Well we had a good run humanity!

Here is another year gone and the good times that were had. Now we enter the last year of humanity and possibly planet Earth. We had a good run and sometime within the coming year it looks to end. All because of this.......

Stoopid Mayans and there calendar of foretelling doom!

I'm not sure how the "world" will end, but here are a few guesses......

"This land was green, until the crystal cracked."

After a recent viewing of the Dark Crystal my addled mind thought of something, a Garthim list for 40K.

Now if you haven’t seen the Dark Crystal, well shame on you. First go watch that. Now you know what the Garthim are. It should be pretty easy to use the Tyranids for a Garthim army. No real shock there.

Well any army that is going to resemble the big shelled minions from the Dark Crystal needs to have a unit that resembles them. I’m looking at Tyranid Warriors. I’ll aim for 1500 like usual and see what happens.

Necron review elites, Deathmarks

It is common knowledge that you can’t run a planet conquering dynasty without some black-ops. This is what the Deathmarks are used for in Necron race.

My gun has balls on top!

These guys are the assassins and snipers, duh! They have a neat ability to hide in a pocket dimension until the right time to strike. Then they “appear” and sniper the hell out of their target.  They have a cool ability to mark their target with a green halo (this is known as a Hunter’s Mark) that can be seen through five dimensions (holy crap when did we get that many). It will stay on the target until they are dead or until time runs out. This never ever happens since the Deathmarks never fail.

Oddly enough the Necrons have forbade the use of Deathmarks in civil disputes, against nobility or races that are deemed honorable. Well that is nice isn’t it? Necrons want to play fair when it comes to some aspects of war. I say PFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTT!! to that nonsense. Its war! Who the hell plays fair?!

Merry Chthulu-Mas!

Naughty or nice? He doesn't care!

Some Lovecraftian carols for this holiday season.

Don't sing them out loud lest you incur the wrath of eldritch horrors, or maybe that is what you're after.......

(to the tune of "Here Comes Santa Claus")
Here comes Yog-Sothoth
Here comes Yog-Sothoth
Everyone try to hide
God, he's huge! - Those iridescent
Globes are six miles wide!
He's just turned Dunwich into goo
And had it for a snack
He's gonna visit your home town
So run and don't look back!

(to the tune of "Jingle Bells")Wendigoes Wendigoes - walking in the waste

They will soon be whooshing by to find out how you taste - oh!
Wendigoes Wendigoes hear the North Wind moan
Quicker than the frost will melt they'll strip you to the bone

Have a proper holiday season all you people out there!

Sometimes the interweb gives me a happy

The creator of this, whomever you are.......you rock!

Necron review, elite Praetorians

Before the great biotransference the Triarch Praetorians had the job of maintaining the Necrontyr rule. They made sure that the rules and laws were upheld be it in peacetime or in war. They also helped keep the Overlords in check and made sure that a Necrontyr dynasty never fell. They were like kick ass political cop warriors or something. Now when the whole Necron war vs. the Old Ones was going down the crapper, the Praetorians chose not to go into the tomb worlds for a long nap like their fellow robots. They stayed awake to ensure the safety of the Necron race. They kept vigil over tomb worlds, especially against those poncy space elves, and did their best to preserve the Necron legacy. When the tomb worlds the Praetorians watch over awaken, they return to their previous duties as weird ass kickin’ political cop warriors.

"I do look pretty badass don't I?!"

Necron Review 1st elite, Lychguard

When it comes to Necrons most players think mindless kill bots. Well that has changed. Yes there is still the mass of mindless kill bots. There are even some semi-sentient kill bots. Then there are upper echelons of thinking kill bots. The first group of these is the Lynchguard. These guys have retained some of their original personality. Now that doesn’t make Lychguard free thinkers. They still have some engrams and programs that keep them under the command of their Overlord, Phaeron or whomever.  The Lynchguard are capable fighters that can form a potent bodyguard, but they also serve as emissaries and couriers for their Overlords. This usually occurs when the Overlord thinks the mission might be a bit to hazardous for his health (weird since they are robots that can reanimate after they are destroyed). 

The Lychguard are the Necron elite fighting unit. They are the Assault Terminators for the Necrons, if there is a unit comparison to be made. They have: WS 4, BS 4, strength and toughness 5, 1 wound, attacks and initiative 2, leadership 10 and a 3+ save.  They are equipped with warscythes. They may swap these for a hyper phase sword and dispersion shield for +5 points. Now the entire squad must do this, it cannot be a mix of weapons. They may also purchase a Night Scythe for a transport. They come as a squad of five to start for bicentennials worth of points. They can also add up to five more to the squad at the cost of +40 each.

Have you seen this unit? part 18

Well it seems to have been a while since I have done one of these posts. I almost forgot I was doing them. So after a hiatus, here is another installment of,”Have you seen this unit?”

We should all know what Ork Nobz are. If not, they are bigger than a boy, but smaller than a boss. They are like the veteran sergeants of the orks. Mostly they are seen as a squad upgrade with a power klaw. Then they are also seen as an elite unit that rides bikes with all sort of wound allocation stupidity. Heck they can even be made into troops. See now we know. Well there is one unit of Nobs that seems to never be fielded the heavy support Nob, the Flash Gitz.

These guys rocked in the Dawn of War RTS.

Flash Gitz are Nobs that have taken the best loot from the battlefield. This means they have then best guns and equipment in the army. They are also not the typical close combat Nobs, these guys prefer to shoot.

The second Necron transport review

The second Necron transport is the Night Scythe. This is available to many more units than the Ghost Ark. It is essentially a stripped down Doom Scythe. Well what is that? Well the Doom Scythe is a heavy support fighter/skimmer. The Doom Scythe has some weapons stripped off it, has a stable wormhole put inside and then has its name changed to Night Scythe and becomes a transport option.

The Night Scythe is a transport that can hold 15 models*, is BS 4, armor 11 on all sides, is fast, a skimmer, has living metal, supersonic, aerial assault, deep strike and is armed with a twin-linked tesla destructor. It is also only run you a century in points.

Necron transport review, Ghost Ark

The Necrons have two official transports and I’ll cover one now and get to the other one soon. Today I’ll cover the Ghost Ark.

Now this is used to ferry Necrons around the battlefield, but originally it was a wooden cart to carry the dead (insert Monty Python “Bring out your dead.” bit here). Then as time progressed it became metal and carried the lucky individuals to wherever they went to get biotransferenced or is it biotransferized? Once all that was said and done it was re-tasked for battle and now carries and repairs the common Necron battle unit, the Warriors.

Well these are done

While going through my back log of models. I found these guys...........



Five more Immortals that I forgot existed. I knocked them out over the weekend. So this will bring me to 15 Immortals for my Necrons. I think I would like 10 per squad, but if I can only get 7 and 8, I think that will work. Trying to find five more metal Immortals will be an annoying journey through the realm of E-bay, a journey I'm not sure if I'll take.

I figured two of them should be still emerging from the ground.

"Their choices are so boring!"

Will soon be the rallying cry of Necron bang wagoners everywhere. It is also a good title for my first review.

Can we all guess what the first unit review will be for Necrons? Wait for it……

Troops! We should have all seen this coming because we read the tripe I write and know the adulation I have for the troop section of 40K armies. Well the Necrons have two such choices the Warriors and the Immortals.

Ok mankind, lets get this Imperium going. We can start here.

Scientists looking for life on other planets like to talk about the "Goldilocks Zone" -- not too hot, not too cold, but just right.


Now, researchers at the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., have found a planet -- Kepler-22b -- that's right in that zone.


NASA finding feeds talk of a new Earth

But don't pack your bags just yet. If you traveled at the speed of light, it would take 600 years to get there.

However the news is still exciting stuff for experts such as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson of the American Museum of Natural History.

The discovery, Tyson said on "The Early Show," is thrilling because of the potential for life on the planet. He explained, "In the catalogs of planets that we now have, this is the first time we've had an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone with a star. ... We're kind of biased: We're looking for life as we know it. You can imagine, I suppose, that there is life on something other than water, but that's kind of -- we don't know how to get a handle on that. We do have a handle on life -- every place there's water on Earth, there's life -- even the Dead Sea. They called it the Dead Sea because they didn't see fish. But you pull out your microscope and there's microbes everywhere on Earth."


However, it isn't likely humans are going to be guests on Kepler-22b anytime soon, particularly because our current technology has its limitations. "It's not close," Tyson said. "(With) our fastest spacecraft today, it would take something like 300,000 years to get there. ... Probably even longer."


What's the next realistic step for researchers, now that the planet's been found?

"You build the catalog of these planets that could have life," Tyson said. "Now you have a second round of observations to try to see the atmosphere, to see if the atmosphere has bio-markers for thriving life on its surface. Then you say, 'Well, if you ever have the chance to go somewhere or to target telescopes to listen for intelligent life, those will be at the top of the list."'
© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

November is gone and X-mas is a comin'!

Looking pretty good at my house, in terms of models and such. I am done with all my major build and paint projects, that I wanted to finish prior to 2012. I am now in maintenance mode. That means I am waiting a weekend of flocking and am painting unfinished models.

I have no major need to start a new 40K army, so I am just touching up old stuff, painting models I never started, looking at doing some terrain for a while and also looking to move some stuff to E-bay. It is a pretty nice place to be in at the moment.

Another day another demon list, but horde-ish this time.

Well with three warp armies drawn up, maybe it is time to make another. I’ll work with Slaanesh this time. Well a pure force will be fast and frail since these demons are all initiative 5 and mostly toughness 3 or 4 at best. I’ll go with numbers this time as a swarm of either androgynous or hermaphroditic creatures seems like the most fun to try and build.

Well the ever popular HQ choice is first. A Keeper of Secrets is not a bad option. It is big, fast, descent strength and has a descent amount of attacks and wounds. However, I think I’ll go with the humble Herald. I’ll skip on the Masque, since I’m not a fan of the model or anything else about it. A regular old herald will do. Then I’ll add transfixing gaze, which will pull an attack off from someone in base contact. Then throw in unholy might to bring it up to strength 4. That will help a tiny bit as wound on 4+ vs. Marines is always better than 5+. Well we have a HQ with rending, strength 4, aura of acquiesce (offensive and defensive grenades) and fleet. That doesn’t seem that great. Well looky there, a chariot. That will add +2 attacks, +1 toughness, +3 wounds, a 4+ armor save, lose Independent, gain cavalry, furious charge and only for +15 points. Holy crap! That is a nice upgrade and really cheap. This pumps this guy to WS 5, BS 3, strength and toughness 4, wounds of 5, attacks of 6, initiative 7, leadership 10, and a 4+/5++ save. Let’s take two of these for the HQ.

Necron guns and gear

Here we go with the gear and guns of the Necron codex.
Like every codex there looks to be some good items, some bad items and some situational items.

Gauntlet of Fire- is a close combat weapon that allows a re-roll to hit and to wound. It can also be fired as a flamer, S 4 AP 5 template. This is a fun item, but not really scary, unless you only play vs. the more numerous and higher armor save armies.

Void Blade- is another close combat weapon. It comes with the Entropic Strike and Rending rules. These would be great with a lot of attacks and on a lot of models. Then they might be worth it.

Hyper Phase Sword- is a gold standard power weapon.  A power weapon that is only available to strength 5 models in this book. In an Astartes world why wouldn’t I want a strength 5 power weapon? Well, probably because of the………….

Warscythe- is a two-handed weapon that adds +2  to the wielder’s strength. It also allows for 2D6 on armor penetration rolls. If that wasn’t enough, armor saves cannot be taken against wounds from this weapon. Now that would make it a power weapon, but it isn’t, it is better? Yeah why not take this weapon over the others? There is no bonus attack lost for an extra close combat weapon, as the Necrons who can take weapon upgrades have no pistol or extra close combat weapons.

Staff of Light- is a ranged weapon that is 12” S5 AP3 and assault 3. It is the gold standard starting weapon for Necron Lords everywhere. Sadly it is no longer a power weapon and is only just a gun.

The metal behemoth arrives to the sound of cheering Chaos troops!

Well here is is the body of the Storm(fill -in the blank).

After a rather long weekend away, I did get sometime to finish this beast yesterday afternoon and late last night.

I added a dozer blade, which is two old school predator dozer blades together, to give it a little umph up front. if the model size wasn't enough already. Sadly, it is a bit crooked, but since it is pinned I can probably bend it a bit to straighten it. Damn I thought it was in better when the glue was drying, oh well a simple fix.

The dual Aquilas are properly cut through as a symbol of where the loyalty of this tank lies. There is also some dark fluid seeping from the front view port another tie-in to my Chaos force.

The finished product is below...........

The sound of grinding treads is ever approaching.

I have finished the second turret for my Stormlord/ Stormsword/Doomhammer etc. This will function as every other turret except the Shadowsword. Why no Shadowsword? Well I'm not building a titan killer tank. I would rather focus on killing everything else on the tabletop.

The banner that depicts who this super heavy serves. The bloody script is tied with my Chaos forces, and that is who is commanding this bad boy.

Necron codex, the review begins

Well after a few weeks I’ve decided to jump into the Necron codex. I’m not overly happy or sad with it. I am pretty Swiss with the book. There is stuff to like and to dislike. This doesn’t look like a must have army and will (hopefully) shut the mouths of the Codex Creep Cultists out there. The Necrons are new again, but they will not be as popular as the Wolves, Knights or other 3+ armies out there. I’ll start small with the army-wide and popular rules, and then blunder through the units like I always do. So without further ado…………………The Necron Codex!

Not since Mansquito has a title said it all!

By the beard of Zeus! Whatever the hell this is it must be awesome!

I give thanks for not having seen this movie, although there are boobs in the first second!

Now to eat myself into a coma and hopefully awaken for some football games and pie.

Have a delightful Thanksgiving everyone.

4th edition Necron showcase----Heavy

I was never a fan of any of the Destroyers, but still I bought two of the heavy version to try. I never had much success with them due to their cost, small squad size and "We'll be back!" range shenanigans. The idea of a mobile lascannon was neat, but not really as effective and efficient as one would think.

I was pretty happy with the Destroyer emerging from the ground. 

4th edition Necron showcase---fast

Now we get to my favorite unit from the last codex, the Scarabs! I can't rave enough about how awesome these guys were in the last book. They caused more havoc and doom than any other unit in that codex. Well at least in my area. If they didn't drag their target down, they kept it tied up and away from my horribly combat ineffective Warriors.

Now everyone and their sister thinks they are awesome now, but where they before? These thing are one of the two units to rock in the 4th ed and the world of 5th ed (before the fancy new codex). Screw those Destroyers and all that everyone said about them! Scarab swarms was where it was at!

My 4th edition Necron showcase- HQ

Well with the troops section dine here are their not so fearless leaders. 

Mr. On Foot Lord has a Rez Orb, Warscythe (mad from green tubeless Staff o' Light) and his Destroyer head is/was the Gaze of Flame upgrade. I never took to the metal official lords, so I made him from bits. he has a sort of Saturday Night Fever pose, but it was the best I could do with what I had.

Both of these guys served me well and even gave a bit of annoyance, with the all save negating Warscythe. Now they will probably return to their Tombs since the new lords look much better, and the Rez Orb will probably not be very prevalent in a Necron force I would run.

My 4th Edition Necron showcase---Elite

Well once these were both elite units, and now the Immortals are troops. Hooray? Well I'm not sure yet.

Like the Warriors I cut the guns down to remove the green rods. I think I has a much better look on the Immortals than the Warriors. I should still rectify that sometime.......

My 4th ed Necron showcase---Troops

5th edition had me return to the 40K universe and I did, with the Necrons. I figured I'd showcase what I have, before I decide to buy more or leave them to their tombs. I'll start with my core....the Warriors

Here are the majority of my Warriors. I have a strong just came out of the ground theme. It will be a bit more apparent on a few later pics. There are a lot of models with grass and dirt still clinging to them. Big surprise, I wanted my Necrons to be very zombie-like, so they are in

I ditched the Necron green for a lightning and regal blue instead. The eyes, guns and internal (ribcages) of my Necrons have a eerie blue instead. 

 I have broken the photos into three groups: the normals, halfies and the rest.

The last bits of Grey Knight codex review

The Grey Knights have the standard two Astartes dedicated transport options we all know and love. They also can have access to a third dedicated transport, if they take the right unit.

The humble Rhino and Razorback transports should all be widely known to everyone. They are a tiny bit different for the Grey Knights. First they each cost +5 points more than for regular Astartes forces. They also have the Aegis, like all Grey Knights. They also have the psychic pilot that all the Grey Knight vehicles come with. That means they have the psy power Fortitude as well. This extra gear and cool psy power make these a steal at only +5 extra points.

Real world interlude: EPITAPH TOUR 2011

Last night we hit the state capital for Thin Lizzy, Black Label Society and Judas Priest. It was pretty damn awesome! The Epitaph Tour 2011, the farewell tour for Judas Priest (well....probably the first one).

1st read through before a deeper review.

After a good once through to the Necron codex I’m not unhappy with them. I think there are some good and questionable changes, but no real bad ones. So here is a quick overview of the book that brings my lovable Necrons to the front lines again, well possibly.

The ground rumbles as it approaches

What is it?

A super heavy tank that has been stuck on a Forge World (my closet) waiting to be finished.

Steamborg a love/ hate assembly

Well with Ramos, arachnids and now this guy done...my Malifaux stater crew is complete. I just need to find a game somewhere. That will be the hardest part.

The last Inqusitor HQ and she's a looker!

Inquisitor Valeria is an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos. She has spent time and worked with many of the xenos races.  Now this isn’t awful and it is sort of frowned upon by some. It is her beliefs that get her branded a radical. She believes in winning by any means necessary. Yup that means she will even use the weapons of the “enemy” if it gets the job done. Valeria also thinks there are no lines that cannot be crossed and anything is permitted in the defense of the Imperium. This is seen as a big NO NO by many in the Inquisition.  It even gets her a beef with another Inquisitor when a cool anti-warp device is found. She wants to use it, and he wants to destroy the planet where it is located. Long story short....planet gets the old Exterminatus and Val is miffed. She swears revenge on him and so on and so forth.



Yeah this is an Inquisitor Game model, but it is the only female Inquisitor that I think Val should/might resemble.



Necron thoughts (then and now/soon)

As stated earlier, this is the first 5th ed codex I have a truly vested interest in. Sure I have a crap ton of dark Eldar, but they were a side army, not my main. The same for my Chaos forces. They are my second favorite, but not my main. The Necrons are, or were my main.

They were my 4th ed army of choice. I returned to 40K after a Lord o' the Rings hiatus with the Necrons. I loved those walking tin cans. They weren't world shattering good, but they could cause some havoc with the 4th ed rules. When 5th hit I played three games with them and realized how bad they were going to have it until a new codex. They silently returned to their tomb and have slumbered since.

Well into the fall season

November is upon us and winter will be here before we know it.

Miniatures and such......

This past month has given me nothing but Necron rumors, and I avoided them all but one. I grabbed the codex and it will be here by weeks end. I have a sizable necron force. I'll go into detail about them in another post, but for now they are soon to be on the tabletops a bit more often.

Will that change the game? Nope! This will be a new army for some and an update for others. I think it will change the game as much as Dark Eldar did and not much more than that. Once people realize how awesome initiative 2 and glancing vehicles is, well then players will return to their Astartes army of choice.

I'll be happy with a new codex, especially for an army that is near and dear for me. This is the 1st codex release I really have a vested interest in. I await the book and ignore the internet noise about this army. It is the best way to go, I just wish more people thought that way. It would cut down on the stupidity.

I am all but done with painting, minus a few backpacks that need highlights. Then it is on to a big project (one of two) that I have been letting sit for too long.

T.V. land time.............

Walking Dead is still great, and I'm getting better at separating the comic from the show. It is still difficult, but I'm managing. The Talking Dead after show isn't awful and Chris Hardwick does a descent job running it. it is worth the 1/2 hour.

American Horror Story has turned out to be a fun show. It is a ghost story vs. family with sexy results! It has some great "What the shit!" moments. I'm not sure how they can make it last for more than a season or two with it getting stale or just too weird. It has a great creep factor and is fun, so I'll stick with it until it turns to crap.

Gaming.......
Borrowed Rage and didn't hate it. It was a more than typical first person shooter. It was an Id title through and through. I might grab it when it price drops or shows up in the used titles. It was fun, but not full price fun.

Other than that, the video game front is barren for me, until next week. I am very much awaiting Skyrym. The Elder Scroll games are a riot and do a phenomenal job of sandbox fantasy. The ability to dual wield is what I am most excited for. It has been a long time coming. I look to make a sword and spell slinger or the standard two weapon wielding brute first. It will be a game time decision, but I'll probably run both eventually. Only another week and change until this game wrecks my free time with utter AWESOMENESS!

Halloween Night re-cap

 Well another Halloween come and gone. We actually had a few kids this year, 15! That blows the old record of 2 out of the water. We handed out full sized candy bars; screw that "fun size" crap. It blew the minds of the little monsters that graced our doorstep. So with my dark powers now in decline until next year, almost all the candy gone and only a few pumpkins to dispose of...I sadly say goodbye to Halloween. I now cringe and retch a bit, at the fact that retail stores are pushing X-mas already.

Our pumpkins this year.

This was my Nurgle pumpkin. it was covered in bumps and knobbies. I thought it would make a suitable Plaguebearer with the stem/horn and boils/pustules that the knobbies resembled.

 

Manders did a Mr. Angry Eyes Bitey Mouth. 

Last is the pumpkinn foreshadowing the Despoiler's return. The 14th Black Crusade will soon be upon us!The gourd never lies!

Here they are lit up!

The Wile E. Coyote horror movies

Why Wile E. Coyote? Well if you have seen any horror movie it is obvious. If you haven't then.....well shame on you. These are the Wile E. movies because the bad guys always manage to miss getting their Roadrunner (usually some stupid girl). 

It is Halloween and we'll knock these three gems out while waiting for kiddies to give much deserved treats. We will probably not get any kids, since we live on a DMZ/ wasteland neighborhood (a lot of loners, oldies and empty houses). Still we can watch these and eat candies.

The original and best (outside of the fun that was Dream Warriors). It has one of my favorite death scenes involving a young Johnny Depp. Plus Freddy Kruger is a likeable and creepy bad guy.

Then we switch to a bit more disturbing....

Now we have a truly creepy bad guy and friends. The Cenobites are just disturbingly awesome as is the plot of this converted Clive Barker story. Hellraiser is great gore and weirdness (chains, hooks, blades and a strange S&M vibe). Plus those Cenobites will get you in the end, unless you are the lead character.



Then the be all end all....

This has it all: creepy villain, Donald Pleasence, a great and memorable score, some good killin' and a Shatner mask. I was floored by the end of this movie as a young stupid kid. I didn't see it coming. It was also an ending that wasn't in every other movie, like it is today. It is also one of the better John Carpenter films.

This will finish off the Halloween season for another year, so until next year........Have a great Halloween everyone!



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Enjoy the tricks and treats today! 

"All right ramblers....lets get ramblin'."

Finally we roll through into the realm of the bloodsuckers! Now none of these are scary vampire movies (like they make those anyway), they are more like action/kick-ass vampire movies.

We, what I thought this was going to be a turd when it released, go with…….

I’m no James Woods fan, but I am a big John Carpenter fan!

This is bit of a late 80’s Teen Beat vampire film……..

It does have some great stuff via the Frog brothers and a great death scene with Bill S. Preston Esq.

Then we have the mother of all kick ass vampire movies….

George Clooney is so good in this. Why doesn’t that guy play a badass more often?

Two that didn't make the cut, but have some good action Blade and Underworld (plus Bill Nighy really helps).