Wargames Gallery 4-7-10

Speaking of the Dark Eldar...
Caption contest time

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LoTR NEWS: Battlehosts and New Miniatures

New Advanced Orders are up for War of the Ring. Games Work just uploaded a bunch of new miniatures to support the new Battlehosts supplement for War of the Ring.

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Tactica: The Butcher of Khardov pt. 2

Col_Festus here! So I wrote an overview of the Butcher earlier. I wanted to complete the review with some synergy with `jacks and unit/solos.

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EDITORIAL: I Have Become a Veteran

I Have Become a Veteran

(Hopefully They Don’t Issue Me the Plasma Gun!)

a guest column by Reece Robbins

That’s right; that special time when any gamer can truly call himself a grizzled veteran of the hobby has come and gone for me. I went to Adepticon, and I have to say, it was just as good as I had imagined.

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40K BATTLE REPORT: Imperial Guard vs Space Marines (Video)

Hi everybody.

The BoLS video battlereports continue. Today we have myself taking my new minimalist Space Marine army versus a nasty fully Mechanized Imperial Guard army. Can the Space Marine codex and Combat Tactics stand up to the feared Imperial Guard menace? Watch and see.



Subscribe to our new fancy BoLS YouTube Channel (you'll like it)

~Comments are welcome guys! You can expect many more battle reports and videos featuring all aspects of the hobby from your favorite writers, and more. Get on in there and let us know what you liked, wanted to see me improve, and of course Monday-morning quarterbacking is always great fun after a battle report.

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Wargames Gallery 4-6-10

"I have bound the Ruinous Powers to my will"
"You are deluded"

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Hobby: Painting Showcase - "Alice" at Adepticon

Somethng a little different today.  Adepticon had an open painting competition that allowed in any miniatures, across a variety of catefories and manufacturers.  It was truly a showcase of some of the best painting around.

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40K REVIEW: Blood Angels Baal Predator Kit

Hey all, Jawaballs here!

I finally got my new Baal Predator in on Saturday. (Still no BA White Dwarf Subscription if you are following that story. GW is really dropping the Baal on their subscribers.) Lets take a good look at the new kit.

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Are You Not Entertained? A CSM Gladiator Story

Jwolf here. I had a blast in this year’s Adepticon Gladiator with a list that was 180 degrees opposite of my Reaver Madness list from last year. Here's my Chaos Space Marine list and what happened.

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40K RUMORS: Dark Eldar Codex and Grey Knight Mumbles

 

So look what's been floating around on Facebook.  In particular, check out that monitor in the background, from what is described as a company who would have access to this document.

Do you guys see what I think I see? :) (turn to p.175 of the bgb for a big hint)

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Wargames Gallery 4-5-10

Iron Within, Iron Without!

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Eldar vs Blood Angel Grudge Match: BoLScon

Mark Your Calenders. The first night of  BoLScon, will see a battle like none have seen before.  On a Maiden World, a mighty Warhost of Eldar under the command of Farseer Fritz and his senior council of seers, shall face a monstrous Blood Angels task force under the command of Captain Jawaballs and his command staff.  These two eternal foes are aiming for nothing less than assembling the world's largest Eldar vs Blood Angels Apocalypse game...ever and BoLS is giving them all the time and space they need.  Every Eldar or Blood Angels player out there... your kin call for you in time of need.  Make ready for WAR!

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FLAMES of WAR: Improving Your Game

Two Concepts to Remember to Improve your FOW Game

So you picked an army, got it painted, played a few games….. and you lost every one! Obviously, you are doing something wrong, but what? You understand the formal rules in the rulebook, but what about the unwritten rules? You know the logic behind the game and how you play it. Two factors play a big part in the game. This is pretty basic, but oh so important.

Use that Terrain
Your random board should be between 33% and 66% covered with terrain. Anything less, really favors direct fire mobile armies(like heavy tank armies or medium tank swarms). Any thing more takes the advantage of combined arms away and pretty much leaves infantry the king of battle (because mobile armies cannot move). A good rule to follow at your club: if Tank Armies are winning more often than not, Add Terrain. If Infantry Armies are winning more often than not, Reduce Terrain.

Also, don’t think of terrain features as blobs. Man-made terrain tends to be very linear. Streets, roads, embankments, and even man-made landscapes can block LOS. Terrain also means that there is reason to fight for it as it provides cover and protection. When placing terrain, note that rivers, hills, and natural vegetation generally run in one direction in conjunction of the other, helping to make you divide up your board into smaller sections, and cutting down on the wide open spaces.

So what does this mean? Usually most games are played on 4x6 foot boards. That means that just about any centrally placed Tank/Artillery team with a 32 inch range can hit just about anything he can see. If you have terrain, then you can hide your infantry in woods or buildings and shorten the range of their nemesis to something that infantry can deal with. You can move your forces with out being seen whether behind or in Terrain. Remember, if they can't see you, then they can’t fire at you! If you are wholly in Terrain, then your LOS range is only 6 inches, but your opponent can only see you if they are within 6 inches as well. Terrain can bog tanks and weaken tank platoons, but if you are skilled, it might be worth it. Also, if infantry is in terrain and did not move, they can assault tanks without defensive fire. Furthermore, Armor assaulting infantry have to take a bog every assault, making it a risky proposition.
Also Terrain not only blocks LOS, but it provides concealment. Concealment gives the defending team a +1 to be hit from direct fire. If your team is on the edge of the woods, it gets not only concealment, but its full LOS from out of the woods. Also, if you don’t move and haven’t fired and concealed, then you get the added bonus of Gone to Ground.

The Power of Range
This game is all about 16 inches or less for close in combat and any over 16 inches is for the big guns. The reason is that game uses a telescoping gun scale. This range dynamic is what allows Armor, Artillery and Infantry to interact without warping the game. Remember, you can premeasure distance in FOW.

So with this in mind, 16 inches is the golden rule. For big calibre guns, anything over 16 inches suffers a +1 to hit and +1 to you opponents armor. 16 inches is also the minimum distance for aircraft wave offs and recon screens from ambushes. 16 inches in the maximum range for most infantry teams’ fire.

These plusses are stackable. Thus, if you have Veteran squad concealed in the woods, it is gone to ground and the firing platoon is over 16 inches - you can’t be hit. Veteran base to-hit is 4, with +1 Concealment, +1 Gone to Ground, and +1 is over 16 inches gives the unfortunate firing player a 7 target to-hit number. Try rolling a seven on a 6 sided die. Even a Trained Team can be a royal pain to hit with 6s in the above scenario.

So the next time you play, watch that terrain, and always know what 16" looks like.  Cadets, dismissed!

See you at the tables! Bluestroll out.

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Objective Challenge: VOTING!

Ok everybody, the 10 finalists for the Objective Challenge are in.  Get your judgeing glasses out, and let the voting begin.

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Goatboy's 40k Thoughts: Making the Game Experience Easy

Goatboy here again and today I wanted to talk about how to make the game a better experience. This is one of the ways to ensure that you have fun as well as your opponent has fun. This lets the game not become a thing of winning or losing, but more of a way spend a few hours with friends. So I want to give some of my common sense tips I use during any of my games.

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Wargames Gallery 4-4-10

Pic submitted by Brian Nero

NOOooo! My Rhino was just out of warranty!

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Hobby: The Word on Seal Coats pt. 1

I have received multiple requests asking me to write about sealing a miniature once it’s painted. Before you read this article please be sure to read both articles I have written on primer: “Primer on Primer” and “Q & A on Primer.” Many of the concepts I address in those articles apply to seal coats. As a note sealer and varnish are used interchangeably.

Sealer or varnish is, at the basic level, a clear solution of resin, oil or spirits used to protect a surface. It comes in gloss, semi-gloss or satin, and matte. Gloss provides the highest level of protection, while matte will make your figure look more realistic. Sealer comes in spray can and paint on varieties, and both have their purposes.

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Warmachine Weekly Roundup: 4-4-10

Swamp Troll

Another week, and a new set of Warmachine minis announced by Privateer.  Lets get to it:

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HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter everybody.  Get out there and contemplate its true deeper meaning in our modern society... with giant chocolate bunnies, and dyed eggs.  So who got the biggest bunny? I want measurements!

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40K SNEAK PEEK: Nightspinner & Manticore Tidbits

Take a look at this upcoming White Dwarf cover.  Hmm, not only is the Nightspinner referenced by name, but what could that Imperial Guard vehicle be???

Image brought to the community via dakka

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Wargames Gallery 4-3-10

Pic submitted by Gilles

Who remembers the Warp Hunter?  Ahhh memories...

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Warmachine: Forces of Warmachine: Khador Review

      The other night I manged to nick another book out of Bigred's bag.  This time it's the Warmachine: Forces of Khador book.  This hefty tome hit store shelves recently.  It's full color throughout and comes in at 144 pages.  The contents cover everything from the faction background, rules for every current Khador unit in the game, concept art, painting guides, and the Tier lists.  The background section is roughly 35 pages long, with an additional full page of info in every unit entry, and two pages (or more!) for the Warcasters.  Up and coming Kommanders will find a lot of detail on Khador's military organization, as well as the operational history of the three armies guarding the empire.

     A few things really stand out in this book.  The first, and most obvious is the full color.  Every page has color borders and most pages also have artwork as well.  Every unit page has a full color piece of art to go along with it, and there are 20 pages at the back detailing painting techniques for all the major faction colors and showing beautifully painted minis for every model in the faction, including the alternate sculpts for the Warcasters and classic metal Warjacks.  The second thing that really makes the book nice is the original background material.  For those new to Warmachine, Privateer Press has been at this for seven years and seven different books.  Even though every model/unit in this book has been covered before, and even though basic background for Khador has already been described in three versions of Prime, PP still managed to have tons of new information.  Even when the information isn't new, it's at least described from a new and interesting perspective.

     Now a few criticisms.  The unit rules themselves are available elsewhere, since you can pick up the card deck for $18.99 which includes rules for everything except the new units.  The book does put them in a single easy to read location however.  The other downside is the price tag.  This one isn't so much the price of the Khador book itself, but the comparison to the Prime MkII core rulebook which is almost double the size for the exact same price.  As a minor quibble, and this is my own personal lament, I wish the the painting/hobby section included more alternative color schemes.  The tradditional red scheme is the only one shown, with the exception of the Kodiak done in 5th Border Legion green and Beast '09 done in white.  It would have been nice to see more models done in alternative colors.

     So is the book worth the cost?  If you play the faction, or you're a fluff junkie, then yes.  The tier lists and all the information make it a great addition.  If you only want to read up on the rules to better know your foe, then I'd consider sticking to the card deck.  I started out with Khador myself, and even though I no longer play them, I can say that the quality of the book is sorely tempting my willpower and pocketbook.

The Menoth book is due out this next month with Cryx following in May.  I'm looking forward to seeing the new background in those.  Now I need to get this book back into Bigred's backpack before he notices it's gone!

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Warhammer Tactica: Undead Tarpit

Undead Tar pit
by
Revenant

This goes out to all the VC/TK players. Are dragons eating your zombies for breakfast? Does the Bloodthirster's Str7 firestorm blade make your lightchariots seem less then stellar. Today I am showing you how to tarpit big lone character models. What I mean by tarpit is: to hold them up for a turn. Buying you time to get out line of sight, set up a big charge, or finish grinding down a unit.

What will you need?

A unit of 7 undead 1 wound models with a champion upgrade. I prefer fast cav because the extra mobility means they can usually get to the desired spots. Vampires do it best with Direwolves. 7 Direwolves with a Doomwolf come in under a 100 points. Tomb Kings can do it as well with light cav at 112 points. The light cav is a bit pricey ,but, they can serve other purposes such as Liche Priest hangouts and they do have 7 bow shots a turn. The light cav also hit a little harder with the extra steed attack over the Direwolves.

How it works?

Charge any big character(Thirster/Dragon rider) with your fast cav. Or protect your flank with this unit and let it be charged by the big character. Make sure that champion is base to base. Next, issue a challenge. That's it. Unless the character gets support from another unit or can get some kind of magical +1 to combat resolution you are guranteed to hold him there for the turn. No overrunning for him. Use the time you have bought to setup a game winning charge or move out of his line of sight.

Lets do the math!

In a challenge a maximum of 5 overkill can be achieved. EX. Your Doomwolf challenges a Star Dragon with a High Elf Lord on top. A Stardragon has 6 attacks and another 4 from the Lord. The Dragon hits and wounds with all 7 attacks. The High Elf scores 6 for combat resolution(1 wound + Max 5 for overkill). The combat resolution is 6 for the dragon and 1(Outnumber) for the undead. The 6 remaining Direwolves suffer 5 wounds. Leaving a lone Direwolf left. In the example below: you can see the Blackknights and vampire were able to kill all the White Lions and stay relatively safe from the Dragon counter charge.


Any undead players out there BOLS? Do you think you will use this in your next game? How about it?

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40K Deep Thought: It's Safer in the Tank?!

So today I have a bone to pick.  I want to talk about what the deal is with every squad these days staying inside transports, and almost wanting to get shot out of them for the extra turns of protection.  What gives?

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40K NEWS: Blood Angels Ship!

It has been a very, very long time coming but the Sons of Sanguinius are with us!  Today the Blood Angels await you on the store shelves.  The first wave consists of the following miniatures:

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Wargames Gallery 4-2-10

The Dark Kin await their time...

~OK guys, get the cameras going! Lets see some great user submitted pics!
 If you have an awesome wargames shot you think would make a great BoLS pic of the day, email us. We love spectacle and characterful shots so lets see what you budding photographers can do! Warhammer 40k, Fantasy, Warmachine/Hordes & Flames of War shots are welcome.

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40K Review: Kill Team Battle Mission

In the 40K 4^th ed. hardback rule book we found one of my all time favorite ways to play 40K: Kill Team. There were all sorts of great rules for sneaking about and executing a special operations mission. The major drawback to this mission in 4^th ed. was that there were about 3 pages of rules that made Kill Team a game unto itself.

The new Battle Missions Book has taken on this mission, and given it some new life. I feel that in the new book we are losing some of the flavor of the old Kill Team mission. The ability to create kits, build your team from different codex entries, and really customize your team will be fondly missed by me. On the other hand the simplicity of the new mission really makes all that is now missing seem pretty insignificant.

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The Most Awesome 40K Character of All-Time

There was a passing line -- easily missed -- in the original Rogue Trader Rulebook published in 1987. This easily overlooked sentence referred to possibly the most awesome character in the history of the game.

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Wargaming ASKEW: Will the Original Playerbase Please Stand up?

This post contains copious amounts of Nerd Rage and possible hypocrisy you have been warned.


Have you seen him?



He is dead and sadly been replaced with this guy...






I really miss the first guy, he respected his art. It was an extension of him as a person. It was a way of life. The second guy only wants to win or revolutionize the mullet for the 21st century. He is really no different from a Lakers's fan--fake and full and botox. What "sweep the leg" was for Karate Kid now boring Mech Guard Lists are to 40k.

Gone are the historical nuts that just loved to put down a random assortment of Guard painted in the correct colors for their Battle for Stalingrad theme army. Instead we are now faced with wave after wave of players that find it easier to play what they read on the Internet than explore the 40k universe first. It especially doesn't feel right with Imperial Guard; shouldn't IG players be wearing silly military hats and always talking about Band of Brothers?

Maybe the second guy thinks that Ard' Boyz is the ultimate test of list building and the Leaf Blower is the pinnacle? Well it turns out that you just can't auto win without some playing testing of your newly Internet approved army. The blame though can't be solely placed on the Internet circus. I blame one thing more than any other.

It is you



Sorry wrong Valkyrie I meant this one

This little bugger has changed everything; with its large stand, cargo space, twin linked lascannons, and hot turbines. It gave Imperial Guard an easy way to break out of the Gunline paradise it once inhabited. With this one release the size matters 40k rednecks bought these faster than free beer with purchase of your monster truck rally ticket.

The result is the infestation of similar looking soulless armies that really have not won anything to justify their worship. The old IG player loved the IG regardless of win or loss and for that it made him a relic of 40k years gone past. They played the game as it was originally intended, for fun and stories.

In the time before the Internet you could walk into any local game store and simply look at an each person and know what army they played. Now I have to guess among the last three latest releases. I want my stereotypes back :( When was the last time you saw a honest to goodness rune necklace, wolf shirt wearing Space Wolf player? I certainly have not since the new codex. What I have seen though is Thunder Cav, Las Plas, Ed Hardy T-shirt wearing androids that have no idea Fenrisian refers to a planet.

I must be getting too old for this game, because why would I want to walk into a tournament and know that 1/3 of the players are playing basically the same army list and oddly don't even know how to play it. Last time I checked Warhammer 40k still does not require the Konami Code to win, no matter how much you think a Chimera plus Veteran Melta = ftw

So please for the good of the game look inside and play what really speaks to you, not just what you think will win. Trust me, because if you actually like what you are playing you can still win (including Necrons) with it. Wouldn't you rather be the player that gets flamed on the Internet for posting a Foot Eldar list than the mindless player cowed by the latest netdex consensus?

Even if deep down I don't believe it can win; my side is with the Foot Eldar guy, along with the World War II enthusiast and his Desert Fox IG force, and even the guy that thinks that Dante would be cooler if he looked this...




Wait I take that last part back-- no one should anime emo their Blood Angels.

Is there a problem with people taking Internet lists and not knowing how to play their armies? Do the old school players still exist? Would you rather see more variety or what you think are "good" lists?


Never fear TastyTaste and Blood of Kittens is here!

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40K Review: Blood Angels Rundown: Elites

Mr. Black here once again, we've made it past HQs and now we're rolling onto Elites, showing off some of the most interesting units to grace the gaming table.

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Wargames Gallery 4-1-10

The gobbos are too many!!! RUN!!!

~OK guys, get the cameras going! Lets see some great user submitted pics!
 If you have an awesome wargames shot you think would make a great BoLS pic of the day, email us. We love spectacle and characterful shots so lets see what you budding photographers can do! Warhammer 40k, Fantasy, Warmachine/Hordes & Flames of War shots are welcome.

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40K HOBBY: Lemartes and the Death Company

"He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious."

It was about 3 years or so ago when I first started my Blood Angels. I had always been a fan of the chapter, probably my favorite one. When a friend decided to sell off a small Blood Angels force that he'd purchased for his son (after he'd lost interest), I was first in line.

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FoW NEWS: Rankings HQ Global Ranking System Announced

Battlefront just announced they are rolling out a global online ranking system with Rankings HQ, to allow both large events and infividual players the ability to enter and track their gaming stats worldwide. Here is the full info:

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40K RUMORS: Dark Eldar Rules (On April Fools)

Look what popped up on Warseer today:

Intriguing; a giant raftload of very detailed Dark Eldar rumors show up on April 1st, and have the names of several Warseer mods sprinkled within.

Now that's just cruel. Like I always say...Caveat Emptor indeed...  Consider this debunking a community service :)

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40K TACTICS: Creating Skimmer Walls

Fritz here from Way of Saim-Hann.  The ability to generate cover saves on the go is one of the major strengths of mech-Eldar over the other 40K races in the game. Lets take a detailed look.

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Tournament Preparation and You!

After returning from another fantastic Adepticon weekend, I was thinking about all the things we do to prepare for major tournaments. There are a number of fairly obvious things, and some that are less obvious that I’d like to talk about – I want all of you in top form for BoLSCon in July.

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