Auction Complete

I raised $127.50 (minus what the Ebay middle-men took out for their cut) to American Red Cross for the Japanese Earthquake relief. Take that earthquake!

Clankers-Slag 'em!

I had kind of a lull in my enthusiasm for my big projects so I've decided to fill it by catching up on other projects I've set aside.

First, you've already seen these in action but here is my Planetstrike terrain:


Second, these are from the Reaper Chronoscape line. I thought painted properly they made great clone troopers. Or Inquisitorial stormtroopers. Or corporate guards. Whatever. You can't really tell by this photo but there actually is shading involved and not just white paint being dumped on them. $#@*ing camera.



These I was going to pull out for a Rogue Trader adventure I was building up to. They might also get used in a Deathwatch game. What would they be used as? Mankind has enemies with long memories. Enemies created by man's own hand...

Japan Quake Relief

It is time for me to part with some of my miniatures and it occurred to me that rather than just try to sell them for myself, I want to instead help out the Japanese relief effort. I spent four years in Japan. Two of my children were born there so it has a special place in my heart. My old Mishima army for Warzone is on sale at Ebay; it seemed fitting. The figures are solid table top quality and are suitable not only for Warzone, but also for 40k, Vor, No Limits, or any other 28mm Scifi miniatures game. The army contains some unique conversions and proxies. All profit will be paid directly via PayPal to the American Red Cross to help support relief efforts.
The listing is at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230598253603

Freebootaz Challenge for March or "You've Lost that Chaos Feelin'"

I have lost track of how many Black Legion I have done in the last few months but I am burned out so essenailly I am saving the rest for monthly challenges and will be working on other projects like more terrain for an upcoming Deathwatch game, a couple IG projects, and operation Relief in Place.

Deathwatch: Oblivion's Edge

Four days after sucessfully hunting down the broodloard leading the Genestealer cult that was overruning Avalos, the other shoe dropped in the form of mycoetic spores raining down from the sky. But hope, the source of despair, was not lost; a transmission was received from a small squadron of Imperial vessels able to provide a rescue, assuming the players can get themselves and any key personnel to a suitable landing zone and hold of long enough for rescue to arrive. They gathered up key personnel, tossed everyone in the last three functioning chimeras they could find and headed for the remnants of the spaceport. Along the way they dodged spores and holdout rebels. At last they reached the spaceport and set up the following defensive position:




The held back wave after wave of foul abominations, losing a chimera and one of their automatic guns to the Tyranid horrors.



At last rescue arrived:
"Qvickly! Get to de Valkarieeee"

Battle: Raised to Glory

Embarked upon the Imperial vessel "Raised to Glory", the Meridian Prime 7th Cavalry lounged in the various troop spaces. The ship had recently translated from the warp and was making its way systemward at a leisurely pace when suddenly klaxons sounded the crew to general quarters. Being a poorly disciplined lot, they paid little notice to “shippies” as they called them racing to and fro. The began to take notice when shudders of macro-cannon fire began to sound. The Colonel quietly went around and suggested his boys make sure their weapons were clean. “And grab those spare ammo packs I don’t know you kept under you bunks.” The boys nodded sheepishly as The Colonel picked two squads to accompany him in a tour of the shuttle bays. Just to make sure they were ship shape of course. As they made their way through the winding decks to the open bays they heard the call, “All hands! Prepare to repel boarders!”

We decided to play a Boarding Action out of the Imperial Armor Nine book and it was a blast. Because my gaming time is limited, we played 500 points on a 4x4 space. I had planned for my opponent to bring plague marines so I boned up on melta weapons for my two veteran squads and command team. I also took two armored sentinels with plasma cannons, and, on a lark, took a psyker battle squad just to try it out. My opponent took two vet squads but kitted them out with carapace armor which sucked away a lot of his points, and added a sentinel with a lascannon. The rules state you break your forces as evenly in half as you can and keep one in reserves so I brought in the command squad, one vet squad, and one sentinel and left the others in reserve. We rolled three objectives and my opponent won initiative. We set up on opposite quarters.

Turn 1
We rolled Hull Quake-everything counted as difficult terrain. Our forces moved towards one another and traded fires. I managed to kill his sentinel with my plasma cannon and one of his men. There was no other damage.


Different Angle


Turn 2
We rolled Power Surge and suddenly we were night fighting. This curtailed his fire although so his veteran squad charged my command squad where The Colonel, leading from the front for once (he had gotten disoriented by all the commotion) actually repelled their assault, wounding two, and forcing them back. They wisely took cover in a pile of crates. My sentinel opened fire on them and further reduced their numbers.





Turn 3
We rolled No effect, and in the calm, drawn by the sounds of weapons and screaming my opponent's reserves arrive to help reinforce their position. They were out of range to help with fires however. The Bloody 7th, took more of a toll on the troops hiding in the crates and better positioned themselves to hold the command note that was their objective in that quarter.





Turn 4
Again the ship's tortured body quaked, limiting movement. The boarders advanced and traded shots, not causing any significant damage. Wondering what all the racket was, the rest of the Bloody 7th The Colonel had selected as his bodyguard, er, inspection team found its way to the hangar. The second vet squad moved towards the control panel that was their objective. The psyker squad chanted, "We shall use our powers in the name of the Emperor!" and summod forth...nothing. The sentinels, however, unleashed a torrent on the first boarder squad which was now reduced to two men. Shaken by their losses and the creepy bald guys, they broke.




Turn 5
The ship stilled for a moment. Again the two sides traded fires, wiping out the boarders' command squad. The psyker squad concentrated again and summoned forth a mighty etherial blast which missed. To add insult to injury, they also summond a perils of the warp attack. Fortunately their handler was able to put one of them down, limiting the damage.

(I forgot to take pictures this round. Sorry)

Turn 6
All Hell breaks loose. Five fires break out. One kills a boarder. Another erupts next to The Colonel but fortunately his loyal but disposable bodyguard pushed him out of the way, mortally wounded in the process. Another two fires rip through the psyker battle squad removing one member and the handler. The remaining boarders are further thinned and their attempt to seize the "Raised to Glory" fails.




Overall it was a fun game for several reasons. Least of all I won, which is rare enough. The melta weapons never really got range but the Sentinels paid off. My opponent gambled by armoring everyone which just didn't pay off-either he missed his rolls or I hit him with instant killing weapons with high APs. What made the game really fun was actually using the terrain I had made-some of it years ago-for the first time. The Boarding Action rules were a blast but I can see why they never rated a book of their own-there just isn't enough to fill one. They fit in well with IA9 and helped make it worth the cover price.

It's Tough Saying Goodbye...

After longer than I can remember, I am parting with my Warzone figures. I have had some of these figures for decades and they have literally gone halfway around the world with me. The problem is no one around here plays Warzone, and for good reason, it's pretty dead. I hate to say this, I've been trying to carry the torch but my heart is no longer in it. The other problem is that I'm moving soon and have a weight limit and these boys and girls seriously tip the scale in the wrong direction. I loved first edition, hated second editon, and was moderately okay with third. I also loved the RPG but I never play it, can't find anyone who wants to, and even when I do finally settle back where I came from in three years the other players have probably moved on to newer (and supported-rot in hell Target Games) stuff. I will be giving my figures to some players in the semi-local area who will still use them. I know that trying to sell them on Ebay would be more hassle than they are worth so at least I know they are going to good homes.

More Threats and Your 2011 Deathwatch TEEEEEAAAAM!

First, two new threats to the imperium sited:


First is another venomthrope. More importantly, the second threat has been identified by the magos biologis as a Tyranid Prime. This figure represents the ultimate in Tyranid warrior evolution and its very presence can bolster the skills of regular tyranid warriors. I scratch built it using levover Ravenor parts, a Warrior head and deathspitter, two of the Chapterhouse studios arms and the legs and tail of the first generation Hive Tyrant that a friend was generous enough to give me (thanks Wayne).





Secondly, here is my Deathwatch group's figures. I finally (!) got around to painting them:









More about their names and personalities later.