably while proving impervious to harm to a swift and hardhitting force akin to MEQ Reavers from the Firefly series.
Choice of rule-set and conversion of it will come in the next post...
Now you might think that this is just another dork grabbing hold of the latest "flavour of the month"-release, but the army and theme have been a long time brewing in my mind, and I've decided how I want to portray them.
First off, I like and dislike the image projected by GW:
I like the idea of an ethereal marine host appearing where most needed, leaving nothing but corpses in their wake.
I dislike the idea of them just trampling forward in a straight line, captain and battlebrother undistinguishable from one another, while firing nothing but bolters at their enemies.
I like the idea of using morbid iconography to associate themselves with death (kind of like the Death Korps or the Mortifactors)
I like AND dislike the current use of flames in the theme going too much over to the "fire and brimstone-purgatory" variant for me, but being cool-looking on the models.
So,... What to do to try and stay true to the core of their fluff while also taking the army to another level? I've read every bit of official fluff I could find on them and have tried to piece together the parts I like, rewrite or omit the parts I feel needs changing so I can make my own take on the Legion while still staying true to "the core" of their idea.
I settled for the following paragraphs, and try to write my own IA article about it, but bear in mind THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL FLUFF:
- The only reason for their daring escape from the warp was en epiphany by the Chief Librarian which he gathered to be an intervention from the Golden Throne, showing a way to rescue the remaining battle-brothers.
- The brothers expected to die, and to an extend want to to end their suffering, but as in all marines the power to endure, survive and kill is too ingrained to extinguish, even in their paranoid, psychosis-filled states.
- The brothers who have not yet succumbed to the disease have shown a strong emergent psychic potential, allowing them to enter and exit the warp to traverse short distances, a little like master librarians of other chapters. (13th Grand Company of the Space Wolves spring to mind!)
- The marines have seen what they believe are indications that those that slay the most enemies also gain most psychic power and in so doing shield themselves better from the other denizens of the warp and the inflicting curse upon their bodies. Thus it become a race to kill the most (in the Emperor's name of course) and in so doing I feel I change the aspect from silent automations which advance implaccably while proving impervious to harm to a swift and hardhitting force akin to MEQ Reavers from the Firefly series.
Choice of rule-set and conversion of it will come in the next post...
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Ultramarines - The Movie
Finally! The first Warhammer 40000 movie is upon us!
I've already pre-ordered my copy, and eagerly awaits November 29.
My analysis upon seeing the trailers and reading about it:
I like the actors submitting their voices to the characters. It is refreshing that it's not just the same Hollywood-actors which do the voice-overs between other jobs for extra income.
The plot is written by Dan Abnett, one of my favourite Black Library authors, so it should be good.
The animation seems to have seen a lot of love. Whether it works on DVD will remain to be seen.
I fear a bit of "cheesiness" about the Ultramarines. Stuff like "they are the only line of defence..." in the trailer seem to not take into account the billions of guardsmen who lay down their lives in prolonged sieges so that the glory boys can come and break the stalemate and take all the credit. That said I understand the reason for choosing the chapter(s) which most existing or ex-gamers might know about, not to mention has extensive background lore from several decades of writing. Thus I understand using Ultramarines and Imperial Fists. The antagonists I'm not sure about, but they might be vanilla Black Legion, which is another "safe choice" in my book.
I wish to see fluent action and motion capture, rich enviroment and iconic/epic/titanic struggles from our post-human demigods.
That being said I would prefer to see a story made about Gaunt's Ghosts or Eisenhorn, but I guess you can't have everything, at least not right away. And my reasoning is that if this movie does bad at the marked, it is a longer time before we see any sequels or other 40K films.
Thus my copy is soon in the mail! May we see many more films in the years to come!
I've already pre-ordered my copy, and eagerly awaits November 29.
My analysis upon seeing the trailers and reading about it:
I like the actors submitting their voices to the characters. It is refreshing that it's not just the same Hollywood-actors which do the voice-overs between other jobs for extra income.
The plot is written by Dan Abnett, one of my favourite Black Library authors, so it should be good.
The animation seems to have seen a lot of love. Whether it works on DVD will remain to be seen.
I fear a bit of "cheesiness" about the Ultramarines. Stuff like "they are the only line of defence..." in the trailer seem to not take into account the billions of guardsmen who lay down their lives in prolonged sieges so that the glory boys can come and break the stalemate and take all the credit. That said I understand the reason for choosing the chapter(s) which most existing or ex-gamers might know about, not to mention has extensive background lore from several decades of writing. Thus I understand using Ultramarines and Imperial Fists. The antagonists I'm not sure about, but they might be vanilla Black Legion, which is another "safe choice" in my book.
I wish to see fluent action and motion capture, rich enviroment and iconic/epic/titanic struggles from our post-human demigods.
That being said I would prefer to see a story made about Gaunt's Ghosts or Eisenhorn, but I guess you can't have everything, at least not right away. And my reasoning is that if this movie does bad at the marked, it is a longer time before we see any sequels or other 40K films.
Thus my copy is soon in the mail! May we see many more films in the years to come!
Disclaimer
I thought maybe it was time to write a disclaimer for this blog, just to be on the safe side:
First off this is a series of dynamic online documents meant to reflect my opinion on various subjects at the time. All information might thus become void or altered as time passes. Older posts should therefore be viewed as such and thus hopefully some parts of society has moved on for the better.
English is my second language and the blogs should be viewed as such. Hopefully the meaning gets across anyway. If any words have a different meaning in another language than English, it is one or more of the English meaning(s) which is intended.
Errare humanum est. A latin proverb meaning: "It is human to fail!". This also applies to me, and my blog-posts may of course contain errors although I strive to eliminate them. A friendly point in the right direction if anything is wrong is usually enough. If I perceive it as wrong too, it will be changed. If not I will comment why I think it should stay in its current form.
I will not be held accountable for the content of external links. I strive to make sure that links provided work properly and direct viewers to the correct sites, but the internet is a dynamic place and what functioned properly one day might be gone or replaced the next. This is especially true if viewed in context with paragraph one.
Photographs provided through this page will be credited to the correct individual. If you feel you have not received the proper acclaim feel free to leave a comment and I will try to remedy the situation. While on this subject the picture in my profile are of the Kzer-Za species from the classic Star Control II PC-game by Toys for Bob and Accolade. Sorted!
It is not my intention to hurt anyone or their feelings with what I write. Although I reserve the freedom of speech it is not my intention to in any way intrude on any religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or morals whether they're an individual, group, club, organization or company. If you feel offended by any content of this blog feel free to write a comment about it and I will try to remedy the situation.
My blog is my opinion! That means that any organization or group which I might be affiliated with can't be held accountable for my opinions. This blog is personal and should be viewed as such!
I am not responsible for comments replied to my posts. I will of course try to delete any comments which I feel might violate the other paragraphs in this disclaimer, but they are the responsibility of the person(s) making them.
My musings in this blog are my views and should not be viewed as professional advice, facts or cosmic truths. For professional help go se the practitioners of the associated profession(s).
This blog is intended as a non-profit initiative, and no adds present on the page now or in the future results in any direct income for me personally.
I'm Norwegian, and thus cannot be held accountable for every law present in the world which I may or may not inadvertently break through this blog. Thus I'm not responsible for defamatory statements made against other governments, laws or norms in your country. Drop me a line though, and I'm sure we can find a solution we can both live with!
There, I think that should just about cover it... Just remember: If in doubt, it wasn't my fault! :-P
First off this is a series of dynamic online documents meant to reflect my opinion on various subjects at the time. All information might thus become void or altered as time passes. Older posts should therefore be viewed as such and thus hopefully some parts of society has moved on for the better.
English is my second language and the blogs should be viewed as such. Hopefully the meaning gets across anyway. If any words have a different meaning in another language than English, it is one or more of the English meaning(s) which is intended.
Errare humanum est. A latin proverb meaning: "It is human to fail!". This also applies to me, and my blog-posts may of course contain errors although I strive to eliminate them. A friendly point in the right direction if anything is wrong is usually enough. If I perceive it as wrong too, it will be changed. If not I will comment why I think it should stay in its current form.
I will not be held accountable for the content of external links. I strive to make sure that links provided work properly and direct viewers to the correct sites, but the internet is a dynamic place and what functioned properly one day might be gone or replaced the next. This is especially true if viewed in context with paragraph one.
Photographs provided through this page will be credited to the correct individual. If you feel you have not received the proper acclaim feel free to leave a comment and I will try to remedy the situation. While on this subject the picture in my profile are of the Kzer-Za species from the classic Star Control II PC-game by Toys for Bob and Accolade. Sorted!
It is not my intention to hurt anyone or their feelings with what I write. Although I reserve the freedom of speech it is not my intention to in any way intrude on any religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or morals whether they're an individual, group, club, organization or company. If you feel offended by any content of this blog feel free to write a comment about it and I will try to remedy the situation.
My blog is my opinion! That means that any organization or group which I might be affiliated with can't be held accountable for my opinions. This blog is personal and should be viewed as such!
I am not responsible for comments replied to my posts. I will of course try to delete any comments which I feel might violate the other paragraphs in this disclaimer, but they are the responsibility of the person(s) making them.
My musings in this blog are my views and should not be viewed as professional advice, facts or cosmic truths. For professional help go se the practitioners of the associated profession(s).
This blog is intended as a non-profit initiative, and no adds present on the page now or in the future results in any direct income for me personally.
I'm Norwegian, and thus cannot be held accountable for every law present in the world which I may or may not inadvertently break through this blog. Thus I'm not responsible for defamatory statements made against other governments, laws or norms in your country. Drop me a line though, and I'm sure we can find a solution we can both live with!
There, I think that should just about cover it... Just remember: If in doubt, it wasn't my fault! :-P
Sit Rep
Where to begin?
First of all, the reason for my not posting at all the last 5 years was that i forgot my login on the old Blogger system and couldn't find a way to log back on quickly. I soon also forgot all about it, since every day was filled with studies, work, girlfriend and a tiny amount dedicated to the hobbies I love.
Hopefully that is about to change...
So, first off...
I finished my studies and are now the daily manager of a pharmacy. You won't see me talk very specific about my job here though, but some musings about odd stuff might appear, totally anonymous of course!
I am now married and the proud father of a bouncing toddler. She is already fast approaching 2 years of age. How the time flies when you're having fun! Or when you're sleep-deprived! Or both!
We own an apartment and a car now, with enough mortgage to make you depressed. It is however satisfying to pay money on something you will eventually end up owning, rather than just filling some dudes wallet and get nothing to show for it long-term. It is great fun for me to see the red numbers decreasing in size after each payment, but that's just my sort of fetish! There is still the odd project to finish before we're totally satisfied, but we're getting there albeit slowly.
Since most of my time is divided between the above paragraphs, little remain for hobbies sadly, but I have high hopes that it might get better in the not too distant future.
That's about it I think, Kzer-Za signing off!
Peace!
First of all, the reason for my not posting at all the last 5 years was that i forgot my login on the old Blogger system and couldn't find a way to log back on quickly. I soon also forgot all about it, since every day was filled with studies, work, girlfriend and a tiny amount dedicated to the hobbies I love.
Hopefully that is about to change...
So, first off...
I finished my studies and are now the daily manager of a pharmacy. You won't see me talk very specific about my job here though, but some musings about odd stuff might appear, totally anonymous of course!
I am now married and the proud father of a bouncing toddler. She is already fast approaching 2 years of age. How the time flies when you're having fun! Or when you're sleep-deprived! Or both!
We own an apartment and a car now, with enough mortgage to make you depressed. It is however satisfying to pay money on something you will eventually end up owning, rather than just filling some dudes wallet and get nothing to show for it long-term. It is great fun for me to see the red numbers decreasing in size after each payment, but that's just my sort of fetish! There is still the odd project to finish before we're totally satisfied, but we're getting there albeit slowly.
Since most of my time is divided between the above paragraphs, little remain for hobbies sadly, but I have high hopes that it might get better in the not too distant future.
That's about it I think, Kzer-Za signing off!
Peace!
Wednesday, 12 October 2005
*Phew*
I have been much troubled by my disease these last years, and as a result my studies have suffered. Although I cannot give my disease all the fault for this (I've been a bit too lazy too), a lot of it can be credited to it.
Thus it is with great elation that I became better due to akupuncture and reforming my life in other areas, and today I reap the benefits...
Finally I'm back on track, after having "dumped" a year in my studies due to having too many unfinished courses from flunking exams.
A lot of hard effort has gone into it, but now I've finished all the courses...
Life seems good, and I'm in excellent spirit...
Just wanted to share it with the world, sorry if it seems boring or dull, but you've stumbed into MY blogg, so this is what you get... ;)
Thus it is with great elation that I became better due to akupuncture and reforming my life in other areas, and today I reap the benefits...
Finally I'm back on track, after having "dumped" a year in my studies due to having too many unfinished courses from flunking exams.
A lot of hard effort has gone into it, but now I've finished all the courses...
Life seems good, and I'm in excellent spirit...
Just wanted to share it with the world, sorry if it seems boring or dull, but you've stumbed into MY blogg, so this is what you get... ;)
Saturday, 20 August 2005
Lord of Change
No I'm not talking Tzeentch here, I'm talking about women...
Maybe it is just me, maybe it is a normal phenomenon. Who knows?!
But it seems that the minute you start sharing apartment, and more,
with them they embark on this life-long training course to turn you
into something they really don't want.
They got together with you because they liked you didn't they? Or was it just that they saw an uncut diamond that could be splendid with 5-10 years of female "cutting"?
I have agreed to try and change to what I percieve as better, but what is it with controlling everything you do, and making sure you do everything their way? We are different individuals, and usually don't think alike. I thought that was a bit of the attraction, but I guess as the years go by it usually becomes an annoyance (until you 've been together long enough to finish each others sentences and stuff)
Don't women know that a relationship is about sharing, compromises and communication?
I dislike being told what to do, especially when I don't see a reason for doing it that way, and I expect that to be respected, instead of being met with a breakdown into sobs or a sad and disappointed face.
Does that make me a bad man?!
Maybe it is just me, maybe it is a normal phenomenon. Who knows?!
But it seems that the minute you start sharing apartment, and more,
with them they embark on this life-long training course to turn you
into something they really don't want.
They got together with you because they liked you didn't they? Or was it just that they saw an uncut diamond that could be splendid with 5-10 years of female "cutting"?
I have agreed to try and change to what I percieve as better, but what is it with controlling everything you do, and making sure you do everything their way? We are different individuals, and usually don't think alike. I thought that was a bit of the attraction, but I guess as the years go by it usually becomes an annoyance (until you 've been together long enough to finish each others sentences and stuff)
Don't women know that a relationship is about sharing, compromises and communication?
I dislike being told what to do, especially when I don't see a reason for doing it that way, and I expect that to be respected, instead of being met with a breakdown into sobs or a sad and disappointed face.
Does that make me a bad man?!
Monday, 1 August 2005
What is love?
I am in the fortunate position of having a girlfriend at the moment.
It is near our 1 year aniversary and things seem as good as when we started out, if not better. Recently I started to wonder exactly what love is, and how do I know when I actually love someone? Are there different kinds of love?
I guess that all of you will agree that unless you come from very abusive or disfunctional families, you love your family members (at least the closest ones, no saying about distant cousins and such!)
But what about your woman?
When do you go from liking this person to loving her?
I consider myself a rather cold character, and not that much a person with strong emotions one way or the other. For instance I haven't really cried since I was little, despite being in my grandparents funerals and such.
Many will perhaps say that when you have sex with someone you know well, you have crossed the boundry for love? Others might claim that when you think about the person day and night it is love? Others still might claim that the more romantic you are, the more you show you love a person?
I say all of them may or may not be true, that is up to each individual.
What I know from own experience though is that this woman make me want to better myself as a person. With that I mean that whatever quirks I have that I don't find positive, I will strive to better.
Viewed objectivly this might not mean love, but it means that one cares enough for the person to try and keep her around.
But the other day I drove her to a train, after 9 lovely days of holiday together: (She was off to see a girlfriend for some days before going home to her family for some birthdays and such.)
I was fine all the way up to the fact that she had left, but when she was gone and I sat back in my car on the way home from the station I had to stop to control myself. Lord knows where these feelings came from, and why my eyes watered. It wasn't as if it was the last time I would see her, we were only to be apart 13 days or so, but I missed her the minute she was gone, my whole heart filled with a big empty void of an anti-climax.
If that's not love I don't know what is... :)
It is near our 1 year aniversary and things seem as good as when we started out, if not better. Recently I started to wonder exactly what love is, and how do I know when I actually love someone? Are there different kinds of love?
I guess that all of you will agree that unless you come from very abusive or disfunctional families, you love your family members (at least the closest ones, no saying about distant cousins and such!)
But what about your woman?
When do you go from liking this person to loving her?
I consider myself a rather cold character, and not that much a person with strong emotions one way or the other. For instance I haven't really cried since I was little, despite being in my grandparents funerals and such.
Many will perhaps say that when you have sex with someone you know well, you have crossed the boundry for love? Others might claim that when you think about the person day and night it is love? Others still might claim that the more romantic you are, the more you show you love a person?
I say all of them may or may not be true, that is up to each individual.
What I know from own experience though is that this woman make me want to better myself as a person. With that I mean that whatever quirks I have that I don't find positive, I will strive to better.
Viewed objectivly this might not mean love, but it means that one cares enough for the person to try and keep her around.
But the other day I drove her to a train, after 9 lovely days of holiday together: (She was off to see a girlfriend for some days before going home to her family for some birthdays and such.)
I was fine all the way up to the fact that she had left, but when she was gone and I sat back in my car on the way home from the station I had to stop to control myself. Lord knows where these feelings came from, and why my eyes watered. It wasn't as if it was the last time I would see her, we were only to be apart 13 days or so, but I missed her the minute she was gone, my whole heart filled with a big empty void of an anti-climax.
If that's not love I don't know what is... :)
Thursday, 3 March 2005
Sportsmanship and having fun vs. Winning at all costs?!
Saturday 26th of February was a day to be long remembered in the history of our miniature playing covenant "Imladris" on campus of the University of Tromsø, Norway...
I was gonna play my Death Guard against a Blood Angel player this day, and so set foot on campus a few minutes after noon local time, since we had decided to play around noon - one o'clock.
This particular player were undefeated so far, so I looked forward to "clash swords" with him, since we were well underway in our local "Halia" tournament at the time and I wasn't doing very well with 2 defeats and 3 wins before this match.
His army have been of some debate during the campaign, being min/maxed in the extreme to supply him with an "invincible" Death Company, little else of troops, and as many as possible of long range support units...
Of the top of my head I think it went something like this (Pretty accurate):
2 Reclusiarchs w/6+2D6 Death Company
2x 5 Marines w/LasCannon & Veteran Sergeant
2x 5 Marines w/Missile Launcher & Veteran Sergeant
2x 5 Scouts w/Veteran Sergeant, Bolt Pistols & Close Combat Weapons
2x Dreadnoughts w/2 DCCW, Melta-Gun, Heavy Flamer (Deployed in Drop Pods w/Missile Launcher)
1x Venerable Dreadnought w/Twin-LasCannons, Storm Bolter and DCCW
1x Landspeeder w/Heavy Bolter & Assault Cannon
1x Baal Predator w/Heavy Bolter, Twin-Assault Cannon & Storm Bolter
1x Predator Annihilator w/2 LasCannons & Twin-LasCannons
This totals around 1850 points, and doesn't even fulfill our tournament requirements of at least 40% troops, not to mention that this list which was supposed to be fixed before and through the campaign was changed at least a couple of times during its duration...
But back to the battle at hand...
First of all I waited until 13.45 before sending him a message at which point he got up and hasted to the game (arriving at least 30 minutes later) with the poor excuse that he thought it wasn't supposed to start before three o'clock.
I had set up terrain in the meantime to save time, and he promptly removed all of what would deny lines of sight for his support squads and tanks, claiming them to be ugly terrain pieces. An argument which might have held credibility despite the fact he was keeping smaller things that looked worse, because of convenience and my insisting to have terrain...
The tournament used the Rules of Engagement set of rules found in UK WD294 p. 62 - 66, and we rolled up accordingly... We rolled up diagonal deployment-zones, and he got "Lightning raid" while I got the "Firebase" missions.
(I had to hold one of both sides objective markers and he had to have 2 scoring units in my deployment zone and hold one of my objectives)
Since he had placed one marker deep in his deploymentzone, out of reach for a slow-flooted army like mine, and the other near the largest side of my deploymentzone and I had both of mine near the center of my lines most of the battle would be fought on one side.
He quickly saw that I had my defiler on the board with the trusted battlecannon, and so dispersed his troops as much as possible... (His Death Company were 2-3" inches from each other at places and everyone wasn't in coherency...)
I got first round and moved a rhino mounted squad forward on my flank as bait, before I bombed his death company and the one lascannon team which were standing within it... The support team took 2 casualties, failed its morale test and left the table, while the death company took two, along with two more from bolter/plasma-fire...
This made sure that when he charged the "bait-squad" next turn he only got four members engaged (albeit moving the rest into base to base contact making sure that the ones in the back moved at least 16"), and so were unable to wipe out my unit and things piled in...
Next round I charged with a 14 man squad of plaguemarines and a Daemonprince I had included in the campaign because I lacked alternative HQ models, and because I needed something to autokill Death Company and Necrons...
Within 3 assault phases his "invincible" unit had been annihilated and something snapped in his head (possibly because this was the first time it had happend, who knows!)...
He next started an incredible show of stealing inches in the movement phases and the assault phases. Rolling more dices than there were weapons or attacks on the models, and if something didn't do anything at all: Forget that he had rolled for them and roll again... He also "forgot" that his drop-pods were open-topped, so that I didn't get the destroyed result I should have got and had to charge the thing next round with my Great Unclean One with explosive results that wounded everything within 4".
It was all an astonishing show of 3,5 turn of cheating, and with all that he just barely managed to win... Many might call me a sore looser reading this, but I had several fellow players as spectators (there were a general concensus that it would be cool if he lost amongst the players present since he had done this through the whole campaign!) which pointed out things along the way, and at every mention he promptly denied it furiously...
After the battle was over though he started apologising for that: "his competitive instincts took over" and "hoped that he would learn to play like we did in time"...
At this point I was close to decking him...
At the end he got a 1 (rated from 1 to 6, 6 being highest) in sportsmanship, and later on withdrew from the campaign when he became aware of what we thought of his playing style...
There are of course no excuse for cheating in games, and should it be noticed that you have you should at least admit it and accept the proper result. There were no winnings involved in the campaign, and this is what we get for trying to host a friendly athmosphere for players.
I choose sportsmanship over winning or loosing any day...
I was gonna play my Death Guard against a Blood Angel player this day, and so set foot on campus a few minutes after noon local time, since we had decided to play around noon - one o'clock.
This particular player were undefeated so far, so I looked forward to "clash swords" with him, since we were well underway in our local "Halia" tournament at the time and I wasn't doing very well with 2 defeats and 3 wins before this match.
His army have been of some debate during the campaign, being min/maxed in the extreme to supply him with an "invincible" Death Company, little else of troops, and as many as possible of long range support units...
Of the top of my head I think it went something like this (Pretty accurate):
2 Reclusiarchs w/6+2D6 Death Company
2x 5 Marines w/LasCannon & Veteran Sergeant
2x 5 Marines w/Missile Launcher & Veteran Sergeant
2x 5 Scouts w/Veteran Sergeant, Bolt Pistols & Close Combat Weapons
2x Dreadnoughts w/2 DCCW, Melta-Gun, Heavy Flamer (Deployed in Drop Pods w/Missile Launcher)
1x Venerable Dreadnought w/Twin-LasCannons, Storm Bolter and DCCW
1x Landspeeder w/Heavy Bolter & Assault Cannon
1x Baal Predator w/Heavy Bolter, Twin-Assault Cannon & Storm Bolter
1x Predator Annihilator w/2 LasCannons & Twin-LasCannons
This totals around 1850 points, and doesn't even fulfill our tournament requirements of at least 40% troops, not to mention that this list which was supposed to be fixed before and through the campaign was changed at least a couple of times during its duration...
But back to the battle at hand...
First of all I waited until 13.45 before sending him a message at which point he got up and hasted to the game (arriving at least 30 minutes later) with the poor excuse that he thought it wasn't supposed to start before three o'clock.
I had set up terrain in the meantime to save time, and he promptly removed all of what would deny lines of sight for his support squads and tanks, claiming them to be ugly terrain pieces. An argument which might have held credibility despite the fact he was keeping smaller things that looked worse, because of convenience and my insisting to have terrain...
The tournament used the Rules of Engagement set of rules found in UK WD294 p. 62 - 66, and we rolled up accordingly... We rolled up diagonal deployment-zones, and he got "Lightning raid" while I got the "Firebase" missions.
(I had to hold one of both sides objective markers and he had to have 2 scoring units in my deployment zone and hold one of my objectives)
Since he had placed one marker deep in his deploymentzone, out of reach for a slow-flooted army like mine, and the other near the largest side of my deploymentzone and I had both of mine near the center of my lines most of the battle would be fought on one side.
He quickly saw that I had my defiler on the board with the trusted battlecannon, and so dispersed his troops as much as possible... (His Death Company were 2-3" inches from each other at places and everyone wasn't in coherency...)
I got first round and moved a rhino mounted squad forward on my flank as bait, before I bombed his death company and the one lascannon team which were standing within it... The support team took 2 casualties, failed its morale test and left the table, while the death company took two, along with two more from bolter/plasma-fire...
This made sure that when he charged the "bait-squad" next turn he only got four members engaged (albeit moving the rest into base to base contact making sure that the ones in the back moved at least 16"), and so were unable to wipe out my unit and things piled in...
Next round I charged with a 14 man squad of plaguemarines and a Daemonprince I had included in the campaign because I lacked alternative HQ models, and because I needed something to autokill Death Company and Necrons...
Within 3 assault phases his "invincible" unit had been annihilated and something snapped in his head (possibly because this was the first time it had happend, who knows!)...
He next started an incredible show of stealing inches in the movement phases and the assault phases. Rolling more dices than there were weapons or attacks on the models, and if something didn't do anything at all: Forget that he had rolled for them and roll again... He also "forgot" that his drop-pods were open-topped, so that I didn't get the destroyed result I should have got and had to charge the thing next round with my Great Unclean One with explosive results that wounded everything within 4".
It was all an astonishing show of 3,5 turn of cheating, and with all that he just barely managed to win... Many might call me a sore looser reading this, but I had several fellow players as spectators (there were a general concensus that it would be cool if he lost amongst the players present since he had done this through the whole campaign!) which pointed out things along the way, and at every mention he promptly denied it furiously...
After the battle was over though he started apologising for that: "his competitive instincts took over" and "hoped that he would learn to play like we did in time"...
At this point I was close to decking him...
At the end he got a 1 (rated from 1 to 6, 6 being highest) in sportsmanship, and later on withdrew from the campaign when he became aware of what we thought of his playing style...
There are of course no excuse for cheating in games, and should it be noticed that you have you should at least admit it and accept the proper result. There were no winnings involved in the campaign, and this is what we get for trying to host a friendly athmosphere for players.
I choose sportsmanship over winning or loosing any day...
Friday, 25 February 2005
The State of Things
As a veteran (going on my 7th year or something) gamer I have amassed a large collection of miniatures during my modelling spree...
Sadly I like to game and convert more than paint, so a lot of it is still unpainted.
Thus I sport huge amounts of assembled, but yet to be primed or painted, models.
This is something I slowly plan on remedying, and post in my blog as things progress.
My Current goals in models are:
3000 Points Craftworld Ulthwe Eldar
2000 Points Ruulian Drop Troops
3000 Points Ruulian Armoured Company
3000 Points Necrons
6000 Points Death Guard Traitor Space Marines
At present I'm painting up Death Guard infantry for a finished 2000 points I'm planning on using in the future.
Sadly I like to game and convert more than paint, so a lot of it is still unpainted.
Thus I sport huge amounts of assembled, but yet to be primed or painted, models.
This is something I slowly plan on remedying, and post in my blog as things progress.
My Current goals in models are:
3000 Points Craftworld Ulthwe Eldar
2000 Points Ruulian Drop Troops
3000 Points Ruulian Armoured Company
3000 Points Necrons
6000 Points Death Guard Traitor Space Marines
At present I'm painting up Death Guard infantry for a finished 2000 points I'm planning on using in the future.
Wednesday, 23 February 2005
First Blog-post
Finally up and running, I will bring you stories about what is happening up north...
Stay tuned for some more hairy stories in... TALES OF INTEREST!
Stay tuned for some more hairy stories in... TALES OF INTEREST!
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