Announcing The Renegade Open GT (November 23rd and 24th, 2013)

Get your army ready, because there is a new GT in town. This November the inaugural Renegade Open GT, taking place just North of the Minnesota Twin City metro area, looks to become not just one of the premiere tournaments in the Midwest, but rather the entire country. The event features four rounds on Saturday, judged via a Win/Loss/Draw system, with the top sixteen moving on into a winners bracket on Sunday. The rest of the field will have their scores cleared and will enter into a separate three round tournament scored equally on their table top performance and the appearance of their army.

You should definitely check out the website, as it is one of, if not the, nicest looking tournament website in the world!

More info after the jump!

RTT Report: My CSM Make Their Debut (1.19.13)

Last Saturday I brought my Chaos Space Marines out to their first tournament, which took place at Legion Games in Burnsville, Minnesota. There were eleven players, which is more than they had at some events last fall, but still below how many they used to draw. While I don’t plan to do full battle reports until this army is painted, I will be providing a synopsis of each game. This provides a record for me as well as a point of perspective for other players when looking at match ups. My list was;

Typhus

25 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

6 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

The Masque

9 Flamers of Tzeentch

5 Horrors of Tzeentch

9 Screamers of Tzeentch

Soul Grinder (Phlegm)

Aegis Defense Line (Comms Relay)

Game one is after the jump!

Indy Open 2013: I Am Going And So Should You

There were a few GT's the first two quarters of the year which were on my list of perspective events either because of their affordability or the praise past years had gotten. After some prodding from Hulksmash I am officially registered for the Indy Open 2013 the weekend of March 2nd and 3rd.

The event is a six round 64 person tournament using a win loss draw format. They will have over $2000 dollars in prize and are drawing some huge names from the 40K community considering it is only their second year running the event. Saturday is four games to determine fight for first on day two, and for those not still in the hunt for can play in a multitude of events including a three round RTT with brackets set up for players to play their peers based on the previous day's results. The only downside is that the event is 1750 rather than 1850, but that is a small detail in the long run.

Last I heard they had about twenty spots left, so if you are on the fence now is the time to buy them before others do!

2012 In Review

2012 was the biggest year of my wargaming career. I played in my first GT (first three to be precise), got what I would say is ‘pretty good’ at one army, started another, and started developing real hobby skills. This is a review of 2012 and a preview of 2013.

First though, a quick background to my history in wargaming. I started playing 40K in December 2002. It took six months of saving my allowance, and I still to this day fondly remember making the purchase of the 3^rd edition Dark Eldar and Space Marine starter set (which compared to today’s starter boxes was atrocious). I began playing the dark elder, which was already an outdated codex, but the fact that I could not afford to buy any vehicles meant that my gunline DE earned no wins over a three year period, leading me to quit the game and put my models in a box.

Most of my now unloved DE army.

In 2010 I by chance walked into a lounge were some guys were playing on a pool table. I asked if it was 40K and we exchanged phone numbers. The next fall I joined their league at my college, and while I was still terrible, I focused on learning tactics. These lessons, combined with the new DE book getting released led my group to call my army over powered and suggesting that I play in a real tournament. Two years form tomorrow was that first foray (winning only one game), and I have loved the competitive side since.  I played DE for a few more months until a temporary move to Detroit led to me leaving the hobby until I got back to MN. In November 2011 I started playing again, this time with Tyranids. This brings us to 2012, I am full of energy with a new army and a mind full of ideas, but I am still lacking refinement in the tactics department.

Hobby: Typhus Conversion

Internet...meet Typhus.

January is my easiest month work wise, which means I have gotten a lot done. The flamers just need a few minutes of touch up, I finished my horrors last night, and both heldrakes are in the final stages of green stuff. The most important completion of late though is my warlord Typhus.

My goal with Typhus is to make him imposing, not a character who kicks ass in assault, but rather a model that is so commanding and powerful that you fear the idea of getting into assault with him. I knew I needed him raised up in order to create that sort or presence. I chose to do this with a rock rather than bark or foam as this would weigh his base down, preventing him from falling like other top heavy models. His legs and powerfist are from the CSM Terminator box, and his torso, head and shoulder pads are from the Forgeworld Death Guard Terminator kit (I believe; I got these bits as part of a bigger trade). His other arm is a cut up combi-bolter arm. The wires come from a CSM Terminator power mace, and the handle above the hand is from a terminator power axe. The scythe head is from the empire wizard box. I need to do a bit more work on the greenstuff, adding more vines to cover the joint. The arms under him and behind the cloak are from the fantasy ghouls box. I believe the tabardesque chains are from the CSM Terminator kit. I will need to hunt down my flagellent chains so as to connect his cape to the front tabard.

Overall I am very happy with him, as I am with all of the conversions thus far. Now that challenge is to find a build for the screamers that I like before an RTT on Saturday. I already have their bases weighted and magnetized, I just need a model to rock on top.