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I Come and Go as I Please!

Posted on by Pyo

Yeah, so about the past several weeks worth of blog posts I was supposed to do?  We’ll just chock those up to really, really bad timing.  Yeah… -shifty eyes-

Anywho.  POST!  Lemme first start off with… I’ve switched Warhammer 40k armies.  Again.  Don’t you judge me, finding an army that suits one’s personality is difficult and trying at best and an absolute nightmare at worsDon’t get me wrong- I <3 me the Salamanders and they will ALWAYS be my favorite Space Marine Chapter (until the one that allows women to be SM’s comes out… which will be never, but I can dream) but… sometimes you just have to cut your losses and go with what works.

What brought this on, you ask?  Well, allow me to elaborate.  My husband and I were wandering through Game Empire a few weeks back while he was looking for some more Orkses for his Waaaagh! and he asked me what kind of models I was thinking about buying and painting next.  Honestly, at that point in time, I was seriously considering dropping vanilla SM’s anyways-sure, they’re a great beginner army, but I just wasn’t as into them as I should have been to justify the amount of money I’m willing to spend on a hobby.  And they’re boring to paint.  Sounds lame, but its true.  And I just… could get into them.  Well, I told him I wasn’t sure what I wanted, and he made the suggestion that changed my WH40K gaming experience.

‘Hey, why don’t you pick up my Dark Eldar?  I’m not going to play them, and they’re an awesome army.  You should give it a shot.’

Plus, we already had a unit of fully painted Kabalite Warriors and a fully painted Raider.  I saw absolutely no reason not to at least give them a try and see how they were.  So, we went home- him with his Battle Wagon in hand-  and I cracked open Codex: Dark Eldar for the first time.

And then something like this happened.

-cue angels singing and all that good shit-

I was sold.  Finally, an army I could get behind!  The Dark Eldar are a branch race of the once mighty Eldar, whose civilization ruled the cosmos long before the mon-keigh (BAHAHAHA they call humans monkies!) even thought to leave Terra.  However, ten thousand years ago, the vast majority of their civilization was destroyed in one violent swoop.  At that time, their depravity and forays into excess had brought something into existance that the Eldar will forever regret and never escape from: She Who Thirsts, known to the rest of the universe as Slaanesh, was born, and His birth cries ripped open a hole in realspace known as the Eye of Terror, crippling the Eldar and damning their souls to be devoured by Slaanesh upon their deaths.  The only Eldar to escape complete annihilation were the Exodites, Eldar who escaped the empire at the height of its depravity; the Craftworld Eldar, who had fled on specially built planet-ships; and those Eldar who had made for themselves a home in the mysterious alter- universe known as the webway and its capital city, Commoragh.  Those webway Eldar refused to give up their insidious ways, and so became the Dark Eldar.

Now, Dark Eldar society is run by kabals.  Kabals are, in short, mafia families.  And the leader of the kabal is known as an Archon.  Archons are the most cunning of the Dark Eldar, and their power within the kabal is absolute.  My kabal is the Kabal of the Frozen Lotus, and their leader is Circe Kythonyr, a woman who took the reins of the kabal from the previous Archon, who nearly destroyed its name and its accomplishments in a foolish realspace raid on a well guarded Forge World.

Archon Circe Kythonyr, the Frost Lotus

Circe’s tale is unusual, as she started off as a Hekatrix, a Wych Queen of the Soulflayers Wych Cult.  She was sent to the Wych Cult as a child to learn the way of the blade and to become the lifeblood of the Dark Eldar empire.  She did well in the arenas, killing with speed and style, as befitting her status.  In her off time, she would spend hours in a private garden, cultivating the flower which became her namesake- the frost lotus, a beautiful blue blossom with razor petals that could grow in the deep darkness and cold of Commoragh, and glowed with and eerie, pale blue light.  Her claim to fame in the arenas was the fact that she always wore a mask, determined to never show her face to neither her enemies nor her adoring fans.  Rumors of why always abounded in the Dark City, however- some believed that she was horribly scarred beneath the metal mask.  Others speculated she hid some hidden biological weapon granted to her by a haemonculus.  And yet others believed that she was a half- breed, the result of an experiment to combine a DArk Eldar with a Medusae.  Circe never said, and anyone who asked never lived to report if she’d given them an answer.  The only person rumored to have lived through her explanation was the Arch- Succubus who ruled the Soulflayers, Caillech the Wraithblade, who promptly promoted her to the rank of Hekatrix and made Circe one of her Bloodbrides.

It was during the disastrous realspace raid that cost the previous Archon of the Kabal his life that she ascended to power, though to this day it’s uncertain if the Archon met his death at the hands of an enemy… or if Circe killed him herself for his foolishness.  Regardless, upon the broken Raider fleet’s return to Commoragh, Circe grabbed for the position of Archon.  Displaying a level of cunning unexpected from a Wych Queen, she carved a bloody path between herself and the high seat of the Kabal.  She did not kill a single contender for the position herself- instead, she masterfully manipulated those around her and had the men and women she deemed as competition ‘removed,’ a maneuver so uncharacteristic for a Wych it shook the foundations of the Soulflayers.  Caillech, however, did nothing but smile, content to allow Circe to claw her way, inch by gore-covered inch, to the top of the food chain.

The takeover was remarkably short.  Within weeks, Circe had asserted herself as the Archon of the kabal, and changed its name to the Kabal of the Frozen Lotus.  Shortly after her meteoric ascension, it became widely known how she had managed to remove all potential candidates for the position which she now was firmly ensconced.  Her years cultivating her prized frost lotuses had given her a powerful weapon- the frost lotus was not only beautiful, but deadly.  It could be distilled down into a potent poison that, when injected into the body, turned one’s bodily fluids to ice, killing them instantly.

HA!  Is that a lot of awesomeness in a bucket or what?

Anywho, I think I’ve jabbered on long enough.  Stay tuned, next post is going to be about some fun things I did recently, and probably more Dark Eldar squeeing.

Cheers!

~MG

Makin’ It Up As I Go Along…

Posted on by Pyo

Epic title is epic.  Its only Tuesday, and already, I’m ready for it to be Friday.

But… a poast, I haz one.  This is gonna be… kinda random.  I’m not going to focus on two specific subjects today because those posts I like to have planned out ahead of time and, well… I was lazy.  -shrug-  But, it should still at least be entertaining- my goal in all things on this blog.  So, I present you with a post about some things that are mostly unrelated but definitely bear discussing.

First off on the list:  Sucker Punch.  This came out in theaters  this past Friday.  Let me give you a trailer first, in case you haven’t seen it.

Now, let me start off by saying this- if you expected some huge dramatic story, or something about morals, or- really- anything but an asskicking movie with amazing visuals and an addictive soundtrack- you are clearly barking up the wrong tree.  Does it have a story?  Yeah.  And its ok.  Nothing earthshatteringly awesome, but interesting enough to keep me occupied.  But why did I see this movie?

I’ll tell you now, it wasn’t the damn story.  Reasons, let me show you them:

  • kick ass hot chicks with guns
  • giant samurai robots with railguns
  • steampunk soldiers and battlesuits
  • dragons
  • giant samurai robots with naginatas
  • fabulous imagery
  • giant samurai robots with swords

This movie was, above all else, fun to watch.  The graphics were astounding, the landscapes of Baby Doll’s inner world were stunning- and right up my alley.  But don’t expect to be awestruck by the story, which was okay at best.  Go for the visuals, because they will rock your world.

Item #2:  A Song of Ice and Fire. We have two things of note here.  First is the announced release date of A Dance With Dragons.

OMGICANTBELIEVEITSALMOSTHERE

-SQUEE!-  So, for all of us who have been waiting for YEARS for George to finish up, there is hope!  July 12th, 2011 ADwD drops in the US and UK, just in time, might I add, for the release of the HBO special based on the first book, Game of Thrones, set to debut on HBO April 17th.

Ok, if you have not read this series- GO NOW.  STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GO GET IT.  These books- 4 in total for now, until ADwD is released- tell the story of a war torn land called Westeros.  In this land, seasons last for decades, lords and ladies rule the land, and behind every corner is some form of subterfuge.  These books have everything- greed, sex, betrayal, murder, betrayal, deception, betrayal, sex, magic, betrayal, greed, BETRAYAL… oh, did I forget to mention betrayal?  Westeros tears itself apart from the inside as forces from both the South- commanded by the deposed Princess- and the North- wraithlike, otherworldly beings known only as the Others and guarded only by the land’s unwanted sons, dubbed The Night’s Watch.  At the center is a broad cast of characters, each with vibrant personalities and- most importantly- obvious flaws.  You don’t NEED to read the books to watch the series- but you need to read the books to get anything that’s going on in ADwD.  So GET CRACKING.  You will get sucked into this world as easily as I did.  Oh, and if you read the books… beware the Red Wedding.  THAT’S ALL I’M SAYIN.’

And speaking of awesome TV series, Starz is coming up with a pretty sweet looking rendition of the King Arthur legend, called Camelot.

As I am a nerd about all things Arthurian, I will undoubtedly be as glued to this as I was to The Walking Dead (squee for another season in October!)  This is, unfortunately, all I’ve seen of it so far, barring research, so we’ll move on for now.

Let’s discuss this summers movies- specifically, Comic Book Movies.  Several new trailers have been released, and I don’t think I could possibly pick one over there others, so I’ll just put them out there in the order I remember them.  First one that comes to mind is Thor.

Ok, Anthony Hopkins as Odin?  Fuckin’ awesome.  Especially since he BEATS THOR DOWN.  See?  Discipline is rough when you’re immortal.  It means you can get away with a lot more with less bruising.  This is, as you all know, just another stepping stone in the path to the Avengers movie, and promises to bring much thunder god fueled rage yumminess to the screen.  I cannot WAIT to see this.  Of course, we can’t talk Avengers without talking about the First Avenger, Captain America.

-ohshitohshitohshit-  This is going to be monumental.  There are no words to describe how squeetastic I got when I saw this on Sunday.  NO WORDS.  I think the trailer pretty much speaks for itself.  Take some experimental drugs, run like hell, punch a sub, look like a total bad ass… what’s not to like?  And… and… Hugo Weaving as Red Skull?!  GAH!  -dies of all the awesome-

And this, of course, leads me into the next comic movie of the summer- Green Lantern!

A trailer that starts off with Ryan Reynolds in his underwear.  Ladies of the geek and gamer communities, you’re welcome.  -bow-  I am actually kinda skeptical about this.  I know he’s slated to star as Wade Wilson in Deadpool (set to be release in 2014, and a role he was BORN to play), but I’m not so sure he can pull off Hal Jordan, who is more of the self- sacrificing type instead of the smart- ass type.  But, I’ll withhold my judgement until I actually see it.

On the World of Warcrat front, Blizzard will be selling another flying mount in their store!  The Winged Guardian, pictured below, beats the pants off of the sparklehorse they offered up before.

 

WANTWANTWANTWANT

My mage is going to look SO FUCKING SICK on this lion.  SO SICK that I do not know if I’ll be able to stand it.  Looks like its in the PTR right now for patch 4.2, so we’ll see when this beaut gets released to the public.

And that’s it for now.  Before I sign off, though, let’s poke around the blogosphere, shall we?

Blogosphere

And that’s it for now, folks!  tune in next time where I’ll be discussing  a Warhammer 40k army list that will probably make people cry.  Until then!

Cheers!

~MG

A Tale of Two Games: Pathfinder and Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

Posted on by Pyo

Greetings and salutations, and welcome back to this crazy little blog!  In this episode of Milady Geek, I will, once again, be discussing 2 very different things, as that has seemed to work out well for me so far.  Also, I’m beta-ing my new ‘ratings system’ on you, so be prepared for that insanity.

Anywho… Are you ready for this?

First off, how many people here remember DnD 3.5e?  Yeah, I know you do.  You probably had the same griped about it that I did (still do, really):  why do bards still suck?  What the hell is a paladin supposed to do with a mount in a dungeon crawl?  And what the hell is is with the hybrid classes totally sucking?

Well, fellow tabletop fantasy geeks, I bring you tidings of good fortune- and a game that may get you to look away from DnD 4th edition.  And that game is… Pathfinder.

For those of us who DON'T worship DnD 4th Edition.

Now, you may be asking, ‘MG?  What, exactly, is Pathfinder?’  Well, allow me to expound:  Pathfinder is- quite literally- DnD 3.75e.  You see, when Wizards of the Coast was coming up with the new rules for DnD, they decided to scrap the ol’ d20 system we’ve all come to know and despise love.  Well, once man’s trash is another’s treasure, and Paizo picked up the rights to 3.5′s ruleset. Only, they didn’t just leave all of the dumb questions above unanswered (well, except for bards.  They still suck.)  No.  Paizo fixed some of the more glaring errors in 3.5, and slapped a new name on it:  Pathfinder.

Now, what you have to keep in mind:  they did make a couple of changes to the basic ruleset, but nothing a veteran player of DnD won’t easily pick up or a new player won’t easily learn.  Each player class has a special something that makes you want to play them.  Paladins can have either the standard special mount… or can grant their weapons bonuses.  Druids can have an animal companion (which were also buffed to be more useful overall)… or they can have a cleric domain.  Sorcerers have to choose a Bloodline trait, which colors who they are and how the operate (and even gives bonus feats and spells!)  Those are just to name a few, some of the more outstanding changes they chose to make.  Paizo has released, to date, 9 Adventure Paths- fully fleshed out campaigns, each in a series of 7 paperback magazines (including a separate, special Player’s Guide for each!), ready to be picked up and played as is.  And on their site, linked above, they also have beta test books available, where DM’s can download and print out new, test material, run it in their groups, and give feedback on them!  How nifty is that?

Now, I’ve played Pathfinder pretty extensively- we had a really good campaign going on there for a while, and I’m looking at playing an Elemental (Earth) Elven Sorceress in a friend’s new group- when he finally settles down long enough to support a table of players, that is.  And I can say this- I was absolutely delighted by this system, almost as soon as it was put into my hands by Questionable Methods (you see?  I really can blame him, and my husband, for everything.)  When I got his book, I had been playing a Half- Elven Druidess at the time, and I was significantly underwhelmed by my class.  But we switched over to Pathfinder at around 4th level, and the game became so much more dynamic for me.  Finally, my wolf companion, Nymeria (cookie to whomever gets the reference!), was not only useful… but a serious problem for the bad guys!  And, having played a DnD3.5e paladin, I- literally- gasped at the paladin changes.

I highly recommend you go and at least check it out, even if you do play 4th Edition.  You might be surprised at how good it really is.  But bards really do still suck.  They were just bad, no matter what.

And now, let’s talk about a brand new game, just out in the past couple of weeks- that will have you screaming bloody murder at your significant other as you try to beat each other senseless with not one, but 3, heroes.  That’s right, you guessed, it…

OMG Dante and Deadpool?!?!?!

This game is RIDICULOUSLY FUN.  I mean RIDICULOUSLY.   And this is one game I’d advise you get the Brady Games book for… because the moves- my gods, the moves- can be difficult to learn, aside from the standard ‘half or quarter circle + button’ combo Capcom games are famous for.  And there is a wide variety of characters to choose from.  You, of course, have many of the Marvel super heroes and villains: the X-Men, Spidey, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, etc.  And Capcom brings its own lineup of bad asses to choose from:  Dante and Trish from DMC, Tron Bonne and Zero from Megaman, Morrigan and Felicia from Darkstalkers, and several Street Fighter characters, amongst others.

Now, what about this game makes its so likable?  Well, unlockable characters, art, and other goodies are awesome.  Pair combos and group mega-blaster ‘mess up your husband’s team’ attacks are supersweet.  Being able to mix it up with crazy party compositions is always entertaining (unless you’re like me and you always manage to pick the absolutely WRONG third person for an otherwise awesome team.)  Being able to switch between characters and have your offscreen characters heal when they aren’t being used is freaking amazing!

And, of course, there is the ‘I get to beat the crap out of things’ aspect.  Because who doesn’t love that?  And being able to haul out some sick- nasty group combos doesn’t hurt.  Watch out, though, because slow characters are SLOOOOOOOW, and fast characters are CRAZYINSANEDODGINGTHOUGHSPACEANDTIME fast.  Oh, and Tron Bonne has flame throwers.  Which I why I rock her so hard (my ‘Dream Team’ is Zero, Tron, and Dante… even my husband will say I’m good with all three of them.  Good enough to even beat him occasionally.  He’s a mutant- he’s instantly good at any video game he picks up, I swear!)  Gimme speed over strength any day.

Bottom line is- MvC3 rocks.  Its an insanely good time with crazy awesome action.  I give this game 3 bags o’ chips and a soda (max rating!) for its sheer entertainment value.

And now, before I go, lets take a look around the blogosphere and see what other people are saying about… geeky things!

Blogosphere

Well, that’s it for now.  Stay tune for some more of my insane ramblings soon!

Cheers!

~MG

 

Minecraft and DMing: A Tale of Two Entirely Different Things

Posted on by Pyo

So, first new post with the new layout.  Everyone digging?  I wanted something with a custom background and a custom header, but I haven;t found anything I’m totally happy with yet, so I’ll stick with the semi- techie look of this and the Gamer Girl image in the corner.  It gets the point across well enough- well, at least until WordPress comes out with a theme that fulfills my wishes.

Anyways, I’m going to be trying something new here to determine if I like it or not.  Instead of doing one long post on one subject, I’m gonna do one medium- to- long sized post about 2 completely unrelated subjects.  Go me!

-runs off to prepare herself for inevitable DOOM-

Anywho, we’ll start off with something near and dear to my heart.  Its a game that allows you to build whatever you want with everything you could possibly imagine… and then have a walking green penis- like creature come and blow it all up.  Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about…

Minecraft (Move over, Bejeweled 2, you’ve just been usurped.)

Sexy!

Now, I didn’t quite understand the draw of this game at first.  8 bit graphics?  First person POV?  And what the hell is that green thing that hisses and looks like a penis and-  *BOOM*

Sonofabitch, did it just BLOW THE FUCK UP?  Holy shit, I must play this game!

Yes, that’s pretty much how it started.  However, you have to understand- not only is this game ridiculously fun, it is ridiculously simple in its execution.  Don’t be thrown by the block graphics, they are that way to decieve you into thinking that this game is for kids.  It is not for kids.  In fact, should you be playing Minecraft, and you have children, I highly suggest you tell them to go outside and play. because you are going to see- or hear, most likely, for it is possessed of a most distinctive hiss- one of THESE:

*hisssssssssssssssss!*

And you are going to curse at the top of your lungs and either:

  1. run away, or
  2. die because it exploded on you.

But seriously, though- this game is marvelously simple to play and absolutely addictive.  You can make anything out of anything- weapons out of wood, armor out of diamonds, you can build your own island chain fortress (like I’m doing- I’ll scan my ‘blueprints’ and post them up at a later date).  You want to make something out of wood?  Go punch a tree.  Want some leather armor (frankly, it’s all you REALLY need), go punch a cow.  Getting low on health?  Go kill a pig and make yourself some cooked porkchops.  The crafting UI is the key.  Here’s how it works. This is your crafting window (without the Craft Table, you’ll only get 4 blocks):

Craft Table crafting window

And, lets say that, like in the image, you want to make a stone pickaxe.  What you do is take 2 Wood Sticks (which is, in turn, made from 2 Wood Planks) and 3 blocks of Cobblestone and stack them as they are in the picture.  And voila!  Stone pickaxe.  The key to the crafting UI is… be creative!  Mix and match materials in different patterns and see what you come up with.  Don’t feel like thinking about it?  Well then go to the Wiki!  Either way you cut it, this game is well worth the $20 it costs, as it is hours of crazy fun.  (Hm, potential idea- rating system?  -ponders-)

But, seriously, though… watch out for the creepers.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

And now, without further adieu, I give you part 2 of today’s post, something that is a bit scary and probably a long time in coming…

MG DM’s a Campaign: Her Insane Plot to Kill the PC’s in Her Dark Heresy Game and Her First Impressions of Being a DM

Did I make that ominous sounding enough?  Well, let me tell you, if you haven’t DM’ed (and by DM I mean been a Dungeon of Game Master… and if you didn’t know what that was, shame on you) before… its daunting.  Especially if your PC’s are run by my group, currently consisting of my husband (seasoned DM and slightly insane) and Questionable Methods (ditto on both counts.)  But, all ow me to tell you about my story- not too much in detail, though… my PC’s are reading this.  At least, they better be.

My game takes place in the grim darkness of the far future, where there is only war.  That’s right, I’m still indulging my absolute obsession for Warhammer 40K, this time in the guise of Fantasy Flight’s Dark Heresy RPG.  In this game, the PC’s are members of an Acolyte cell that work of a member of the feared and ruthless Inquisition, and for my campaign, that Inquisitor is High Witch Hunter A’ura Maestra of the Ordo Hereticus, a branch of the Inquisition dedicated to hunting down and destroying elements of Chaos that corrupt Mankind from within.  Currently, the PC’s (3 of them, 2 being run by QM) are on the planet of Vaxanide, trying to determine why mutants have been disappearing from the lower levels of Vaxanide’s main hive city, Vaxanhive (more will be explained on hives and hive cities in a fture post.)

But thats not what I’m really here to talk about.  Let me tell you a thing or two about running a game:

  1. Have a general idea of how things are supposed to go for a session. Don’t plan everything to specifically, because your PC’s WILL find a way to COMPLETELY DERAIL your plans and run off on their own, weird little tangents.  I say this because not only did I happen, it happened several times.  But, gods above, it was fucking hilarious watching how their minds tried to work out a way to solve the problems I was presenting them with.
  2. NPC’s don’t always need to be totally bad ass. If someone is pointing an automatic shotgun at an NPC’s head… he’s gonna be scared.  Unless, of course, you happen to have laid a hand on that NPC’s daughter…  Oh, and your Inquisitor should ALWAYS be bad ass.
  3. Do not be afraid to crack the whip if PC’s are getting out of line. If they are starting to get too far off track, tell them so, and set them right.  I actually haven’t had to do this yet, but they got close, so it was something I noted.
  4. Use your NPC’s well. In my game, I have NPC Acolytes to help my PC’s fill out their ranks, since I only have 2 players.  I allow them to task the NPC’s with things to get done.  This worked out very well for me, as it allowed the PC’s to play to their strengths, and allowed me, as a DM, to feed them what information the NPC’s could potentially glean from whatever situation they are handed.  They didn’t need to worry about running characters that they didn’t write and didn’t really know much about.
  5. Feel out your PC’s before getting too descriptive. Both of my players love descriptiveness, and its something I excel at, so this isn’t an issue for me.  But not all PC’s will like it.  Frankly, if you want to game with me, you’re getting descriptive, as I love writing about sensory elements- it makes my games feel more like you’re there.

Well, I think I’ve rambled on quite enough.  Let’s take a look around the blogosphere, shall we?

Blogosphere

That’s it folks!  Tune in later this week where I will discuss other geeky things and stuff.  And things.  And all of it will be good.

Cheers!

 

It so got you, I KNEW it would!

~MG

She Lives!

Posted on by Pyo

Its true!

Greetings and Salutations, all (those few of you who actually, you know… read this blog.)  MG here after a long vacation from the blogging universe.  Why, you may ask, was I gone for so long?  Well, the answer is simple.

I’m lazy, and frankly everything I was doing before I’ve either changed or I’m not doing anymore.  So go figure.  Heh.

Anywho…

After much consideration and deliberation with myself, I’ve decided to narrow my wide blogging scope down into one blog- this one.  Again.  As neither of my other blogs really apply anymore (neither of them bear mentioning, really), I’ve decided to revamp this one.  You heard right-  Milady Geek is getting a facelift.  I’m looking at a complete redesign- a new, fresh face for this blog.  I’ll also be adding a variety of topics I’ll be talking about, as well as some of the older stuff that I still love.  So, I ask you to be patient with me while I shake things up a bit here and move some things around, and I look forward to posting here again for you entertainment!

Cheers!

~MG

Wargaming: How To Build Your Own Table

Posted on by Pyo

Or, how to build it the way I did.  Whatever.

Greetings, all!  Hope to find that the Thanksgiving weekend was nice and relaxing (as well as fattening- mine certainly was.)  While you’re sitting there contemplating the mountains of leftovers in your refrigerator, lets talk about something that’s liable to make you lose that holiday weight- building your own wargaming table.

DISCLAIMER:  This is how we (my husband and I- though mostly my husband) built our table.  We are working with limited space, which will explain why we used the methods we did.  with that, ONTO THE HOW TO GUIDE!

Wargaming:  How To Build Your Own Table

Materials you’ll need:

  • table surface material:  plywood, MDF, whatever is cheapest at Home Depot, in either the standard 6′ x 4′ size or 3 2′ x 4′ pieces (we used 3/4″ MDF in the latter format)
  • molding, to form a nice border around the table
  • latex primer and paint, any color is fine, just make sure it something you’re willing to look at for the next several years
  • window latches, metal (you’ll see)- only if you’re doing the sectional table
  • Liquid Nails
  • Support rods, 4 each
  • wood screws
  • a power drill

Now, the first thing you’re going to want to do is MAKE DAMN SURE YOUR TABLE SURFACE IS THE SIZE THEY SAY IT IS ON THE LABEL.  Yeah, there is a reason that is in all caps.  -grumbles-

Anyways…

First things first- make sure you have a surface to set all of this stuff on so that you can work on it now and play on it later.  Our dining table from Ikea served just fine.

Ikea furniture RAWKS

First, measure out the proper distances for the window latches and screw them into place.  You’ll want 2 on each side, and you;ll want them positioned so when you close them, they’ll hold the pieces snugly together without breaking the spring on the inside.  Remember, kids- measure twice, drill once.

Look at mah hubby wondering WTF I'm doing with the camera...

Now that you’ve done with that, take your surface and attach the border pieces using a layer of Liquid Nails and the wood screws- 3 should be fine.  Be careful not to drill the pieces in too close to the corners or you could get splitting.

YaY work.

After all of this is done, take your supports.  Now, keep in mind, this is only if you are doing a sectional table like I did- this is so that the 2 end pieces, which will inevitably be hanging off the edge of the table, have enough support.  Position them on the undersides of the table where they won’t interfere with either the latches or the surface that you will set the table on.  Secure them on with some Liquid Nails to the 2 pieces that will be on the outside, and screw them into place, leaving enough to get the support they’ll need from the middle piece, which will be firmly on the dining room table.

Now, the easy part- prime and paint.  And voila!  You have a proper gaming table!

See? All that hard work paid off.

With this set up, you can do a bunch of things- build 2×2 sections of terrain that will slide into place on the table, or lay out some felt to use as grass, or toss tons of 40K pieces on it and have fun!

That it for now!  I leave you with a sneak peak of Hive Fleet OmNomNom’s color scheme!

I still have a ton of work to do on this guy.

Catch you all next time, where I’ll hopefully have more painting done, as well as a 750 pt Nid list I can actually run.  Cheers!

~MG

Warhammer Painting: Hive Fleet OmNomNom

Posted on by Pyo

Yes, I have since decided to rename my Nids Hive Fleet OmNomNom for the sheer funny factor.

nom nom

ANYWHO.  Onto an actual poast- Nid painting!  Today, I present you with a step- by- step procedure to painting a Genestealer with Hive Fleet OmNomNom’s colors!

Painting Your Wahammer Miniatures- The Genestealers of Hive Fleet OmNomNom

Here are the paints I used to achieve the finished color scheme, separated by category:

Skin Tone

Pictured: Iyanden Darksun, Tallern Flesh, Bleached Bone, Skull White

Detail Colors

Pictured: Gloss Varnish, Khemri Brown, Blood Red, Gore Red, Liche Purple, Iyanden Darksun

As you can see, I used all Citadel paints, as I have the most experience with them and I like their coverage.  You can feel free to use whatever paints you like, but all of my descriptions will contain the Citadel colors I used.  You’re also going to want to get a small sheet of plastic to use as a paint tray- I have some left over from a past cosplay project that works wonders- as well as your brushes, a cup of water, and a few paper towels.

This didn't stay this neat.

Step 1:  take your assembled ‘Stealer and prime him!  For my color scheme, I went with Skull White vice Chaos Black, as I absolutely hate painting light colors over a dark base.  It might take you a couple of coats to completely cover all of the grey- just go with a series of light spritzes instead of a steady spray, to avoid dripping.  Always spray somewhere where there is plenty of ventilation, as well.

Too bad he lives in San Diego... LOL snow.

Step 2:  Basecoat!  Now, I am what is referred to as a ‘glazer’- I prefer to use several coats of wash vice applying paint directly to the model.  What I did was I took some Iyanden Darksun and slapped it on the plastic.  Then, I used my big wash brush to drip water into the pool of paint until I get it to a consistency that I like- usually about 7-8 drops.  I like my washes light, it applies the color more evenly, IMO.  Do as many washes as you like on the model until you get the basecoat you like.  Mine take about 2-3 washes.  I use the biggest brush I have, which is the purple based one in the above tools picture.

Basecoat wash: Iyanden Darksun

Step 3:  Change up the color a bit.  The next layer of wash I applied, to make Iyanden Darksun more of a ‘in the crease’ color was a wash of Tallern Flesh.  I only did 1 wash of this, as the color change was pretty noticeable.  I took a picture of a Tallern washed one with one that hadn’t been washed, for comparison.

Side By Side: Tallern Flesh Wash

Step 4:  Wash again with Iyanden Darksun.  Just one this time, to balance out the Tallern Flesh a bit, since it was pretty overwhelming (at least in person).

Overwash of Iyanden Darksun

Step 5:  Time to start lightening up the surfaces.  To do this, do a very light- and I do mean very light- wash of Bleached Bone.  Take a nice couple of brushfuls from the container, then add about 12-14 drops of water.

Washed with Bleached Bone

Ok, that’s all you need for the base/ skin coating!  Now, we move onto the detail work.

Step 6:  Lowlights.  Take one of your fine detail brushes and dip the tip in the Iyanden Darksun.  Apply thin coats of the paint between the bony ridges on the ‘Stealer’s back and in the crevices of his hands, to give it some of that dimension back.  For this, I used the Fine Detail Brush- the one with the lighter of the 2 yellow bases.  You’ll probably need to do this more than once as you continue with your painting- to cover up mistakes.

Side by side shot for comparison.

Step 7: Highlights.  Using your dry brushing brush, dip it into the Skull White and proceed to DRY BRUSH on the highlights.  Feel free to smudge with a finger if there’s too much white for you.

Do as much or as little as you want.

Step 8:  Black Detailing.  Taking the same Fine Detail Brush, dip the tip in Chaos Black and paint the back spine ridges and claws- and his little forehead plate, if he’s got one.  This one does.

This looks a lot better once its cleaned up.

Step 9:  Playing with Green and Red.  Now, you can start on the other colors.  Admittedly, this was probably not the best choice to choose to showcase my color scheme, as the ‘Stealers don’t have much in the way of the chitinous plates I was counting on to really show it off, but you get the idea.  On the headplates and backbones, take a little Dark Angels Green and feather it lightly on.  On the claws, dry brush on a bit of Gore Red for the start of the blood effect.  You can also paint the tongue and teeth in this stage- I chose to do so by painting the tongue Liche Purple and the teeth Khemri Brown.

LOL purple tongue. I should greenstuff some piercings, just for the lulz.

Step 10:  Moar Green!  Now, go even lighter on the Snot Green, feathering it on over the Dark Angels Green.  Follow up with even lighter feathers of Goblin Green and Rotting Flesh, then drybrush Blood Red over the gore Red on the claws.  Once that has all dried, use a little Gloss Varnish on the headplate to make it shiny!

Step 11: Underbelly work.  Do the same thing for the chest area of your ‘Stealer that you did with his back- get into the spaces between his ‘ribs’ with the Iyanden Darksun.  Only, don’t paint his ribs black… drybrush ‘em Skull White, so they stick out.  No photos for the next couple of steps because by then, I was too close to being finished, and I didn’t ant to ruin it.

Step 12 :  Body details.  Now that you’ve done everything else, take your Fine Detail Brush and get into the ‘Stealers body details (joints, insect- like marks, etc) with the Dark Angels Green.  Lightly drybrush the detailing inside those areas with any lighter shade of green (I used Rotting Flesh).  Detail the veins on his head to finish.

TA DA!  You now have a completed (if unbased) Hive Fleet OmNomNom Genestealer!  Here’s what mine looks like!

Front Shot

Does the little vein in his head mean he's mad?

RAWR!

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this post!  Come back next time where I’ll probably have some random ass post up here because I haven’t figured out what I want to do yet.

Cheers!

~MG

 

Post Series: Warhammer 40K- Genestealers Assemble!

Posted on by Pyo

YaY informative post!

So this week, I started actually building my Warhammer 40K army- Tyranids.  I purchased a box of Genestealers, one of the primary troop choices, excellent because they can Infiltrate, to start myself off.  Admittedly… not the best choice to show off my color scheme, which you will see in the next post, but they’re still neat looking and offer a lot of flexibility for posing.  So, lets get to it, shall we?

To start, here are the tool you’ll need to assemble your doodz.

 

Let the mayhem begin!

From left to right:  a 1 oz bottle of extra strength rubber toughened cyanoacrylate glue (super glue, for you non nerds); clippers; craft knife; craft file.

Now, you can use any kind of super glue you like.  I prefer the rubber toughened stuff because it makes for a much more secure joint, even if it does take longer to dry.  The stuff up there I got from my local game store, because for some reason, San Diego doesn’t have a local Games Workshop.

Someone should fix that.  But meh.

Now, go and grab your box of miniatures and pull out the sprues.

 

Sprue 1

Sprue 2

The first step is to take a look at all of the pieces and pick out the ones you want.  For the Genestealers, this is fairly easy- clip the body and the leg from the sprue (they are right next to each other) then one each of the following:

  • Right Rending Claw or Right Scything Talon
  • Left Rending Claw or Left Scything Talon
  • Right arm
  • Left Arm
  • Head

You might want to keep the pieces on their respective sides, so you don’t mix up the arms.

Like So.

Now, the first thing I usually do is glue the body to the base, so I have something to grab onto.  You can do this if you want, or you can use the paper plate method- cut slits into the bottom of a paper plate and pushing the models’ bar bases through the bottom, then securing with another plate beneath that’s stapled to the first.

Next, glue on the head and the leg.  They only goes on one way, so make sure you’ve figured it out before the glue is set, or you’ll have a gap between the leg/ head and the body.

... still not very scary, though.

After that is the arms.  Now, I’m sure you can put these on anyway you like.  I put the Rending claws in the front joint holes, and the normal arms in the back ones.  I chose to do them by side so I could play with arm positions and whatnot, rear arms first, then Claws.

Left side done!

Right side!

And DING!  You have a fully assembled Genestealer!  Please wash, ribnse, and repeat for the other 7 that come in the box and , voila!  You have the beginnings of a mighty horde of Tyranids!

Deep Striking...

Stay tuned for next week, where I’ll be showing you a step- by- step painting guide for Hive Fleet Ouroboros.  Until then…

Cheers!

~MG

Warhammer Armee Building: Hive Fleet Ouroboros

Posted on by Pyo

So, if the title didn’t give it away, I got my hands on mah Tyranid Codex and have been busily plotting the destruction of the known universe- and the unknown ones, as well.  So this post will be centralized around the army I built and my thought processes as I chose units.

Tyranid Army: Hive Fleet Ouroboros, 1500 pt.

First, I should go over the Tyranid special rules.

Synapse Creature:  The more intelligent creatures of the Hive Mind’s, Synapse Creatures act as the vessels of the Hive Mind’s gestalt will. Effect:  Synapse creatures and all Tyranid units within 12″ are said to be in synapse range.  A unit in synapse range is not subject to its Instinctive Behaviour and gains the Fearless rule.

Instinctive Behaviour:  Unless controlled by a Synapse creature, Tyranids with this rule will revert to their baser instincts. Effects: Lurk (cannot Assault and may not move, and must fire at the nearest enemy in range during the Shooting phase) or Feed (attack the nearest enemy, subject to Rage.)

Shadow in the Warp:  Tyranids flood the battlefield with the overwhelming psychic signature of the Hive Mind. Effect:  any enemy psyker within 12″ of a Tyranid with the Shadow int he Warp rule must take their psyker tests (Ld?) by rolling 3D6 versus 2D6, and automatically suffer a Perils of the Warp effect on a double 1 or 6.

Ok, now that we’re done with that… ONTO THE LIST!  This list is very melee friendly armee, I do have a shooty one and a balanced one planned out but for now, this is what I’m going to run with until I get some playtests in.

Pics courtesy of 40korigins.com.

Here we go:

HQ:  Hive Tyrant- Bonded Exoskeleton, Lash whip and Bonesword, Scything Talons

Upgrades:  Wings + Old Adversary- 255 pts

Fear, thy name is Flyrant...

The Hive Tyrant (or Flyrant, since he has wings) its a pretty typical HQ choice for Nid armies.  He is a Synapse Creature and a Psyker- for this list, the powers he has are Leech Essence and Psychic Scream, and yes, they are as bad as they sound.  Wings allow him to move like Jump Infantry.  Old Adversary gives him, and any unit within 6″, the Preferred Enemy special rule.  The Rule of Thumb for Tyrants is this:  if they’re walking, give ‘em guns; if he’s flying, give ‘em claws.    He’s got the wings, so I left him with his bad ass melee weapons.

Elites:  Zoanthrope Brood x2- 120 pts

Looks relatively harmless... right?

These bad boys here are my tank busters.  No special upgrades on them- thought about Deep Striking them in Mycetic Spores, but decided against it for now.  These guys are Synapse creatures and Psykers  They have a 3+ Invulnerable save and Warp Lance, which is a S10 AP1 Assault 1 Lance attack designed to bust through vehicle armor like a hot Scything Talon through an Imperial Guardsman’s face.  Yum.

Hive Guard x2- 100 pts

Have a cannon.

These guys are my infantry eaters.  That cannon he’s got is an Impaler Cannon.  It does S8 AP4 assault 2 strikes with a 24″ range, great for taking out lightly armored troops in large amounts.  No special upgrades for these guys, either, they are suitable just the way they are.

Troops:  Tyranid Warriors x5- 200 pts

Upgrades: Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Rending Claws

Ok, here is the start of the footsloggers.  These guys are strong assaulters.  S4, T4, W3 and a 4+ save makes them pretty hard to get rid of.  They also serve as Synapse Creatures and have the Shadow in the Warp Rule.  With Rending Claws and Scything Talons, they get to reroll failed To Hit rolls of 1 and they do Rending Damage with their 3 attacks.  They’ll chew through armor.  The Adrenal Glands give them Furious Assault on a turn when they Assault, and Toxin Sacs impose an auto- wound on a 4+ To Hit roll.  These guys are built to get in and do as much damage as possible in the first Assault round.

Hormagaunts x20- 200 pts

Upgrades: Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs

And so the Swarms of the Devourer begin to swell.

Yep.  You saw it.  20 MODELS.  These guys are cheap and fast, S3, T3 and 2 attacks with a 6+ save, they fit the bill for your common infantry units.  I have 2 Broods of 20 of these for when I’m feeling swarmy.  However, for when I’m feeling a little more mean and froggy…

Genestealers x10- 200 pts

Upgrades: Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs

Because Genestealers are just downright SCARY.

I’ve got these.  And I’ll probably end up using them because ‘Stealers are win.  I can either keep them in a Brood of 10 or split them into 2 Broods of 5 with the same upgrades, for Infiltration purposes.  My shock troops, who will come in from table edges and annihilate units with their Rending Claws dealing S4 hits, T4 and 5+ Armor Save.  Me likie the ‘Stealers.  -evil grin-

Heavy Support:  Carnifex- 190 pts

Upgrades: Adrenal Glands, Bio- Plasma

GAME OVER, MAN!

And now we hit the heavies- starting with this most feared of Tyranids, the Carnifex.  With an astounding Strength value of 9- that’s right, NINE BITCHES- and T6 plus W4 and a 3+ Armor Save, this mofo is hard as hell to kill and he hits like a fucking tank with his 4 attacks.  The Bio- Plasma is his heavy ranged hit, dealing S7 AP2 Assault1 and Blast damage withing 12″ of him.  Failing that, he is a Living Battering Ram, giving him a +2 Initiative when he launches an Assault.  And if this bad boy isn;t enough, I’ve got more up my sleeve.

Trygon Prime- 240 pts

Recognize this guy?

You should… I put this same picture of him up a couple of posts ago.  His only upgrade was his elevated Prime status, which increased his Ld to 10 and gave him the following:  Synapse Creature and Shadows of the Warp.  Oh, and he’s got these things, called Containment Spines (S5, AP5, Assault 12, 18″ range) and Bio- Electric Pulse (S5 AP5 Assauly 6, 12″ range), which are both infantry killers.  What makes this unit valuable is his ability to Assault from underground, and his impressive statline: S6, T6, W6, 6 attacks, 3+ Armor save.  He’s my ‘Im in ur infantreez, killin ur dudez’ model.  And I look forward to abusing him as such.

Well, that’s it for the list.  Stay tuned later this week where I’ll be discussing the paint scheme I’m using on these bad boys and a step- by- step paint guide!  Until then…

Cheers!

~MG