While I was mid-journey to visit my genetic forefather and foremother (foreparents?) for the holiday, my frequently-favorite Youtube content creator, the Bard at BardicBroadcasts released a new video for my viewing pleasure; a cracking unboxing video of a Medusa statue based on a "Heavy Metal" cover by Simon Bisley. I only say, "frequently favorite Youtube content creator" because after each viewing of a Bardic Broadcast, the Bard jumps back to the top of my list of videos I tell others about. Unfortunately, as time slips by and as I watch an endless amount of batreps, tutorials, videos of pandas rolling, or raccoons doing cute things with their bandit-like hands, I tend to forget how much I love the Bard's videos. Perhaps if he generated the volume of content that other more bloated channels produce, the Bard wouldn't slip so far out of mind. Perhaps it's the longing for new Bard content that makes me impatient with anticipation for more eloquen...

Since the new Adeptus Mechanicus codex has been released, I think I've only won a couple of games. I recently played my buddy Ryan against his Astra Militarum and Lamenters force and was thumped fairly soundly. I went first, I had Cawl leading my men from Mars, and seemingly had the deck stacked in my favor, but I think I killed one Primarius Lieutenant and about six IG guardsmen. Ryan's cannons sounded my troops crumbled. Gun line versus gun line, I did not do well. Yar. Maybe because I still haven't finished painting my robots?

Over the past week, there has been a lot of drama around several "pro fans" in the Magic the Gathering community which was largely ignited between a cosplayer and a MTG centered Youtube channel host and now that drama seems to be bleeding into the Warhammer 40k Youtube-space. MtG cosplayer, Christine Sprankle, said she was leaving the hobby after being harassed by Jeremy Hambly from Unsleeved Media/ MTGHeadquarters for some of the horrible things he said in posts about her. In a show of solidarity, others fighting for social justice in support of Sprankle have flagged Jeremy and Unsleeved at every opportunity for his harassment. The end result is that Jeremy has been handed a lifetime ban from Wizards of the Coast for his behavior. Needless to say this is a big blow to his business, he's lost a lot of fans, and what I presume is sizable income source, and he's been fighting back in some posts on his channels. From the clips that I've watched, he argues that ...

Every year, I ask my wife for gaming supplies or models and I rarely get them as gifts for the holidays. The exception is my buddies who understand the hobby/addiction will often give something I need to further my current project. Here's what I'd like this year: 1. Dice that roll 6s when I want. 2. A Stormraven (or two.) 3. 5 Ork Weirdboys (or weirdboyz.) 4. Blood Angel Horus Heresy figs. 5. 4Ground buildings (something that would fit in WWII or the Grimdark city fight scene) 6. Another Guilliman model to convert into a Sangunious. 7. More time to game. 8. My own Youtube channel to post battle reports. 9. Dice that roll 1s when I want.

As I've mentioned before, I really, really want to repaint my Blood Angels as Flesh Tearers. I've stripped the paint off all of my BA models, primed many of them, and now I'm in the process of repainting them as the 5th Company. I probably should wait to until the new codex drops and I can pick the best chapter to paint them as but I love death company and dreadnoughts so the Flesh Tearers makes the most sense. Heck, I've even made an emblem on Call of Duty WWII of the FT buzzsaw symbol. I've recently switched day jobs and I've been too busy traveling and working the new gig that I haven't had any time to play let alone paint but the Thanksgiving holiday gave me a little time to work on some models. For the past two days, I've pulled up a TV tray and applied base coats to my Dark Eldar and Flesh Tearers while I watched TV. Actually, this is a bad idea. I must have ADD because I just can't focus enough on football or painting to make either...

I've been in a rut at work and haven't had much time to paint or read (or do anything fun) but I did manage work up a nasty army on paper. Army building on paper is a lot like catalog shopping; everything is available and nothing is off limits. I have read a number of the SN Battle reports with the Raptors and I've always kind of liked them... but the last thing I need is another army. Except, I have all of my Primaris Marines. I planned on making them Salamanders but I haven't given them any brush work yet so I may be painting them a different shade of green. I'm trying to justify this to myself since I like most of the armies in the Badab war, the Raven Guard chapter tactics are amazing, and I'm good with green paint. I've also thought about painting them as Alpha Legion... but they wouldn't have any Primaris troops unless I concoct a shaggy dog story about Guilliman really being Omegron in disguise and this whole return has been a big ruse. The Flesh ...

I'm more than excited for the new Ad Mech err... Adeptus Mechanicus codex coming out soon. For the first time in the two decades that I've been miniature gaming, I snagged one of the limited edition codexes from Games Workshop. I was never to grab either of the White Scar or Salamander limited edition codexes for 6th and 7th edition and I actually yelled, "Yes!" when I saw that GW had some of the Omnisiah editions still available. I also picked up a box of Kastelan Robots to bolster my forces. Since I built my ad mech (the Pilgrims of Erudition) around the War Host Convocation, I never picked up the 50s-style robots from space. I know a lot of people don't like the design, but I really dig them... The amount of fire power that two models can dish out with the proper protocols is amazing and I may add two more to my forces. This afternoon I started putting them together when I ran into one of the more unusual pieces that GW has crafted... This tiny piece (...

So far, I've played games in the first two weeks of the Fate of Konor campaign from Games Workshop. Unfortunately, I've let the Imperium down. In my first game, I played Jim and his mostly Dark Eldar Ynnari in week 1. Jim was the attacker and had to get across the board so I deployed near the center line hoping to cut him off at the pass. Initially my plan worked and slaughtered most of his army, but I couldn't take down the Avatar or his Razorwing. They danced around and polished off my army in turn 6. My mistake was deploying too close to the center with a gun line. I should have "stuck to my guns" and camped in the back. A turn more of dakka might have been the difference for me. I played Kyle in week 2 and his Death Guard (before the new codex.) I brought nearly the same army as before and I played a lot better. At the end of turn 6, Kyle had lost all of his army except two plague marines. I had only lost my infantry models but the way the poin...

Ryan and I got together tonight for a game of Warhammer 40k 8th Edition. The store had a couple of packs of Open War cards left so I bought a deck and we played the game we were dealt. I have to admit, I had a blast! We were both excited as we drew the cards, not knowing how our armies would play out in random game play. The nature of the game meant that we would have to out play our opponent and not rely on the optimized build. Since Ryan is just getting back into the game and still gathering models for his army, this worked out great for both of us. New 8th Edition Open War Cards  This was our initial draw. We also pulled two Twist cards - Set Piece Battle and Battle Frenzy - every model got an additional attack! It made perfect sense for Ryan's Blood Angel Lamentors and my Astral Claws were happy to join in the frenzy of our separatist brothers. Ryan brought three of the new Primaris Reivers. They can do some work. Astral Claw lurking in the back field. I hav...

Here's my Warhammer 40k techmarine for hire! I'll use him in my variety of Space Marine armies... White Scars, Astral Claws, Flesh Tearers... everyone except Salamanders. With the new way of building armies in "formations" in 8th edition techmarines are an excellent choice for an HQ option to take a second or third formation that only requires one compulsory HQ selection. Have spanner, will fix or smash. In hindsight, I may add some static grass to his base.

As a former journalist, I finally get to put on my old "press pass" and share a bit of breaking news and perhaps a spoiler:  Games Workshop has been slowly releasing some teasers about the chapter tactics in posts on the Warhammer Community page on Facebook (and possible elsewhere.) I had only seen Raven Guard and White Scars up to this point but an article aimed at new players may have spoiled the future teasers and it included a graphic of the new Space Marine codex chapter tactics.   Chapter Tactics Matrix Here are my thoughts: Ultramarines: They received a very good tactic in the ability to add +1 leadership. Since players will be making a lot more leadership rolls, especially since you still need to test even if you win close combat and you’ve taken a casualty, this is a very useful but not over-powered ability. White Scars: The darlings of the tournament scene got a smashing chapter tactic reminiscent of their old tactics with the ability to charg...

Here's a quick shot of two of the terrain pieces I primed today. A small building with a shielded top for sci-fi games and a Greek style monument for use in historical through modern and sci-fi games. My two sets of terrain that I've been working on fit into one or both of those categories. The Greek pieces are really a part of my Old Hammer Ultramarines/any Greco-Roman 40k army like Blood Angels and the small building can fit in with any of my urban sci-fi/city fight terrain. Those table tops are my two favorites but someday I'll expand into a winter/snow setting and perhaps a chaotic realm, but for now, city fight and ancient Greece are my favorite flavors.

I finally got in my first game of Warhammer 40k 8th edition. Like I mentioned before, I've been on the road a lot and I haven't had much time for anything else in life, let alone gaming. Luckily I got Monday off from my day job and played my buddy Ryan in a small 1,500 game with my Astral Claws vs. his mixed Imperium. It was his first game as well and we were both excited to get our dolls on the table top. I brought: 1 Battalion Captain Chaplain in Termie armor Tech priest 1 Tac Squad in a Rhino 1 Scout Squad in a Land Speeder 4 Rifle dreads 1 Shootie Termie Squad Ryan brought a mix of Blood Angels, Primaris Marines and Guard - mostly just to try out the various armies he wanted to play. We played Big Guns never tire on a Dawn of War map. It was a blast! Astral Claws - a good leader stands behind his men! A good opponent always helps but I liked the game and had a great time. We both spent a lot of time with our noses in the rule book and indexes double ch...

I've been on the road for work the past couple of weeks but I have managed to eek out a few Astral Claws scouts. I think I just need to do a few minor touch-ups. Warding the Maelstrom! Also, I'm getting old... at least it's getting harder to paint eyes as my eyes age. Yar.

This is why: BardicBroadcasts! I know this has been viewed more than a million times already, and I may be a little late to the party, but I love everything on the BardicBroadcast YouTube channel. The Bard himself and I have a number of things in common, including a love of Dwarfs, keeping a book of grudges, wrestling, and a love/hate (really just love) relationship of Games Workshop products. While I'm not as big a fan of video games as the Bard, but I appreciate his artistic eye that he demonstrates during his cracking boxing/unboxing and review videos. I would hazard a guess that he has some artistic training on his character sheet as he shows us the keen eye of an art director with his spot-on commentary. He admits when he likes something that hearkens to a fond memory or a predilection for a certain genre of game, but he's also self-aware and warns the viewer of those prejudices. However, he also freely admits when his expectations have been challenged and his mind...

This past weekend, I packed up the new Guilliman model and my Grey Knights and made the trek to Omaha, Nebraska for the Bugeater Warhammer 40k Grand Tournament. I went last year and had a blast and this year was no different. Like last year, the Bugeater gives away some of the best swag, including these objective markers, custom dice, a measuring stick, a custom mission deck of cards, a patch, and lots of door prizes. After seeing Guilliman in action in Kansas City at the Midwest ConQuest, I knew I had to upgrade my army. He's a beast. It doesn't take a lot of skill to play with him and even a guy like me can increase my win count with him on the table. My first game I drew Trent Northington, one of the better players in the country (ranked 11 in the ITC ranking in 2016...) He had a nasty army with all of the 7th edition formation nastiness you'd expect. The Castellion formation with a Tau Riptide Wing. He seized the initiative on ...

Since seeing him in action at the Midwest Conquest GT, I decided to add Roboute Guilliman to my forces for the Bug Eater. He's an incredibly intricate model to buy, sand, glue, prime and paint for a tournament. I'd like to spend a lot more time on him, but I'm not ashamed of what I've got here. I'm not quite done but he's well on his way. Also, here's a Flesh Tearer that's nearly done.

This past weekend I traveled to Kansas City for the awesome Midwest Conquest Warhammer 40k Grand Tournament. I never had so much fun losing. It's a great tournament and I had more fun this year than last year but I fared far worse on the table top. Here's my army in a nutshell: 2 CADS 1 Chaos Lord on Juggernaut 1 D-Thirster - Bloodthirster 3 Units of Cultists 1 Unit of Bloodletters 4 Heldrakes with baleflamers 1 Heldrake with autocanon My army on parade.  D-Thirster ready for action. Dark Prince Adam. The drakes! I wanted my army to look like a 70s album cover. My plan was to let the heldrakes do most of the heavy lifting. They can zip around the field, go into hover mode to snag objectives, torch Marines and melt through their armor, deny jinks to Dark Angels and various Eldar... the army looks great on paper and fared well in the few test games I was able to get in but did not do well against tournament play.  As I me...