Looking out at 2010

Hey guys Huron here, just a few more hours left till 2010. Personally I am stuck here at work, well at least for 2 more hours so I thought I would take a small break a share with you my hobby goals for 2010.

First off I plan to finish up the Howling Griffons army that has been seen in the recent battle reports and tutorials I have posted. Now saying I am going to finish them up is I guess a bit of an understatement. My plan for the army looks like this:

1. Space Marine Battle Company - Including Transports
2. 1st Company Detachment - 25 - 30 Terminators, 10 Sternguard, 10 Vanguard
3. Variety of Characters - My own modified versions of several special characters; Khan, Pedro, Lysander, Shrike, Tigerious, and maybe some others. Plus a Power Armored and Terminator Armored Librarian, and Power armored Chaplain on Foot, on Bike, and with Jump Pack along with a Terminator armored one as well.
4. A mix of Heavy Support and Fast Attack vehicles and Bikes
   
5. Then for Apocalypse an Armored spearhead featuring 5 Landraiders (1 Standard, 1 Crusader, 1 Redeemer, 1 Promethius (FW), and One Terminus Ultra), a Line Breaker Squadron (3 Vindicators), An Ancients formation (Master of the Forge and 4+ Dreadnoughts of any pattern), and probably a super heavy of some sort

I am good way along on the Battle company, I just need 2 More Tactical Squads, 2 Devastator Squads, their Transports, and a Razorback for the Command Squad. I am about half way done collecting the 1st Company Detachment as I currently have 13 Terminators, 6 Sternguard, and 5 Vanguard in my collection. Character wise I have and have converted up pretty much all the characters listed except Lysander, Shrike, and Tigerious. I need another Predator or two and some Landspeeders and I have the Bike/Vehicle support of the Griffons locked down and for the Apoc stuff mentioned I just need 2 more Raiders (Redeemer and Promethius), one more dreadnought, and the super heavy choice I mentioned. Not sure what it is going to be yet.

Having all of that and having it all painted are different things altogether though so I am going to be focusing on getting it all painted, starting with what I need for my tournament list and going from their.

Once the Griffons are done I plan to put some work into a number of different projects I have on the back burner. While I will not commit to getting any of these projects finished in 2010 realistically I need/will probably put some work into all of them or sell them off over the course of the year. They are:

1. 40K Orks - I have around 3K or orks in various stages, mostly assembled and unprimed
2. Chaos Warriors - Likely to be my next project, want to get an army painted up and ready to play if I ever get the urge again. I have around 3K or assembled and primed models for this army
3. 40K Chaos - An old standby for me, I would like to revisit and tweak this army for 5th edition sometime in the future.
4. 40K Nurgle Daemons - I painted 1000pts of these guys over the summer of 2009 and really only need to pick up Epideimus, 1 Great Unclean One (to use as a Daemon Prince), and a box of Plague Bearers up for and I will have a full army. I even have 3 FW Blight Drones sitting around unassembled I can add in as well
5. Renegade IG - I have the Infantry component and a few of the tanks I would need to start a FW Renegade IG army based on the new Guard book. Really what I need a few more vehicles and to rearm a few models and this army would be ready to be painted and played
6. Eldar Exodites - This is a new army that I am in just the beginning stages of building. They are a long way off from being playable but I've always wanted and Exodite army and with some of the current Dark Elf, Lizardmen, and Eldar plastic models I think it is very doable so expect to see more work on these guys this year as time allows.
7. Blood Angels - If the rumors end up being true I expect to jump full bore into a Blood Angels army too.

Yeah I know lots of projects. Kind of overwhelming isn't it.

There is one thing besides the Howling Griffons I am going to pledge to do. I want to replace my existing Home/Travel Terrian with a GW Battle Board and some new nicer painted terrain. Whether this means GW stuff or scratch built stuff I do not know yet but I want to up my the quality of the terrain I play on when outside of a GW store.

Well that is it for now, see you all in 2010!

Battle Report 5, vs Chris T's Ultramarines

Hey guys, Huron here. Time for another battle report, but first...

The year is ending fast with only 2 more days left (including today). Check out my blog tomorrow for a video about what is to come using my new HD Camera and find out about my gaming resolutions for the new year. 2010 is going to be a busy year for me as I shoot for 150+ blog entries during the course of the year. The majority of this massive number of posts will be taken up by 2 regular weekly features. First, Tutorial Tuesday will feature a new tutorial every Tuesday in 2010. I will be covering all sort of topics from how I paint various things like my How to Paint Howling Griffons series which is what I will be starting with to more focused tutorials on things like weathering models and applying decals. I have already laid out the plans for one such article which is going to focus entirely on Rust.

On Fridays you will be getting a 2010 weekly update video, where I will share what projects I am working on, talk out plans for the future, and share with you the Battle reports that have already become a key part of my blog. The rest of the time expect army lists, discussion topics, battle plans, tournament reports, and a whole slew of other things to be added as 2010 goes on. It is going to be a good year.

But lets talk Battle Report. Chris is probably my oldest 40K Nemesis. We started playing against each other back in 2000 and the rivalry between his Ultramarines an my Chaos is legendary. We have played several mini campaigns and story archs over the years that have effected the background and story of our two armies. Chris is the ultimate 40K collector and over the last 10 years has collected and painted many 40K armies but nothing compares to his Ultramarines Army. He owns the full Chapter, all the marines, all the vehicles, all the way down to 3 FW Thunderhawks. And the craziest part of all of it is that everything is painted. Chris is the only gamer I have ever known that who can just paint and paint and paint and get stuff done. Chris can crank out great looking minis in an amazingly short amount of time. While probably not a Golden Daemon level paint job (though he can paint to that level if he chooses), his models are very detailed and painted to an very high table top or better standard. If I can ever get him to start blogging regularly I will be pointing out his blog to all of you pretty quickly. But enough talk, time to get fighting.

Howling Griffons vs Ultramarines, part 1


Howling Griffons vs Ultramarines, part 2



Okay guys, well that is it for tonight. Check back tomorrow for at glimpse of what 2010 holds for the Blood and Blades!

Until next time...

Happy Holidays!

Hey guys, Huron here. Happy Holidays to all. Whether you celebrate Christmas like me, Hanukkah, or any other holiday this season I hope you get all the GW goodies you asked for and desire.

I have a special Blood and Blades Blog post for you today. I have a battle report between my nearly finalized Howling Griffons army and Nix from The Dead Tau project and his nicely painted Eldar army. I have the first pics of a new project I have just started working on, a new Eldar Exodite army inspired by some of the other great bloggers in the community like Akenseth over @ Path of the Exodite and Gepostet over @ The Path of the Outcast. Fritz and his Saim-hann definitely had a hand as well. This will be the first big project for me in 2010 after I finish up my Howling Griffons. On top of all of that, this is post number 50 here on Blood and Blades and we look at the humble start and some of the things I have planned for the new year.

First up is Battle Report 4 vs Nix from The Dead Tau Project. Nix's Eldar are really is nicely coverted and painted and he and I have been playing quite a bit lately. He is strongly responsible for me heavily refining the tactics for my Howling Griffons lately and taking the army from the rough starting point it was at back in November to where it is now. Thanks man for all your help! Additionally, a very interesting matter comes up toward the end of this video which is just one of those situation that sometimes happens in 40K that makes you go Hmmm? How does that work? Fritz (and everyone else), we require you Eldar expertise for this one! Let me know if you got an answer or if you have a different opinion then what we came up with.

Exodites! Thats right, I have started a new project, Eldar Exodites. For those that do not know the Exodites are the survivors of the Fall of the Eldar who saw the end coming and left to form colonies on worlds through out the universe on various worlds with webgates. They are the distant cousins of the Craftworld Eldar with all the knowledge technology of the ancients but who decide to for go it for a simpler life style.

Another cool feature are the Dragon Knights, Warriors who defend their world from the backs of raptor like dinosaurs and other beast. These Dragon Knights make perfect stands in for Jet Biker. The current mostly plastic Dark Elf, Lizardmen, and Eldar armies makes converting one of these armies both cost effective and fairly simple compared to the past. Here are a few pics of the first converted models for my army.

Farseer on Jetbike

Dire Avengers

Warlock and Storm Guardian

POST #50! So the beginning of last year I started hearing about a community of gamers that was beginning to form on the web. I followed a few people around to various sites and read their blogs which in the end lead me to Ron and From the Warp. A few days later after playing around with Blogspot, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop Blood and Blades was born and I had joined the FTW blog ring and the greater blogging community. I at first planned to just post pics of my models, maybe a battle report or two, and some project ideas I had bouncing around my head. Now I am posting Video Battle reports and tutorials, army lists and tactics, and have 47 other people who follow what I say and care about what I think, crazy!

2010 is going to see a big expansion of my blog. More tutorials, some gaming guides, and lots of battle reports are in the future, along with a video project log. New better quality videos, thanks a new camera capable of recording HD Videos has been obtained. I am also planning to pic an HD capable webcam in the near future and some higher grade editing software.

2010 is just around the corner and with it comes the plans of traveling a good deal this year to many tournaments and events and maybe running a few myself. I will be providing complete coverage of all of them for you to enjoy. 11 Months down and 50 post in. Lets see if I can triple that in 2010.

Well that is it for now. Happy Holidays again! See you in the new year!

Battle Report 3, Rematch vs Mike's Chaos + Howling Griffons Update!

Hey guys, Huron here again. It has been a while since my last battle report so I thought I would share another with you. This game is against my same opponent from the last battle report, Mike Johnson. Mike, me, and several of the other regulars at the GW Sugarland store in Sterling, VA are involved in a Challenge Pyramid. Mike is currently at the top and I am on the second tier trying to knock him off and down to the bottom so Mike and I have played a few games recently.

I have been working on fine tuning my Howling Griffons for tournament play so I have been experimenting with alternate list and different unit choices in my army. I think I have pretty much settled on the core of this build. Current I am using:

HQ
160pts Kar'sarro Khan

TROOPS
185pts (10) Tactical Marines - Combi-Meltagun, Meltagun, Multimelta
050pts Dedicated Transport: Rhino - Extra Armor

185pts (10) Tactical Marines - Combi-Meltagun, Meltagun, Multimelta
050pts Dedicated Transport: Rhino - Extra Armor

185pts (10) Tactical Marines - Combi-Meltagun, Meltagun, Missile Launcher
050pts Dedicated Transport: Rhino - Extra Armor

ELITES
240pts (6) Assault Terminators
260pts Landraider Crusader - Multimelta

That comes out to 1,365pts. What I have been struggling with is what to fill out the rest of the army with. I have tried a variety of things including Assault Squads, Bike Squads, Attack Bike Squads, and all sorts of Heavy Support vehicles. I am about 80% settled on a 10 man Assault squad with a Powerfist and Flamer as they can be a really strong choice when outflanking. Not sure just yet but right now it is a good bet they will end up in the army.

In this Battle Report, I use the above core build plus I decided to go a bit Assault Heavy adding in the 10 man Assault Squad with Jump Packs mentioned above, another 10 Man Assault Squad in a Rhino, and 6 Bikers with Meltaguns, Powerfist, and an Attack Bike with Multimelta. I hope you enjoy the Video.



Yeah, not my best strategy. I should have deployed something so I could contested one of those objectives til the rest of my army arrived. I have since changed my list to encourage just that but more on that in a future post. Expect another report soon vs Nix of The Dead Tau Project as we have a challenge game coming up. Also for those you waiting for Part 2 of my How to Paint: Howling Griffons series have no fear, Part 2 is just around the corner.

Until next time.

AVATAR

Avatar, by now everyone has heard of it, a movie by James Cameron of Titanic, Terminator, and The Abyss lore. When Cameron sets out to make a movie he does not do so lightly so when I say Avatar meets all the hype Cameron has promised and more, I hope you believe me. I do not know how to generalize Avatar or what movie it could compare with. I guess if Gorillas that Dance with the Last of the Fern Gullians was a movie then you could start there. Cameron has fused multiple elements together from a score of different genres to mesh together Avatar. The depth of the film still has me realing. I am having a hard time find the right words to describe it.

If you are like me and walked out of District 9 moved, See avatar. If you walked out of Gorillas in the Mists and wanted to save the Gorillas see Avatar. If you watched dances with wolves and loved it see Avatar. If you are a fan of seamless special effects and alien worlds, see Avatar. If you are a fan of action movies and love the amazing battles scenes of movies like Star Wars Episode 3, Matrix Revolutions, or District 9, see Avatar. If you are a fan of romance movies like the Lion King, See Avatar. If you are a fan of... You get the point. See Avatar, you won't be sorry.

Oh, an if you happen to have a chance check it out in 3D do so. It took 20 minutes or so for me to get used to it, but after I did it was well worth the additional $3.50.

How to Paint Howling Griffons, Part 1 Basecoating

Hey guys, Huron here, today I start the must asked for tutorial on how I paint my Howling Griffons. I will be going through step by step the painting process on how I achieve the rich reds and yellows, the green glows of the weapons, and how I do the weathering amongst other things. Part 1 sees me talking about base coating using an Airbrush. Now don't get intimidated, it really is much simpler then you think. I use the GW Hand Flamer and cans of spray air in this video and talk your through it, from what tools I like to have around when I spray, to how far away to hold the gun, to how to get the right mix of paint, it is all covered. Check it out.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Well that is it for part 1. Let me know what you thought. I left the video quality a bit higher which meant larger files. Any tips anyone can give me on how to do smaller files with decent enough resolution for models I am all ears.

In part 2 I will be talking about the clean up to part 1, plus sharing the secret you amazing yellows which is far simpler then you think.

Until next time...

Howling Griffon's vs Mike Johnson's Chaos - Challenge Pyramid Game

Hey guys, how is it going? I'm slowly getting caught up on the back log of stuff I have to post here on the blog, hopefully after this weekend I will be able to start posting 2 or 3 times a week. Today I have another Video Battle Report for you, a game I played last week vs Mike Johnson and his Nurgle Chaos army. It was a good game and it helped me recognize a major flaw in my army and that I have been working on addressing, but more on that in a future entry.

Part 1


Part 2


Okay guys that is about it for this week. Check back next time for Part 1 of a new series on how I paint my Howling Griffons.

Until next time...

Battle for Salvation Tournament Coverage - Game 1 vs Rob Baer

As promised here is the coverage for my experience playing in the Battle for Salvation Tournament in White Plains, New York on Saturday November 21st. As in past posts of this nature I have included a photo of my opponent, some pics of their army, and a few other shots to keep things interesting.

Game 1 was against Rob Baer's beautifully painted Ork Imperial Guard army. That is right, I said Ork, Imperial Guard army. Rob has converted and painted up a very impressive Imperial Guard army using a mix of Imperial and Ork vehicles and replacing the Imperial Guardsmen with Boys and Grots. Rob won overall at Mechanicon with this army and I am not surprised. While I personally think the painting could use just a bit more depth (the army is just to clean for a Ork force for me, even if meant to be IG) it is still a beautiful army and the crown jewels are definitely is Vendetta Helicopter conversions, just stunning work.

This army, like pretty much all Mech IG these days was a hard nut to crack. 2 Manticore Missile Tanks, 3 Hydras, Lots of Chimeras, Hellhound Variants, and nastiness. Luckily mission 1 was a modified kill points missions, in where after setup each player got to pick 5 units (of which up to 3 could be dedicated transports) to count as a kill point with the rest of the army not worth anything. I chose Rob's Inquisitor+Retinue and their Chimera, his Psyker Battle Squad and their Chimera, and a Hellhound as my 5. Rob chose 3 of my outflanking Razorbacks, my predator, and the regular landraider.



This was a rough game for me with models coming in a dying all over the place, but I got in my licks and in one good turn went on a spree of Chimera destruction and took out 3 of the buggers in one go. However in the end it came down to just 1 dice roll at the bottom of turn 7. Rob had managed to kill all 3 of my Razorbacks and my predator. The landraider was immobilized, had no weapons, but was still alive deigning him the KP so Rob had 4 KPs. I had destroyed the Chimera with the Psyker Battle squad in it and the resulting blast had wipe the squad out as well, and I had destroyed his Hellhound, leaving me with 3KPs. I had, in the last moments of turn 7 fired a Hunter Killer missile in desperation at his remain rhino with the Inquisitor and retinue inside. The missile hit, it penetrated the armor and rob had rolled a 3 for its cover saving meaning the missile had got through. Now all I needed was to roll a 5 or a 6 to tie the game, with a 6 meaning I could do some damage to the Inquisitor and Retinue inside and maybe get them to run, giving me the victory.

I rolled the die and rolled a 1! Gar! Round 1 to Rob. It is a good close game with the Mech IG holding out just long enough for the win.

More to come so stay tuned...

How to Run a Proper Tournament

Hey guys, Huron here. Mike and I really had a blast at the Battle for Salavation Tournament run November 21sts and got some good ideas to implement for a Sugarland Gamers Tournament we want to run early next year. From my experience at their tournament and from running some in the past here are a few things I think are important to running a really fantastic tournament.

1. No bad games - usually when I play in a tournament of the magnitude of the BfS tourament (40 Players) I expect at least one of my games to be a bad one, usually against someone who is a little to over competitive for their own good. However, with a little work and defined purpose and goals you can usually get around this problem. Mainly from the beginning you need to have the right attitude that will attract the right kind of gamer to your event. Making it clear from the being you are expecting good, competitive, respectful battles with no funny business (and that there will be penalties if there is any) is a good start.

2. The Food - Thats right folks, many of you are scratching your head wondering what good food has to do with a successful tournament. Well let me tell you, great food keeps players on site instead of allowing them to wander off and come back late. It fills the bellies and settles the gripes that come up after tight hard fought games. I have never been to an event before that fed me so well as the BfS tournament (Hot Dogs and Hamburgers for Lunch, full on Thanksgiving style Turkey dinner later on), and that includes the several GW GTs I have been too.

3. The Cause - Why run a tournament just to run a tournament. The best, most well attend events I have have been too were always those that bennifited a cause of some kind. The BfS tournament while putting up some great prizes for the winners also was part charity fund raiser. Their tournament benefited the Salvation Army and brought in quite a bit of money for them. Not only did part of the proceeds for the event go to Charity, but there was also a Charity raffle which raised several hundred dollars but also all the money raised by the good food I talked about above went to charity as well.

4. Good Judges - Make sure you and those helping to run the tournament have a good grasp of the rules and FAQ for the system you are playing. Having to look up simple rules can take up time and cause fustration amongst players looking for a quick answer. However with that also goes making sure players know that a judges ruling is final and once they have made their final ruling there is no room for anymore arguement. There is plenty of time after the game to look up rulings after the game, while the game is in play, players should respecting the ruling made by a judge until the game is finished.

5. Good Terrain and Area - Make sure that the terrain you are using and the area you are playing in is the best it can possibly be. Players like playing on good terrain and not on unpainted card board cutouts with books for hills. One of the reason to goto tournaments is to put your nicely painted army up against another nicely painted army on a great looking table. Good presentation brings players back.

Well that is my thoughts, but what tips didn't I cover that you have found work well. Please post them in the comments and I will see about getting them add to this list.

With that in mind, the Sugarland Gamers 2010 tournament series (I hope to run one per quarter) has a mission. To put out and provide the best possible tournament environment that focuses on good fun competitive games while giving back to the community and those in need. Additionally all players will be well fed.

Until next time...