Dear Internets, please learn to spell: #2- Laps vs. Lapse

I apologize in advance for the awkward pictures you will find herein.

This made me laugh, so I'll share how I came to decide on this spelling distinction today first:

(added after the rest of the post was written:  the sport I'm referring to below is American Football.  Don't worry, I'm not going to get into much detail about it)

I've been watching the Denver Broncos stumble their way through 7 wins in 8 games with controversial Tim Tebow (I'm from Colorado, so I gotta be a fan, right?)  Regardless of what we all think of him

Let's talk some Dark Eldar (Part 1?)

Hey folks, how goes the lifes?  Lives?  Maybe I should make it singular.

Hey folks, how goes the life? hm.  Sound wonky.  Maybe everything singular?

Hey folk, how goes the life?  Can you have a single 'folk'?

Wow, this is getting dumb.  Instead of worrying about grammar stuffs, let's instead worry about Dark Eldar, and how awesome they either are or are not.

It's fair to say I've played

Nova Open: A review on the event as a whole

I got tired of using the Nova logo at the top of my posts, so I decided to add this awesome guy instead.  He's even wearing a net :)

 (also, the pictures on here will not be relevant in the least bit - just stuff from my pictures folder that I thought were fun)

Hey folks, how goes it all?  Figured I'd start writing up a few reviews on the events I attended this year.  The first on that list is the Nova, simply because I forgot to give Mike feedback when he asked for it, and it's probably less and less relevant every day (if it's even relevant now at all, lol).  So let's get started.

First off, this isn't a battle report.  Here is the link to my Invitational batreps.  Here is the link to my Open batreps. 

Now that we've established that this isn't a batrep, let's actually start talking about the event itself.  I suppose I can do this in narrative form, so it reads a little bit like a story.  Who doesn't like stories? :)

Dear Internets, please learn to spell: #1- Your vs. You're

Let's map this post out, to make it more fun.  Bolds added after the article was written :-p

Email Title (fabricated to illustrate the topic): 

Re: You're an idiot.  Your mom thinks so too.

Introduction:

Dear Internets,

First, I want to say this isn't intended as an insult.  I just want to help.  If I say it mockingly, it's still helpful, right?

(idiots)

Now, please endure my surface-brushing (and semi-pedantic) speech on linguistics, and how it applies to making (most of) you less stupid.

Nova Open 2011 Tournament Report

A note: after having written this, I've decided it's too long to go back and proofread, since it's already super late, and I want to get this stupid thing scheduled and done with.  So, just deal with it.  My writing is still not horrible un-proofread, I hope :-p

Howdy folks!  The time has come, the time is now! (3 internets for whoever can name what book that came from :)  )

We've finally got my Nova Open Tournament Report.  It's been a long time coming, and I apologize to those who have been tapping their feet in rabid impatience.  No point in blogging when you feel like it'll ruin blogging forever though, amirite?

Let's start with me pointing out, as I did in the Nova Invitational Report, that this will be a somewhat abbreviated report, not a full blow-by-blow as it normally is.  It'll still have most of the turns' pictures, along with analysis on what I did/my approach/what I did wrong for each game, just not the 3-hour read (hyperbole, I know) some of you are used to by now :-p  I just don't remember enough of the minute details to justify a full ridiculously long report, so... yeah.  Deal with it.

You can get to the aforementioned posts via the link at the top right part of my blog in the "Battle Report Log".  No, I'm not linking to it, so that you can find it for yourself, and always know where you can get to it :)

Cool, so let's get started.

Funtimes with Necrons

Still true?

Hey there folks, how was the weekend?  I hope it was good, mine included getting snowed into a town in Wyoming that I wasn't prepared for, researching my capstone project mercilessly, and playing a game against my friend's fun new Necrons.  It wasn't super eventful, lol.

Anyways, since everyone else wants to talk about Necrons, I guess that's what I want to talk about as well.  Because that's good logic.  Also, I'm fastidiously putting off finishing off the Open batreps :-p

So, Necrons.  What's to like about them?  They have a few fun things, and a few things that are sort of meh.  I'm enjoying the lack of any conceivable deathstar the army may have, and how enormous Ghost Arks are.  Seriously, wait til you see an actual model.  It's Land Raider size almost, haha. 

Actually, like lots of folks, my favorite unit is the Scarab.  Not really for the same reason lots of people like them, however.  Sure, they kill tanks, are beasts, lots of wounds, blah blah blah, all of which is awesome.  However, what I really like is the greater implications of Scarabs.  People are going to have to stop playing razorspam as we know it.  One good charge from scarabs will leave a previously solid razorspam list really sad, and auto-losing the game.

Which means of course, that

Feast of Blades Tournament Report

Well guys, long time no talk.  Nightmare week, and next week is no better.

However, I did manage to find the time to write up my batreps for the Feast of Blades over on EH (since they're sponsoring me), and thought you'd be interested in reading it.

Feel free to comment either here or there, I'll see them either place, but since I can't really reply without great difficulty on intense debate for some reason, I'm more likely to respond here.

But do what you want.  I'm not your mom.

On an unrelated note, my mom's birthday is today.  Happy birthday Madre :)

Also, it's Veterans day, which is a day celebrating how awesome I am (since I'm a Veteran), but also a day to remember others who weren't as lucky as I was.  I think today I'm going to watch 'We Were Soldiers' - the one movie that ever made me cry, lol :-p

Alright, I'm outro.  Hope to have more content up soon, but frankly, with all the other stuff I've got going on, it might not happen as frequently as much as we all would like.

Oh yeah, go watch this video.  Patrick Rothfuss is a badass writer, and he used to have a spoof advice column, which is where he's reading from.  Seriously, watch it.  It will change your life.

Well, it'll make you laugh.  Which is at least a small change  :-p

The Feast of Blade Invitational Begins!

Figured I'd write this post for the future.  Pagebreak for fun now.

This Weekend is Feast of Blades...

Don't worry, I have shorter hair now.

...and I'm the defending champion.  For at least 1 more day.  I'll write more about it below.  For now, read my apathetic ponderings/excuse-mongerings.  I can't promise that they'll be entertaining or anything.  But, I'm not a terrible writer, so it should be at least palatable.

heh, it's no secret that I haven't been as active on the blog this week as I'd like to be.  I think I got one up on Monday, and have epic failed every other day.  Sorry, ready to hear my awesome excuse?

Well, it starts with

Stabbing at Vanillas

Also, Pure Win.

 Hey there folks.  How's the day?  I've been working fastidiously on the Open reports, but it's a little tedious, and I can't just sit down and finish it, for some reason.  So, I'll get them out sometime this week, and that's that.

Until then, let's take another look at Marines.  More specifically, Vanilla marines, mostly because I really want to make them work, despite most people's derisive comments toward them.  I've been chiseling out this list for a little bit, and figured I'd give it a little bit of air, see what people thought of it.

My hypothesis:

Watched Star Wars Episode IV Last Night...

... and wondered something.  Why the HELL did Luke get the chance to shoot the money shot at the end? 

Both his friend Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles were still kicking around, and had already proved their mettle as a pilot multiple times before the Battle of Yavin.

Compare them to

Feast of Blades List Submission

Hey there folks, how goes it?  I recently (i.e. today) found out that list submission for Feast of Blades is due on... today.  I thought I'd have more time to chew on a list that I like, but alas, I have not the time nor leisure I had at first desired.

So the question is, what list to submit?  I have a pretty solid iteration of my Dark Eldar list ready, but not entirely sure if I want to commit to it.  Dare I choose something radical?  Or stay with my 'trusty' wolfstar instead?

Inside this post, you'll see my 'singles' list I'm thinking about, and the doubles tournament list me and my friend are already locked into playing - 'Large Base Spam' FTW :-p

Here's the list I'm

Horustooth Heresy Today - my list and picture

Hey folks!  Today sees me finally finish my new army, and also test it out in a tournament setting.  I've played a grand total of 3 games with it, and hope I can make a decent showing, lol.  I'll be trying to send updates with my phone, so stay tuned.

Horustooth Heresy, for those wondering, is

Blood Angels: Predators vs. Missile Devastators

Right.  So I got this email about a month ago.  I was on my 'break' from blogging, and so didn't really feel like responding, though I probably should have anyways.  However, this is still a relevant topic, and since I've been working on my own Blood Angels list lately, it's also personally relevant.


Let's look at what the email has to say:

Hello Xaereth

I hope this e-mail finds you well :) I have something that I would like to ask you concerning BA heavy support options for jumper lists.

Upcoming Stuffs

So folks, how's the day?  I'm working on my 'cliffnotes' batrep of my Dark Eldar at the Open, but it's not quite done yet.  Senior year as an English major has me writing sixteen 5+ page papers in the fifteen weeks of the semester (and only four of them are actually only five pages - I have THREE 15-20 page papers).  Take that on top of work, and me trying to get an army painted in 3 weeks, I can only get so much blogging done, even with 4 hours of sleep/night :-p

Guess the first thing I should do is put in a plug for my local club's yearly event:  The Horustooth Heresy.

It's a one-day event, with Warmachine, Flames of War, and of course, 40k.  Entry fee is $20.  I haven't even signed up for it yet, since I don't yet have said $20.

Nova Invitational Tournament Report

Whew!  Alright, so I finally got this beast done. It's not even super long, but feels like I've been working on it forever :-p.  The first report is what I finished before I got 'burned out' and took a month off.  So, there's a disconnect in the quality of the reports given.  Be forewarned.  

Howdy folks!  I recently went to the Nova Open in D.C, and had the honor of playing in the Nova Invitational event on Friday, before the big 8-game 40k Open.  It was a grueling day of 5 games against 32 of the nation's best 40k players.  I took my Dark Eldar to this event, not really expecting to win anything, but rather to gain a better understanding of the army in the context of extremely good players/lists.  I wasn't disappointed :)

I should also add that I had played exactly 3 games with Dark Eldar in the month and a half following BoLSCON, and was extremely rusty- I should have taken the time to prepare and practice, but burnout is a real threat for me sometimes, and this time it won out :-p

Back to the Grind

Well folks, it's been a delightful month or so since I began my break from blogging, and I'm happy to inform you that I'll be back posting stuff up pretty soon.

For those of you wondering about the various battle reports for the Dark Eldar at the Nova Invitational, Nova Open, and Tacticon, I'll for sure be posting up reports.  At this point, they will likely just be summaries of what happened, what strategies were employed, etc. since I won't remember the exact details and I don't want you to be misinformed :-p

That being said, lots of pictures at least will be posted up sometime in the next couple days.  Thanks for your patience, it was an excellent break, and pretty soon I'll be back to business as usual (provided school and work let me have the time for it, at least :-p

Apathy Runs Rampant for 'Ard Boyz (well... for me at least)

Well folks, just a quick one.  'Ard Boyz Semi-Finals is today, and I'm lucky it's only like a 5 minute drive from my house.  Otherwise, I would actually consider missing it.

As it is, I somewhat doubt that I'll do very well.  I only just recently read the missions, and before that, I've done absolutely zero prep/thinking about it.  I haven't played the Wolves since last 'Ard Boyz a month ago, and whereas I'm pretty confident in my ability to play them well regardless, I'm sure a certain amount of rust will show itself at some point  :-p 

Not to mention that I'm not changing a single thing in my list.  I had previously decided to change my Rune Priest's powers from Jaws + Tempests to Living Lightning + Tempests.  I was also going to add a couple storm shields to my Thunderwolves.  However, I accidentally started printing my old list without the revision and... I just shrugged at let it keep going.  Meh.

I looked on our meetup, and it looks like at least one guy is driving (flying?) all the way down from New Mexico.  Guess it's technically "up", but... whatever.  Mapquest tells me that from Albuquerque to Fort Collins is a 7 hour, 39 minute drive.  That guy is either chomping at the bit for a road trip, or he's got a list he's super confident in- even getting 2nd isn't worth it money-wise (well, it wouldn't be to me anyways).

Whatever his motivations, the fact remains that him and likely 20 or more other people attending this event want to win more than me.  Well, maybe not want it more, but they're certainly more willing to put in at least a modicum of effort to win. 

So, here's to an apathetic 'Ard Boyz Semi-Finals.  I hope I win :-p

Burnt out

Well folks, after a week of inactivity, I've come to the conclusion that I'm quite burnt out. Ard boyz followed by 14 games at the Nova, followed by 8 games at Tacticon have left me demotivated to make a huge effort, blog-wise.

I'll be back soon I'm sure, with all the batreps, etc. Sorry for keeping you waiting. Best not to force it right now tho, as its sposed to be for fun after all, right? :-)

Tacticon is over...

Well folks, Tacticon is done and over.  5 games of 40k followed by 3 games of Fantasy resulted in a mostly enjoyable weekend, with mostly enjoyable opponents and armies :)

I took lots of pictures, and reports will be coming for them as soon as I get done with my 13 Nova reports (which I'll go work on in a minute, as soon as I'm done with this post).

My results were as follows:

Off to Tacticon

Well guys, got another con to go to tomorrow.  I realize it's been less than a week since the Nova, but Tacticon waits for no man.

Lists for both the 40k and Fantasy events follow!

Paint Score Fail

Don't worry folks, I'm still pluggin' away at the Batreps from the Nova.  Results for the event itself are finally up, and, well... gotta say it's a pretty disappointing result for me in the Paint department.  Like, I actually feel insulted.

Here's the link.  I'm very close to the bottom of Page 2.  As in, my army got a below average painting score. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's the most amazing army ever.  Not by a long shot. It's just...

Back from the Nova

Well folks, this won't be long- I'm super tired.  Internets haven't been working at my house, so I apologize for the late notification that my plane didn't wreck or something equally tragic :)

Played 14 games, of which I won a bunch of them, if not quite enough to win any prizes :-p

You should stop reading if you don't want spoilers.  I'll put a page break up for those of you who don't.

On the way- Irene can stick it

On the way to what some consider the most competitive tournament out there. I'll be giving updates on the tournaments via my fancy new clever phone (I value cleverness over raw intelligence any day).  Hopefully get lots of pictures and stuff too. End of the day I'll consolidate it all to one post, etc.

Just found out Chumby had to get a last minute emergency root canal and won't be making it to the Whiskey Challenge or the Nova at all. He was a stand-up guy though and is sending me some money to compensate me for the suddenly much too expensive room.

So if anyone wants a game tonight, come say hi. I'll be the tall guy in a red DCShoeCo shirt.  Heh.

If anyone wants in on the now very open room, feel free to email me or post here. I'll get a hold of you.

Alright testing takes much more effort than typing so I'm done. Peace out, cya there!

Will Irene ruin my fun in D.C.?

Well folks, hurricane Irene is on its way to destroy the entire East Coast, if we are to believe the weather channels.  Included in said East Coast is a little town called Washington D.C. and more specifically the tournament known as the Nova Open.

Up til now, I've been a 'for sure' to go there, for about a year.  My plane leaves tomorrow at 7:20 am, which would get me there much sooner than the Hurricane is supposed to arrive.

Further research shows me however, that D.C. probably won't be affected a whole bunch.  Here's a fun picture of how the projected winds will affect D.C:

So, maybe not a huge deal?  This picture makes me more concerned though:

Nova Open: Itinerary, Lists, and Thoughts

Well folks, with the Nova Open coming up in like 4 days, I've submitted both of the lists I'll be using- one for the Invitational, and one for the Open itself.  I'll be taking Dark Eldar (Kabal of the Awesome Sauce) to their 3rd major event (which is actually just their 3 event total).

It's a pretty big deal event- I've wanted to go to it since before the last one took place.  Now isn't the time to go over how awesome I think the format is, but... I'm quite excited to say the least.  So, let's start out with the (grueling) schedule, and work our way to the lists I've submitted!

First, here's my schedule for the Event as a whole:

Thursday (Get there, Whiskey Challenge):

Email in: DE List for Critique

Howdy!  Got another email in today, about the ironically pale Dark Eldar.  Let's get to the email first:

The Email:

I've enjoyed lurking and reading your Delusions of Grandeur site, thanks for making it!

 

I've been playing Dark Eldar for several years now. Frankly, I miss the old codex. There were just so many things that I enjoyed more than now....sigh...nostalgia. I want my CDD back! :)

Email in: Pain Token Shenanigans

The Email:

I'm a new DE player just getting back into the hobby and the list you tend to run looks a lot like the list I'd like to run.  Anyway, I was wondering, can you walk me through how you get your Hellion squad to start with two pain tokens?  I know it has something to do with Wracks and Haemonculus, but what is the actual step by step?

Thanks a ton!

My Reply:

Heh, I've been meaning to make a post like this, just so I can link to it in Battle Reports and stuff, so that I don't have to explain it a million times in a row.  So let's get this over with :)

Oh yeah, I should add that this isn't at all an argument for or against taking Hellions, using the Pain Tokens, etc.  It's simply explaining the method I use to get my unit 2 pain tokens.  Viability is an entirely different subject, which I'll be sure to cover later on.  Until then, feel free to read my batreps on the matter- I have a bunch in the Battle Report Log link on the top right of this site.

'Ard Boyz 40k Prelims Battle Report (with pictures!)

Oh, ironic Orks.  When will you be 'Ard again?

 Howdy folks!  Last weekend, as many of you know, was the 'Ard Boyz Prelim event, held in a ton of different gaming stores across the country.  I was actually on vacation visiting my family in southern Washington when the event happened, and as such I was forced to play in a different store than my normal LGS- somewhere I had never before played.

Pre-Heresy Iron Warriors Fellblade (Part 2)

Hi folks!

In my last post I detailed the process for getting my Fellblade (Stormlord) ready for detailing. Well, this week I present to you the almost, almost (almost) finished product! Front view below:

Played in 'Ard Boyz yesterday- my results

Is it ironic that an older army like the Orks are used to represent a self-proclaimed "no holds barred" competition?

Well folks, I played in 'Ard Boyz with the Wolfstar yesterday.  I played at Guardian Games in Portland, OR, which was my first time playing 40k at all in Oregon, or even that region at all!  I brought the Wolfstar, and... well...

I'm going to put a pagebreak here, so that people who want to wait for the Batreps can wait for the batreps for my results.

Blogging whilst Traveling

Lol, always good to know that Zombies is helping babies

 
Howdy there folks!  How's the life?  I'm finally enjoying the last part of my summer, since summer classes are finally over and I have a solid two-week stretch of hassle-free home cooking and trips to some La Center casinos at night to make some money playing poker (for those of you who didn't know, I used to play professionally for about a year before I decided to go back to school).

Part 3.1 Troop Tyranid Review. Stealers Fans Unit!

Editor's Note:  

What's all this madness here?  My contributors (well, two of them at least) are actually writing up posts?  Madness!  I wasn't quite prepared for this, myself.  However, Richard (er... BigSanta) knows what he's talking about, with multiple tournament wins/other awards with his Ridiculously Good-Looking 'Nids.  Plus, the math-hammer is fun- numbers don't lie.  Well, usually they don't :-p  K, I'll let y'all go- figured I'd give a lil re-intro since it's been a while!

I know you might ask yourself, “who is this writing?” I did take a hiatus from the blogosphere for a while and 40k too. I am going to keep to at least a post a month. So to my many many of fan (see what I did there) I am back with Tyranid goodness.

 

Genestealer Brood- 14pts per model

Genestealers have been a tried and true aspect of Tyranids. They have fleet and move through cover so you have a good ability to avoid terrain so you can make use of the great init when assaulting. Even when you are assaulted you will most likely go first. They are fragile and have to be a little babied. People are always afraid of stealers- they can bring a lot to your army in the right situation.

Pre Heresy Iron Warriors (Felblade) Pt. 1

Editors Note:  Haha, finally Delusions of Grandeur gets a good article on hobby stuff, other than 'here's my WIP, looks cool, right'!  Ulven is a great hobbyist, and knows what he's talking about.  Anyways, enjoy, thanks for the great article Ulven :)

Hey guys!

In my introductory post last week I had mentioned the many armies that I've collected over the years. Well, known to my local gaming group - I have a crazy habit of selling my armies when I want to play something new, which currently, has left me 40k-less!

Of course, a remedy is in the works. I have been at the drawing boards for the last month or so, attempting to collect ideas for my next 40k army. I eventually decided on Iron Warriors (Using the regular SM codex.) But with a twist...

Technically they won't be pre-heresy. BUT, I want to model them as if they just left the Istvaan massacre and are on their way to Terra. This means that I could potentially get away with purchasing the Forgeworld Iron Warrior Rhino doors (They have the Chaos Star on them) and also using the IW shoulder pads that GW happen to sell.

Dark Eldar vs. High-Volume Fire

Howdy there folks!  Today I want to talk a little bit about Dark Eldar, and the ever-present threat of high-volume fire armies.  There are plenty out there- obvious choices include Guard, Wolves, Blood Angels, Dark Eldar, Grey Knights... the list really just goes on. 

This article will teach you how to protect your DEldar army from even this... the Terrornator (seriously... that's what it's called)

I think the thing that makes me the most frustrated as a Dark Eldar player is my inability to shrug off certain things or threats to my army as inconsequential.  For example, running 60+ Assault Marines w/ Jump Packs and FNP makes me feel like small arms fire is inconsequential, since FNP gives Assault Marines a statistical 2+ save, making them shrug off almost everything.

'Ard Boyz and the Return of the Wolfstar

The Wolfstar wishes they were badass enough to kill the Emperor

Well, 'Ard Boyz is upon us.  I've honestly given it very little thought with the impending Nova Open coming up and my fixation on trying to figure out Dark Eldar.

That being said, I don't really have any

Selling the old Chaos Space Marines (pictures!)

Well, the day has finally come for me to get rid of my old Chaos Marine army.  It's been a good army, but I haven't played it for like 2 years, and it's not really doing me much good as it is.  I like the models, and when I was finished painting it, I declared it my 'best painted army, ever', which is really was, at the time.

The Scourge/Reaver Wanna-be Conundrum

Well, I guess my title could have been more clever.  That's alright.  Let's instead focus more on the content of this article:  Scourges (and how heavily the word 'conundrum' relies on the 'u' shape in its various forms, lol).

It's not what I'd consider a tactica by any means, but instead a question of why exactly Scourges exist, and what advantage is to be gained by using them competitively game-wise in the stead of Reaver Jetbikes, besides their clearly hard-hitting aesthetic presence. 

Don't get me wrong- it might not be considered an argument for scourges- we're just going to explore the question and their relation to Reavers.

Dark Eldar: 17 Games In

Win.

So, I haven't actually gotten 20 games in yet, but 17 is close enough to actually do some more analysis on my army than when I had only gotten 5 games in, right? I know that nice round even numbers are more fun, but I don't really intend to play another 3 games in quick succession anytime too soon, and as such I want to get some analysis on this army knocked out.

As usual, let's first look at the list I'm using:

Blood Angels List Fun

...lol

Hey folks!  After all the madness of going to the Bugeater and BoLSCon, I've been facing a pretty strong feeling of 'meh' when it comes to Warhammer.  I guess you could say that I'm semi-burned out, though my apathy somehow doesn't extend into making new lists up and trying to figure out how to play the DEldar better. :-p

Soon I'll be writing up an overview on my thoughts of the DEldar, after having played them for 20ish games.  But that'll be either tomorrow or Monday.  Today I want to share a Blood Angels list I spammed out.  It has something I've never really cared much for:  namely, lots of Predators.

Let's take a look:

BoLSGamesCon Tournament Report

Kabal of the Awesome Sauce

Hey there folks!  It's the report you've all been waiting for- Dark Eldar take on the world at BoLSCON!  We played 7 games total over the course of Saturday and Sunday, with very little rest in between games.  2-hour time limits were strictly (for the most part) enforced, despite the huge nature of a few different armies (mine included).

Alright, before we get started, here are some relevant links:

My Dark Eldar at the Bugeater GT (full report w/ pictures)
Mirror Match Tournament Report from my Friday Event (lots of pictures)
The Wolfstar at last years BoLSCON (full report w/ pictures)

So, let's start with a (very brief) history of how I've done at past BoLSCONs:

A new contributor!

Hey all!

You may have previously seen me commenting on lots of Xaereth's posts. Well, I am pleased to now be a contributor to the blog. I have known Xaereth for over two years now and we met back in Laramie when it was a pretty happening gaming community. Fast forward to the present, I am still living in Laramie working as a Software Engineer, whilst spending every spare minute I can painting my beloved toy soldiers.

First of all,

BoLSGamesCon Mirror Match Tournament Report (with pictures!)

Hello all, how's it all going?  Today I'm writing some (somewhat brief) battle reports for the Mirror Match tournament that I played on Friday at BoLSGamesCon.  It was a fun time, as it has always been in Austin- I'll give feedback on the tournament itself a little bit later in this post.

It's kind of a shorter report, but mostly complete and with lots of pictures- you'll see.

Now, for those of you who don't know what the Mirror Match tournament is, I'll give you a quick run-down:

• Everyone had the same 1500 point Codex: Space Marines list
• Every single table had nearly the exact same terrain
• We used missions out of the book, nothing fancy or necessarily hard to accomplish at all

Essentially, the tournament is supposed to be able to prove who the best 'pure player' is, since the boards are all the same, as are the lists.

Here's the list everyone used:

Back From BoLSGamesCon!

Well folks, I'm back from Austin!  It was a fun tournament, getting lots of good games in and meeting a ton of new cool people!  It was fun to see old friends as well- cons are great for hanging out with friends from all over the country :)

I played in the Mirror Match on Friday, and it was cool- I'll give the results a little lower, so I don't 'spoil' the result for those who want to read my report.

I then played the GT, and though it was a little disappointing to me in some ways, it was really good in others.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

My Results for the various events:

Off to BoLSGamesCon w/ Dark Eldar- essential items (pictures!)

Well folks, it's that time of year again.  I'm making the trek to Austin by plane this time, rather than driving the 18 or so hours it takes to get there.  I'll be taking my newly painted Dark Eldar- should be some good fun, heh.  Figured I'd post expectations and all that awesomeness.

Here's the army itself at 1850 (no beast squad)

First, here are some links, if you're interested:

Last Year's BoLSCON Tournament Report with lots of pictures!
Dark Eldar at the Bugeater GT Batreps with lots of pictures
Dark Eldar Tactical Analysis for BoLSCON with awesome diagrams :-p

List of essential items for a GT (not including 40k stuff, lol):

Ipod is useful between games, or before the tournament starts.  Also, in transit.  Ever listen to Yiruma?  He's a classical music pianist.  Seriously awesome, if you like that calm sort of stuff anyways.

Mmm... fast food for 3 straight days.  Tums is a must-have for cons.  Seriously- we went through a ton of these last year.

How I painted my Razorwing Flocks

So really, I don't want this to take forever.  Figured I'd take pictures, and I'll explain as we go along, but it really isn't very complicated.  These models took me about 3 hours to paint, including their bases, which is actually far quicker on average than any other models from the rest of my Dark Eldar.  Anyways, here are some pictures, with explanations:

So, I don't have white primer, which would have been better, had I felt like spending another $12 on spray that I won't really ever use.  Here you can see that I painted the middle of them Bleached Bone first, followed up with a layer of Skull White- that way I didn't have to cake on the skull white.  The ones on the top are the bone color :-p

New Layout, New Everything

Well folks, I've been meaning to revamp the blog a little bit, and I guess this is the result!  Some stuff, in a fun Bullet-point list:

• Got a better comment system- Disqus allows people to reply to each other, which is quite nice.
• Sadly Disqus wiped all my previous comments.  Not sure if/how I could have prevented that, but if I wanted to switch, I knew that was likely to happen.  Still quite sad :(
• Got a new blogger 'Template', which allows me to have wider posts, which allows bigger pictures
• The bigger pictures are actually quite a big deal, since I do so many Battle Reports- now you don't have to click on the pictures quite so often when you read them :)
• Added the links at the top, to the labels you might be interested in
• Added labels to a lot of my old stuff, and deleted some labels to a few posts that I didn't find as relevant or useful any more

So, there it is!  Tell me what you think!  Hopefully this makes my site a lot more accessible- I personally like it much better.

If the colors clash, or something is hard on the eyes, please let me know- I want to make sure it's a good change!

Tactical discussion for Dark Eldar at BoLSGamesCon

Hey there folks, how's it going?  Today I want to talk about tactics, as it pertains to winning in a competitive setting, namely:  a tournament.  lol... wow that was a kind of bland start.  But I don't want to start over, so...

As you may or may not know, I'll be attending BoLSGamesCon in Austin this year, for my third year running.  I expect it to be extremely fun, but with the expectation that I won't end up doing as well as I had done previous years (7th overall, then 6th overall + Best Sport, respectively), since I'm fairly new to my army and let's face it- Dark Eldar have a tough time getting 'full points' in a super competitive game using pure battle points- they're just so damn easy to kill.

Despite my own misgivings about tournaments using Battle Points to determine the overall winner, I'm going to this tournament, and as such, need to turn my attention to how I can win in the parameters given.

So what I want to do here today is to go over a mission primer that they've released, look at what my nightmare matchup would be, and how I would approach the game, from a competitive perspective.  This is my first time trying this so hopefully it works well.  Note that I'll be using rudimentary graphics as an aid- they'll just be a little later on.

In Honor of Kyle Doyle

An (extremely) sad thing happened last Friday:  a local gamer named Kyle Doyle was killed in a car accident in Nebraska.  I didn't know Kyle on anything more than a 'we're friends at the same gamestore who enjoy hanging out' sort of basis, but I feel the need to honor him in what small way I can.

Kyle was one of those guys you could describe as the 'glue that makes the club hold together'.  He was constantly running events, teaching new/young players how to play, using armies that nobody deemed as competitive (and winning quite often with them), and just being a generous, good dude all around.

Our standing joke in games went like so:

Dear *Wolfstar*,
Fuck.  You.
Love, Kyle

And back the other way with his (old) Grey Knight Grand Master that could insta-death my Bear Lord :-p

I suppose I could go on, about how fun he was to play, and how good a guy like him is for any club or game shop, but I think I'll keep it concise, as I find this a more difficult subject matter to write on than I had imagined.

Any gamer would be proud to have his legacy- how many people could die right now, and have as many extremely positive things said about them, unanimously spoken, with no sour grapes behind it?  The answer is very, very few.

We'll miss you Kyle. 

Farewell...

Bugeater 2011 GT Report (with pictures!)

Well folks, brace yourselves- you're in for a long one.  This report contains 6 full-length battle reports (including pictures!) of my Dark Eldar floundering their way through the massive field of 44 players in Omaha, NE.  It'll also contain other thoughts on the tournament itself, including format, venue, swag bag, etc.

Myself and my friend CJ made the 9-hour drive down from Colorado (well, CJ lives in Wyoming, and we met up in Cheyenne, but... anyways...) through Nebraska.  We were looking to have some fun at a small, low-key tournament (also, cheap) before we went to the much larger/slightly more prestigious BoLSCON a couple weekends from now.  Before this GT, I'd gotten a grand total of 5 games in with the Dark Eldar, and hoped to get some good, competitive experience with them before the next, slightly bigger event.

A closer look at the exciting Nebraska landscape

Nova Open- some new developments

...don't worry- I'm still working on the Bugeater GT report

Well, new developments for me, at least.  After the Nova Open was an enormous success last year, it's kind of blown up- GT's all over the country have been using the 'Nova Format', people are changing the way they play practice games, etc.  The format is excellent, since the W/L format allows play down to a single undefeated player in a tournament setting, while allowing the traditionalist tourney-goer to still garner battle points and try for best overall (called renaissance man in some events).  It's a pretty unique situation, and I'm excited to bring my talent (haha, or lack thereof) to DC for a weekend of challenging and sometimes (hopefully) ridiculous gaming.

It appears that I'll be involved in the Whiskey Challenge this

Back from the Bugeater GT!

Well, it was a fun time, despite the 9 hour drive back tonight!  Lots of pictures from the event, I'll be doing a full report in the next few days, with lots of fun Dark Eldar love, including an extended battle on Hoth, and the recurring nightmare that are Longfangs :-p

Also, I won a prize, but you don't get to know which one until later.  For those of you who do know what it is, don't ruin the surprise, lol.

K, going to bed, setting this to go up tomorrow morning.  Gah, now to spend like 8 hours on a good tourney report :-p

End of Day 1 in Omaha (pictures!)

Exiting, exciting Nebraska

Well, just a quick one today.  Day 1 of the Bugeater GT is dead and gone.  The games were all fun, the players each great dudes- as good a day of gaming as I've had in a while, in short.

I'm setting this...

Tomorrow I'm off to the Bugeater GT...

...and I'm excited.  It's the first tournament I'll compete in with my Dark Eldar.  The drive though boring Nebraska should be offset by the fact that my friend CJ who is going with me, is bringing along his 'Horus Rising' audio book.  Since I've always wanted to give Black Library books a try, and I have no patience for most of the writing that goes on there, perhaps a book on tape will make it more palatable.  But I digress.

The Bugeater should be

If I played Eldar, this is the list I would build

...it's kind of boring, in that I've spammed the only effective units in the book to a ridiculous level.  Take a look.  Notes a little later.

Oh yeah.  First, go here.  Not because it's super relevant (it kind of is), but because it's awesome.

(Light?) Eldar at 2000 Points:

Dark Eldar: 5 Games In

Well folks, I've been playing me a ton of Dark Eldar lately.  I've gotten 6 games in, though the first one was through heavy proxies, and the latest two weren't what I'd really consider worthy of battle reports (so I'm counting the two as a single game).  If you're interested, here's the link to my other three games, that I've done battle reports to:

Game 2
Game 3
Game 4

The games I've played have all been against good

Battle Report #16: Dark Eldar vs. Double Land Raiders (with pictures!)

Well y'all, it's me again, with more Battle Report love from Dark Eldar.  I realize that all I've been doing lately is Battle Reports, but what you must realize is:

1. I have limited time
2. I definitely have limited hobby time
3. I've been painting up a storm with some of that hobby time
4. I've been playing as much with my new army as I can, to get used to it by next weekend for the Bugeater GT

So, just deal with it, haha.  Battle Reports are kind of 'my thing' anyways, so hopefully they are at least helpful.  Once I'm more experienced with the army, I'll start posting up tacticas and the like.  Alright, enough chat, let's get on to the Batrep!

Battle Report #15: Dark Eldar vs. Grey Knights (with pictures!)

Hey there again folks! The Dark Eldar rampage continues today, against my friend's Grey Knight list that he's going to be bringing to BoLSCON.  He's still painting/tweaking, but it's got a lot of scary elements to it as well.

To see my (1) other Dark Eldar battle report, you can find it on my Battle Report Log, with all my other Battle Reports. (the log link is also on the top right side of the blog itself)

So, we were practicing for the Bugeater GT, which is coming up at the end of June. That means we needed to play 1850 points, instead of 2000.  So,

Battle Report #14: Dark Eldar vs. Imperial Guard (with pictures!)

Well folks, the army is fully assembled, and mostly painted, and that means that I'll be playing a lot lot lot of games with the Dark Eldar in the future.  I figured I'd kick it all off against an Imperial Guard player, one of the most competitive players at my LGS.  He has a non-traditional Guard list, with lots of Blobs, but still lots of support, and quite a few vehicles.  Since Guard is what I'm most nervous to play against in a tournament setting, I'm glad we could play this game.

The lists (at 2000 points):

Going to the Bugeater

Randomly surfing los blogosphere the other day, I found mention of the Bugeater GT in Omaha, NE.  I had never heard of it, so I visited their website, and found that indeed, Omaha is looking to hold their very first GT-level tournament! 

With further research, it was revealed that

Finally (and somewhat randomly)- a GK list I like

Hey there folks!  Today I want to present you with a GK list that I actually like.  That is, it has Psyflemen, Purifiers, Melta, a Librarian w/ lots of powers, and a big old unit of Terminators.

First, here's the list:

WIP: Dark Eldar Venom Completed (Pictures included!)

Hey there!  I kind of fibbed on my title- the Venom isn't entirely complete, because the crew need a few more highlights on them before I can glue them on, but the Venom itself is finished.

You have to excuse me for that, I just got

WIP: Dark Eldar Venoms assembled

Not a whole lot for today.  I'm at school forever, and the time I spend away from school will be spent either as homework, painting, or playing Dark Eldar, with all the models WYSIWYG finally.  You might even get a battle report out of it!

Got the Venoms put

What I've been up to

Hey there folks, how's it going?  Since I haven't been at all active on my blog lately, figured I'd give you an update so you know I'm still around, and still want to blog :-p

I've been doing lots of things, including like 8-12 hours of school every day (4.5 of class, the rest in homework) and painting and playing.  It doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging.  However.

Weekly Battle Report #13: Wolfstar vs. Duke's Paladinstar! (With Pictures!)

Hey there folks!  Today I've got a fun one for you- I pulled my Wolfstar out of retirement, to try and give Duke (he posts on BoLS, and has his own blog here) a competitive game for practice for upcoming BoLSCON.  He also did a report on this game, so for his take (he's got video of it too!), go to this link. 

Alright, first, let's get some lists up.

First Game w/ Dark Eldar (thoughts, not battle report)

Hey there folks!  Last night I played my first game with my Dark Eldar.  It was fun, there was a lot of stuff I learned, lots of new thoughts about the army.  I'll share a couple with you today. 

First, here's the list I used:

'Ard Boyz Fantasy Semi-Finals Battle Report- Lots of Pictures!

 

Heh, the mascot to my army.  I don't have the base for him, and he's since I took this picture, he's shattered into a thousand pieces.  He's not actually even mine, don't worry- I didn't paint him or anything.

Hey there folks, how's it going today?  Good, I hope!  Today, I've got a tournament report, from my attendance at the Semi's for Fantasy 'Ard Boyz!  It was fun, and I wanted to see what good I could do- lots of ridiculous lists at the 3000 point level, and I wasn't disappointed!  There were, I think, either 9 or 11 players who showed up from all over the state, and I was pretty sure I would just fold, due to my lethargic, apathetic approach to Fantasy, since it isn't my 'main' game.  Guess you'll get an opportunity to see if it actually worked out that way :)

I hadn't played since the Prelims, more than a month ago.

Um, before we get too far, here's the link to the Prelims battle report.

And here's a recap of my previous Fantasy 'Ard Boyz appearances:

Solid but cheap, camera?

Hey there folks, hows it going?  Today is yet another short one.  It's a question:  what's a good hobby camera that I can get, for about $100?  I don't want to do anything too crazy with it- just take *fast* Battle Report pictures, and some decent WIP pictures that don't go all dim and weird when I don't use the flash.

I have my eye on this one, but I'm sure someone else has a better idea of what to buy than I have.  Give me links, I want to buy the thing soon!

Coming tomorrow:  'Ard Boyz Semi-Finals Battle Report!

New Wracks, Grotesques, and Haemonculi Pictures!

Yeah, I know these aren't the models I mentioned, but I still think they look awesome.  Shame I will probably never use one.

Hey folks, looks like the new models for Wracks, Grotesques, and Haemonculi are finished and about to be released.  Lots of whining over 'un-dynamic' models, but I actually like them all.  See what you think!

Update to my Gaming Life

So, update time today I guess, since y'all are dying to know what I've been up to, right?

...right.

Nova Open Lodging?

Hey there folks, how's it going?  As you may or may not know, I'll be going to the Nova Open this year.  My friend, who was planning on going with me, has suddenly gotten accepted to Law School, and is therefore forced to go to a 'mandatory orientation', which sucks (for both of us, lol).

What this means for me is that I suddenly lack a roommate for the Con, and would much rather split the costs of a hotel room with someone else (or multiple people).

As such, I'm asking if anyone wants someone extra in their room, who is:

• Clean
• Doesn't Snore
• Willing to sleep on the floor, provided I get a pillow and blanket
• Not a creeper :-p

If you're interested, post here or email me.  My email is on the right hand side of this blog.

Gearing up for Fantasy 'Ard Boyz Semi-Finals

....meh

 Hey there folks!  Tomorrow is the Semi-Finals for Fantasy 'Ard Boyz.  I qualified for the Semi's with my somewhat soft Dark Elves (here's the link to that battle report, such as it is), and will hopefully be able to almost compete this time.  I heard there's like 15 people coming down from all over in Colorado, though I'm guessing that's a little bit exaggerated.

Min Wracks vs. Min Warriors

 Hey there folks, hows it going today?  In an attempt to tweak my list as thoroughly as possible, I've been playing around with my Dark Eldar numbers quite a bit.  I like my supporting elements quite a bit- here's what I've got (remember, supporting elements):