Paints 'n' Stuff

In my Forever-Quest™(great name for an RPG, by-the-by) to find the perfect combination of paint, I've tried many various paint brands. Sitting firmly at the bottom is the Rackham paint line, but the rest I've tried jockey for top spot. Currently I'm enjoying Coat D'Arms' paint range, coupled with a smattering of P3 paints for flavor (their skin colors are particularly awesome), along with Citadel's metallic paint (the best out there), Foundation range, and the magical Washes they produce. Let's delve into the various ranges in some detail, ne?

Citadel Miniatures' paint

This glorious paint range is marred only by its number of different colors (soon to double if rumors can be believed), and their quantity. Their coverage is good, their metallics are the best I've ever used, and their palette is familiar. The size and shape of their pots has been a point of contention ever since the 1990s, and anyone who looks back and thinks the discourse was in any way civil and thought-out they have the rosiest of glasses on. Suffice it to say that their newest pot design is smaller than the 1997 paint pots and possibly the smallest of the water-based acrylics (definitely the smallest pots out of any I've tried), but if it's what's in them that counts, then they're worth getting. The pot forms a seal around the edge, and though the oldest pot of paint I have in this format is a four, or five, year old Foundation paint, I can say that it's not dried out yet. Something I cannot say for their screw-lids that terrorized GW gamers from 1998-2003.

As I said before, their metallics are the best I've used (Reaper comes close, but we'll talk about that later). Boltgun Metal is such a full metallic. Compared to the other metallics I've used it goes on smooth, it covers like a dream, and it's very receptive to dry-brushing and washes/inks.

Another weapon in their arsenal are the Foundation paints, a series of 18 paints that have a high pigment, and are thus designed to cover better than their regular line of paints. In fact, they often cover in one coat. A downside to this is that they often have a pastel-y look about them, and they aren't well integrated into the rest of the Citadel line of paints. I've been using these paints since they came out (2006/2007?) and I've yet to find a seamless transition of mixing to go from a Foundation base, to a Citadel highlight. That being said, yellows and reds are much easier to paint, and if you're doing an orcish or goblinoid army, you'll find their greens to be the hugest time-saver.

Speaking of time-savers, their washes are fantastic. Though they have bred in me a laziness in my painting procedure. Why just before I sat down to write this review I was working on finishing up some Dwarf Thunderers for a Warhammer army I began when the latest incarnation of the Dwarfs came out (2005?) and I got fed up with the skin so I just based it with the Tallarn Flesh Foundation and hit it with an Ogryn Flesh wash. Bam! Done. That being said, it looks fine, and it's painted to a tabletop standard that I'm not ashamed of, but it's not my usual flesh routine. Still, there's something to be said for finishing one part of 10 figures in less than a half-hour. Though they may seem like an "easy button" to painting, when used by cleverer painters, I've seen them work wonders. Don't underestimate these washes (or the people that use them). I'll never use an ink again.

Coat D'Arms

These are the hardest paints to get a hold of in Canada (well, I can really only speak for Vancouver), but I'm currently obsessed with them. I liked the old Citadel white-capped hexagonal paints that I started painting with in '96. It may be nostalgia, but they had a fair amount of paint (17.5ml, which dropped from 20ml in the '80s or so I heard), and they had a smell that is recognizable even to this day (a pleasant one). So, when I found out that the company that produced Citadel's paints in the '90s (HMG paints) still produced the same colors with different names (and an extra half-milliliter) I was pretty excited.

The labels are plain, and the bottles are missing five sides, but the classics are all there. I even tested out this theory and put Goblin Green (still same name) to the test. I found an old goblin from the Warhammer 4th edition boxed set that I painted 16 years ago, and painted some of Coat D'Arms Goblin Green onto the skin of the figure. It matched perfectly.

Now I've heard that the consistency varies from batch to batch, but I don't know about that. I mean, I haven't bought doubles of any paint, but I'm hopping onto Coat D'Arms bandwagon pretty late in the game, and I figure there'd be more variance in that case, not an exact match to a 16 year old paint job.

Their metallics aren't as great as Reaper's (and surely not as great as Citadel's), and the skin colors aren't as good as P3's. They're hard to get, but they have three lines: Fantasy (the old Citadel paints), Military, and World War 2 (which I've used to replace my Vallejo paints).

Vallejo Model/Game Color

Vallejo paints have a bijillion different paints spread out over a quadrillion different paint lines. Alright, I exaggerate, but seriously. I've only tried their Game Color range (a Citadel imitator, complete with all the colors Citadel got rid of, including the ones that they added since the switch from HMG paints), and their Model Color range (a range that has every damned shade of every damned color the human eye can see).

I'm excited, greatly, by the sheer amount of different paints they produce. If it's a color, they make it, and it comes in 20 different shades. This makes picking a color-scheme a dream. It also makes it a one-stop-shop for paint.

My complaints don't seem to be shared by the masses, who go absolutely bananas over these paints. I find them watery. This might make them attractive to pro painters who want some flawless blending, but if I want my paints watery, I'd like to do it myself. Many of the colors I've used had terrible coverage. And while the eye-dropper tops may seem like a good idea, it's just one more thing that can go wrong, such as when three of the paints I bought had split droppers. This led to paint spewing in every direction. Forget about if they ever clog.

Their metallics are nothing special, and they still use inks, which are the poor-man's washes if you ask me.

Privateer Press Paints (P3)

These paints were not only designed by Mike McVey (the genius who designed my favorite Citadel paints), but they're still manufactured by HMG, and so cover, smell, and are put in the same pots as Coat D'Arms.

I really like these paints; in fact, I used to use them exclusively (except for their metallics and inks). The coverage is a little better than Coat D'Arms, but not as good as Foundation, and they have a healthy mix of shades and colors (not as big as Vallejo, but bigger than Citadel). Therefore I smatter my Coat D'Arms pains with shades that don't exist in other ranges. Particularly of note are their browns, greys, and skin colors (all kinds of skin!). Colors to avoid: pink, greens (they don't cover well), and their metallics.

Their metallics are similar to Coat D'Arms now, but when the range was first released, they had quality issues out the wazoo. I chucked all my initial P3 metallics, and have only re-bought Pig Iron and Molten Bronze because I heard that the metallics had a re-do, and those were the only two paints with the new black labels. They're now on par with Coat D'Arms (which isn't anything special, metallic-wise).

Now that Citadel invented these fantastic washes, I don't find the need to use inks anymore, and even if I did, I don't think I'd use the P3 inks. They're in strange shades that I'm not used to, and while their painting articles are some of the best I've seen, they seem to use the inks in rather arcane ways that I'm not used to. I'm not saying they're bad inks (at least as far as inks go), they're just not what I'm looking for.

Oh! Before I move on, I should mention that they've ingeniously organized their paints into bases, and highlights. So the paint titled Khador Red Base, is meant to be mixed and highlighted with the paint Khador Red Highlight. GENIUS!

Reaper Paints

Admittedly I've only tried their Master Series paints, but I like 'em! They have a similar method of organization to P3, but they take it one step further, literally. They have triads of paints which go along the lines of a shade, base, and highlight of any given color. My favorite triad is the drow one, which is the best match to the almost black-y/purple-y drow skin. Their colors cover pretty well, and they have a diverse range of them. As I said in the Vallejo section, I'm somewhat mistified in the attraction to Vallejo, and wonder that if they were better at marketing their paint range, Reaper could take the top spot for a widely-available Citadel substitute. They're not well-known to the general gaming public, though and it's partially because they're not widely available.

Their metallics are second only to Citadel's, in that they don't seem as "full" as Citadel's metallics, but they're better than anyone else's and they have a decent quanity. I've never tried their inks or their HD (high density) line, which is supposed to be a competitor to Citadel's Foundation, so I can't say much about them, but I think these guys are a great company, in general, and their paints are nothing to sneeze at.

They're packaged in dropper bottles, though, which I've griped about in the Vallejo section. What's unique about their bottles is that they have tiny pewter skulls inside them that act as agitators when you shake the paint. Oh man, the genius is too much!

Rackham Paints

They're so terrible, I can't find any pictures on Google...

These are terrible. There's a reason they're no longer produced. If you see them, don't buy them, and surely don't put them to your models. Rackham were the biggest perpatrators of false advertising I've ever seen in gaming. There's no way the Rackham studio used these things.

So there you have it. Those are my many opinions on paint. Right now, I'm using a smattering of Coat D'Arms, P3, and Citadel with a few Reaper paints hanging out on the periphery. Though it may sound like I'm a shill for Citadel Colour, I actually really do like them, and recommend them. As I stated, my only complaints lie in the amount of colors and the quantity they come in (12ml).

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Git 'er Done!

Alright, I'm feeling a little better and am ready to get in the thick of things once again. For the last month, the only games I've had the will or energy to play have been my regular Monday-night role-play night (and that's really only been the case because I have the entertainment needs of four other people to think about). With the help of my Sunday-night Basic D&D game (which I posted about a couple days ago), and the rousing game of "A Game of Thrones Boardgame" I had last night (in lieu of role-playing) I think I'm ready to stop moping and get gaming once again.

I'm still not 100% but I know that I can't just dwell all day on things. Whether I feel it should or not, life continues to move around me. Perhaps I can parse out my dwellings, and still get in a healthy amount of moping, but punctuated by my regular life. In any case, gaming is a lifelong passion of mine, and it's helped me through some hard times in the past; it shall do so again.

Previews of articles to come on this blog are as tenuous as tenuous things can get, but more for my sake, here's what I got comin' up:
+ A SAGA article or eight.
+ Painting article on "dipping" models.
+ Painting article that "reviews" Coat d'Arms, Vallejo, Citadel, and P3 paints.
+ Some Flames of War stuff.

This should keep me busy, and distracted.

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I Cast Sleep

You wanna come up to me and make fun of 4th edition D&D? Well, if your thesis is that D&D3.x was the pinnacle of role-playing games design, then I can one-up you without setting down my coffee...

I play Basic D&D, motherfimir!

Thaaat's right! Now, of course I wasn't alive when the original Red Box came out (I believe my parents were married though, so that's something), but I am alive now, and I'm enjoying the heck out of it.

Basic D&D's third edition (that's right, it's the third Red Box since 1977) This one came out in 1983.

Now, in terms of games design, it's pretty inelegant. Say what you want about 4th edition, it's one hell of an elegant ride. It's the Mercedes-Benz of role-playing games. Everything works. Now, of course Benz' aren't for everyone (I don't mean that patronizingly) so I understand why some would prefer to play older systems. Besides, there's nothing saying that one's game has to be elegant or that even elegance has a place in role-playing games. You have to agree, though, that in terms of playability D&D4 is pretty darn neat.

Basic D&D (we're playing the third/fourth edition of it) is just that; Basic. I stand there, and I swing at a goblin. If I miss, then I wait until our initiative comes up again and I swing at it, hoping beyond hope that the goblin didn't hit me last turn. You see, most starting Hit Points (HP) levels are anywhere from 1d4-1d8 and most weapons do 1d6 damage. Our Dungeon Master (DM) was a kind soul and let us begin 1st level with max HP (so my wizard - er, "magic-user," sorry - has 4 HP instead of a random number from 1-4), he also let us roll our stats with 4d6 and drop the lowest die).

Basic D&D 4th Edition. Not a box, but a hardcover book.

Hilariously, my magic-user has only three spells (the kindly DM also let all magic-users start with "Read Magic" for free... Makes sense), which were chosen not by myself, but by the DM. So Malegaunt the chaotic magic-user has Sleep, Read Magic, and Light. For those of you that remember the old "Vancian" magic system, you'll know that I can only memorize one of those spells at a time, and once I've cast it, that's it until I go to sleep and memorize another one (or re-memorize the spell I cast).

So, in terms of a role-playing experience, it seems legit. I mean, if I was actually a magic-user in Mystara, I could imagine myself being afraid of goblin arrows, and conserving my magical energy. As a game that was borne out of Jack Vance, Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, and Fritz Lieber-type sword & sorcery, it's a great simulation. In terms of "gameyness" nothing so far can beat 4th edition.

As I might've stated in a previous post, I'm mostly done with the "edition war" bulljunk that can be overheard in the back corners of many fine hobby gaming shops, I'm merely pointing out differences in philosophy (a topic every opinionated gamer should at least have a passing knowledge in, otherwise don't talk to me) of game design that is important to keep in mind when comparing these games.

Anyway, the point is: I'm enjoying the hell out of Basic D&D, and I'm playing again this Sunday. I'm thinking I'll find a miniature and paint 'em up to stick in front of me. Basic D&D does not use miniature combat the way that D&D3.x, Pathfinder, or 4th edition does, but it'd be cool to say "See? I have a red cloak."

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Still Here

Regular readers should be aware of my prolonged absences. They should also be familiar with my many excuses and apologies.

I've still been very active, gaming-wise (well, as much as I can in my current mood, that is). I'm helping capture news for Tabletop Gaming News, and I'm still playing RPGs weekly. In fact, today (in about 3 hours) I'm going to play a game of the brand-new Flames of War. I'll let you know how that goes.

Certain events in my life right now are causing havoc with my regular schedule. Goin' through some rough times, emotionally. Don't worry, they aren't gaming related so I'll keep it off this blog. To top it off, I've been without a computer for almost two weeks, so that's not helped. I've got one now, so that's a step in the right direction.

Now with that out of the way, I have to go and prime some Late War American machine gunners, in the hopes that I can slap some paint on them before my game today (not likely). EXTREME THE BATTLE!

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Epic Eldar pt.2: Epic 40,000

Now we get to Epic 40,000. Epic 40,000 (E40k) has more flexible lists, but they suffer from their own eccentricities. Having to perfectly balance out your "Main Force" with your "Support" can lead to some translation issues between the systems; not to mention the 181kg gorilla in the room: that this edition of Epic is based off of Warhammer 40,000 2nd edition armies. Ah, the nostalgia.

Let's give this a shot, and see how we can move between the systems. My goals are to use every model in my Epic Armageddon (EA) army and to build up to 2000pts. 2000pts is the 4000pts of E40k. I base this off of the fuzzy recollections I have from the time, and the fact that I clearly remember E40k veteran's nights being 1750pts at my local Games Workshop. Those games were meant to be finished in 75'. My logic may not be sound, but it's mine, dammit!

Anyway, I'm going to build detachments (E40k terminology for formations) by mimicking the formations I built in the last post, and see where it takes me. Here's hoping we even get to 2000pts...

Detachment 1: Ciridan's Warhost (all cool players named their detachments in E40k!)
Type: Eldar Warhost (you'll see this type a lot... There wasn't a lot of different Eldar detachment types)
Commander: Warp Spider Exarch Ciridan (HQ) (counts as a squad in the main force if not chosen from the commander section, like a Farseer might)
Main Force:
+ Warp Spider Exarch (1 Unit) - 40
+ Warp Spider Squad (1 Unit) - 14
+ Warp Spider Squad (1 Unit) - 14
+ Warp Spider Squad (1 Unit) - 14
Detachment Support:
+ Warp Spider Squad (1 Unit) - 14
+ Warp Spider Squad (1 Unit) - 14
+ Warp Spider Squad (1 Unit) - 14
+ Warp Spider Squad (1 Unit) - 14
(one of the nice things about Eldar Warhosts is that they often duplicate units between Main and Support sections, therefore mitigating the fact that they don't have very many variations on detachment types)
Total Points: 138
Morale Value: 3 (total points ÷ 50 (rounding up) = your morale value. This is subtracted from your army's combined morale when the detachment is reduced to half strength or less. When your morale reached 0, you lose. This was a really cool mechanic that I'm totally going to rip-off for my game)
Half Strength: 4

Detachment 2: Haelin's Warhost
Type: Eldar Warhost
Commander: Howling Banshee Exarch Haelin (HQ)
Main Force:
+ Howling Banshee Exarch (1 Unit) - 36
+ Howling Banshee in Wave Serpent (1 Unit + Transport) - 39
+ Howling Banshee in Wave Serpent (1 Unit + Transport) - 39
+ Howling Banshee (1 Unit) - 10
Detachment Support:
+ Striking Scorpion in Wave Serpent (1 Unit + Transport) - 39
+ Striking Scorpion in Wave Serpent (1 Unit + Transport) - 39
+ Striking Scorpion (1 Unit) - 10
+ Striking Scorpion (1 Unit) - 10
Total Points: 222
Morale Value: 5
Half Strength: 6

(An open letter to E40k players: I know there were technically no units in E40k that were called "Striking Scorpions" or "Howling Banshees" even though there were models made for them. They just counted as "Aspect Warriors" along with any other W40k Aspect Warrior that wasn't a Warp Spider, Swooping Hawk, or Dark Reaper. I'm nothing if not thematic)

Detachment 3: Duridain's Warhost
Type: Eldar Warhost
Psyker: Farseer Duridain (HQ) - 50
Main Force:
+ Guardian Squad (2 Units) - 16
+ Guardian Squad (2 Units) - 16
+ Scouts Squad (2 Units) - 20
Detachment Support:
+ Dreadnoughts (2 Units) - 56
+ Dreadnoughts (1 Unit) - 28
+ Support Platform Battery (3 Units) - 45
Total Points: 231
Morale Value: 5
Half Strength: 7

Detachment 4: Galadhran's Warhost
Type: Eldar Warhost
Psyker: Farseer Galadhran (HQ) - 50
Main Force:
+ Guardian Squad (2 Units) - 16
+ Guardian Squad (2 Units) - 16
+ Scouts Squad (2 Units) - 20
Detachment Support:
+ Dreadnoughts (2 Units) - 56
+ Dreadnoughts (1 Unit) - 28
+ Support Platform Battery (3 Units) - 45
Total Points: 231
Morale Value: 5
Half Strength: 7

Detachment 5: Wind Riders of Vihain
Type: Eldar Warhost
Commander: Guardian Jetbike Vihain (HQ)
Main Force:
+ Guardian Jetbike Squad (1 Unit, HQ) - 40
+ Guardian Jetbike Squad (1 Unit) - 15
+ Guardian Jetbike Squad (1 Unit) - 15
Detachment Support:
+ Vyper Jetbike Squadron (1 Unit) - 22
+ Vyper Jetbike Squadron (1 Unit) - 22
+ Vyper Jetbike Squadron (1 Unit) - 22
Total Points: 136
Morale Value: 3
Half Strength: 3

Detachment 6: Yael's Spear
Type: Eldar Warhost
Commander: Falcon Yael (HQ)
Main Force:
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit, HQ) - 54
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit) - 29
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit) - 29
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit) - 29
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit) - 29
Detachment Support:
+ Night Spinner (1 Unit) - 41
+ Night Spinner (1 Unit) - 41
+ Night Spinner (1 Unit) - 41
+ Fire Prism (1 Unit) - 35
Total Points: 328
Morale Value: 7
Half Strength: 5


Detachment 7: Saine's Spear
Type: Eldar Warhost
Commander: Falcon Saine (HQ)
Main Force:
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit, HQ) - 54
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit) - 29
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit) - 29
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit) - 29
+ Falcon Grav-Tank (1 Unit) - 29
Detachment Support:
+ Night Spinner (1 Unit) - 41
+ Night Spinner (1 Unit) - 41
+ Night Spinner (1 Unit) - 41
+ Fire Prism (1 Unit) - 35
+ Fire Prism (1 Unit) - 35
Total Points: 363
Morale Value: 8
Half Strength: 5

Detachment 8: Khaine's Vengeance
Type: Eldar Titan
Commander: N/A
War Engines:
+ Phantom Titan - 380
Total Points: 380
Morale Value: 8
Half Strength: 4 (Damage Capacity (wounds))

Detachment 9: Khaine's Lightning
Type: Eldar Fleet
Commander: Night Wing Interceptor (HQ)
Main Force:
+ Night Wing Interceptor (1 Unit, HQ) - 65
+ Night Wing Interceptor (1 Unit) - 40
+ Night Wing Interceptor (1 Unit) - 40
Total Points: 145
Morale Value: 3
Half Strength: 2

Detachment 10: Avatar of the Bloody-Handed God
Type: Eldar Commander
Commander: Avatar - 40
Main Force:
N/A
Total Points: 40
Morale Value: 1
Half Strength: 1

Total Army Points: 2214
Total Morale: 48 (higher than 2214 ÷ 50 (rounding up) because we rounded up in all those detachments)

Woah! Looks like we blew 2000pts away! We'll have to get rid of something so that we aren't accused of cheating (who's "we?"). If I needed to take this to a 2000pt tournament tomorrow, I'd drop Khaine's Lightning, take out one Falcon (probably a proxied Firestorm tank (see comments below)) from Yael's Spear, drop a Dreadnought from Galadhran's Warhost, and drop a Support Platform from Duridain's Warhost. This would bring it to 1997pts (hey! The year E40k came out!), and bring the morale to 44.

So let's take a look and see how this fares: Detachments being big or small had little effect (that is to say: you could have your detachments be big or small and offer your opponent no tactical advantage or hindrance). Bigger detachments took longer to reduce to half strength, but when you did, it was worth a lot of morale (and there's fewer of them). Smaller detachments were easier to "break" but were worth less morale. I'd say that this army has smaller to mid-sized detachments which might not be that great for Eldar because of their special rule called Dying Race. It stated that not only do Eldar detachments suffer Morale loss as normal, but they lose an additional d3 morale if their detachments are wiped out! By Isha, that's terrible.

You'll also notice that I included too many Falcon Grav-Tanks than I had in my EA list and included no Firestorm tanks. This is because there were no such things as Firestorm tanks in E40k. I figure I'll just use them as Falcons and if anyone complains I'll drive a Wailing Doom spear through their black heart. You'll also notice that units designated "HQ" are an extra 25pts more than other units of their type. In E40k if you didn't choose a unit from the "Commander" section of the detachment data-sheet, you had to designate a unit from your Main force as a commander, and stick an extra 25pts on it.

Another inconsistency is the Wave Serpents. Now, Aspect Warriors can only be purchased in 1 squad increments, and that squad can have a Wave Serpent upgrade, but you cannot share upgrades. I forget how stuff like this worked back then, but Wave Serpents have Transport (2) meaning they can transport  two units. I reckon there shouldn't be a problem in starting the game with the other squads filling-in the remaining spots. After all, they can jump into other people's transports later on in the game by sacrificing 5cm of movement from both the transport and the unit hitching a lift.

Notice also how some of the names are different. Those of you that were around for this will know what they are, but Scouts are Rangers, Dreadnoughts are Wraithlords, and Support Platforms are Heavy Weapons Platforms.

Whew! I'm bushed. It's 1:30am where I am right now as I type these words. Still, it's been fun taking this trip down memory lane. As I explained two posts ago, Epic 40,000 was my first intro into the small-scale miniatures gaming universe, and I haven't looked back. I used to bemoan E40k for its simplicity once I found EA but now I've come to appreciate what it tried to do with small-scale miniatures gaming. And as you've all seen, it's not that hard to take your collections from EA and throw them into the whirling maelstrom of firepower values, and morale tracking that was Epic 40,000.

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Epic Eldar pt.1: Epic Armageddon

Following on yesterday's diatribe I'm going to both demonstrate how flexible it is to go between Epic 40,000 and Epic Armageddon in terms of army construction. Now, normally I would do such a thing using an army as flexible as Space Marines are, but instead I'm going to try my hand at the Eldar.

The Eldar have always been my favorite Warhammer 40,000 race, mostly 'cause I'm obsessed with elves, but also because they're sleek, aloof, and tied historically and mortally to Slaanesh (my favorite Chaos god). I've always wanted to do an Eldar army for Epic, but I've always painted my Epic armies "on the quick," and so haven't had time to dedicate to an army as time-consuming to paint as Eldar. Compared to Space Marines, which consist of a base coat, dry brush, wash, and details, the Eldar are a bit more varied in paint scheme.

So here we go! Let's start with an army list, and let's start with the version of Epic with the strictest army construction: Epic Armageddon (EA)...

In Epic Armageddon there are no generic armies. That is to say, that there's no "Eldar," "Imperial Guard," or "Chaos Space Marine" lists. Instead, there's "Biel-Tan Craftworld Eldar," and "Armageddon Steel Legion Imperial Guard," or "Black Legion Chaos Space Marines." I have some gripes with this, but Jervis Johnson stated in the FAQ at the end of the rulebook that he did this intentionally so as to keep the door open to new lists. I can respect that. So, I'm going to make a "Biel-Tan" Eldar list from the "Epic Swordwind" book even though I'll be painting my models red and black (and no, they won't be Saim-Hann. It's not my fault that GW already took all the good color schemes for Eldar and gave them names).

Starting off, I know I want to make a 4000pt army. I'd never want to play EA at less than 3000pts just because 3000 lets you comfortably fit a medium Titan or two small ones. 4000pts is great because it's 3000, but more!

First let's choose a commander: Avatar. BAM! He's free, so that's an easy choice. Let's also take a Wraithgate because at 50pts it's great to have one of your objectives spew out Guardians and not have them suffer the enemy's firepower whilst they're hoofin' it up the battlefield to get within firefight range.

Speaking of Guardians, let's take two formations of them because two is better than one, and Guardians should come in numbers. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to arm them exactly the same because I pretty much have those figures handy and redundancy's not a bad thing with something as basic as Guardian Formations. They'll each be made up of a Farseer, commanding four Guardian stands, supported by three Heavy Weapon Platforms (the macro-weapon D-Cannons are cool too but they're more points and worse in firefights, which is where we want those Guardians to be... I'm sure we'll find some macro-weapons somewhere), and three Wraithlords. Wraithguard would be sweet to take, but I only have two stands and I don't want to buy another Eldar Warhost box because I'd only use the Wraithguard out of it. For now, at least, we'll let the Wraithguard stay on the Craftworld. I opted for 3 Heavy Weapon Platforms instead of two because they come three to a blister pack. I'm sure I'll regret this later on and wish I only took two Platforms and left an extra Guardian squad in each formation, but the beauty of free Heavy Weapons Platforms is that I can swap them out and in as I see fit before a game (I also own tons of Guardian stands for this purpose).

Onto the cool stuff, the Aspect Warriors. I have quite a few stands of each of the plastic Aspect Warriors so let's take two formations (having tons of Craftworld Hosts is never a bad thing as they allow you to take three support Troupes each!), one will have jump packs and the other will have Wave Serpents. The jump pack one will consist of a Warp Spider Exarch with seven more Warp Spider stands. This way, all the stands will have similar movement types and won't slow each other down when they swoop across the board. I was thinking of taking half the formation as Swooping Hawks but their movement is a little different, and I didn't want one half of the formation moving one way and the other half moving another way. It'll just get awkward during the all-important parts of the battle where maneuvering is key.

The other Aspect Warrior formation I want is full of Striking Scorpions and Howling Banshees (with an Exarch) 'cause these are my favorite Aspect Warriors and they're pretty good in close combat. In order to get them up the field and have my army keep its speed, I'm going to stick them in four Wave Serpents (secret: Forge World's Wave Serpents are cheaper than Citadel's... Shh!). Easy!

Now for the fun stuff: Troupes and Titans! So that I'm not caught without air support I'm going to take some Nightwing Interceptors (I like the look of the Citadel ones better than the Forge World ones, but with the FW ones I could also use them in Aeronautica Imperialis). For mecha power I'm going to take a Phantom Titan, for no other reason than it's cool and I love the model!

Bah! Enough exclamation marks!

For troupes, I want to get use out of some of the extra models I have kicking around so let's go with a Ranger Troupe and a Windrider Troupe (with three Vypers for out-of-firefight firepower) right off the bat. Falcons are great all-round vehicles so let's take two troupes of them with maxed-out Firestorms. I might be overly paranoid about enemy aircraft, but the beauty of Firestorms is that they're alright against tanks and infantry and they're free. Plus, Falcons are bought in packs of three. Fire Prisms are one of the best Eldar formations, because they can attack anything in the game (infantry, vehicles, and air) and they're no slouches at any of it. Their AA is the worst of the three, but 5+ isn't that bad a score in EA and their "Lance" weapon ability means that Land Raiders don't get to re-roll their saves. Unfortunately they're relatively expensive at 250pts a formation so let's just take one. Besides I want to take two troupes of Night Spinners because I love Blast Points (BP) and Disrupt is great for working on those Space Marine formations or breaking any other formation in the game.

Here's what this all looks like:
+WRAITHGATE [50]
+AVATAR [0]
+ASPECT WARRIOR WARHOST [325]
  8 Warp Spider, Exarch
+ASPECT WARRIOR WARHOST [525]
  4 Striking Scorpion, 4 Howling Banshee, 4 Wave Serpent, Exarch
+GUARDIAN WARHOST [325]
   Farseer, 4 Guardians, 3 Heavy Weapon Platform, Wraithlords
+GUARDIAN WARHOST [325]
   Farseer, 4 Guardians, 3 Heavy Weapon Platform, Wraithlords
+RANGER TROUPE [100]
   4 Ranger
+FALCON TROUPE [250]
   3 Falcon, 2 Fire Storm
+FALCON TROUPE [250]
   3 Falcon, 2 Fire Storm
+WINDRIDER TROUPE [200]
   3 Jetbike, 3 Vyper
+NIGHT SPINNER TROUPE [175]
   3 Night Spinners
+NIGHT SPINNER TROUPE [175] 
   3 Night Spinners
+FIRE PRISM TROUPE [250]
   3 Fire Prisms
+NIGHTWINGS [300] 
   3 Nightwing Interceptors
+PHANTOM TITAN [750] 
[This is copied from Epic ArmyForge, so any formatting errors aren't my fault!]


NOTE: Because Blogger has copy+pasting issues when you're copying text with something with a colored background, I'm going to make a new post for part 2 of this article. Otherwise the rest of the article will be typed like this, with an off-color background to the text. Irritating, I know...


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Who are you and what have you done with Carmin?

Yes my fellow gamers, we are a capricious bunch. Where once we sit and goop over the latest edition of a game or the latest supplement, we now gnash our teeth and cry out against the hubris, and sheer trash, that we now believe it to be. While I may not have been as dramatic as that, I was not (am still not) immune to the effects of an ever-varying gaming appetite.

So where does that leave us?
As of late, my gaming interests have been rather uncharacteristic; I'm falling for things that at one point didn't even draw my eye. Imagine the surprise of the friends in my gaming group when they came over to my house for Monday-night gaming and found me either in possession of, or blabbing on about...

Space Wolves:
This shouldn't have been that big of a shock. I mean, I used to have a Space Wolf army in high school, and I'm a huge nerd for vikings, and things that are dwarf-y (with the removal of "Squats" and the limbo of "Demiurg," Space Wolves are the closest thing 40k has to Dwarfs).

So where does that leave us? Well, now I'm doing a Space Wolf 40k army in anticipation of the new edition that's due out this year. But of course, I can't just do a Space Wolf army in 28mm, I need to do a Space Wolf army in 6mm too, so that they match!

Which brings us to...

EPIC:
Ah, the Epic system; the best four editions (and 6 different game boxes) of a game system ever written in the history of gaming. I can only hope to reach this games foot in the giant game design monument. My love for this game began with Epic 40,000 in 1997, and reached its apex in 2004-2006 with Epic Armageddon before it lost regular support from Games Workshop/Specialist Games. Hell, I even dabbled with NetEpic and Adeptus Titanicus.

For years, Epic Armageddon has been my favorite version; it's a great mixture of the simplistic and clean design of Epic 40,000, and the detail and character of Space Marine/Titan Legions (not to mention EA has full-color books). However, I've always lamented its "incompleteness." It's missing (at least) two armies! Chaos and Tyranids were never really given any official update, and now the Tyranid models aren't even available for purchase.

It's in this desperation that I turned to NetEpic, and found that the system is good for about seven games. For my eighth game I demand something that's better written, and isn't just Warhammer 40,000 2nd edition at 1/5th the size.

This is where we get into the modern day, where I've gone back and looked at Epic 40,000 and come to the conclusion that where I once found a sterile and flavorless rules system, I now see as a very workable, playable, and enjoyable system. The army lists are flexible as they could ever be, the combats aren't mired down by special abilities, or special rules; everything just works.

So where does that leave us? Or, me, rather... Well, EA is still my favorite edition, but I'm going to put Epic 40,000 a hair's width behind it. If 40k is the zoomed-in game, and Epic 40,000 is the zoomed-out game, then EA is the game you play one mouse-wheel click before you get to Epic 40,000 (using a Google® Maps metaphor, for those who don't use computers (or metaphors)). I'd love to give Epic 40,000 another shot (or ten), but gamers are notoriously committed individuals who have no problem dividing their time and money amongst multiple games, but not across multiple editions.

Which brings us to...

The Great D&D/Pathfinder Wars of the 21st Century:
If ever there's been a greater waste of words, time, and vocal chord vibrations I've yet to see it. They're both great games. That's why, starting Sunday the 8th of January in the year of our LORD, two-thousand and twelve, I hereby remove myself from this fighting!

Hypocritically, however. While I was not on the front lines of this fight, I definitely took sides (D&D4). I hated, above all else, the smugness and condescension that Pathfinder players poured upon me at my local games shop. I never once heard a D&D4 player make fun of Pathfinder (except me), but the verbal bombardments thrown upon D&D4 players by Pathfinder players placed many a Blast Marker on their detachment (Epic 40,000 joke).

Bah! See; I'm doing it again. This won't be easy.

So where does that leave us? I'm giving Pathfinder an honest shake. I've heard nothing but good things about the Pathfinder Beginner Box (notably from Penny Arcade, and this guy). I'm going to pick it up (and probably the Core Rulebook, and most likely the Inner Sea World Guide because it has an American-style country in there and I'm nothing if not an Ameriphile), and I'm going to run it as a one-off (or hopefully a campaign) with my group in mid-April (the next available free gaming break in our schedule). This does not mean that it's replacing D&D4 as my favorite of the d20 systems; I am more than capable of enjoying, playing, and thinking highly of more than one gaming system.

And yes, I realize that this announcement was made this morning. More on that later this week (I promise).

Which, not so eloquently (at all), brings us to...

Blood Bowl:
What's this? Two Jervis Johnson-designed games in this list? 'Tis true, folks, I'm gettin' in to Blood Bowl. Now, I've never mentioned this game on this blog because up until recently, I never liked this game. I found it too frustrating, too goofy, and too board game-ish to settle my hungry, miniatures game, stomach. However, I've been slinging boardgames for four years now, and in that time my appreciation for boardgames has increased exponentially, to a point where it rivals my love of miniatures and role-playing games. I now see the merits to mixing miniatures gaming and board gaming, and applaud Mr. Jervis Johnson for his original, and quite brilliant, idea.

As for the goofiness, and the frustration: c'mon, Carmin; You love goofiness! That's not a valid excuse. NEXT!

Ah, the frustration of the game. The start and stop nature, which is aggravated when one with the limp wrist-ed rolling such as myself meets a game where you end your turn the minute a die-roll is failed. This might still be a bugbear when I get back into the game, but I'm determined to meet this fact with grace when it arises.

So where does that leave us? It leaves me with a Chaos Dwarf Blood Bowl team sitting on my paint bench. I must admit, however, that this change of opinion leaves even myself perplexed. All the other examples I once played and enjoyed immensely. Epic 40,000 is where I first started playing huge-battle games, and D&D3.x was the era I played the most role playing games in. Space Wolves I commanded to much success in the early-2000s but Blood Bowl I probably enjoyed only as long as it took to paint the plastic humans in the box. I guess this can be traced back to my love of Chaos Dwarfs and the recent release of Tamurkhan.

I've been really enjoying Warhammer Fantasy since the release of 8th edition, and when Warhammer Forge released a supplement that dealt with Chaos (and Chaos Dwarfs, at that) I needed it. I used to have a Chaos Dwarf army and have never stopped loving those evil little bastards. So with Tamurkhan bringing Chaos Dwarfs back to my attention, and the mumblings of a Blood Bowl league starting, I figure: "What do I have to lose (besides the ~$75 I spent on a Chaos Dwarf Blood Bowl team)?"

So there! You can all see how utterly mad I am, and how these four contradictions to my previous gaming habits might be noteworthy (and a sign of the end times). I hope you enjoyed reading a, rather long, post that has only to do with my moods and not even any concrete gaming content. I have a ton of projects on the go right now (when do I not?) and I'm even gearing-up for Privateer Press' Lock and Load 2012, so you can be sure that 2011 will pale in comparison to the content of 2012. Thanks for reading!

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News From the Front

Still alive. December's been mad, what with the Christmas rush, and now I'm trying to get back on schedule (but it's hard).

There have been some developments in my Epic gaming, as well in my decision for what army to bring to this year's Lock and Load.

Talk to ya next week!

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V20

Vampire: the Masquerade burst onto the scene in 1991. I was 5 years old, and much too young to appreciate it.

When I first began gaming in '95, I had toyed around with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition but never "met" Vampire until D&D3 came out and I started going to game shops instead of Games Workshops or the library for my gaming. That's when I first saw White Wolf's games, and I was not impressed.

You see, at the time I was a little different than I am today. I was still a nice, and smart kid, but things that were outside the box were strange to me, and I was also the type of kid who jumped to conclusions before looking, and Vampire was "weird and gothy." I'm sure 14-year-old Carmin and 25-year-old Carmin would have some laughs if they met now.

Suffice it to say, I've never played Vampire: the Masquerade.

Fast forward to 2008, and I had already been working in an independent games shop for two years. After two years of seeing Vampire: the Requiem sitting on the role play shelf, I finally decided to take the plunge and I bought the World of Darkness (WoD or nWoD (new World of Darkness)) rulebook and the Vampire: the Requiem (VtR) add-on. I was hooked from the first chapter.

What I love about Vampire is the overwrought grimness of the whole setting, and the unapologetic intelligence with which the staff at White Wolf write. Every book they produce opens with a story, or set of stories before the credits and printing information are even displayed. VtR was also the first time I've seen (in writing) a games designer suggest a rule as opposed to offer an official ruling. Sure AD&D2 had optional rules in the blue boxes, but they were always add-ons or replacements for the basic mechanics, never was an entire mechanic merely a suggestion. To the mind of a role player who came to his formative  years during the late-'90s/early-new millennium this was revolutionary.

During the beginning of 2011 I hadn't paid much attention to the White Wolf website, so one day in May I decided to pop-by the new re-vamped (har-de-har-har) website and take a look at what was new (especially because I had heard that they were moving to a digital-first model of distribution. More on that in a later post). I saw an ad for the 20th anniversary of Vampire: the Masquerade (VtM, which is part of the classic World of Darkness (cWoD)). I was curious; here was the father to VtR, and though the two games share only superficial details, I wanted to see where my favorite RPG had come from. Though it was $100. I wavered for a month, but finally decided to buy it. I just received it today. Let's take a look shall we?

Now, before you express shock at the fact that a book I ordered in June finally arrived, take note that White Wolf only printed these books in September/October, and they were taking order for the whole summer as a "print on demand" sort of deal.

Here's the book:

That's a leatherette cover with the ankh of the Camarilla on the front.

Here's a shot of the inside:

The book is full-color, and 520 pages long. It's got silver gilded edges that are mirror-like, and it's got two (that's right, TWO) cloth bookmarks. 

Now here's what the book isn't: It's not a re-do of the game. It still has the old clans, the old mechanics, and the old storyline. The wonky die-rolling system of a combination of a die-pool and a variable target number is still there, and all the clan weaknesses and benefits are there as well. However, it's meta-plot neutral, which means that it doesn't further the meta-plot from VtM Revised (3rd edition), and is, therefore, compatible with wherever you decided to situate your campaign. There's still the Camarilla and the Sabbat, and the Anarchs, but it doesn't force the plot down your throat. 

The folks at White Wolf describe it (in their typical style, that I love) almost as a love letter to the old game that everyone loved. Their target audience was those those that played and loved the old edition, and this book is a celebration of that game. In fact, it's all you ever need to play VtM.

So why do I have it? Well, like I said, I love Vampire, and want to take part in all aspects of Vampire. I want to use the book for ideas, or perhaps even to play the old game. I also mentioned that it's all one would need to play VtM, therefore it seems like a good place to go from for a person like myself who is interested in the old Vampire system, but doesn't want to collect the hundreds of old books, or pdfs.

What started out as a "love letter" is becoming a saga, as White Wolf is releasing a bunch of products set in the classic World of Darkness (cWoD) under the "Onyx Path" line. These books will be new productions of the old systems (Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Mage: the Ascension, Changeling: the Lost, etc.) along with new supplements. They just released a 50-something-page adventure that's a loose continuation of the old book "Ashes to Ashes," called "Dust to Dust." The next book to be released for the Onyx Path is the V20 Companion (a book of "hacks" for V20). Similar things will be in development for all the cWoD games.

So, what do I think of this book? I love it! It's fascinating to look at where my favorite game came from, and satisfying knowing that what I bought was not a shard of a larger work, but almost like an omnibus. If I really wanted, I could go back and collect all the old books, but I don't have to. My enjoyment of this work of art can stand alone. And a work of art it is. Some art is re-hashed from the old supplements and core books, but because it's an homage to the old system this isn't a problem. New art by Tim Bradstreet are very impressive. 

My complaints with the book, stem with some faults in the printing. There's a magenta line running horizontally in the Clan Giovanni section. It's not enough to ruin the book, but it shouldn't be there. Also, the book is bowing:

I'm going to try and put some heavier books on top of it for a couple of days, but I don't think that will actually do anything. 

Was it worth the $100 I paid for it? Yes. Barely. Would it be worth the $100 if one was a fan of VtM from the beginning, and got huge play out of it in the '90s? Very much so. However, this thing was a limited run, and if you didn't order it before the end of the summer, you're shit outta luck. White Wolf is going to put the thing on print on demand through One Book Shelf soon, but right now you can purchase the pdf. From what I hear the book will either be in one volume in black and white, or two volumes in full color. I suggest you pick it up.

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P.S. As a bit of a housekeeping note, you'll notice that I tagged this as both "Vampire the Masquerade," and "V20." From now on, things that do not pertain to the V20 or Onyx Path will be labelled as "Vampire the Masquerade," while things that pertain mostly to V20 will be labelled as such. Expect to see much more "V20" labels than "Vampire the Masquerade" labels, as I'll be collecting just the V20 books. 

Sick Day

Calling in sick today. Gonna get some hobby work done. Right now I'm waiting for some paint to dry on my daemons. I also hope to do some work on a Kings of War review I'm working on, as well as maybe some work on that D&D Essentials review I talked about in the last post. Or I might even start work on a D&D campaign I've been working on.

The possibilities are endless!

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