Tau Progress Report #2

I am kicking ass at this so far. Here’s what’s done:

12 Fire Warriors + Devilfish – Done

3 Stealth Suits – Done (but could use a little highlighting on the black areas)

Crisis suit with fusion blaster and flamer – 1/2 done

Picture!

I picked up some more stuff at the Gameshop: another box of Stealth Suits, the Crisis Commander box, a box of Fire Warriors for my pulse carbine-armed squad, a blister of Pathfinders and one of Pathfinders with rail rifles.

Progress is pretty good so far, if I do say so myself.

And for something different, here are a few shots of my Inquisitor models. There are some interesting stories to go with these guys, which I’ll share in a later post.

Inquisitor Vectrus – This is the guy I usually used. Made from the Arbite judge figure, with a really bad mullet sculpted on. I don’t know how to sculpt.

Preacher Arthur. Straight up Preacher Josef figure with an Ork gun added as a pistol.

Arco-flagellant Osma. Simple Damien 1427 figure.

A Kroot Mercenary that I bought at the GW auction at the Eaton Centre in Toronto a while back.

Rogue Trader. If I recall correctly, his name was Bobbin Threadbare, so named by my buddy who was using him.

Another figure I got at the auction, Tim the Mutant was named after a particularly annoying classmate of mine. He has the distinction of being probably the only character to not know that when you throw a demo-charge, you run after.

I will share more detailed stories in the near future. Back to the painting table!

Tau Army List

I designed this list with firepower in mind. I want something somewhat mobile, but able to pump out as many shots as possible in a single turn.

HQ

- Commander with cyclic ion blaster, burst cannon, shield generator and hard-wired multi-tracker

Troops

- 12 Fire Warriors, mounted in a Devilfish with sensor spines

- 12 Fire Warriors with pulse carbines

Elites

- 6 Stealth Suits, led by a Shas’vre with bonding knife and marker light

- 3 Crisis suits, 1 with flamer, missile pod and multi-tracker, 1 with flamer, missile pod and targeting array, and 1 with flamer, fusion blaster and target lock

Fast Attack

- 2 Piranhas, 1 with a fusion blaster and target lock

- 6 Pathfinders, 3 with rail rifles, mounted in a Devilfish

Heavy Support

- 2 Broadsides, 1 with a multi-tracker

- Hammerhead tank with railgun and burstcannons

- Sniper Drone team

So there it is. A lot of guns, all at 1493 points. Now that I think about it, I can probably throw in another multi-tracker on the second Broadside, so both suits can fire all their guns in one turn.

Stay tuned for more painting updates. I also plan on posting pictures of my Inquisitor models, and stories to go with them. Some good times with those figures.

Tau Progress Report #1

I can totally do this. Even though I absolutely can’t stand painting. I’m good.

Everything, save the Kroot I mentioned last post, is put together and primed, using Armory’s Black Primer. Armory’s primer being infinitely better than GW’s spray paint that they call primer.

I’m working out a paint scheme, and I think I’ve made a decent decision: armour will be Mechrite Red, clothes will be black/dark grey. Simple, and easy to get done and on the table.

Pictures to come, along with hopefully more progress. I’ll also post that army list some time soon.

New Years Resolution Army

With 2008 coming to an end, I look back and realize that I didn’t actually finish any army I set out to collect. And that’s not cool. So with that in mind, here’s my New Year’s Resolution:

I will design, collect, build, paint, and COMPLETE a Warhammer 40,000 army, by the time summer gets here in July.

This will be the first army I’ve completed, ever, if you don’t count my Space Marines that I could make a complete army list out of, but it wasn’t a finished collected army. For this one, I’ve chosen Tau. I have been playing WAY too much Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, particularly the Tau campaign. I beat it recently, and now want to do a real Tau army.

Thanks to my ever-so-wonderful employee discount at The Gameshop in my hometown of Aurora (link over on the side), I get my minis at a slightly more barable price. I’ve started with the Tau battleforce, even though I won’t be using Kroot in the army I have planned. I’ve got the Stealth suits put together and will be starting on the Devilfish next. I’ll post the full army list in a later post.

I’ll try to keep up to date with posting my progress. Really, I will try. I swear.

Hordes. Tricky.

It is. A fair deal more complicated than Warmachine. I played my first game on Wednesday. My Legion of Everblight vs Trollbloods. I fielded the warpack (Lylyth, four Shredders, one Carnivean) and a Seraph. I faced Hoarluk Doomshaper, an Axer, a Pyre Troll and a Dire Troll Mauler. I did the stupid thing and seperated the Shredders, which would have greatly benefited from their Pack Mentality. My one success was a huge 6-hit Strafe attack with my Seraph, but I buggered that one up by spreading the hits over three models. In Hordes, you really have to focus on taking out one warbeast at a time, otherwise they still hit you and you’re boned. My Seraph and Carnivean were gone by turn three.

In painting news, I’ve recently finished painting my Khador Man O’ War Demolition Corps and Marauder Heavy ‘jack. Pictures soon, once I get my camera from my parents house. Up next is Vladimir and the Shocktroopers, followed by the Everblight models. I’ve ordered a good deal of product from the Gameshop that’s just waiting for me to pay for it and paint it. Included are the Gorten Grundback battlebox (Mercs), a squad of Mechanithralls, Helldiver and Reaper Helljack (Cryx), a unit of Warmongers and Thagrosh (Everblight), and Khador Mechaniks. A lot to do, but I’ve got plenty of time.

Unfortunately, I’ve just got Internet set up in my new apartment, so I’ll have to do my damnedest to get painting done. I think I might have a mild addiction.

So… comments… that’s new. Here I am thinking “nah, no one’ll read this, but at least you can keep track of stuff.” But thanks to the two who gave their thoughts on the pricing issue. Good points all around. This sort of pricing inconsistency seems to be happening a few other places; one in particular that I noticed was at Chapters today. But they are taking steps to provide fair pricing by offering discounts, sales, etc.

I heard earlier today that the US dollar is likely to drop even further as, I believe and don’t quote me on this, China is making some changes in the investments it has in the United States. Changing everything over to Euros, I think.

Moving right along to some recent progress of mine on the Warmachine front. I’ve since finished a good chunk of what I have, plus some new:

Cryx Battle Box

Khador Battle Box

Khador Kodiak

The rest is in-progress.  Here’s the list of what’s remaining:

Man-O-War Shocktroopers

Widowmakers (50% done)

Berserker (Worst. Feet. Ever.)

And now I have a Necrotech with a Scrap Thrall as well as my new Khadoran warcaster, Vladimir Tzepesci, Dark Prince of Umbrey.

On a very unrelated note, I’ve begun an minor unhealthy obsession with Nerf blasters. I picked up the Longshot, Maverick, Firefly and Pocket Blaster all within the last week or two. I think I might have a problem.

Either way, they are AWESOME toys. Minor gripes, of course: Longshot’s scope doesn’t help you aim for shit and falls off a bit easily, Firefly’s a bit awkward to hold. Nothing special. But I do so love ambushing my little brother with the Longshot when he walks through the door after school, having left the Maverick on the front hall carpet for him to fight back with. An epic battle, to be sure.

Coming soon: Game reviews. A few video games, but, in order to better study some of the games at the Gameshop, I’ll also be reviewing the board games they carry. Hopefully the store will let me use the open copies they have to try out.

Canada’s dollar: GW’s prices don’t make “cents”

Heh, see what I did there? Damn I’m witty.

As you may (or may not, if you live under a rock) know, Canada’s dollar is now at par (and slightly above, in fact) the American dollar. This means I get that Transformers necklace I bought on eBay for slightly cheaper than I originally thought I would. This SHOULD mean that Games Workshop would lower their Canadian prices or raise their American prices. BUT! Here’s an e-mail I just sent to Mail Order:

With the Canadian dollar at par with the US dollar, I was curious to see if adjustments had been made to Canadian Games Workshop prices. I was then shocked to see that nothing changed. Take the Empire Wizard box. In the US, that box would be $17. However, here in Canada, that same box is $25! With the exchange rate, if we base the actual retail value on the US prices, that means that Canadians are charged $8 more than Americans, when it should only be $16 for the box!

Will there be adjustments made to either country’s prices to take into account the economic improvement to Canada’s dollar?

My guess is I’ll get back a “too bad, so sad” answer. Large evil corporations like Games Workshop tend to do that. But really, how lame is that? Even if they raise US prices, I’ll be happy, since it’ll be fair. I don’t want to have to start ordering off the US online store, instead of purchasing in retail stores up here. If other Canadian gamers take that approach, then independent game stores, like the one I go to here in Aurora, The Gameshop (link on the side bar) are kind of boned for GW sales. (Granted, The Gameshop carries TONS of products other than GW, but it’s an example. So sue me.)

If you are Canadian (and happen to read this blog, but then, who does?), write to GW, complain about the disgusting differences in price, make some noise about the whole thing. We might not get price reductions, but damn if we can’t make it fairly priced for everyone.

As for painting updates, I’m still working on those Halberdiers. I am ridiculously slow when it comes to painting. Just can’t seem to tear myself away from the computer. All that’s left on the troops is the flesh, hair, and a few details.

Note to self: Don’t buy the Tau Hunter Cadre until I’ve finished my Empire army!

Update: Got an e-mail back:

Hello

                Games Workshop USA does not base their prices on the global GW economy.  We are all separate companies world wide.  The USA has already tried to correct the price gaps on some of their products.  We are aware of this problem and we are looking into possible solution.  We thank you for your patients during this transition period. 

Figures. He spelled “patience” wrong.

Test model

Here it is:

Some of the details aren’t painted, i.e. the stuff on his right hip, but I don’t usually paint stuff like that, except for a single colour to make it more than black plastic hanging off the model’s side.

Progress:

Blue painted on 20 Halberdiers

Brown painted on 10

Test complete

Colour scheme!

When it comes to picking what colours of paint to slap on a model, I am the worst at it. Occasionally I’ll have flashes of inspiration, but usually it’s a trial and error thing that takes a little while. Lord knows I took at least an hour in the Gameshop in Aurora perusing the paint display before I picked a paint scheme for my Ogres.

Today, in fact, not five minutes ago, I decided on the colour scheme for my Empire army. Now, picking a uniform for Empire troops is hard, because there are already a lot of pre-established colour schemes for several of the more “famous” provinces of the Empire. I wanted to avoid associating myself with any of them, since the last thing I need is someone going “Green and light brown? Stirland? Why do you have Handgunners then?” (Stirland is a backwater province with no advanced technology, just really good hunters) when I just thought the two colours looked cool together.

I knew that I wanted to use blue, since I really don’t use blue all that much. The last time I used blue as a primary colour for an army was back when I was 12, (poorly) painting Ultramarines for Warhammer 40,000. This time around, instead of just saying “what other colour do I like”, I actually went online and looked at a colour wheel. Blue and yellow seemed to be complimentary colours, so I shifted that a bit and went with blue and brown. My colour scheme is as follows:

Trousers/tunics – Calthan Brown and Mordian Blue

Metal (armour/blades) – Boltgun Metal

Flesh – Tallarn Flesh (gotta love Foundation Paints)

I’ll figure out all the little fiddly details that are on the models (gear hung from belts, etc.) as I go along.

Now I just need to figure out how to tie in my Flagellants without taking away the “unruly mob” look that they have. I suppose I’ll just have to include enough blue on some of them that an observer would know that they’re with my army.

Pictures to come once I finish a test model.

Here goes…

Ok, so first post, and the first thing that anyone who reads this will ask is “Vec, what the hell is up with the title?” And the answer is simple: I have REALLY weird friends.

A little about me: I’m 20 years young, from Toronto, Ontario. I play video games, table-top games, the occasional board game, and MIND games (ooOOOooo), all while working as a cook in a semi-busy bar and grill. This blog will be home to my painting journals, game reviews, and anything else I can think of that would fit. It also acts as motivation to actually get painting done, since I am notoriously lazy. Documenting my progresses will hopefully make me more productive, since seeing “Day 1: Models undercoated” and NOTHING ELSE will be horribly embarrassing.

And here we go. My current project is an Empire army for Warhammer (by Games Workshop).

Models on Hand:

- Reinforcement Battalion, which includes:

- Two Battle Wizards

- 20 State Troops, assembled as Halberdiers

- 20 Flagellants

- Helblaster/Helstorm artillery piece (chassis and separate artillery pieces assembled, but not glued together, to allow for interchanging)

And then:

- State Troop Detachment set, assembled as Swordsmen (well, not yet) and Handgunners

- Pistoliers set, assembled as Outriders

- General set, one mounted character, one Battle Standard Bearer on foot

- Warrior Priest, not yet attached to its base

As I said, everything is assembled, save for the Swordsmen and the Warrior Priest. Everything is base-coated black, minus the Priest.

I’ve only fully painted two models: the two Wizards. One is a Bright wizard (Fire lore), the other an Amethyst wizard (Death lore). Pictures!

Amethyst Wizard:

Bright Wizard:

Spiffy. Not the best quality photos, but I work with what I got.

More to come as I paint more!