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

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 & 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  

Astra Militarum: Magis et minus,

 

When I was talking about the lore section on the show, I found it difficult to articulate exactly what it was about this codex that felt different from its predecessors. After I had a bit more leisure time to sit down and really go through both books I think I have been able to formulate a more accurate response to my original thoughts on the background and lore section. The biggest difference between the new Astra Militarum codex and the previous IG book is that the formers composition and tone seems to focus more on the here and the now and the future of the universe, rather than weigh the reader down with the details of the past. True, there are a fair number of articles in the new book that are taken from the last codex (there’s entries in the 5^th dex that go all the way back to 3^rd) but they compose and preface it in such a manner that it tends to drive the narrative forward, rather than just let the details hang in the middle surrounded by the inevitable grim dark future of emptiness and death that awaits humanity.

It feels like GW has turned back the clock from two minutes to five, the 13^th black crusade is just now happening, and while the overall theme is still an empire in decline, they have given themselves a little more wiggle room when it comes to future editions, and the expanded universe, some aspects of which they have subtly woven into this new edition. The first couple of pages reads like the extended version of the back cover of a Black Library novel, there’s a much heavier focus on narrative in this codex than in 5^th and it shows, in 5^th it was more “yeah you command a lot of guys and tanks, so use a lot of guys and tanks if you want, it’s cool” Whereas this time round they have such gems as “Squads of desperate men battle impossible odds , with nothing but faith and courage driving them to hold the line” and prefacing that section with a paragraph that focuses heavily on the grandiose dehumanizing scale on which the organization operates. They pulled the campaign map from this edition as well, effectively removing most of those events that were not noted elsewhere from the record, this was an odd move, while it did allude to battles of other non Cadian regiments, it did not really detract much from the main story, it did however show dates that went beyond the new timeline, so rather than re write it they just scrubbed it all together. The real shame in this is that new players will loose that quick and easy glance at the universe that most of us older players have grown accustomed to (I think it is still in the rule book though)

Other than that though, the fluff area is pretty much a copy paste affair from the last two books, with a few subtle entries removed, or re shuffled out of the first twenty pages or so. Over all I think GW did a good job with the codex, there could have been a bit more don to update the background, and yet again I see the same art work that I have been seeing for the last ten plus years (now in color!) I think in this edition you are getting a lot less to build on, a few pictures, no camo scheme guides (in the print edition anyways) and the same model photos we got from 5^th. After all that though, I can still say I was pleased with this edition and even though it was very subtle I do like the new emphasis on narrative that the new codices seem to be leaning towards, and now with the supplements that are supposedly in the works, we might get to see some of the gaps in this codex filled in later by future mini dex releases. I do hope that this is the case, and GW will release some more flavor back into the army, but I’ll reserve my thoughts on that matter until I get the product in hand, for more thorough review before lambasting any perceived money grab by GW.

 

Cheers

 

-Scott

BH Senior Jam Master

Hobby Progress: More IG

Another week cleared, another batch of minis done. Yet again I found myself painting D's imperial guard (117th, The Inheritors) So I did up a few special weapons teams, and another previously enjoyed lick. I have to say I really enjoyed working on some of the older independent characters/stand in models from this project, there's just something about the older mini's that's really fun to work with, even if they don't have rules anymore, a lot of these guys make great counts as models. Enough with words, time for the fancy stimulating imagery with our snazzy new logo.

 

Straken was a blast to paint up (buns of steel that model has) I was also very pleased with how the Vostroyan officer (he was supposed to be Chenkov) turned out, I think the reds pair well with the basing. On the Cadian officer I used GW's skin technique for the first time, super simple and done in three layers. Finally, who doesn't lover Schaffer.

 

Again I found myself trying a new GW endorsed method of painting. Rather than go with my traditional moo cow splotches, I tried their tiger streak approach, much cleaner.

 

Old school medics, so much fine detail on that model, used the new GW blood and gore technical on the transfusion packs, old RT guardsmen is featured because why not.

 

My own little slice of paradise.

 

This week is all about storm troopers (the old ones) so keep an eye out for my follow up post on those guys, oh I also finally broke down and bought an airbrush last weekend, so I expect to regale you all with tales of misfortune and great reward in the area as well in the near future. That's about it for me, oh don't forget to tune in to The Stuff of Legends next Monday, the next episode (I think) is all about hobby progress and how to get more into the hobby side of the game.

 

 

Cheers

 

-Scott

 

BH Senior Pit Master



 

 

 

Astra Militarum: Part 1

 

THE LOST & THE CANNED

Astra Militarum: Extended review Part 1

A quick forward before we get to the good stuff. Originally this article was meant to be published as one long overview of the new Astra Militarum Codex (imperial guard) I soon realized that I did not have the time to sit and pour over every detail in one sitting, and as stated below, this is not a codex review. This is more of a collection of my personal observations and musings on the new book, which I will put out as a series of articles focusing on the individual parts of the book that I was not able (read not fully prepped) to go over on the podcast. Part one is about the units that were removed in this release.

This article is the follow up to my last appearance on the Stuff of Legends podcast where we went over the new Astra Militarum and Tempestus books. Unfortunately, we did not get to cover everything we wanted to due to the time constraints, so I wanted to do an extended version to cover some of the items we skipped during the show.

This is not going to be an in depth codex overview, there are plenty of other people covering that, and honestly I am not really that much into the meta aspect of the game, rather this article will focus mostly on a few key details about some of the unit changes/removals and changes to the background fluff. This is all basic stuff with my own personal spin on a few areas of interest.

Starting off, let have a brief moment of silence for those units who are no longer with us:

-Sly Marbo.

-Lukas Bastonne.

-Mogul Kaimr.

-Kubrik Chenkov.

-Al'rahem.

-Solar Macharius.

-Every piece of artillery except the basilisk.

 

A quick breakdown for why I believe some of these characters are absent from the latest iteration of the codex starting from the top.

Sly Marbo:

This one actually seems kinda obvious, first off he was a pretty OP character, now that’s not to Say that there are not plenty of those still hanging about in other books (elder cough cough) but he was less a man and more of a strength 8 blast with unlimited range. But I don’t think that’s the reason he got pulled. The word of the day in 6^th edition is ‘supplement’ as in there is a good chance Marbo will be returning to us in one of them. It has long been rumored that Catachans will be getting their own book/data sheet after the release of the main guard codex and I still believe this to be the case, so keep an eye out in the near future as I am sure he will be popping back up at some point.

Side note: His model is still available for purchase on the new GW site, so either selling off the remaining stock, or waiting for an update.

 

 

Bastonne:

This guy never really saw a lot of play as an HQ in 5^th ed, sure he had some interesting fluff but for the most part he was just another upgrade with a few special perks that were not really worth the points, he also suffers from ‘lack of model” syndrome, so yeah poof!

Mogul Kamir:

Real shame about this one, I can’t say for sure why he’s gone, I mean you could technically gussiy up any odd rough rider and call him Kamir, and I will have to check, but I do believe he had a model at one point. Rough riders are still in the main book so a supplement seems unlikely (maybe a data sheet with expanded rules) as far as I can tell though he was just one of those units that fell out of favor, I was actually surprised to see rough riders at all in this edition, but they do still have that unique flavor about them, and allow all kinds of fun kitbashes with bikes, so yeah, not sure where he’s gotten off to.

Chenkov:

I was really bummed he got the axe, though like Marbo I have a sneaking suspicion he may be coming back in a future supplement and in a plastic/finecast kit (he was metal and not called Chenkov on the site prior to the great metal purge) With the new points drop on conscripts he would still be a solid choice regardless of what faction you were playing, he was a tad broken, and may have been even more so in 6^th, but I also did not see him on the table that often, so maybe he was shelved due to lack of demand. While I’ll miss being able to flood the table with an endless tide of bodies, its not much harder to accomplish the same task with regular conscripts in any 750+ game.

Al'rahem:

The legend is gone, but the rules live on. Old model, old rules. The new order (order here) essentially gives any unit a similar ability to his “like the wind” perk. After handing off that ability to move troops around quickly to any random command squad/HQ choice there was not much reason  to keep him in the main codex. Still though, there’s hope for a supplement, or possibly a new sculpt/model (fingers crossed)

Solar Macharius:

He was dead and gone by 5^th, so he only makes the list on a technicality but still he got a whole page (no stats just a big piece of fluffly filler) He had a model and rules prior to 5^th though, but I am guessing he got the rough customer treatment like all the other old fluffy HQs (sans Yarrick and Strayken) Macharius seems like he would be the one least likely to see a datasheet/re-release though just based on his recent exclusion from two consecutive codex’s, who knows, maybe FW will step in on this one.

Update: He does have page in the Astra book, they just decided to hide it under a heavy dose of dark printing and pseudo latin that I didn’t catch of the first read through.

 

Artillery:

Let’s make this section quick.

Medusa:

Short range, ok damage, Forgeworld model only.

Griffon:

Replaced by the Wyvern which is arguably better than its predecessor/cheaper.

Colossus:

Forgeworld only, small load considering the cost, just take a nova cannon costly.

There is one thing I want to get out of the way before wrapping up, all these models are still produced by Forgeworld, and still have current rules to support their use and inclusion in regular 40k lists. Imperial Armor has been doing a good job of filling the gaps left by GW’s clumsy economizing over the years. Overall not a total loss as it is an expensive alternative. There’s a lot of FW friendly rulings/gamebooks being put out by GW lately, so it would not be to hard to keep your old models in regular play despite not having an entry in the main book. 

Closing thoughts on the old and the lost, it happens with every release/update, GW phases out the older less popular specific characters and units in favor of whatever the new hotness is that go round I think we’ll see some of these guys back on the table in the not so distant future, and while a little disheartening to see some old favorites disappear into the warp, there will always be new hero’s to captivate the next generation of war gamers who are just coming into the hobby and will never know the loss of squats, or look longingly at beastmen regiments in back issues of white dwarf. This is the new school, and we are all now custodians of the lore prior to this release, so remember to share some of that wisdom with our newer players whenever possible, you just might be the one who inspires the next Dave Taylor, or (insert famous mini painter here)

 

Cheers

-Scott

BH Senior Taste Maker