Army Theme and basing

I'm considering ordering some of the fantastic Ancient Ruin resin bases from Dragon Forge. The original thought was to just use them for the Character models of the Soul Reapers, befitting their search for the ancient temples that contain the Artifacts of Salmora. The bases look so nice I am considering using them on a third to half of the Soul Reapers army. I may even mix in some of the Lost Empires Eldar-ish bases too.



The only thing I worry about is will it look good with only about a third of the army based this way. Now I would mix the bases into existing squads and units. It also makes for some interesting ideas for a tourney display base.

So what do you guys think? Should I just stick with the Character models or go whole hog and scatter a bunch of them throughout the army?

Best way to handle Tournament Bye Rounds

Ok guys, I'm putting out the call for your help once again. I'm helping formulate a standard way of running a bunch of upcoming tournaments. The goal is to them be among the better run a scored events out there. So I'm sure there will be more aid needed in the near future.


What is the best way to handle bye rounds in a tournament?

Full points?

Half points?

Have access to an "on call" player, with an army ready to play?

I really appreciate all comments and feedback!

-Jim

Blood Angels Reboot in April!

Gw have officially announced that the Blood Angels will be revamped and released in April!

Taken from the newsletter:
"Incoming! Blood Angels

This April the Blood Angels will be re-launched with an all-new Codex and range of plastic and metal miniatures. One of the oldest and noblest of all Space Marine Chapters, the Blood Angels have stood fast against the enemies of the Imperium since the Great Crusade and it was their Primarch Sanguinius, who laid down his life to aid the Emperor against Horus in the final hours of the Warmaster’s rebellion. The new Codex explores the background and history of these superhuman warriors like never before, and contains new artwork depicting some of their greatest battles and most powerful champions.

The Blood Angels have always been a powerful close combat army and have been made even deadlier thanks to a range of specialist wargear, the ability to field Assault Squads as Troops choices, and more Dreadnoughts than any other Space Marine Chapter, including a Death Company Dreadnought and the fabled Furioso Dreadnought. The Sons of Sanguinius will be deep striking onto a tabletop near you this April – now’s the time to practice painting red."


If they have good Psycher options this my solve my 'Counts As' dilema for the Soul Reapers on the competitive scene. Also if the really can also run more dreads than anyone, I would love to have a horde of Forge World Chaos Dreads! So if these two things happen expect a ton of BA related info here on GiF!

Soul Reapers lists for the 2010 Tourney scene 1 Chaos & 1 'Counts As' goodness

As the 2010 Tournament season is almost upon me, I need to make a decision on what Codex I will be using for the Soul Reapers to do battle.

First up I have a 2000 point list from the Chaos Space Marine Codex.

HQ 250
Xusia (counts as Ahriman)
250

Elites 185
4 Terminators with 3 combi-melta, Reaper AC, 1 Chainfist, Icon of chaos glory
185

Troops 894
10 Chaos Space Marines with 2 meltaguns and icon of chaos glory
Aspiring Champion with power fist
Rhino, extra armor
270

10 Chaos Space Marines with 2 meltaguns and icon of chaos glory
Aspiring Champion with power fist
Rhino, extra armor
270

9 Chaos Space Marines with 1 Plasma gun and icon of chaos glory
Aspiring Champion with power weapon and combi-plasma
Rhino, extra armor
250

8 Lesser Daemons
104

Fast attack 268
6 Chaos Bikers with 2 meltaguns and icon of chaos glory
Aspiring Champion with power fist
268


Heavy Support 395
2 obliterators
150

Predator
LC sponsons
130

Dakka Predator
HB sponsons, Havoc Launcher
115

For 1850 Drop the Dakka Pred and one Combi Terminator.


Here is a 2000 point list of Counts as Space Wolves. I'm considering this for a few reasons. The main one being I want my new Wolf army to be my painting showcase army and that is gonna take a long time to complete.

HQ 405
Xusia (counts as Njal)
245

Sorcerer (counts as RP)
Master of runes, Tempest, Living Lighting, Chooser
160

Elites 212
4 Wolf Guard
3 Combi-Melta, 3 Power Fists, 1 Frost Blade
162

Lone Wolf
Frost Blade, Melta bombs
50

Troops 775
5 Grey Hunters
Power weapon, Melta gun
Razorback TLAC, extra armor
185

5 Grey Hunters
Power weapon, Melta gun
Razorback TLAC, extra armor
185

8 Grey Hunters
1 Plasma gun, Power weapon
Rhino, extra armor
205

8 Grey Hunters
1 Melta gun, Power weapon
Rhino, extra armor
200

Fast Attack 292
8 Fenrisian Wolves
Cyberwolf
72

3 Soul Crushers (counts as Thunderwolves)
Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, 2 Melta bombs
220

Heavy Support 310
6 Long Fangs
5 Missile Launchers
140

Dakka Predator
HB sponsons
85

Dakka Predator
HB sponsons
85


For 1850 drop the Sorcerer/RP and add a Hunter to the Melta Rhino Pack.

Xusia update and the Concept Reaver assault troops

This is what I am shooting for with the Reavers. I've gone with a quasi Skull helmet so I can use them as counts as Berzerkers in games outside of the club.



I'm pretty happy with how the Heavy Flamer Reaver turned out!



Here is a quick update on Xusia. His cape is about halfway done, I still need to do the right side and clean up the edges. I am quite happy with how the belt is shaping up, next I'll be adding the gemstone. I really need to figure out where I got that metal left handed holster from.

Krüg the Beheader Mk II: The Plan

I just thought that I would share my ideas for the second and final version of Krüg the Beheader. While I really like my original model, I want a more imposing looking monster when it comes to Warlord Krüg.



With my B-day approaching fast, I've been asked what I'd like for a gift. So I got to thinking, and decided to have Lord Zhufor ordered from Forgeworld.



Look at that comparison shot, he's a Beast!


Now I had refrained from ordering this model originally as he is covered in World Eater and Khorne Icons, but after receiving the following two illustrations from Menzies.




I decided I could make him work. After all Krügs ultimate goal is to reunify the World Eaters, so why not still display the original Legion badge with the crossed Reaper Scythes over it. I will turn the Khorne Icons into crossed Reaper Scythes.

This time Krüg will have a two handed grip on the Daemon Scythe Golornagoth, I will be using the arms and staff from the extra Njal Stormcaller I got for Christmas.

Krüg will probably lose his twin-linked bolter unless I can come up with a way to wrist mount it that does not detract from the overall feel of the model.

Soul Reapers Playtest Feedback 1/04

Three weeks in and I have 10 playtesters from around the globe giving the Soul Reapers a thorough shake down. Thanks to all of you actively playtesting the Mini-dex, I appreciate the feedback.


So far the Icons playtest favorite is the Icon of Eternal War. Although about half of the playtesters would prefer that it was just the Feel no Pain rule as written in the MRB.


Apparently there is a bit of an uproar from Loyalist Marine players over the addition of Fear is for the Weak at no cost. Oddly over the ability to regroup if under 50%. The suggestion so far is to add two points per model for the rule. I have trepidation about doing this for the reasons I have explained in the previous posts. I may relent in the PDF update on the 15th, but if I do it will probably only be a one point increase.

In the Jan 15th update we will be adding the Rage Zombies to the playtest list. We will be adding an updated Chaos Dread Crazed Chart. We may also be changing the Sorcerer HQ entry to an Apostle of Malevolence entry with a few new Psychic powers added in.


We have also decided to extend playtesting through March, with the final product being released at the end of April. Between the 6 months of closed playtesting from our group and this 3-month open playtest will give a total of 9 months of playtesting total.


Keep sending in the great feedback guys!

Cheers,
Jim

PS: Menzies is still cranking out great Artwork for the finished Mini-dex.

He has also started his own Blog for the 512th Cadian: the Harakoni Warhawks. So please go check it out and give him a warm welcome to the Bloggoshpere!

Modeling Xusia the Sorcerer: part 1 Mock-up

Here is a quick mock-up WIP for the Soul reapers SC Xusia. There is still tons to be done; he's going to have a broad belt like the ones you see on Space Wolves, a flowing cape and I've got a couple of nifty ideas for the exhausts on his powerpack.

So far I have used parts from a Dark Angels sgt, WFB warriors of Chaos, Khorne Zerkers, basic CSM's, the Chaos Lord and the Staff head comes from Sauron from the LotR range.

GiF VidNet goes live!

This is me messing around with movie maker, it's not much more of a testing of features than anything else. I need to familiarize myself with the program as I prepare to start doing videos to help promote the blog. I'm hoping to get the first Battle Report up after Monday nights gaming session.

No refunds for the minute and a half of your life it takes to watch the vid!

Happy New Year: GW 2010 Rumors

Lets start the New year off with some juicy GW 2010 and beyond Rumors, hot off the presses at Warseer. Thanks to Stickmonkey for these tidbits!

"Yesterday I got to look at some of the new WIP items for 2010 and beyond. A lot of it is already out there, (Ork Dreads). Some of it has been seen. I got permission to mention some of the items, but not a lot of specifics or specific release details.

Obviously a lot of this just strengthens rumors that are already out there. And some of it looks very rough, as in 3ups with lots of notes for changes.

I'm struggling to hold back and just dump specifics."

* New GK Terminators 3ups (5 poses, 1 HQ/leader)
* New Daemonhunter/Witchhunter concept art
* New DH/WH vehicles/support
* New Ork dreads
* New Marine models for a specific chapter
* New SM concept art
* New DE models (these are sweet, and I'm not a DE lover)
* New DE concept art
* New Guard tanks/artillery
* New Necron MC sized model
* New Necron concept art
* New Ork vehicles
* New 40k concept art and 3ups tied to a future Codex release
* A lot of the Missions book tie in releases

I can't wait to finally see what Jess Goodwin has done with the Dark Eldar.

800 pound Gorilla of 40k part 2: Conquering the beast

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for their input. With a big shout out to Dverning and his excellent response on his Blog, it was very helpful indeed. I will be using his Comp/Soft score layout if pressed into keeping Comp.

I spoke again with the coordinator today and was given the go ahead to send him two proposed systems, one with and one without Comp.

Once I get the final word and details I will announce when and where these tournaments will be held.

Now I need to start working on Scenarios and Battle Score criteria. Anyone have a preferred method of game scoring that keeps a good points spread amongst the playing field.

Thanks again,
-Big Jim