Shadow Commander Kanir Krios (New Warlord for the Ghoul Stars Campaign)

 

I love converting models, and I find that I am not doing it enough lately. One of the few drawbacks of 30k is my own personal desire to create a "historically" accurate fighting force to represent the Post-Isstvan Raven Guard. Because of this, I've been focusing more on painting accuracy and less on modelling creativity. But, thanks to the Ghoul Stars campaign, I was inspired me to build a new warlord. Enter Kanir Krios, Shadow Commander of the Ghoul Stars Expeditionary Force.

This guy is a real bits box king. A mix of standard MK VIII, MK VI, a Space Wolf frost axe and chainsword, as well as a Dark Angels backpack and Forge World shoulder pads. I love his pose, and who doesn't want their warlord swinging a gigantic chainsword. He'll be leading the Sons of Corax into the Ghoul Stars come late May. And, I feel like it isn't a huge stretch to use him as a praetor in my 30k army, which is always nice. I'll be writing up some background on him soon, so stay tuned!

As for this weekend, I'll be up to my ears in Microset applying decals to my Tactical Squads. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated! Then, on Sunday, I'm hoping to sneak out and get some reinforcements at Games of Berkeley. Have a great weekend, and roll high!

Until next time.

Quit the Hate, for the New Guy's Sake

 
I don't know about the rest of you, but all of this frustration over Eldar rules that haven't even come out yet is starting to really bug me. We've all seen it. On message boards and Facebook angry hobbyists are really, really upset about these changes. Passion can never be discounted, and I don't think it is fair to say that people can't have an opinion. But, it is important to focus on the effect that this behavior is having on a very important subset of Warhammer players, people who are new to the hobby.

Becoming a 40k player is not easy. It is expensive, time consuming, and requires some moderate level of model building and painting skill from the very beginning. On top of that, new players need to break into what are most often very tight knit gaming communities in local game stores and garages around the world. If you want to play this game, you really need to want to play it. Many things draw people into miniatures games. One of the largest draws is the esthetic or background of an army.

Ok, let's pretend you woke up this morning with all your memories of 40k wiped from you mind (terrifying, I know). After looking through your browser history (also, terrifying) you find a link to Games Workshop and fall back down the rabbit hole. Hey, these new shiny space elves look really cool! You want to spend hundreds of dollars and build a large collection of these tiny toy soldiers. So, you head to your local games store and buy the codex and a couple model kits. Exciting stuff!

Noticing a group of gamers playing Warhammer, you stop by to introduce yourself. "Hey, I'm [blank] and I'm starting an Eldar army!".

Eldar! Cheese! D Weapons! RRRAAAWWWWRRRR!!!

Well, you weren't really expecting that. Ever the positive one, you head home and decide to find a new store to play at. You head to a 40k message board to reach out to local players that will hopefully not turn into animals at the first mention of Eldar. Bad idea, buddy. There are like three different threads all talking about how only damn cheaters play Eldar. Boy, this hobby is really weird, huh? After some deliberation, you head back to the store and exchange your unopened boxes of Eldar for Imperial Assault.

Do you want to be the reason that new blood to our hobby turns their passions elsewhere? Do you want to make people feel uncomfortable about things that they like and enjoy? I sure hope the answer is no. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But, please think about the effect that your negativity has on new players. GW is not going to change their rules just because you don't like them. Encourage neophytes, no matter what army they chose. This is an awesome time for us 40k players. Enjoy it! D weapons and all.

Veterans for the Long War: Building an Army for the Ghoul Stars campaign

The Ghoul Stars has long been a wild and untamed area of space on the northern edge of the Ultima
Segmentum. In M34, this formerly human region was lost to a "star spawned plague and nightmare engines that swept across entire sectors." A powerful force of eleven Space Marine Chapters was sent to deal with the menace of the Cythor Fiends, but only the Novamarines ever returned...

With the native inhabitants of the Ghoul Stars in turmoil, and the Necrons not yet fully consolidated, the High Lords of Terra mandated that a reconquest be launched once again. Given their long involvement with the region, the Black Templars, under the leadership of High Marshal Helbrecht, were chosen to lead the Crusade.
 
The call was answered from all across the Imperium. Huge expeditionary forces began to assemble along the Ultima Segmentum border. The systems along the Ghoul Stars frontier began to pulse with Space Marine Chapters, Imperial Guard Regiments, Knight Households and Rogue Trader fleets.
 
This time their goal is nothing less than the complete cleansing of the Ghoul Stars!

Starting next month, Endgame and the 40k Fight Club will be running a new campaign based out of the Ghoul Stars. As most of my regulars know, I love the events at Endgame. Mike and Adan put a lot of effort into the background and scenarios of their campaigns, and it shows. Based on everything I've seen and read so far for the Ghoul Stars, this should be the best one yet. The only thing I've been hung up on is what type of forces I want to muster. Enter the Order of Battle.

Before the campaign begins, we need to send the organizers an Order of Battle (OoB). This represents the host of forces available to your warlord during their expedition into the Ghoul Stars. Here are the rules for building your OoB from the campaign packet.

You have 4,000 points to build your Order of Battle. If you are using Allies, no more than 1,000 points of your OoB may be Allies. Buy the basic units (including dedicated transports) with NO wargear or upgrades AT ALL. For example, a 10 man Space Marine Tactical Squad and Rhino, with no special/heavy weapons, no Veteran Sergeant, etc, is 175 points.

I have decided to join the Imperium faction for this go, so I'll be bringing my Raven Guard kicking and screaming 10,000 years into the future ("Where's my damn Sicarian!"). I am still in the process of finalizing my Order of Battle, and trying to decide if I should add in some allies (maybe some Death Spectres?). I'm gonna be working on it it pretty heavily this weekend, and I would love some input on what a proper Raven Guard Strike Force should include. I'll have an OoB to share sometime next week.

If you live in the Bay Area, make sure to check this campaign out. You can find more information about it here if you are interested.

Until next time!

Warhammer + Metal = BOLT THROWER!!!

A buddy of mine shared this awesome Facebook post with me yesterday. The article, from Kerrang! Issue #270 - December 1989, talks about the connection between metal and Warhammer 40k. In particular, this one references the classic Bolt Thrower album Realm of Chaos. I'd highly suggest turning World Eater up to 11 during your garagehammer session this weekend. It'll make Khorne very happy. Check out the article below, and roll high!

Until next time!

Robots vs. Birds!!! Raven Guard [30k] v. Necrons [40k]

30k, I can't quit you! This Tuesday I was able to get in a game against Alex from Modeling for Advantage, the official blog of the Left Coast Corsairs. Alex reached out to me a couple weeks back after I posted about my first 30k/40k matchup. We met up at my beloved Endgame, where the Corsairs practice, and threw down at 1000 pts on a 4' x 4' board.

Endgame has some incredible terrain, so we were able to set up a a really cool Bridge Too Far game. In this scenario the main bridge in the middle of the map was worth 3 VP, the two smaller bridges on the side got you 1 VP, and the standard secondary objectives were each worth 1 VP (Slay the Warlord [random thought: wouldn't that be an awesome band name?], First Blood, and Line Breaker). Here's the battlefield.

Alex's Necrons rose on up following a Destroyer Lord with three units of Destroyers, a Cryptek with some Warriors, Immortals, and fifteen Flayed Ones. The Raven Guard made planetfall with a Praetor (Ravens Talons FTW), a Vigilator, two squads of nine Vets from Planet Melta (combi-melta and melta gun) with one in a Rhino, a lascannon Dread, and a Deathstorm Drop Pod. Alex was on the left, I was on the right and went first. Spread it on!!!

The game was really, really fun. The 4' x 4' board, coupled with the focus on the bridges, really made this one a blood bath. My vet squads took both bridges first, only to be met with heavy resistance from the Necrons. My Praetor ended up eating through the squad of Warriors, but eventually met his demise in an epic challenge against the Destroyer Lord and a gang of Flayed Ones. At one point my fearless leader tanked through twelve wounds, making every single 2+ save. At the top of turn five my Dread was able to kill two Destroyers and take the central bridge. With five Veterans and a Vigilator holding one of the secondary bridges, things were looking up. Then they Flayed Ones charged.

Just when you thought Wraiths were good, here come the Flayed Ones. These maniacal robots had sixty five shred and preferred enemy attacks on the charge. Insane. The first thirty did seventeen wounds, and that was all she wrote. The game ended with Alex holding both secondary objectives and three VP for Slay the Warlord, First Blood, and an additional VP per the Pride of the Legion Right of War. My Dreadnought stood proudly on the central bridge, a river of blood and oil running underneath him, but it was all for naught. Alex took this one 5-3.

Games like this are why I love Warhammer (30k and 40k). A close, down to the wire match against a really fun opponent (make sure to check out Alex's blog here).When the game ended, I think we informally decided that we would start a Great Crusades campaign. Exciting! I really love building this Raven Guard army. Forge World has so deftly captured the nature of the XIXth legion, and I look forward to continuing to master their playstyle in the games to come. I'm also looking forward to adding some reinforcements soon. Can you say Darkwing Storm Eagle anyone? In the meantime, more pictures!

Until next time!