Friday, April 29, 2011

Berks Spring Assault 2!

I played against the tourney organizers when they came to the last tournament at Dream Wizards in DC. They were a great group of guys. Several of the Beltway Gamers (local DC group) are going to make the drive up to Pennsylvania to support these guys. This should be interesting as it has a reworked org chart at 1000 points and is played on 4x4 tables... I'm going to try to take mid-range shooty GK, but I'm finding that you can't put too much in 1000 points!

I'll probably run two of the psy ammo dakka dreds along with 2-3 min gk strike squads. I'll put in a min purifier squad in there too... For the hq, because it's only 1000 points, I almost have to make it an inquisitor. I just need to decide how to gear him out.

If you're interested, space is running out quickly. Sign up fast! 25 bucks for four games, lunch and a shot at part of 2k worth of prizes is a steal.

Here are the event details:

BERKS SPRING ASSAULT 2 !!!!

Date: May 14th, 2011
Time: Registration 9:00am-9:45am
Location: Berkshire Heights Fire Company: 808 North Park Rd, Wyomissing, PA 19610

Warhammer 40,0000 tournament: 1000 points. 4 rounds of Warhammer 40K, Lunch included.
$30 entry fee, $25 if pre-registered.
Berks-PA Gaming Club Elite members get an additional $5 discount with club member card shown.

We here are Berks-PA Gaming Club will be hosting our second round of Berks Spring Assault. Last year was an amazing success, despite some issues on planning, as we were new to hosting tournaments. We have a bigger location, better support and lots of fun being planned this year.

Sportsmanship will be key to scoring this year, as much as last year. Details will be posted once we finalize all tournament information. One thing we pride ourselves on, especially with this tournamaent is having FUN! Sportsmanship is a MAJOR part of overall scoring.

Armies do NOT need to be painted, but having painted armies will help as Appearance will be minor part of overall scoring.

For now we can tell you this:
1,000 point Warhammer 40K armies from all standard codex and Chapter approved allowed

Games will be played on 4' x 4' tables, so expect a lot of bloody action! This is Berks Spring ASSAULT!

You will need Six (6) copies of your army list: 1 for the Tournament Ogranizer (me), 1 for you , and 1 copy for each of your opponents. If your list is not legal, you will lose points, be asked to leave, or have your scores adjusted as we see fit.

You will need a copy of the 40K rule book, your codex, all dice and templates and rules associated with your army.

We will play 2 rounds, break for lunch and play 2 more games.

Lunch will be included with your entry fee

We will have 9 prizes available: Best overall, (1, 2, 3), Best Sportsman (1, 2, 3), Best Appearance (1, 2, 3).

We will also recognize Army Domination by best in each codex with a minor prize from one of our sponsors.

We will operate on a much tighter schedule this year and NOT use the same problematic tournament program we had last year, so that things will run a lot smoother.

Last year we had 45 people show up, 38 were players. We will have the capablities to going to 50-60 players this year if needed. we are only 2 blocks away from where the tournament was held last year at the Country Inn & Suites hotel.

FORCE ORGANIZATION CHART:* 1-2 HQ
* 2+ Troops
* 0-2 Elites
* 0-2 Fast Attack
* 0-2 Heavy Support

Forum Link: http://s4.zetaboards.com/Berks_40k_Forum...147/1/#new

Views from last year's event: http://berkswarhammer40k.blogspot.com/se...%20Assault

SPONSORS (so far):
* Battlefoam: http://www.battlefoam.com/
* Mechanicon GT: http://www.themechanicon.com/1/
* FTW Games: http://www.ftwgames.net/
* Dark Forge Games: http://www.blog.darkforgestore.com/
* The Last Level: http://the-last-level.com]
* TerranScapes: http://www.terranscapes.com/
* HazeKnight: http://www.hazeknight.com/main.sc
* Linglestown Paintball: http://www.linglestownpaintball.com/
* The Adventurer's Guild: http://www.theadventurersguild.com/
* Art of War Terrain: http://www.artofwarterrain.com/artofwarw...ghome.html
* RAR Studios
* Battlefield Architecht
* Iron Halo: http://www.ironhalo.net/

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Dilution ratio and components for acrylic wet blending.

 I hate the style of extreme highlighting that seems to be so popular in our hobby right now. For me, mini's should look real (even if they're ork's or space elves). I understand the need to see your work from several feet above the gaming table, but some things are a bit extreme.
(Sorry if this is yours. The google found it.)

An alternate to this version of highlighting is wet blending. Wet blending, as the name implies, is blending together colors on the mini before they dry. The easiest way to wet blend when you're painting is with oils. If you're painting an army up for a tourney, client, or other deadline, you may not have time for the extended drying time for these guys to dry (some can take days). Acrylics, while not as good/easy as oils for wet blending, provide another avenue for mini painters to get a good blend.

I have been playing around with different solutions for wet blending with acrylics and the following seems to work best: 10/1 Distilled water/Winsor & Newton Flow improver.

Distilled water is super cheap and you can get it by the gallon at your grocery store. You want to use this over tap-water as it lacks all of the extra minerals and contaminants that most tap water contains (this can mess with your paint).

Winsor & Newton Flow improver can be found at any craft store or the wonderful series of tubes we call the interwebs.

When you use this mixture, generally it will be at a 1:1 ratio. This will vary depending on the level of pigmentation of the paint brand you are using (I did my tests with Vallejo Model Colors/Game Colors). A good way to test that you have the right consistency is when you put some on your brush and paint a small line on your palette, it will be transparent or "bead up" on itself. If you're too thin that's ok. Generally the thinner you go the better (you'll just have to apply more coats).

The cape on the second figure from the left was done with this ratio. First, base the area with a dark coat and allow it to dry. After the base has dried, apply a brighter color mixed with the dilution ratio to the raised areas of the cape. Rinse off your brush and dry it off. The paint on the raised areas should still be wet (don't do too many at once or they will dry). Blend in the wet paint with the surrounding area. You will have to do this several times as the underlying coat will show through due to the highly diluted paint. Mix together the base coat with the dilution ratio and come up from the recesses to blend in with the raised areas. This will obscure the lines between the colors you have made. Again, as you are working with acrylics, it is good to only do a small portion of this at a time so they don't dry. Repeat this process until you have reached the desired level of highlight. You can also add brighter or darker reds to make a more pronounced contrast.
I hope this helps!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Operation: Justicar Update 2

I've decided to go with a bit of a darker tone with my GK colors. The burnt umber oil wash left a worn look to the white paint that I think turned out well.

I've got to finish up the highlighting and touching up the details. They're coming along!

Operation: Justicar Update

Most of the basecoats went on last night. There wasn't enough paint on the models to justify a new pic though. I used a bone color from P3 in addition to an oil wash for the purity seal paper and the white on the shoulder pads. I'm also using VGC for most of the other base colors. I'm seeing how that looks after it dries overnight. I'll post an update pic tonight after I get all of the basecoats/initial washing done.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Operation:Juticar -- Build Pic

Here is the build for the first four Justicars in my Grey Knights army. The funnest conversion to do was by far the emperor's champion.

Operation: Justicar

So given the insane amount of cool bits that come in the new Grey Knights kits http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/landingArmy.jsp?catId=cat1140001&rootCatGameStyle= I've decided to make some pretty tricked out justicars for my army. Right now, I have made four. One for the interceptor squad and three other random guys (two with force swords, one with a daemon hammer). I've used an emporer's champion from the Black Templar line as the base model for the conversion for the strike squad justicar. I like the champ model, and the irony is great about Black Templar's not being the biggest fan of psychers.  I'll post pics tonight when I get home from work.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Must....Clean...Hobby...Desk

Today came the inevitable cleaning of the hobby desk after two straight months of projects... I'll try to get up some pics from the tourney from yesterday early this week.

Avatars of War Daemon Champion

Combined with the team tournament this weekend was a painting/conversion contest. I entered the avatars of war Daemon Champion.




Thursday, April 21, 2011

First Foray into Grey Knights

I went to my FLGS yesterday and got a couple good games in. I didn't with either, but I learned something in each. How I'm running my GK currently is very effective against assault oriented armies, but struggles against long distance shooting armies. Here's what I ran:

HQ
Xenos Inquisitor, Conversion Beamer, servo skulls x3 -79
Crusader x4 servitor w/ hvy bolter x3 - 90
Xenos Inquisitor, Conversion Beamer, servo skulls x3-79
Crusader x4 servitor w/ hvy bolter x3 - 90

Elite
Purifier Squad x10 4x Incinerator 4x halberd, 1x Daemon hammer,
psybolt ammo, rhino (Psybolt ammo)-315
Vindicare Assassin- 130

Troops
Grey Knight Strike Squad 2x Psycannon 1x Daemon Hammer, Rhino (psybolt
ammo)- 275
Grey Knight Strike Squad 2x Psycannon 1x Daemon Hammer, Rhino(Psybolt ammo)- 275
Grey Knight Strike Squad 2x Psycannon , Rhino- 260



Heavy Support
Dreadnought 2x Twinlinked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammo- 135
Dreadnought 2x Twinlinked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammo- 135
Dreadnought 2x Twinlinked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammo- 135

1999

The S8 dakka dreads or "Psynoughts" as they are starting to be called are awesome. They can take down light tanks and tough troops with ease. This in conjunction with the conversion beamers on the inquisitors provide my long range shooting. Once the enemy gets within 24" the S7 Heavy 4 Rending psycannons come into play (and man do they like to play).

Like I said, this proved quite effective vs shorter range armies, however I struggled against a Tau player that had more long range shooting than I did. I'm thinking of putting in a couple of interceptor squads to hide behind the line of rhinos and then "shunt" 30 inches back to apply pressure (special thanks to The Brotha http://www.canabrothagetasix.com/ for the advice). I'll try these guys in the coming weeks with maybe the purifier squad split into two w/razorbacks...

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Update

My first foray into commission painting was my last. As I was going through the models, building, cleaning and priming, I realized how much time it was taking away from my hobby. I've decided to keep the GK army and paint it up at my own pace. I have a tourny this weekend and they'll be built for that. I'll also post pics of my completed objective marker for a competition at the same tournament. I fully expect to be clubbed at this tournament, but I'm really looking forward to it. I'll post results and pics after Saturday.