COMP at Carnage...

Rather than replying in the comments section of my last post, I thought I'd do a few posts on some lists and the how the comp scoring work. Like I've said, I was fully aware of there being comp when I signed up for the event and I'm only trying to show how it doesn't work rather than whining about it being in place. If something worked to balance things out and vary the armies we see, then I'd be up for it. As it is... I don't believe any 'comp' rules I've seen to date do this.

Again, this is not meant to be a rant about comp, more about my opinions about my experience in a comp'd tournament.

So, here is the scoring system.

Carnage!

As previously stated, I went along to a local tournament this weekend. Cardiff Carnage. Overall I must say it was a very well run event and pretty much everybody there was having a pretty good time. I took very very few photos of the event, so won't be doing any batreps, but wanted to write down some of my overall thoughts.

It started on Friday, when I gave some of the guys a hand moving some tables and terrain from our FLGS (Firestorm Games) down to the venue. We did the majority of the setting up the night before and I tried to 'influence' the terrain as best I could. I hadn't organised anything up to this point, and didn't want to be too pushy. I then went home and tried my best to get everything finished to a reasonably decent 3-colour standard... unfortunately one rhino was only base coated so I lost a lot of soft scores. Again, more of that when I discuss the rules pack etc.

Out of the ashes...

Black Templar Space Marine by AlphaWalrus

Well, after I didn't get to NOVA I had to find a way to entertain myself this weekend. I found out about a (very) local tournament about two-three weeks ago, just before my interest in NOVA was re-ignited. The tournament is a pretty big one (50+ 40k players, 64 WFB, 30(?) WM/H etc) and is apparently a big deal locally. Well, I looked at the rules pack and if I'm completely honest, it's not what I'd run if I had my choice. But I don't and the guys that run it are pretty decent. After NOVA didn't happen (for me at least), I went to find out if there were any spaces left at the tournament, and luckily for me, a few guys have dropped-out. So I'm in.

So we have a 1750 tournament, 5 games, mixed objectives (not quite NOVA, but not straight-up rule book missions), Soft scores and... comp.

Sad Times

Gutted!

It looks like I won't be making it to NOVA this year afterall. Flight prices aren't too bad (£460), but times are a little problematic (There was an hour period where perfect flights were availabe, but that was when I still thought I'd be paying $300 for a room). Firstly because I'm working nights at the moment it will be a crazy mad rush Friday morning and I'll still miss the Whiskey Challenge and the invitational. The only sensibly priced return flights will mean I have to drive an average of about 100mph to make my operating list Tuesday afternoon. Oh... and turning up to work smelly and poorly slept doesn't go down well.

I'm gutted. Ask the lady. I've been crazy painting for the last 2 days, thinking it was a real possibility and now I'm crazy deflated.

It was nice to get a good response to the request for a room that Mike posted on Whiskey, thanks to all of you that replied.

I'll keep an eye on times and prices, but I'm not really holding out much hope.

Sad sad times.

Anyway. This is a PROMISE I'll be there next year. You are all my witnesses. I will be there next year. Even if I have to sell a body part, I'm going! So Mike... hurry up and receive the dates. What's that? You haven't organised it yet? Stop slacking.

So, here's to next year, where hopefully Kirbs and some more of the 3++ crew will be in attendance and to the 11th company for making me feel even more jealous with their live feeds.

Sorry Mike.

Warpath: Core Rules: Beta release

Kirby has sort of asked me to review the Beta ruleset for Warpath, the new "Sci-Fi mass miniature wargame" by Mantic. As Kirby said in his last post, the boys over at The Back 40K recently had a few games of Kings of War (Mantic's fantasy wargame) and had a look at the Alpha release for Warpath. All quality posts of course... exactly what we've come to expect from those guys.

Firstly, Warpath is quite clearly competing with Warhammer 40k in a way that no other game currently does. Very similar themes and it's as described, a'mass miniature wargame'. We're talking probably over 100 models in most games. This sets it apart from the likes of WarmaHordes in terms of size.

Tyranids: The Final Four (For Now)

Another quick post...

I've managed to complete the final four from my first 'stealer unit. After having to reshuffle some of the arms I'm pretty happy with how they've turned out. May have some issues with LoS, but meh, I'm not exactly playing Nids to be l33t.

I want a fast assault-based list. Sadly it's not really tournament-worthy, but I want it to be a little scary - lots of fast infantry in your face.

Purgatus! Look what you made me do!

Just a quick post to give lil' Mr Kirby a break. Purgatus has been tempting me into getting some bugs for a little while now. When you post sweet-ass models like this and this, you can't help but get people interested. When we took a recent trip to Maelstrom to play at BlogWars, Ms BroLo thoroughly enjoyed The 6th Degree's Tyranids and has been itching for me to get some. Well... when I'm attacked on 2 fronts what else am I suppose to do? That's right, you cave-in and buy some plastic. Well actually, the missus did (double win!). As I know she now reads 3++, I'll say thanks again to her! Hook, line and sinker! =D

Here are a few pics of my first 4 genestealers. I hate the standard... "RAWR I'M WAVING MY 4 ARMS AT YOU!"... look. I've gone for something more along the lines of the Space hulk genes. And who doesn't love scything talons?

Blog Wars Breakdown

What a weekend. My first visit to Warhammer World, followed by a great day at Blog Wars. Unfortunately ths meant I had to meet Venerable Brother from Sons of Sanguinius. What a jerk. His boys are nice chaps, but this guy... what a douche. Only kidding, he's got a pink army, Kirby would never let me say a bad word about such a person. And yeah... I stole the pic from your blog. Deal with it!

Off to Blog Wars

It's 13:00 and I'm waiting for the missus as usual. Today my good friends, I'm off to Blog Wars. I've been pretty busy the last few weeks with work, weddings and weekends away, but I've been brutally dedicated to painting. Ask the missus, I'm in serious time-spent-with-the-missus debt. I've managed to completely finish about 80-90% of my models complete isn't bad. I'm a little disappointed I haven't managed to do Grimmy, but oh well, I'd prefer to spend a good amount of time on him and his unit.

The list is...

How to paint an army in... not enough time.

Howdy! Look what arrived in the post. I've been promising myself these beauties since the FAQs dropped, but haven't really purchased anything since my Dantewing. For a mere £20 + £9 for some assault cannons I'm now the proud owner of 10 more terminators that will be saying F U to Venerable at Blog Wars. That's right baby! I'm playing with foot Templars. I'm sure it will be roughly the same list as I posted here, but it may change a little depending on what I have painted.

My crusader squads ready and just need to add some finishing touches to my assault terminators. Then I need to sort out these beauties and then buy and paint Grimmie. I'll be keeping you guys updated with how things are progressing, but as my next 2 weekends are being taken up by a wedding and another (4th of the year) Stag weekend, I think it's going to be a huge struggle. Oh... did I mention I also have 4 13 hour shifts in that period too. That leaves me a grand total of about 6 nights to finish them.

If ever I needed some Rupert love... now is the time.

Wish me luck!

Repetition and Redundancy

You're probably all a bit fed-up of this topic now - sorry. I know there are a couple of posts on 3++ about it (here and here) and there have been some recent posts around the blogosphere about similar subjects such as here on Bringer of Victory and here on The Back 40k. This article is a bit of a response to the one by Spaguatyrine on The Back 40k.

I want to say first of all, I love The Back 40k. I go through phases on the interwebz. When I don't have a great deal of free time I tend to stick to 3++ as it fulfills my hobby 'needs' (note: this doesn't mean I think it's the best blog (although it clearly is *fears the whip*)). When I have more time I get around a bit more and The Back 40k is usually very close to the top of my list of 'to visits'. There are very few posts I don't enjoy, and as many of the authors are in the same gaming group, it gives a 'local' feel that I don't think 3++ has. Anyways... great blog guys, much props to you all.

This article by Spaguatyrine confused me at first, as I just didn't agree with what was being said. After reading it twice I realised I actually agree with what is being said, but we are using different definitions. The main one I think I disagree with is this...

Blog Wars

Apologies to Kirbs for not posting for a while. I know he's busy painting little plastic men for the end of the month, so hopefully this may help. I sort of demonstrated interest in attending a tournament for bloggers in early June a little while back. I haven't been able to definitely commit yet (thanks for changing the rota at the last minute. PROTIP: never work in a hospital), but am currently about 80% confident I'm going to be attending. Well... confident enough to buy a ticket anyways.

What is Blog Wars you ask.


Blog Wars is a tournament set-up by the blog 'From the Fang' for bloggers. Yes, yes... I know I don't have a blog, but I'm representin' 3++. Blah blah blah *hand held up like a gun*.

Incoming Rant: I apologise in advance

There are very few things that get me infuriated in the world of 40k. Several of my recent comments in threads here, here and here have been a little bit ranty and for that I apologise. Well, sort of anyway. What do all of the linked threads have in common? They're about 'count-as' armies. In reality, my infuriation has very little to do with 'count-as' armies specifically, but more about 'fun'. Hopefully I'll link the two through my ramblings.

*If you're not interested in my 'about me', skip to the next red bit down below*

I'll start with a little bit of an introduction as I don't have one here on 3++ yet. I'm in my mid-twenties and have been interested in 40k for over 15 years. I didn't play/paint/collect for a significant part of that (~10 years), but have always kept in touch with GW stuff.

3++ is Supporting Old Stuff Day

You may have heard it on Best Overall, or straight from the horse's mouth. The Warhammer 39,999 blog is starting a new, annual tradition. March 2nd will henceforth be known as 'Old Stuff Day' and 3++ is supporting it.

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Although, for most of us, it’s a labor of love, blogging is actually a fair amount of work. The reward for our efforts is often a post we can be proud of and, with any luck, it receives some attention from the rest of the community.

Unfortunately for most posts, that attention tends to be short-lived. A short time after it’s displayed, the average post falls off the blogrolls of the community and into the realm of obscurity, often never to be seen again. There’s good reason for this: after all, readers will only find posts interesting if they can actually find the posts.

Taken from Warhammer 39,999 - Starting a Blogging Movement: Old Stuff Day

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Setting myself a little target...

Unfortunately, I have to say that I'm one of those guys that turns up to the FLGS week in, week out with a half painted army. Actually, I lie, I turn up far less frequently and my army is less than half painted :(. Yeah... I'm that guy.

With a busy work life and some mild OCD I just don't have the time to get my painting stuff out to work on some models all that often. When I do have some 'hobby' time I like to catch up on some recent activity on the blog world. Unfortunately this tends to make me want to go and buy more models - Purgatus... you're just not helping me here - which reduces my painted:non-painted ratio.

BroLo helps the Aus flood victims and the little Ginger Scot

As you all remember, Australia experienced some of the worst flooding it's seen in years. Huge areas of land were devastated, lives were lost and homes were ruined. For one visiting Scot, all he could think about however was a desperate need to play Green Skins. The problem was, the floods had damaged the supply of Games Workshop Kits to his local store. Now this isn't usually a problem because GW Aus is so expensive that everybody orders from overseas AND saves themselves a packet (good play GW). However, for our little visiting Scot - we'll call him Archie - this wasn't an option (I'm not sure why and we'll mention that later).

He put a call in to yours faithfully and made a wish that I couldn't help but respond to...

Dear Dr BroLo,

My name is Archie and I'm a currently visiting Australia to play in a Warhammer tournament called Centurion. You may have heard of it? (who hasn't Archie?? and there are places still remaining!). Due to the recent floods, the supply of Games Workshop models has dried up and the worst affected have been Killa Kans.

Email in: Tau Buildings, DIY buildings

An email in from a reader on Tau buildings, but first a very quick, but big shout out to an 'eFriend' of mine at the MiniatureWargameConversions blog. Every month he does a little raffle that's free to enter. All you need to do is 'follow' his blog to get auto-entered into a raffle with some great prizes - from figure cases to battleforce box sets and GW vouchers to BL books. Apparently there may be some even more 'unique' items up for grabs next month. So click the link and follow the blog. NOW!!!1!1!

On to the email...

Hello Brother Loring,

I had a Game Day Hobby Day question, sort of. A couple of buddies of mine and I are considering picking up either the Cities of Death or Planetstrike 40k expansions. I play Tau, and love them. However, I have not seen any GW products for Tau buildings. Either ruins or fortifications. Do you have any resources or guides for either? Thank you for your assistance, and your posts!

Email in: Hey BroLo (BT list for Ard Boyz)

Bringer of Victory Nikephoros (more recently made even more internet famous by FNIF round 49) has sent in a list for review. Go check out his blog... Kirby, link it if you haven't already. Oh... and stop voting for yourself in the FNIF poll. Like you did?

I’ve been really in agony worrying about ‘Ard Boyz lists for BT. What I’ve linked to on my blog is a more fire power oriented list, but I’ve been also toying with the idea of just saying screw it, and bringing 30 assault terminators and just daring people to deal with it.

I know for a fact one of the better players at my store will be bringing a list with 30 TH/SS and Shrike, and I feel like the firepower list, while being a better all comers list, probably would lose to a rock list like that. This is what causes my agonizing. I’m worried about over or under metagaming. I don’t want to add 10 bubble wrap TH/SS to the above list just to beat one nasty list, if it will make me weaker against the field.

So questions…

Email in: BT/Sang Guard Lists

Hi BroLo, Hi

I have put this List together to try and maximise the number of terminators and also minimise the total number of models.... I was wondering does it still have competitive potential.

Emp Champ - AAC 140

Castellan - TA, SB, PW, SS, tankhunters 113
SB TCS - 4xTerms, SS, 2x CML, tankhunters 237

Castellan - TA, SB, PW, SS, tankhunters 113
SB TCS - 4xTerms, SS, 2x CML, tankhunters 237

Email in: Black Templars list for Analysis

Hi Kirby, ... yeah... he forwarded to me. I hope you don't mind.

This is my second time to email, but just to let you know that I love the great analysis and tacticas you guys put here, and I read the blog religiously. I too have been trying to come up with a balanced mech list for the Black Templars, as besides my SM Bike army, Black Templars has always been my favorite army. The whole renegade Crusaders thing is just the kind of Marines I can get into.

I played around with dual LR Crusader lists and then some PoTMS Vindicators lists, but I could not come up with a list that could have a reasonable chance of dealing with hordes consistently. I was also hamstringing myself with a lack of mobility. I have worked up a 2000 point fast mech list that I would appreciate you looking at. The list has a movable gunline with a small FistBubble. Only 3 small Troop squads mean I will be guarding them close, but I think the rest of the list present enough problems for most opponents. Check it out: