40K HIGHLANDER Rules 1 Day 5 Round 1000pts Tournament

In the New Year all being well I'll will  be going to Arkham Gaming Centre to take part in Dominion Day V, a Warhammer 40K tournament, run in conjunction with Jonny Fisher. This 1 day ranking 1000 point tournament will allow the best 40K players in Ireland North & South to make war across the tabletop.

This is a one day tournament for 46 players, each playing five 1000 point games on a 4x4 table. Hopefully this will also encourage some 40K players who haven't yet stepped into the ranked tournament scene to give it a go, and also allow those who miss out on tickets for Assault on Arkham to get some action. From the feedback we get on our 40K tournaments, a great day is virtually guaranteed! 

for more info see Arkham Gaming Centre

HIGHLANDER RULE – There Can Be Only One!

These rules seem to becoming very popular here in Ireland as it allows you to take part in a 5 Rounds Tournament all in one day which in turn gives you maximum tournament points although in saying that there is some restrictions.

1000 points 

5 games in 1 day 

4' x 4' tables 

46 Players max 

NO DUPLICATE UNITS 

Max one of each unit type, with the exception that armies with only one Troop option can duplicate it as long as each unit has unique upgrades. Things like land raiders count as being the same, so one godhammer or one redeemer or one crusader. Transports cannot be duplicated either.

The force organisation chart also changes: 

1 HQ - Compulsory 

1 Elite - Optional 

2 Troops - Compulsory 

1 Fast - Optional 

1 Heavy - Optional 

If you fill that FO chart you can start on this one:

1 HQ 

1 Elite 

2 Troops 

1 Fast 

1 Heavy 

And if you somehow fill that one you can take: 

1 Elite 

2 Troops 

1 Fast 

1 Heavy 

Vehicle Squadrons are restricted to one model per unit.

These restrictions definitely do make building lists a little bit more tricky, although in saying that it does definitely make things a lot more level playing field. Which in some ways can only be a good thing.

Why Does GW Not Paint Models Any More In Store?

Just recently been in my local GW, and there seems to be a very high level of non-painted miniatures in the cabinets for example just showing off new releases on sprues.

 I remember not too long ago in years gone by, the cabinets in GW were filled with beautifully painted miniatures and models, also they seem to be updated regularly.  Nowadays it seems to be this month's new release out-of-the-box sprue taking centre stage..

Don't get me wrong as I can see the appeal but seeing it regularly, in-store for me, makes the hobby look very cheap. I can understand with the new stores format of only having one member of staff, it would be near impossible to get anything painted, so in that instance, I can sort of understand but as a general rule it all seems to be the norm rather than the exception.

As a painter myself, for me it's about the model as a whole and unfortunately whether you like it or not painting is part of the hobby, so it would be good for GW to lead by example when it came to their display cabinets in-store, and tried to bring them back to life. 

After all there is so much potential at your fingertips.

Official Behind The Scenes Video Of GW

I Just recently came across this online and thought I would post it, as it might be of interest.

It looks like it's some sort of in-house advertising tool for shareholders, and gives a rare insight, behind-the-scenes, of what goes on with in the company, something you don't see very often.

It just goes to show what GW could possibly do, with hobby content and it's a real pity that you do not see more stuff like this, as it's probably a leaked of some kind. So take a look and enjoy and post your comments below.

My Converted Ork Nob Bikers unit.

Well for some Nob biker's mightn't be anything new, but for me this is the first time I've ever tried to convert them on bikes, and overall I'm very pleased the way they have turned out. There's something about the old bike models that in every sense is a true classic, and now a days somewhat overlooked.

So from the start I didn't exactly know if it could be done but it turned out to be very simple, I used a mix of black reach nobs and also from the Nob box set that GW sales.

I have already done a ork pain boy you can see him here for yourself before but I wanted to do something a little bit different than normal, this was the only head that I thought that was appropriate for such a model as it does show off some surgery of some kind which is handy considering.

Quite a simple dirty syringe conversion, I think I could do better, but with time being limited, sometimes doing something simple is just the best option.

As always I do try to create movement within the model to try and turn them into a mini diorama and this was no exception as I think it's definitely justified and adds movement to the overall effect of the unit, on the tabletop.

Below is the first, PK within the unit and I definitely wanted him to stand out. As you can see, I have modelled it so the bike is coming down on its front tyre, which makes him look like he's about to cleave someone in two.

By the look of it the second has already his target in his sights.

 I think in this picture you can see that the old bikes really do complement the new nob models, and I was actually very surprised how well they work together, so like any wedding there should be something old something new something blue, well more like red.

And finally considering they have a 4+ cover save, I modelled the exhaust fumes. Hopefully in the near future I'm going to post up a tutorial how to do it for yourself, 

So by no means are these guys finished as I still have a lot to do before they can get primed and painted, so until them, make sure you stay tuned for the next update.

UAA Joins The Wargaming Tradecraft

So recently out of the blue I got a confirmation e-mail in regards my blog joining 

The Wargaming Tradecraft Network.

So to say thank you to Dave G the man behind the blog, I thought I would do a quick post to let everyone know about it.

Primarily it's a blog dedicated to helping new and experienced artists learn and develop techniques key to the art side of the wargaming miniature hobby. (Such as Warhammer 40k, Hordes, Warmachine and so on) Skills to be focused on will be things like painting, modding, basing, terrain, etc.) miniature art painting hobbying modelling wargaming warhammer hordes warmachine terrain bitz learn basic intermediate advanced expert techniques

So make sure you take the time and check them out for yourself and if you have a blog like me give them a quick e-mail to join the ranks.

Annihilation At Arkham 40k Tournament Game 1 Space Marines

From the start I'm not into making blow by blow accounts of what happened, as I generally find it quite boring, so this battle report is mainly just describing what is happening in the pictures and anything that happened of interest which in turn sets the scene for the games that I played in a tournament.

This is my first opponent of the day- Space Marines

Pitched battle, Primary mission Capture and control, Secondary mission is Kill Points.

Nathan Cooper is quite new to the tournament scene over here and a regular to Lisburn Gaming Club so I could tell from the start he was a bit nervous, but remembering my first tournament I tried my best to put him at ease.

Deployment was pretty simple and straightforward as I was going first, I deployed everything in the middle. Although I did keep my rocket Buggies on the flanks, as I might need to combat some armour.

As always the first couple of turns in any game is me simply just running forward trying to put as many target

in front of my opponent to deal with as possible.

Seeing where the majority of threats were positioned I manoeuvred my buggy  to give much-needed fire power on the hope of blowing up some enemy tanks on the hope of getting some Marines out into the open, which in turn would mean I'd be able to get my Boyz into the combat.

 Because I knew where everything was I just kept moving forward and by sheer weight of numbers the cracks started to show in the enemy's battle plan. As I pretty much made it  across-the-board unscathed.

 My Buggy on the left flank were causing havoc,as they managed to destroy a weapon on one of the Razorbacks, which is always a good thing.

 It was the same story on the other side as I managed to get them into much-needed cover on my opponents turn, also I had positioned three in the middle which could easily be manoeuvred to either side of the table to give units for my opponent to deal with, all of which is designed to make sure that my Killer Kans and boys see combat.

 I think you can see the difference a turn can make in how effective my army is moving forward

By this stage it was pretty much all over as I had successfully pretty much dominated the middle ground and all that was left for me to do is to mop up little bits and pieces of resistance.

 In the above picture I was also lucky to assault several vehicles in the same turn with one squad.

 Seeing a golden opportunity I managed to get into assault with a dreadnought, although when it came to actually killing it it was a little bit more difficult, as the combat seemed to drag on for several turns.

Things were pretty much in the bag and I was well on my way to a 20-0 victory.

This was the final picture that I took of the centre just a few more things to destroy and victory was achieved.

-Final thoughts-

This was a simple straightforward game  my opponent found it very difficult to deal with everything that was in front of him, although I must say Nathan I think learnt a lot by this game, learning to be a little bit more aggressive in his play, something that I think he will do in the future.

Annihilation At Arkham 40k tournament Army Pics.

So I know the posts have been a bit light on the ground recently, but all for a good reason as, I attended a 40K tournament over the course of this weekend, with a mixed bag of results.

All of which will be highlighted in a future post, but for this one I thought I would show some of the armies that were on display and I played against over the weekend.

Arkham Gaming Centre is proud to host this Warhammer 40K tournament, run in conjunction with Jonny Fisher. This 2 day ranking 1750 point tournament will allow the best 40K players in Ireland North & South to make war across the tabletop.

One of the nicest SM armies on display over the weekend it just goes to show what can be achieved when you put a little bit of effort into your army and how well it looks on the table. 

It's good to see that someone being a little bit more adventurous with Imperial guard taking blog

 GN were heavily in attendance this weekend, especially when it came to those dreadnoughts

SM army list with quite some devastating firepower at its disposal, and it just so happened to be my first opponent on day 1.

  Eldar always been a bit of a problem for me in the past, and it was no exception at this tournament, as I played this list in my game 3 game on day 1 , only to have victory snatched in the last turn by a tank shocking Falcon. Lesson learnt on this one.

Another opponent of mine on day 2 game 4, and probably the toughest list I fought over the course of the weekend, from start to finish it was all up hill for me and my opponent played extremely well, although at the end it was very close, and I could have easily won, holding more objectives if I had a little bit more luck.

but credit where credit is due for my opponent on winning.

This was the final game of the tournament day 2 game 5 Chaos SM for me pretty simple and straight forward although having 2 Demon Princes with lash you can never get too comfortable, but as always Stewart was a brilliant opponent.

Yes you're quite right and that is 1750 on the table of GN .

 Dark Eldar as always doing the rounds at the minute.

Well for me it was a brilliant weekend coming 5th overall and winning best painted army, which I hope to post soon and if any of my opponents are reading this blog thanks for the great games and hopefully will meet soon on the tabletop, where I can dish out some revenge if I lost, only kidding.

 Thank you to all the staff at Aakham as well as Johnny and AJ for organising and running things.

So until next time?

Thank You As My Blog Hits The BIG 50 Members Mark

So Why Is It So Important?

Today is the day that my blog hits the 50 members Mark, and I must admit it hasn't been an easy achievement, considering my blog in February is only going to be one year old, which makes me wonder why is it so important, well from the start it wasn't, but as time has passed is nice to know that you do have certain followers that seem to enjoy what you're actually doing.

All too often people's bloggs take over there hobby and in some way blogging regularly can actually take away your hobby time if you let it, and after all that's not the reason why we blog. It's also great for me to reminisce and look back at the projects that I have done over the last few months, also I'm finding that I am already accumulating future posts with the projects that I am working on at the minute, which means I have an endless supply of material, which can only be a good thing, trying to think a little bit in advance.

Hopefully in the future I'm going to update my blogger template that I'm currently using that will be a little bit more user-friendly as I am finding that as time passes the content that I have accumulated sometimes is being missed, so hopefully that might help, make people check out more pages within my blog.

So what I hope to achieve within the next 50 members

1.Well a new blogger template for my site as stated above

2. I'm also thinking about setting up a blog hub to showcasing all the local blogs in Ireland and beyond.

3. Get more people blogging locally

For me this is the biggest challenge as I constantly see people posting endlessly on forums, and they don't seem to take the next step into blogging, which I must admit I was one of them. So where do I start well hopefully the first 2 might help, so on the whole it's been a long journey to get where I am today, but I think I'm getting there.

So once again a big thank you and a big welcome to the next 50.

How To Cast Resin Tutorial Mixing And Pouring The Resin Itself (Part 5)

So now comes the fun stuff. From the start it's probably best to do it outside in a well ventilated area, as some of the fumes can be quite harsh, and remember safety always comes first.

Just read and follow the instructions of your resin and it will tell you the ratio of hardener to resin, when you start to mix It. Also handy to have is a set of weighing scales available, as you can get precise and accurate measurements and you don't want any waste, after all resin itself isn't cheap.

So once you have mixed your resin and hardener together, very gently for a few seconds, it's important to get this right as too little or too much of either will make the batch useless for example it hardens too soon or it will not harden at all, all of which you do not want.

It's important that you try and keep air bubbles to a minimum.

 So gently pour the resin into the mould starting at one side take your time and do it slowly. With a toothpick gently make sure the resin gets into all the nooks and crannies, and be on the lookout for air bubbles try and bring them to the surface, or make sure that they are in the middle of the resin itself.

Using the same toothpick once you have done the above you can easily scrape off any excess that you come across,

Take a good look at the above picture and you can see the air bubbles have been brought to the surface as there's nothing worse than the moulding and finding that there has been a big air bubble in the resin.

Also don't be afraid to gently tap or squeeze your mould to make sure that the resin gets into all the areas

So there we have it, all you need is to leave them for a few hours and let them set this, and if everything has went to plan you shall have some new bits and pieces to play with.

The Lord Inquisitor Trailer [HD] Unofficial 40k CGI Animation

Well if seeing is believing then you definitely need to check out this. Currently this is a labour of love of a few hard-core animators that have spent the majority of their free time to create such beautiful eye candy, all of which is set in the 40K universe.

The Philosophy behind this project is to make a short visual tribute to the world of Warhammer 40.000 created by Games Workshop®. This universe they created is that huge, that it is basically not posible to make a movie showing all aspects of the world of the 41st millenium.

You will all probably still remember the disappointment, that was the ultramarine film, so bearing in mind that this isn't even finished, and hopefully will be released in 2013

So make sure you show your support and check it out.

 www.thelordinquisitor.com

Planet Vesen 40k ladder Campaign Battle Report Ork V IG

A little while ago me and a friends played 3 games of 40k in a ladder campaign. all in the same day which turned out to be one of the best weekends I've had in a long time.

The games themselves would be at 500pts 1000pts and finally 1500pts, and below this was our first of many that day. For me this is the hobby at its best whenever you can play through a story that seems to take a life of its own, it holds great memories.

Naturally AJ played his old Guard armies, 3rd company and 4th company of the 32nd Vastadtian and even managed to squeeze in the new troop truck and Armoured car. The Campaign was against, My Da black tan tribe Orks on the planet Vesen in the horizon system, a system which lies spinward of Rynns World. 

The Background 

Ork forces under the leadership of a shadowy Warboss, Trackle Black Sekradda held the main Northern Continent and where threatening to push over the Sectung Line. The Crimson Fists, supported by guard units launched a series of Seize Ground initiatives in order to capture vital forward Obs Posts just south of the main ork advance. 

With the Crimson Fists Job accomplished they moved off the planet, and Guard high command was eager to push into the orks further, beginning the slow and gruling task awaiting them to drive off the Orks. Trackle Black Sekradda Had other Ideas, Wishing to mount his own waaagh. In the First Night of the New Lunar Calender, when the twin moons where furthest away, Trackles Ork forces launched a series of pre dawn raids on the Imperial Bunker Complexes, Just as the Guard dispatched Supply collums to prepare front line units for the coming offencing. All across the Line The Comms Complexes where hit, not least of which was Bunker 214, a Vastadtian held installation... (and this was where our Campaign began!) 

We played 3 Games over the space of the day what a weekend.

The Background

3 Months Later and with no push from the orks, the Imperial Obs posts had been reinforced, and Omega level Complexes with Comms relays mounted in each now stood in their place. The 3rd Battle Company of the Vastadtian 32nd held Complexes 214-218, supported by heavy weapons from 4th Company. A garrison just a click back from the line was the main staging post from which the 4th company could dispatch reinforcements or launch a fresh attack.

Game 1 Sabotage mission 500pts from the old 3 ed rulebook 

(this is one of our favourite rule books for missions).

All seems quiet As the 32nd Vastadtian dig in knowing that their enemy was out there somewhere.

Ork kommandos sneaked up on their prey under the cover of darkness 

and just as quickly as it started the alarm is raised warning of the immediate danger.

As all hell breaks loose with explosions ripping through the dawn sky

Then suddenly from nowhere a ork truck demolishing a wall in its path over the deafening noise of roaring engines. 

Delivering its deadly cargo of boys

And then yet more appear from the dust mayhem and gunfire which it seem to surround the remaining guardsmen

The Orks scramble into the bunker, killing all in their path bloods blathering against walls bones crushed under their steel toe capped boots, complete devastation as they occupy the complex.

In the distance IG reinforcements arrive, but is it too late to make a difference. In a last-ditch attempt in hand-to-hand combat an officer was pretty much guaranteed his death was imminent.

With My Orks desperate for blood and victory, as a single Guardsman witnesses is comrades butchered to pieces,decides there is no other option but to run for his life, but his death was guaranteed from the sky

as a death copter flew overhead.

Orks won and destroy the bunker complex. Game 2 Ambush mission 1000pts (taken from the necron section of the Battle Missions book)

which I will post very soon ------transmission ends-------