Saturday, April 30, 2011

A Great Time to Start Tyranids...



Just my luck. So, I have started my Tyranids, as all of you know. One thing you may not know is how much of the range is blisters. Venomthropes, Zoanthropes, Tyrant Guard, Hive Guard, Hive Tyrants, Lictors, Piovores, Broodlords, all these things are pewter, with all but the Tyrant coming in blister packs. Now the thing about Nids is, if its good enough to have 1 of them, its good enough to have 3 of them. Problem is, each blister is between 20-25 bucks. You know that 3x Brood of Venomthropes you need? Yup, $60. Now, this I can accept, as this is an expensive hobby, but now bigger problems loom over the horizon. 


As many of you also know, metal is on its way out, with currently no plan to replace it. Awesome. So yeah, those 6 hive guard I need? Not only is it gonna run 120 bones, its also gonna be a wild goose chase to find. Sometimes I just look at GW and go, WTF? As a 5th year Business major, graduating next weekend, sometimes i just have to shake my head at GW's business model. I don't know if it is a cultural thing or what, but man those Brits do things very different than we do. I mean, who cancels such a large part of their sales/production and has no secondary plan in place?


God Bless the 80's
The sad part is, there are armies that are worse off than Nids. The Eldar will have zilch when it comes to HQ's, Aspect Warriors and the like. And what will new Tau players do without any broadsides? Maybe I am being a little over the top, but it just irks me. I have no problem with them dropping the metal and going to a cheaper material, but to stop production without first having that material ready to go and take pewter's place? To quote the great Charlie Daniels, "I ain't nothin' but a simple man, They call me a redneck I reckon that I am. But there's things going on that make me mad down to the core."


On a different note, got one of my Trygon Primes painted, thought I might show him off a lil bit










So what do y'all think about the pewter switch? Good, Bad, Indifferent? And how did the Prime turn out?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Anyone remember a little game called...Inquisitor?



Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a wee little bear cub, still cutting his teeth on GW's WH40k 3rd Edition. The cub is reading his latest edition of White Dwarf and suddenly sees this article for a new game. This game is based around small warbands and powerful inquisitors trying to accomplish their goals, at any cost. The game was not near as rigid as 40k, much more free form, with no other goal than to have a great time, no matter who "won". The game was called, INQUISITOR.


poor little bear cub
This was an entirely new concept to the poor little bear cub. You see, he had never played any pen and paper narrative games. He didn't even know what a d20 was, much less ever rolled one. But the storylines, the huge models, and all the promise intrigued him. So he got in the car with his mom, rode 1.5 hours to the nearest hobby store, and picked up his warband and official rulebook. All the way home, the little bear cub read the myriad of rules, oogled over the rich illustrations, and thought about all the fun he would have. There was only one flaw in the young Grizzly's plan. Who would he play with? Over the next 10 years, the warband was ever brought out only once. Noone in his gaming group was interested in such a game, and the models fell into disrepair.


Well, last week the Grizz and the rest of his gaming group were hangin out and began talkin about various role playing games, and Inquisitor came up. I mentioned that I had 8-10 models, and we all began talking about pullin em out and running some games out. Oh Joy of Joys!!! I went and downloaded the rulebook and began reading the rules again. I had forgotten how intricate the rules are, and how you can make your warbands your own. I pulled out my old Inquisitor, a Tyrus model, and began to paint over what I thought was an awesome paint job when I was twelve. So, now I have Witch Hunter Jacob's Inquisitorial Warband. If you can't tell, I am a little excited.







So, anyone else ever play/still play Inquisitor? How have you enjoyed it?

Monday, April 25, 2011

Back To Bugs

You can thank Pariah.Stevo for this pic
Ok, after a couple tourneys with the Chaos/BA, The Grizz is turnin his attention back toward the Tyranids. Just came up with a new list we are gonna be tryin out, hopefully I can learn these bad boys pretty quickly, as I would like to get them out on the tourney scene within the next month or two. Anyways, on to the list.


HQs
Tyrant
---LW/BS, TL Devourer, Old Adversary, Leech Essence, Paroxysm
3x Tyrant Guard
---3x LWs
Tyranid Prime
---LW/BS, Deathspitter, Ad. Glands


ELITES
2x Venomthropes
3x Hive Guard
3x Hive Guard


TROOPS
Tervigon
---Cluster Spines, Ad. Glands, Toxin Sacs, Catalyst
10x Termagants
---10x Devourers
16x Hormagants
---Toxin Sacs, Ad. Glands

16x Hormagants
---Toxin Sacs, Adren. Glands

HEAVY SUPPORT
Trygon Prime
---Ad. Glands
Trygon
---Ad. Glands

2000pts on the button. May not be the best, but you gotta start somewhere, and I think this has promise to be a good foundation on which to build from.

On a somewhat related note, made me up some objectives for my Nid army, somethin that matched their paint scheme and my personality.



So what do we think, is the list a hit or miss?

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Way Too Early, Completely Pointless Vs. Grey Knight Tactica


So as you all know, I played in a 2000pt tourney a couple weeks back, and went 2-1-0. My lone loss came to the brand new Grey Knights. Going into the game, all I had heard about was how nasty Purifiers are and how you don't want to get close to em.


Well the guy I played had 5 squads of em, all in Razorbacks, all with psy bolt ammo, and a GM/Termie squad in a Storm Raven to top it all off. This game was very enlightening, giving me a better understanding of what they are capable of and what they do. So naturally, I thought I would share with you my current revelations. Now, I have not read the codex, nor have I played multiple games against them, so all this is general stuff, not in depth 100% accurate tactica.


1. Keep Your Head Down!


Probably the first thing I noticed about the GK is dear God what firepower. within 24" I don't know if there is an army that can match them, and psy bolt ammo makes them ungodly. Cheap HB razorbacks suddenly become 36" S6 monsters, with every marine throwin 2 S5 shots all over the place. Psy bolt ammo may be one of the nastiest introductions to the game, with its typical low cost and its availability to almost anything in the army.


if you are looking at it from this angle, its too late
Imagine a storm raven that within 12" can throw 4 S7 rending shots, 3 S6 shots, 12 S5 shots, all twin linked, not counting the missiles. Pure nasty. So, when playin these shiny bastards, you will wanna make sure you don't find yourself caught in that dead zone for long, pick one side or the other and get there quick. Now this also has an advantage for you. GK lack a whole lotta punch outside that range, so it is not hard to outgun them as long as you arent playing within their range.


2. They use a lot of Psychic Powers


Can Save Your Tookus
This one is kind of obvious, but worth mentioning. Grey Knight players roll a lot of psychic tests, and my guess is you will see a lot of people building lists that will hinge on certain psychic abilities. A psychic hood or similar device can really give GK's a headache. Even just stopping a third of their powers can go a long way to helping you weather the storm. I am seriously considering throwing a libby into my BA tourney list. Problem is, they got all kinds of stuff that royally screws psykers, so you will have to be careful.


3. They may look prettier, but on the inside, they're just like you and me


If it Kills him, it'll kill them.
I was very surprised at the lack of survivability of the Grey Knights. I don't know what I was expecting them to do, but it was weird to see them drop so easily. Then it hit me - They're just marines. They may say a few more prayers, have cooler toys, and be a lil shinier, but deep down, they are just the same ol' marines we all know and love. Which means that the same things that have killed marines since the 80s will kill Grey Knights today. Lots of attacks, power weapons, power fists, plasma all this stuff is just as effective on them as it is on us. I have yet to try it, but I am thinkin death companies and Stormravens can give GK's quite the pain in the hindquarters.


The distinct lack of 3++'s was very noticeable as well. His termies packed a punch, but dropped pretty easily. They also don't have that many attacks. a 5 man squad of purifiers and a 7 man squad of Plague Marines were actually pretty even in assault, also surprising.


4. Don't Be Afraid!


Not an effective tactic
I lost the game because I was afraid of his Purifiers and tried to play the range game with him. Not a good decision on my part. Had I just thrown my army down the table, I might have had a better chance. Don't be afraid to get in there and play in the mud. If you play in fear of his nastiness, then you are letting your opponent force you to play reactionary, which is always in their favor. Now I am not saying just put your models on the board and be an idiot. All I am sayin is that don't let the interwebz' nerd rage freak you out to the point where it hurts your ability to make tactically sound decisions.


Well that is all for now, what have y'all learned in your games versus GW's newest army?

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Unbroken Blogger Group

Hey guys, just thought I would let you in on some awesome blogs goin on powered by Unbroken Blogger Group, a subsidiary of Unbroken Gaming Club. You all know about Tainted By Xenos by our dear friend Pariah.Stevo, which is sadly on a short hiatus currently. We also have two blogs ran by Elthrai, Shield of Man - a blog about his Grey Knights Army, and Grumble Grumble Eldar - a blog following the assembly of his Ulthwe Eldar, as well as their exploits and tactics. These blogs are chocked full of good stuff, so check 'em out!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Nid Update

Ok everybody, here is the latest and greatest on Hive Fleet Cerberus. My order from Chapterhouse Studios came in, so I was able to slap lash whips and bone swords on my stuffs. First up is the Tyranid Prime









Most exciting of all was my box from Great Britain finally arrived. Still waitin on my lash whip, but overall I am extremely happy with the choice to go FW over the GW one, a very xenomorph inspired piece





A size comparison. This sucker is huge!

and a pic of everything I have together thus far
 

Well, Hive Fleet Cerberus is truckin right along, what do y'all think thus far?

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Post Tourney Recap

Well yesterday, Elthrai, The_Warsmith, and myself all loaded up in the Ford Explorer and made our way down to Dicehead Games in Cleveland, TN for the ATC Practice tournament. It was a 2000pt tournament showcasing the ATC specific mission, which is a blast.


 For those of you who arent familiar, the ATC mission is all of the basic missions smacked into one. there are 3 "Seize Ground" objectives, Capture and Control objectives, and killpoints, with ties decided by victory points. Each Mission also cycles between pitched battle, Dawn of War, and Spearhead deployments. It is a very interesting mission, to say the least. Unbroken made a pretty decent show, with The_Warsmith winning 3 games and coming in 2nd, only 12 vp's behind the winner, and Yours Truly coming in 4th, going 2-1-0, my only loss coming to the new and improved Grey Knights.


Fun was had by all, and the craziest thing ever has happened. Hell must've dropped a few degrees, cause I am playin xenos and..............Pariah.Stevo is rockin Power Armor!!!! The mightiest of the Xenos Filth is now protecting the Imperium from the Threat Without, The Bad Boys from Titan, the newest addition to the GW Lineup, The Grey Knights!!! I picked up his first boxes of Grey Knight glory yesterday while at the store. So, With my Nids, and his GK, there surely must be pigs flying somewhere. Well, that is all for now, we'll see y'all on the flip side. 

Friday, April 8, 2011

Change of Heart

Welcome to IIWPA... on location! This morning yours truly is chasing the deceptively crafty turkey bird, while preparing for the tournament tomorrow. My two passions, hunting and 40k, all wrapped in one!


Well after some thought, and lengthy discussions with elthrai and parish.Stevo, I have decided for the style of missions being played, I need more scoring units, and durable ones at that. So I am thinkin that chaos is going to be the better choice, I mean what is better at being a hard as nails troop choice than a plague marine? I will be taking the same list as what I played in our recent battle report, but for those of you who don't remember-


2x MoN DPs w/ wings/warptime


Greater daemon


4x 7 man plague marine squads

...2 squads plasmad out, 2 meltad out, fist sages w/ combi weapons in rhinos



2x 2 strong oblits


Autocannon havoc squad w/ MoCU


1999pts


I think this is a tougher list, able to go 13 rounds with Ali if it has to. It's not as offensive, nor does it have the shots at range, but it has staying power. Well, I am gonna get back to hunting, y'all take it easy!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

ATC - A Preview of the S.I.E.G.E.'s best event


 This is the 3rd Annual S.I.E.G.E. (Southern Invasion of Everything Gaming Extravaganza!) I have attended every year so far and have had a great time every year. I have fond memories:

  • SIEGE year 1 saw my first ever Apocalypse game (and the first time I saw a Titan!), one of the worst tournament showings I have ever had, a couple of douchebag players, a couple of awesome players, and some really awesomely painted armies! It also saw the death of my non-special character codex marines army.
  • SIEGE year 2 saw a much larger event, 3 more games played (9 games for the weekend!), an ass ton of IG armies, and a great showing for my old Dark Eldar Army, Kabal of Violet Shadows (until it met Rob Baer's ridiculous IG army!). Tons of people showed up and it was a fantastic time. Hard to believe that Blood Angels were the new thing last year at that time!
  • SIEGE year 3 promises to be even bigger, with a bigger tournament, bigger prizes, a bigger venue, and a bigger crowd.

 This year the big event for the SIEGE is called the ATC, or American Team Championships. This is modelled off of the ETC that the crazy Europeans hold every year. A bunch of the guys in the gaming community have pretty much talked our local illustrious game shop proprietor to host this event at his venue. And tons of people are responding! Seems like this is gonna be a great event!

We have been discussing this even on our local gaming forum, Fixed Dice, for a few weeks and several have shown interest in playing. Thankfully, the guys from Nashville (Blade and Bolter!) are coming, as are the guys from the tri-cities and Knoxville, hopefully TN can represent!

I have formed up a team with some local players, we are working on a team name currently, but the army mix is something like this:
  • Player 1: Codex: Space Marines
  • Player 2: Codex: Space Wolves
  • Player 3: Codex: Orks
  • Player 4: Codex: Imperial Guard
  • Player 5: Coxex: Dark Eldar or Dark Angels

I think we have a pretty good setup. One of the trickiest things so far has been constructing armies that can compete vs all the top tier codexes that are available presently (ie Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Dark Eldar, IG) and I think we have accomplished that with our lists. One of our guys is still a little green, but we have been practicing the missions every Friday and Wednesday to get everyone used to playing them. I'm hoping to have a good showing.

There are tons of other things going on at the SIEGE though, including a team tournament on Friday for 40k, and lots of Fantasy, card games, board games, pretty much any kind of game you can think of will be played there!

I hope everyone makes it out and has a great time, my team is pretty excited about it!

Tournament Saturday

Well, Saturday will be the Tournament Debut of Unbroken Gaming Club!!!! We will be driving down to Dicehead Games in Cleveland to take part in a 2000pt tournament. Tryin somethin a little new, as I will be droppin one of my favorite units in the game - The Sanguinor. Sad, I know, but I felt that my list needed a little more shooty, so Tell me what you think!


Reclusiarch
9x Death Co.
---5x BP/CCWs, 3x PWs, 1x PF
DC Dread w/Blood Talons
Stormraven
---EA, TLAC, TLMM


Furioso Dread
---Frag Cannon, HF, Magna Grapples, Drop Pod


Sang. Priest w/ JP
2x Assault squads with-
---5x BP/CCWs, 1x melta, 1x flamer, Fisty Sarge


2x Baal Preds
...TLAC, HB sponsons


2x Preds
...AC, LC sponsons


2000pts on the nose


How does it look? will Unbroken's maiden voyage be a successful one, or will they go down like the Titanic?

Monday, April 4, 2011

Blog Hiatus

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm gonna have to take a break from the blog. Sadly I've got alot going on and I gotta prioritize. I should be back to the blog in a month of two after the bussyness has died down, and hopefully I've graduated school and  have found a job. Be sure to check out IIWPA, were you should be able to catch me in a video battle report or two. Thankyou for following me, and I hope to be back at it very soon. I want to be very clear, This is not a goodbye, just a Seeya later.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

IIWPA...'S VERY FIRST BATTLE REPORT!!!!



Well followers, it is finally here! Our very first IIWPA... Video Battle Report! Pariah.Stevo and myself got together and threw down in preperation for the ATC Team Tournament at Dicehead Games in Cleveland, TN. I took my Nurgle Chaos, with Stevo runnin his Dark Kin. It's a little long, so go pop some popcorn, prop up your feet, and enjoy! 


---In order to watch Full Screen, you may have to watch it on YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon in the bottom right of the screen.---






Well there you have it, how was it? Likes, Dislikes, Let us know!