Apocalypse @ Legends

This Sunday July 20^th Legends Gaming will be kicking off its first major campaign “The Battle for Periphery” by staging a massive 14,000 point apocalypse game! The fall of hive Regrax will be a showcase battle between Tyranids and the Imperial guard (Astra Militarum) who are desperately trying to hold off the Tyranid invasion while the civilian population tries to evacuate the doomed city. This Sunday will also be the official start of the campaign, so players who have signed up or sign up at the event will be able to start playing through the first tier of kill team games (500 points) 

 It's shaping up to be a pretty epic throw down between some pretty awesome armies (Chucks nids always a visual treat when deployed en force) So if your free this Sunday, swing by the store, we'll be set up in the overflow space next to the game side, we will also have plenty of tables set up for anyone wanting to play campaign missions, or get in a pickup game or just hang out and hobby. 

One last blurb. The latest episode of “The Stuff of Legends” is up, this week we talk about the upcoming campaign (I know, shocker right) hobby progress and games played for the week and general news for the gaming group.

iTunes

Direct download

 

Cheers

-Scott

BH Senior Sauceror 

P.S.

If you want to know what the gaming group is up to on a regular basis check out the Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Legends40k/

TSoL Episode 22 and Wednesday Workshop

Episode 22 of 'The Stuff of Legends'  podcast is now live. This episode we go over some hobby progress  and follow up on the new Orks codex in the games played. To cap it off, Chuck goes over the rules for the upcoming campaign at Legends. As always you can find and subscribe to TSoL through iTunes at the link below, or download the show from the direct link.

But wait there's more! This Wednesday 7/9/14 Ian Mccarson of inked eyes studio will be hosting a workshop on miniature basing techniques at Legends Comics and games in Cupertino CA. There is no fee to attend but you will need to bring your own paints and brushes if you want to participate in the workshop tutorials. Things kick off at 6PM and we expect to go till at least 8PM. Some come on by if your interested in making your minis a little more dynamic.


iTunes Link
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stuff-of-legends/id832274658?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Direct Download
http://stuffoflegends.libsyn.com/

Cheers

-Scott
BH SeniorWeirdboy

The Stuff of Legends Episode 21

 

Episode 21 of "The Stuff of Legends" is now live. We talked about the new Ork codex release and some initial impressions of the book and the new models. Bill makes a guest appearance as our live studio audience as well. On a side note, its amazing what you can do with two hours and a box cutter and a can of primer.


Check it out here
http://traffic.libsyn.com/stuffoflegends/sol_21.mp3



Cheers

-Scott
BH Senior Waagh master.

Quick Review: Ahriman Exile

 

As you may have gleaned from the title, this novel follows the story of the Chaos sorcerer supreme Ahriman. The story setting takes place in the 41^st millennium and primarily focuses on Ahriman’s rise or descent to power as a renegade sorcerer. The book itself is not super weighty, its about  416 pages that are not densely packed with text (it’s not a Dan Abnett tome to be sure) which makes it a fairly easy book to pick up and read when you have a spare moment I actually stopped and started reading it about three times over the course of two months, but the story is written well enough that I didn’t find myself helplessly lost or having to go back to certain parts to refresh myself. So in that way it makes a great summer reader or travel/vacation book.

The story itself is well written and is a good reflection on the author John French who is a rather recent addition to BL’s stable. While I have not read any of his other works, French does a great job of keeping the reader interested in the plot, weaving long and detailed combat scenes with subtle plots that feed into the main story and reveal more about who Ahriman really is or was. Over all I felt more like I was reading someone's personal Journal rather than watching a story unfold from some imaginary corner of the room, French’s style of describing battle scenes is also quite refreshing, there were multiple times where I would read a couple paragraphs that described a fight that in reality only lasted a couple seconds, but the action flows very well in these scenes and it never felt repetitive or gratuitous. There is also a decent supporting cast of characters that provide a decent B story to help the main plot move along, again not a lot of dense details, just a good light background on the supporting cast to help break up some of the longer bits.

The over all narrative of the story is mostly focused on the power of choice, and you definitely see the results of the ones that each character makes as the book progresses, again this is an area that French does a fantastic job in. Over all it felt like I was reading several mini-sodes out of the larger story, I don’t want to get to into the plot but I will say that there is the usual amount of grimdark splashed over everything, but it doesn't feel as overbearing as it does in some of the other BL series. I would say even if your not a fan of Chaos this book is still a solid read, on the other side of the coin if your really into thousand sons this is almost a required read.

I feel I am starting to ramble on a bit so I'll wrap it up. This book basically follows Ahriman around the universe whilst he solves groovy mysteries with his gang of scrappy renegades and outcasts as they track down the mysterious source of the hunters that have been sent to kill him, things get dicey when Ahriman realizes the truth has been with him all along and has to go on a  journey of rediscovery and personal development that will allow him the face down the demons that pursue him and unlock his true potential. The story was good but it definitely feels like its meant to be part of a series rather than a standalone novel, but its pretty easy to get into the plot and it’s a fairly quick read for anyone who enjoys BL novels. So if you like Thousand suns, or you just want to learn a bit more about Ahriman I can definitely recommend this book, same goes if your looking for a quick 40k fluff fix in your down time.

Check it out here

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/ahriman-exile.html

Cheers

-Scott

The Stuff of Legends: Episode 17

Episode 17 of "The Stuff of Legends" is out now on iTunes and direct download. This week Chuck, Ian and I talk about our first impressions on 7th edition and the psychic phase and the upcoming Valedor campaign at the shop. There's also a bit of hobby progress and the boys dish a bit on the new Orkanought kit coming out this week. You can grab the episode off iTunes, or direct download from the links below.

iTunes
Direct download



Cheers

-Scott

Warhammer Wednesday/More dakka

Not sure if everyone was aware, but we are all stilt basking in the radiant heat of a new edition release of 40k, you know for the three of you who don't have internet connections or eyeballs that may still be un aware. To be honest I have not been diving head first into the rules and I have yet to get a game in, I have been letting the internet handle picking out the minutiae rules wise and use the time I save doing that by reading up on the fluff and painting. That being said its been a busy week, both hobby wise and at work, so I don't really have much to offer in the way of an in death look at 7th other than the book set is quite well done and doesn't feel flimsy and I love the fact that I only have to carry two books in my bag now (rules, codex) There's a lot of crunch in this new edition, so I don't expect to be seeing any substantial reports for at least a month or two when everyone has had time to really play it out.

Hobby stuff:
Like I said, this week was a busy week for me hobby wise and a slightly expensive on, s you can see below I decided to round out my armor and throw an extra Baneblade into my collection (I have two now plus a shadow sword) being a guard player you can never have enough tanks, this was especially true when I played an apocalypse game with Chuck (also pictured below) and fellow commander Bill (not pictured) That game made me realize two things, one; I didn't have all my armor painted to match my over all theme and two; I needed more tanks on the table. So I went over to Legends and picked up the Hammer.

Last Wednesday was also the first official Warhammer Wednesday over at Legends, which I initially thought I would have to head up myself to drum up some interest but as it turned out I didn't have to do much, by the time I showed up, there were already several people getting ready to play, unfortunately one group didn't get their rule book order in in time to get a copy before they all sold out, but two fine gents Rick and Mike stopped by to get an unbound game they both looked like they were enjoying the new rule set and getting a chance to play unbound.

 



Unfortunately I didn't get to spend much time next door, but we had some 40k action going on in the overflow space as well, next time I will try to have some more tables set up in the main store for Warhammer Wednesday (which will be on the 11th) Feel free to come and play anytime, the table in the main shop is usually open and if need be the overflow/table top room can be opened if there is a large group that wants to play.

Ok confession time, this article was supposed to come out/be written last Thursday, that obviously didn't happen, but it did give me a chance to finish up assembling and priming most of the Russ's and the bane blade I have been stripping, sniping and assembling and priming since Wednesday night, the end result was totally worth it though, I am also going to try to batch these guys with my airbrush  and give my new spray booth a whirl sometime next week.

That's all I have for now, going to be at Legends today/tonight. The escalation league has re-set to 500pts now that 7th ed is out. We will be recording the podcast tonight as well, so keep an eye out for the episode to drop tonight or tomorrow.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stuff-of-legends/id832274658?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Cheers

-Scott
BH Senior Batter Fluffer

Hobby Night: The Deuce

 

Before I get to into it, episode 15 (a Farwell to 6th) of "The Stuff of Legends" is up on iTunes and available for download, his episode Chuck Ian and I talk a bit about the new psychic table and some of the confirmed tidbits for 7th edition and league news in general. Hit up the links below and have a listen.

iTunes
Direct download

This one is a little late, but it's been a crazy busy/ productive last couple of days for me so I don't feel to broken up about it. Last Thursday found me in the good company of my cohorts Chuck and Ian, we gathered yet again for a night of beer, wieners and 40k (or in Chucks case 30k) It was another fantastic evening of hobby and entertainment, a few snapshots of which I have included below. This time there should be significant less dramatic glare.

 

Ian with his big manly man hands and puma scars cuts his first decal ever (was surprised to learn this) from a dark elder transfer sheet.

 

 

Remember this guy from last time? This is the final piece, I introduced Ian to "blood for the blood god" and I think it added a nice touch of slick gore to the final piece, over all a great scene.

 

Chucks resin graveyard of mechanicum bits, these guys (I don't remember exactly what he was working on) have an insane level of detail on every piece. 

 

There was beer, and there was high powered lasers burning initials into various walls and pieces of furniture "lasers, like how do they work man, its like magic."

Oh wait, I actually got some stuff done to, if those sentinels look familiar its because they are the same ones I brought previously (the beer choice was particularly good that evening)

Ian finishing up the base on a wraithlord.

I did manage to get a fair bit done that night, mostly just getting a few stray projects done and ready for our upcoming apoc game. 

 

 

Chuck and I are knight buddies now! He actually finished painting the thing a few days ago, un surprisingly he picked one of the mechanicum schemes.

 

 

Another great night spent hobbying with friends, a big thanks to Ian for hosting yet again, as always it was a fun experience. Lately these hobby nights have been getting pretty regular, so this week I am having chuck over to play a nice 1250 game, I'll do my best to get some good pics up of that since its going to be my last true game of 6th (not counting Apoc next Sunday)

TSoL Episode 14 & X-Wing adventure

 

We see beyond the veil of time

 

Episode 14 of “The Stuff of Legends” gaming podcast is now live, you can check us out on iTunes here, or grab the direct download here. This we Chuck, Ian and I talk about 7^th edition and the new rules (allegedly) regarding unbound army lists and the new psychic tables and a little bit about rumors in general, we also go over our hobby progress for the week, what’s going on at the shop and the escalation league news. Give us a listen and if you like what you hear, please let us know by rating us on iTunes and you can check out the gaming group on Facebook here.

 

Everything else:

Last Sunday was mother’s day, it was an understandably slow day for gaming, but we had a few of the usual suspects show up and we kicked off the first weekend of the bitz bazaar (we finally moved the pile off of Ian’s bed) Unfortunately my camera bag has been temporarily lost in the warp (Ian’s trunk) so this week’s escalation league pics will be a little light I did however manage to grab a few quick pics of my first game of X-wing.

So on the last episode of TSoL I mentioned that I wanted to try X-wing (made by Fantasy Flight) and Bill, one of our long time regulars showed up with a massive set of toys and took the time to teach me how to play.

 

This won’t be a super long review, just my experience with one game, and I should probably clarify I am not the biggest Star Wars fan. That being said it was a fun game and I could see myself playing again, everything about the game system is fairly straight forward, and they do a good job of making all of the visual mechanics of the system fairly accessible and very well laid out. What really got me was the movement system, getting to make your movement choice in secret and running the risk of over shooting your target, or flying straight into them and having to make a quick maneuver the following turn to get out of the action, or turnabout and try and gun down your opponents ship adds a certain level of depth to the game and helps make it feel like you are actually maneuvering through a dogfight, rather than just playing with static models on a 2d game board.

As I said before, I am not the biggest Star Wars fan, but this is a game I could see myself picking up in the near future (the starter sets only $40) It plays relatively quick and I can see why the system is catching on at a lot of stores and conventions and this may be a bit of wishful thinking, but I really wish FF would give Battle Fleet Gothic this treatment, the mechanics are somewhat similar and if you scale up slightly it could be an amazing re-launch of a great classic 40k game. That aside though, if you like dogfights in space, or you like quick tabletop games that can be played on a 4x4 over a lunch break then check out x-wing, it’s not crazy expensive, it may not be 40k, but it is pretty fun.

 

Cheers

-Scott

BH Senior Veil Skimmer

Hobby Night & Bitz Baazar

Thursday night found me in the company of long time co conspirators Ian and Chuck, there was sausage (not pictured but delicious) there was beer (pictured and also delicious) and there were bitz (pictured and apparently delicious as well according to Ian) Below are some quick shots from last nights hobby jam, sorry about the lighting but I require being back lit at all times to accentuate my glowing visage, if you don’t buy that, it was a bit dark in Ian’s office so we grabbed every table lamp in the house.

This Sunday Legends will be holding a bitz bazaar, come and trade your bits, build something fun out of your own bits box and show off your kit bashing skills. The bazaar opens at 11am but will probably run until close. You can get more info on Legends here.

 

Ian’s new nick name is lightning fingers, I swear I looked away for like five minutes and when I looked back he had banged out this awesome objective marker/diorama from his bed of bitz (which is now a table of bitz) Chuck and I also gave a quick tutorial on bounce lighting and focus, and I learned that there is indeed a minimum requirement hardware wise for taking cellphone pics. Ian’s phone did not meet this requirement, and I was subsequently humbled by my previous claims of skill using any device, in the end we just used mine, but I learned Ian was gifted a Nokia 800 some time back, so he should be seeing a marked increase in his photo quality shortly.

 

 

 

Ian rocking the brush on another storm trooper, I am still kicking myself for forgetting to get a pic of his Tempestor in a Hawaiian shirt.

It’s easy to pick out the difference of technique between Ian and I, its tight brush control and edging detail vs broad strokes and blending, interesting contrast.

Chuck started base coating his new wraithguard, I have yet to actually assemble mine, maybe next week.

 

Wraithguard awaiting wraithing.

Kahuna Yarrick makes a brief appearance along with a sack of rogue trader rhinos (no literally, Ian had a sack full of them)

 

Not a shocker here, I managed to get the base coat on a few more sentinels over the course of the evening, I love to say I got more done, but I was distracted by ale and sausage and the occasional jokes of varying degrees of taste.

 

 

We attempted to teach him to use tools and we are pleased to announce that things are progressing well in our study.

The following are my attempts to salvage my reputation of being a” guy who knows things about cameras” and who totally doesn’t forget four years’ worth of photography courses and basic lighting after two (albeit large) beers.

 

 

 

 I would like to thank I an for inviting me out to his hobby bunker, and for a treating evening of plastic dolls and drinks (and turning me on to what is possibly the best sausage place in San Jose) Its mothers day this Sunday, so don't forget to put down your brushes and give it up for mom (sorry couldn't think of anything creative, brain running on fumes)

 

Cheers

 

-Scott

BH Senior Brewmaster  

Hobby Progress/KR Review

I preach the word of Carl.

 

This week has been quite the toasty one, despite my workspace having an identical atmosphere to an easy bake oven I did manage to get some hobby time in this week. As you can see by my highly advanced project tracking system I finished all of D’s guard commissions for the month. With that out of the way I have had more time to work on my sentinels I decided the best way to go on this project was to break everything down into squads of three. Not counting basing I have managed to clear six of them since Monday, after getting my jungle funge layering system down its gotten a lot easier to crank these guys out, basing is still going to be a bit of a chore, but as a whole they have been coming out pretty consistently painted.

My army grows.

One of the first ones I did up out of the set.

 

I heard you like sentinels...

Aaannndddd more sentinels.

 

Random sniper, why not.

Oh yeah, did I mention I finally broke down and bought some soft blue foam, and if I didn’t upgrade my kit soon I would have keep running with my old set up (battle damaged army sabol bag filled with packing peanuts, old large GW figure case) add to that I have been doing hobby demos and taking pictures for the Escalation league over at Legends, I basically looked like a Sherpa every time I went to the shop. So I decided I try there auto fill app for my guard stuff and picked up a single case with no bag. Let me start by saying there are plenty of reviews for KR floating around out there that go into great detail about their product, this will not be one of those, as a matter of fact “just plain awesome” pretty much sums up my experience with KR so far, everything about this product is plain and functional with little extra ornamentation or frill and I mean that in the most positive manner. I have seen other more expensive options that simply add nothing more than extra flair and decide its worth double the price, KR on the other hand doesn’t bother with overly specialized options, they make a simple highly modular product that is designed to fit your needs and there has yet to be an issue with my purchase that really stands out as a negative, I do kind of wish they had a tray that was half troop half heavy weapons squad ( as you can see above I found a work around) but other than that everything seems well designed and optimized. You can cram a lot into a single case and not just troops (though I hear you can cram over 200 into a single hard case) I managed to get two troop choices (about 60 pieces of infantry) plus armor and HQ’s into one case, and there was no wiggle and no loose minis jangling around during transit.

I cut plugs in half so I could put more infantry in the empty slots.

For comparison here’s a few shots of the cores for my other bags (SABOL and GW) GW’s foam comes closest, but it’s still a far cry from the quality and softness of KR’s trays, GW’s trays are soft but much more dense and springy, with a little give, KR by comparison is quite soft and malleable almost plush to the touch with enough density to keep everything in place, but also has enough give to make sure that piece that’s just a little too wide can be made to fit without fear of damage.

 

Sabol sad to say represents the old school, pick n pluck was the norm 7-8 years ago, but now feels quite dated (KR does offer pick n pluck style trays, which do still have their uses) Compared with the more modern purpose cut foam trays from companies like KR and Battlefoam this stuff just doesn’t stack up. The foam itself has very little give and does not feel that far removed from those little bits you used to get in the GW metal single packs. Still though I use it for over flow and I will never get rid of my army carrier bag (It has far too much character to throw out, and it doubles as a cooler) So sadly I can no longer recommend them, or most of their product line, they do still make a quality and consistant product, but there are better evenly priced options out there now.

That’s it, for now anyways, I plan to get another batch of sentinels done up tonight and maybe another sniper or medic, but for the most part that’s all my hobby progress for this week. Before I sign off though, a quick shout out for the stuff of legends podcast. This Sunday we will be recording episode 13, we’ll be going over escalation news, some of the 6.1ed stuff that’s been bubbling up lately, and I review my first issue of WD visions. You can check out all the previous episodes of TSoL here.

Cheers

-Scott

BH Senior Adjunct Sommelier