I've been spending more of my time on Instagram lately for my social media needs. I've been fixated on improving my painting skills, rather than writing or playing the game, and I've found that the simple act of taking photos and looking at the model not under my desk lamp has really helped my technique. Also, the feedback from painters of all skill levels has been very helpful and is pushing me to improve my craft. Also, while airbrushing is a great skill, Darren Latham and Duncan Rhodes are my current luminary idols. Latham especially is fantastic at breaking down some steps and his delivery is hypnotic. That being said, here's a recent photo dump of some recent and ancient models in my "portfolio." Is there an app that can cross post directly from Instagram to Blogger? The Captain of my Astral Claws army, the Bastards of Badab, who usually strolls behind my vehicle line. The Lieutenant of my Astral Claws army, the Bastards of Badab. He is moc...

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.

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.

Guess who cashed in some frequent flyer miles for airfare, booked a hotel room, and bought tickets to the Las Vegas Open Warhammer 40k Championship Tournament? I couldn't be more excited! Now, to fine tune my army. Here's what I'm considering taking. 1. My Salamanders. Flame Strike formation with a First Company Task Force. In the First Company Task Force, I'm packing three Sternguard units with double heavy flamers (that are S6) and putting them in drop pods. Vulkan is my warlord and giving preferred enemy to all of the other units packing meltas and multimeltas. This list is solid all around and is great against Chaos Daemons but may fall to heavy shooting like Eldar or Tau. I also have to paint about 30 more Sallies. 2. My Astral Claws. This list features lots of bikes, a Centurion Devastator squad with boatloads of grav, a Skyhammer Assault Formation, and using the Ultramarines Chapter tactics. This is actually my first pick and I think it's the strongest ...

Today I played in a 1,500 point Rogue Trader style tournament and did very well. I brought my "Bastards of Badab" Astral Claws army and came in second by getting the most victory points. I brought a Space Marine biker CAD, a Librarius Conclave all rolling on Telepathy, and a Sky Hammer Annihilation Force with 3 grav and multimeltas in the devastator squads. I switched from White Scars chapter tactics to Ultramarines recently and I'm glad I did. The doctrines, even though I only get to use each one once in this build, have been a big help because I don't need to put librarians with divination nearby. If this had been a larger point game, I would have brought devastator centurions and because of the Ultramarines Chapter Tactics, I don't need to sink a lot of points into Tigurius. The conclave on bikes usually means that I can throw some sort of protection on the CentsDevs. In my first battle, I played Eli and his Khorn Daemonkin. It was Vanguard deployment...