PEW PEW EXTREME!

Fortress of Redemption

2011-09-06T10:59:00.000-07:00

Finally, my Fortress of Redemption is ready to hit the tabletop:

Twin Linked Lascannon

Nemesis Tersera: Battle for Orbital Laser Canaba

2011-07-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

The campaign for the Planet of Nemesis Tersera began with the Imperial forces conducting a bold assault on Orbital Laser Canaba. Defending the facility were a small group of Chaos Space Marines. Due to harsh snow storms, the Chaos forces were unable to effectively target the oncoming Dark Angels and Blood Angels. The majority of the combat was conducted in brutal close quarters combat - where the Blood Angels excelled. Orbital Laser Canaba was captured by the Space Marines.

Dark Angels and Blood Angels converge on a squad of Chaos Space Marines.

DnD Miniature Madness!

2011-06-02T22:41:00.001-07:00

After sensing a little bit of burnout from Warhammer 40K miniatures, I decided to change things up by painting some Reaper miniatures. Their line of miniatures can be rather hit-and-miss, but here's a handful that I really liked:

Trionoras: Final Battle at St. Gaven Bridge

2011-04-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

The remaining Chaos forces on Trionoras once again assaulted St. Gaven Bridge. The combined forces of the Imperial Guard, Space Wolves, Sisters of Battle and Dark Angels successfully repelled the attacking rebels. Following this defeat, the Chaos lords ordered a complete withdrawal from Trionoras.

Belial leads the Deathwing to victory.

Moments before his death, a lone Ravenwing sgt. challenges a Defiler.

The Dark Angels capture a vital objective.

Trionoras: Assault on Khol Anka

2011-04-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

The Imperial forces attacked the final Chaos held territory on Trionoras. The rebel Space Marines fought relentlessly, momentarily stopping the advance of the Dark Angels and Blood Angels. Ultimately, it was the Space Wolves who managed to break the defensive line and deliver Khol Anka into Imperial control.

The Dark Angel scouts show no fear even as the "Hand of Chaos" reaches into the battlefield.

Hobby Update: Infinity

2011-04-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

I've had a starter box of Aleph faction Inifnity models for a while now. So last week I decided to actually start putting them together. Since the Aleph are ultra high-tech, I didn't want to base them in the usual sand and rocks style. Instead, I went with some plasticard and etched brass bits.

I have no idea if the actual game is any good but I definitely think that the Infinity line of miniatures are some of the best in the industry. See for yourself - Infinity.

Change is Coming!

2011-04-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of my work in progress Daemon Prince:

Trionoras: Defense of St. Gaven Bridge

2011-04-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

A large contingent of Chaos Space Marines assaulted St. Gaven Bridge. Imperial command sent Space Marines of the Space Wolves, Blood Angels and Dark Angels chapters in its defense. After engaging in brutal combat, the two forces were locked in a stalemate. St. Gaven Bridge remained under Imperial control.

Trionoras: Victory at Andur Bridge

2011-03-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Infuriated by the long fought stalemate at Andur Bridge, Sammael was determined to finally overwhelm the Chaos defenders. He called upon the orbiting strike cruiser, Sword of Redemption, to deliver the full might of their mechanized forces. Sammael lead a force of 2 Dreadnoughts, 2 Predators, 1 Vindicator and 2 Razorbacks to attack Andur Bridge. The Iron Warriors defenders fought valiantly but were ultimately defeated. Andur Bridge was claimed by the Imperium of Man.

A lone Obliterator stands defiant in front of the Dark Angel gun line.

A Chaos Defiler looking to outflank the Dark Angels.

Trionoras: St. Gaven Bridge

2011-03-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

The Death Mage Space Marines attempted to capture Imperial held St. Gaven bridge. The Dark Angels came to the bridge's defense. After engaging the Chaos forces in fierce combat, the Dark Angels managed to successfully repel the Death Mages.

Trionoras: Andur Bridge

2011-03-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Seeking to deal a crippling blow to the Chaos forces, Imperial command sent the Dark Angels and the Blood Angels to capture Andur Bridge. The Chaos space marines managed to defend the bridge as the Iron Warriors defeated the Blood Angels and the Death Mages fought the Dark Angels to a stalemate.

Wound Allocation Explained

2011-03-15T14:52:00.001-07:00

Wound allocation is one feature of the 5th edition 40k rules system that a lot of people seem to have difficulty wrapping their heads around. So here's my shot at trying to explain it as simply as possible.

WOUND ALLOCATION BASICS:

To illustrate, pretend we have 3 Blood Angels. After being shot by a squad of firewarriors, they need to make 6 armour saves:

The first thing we have to do is divide the wounds as evenly as possible. Simple enough. Here there would be 2 wounds to each model:

Now here's were people get confused. All the models that have the same stats and wargear group their wounds and roll them together. Here the two tactical marines are exactly the same (boltguns) so they group their 4 wounds together. The marine with the flamer is different so he keeps his two wounds separate:

This is a mistake people often make. The wounds are rolled without grouping them among like models:

(wrong!)

This mistake may not seem like a big deal but here is why it matters. So the 1st marine rolls his saves and fails both. The second marine and the marine with the flamer successfully make all their saves. So the result is 2 marines survive:

(wrong!)

If the wounds were rolled for correctly, the two identical marines roll their 4 wounds together. They fail 2 and succeed in 2. They both die. So here the result is only one marine survives:

(Correct!)

As you can see, we had the same exact dice rolls in both scenarios but very different results.

ALLOCATING FOR ADVANTAGE:

It's important to understand that the player being attacked decides how the wounds are allocated. This can lead to what some consider cheesy tactics, but it is a crucial part of the game. Allocating for advantage often comes into play when you're dealing with wounds that are caused by different types of weapons.

To illustrate, let's look at the same three space marines. This time a squad of guardsmen laid into them, inflicting 6 wounds - 2 from plasma guns(red) and 4 from lasguns(yellow):

OPTION I:

4 of the wounds(2 plasma and 2 lasgun) are assigned to the bolter marines and the 2 remaining lasguns wounds are assigned to the marine with the flamer. As marine armor offers no protection against plasmaguns(AP2), the 2 marines automatically die. The marine with the flamer is the only survivor:

OPTION II:

The player could allocate the 2 plasma gun wounds to the marine with the flamer and the 4 lasgun wounds to the marines with bolters. In this case, only the marine with the flamer dies and the 2 marines with bolters survive:

To recap, understanding wound allocation can definitely help your game because it allows you to better protect your valuable weapons specialists or independent characters(option I) or make sure you keep as many members of a unit alive as possible(option II).

Trionoras: St. Gaven Bridge

2011-03-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

Once again the forces of Chaos attempted to conquer St. Gaven Bridge. Despite suffering heavy losses, the Dark Angels held firm and successfully defended the vital territory.

Trionoras: Battle for St. Gaven Bridge

2011-02-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

Sammael and Belial lead a force of Deathwing and Ravenwing Space Marines in a surpise attack on the Chaos forces holding St. Gaven Bridge. The Dark Angels were successful in taking the bridge away from the traitor guardsmen defending it.

More Imperial Propaganda

2011-02-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

I-I thought I s-s-saw a D-D-D-Dark Angel.

Behold the Might of Chaos!

2011-02-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

The Chaos forces have been shorthanded in the recent campaign. Imperial scouts managed to find their missing troops:

Battle For Trionoras: Week 4

2011-02-02T11:23:00.000-08:00

The Dark Angels suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Iron Warriors. Still, the Imperium was successful in capturing Andur Bridge thanks to the victories of the Sisters of Battle and the Adeptus Mechanicus.

The Dark Angels advance on the Iron Warriors bunker.

The Deathwing are caught off guard by a group of Khorne Berserkers.

Chaos Terminators walk away from the burning ruins of the Master of the Ravenwing's Landspeeder.

Battle for Trionoras: Week 3

2011-01-30T17:32:00.000-08:00

The Chaos forces conducted an all out assault on Kasr Gerh. Space Marines of the Iron Legion and Death Mages were joined by a contingent of Traitor Imperial Guardsmen in this effort. Opposing them were Imperial Astartes and Sisters of Battle.

Traitor Imperial Guardsmen move towards the bombed out ruins of Kasr Gerh.

To the surprise of the Imperial Command, the Dark Angels defenders were lead by Belial and Sammael the masters of the Deathwing and Ravenwing.

Sammael and the Ravenwing move swiftly to outflank the Chaos forces.

The Dark Angels engaged the rebel forces in fierce city fighting. As the battle wore on, the traitor guardsmen found themselves unable to match the Deathwing Terminators in close combat. Overwhelmed, the rebels were forced to withdraw from the mission.

Having successfully repelled the traitor guardsmen, the Dark Angels were ordered by Imperial Command to support the Mechanicum Marines and Sisters of Battle. In a bizarre turn of events, Belial refused the request and teleported back to orbit in the Sword of Redemption. Despite their valiant efforts, the remaining Imperial forces were defeated by the Chaos Space marines. Kasr Gerh fell into the hands of the Chaos invaders.

Belial and his Terminators teleported out of the battlefield as soon as they secured this mysterious individual.

Battle for Trionoras: Week 2

2011-01-18T23:28:00.001-08:00

"Show no Mercy for these Traitors!"

-Brother Sergeant Malachi

Following their defeat in PORT ILOL, the Chaos forces set their sights on the food producing city of KHOL KIMRA. Sensing this impending attack, the Imperial Command tasked the Dark Angels, lead by the Librarian Nicodemus, with the duty of defending this valuable territory.

The Chaos forces were frustrated in their assault as many of their troops were delayed in their arrival onto the battlefield. As a result, the early portion of the battle saw the Dark Angel gunline cutting down the invading forces as they charged forward in small segments. Infuriated by these early losses, the Khorne Lord sent wave after wave of more troops at the Dark Angels. The Chaos forces were so relentless in their attack that the tide of battle was beginning to swing in their favor. In the end, the Chaos commanders realized that they couldn't afford to lose any more marines in this single encounter. The traitorous forces were ordered to withdraw from the battle leaving KHOL KIMRA in the control of the Dark Angels.

Mission: Black Crusade
Result: Dark Angels (Win 11pts) - Chaos (Loss 5pts)

Taros Campaign: Ork Victory!

2010-08-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

It was a long and grueling campaign but Warboss Gorgog Badzagga and his World Chompas finally managed to drive the Imperial forces out of Taros.

With the desert planet overrun by Orks, Imperial command decided that the time had come to accept defeat and make their retreat. The final battle saw the Guard with their backs against the wall. Their primary objective was to simply slow down the Ork horde in an attempt to buy time for the evacuation of the human population. Assigned with this task was a mechanized force of Imperial Guardsmen being led by a Shadowsword super-heavy tank. The Ork Warboss sent a mechanized force of his own to break through the Imperial defensive line. To ensure his victory, Badzagga deployed his prized Stompa, Gorg-zilla.

The battle had a disastrous start for the Guardsmen as their Shadowsword was immediately struck by an Ork missile. The blast managed to destroy the tank's powerful volcano cannon. The Imperials were never able to recover from this loss as Gorg-zilla was free to run amok. With just one sweep of it's supa-gatler, the Stompa destroyed a squadron of three chimeras. Protected by a Kustom Force Field, the ork infantry were able to safely reach the front line of the Imperial forces. The Orks managed to assault and destroy a squadron of three Leman Russ tanks.

With Planet Taros free of the Imperial Guard and Blood Angel Space Marines, Warboss Gorgog Badzagga soon found himself bored. So he loaded his Battleship with a fresh supply of food (i.e. human slaves) and set off to the stars in search of new wars to wage.

High Executioner Reznik

2010-08-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Jedi mind tricks of my bud, Tim Divar, I find myself delving into the geeky awesomeness that is Warmachine. While Warhammer 40k is still my favorite system, I think that Warmachine is a great way to mix things up and avoid burn out.

After looking over the various factions in the Iron Kingdoms, it was the Protectorate of Menoth that popped out to me as the most interesting. What could be cooler than fielding an army of crusading religious zealots?! I also find that their model range has a lot of really fun and characterful miniatures available.

Here's a picture of High Executioner Reznik, the Warcaster that's leading my force:

As soon as I saw his model, I knew that Reznik would be commanding my army. He's actually the first Protectorate miniature that I've painted. While the standard Menoth paint scheme consists of white and purple I chose to go a different direction. I really wanted my army to feel very imposing and "inquisitorial" so I went with black, red and gold (sorry Khador.) Overall, I'm pleased with how he turned out and now I'm looking forward to painting up some warjacks.

San Diego Comic Con Awesomeness!

2010-07-27T08:34:00.001-07:00

I just got back from this past weekend's San Diego Comic Convention. It was an awesome experience being in the epicenter of all things geeky. While it seems like the con is now focused on movies, television shows and video games, I still managed to find some cool stuff that us table-top wargamers would be into.

First off, I got to meet the man himself, Dan Abnett. Here's a picture of us (ya we're BFF):

He was a really nice guy and seemed genuinely happy to be around his readers. Dan said that he's feeling a lot better after his recent health issues and he's excited about the upcoming release of the next Horus Heresy novel, Prospero Burns. I got him to sign my copy of Horus Rising and a little promotional picture of the upcoming Ultramarine movie.

Despite GW having almost no presence at the San Diego Con I was surprised to see quite a few Warhammer 40K fans dressed up in sweet looking costumes. Here are a couple of Death Korps cosplayers:

I found some Dust Tactics mini's on display as well. I think the walker-tanks look totally cool:

The actual troop miniatures are nice as well:

Finally, I have to give props to Privateer Press. Just for showing up and having a presence at the big show is impressive to me. From a promotional standpoint, it seems like they're doing a lot of things right. I couldn't resist buying the Voltron miniature game boxed set along with their comic con exclusive Lotron figure. Here's an amazing display they made for the Monsterpocalypse game:

Overall, the San Diego Convention was a amazing. I'm already looking forward to next year's show. Hopefully I'll see you folks there!

Apocalypse Recap

2010-06-29T01:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had a blast playing a game of Apocalypse. Misguided League Bowlers (that's my gaming group's name) in attendance for this battle were Lynell, Tim, Chris, Todd, Scooter and Solomon. This get together actually doubled as a birthday celebration for Tim.

The armies were split up with the theme of "Xenos vs Imperium." Orks, Tyranids, Tau and Eldar made up the Xenos forces while the Imperium forces were made up of Space Marines. In all there were 16000 points of models duking it out in this game! Below is a shot of a Space Wolf Rune Priest standing firm against an oncoming Stompa:

Despite the admirable efforts of the Imperial forces, the Xenos were ultimately too much to overcome. The main reason being the combined might of an Ork Stompa and a Tyranid Hierophant Bio Titan:

Once we called an end to the game, the Xenos had control of two objectives versus none for the Space Marines. Here Warboss Gorgog Badzagga tries to control a valuable objective.:

Big thanks to Tim for hosting the event at his house. Thanks also to Cundo, Jay and Lynell for providing such an awesome table:

Why I am the luckiest man alive

2010-06-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, miniature war gaming is one of the geekiest hobbies known to the human species. I myself am an admitted miniature war gamer, a Warhammer 40K gamer to be specific. For me this means a number of things:

1. I am crazy about science fiction.
2. I spend an enormous amount of time building and painting hordes of tiny toy soldiers.
3. Every week I get together with friends, break out my measuring tape, dice, templates and we actually play with our armies of tiny toy soldiers.

So this past week it felt really nice when I received this photo-message on my phone:

I hope my miniature will bring the Lakers good luck tonight. :)

Not only does my girlfriend accept me for the geeky gamer that I am...she proudly decorates her cubicle with a DARK ANGEL SPACE MARINE!

Ranking the Best 40K Podcasts

2010-06-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

As a Warhammer 40k player, I am totally excited about the recent growth in the number of 40K-themed podcasts. While most are simply terrible, there is a handful of shows out there that I enjoy. I've found that listening to these shows can be a great way to keep myself entertained through long painting sessions or even just commuting to work. If anything, it's interesting to listen to the different opinions and ideas that other people have about the hobby.

Here's a quick rundown of my top 6 Warhammer 40k podcasts:

#1. The Independent Characters
These new kids on the block have a very infectious enthusiasm for the 40k hobby.

#2. 40K Basement
A funny group of hardcore gamers. Their "gay-innuendo" sense of humor seems eerily familiar.

#3. The 11th Company
Just a solid show that is heavily focused on the strategy aspect the game.

#4. Imperial Vox Cast
This San Diego based podcast does a good job of covering the west coast 40k scene.

#5. Gamers Lounge
I like that this show encourages more fluffy or themed gameplay as opposed to the win-at-all-costs tournament mentality. They also have a lot of discussion about the 40K blogging scene.

#6. Dice Like Thunder
At times these guys can be good and other times they can be overly cynical.

Well there you go. Give these podcasts a try. They can be a good source of inspiration for your own hobbying experience.

Taros Campaign: Assault on Port Kantrael

2010-06-08T01:21:00.000-07:00

In an epic battle of mechanized forces, the World Chompas managed to defeat the Imperial defenders. Warboss Gorgog Badzagga successfully captured the planet's sole Space Port.

Taros Campaign: Descent of Angels

2010-05-28T02:06:00.000-07:00

Following their defeat at Bastion 13, Imperial command called upon the Blood Angels for support. Scouts reported that Warboss Gorgog Badzagga had left the Bastion, intent on overtaking manufactorum facilities in sector 4. With the Warboss gone, the Blood Angels planned a surprise attack on the Ork held fortress.

The remaining Ork defense proved to be too much for the attacking Blood Angels. Lead by Big Mek Zodgor Waznagga, the Orks threw hordes of heavily armoured tanks and walkers at their attackers.

The Blood Angels offensive was spearheaded by a Land Raider occupied by a squad of tactical marines. The tank shot all of its weapons into the side of the most dangerous Ork vehicle, the Battlewagon. To the surprise of the Imperials, the lascannons only managed to inflict glancing damage onto the Ork vehicle. In reply, the Battlewagon rammed its mighty Deffroller directly into the Land Raider, causing it to explode. The surviving marines piled out of the wreckage only to be assaulted by a mob of 19 blood thirsty shoota boyz. The Astartes stood their ground and fought valiantly, but ultimately were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the ork mob.

The rest of the Blood Angel units arrived via jumpack deepstrike. Furious from the loss of their ancient Land Raider, the unit of Sanguinary guard wrecked the Battlewagon with a well placed blast from an infernus pistol. This small victory was short-lived as the remaining Blood Angel assault units found themselves ill-equipped to deal with an Ork Deff Dread accompanied by a squadron of 3 Killa Kans. Eventually, the Astartes fell as they were withered down by salvo after salvo of weaponry from the Ork Walkers.

Taros Campaign: Battle for Bastion 13

2010-05-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

The campaign in Taros has seen little progress as the Orks and the Imperial forces have been locked in a virtual stalemate. The Imperium, desperate to make further ground into the desert planet, attempted a daring assault on an Ork controlled bastion (Territory 13.) The Cadian 420th, accompanied by a small contingent of Grey Knights, were given this assignment. Below is a map of the planet:

The World Chompas, lead by Warboss Gorgog Badzagga himself, managed to successfully defend their bastion. The Imperial forces came to the battle armed to the teeth with heavy weaponry, Chimeras and Leman Russ Tanks. The Ork defenders were immediately bombarded by the powerful arsenal of the Guardsmen. The humans were shocked to see that almost every shot exploded before its' target was reached. Noticing a shimmering effect of static electricity after each shell impacted, they soon realized that the Orks were employing the use of a Big Mek's Kustom Force Field. With the humans unable to crack this energy barrier, the Orks were able to drive right up to the Imperial gun line and charge into assault.

Severely outmatched by the Orks in hand-to-hand combat, the only remaining hope for the Guardsmen was the arrival of the legendary Grey Knight Terminators. They eventually did arrive via deepstrike, but to the horror of the Imperial Command, a mishap of technology caused the Terminators to land so far from the battle that they were rendered ineffective.

The 420th were dealt severe casualties during the raid. This blurry image is the only transmission that Imperial Command was able to receive from the failed mission.

(No, the autocannon was not able to destroy the Deff Dread)

Skarbog and the Skabz

2010-05-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

"No 'umies can escape my 'arpoon!"
-Nob Skarbog

This unit was loads of fun to paint. Without a doubt I had the best time painting up the Nob leader, Skarbog. I like the look of his half orange face as well as his grim expression. If you look closely, his power klaw is actually a harpoon-looking device! I have no idea if that bit was actually meant to be used as a power klaw, but it looked way too cool to pass up:P The rest of the unit, the Skabz, is made up of one boy with a big shoota and ten boyz with choppas and sluggas. Mean, dirty and bloody - that's my motto when it comes to painting this ork army.

Warboss Gorgog Badzagga

2010-05-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

"Blood for da Blood Boss!"

-Gorgog Badzagga

Introducing the Arch-Killa Warboss Gorgog Badzagga. This fella is the very first miniature that I've painted for my custom Ork Clan, Da World Chompas. I wanted the army to pop out on the tabletop so I chose to give them an orange and white color scheme. No sophisticated painting techniques here - mostly just basecoats and washes. After putting a dull coat on the model, I went back and put a gloss coat on the power klaw to give the blood a wet look. Overall, I'm really happy with the result.

Gorgog's story is that his clan was lost in the Warp for nearly a century. During that time, he fought countless battles with monsters, daemons and chaos space marines. He was so impressed with the ferocity of the World Eaters that he named his Clan Da World Chompas. Now he is driven by his ambition to become greater than all of the Chaos Gods that he encountered in the Nightmare Realm. I still have a lot of fleshing out to do with Gorgog's fluff. Hopefully, the Taros campaign will provide a lot of cool stories for him:)

Pew! Pew!

2010-05-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

(cat armor by Jeff De Boer)

Welcome to the very first post of PEW PEW EXTREME! I thought my friend's blog, Cadian 113th Shock Troops, was so cool I felt inspired to start my own. In the coming weeks I hope to fill this blog with pictures and stories covering all of my geeky wargaming exploits. Subjects will include battle reports, campaign news, hobby projects and some of my own gaming inspired artwork.

Currently, Warhammer 40K is my primary interest when it comes to game systems. So expect to see a lot of posts covering my two armies - Orks and Dark Angel Space Marines. I'm also looking into the games Warmachine and Infinity.

I'm expecting a lot of feedback from my gaming group, the Misguided League Bolwers:)

Well that's about it for now. Keep checking back.