Escalation and Stronghold Assault and Formations, Oh My!

I've held off writing anything about these for a while in part because of the widespread, visceral reaction I was seeing, but also because I didn't have a chance to read the books themselves, let alone play using the rules. I still haven't played a game using any of these new rules (except Be'lakor), but I have been able to read through some, and also just had more time to process what they mean.

My nids Do Not Want

Raven Guard List Building v.2.0

Now that I've had some time to look back at my collection of Space Marine 1k lists, I've been toying with some differing ideas. Raven Guard strike me as my favorite, and probably one of the ones I'm most likely to run in my theoretical "someday" Space Marine force. Looking specifically at my previous Raven Guard List, I've seen some room for improvement.

Two weeks of insanity, Pre-codex Tyranid prep.

BeeCee here again.

I am making a few educated guesses based on the rumors/leaked photos regarding the Tyranid release as I prepare my list for the Dark Star GT in March 2014.

I spawn kill points!

Cypher Dataslate Review - Final Advent Calendar Day

On the final day of Games Workshop's Advent Calendar (25 days of pure terror to some), the final release was Cypher, a figure clad in mystery and the most infamous of the Fallen. I couldn't help myself and picked it up.

Making a better Biovore (head) - Tyranid Converting

Hey everyone, Ron here with a quick Tyranid Conversion.   Today I am looking at the much maligned biovore - specifically improving the herpy derp head.  Sadly forrest stumpy is not in line for a new model, but no need to worry.  There is a simple fix:

Nemesis (Horus Heresy Book 13) Review

Next up in the Horus Heresy Series is Nemesis, by James Swallow. Ever since Flight of the Eisenstein, I have looked forward to reading more of his work. Listening to the Garro Audio dramas he wrote were fun, but I didn't get the same feeling from them as his novel. This novel focuses on the Officio Assassinorum and agents of its five clades: Eversor, Callidus, Culexus, Venenum, Vanus, and Vindicare.

As with recent reviews, I will put the spoiler alert here: below the jump I will not hold back details I think are relevant for discussion.

Advent Calendar Short Stories: Heroes of the Astartes

With Evan putting out a lot of the book reviews for the Horus Heresy, I decided to take a stab at doing a few reviews of my own.  These are not the monsters of the Horus Heresy but the short stories provided through the Black Library Advent Calendar.  So far I have picked up Bjorn: Lone Wolf, Torias Telion: The Eye of Vengeance, Kor'sarro Khan:  Huntmaster, Azrael: Protector of Secrets, Kayvaan Shrike:  Shadow Stalker, Logan Grimnar: Defender of Honour, and Astorath the Grim: Redeemer of the Lost.  This is a bit of a Spoiler Review but it should be noted that if you are still interested, I would pick them up.  They are quick and a good read that helps with understanding the different heroes but I am only going over the ones I have read so far, Bjorn, Telion, Azrael, and Grimnar.

Huzzah Hobbies December RTT Review

On Sunday, I made my way to Huzzah Hobbies for their monthly RTT. I had to be in DC again for work, and having seen the recurring tournament on Torrent of Fire, I thought I would head up a little early to get some gaming in. The regular tournaments were at 1,999+1, so I had to work some things around from my planned SCARAB list to make up the points and also make up the pieces I didn't have; namely, two of three spores.



IG with Space Wolf allies, Inquistorial detachment, and Tau Firebase

Walking around the hall as people were setting up, it was quickly clear that there was more to differentiate that from my LGS's monthly tournaments than just the points. I was actually feeling left out having not brought a display/transport board, which is someting I didn't expect.

DarkStar Preparations Continue, Dealing with a New Codex. A quick update from BeeCee.

BeeCee here continuing my journey towards my first Warhammer 40k tournament. As you probably know if you are an active 40k player, the Tyranids are coming in January. They have quite a few new shiny kits and the rumors are running wild as to which units are getting a buff, which ones are getting nerfed to the ground etc...

Magnetizing and Painting Raveners

Raveners have been one of my favorite units look and fluff wise since they were first released in third edition. When I came back to the hobby, one of the first things I noticed was the new ravener models, which made the old ones I'd liked look pretty terrible. And yet, I'd never picked up any. A few months ago, I picked up 8 (2 boxes, 2 metal) off eBay, but then they sat in my bits box as rumors of a new Tyranid codex swirled.

With all the torso weapons, it's hard to definitively assemble them without the worry that the build would be terrible in a month. That said, they're also hard to distinguish, and one benefit of tyranids is that generally most people aren't sure what things are supposed to look like anyway.

Iron Hands - Army Building Preview

With Evan stepping up and showing what he could make with the Iron Hands and their chapter tactics, I decided to throw my hat into the ring and come up with a different take on a 1000 point Iron Hand Army.  This is how I do my armies:  Fluff and Fun for me.

Clan Raukaan Iron Hands Supplement Review

What is up everyone? We are a bit over a week out from the release of Clan Raukaan Iron Hands supplement and I have delayed this post for two reasons.  The first is that Evan, Ron, and I had a game weekend planned the weekend this dropped so I couldn't type; too many bugs to kill.  The second is that I wanted to get a game under my belt with the Iron Hands, which Evan was able to help with thanks to his Eldar, and I was also able to use them in our Mini Games that we did.

This is all about the Glory of the Iron Hands though and specifically the Clan Company of Raukaan.  This is an awesome supplement with a lot of innovative rules, wargear, Warlord Traits, and Missions that help to create that feel of the mighty Iron Hands.

Bat Rep: 1,000 pts Clan Raukaan Iron Hands vs. Eldar

To round out the weekend's gaming, Chandler and I faced off in a 1,000 point showdown on a 4'x4' board typical of our LGS's monthly tournament. Chandler brought a list using the brand new Clan Raukaan Iron Hands while I brought Eldar in a sort of cut down version of my 1,850 list.

Preparing for the SCARAB GT hosted by the 11th Company

As the title suggests, I will be attending the SCARAB GT in January. The guys from The 11th Company podcast are hosting and publicizing the event. Due to an apparent lack of knowledge of South Carolina geography, I was very surprised to see that this wasn't much farther than I traveled for NOVA. Being a Staurday/Sunday event, I could even attend without needing to take time off, so that's a bonus.

A Thousand Sons (Horus Heresy Book 12) Review

Marching right along in the Horus Heresy review series, next up is Book 12, A Thousand Sons. This book begins to touch on the one Horus Heresy storyline I'd read before embarking on this journey; Prospero Burns. I'd known from just a background and discussion perspective that the story of the Thousand Sons was a tragic one. Unlike other fallen legions, as has been hinted at in previous books in the series, and False Gods in particular, Magnus and the Thousand Sons are not part of the Heresy exactly. As a reminder, Magnus is the one who tries to stop Erebus when Horus is sick and prevent his turning.

As with recent reviews, I'll put the spoiler alert here, because I will not hide from them if I want to discuss them after the jump. You've been warned.

Bat Rep: 1,850 Pts Tyranids vs. Eldar/Tau

As part of our most recent gaming weekend, Ron and I squared off in a 1,850 point NOVA-style game. Ron decided to take his Tyranids while I borrowed some of his Tau to run an Eldar list with Tau allies.

 vs. 

Stumbling through painting a Tervigon, the BeeCee way.

BeeCee here again. I thought I would give a quick tour of how I painted my first ever MC, my crushing claws Tervigon (or the baby momma as we call her in my gaming group).

*Disclaimer*- These pics aren't great, I decided to write a blog post after the fact. These were pics I took for my gaming group's Facebook page to make it look like i was diligent with my painting.

I started her(it) off with a nice spray primer of Army Painter Matte White (Thanks Warstore!). Once I magnetized the front arms, she looked a little something like this (OK not completely like this because I had already rocked some Druchii Violet wash in the recesses, painted some black and removed her head.):

My dear, it's not fashionable to wear white after Labor Day. Or just primer EVER!

Iron Hand Titan Reporting for Duty

Surf’s up here at the Grey Tide because a Tidal Wave of Nids is flowing in this weekend.  Ron, Evan, and I are getting together for another Gaming Weekend and I am super pumped to try our scenarios, blast some Nids, and hopefully survive our first Mission Based Scenarios.

But that’s not what my post is about.  I have recently acquired my first Titan.  He is a Imperial Warlord Titan, that I got off of eBay (thank you eBay), and he is a Monster.  He looks incredible with a lot of great details, the box he came in makes him look even bigger, and I have a new weapon for my Iron Hands Allies with the new Clan Raukaan supplement coming out, I am super excited to maybe start my second army (maybe).

But my post today is about magnetizing this Beast:  The Imperial Warlord Titan.

Painting a Wave Serpent

I recently got a Wave Serpent to finally begin catching up with how Eldar are "supposed" to be built. That and after getting destroyed by them at NOVA, I can't deny they're good, and they look cool. I've always had a soft spot for Eldar tanks. To begin the build, I was looking at the turret. My initial plan was to create a magnet system to swap out the weapons, but at the same time, I can't seriously imagine a time when I wouldn't want Scatter Lasers. I tried magnetizing the shields to the axle, but it ended up not really working, and I ended up abandoning it. 

Darkstar GT preparations or How I came to love painting for hours every night.

BeeCee here. I am playing in my first ever 40K GT in March 2014 called the Darkstar GT. In a fit of utter insanity I decided to bring my Tyranids.

The Tyranids present a unique challenge as they are getting a new codex anywhere from three weeks from now to a little over a month from now. I am hoping you will come along with me as I embark on this first tournament journey.


Here is the army list as it stands so far.

Codex Inquisition Review

To follow up on my first impressions post, I wanted to provide a slightly more detailed review. That said, there's honestly not a whole lot to review. The fluff is interesting, but no huge revelations. The biggest notes of interest for the fluff is the brief mentions of other Ordos, including Chronos and Scriptorium. That said, all the new Ordos are mentioned extremely briefly.

Codex Inquisition First Impressions Review

The unexpected Codex Inquisition has arrived. While I don't currently play any human force, I was intensely interested in just what the codex would contain. In particular, I was curious how it would work and whether it would be a standalone force or a quasi-supplement for Imperial armies.

Bat Rep: November 1k Tournament Round 3 - Tyranids vs. Dark Eldar

After my victory in Round 2, I was in the championship game (there was only 8 players there) against none other than Dark Eldar. To recap, Round 1 was a triumph over other Tyranids, while I faced down Space Wolves in Round 2. Now my swarm would be challenged with nearly the same army (commanded by a different general) that greeted me to Sixth Edition with a resounding tabling.

Fallen Angels (Horus Heresy Book 11) Review

Continuing with the Horus Heresy Review Series, next up is Book 11, Fallen Angels. This book is a follow up to Descent of Angels, and follows the same characters. While I think Fallen Angels includes enough review that a reader wouldn't be totally lost if they skipped the previous book, it certainly helped. As a result, this book helped me appreciate Descent of Angels a bit more. After the jump I'll get into some of the details (aka Spoiler Alert) but I actually really liked this novel. I was a little leery of continuing a story arc that I hadn't enjoyed overmuch, but the story is generally well crafted and pretty fast paced.

3 Player Game - Unit Rewards

What is up everyone?  So with a host of new game styles coming out from Games Workshop, I decided to go back and tweak with our original Tyranid Horde games (games 2-3) and set it up as an opportunity to tweak the system and setup a leveling system within the game.  Obviously everyone has heard of D&D, Pathfinder, or any of the other hundreds of RPG games that are out there.  Well with some ideas from Evan, I decided to add my own flair into our games.

I mean let’s face it, story telling is the hidden background to 40k, Fantasy, and any other table game out there.  The actions you take and the choices you make have a direct impact on the game, who survives, and most importantly how the story plays out.

Bat Rep: November 1k Tournament Round 2 - Tyranids vs. Space Wolves

Continuing from where we left off, in Round 1 I beat a fellow Tyranid player in a three-turn game of Emperor's Will. Round 2 would see me on the same table against Will's Space Wolves. Last time I played Will was with my Eldar against his Tyranids, who he has retired until the rumored Tyranid release (next month!?).

Picking up Hitchhikers, Someone New Joins the Fold!

Hello everyone, I am Bryan, aka BeeCee, the newest contributor to FTGT. I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself as I join in the battle against the Grey Tide. I started playing Warhammer 40k WAY back in 2nd edition, long before the force org chart and special characters ruled the game.


Does anyone remember these?

Bat Rep: November 1k Tournament Round 1 - Tyranids vs. Tyranids

While I was unable to attend the October tournament as planned, I brought the list to November's tournament. I'd included the Mawloc in part because I consider it impressive and thought it might help me get "best painted." I got runner up to a very cool converted daemon army, but I definitely was not mad.

Just a shame I didn't get to play them

Farsight Enclaves Hardcover Review

It's been a while since I bought the digital edition of the Farsight Enclaves book and reviewed that. This weekend, while at my local store, I couldn't help but pick up the hard copy - after all, I seriously like the new format of these books.

Fully Magnetizing a Plastic Hive Tyrant

Hey everyone, long time no post!  Ron here, and officially back from a board licensing exam study hiatus to bring you guys another magnets article.  I'm positively attracted to the idea of sticking magnets in your models to increase their attractiveness and repel readers of my articles with magnet puns. Today we have a real money saver - fully magnetizing the Plastic Hive Tyrant / Swarmlord kit. 

Tales of Heresy (Horus Heresy Book 10) Review

Next up in my Horus Heresy Review Series is Book 10, Tales of Heresy, a collection of seven short stories by assorted authors. I really liked the format as it allowed for glimpses into multiple legions and story lines. As with my Mechanicum review, I am not going to avoid spoilers in this review, particularly since the short-story format requires spoilers for any real discussion I believe. After the jump, I will go through each story in turn with my impressions, how I think it fits with the rest of the book, and any interesting hints or story lines.

And the winner is.....

+Yanni Cooper !

Congratulations Yanni! Thank you to everyone who entered. Particular thanks to +Bee Cee, +Henry South, and +Dan Keller for providing pictures of their work. Great work, guys!

Just because the contest is over, that does not mean we don't want to still see your progress! We will keep the Flickr Group up and running, and maybe ask for some guest posts from people who submit their progress.

Thanks again to everyone who participated and everyone who helped us get to 40k and beyond!

40k Views! Contest Closed

Huzzah! We officially hit 40k views around 4:15 today. With that, we are not accepting any additional entries into the $100 contest drawing. For those who have already entered your name, you have until 2:00PM (EST) Tomorrow, November 1 to submit before and after photos to the Flickr Group to gain additional entries. Make sure you tag the photo in some way that we know it is your entry. We will host the drawing tomorrow evening and post the winning name soon thereafter. Good Luck!

I know this is too big for the blog formatting, but it's kinda that big of a deal.

Thank you to everyone who has been checking out the blog. When we began in April, we were ecstatic just breaking 1,000 views, and never imagined getting much of a wide readership. We hope to keep growing, and with your support to keep us going, we will. 

For those who have checked us out recently, we hope you become a regular reader and comment from time to time. For those who have been following us for months, thank you! We hope you continue enjoying what we offer and, as always, we love input. 

THANK YOU!

Inquisition and Deathwatch on the Horizon

With Inquisition rumors upon us, I figured it was time to dive in to a little side topic I am extremely interested in. As an avid Space Wolf player, I can’t help but love the idea of individualism within a deadly pack. The idea of Brother fighting alongside Brother with each one decked out in Pelts, Charms, and Totems that tell his Saga, his Legacy, his Life. It is the reason I have been slow in painting my Wolves. I wish them to be uniform in only their loyalty, not in the way they are armed, painted (outside of the standard Space Wolves Grey for their base layer), and how they tell my story.  It is also why even my vehicles are painted in the manner they are. The Story is sometimes far greater than the Victory. That is why the Deathwatch (who I hope are in the new codex) is awesome to me.

FTGT 40k $100 Giveaway Contest Deadline Approaching!

Hello again. Wanted to take a moment, as we approach the end of the contest (a little over 700 views left as of writing this), to clarify a few things about entries and how the end of the contest will work. As always, if you haven't already, you can enter the contest by simply commenting on this or any other FTGT Contest post with a list of items in your Grey Tide awaiting paint. Full rules can be found in the main rules post.

FTGT $100 Giveaway Contest Update - Final Days

We're in the home stretch and less than 1,500 views from wrapping up the contest. With the recent averages, we're probably looking at Thursday or Friday this week for wrapping up the contest, so get those entries in!

For those of you new to the contest, we're giving away $100 in GW product of your choosing. To join in, all you need to do is comment on this post with a list of your Grey Tide - what you have that needs some paint and love. You can also earn additional entries by submitting before and after photos (taken on or after October 8) of your minis to the Contest Flickr Group. Alternatively you can email us the pictures and we'll post them up. Full rules are in the main 40k Contest Post.

Mechanicum (Horus Heresy Book 9) Review

Continuing with my Horus Heresy review series, the next book is the first to not follow Space Marines directly (though Legion has arguably very little directly following the Alpha Legion), instead focusing on events on Mars. As a result, the subject matter was fresh and new and interesting. With this book, and I believe going forward, after the jump I'm going to be less cautious about spoilers, so be forewarned. I am open to input whether this or the previous format is preferred. The reason I'm leaning to this new format is partly out of inspiration from listening to the After Ullanor podcasts, but also because I am worried that non-spoiler reviews are getting a little repetitive and vague.

In summary, the book follows several story lines of characters on Mars. The protagonist is arguably Dalia, a simple scribe who has incredibly memory and intuitive skills, and is not of the Mechanicum. Other minor (sort-of and only by comparison) story arcs follow the Legio Tempestus (Titans - sweeet!), a group of Knights, and a few Mechanicum Adepts. The arc of the story shows the triumphs and potential of the 30k Mechanicum, their fall, and a bit of why technology in 40k is the way it is.

List Building: 1k Space Wolves

With so many army lists being built by +EvanS, I figured why not take a look at my Wolves and see what I can do at 1,000 points.  Of course I have put together lists before with moderate success in larger games, but heck why not.  So without further ado, let’s build a Space Wolves list for a challenging but fun 1000 point game.

FTGT 40k Giveaway and Painting Update

Under two weeks in and we're just over 4,000 views from wrapping up the contest. As expected, it looks like it will run a little beyond the projected end date of October 29th. For those of you new to the contest, we're giving away $100 in GW product of your choosing. To join in, all you need to do is comment on this post with a list of your Grey Tide - what you have that needs some paint and love.

Full rules, including how to get additional entries are in the main 40k Contest Post. Basically, you can earn additional entries by submitting before and after photos of minis as you paint them to the Contest Flickr Group. Alternatively you can email us the pictures and we'll post them up.

List Building: 1k Mobile Tau Army

I've always liked the look and feel of Tau, and so, collected a fair number of models. That said, while the idea of a gunline appeals to me, it's something that doesn't particularly fit my play style - I prefer to be mobile and make things happen on the board. With this in mind, I wanted to ask myself, is there a way I can build a mobile, slippery Tau force without losing its effectiveness.

FTGT 40k $100 Giveaway Contest Update

Hello FTGT Readers! Less than a week in and we're already less than 7,500 views away for 40k.

You can find the full rules to the contest in the original post and can enter by commenting there or on this post  with a list of your Grey Tide - the models you have either on the sprue or lying about unpainted.

As mentioned in the main rules post, in addition to getting an entry by posting your Grey Tide, you can get additional entries by posting before and after photos in our Flickr Group: FTGT 40k Contest.

All you have to do is join the group and then post photos of your assembled models before and after you've painted them up. You will get an additional entry for every 10 infantry (25mm), 5 Large Infantry (40mm), 2 Monster (60mm) or 1 Monstrous Creature (Oval Base) or Vehicle you submit painted (note, this has changed - we have cut the required models for extra entries in half).

So if you painted up a tac squad and a rhino, you would get two additional entries. 20 Termagants and a Tervigon would be three new entries.

Each entry increases your odds of winning our 40k Giveaway prize: $100(US) of GW minis of your choice. You want to start a Space Marine army? Well help yourself to two Tac Squads and an HQ choice. Blue aliens more your style? Boom, Riptide.

So post below, get your stuff painted up, and good luck!

Battle for the Abyss (Horus Heresy Book 8) Review

Back to the Horus Heresy Series, I recently finished up Battle for the Abyss. After Legion, I had a bit of a book hangover and took a couple breaks in the reading of this novel. Not because it was bad by any stretch, but it was certainly a good bit more direct and so, there was a bit less suspense I felt. As I mentioned in my Galaxy in Flames review, I've been a Ben Counter fan since Soul Drinker; I think he does an excellent job of developer characters through action and not having to divide the two. You get to learn about a character as the plot progresses swiftly, without stopping for a lot of background. At the same time, while the plot progresses quickly, the characters don't end up as boring, static action heroes.

List Building: 2k Dark Elves - A Foray into Fantasy

As I flipped through the book, still not sure what actually makes up a good army, I decided a good place to start would be to just building a list, based predominantly on what I had painted, but leaving the option to include things I owned. The first thing that became apparent is that the point systems aren't even close to similar to 40k, and while I planned at starting at 2k, even then I couldn't fit much of what I hoped to include.

FTGT 40k Giveaway for 40k Views Contest

As fans of 40k, we find it fitting to do something special as we approach 40k page views. We're still about 10k away, but when kicking around the thought of doing something to celebrate, we came up with the idea of doing a little contest, and want to give everyone plenty of time to get as many entries as possible.

The Prize: Up to $100 in GW boxed product. This is a hard cap, and we're leaving it up to the winner to pick out what they want in whole boxes.*

Dark Elf Army Book Review

On the evening of this codex's release, my wife flips through the book to feign interest, and announces in summary: "I don't like this book. There's too much boobs."

She was kidding.

Mostly.

What to Bring: 1k Tournament - Tyranids

It's time once again for my local 1k Tournament, and I'm actually going to make it this time. As I've mentioned before, after NOVA, I promised myself I would not show up to a tournament, even this little local one, without a fully painted army. While I want to show off my DakkaJet and Wraith Knight, I don't have a painted army to go with them, so they will have to wait until I do. That leaves me with the tried and true Tyranids.

Pulling Out the Dark Elves

With the imminent release of the new Dark Elf book, I figured it was a good time to break out my old Dark Elves and take stock of what I had.

About half my painted Dark Elves

Back to the Painting Table

I managed to get back to the painting table, after over a month away. I really wasn't sure what to paint, but wanted to airbrush something. My first thought was to paint some Kroot, but after pulling them out, I didn't feel like fixing them up. Not to mention, my big project should be Eldar, so I ended up picking up my Eldrad and Rangers and deciding to go with them.

Dark Elves First Impressions

With GW putting up the Pre-orders for the first wave of the new Dark Elves, I thought I would dive into the rulebook and old army book so I might be able to appreciate the changes in the new Army Book when I pick it up this weekend. It became abundantly clear how little concept I have of fantasy in its current incarnation. I plan on reading up more on the rules and forum tactics, but until I play a few games, it will be hard to get a strong appreciation for how the game works and what works best.

For those looking for an Army Book/Codex review, that can be found here. This post focuses on the new kits.

That said, while I might struggle to comment on the rules when I get them, I can comment on my impressions of the new models.

List Building: 1,000 Point O'Vesa Star

Hearing talk about the O'Vesa Star lists that more or less dominated NOVA (won the open, runner-up in the Invitational), and considering my local store's monthly tournament is 1k, I asked the crazy question: could that fit under 1k? 

An accurate depiction of just how cheesy this is.

For those who don't know, the O'vesa star is using the Farsight Enclaves allied with Tau. Farsight is your general, who unlocks O'Vesa, the IC Riptide. The two of them, and an allied buffing commander all attach to a regular Riptide to make a cheeseball deathstar. The rest of the list is just a little extra cheese sprinkled on top (I'm not judging using this list at a tournament by calling it cheesy - the objective of a tournament at the top tables is to win, and this works). 

List Building: 1,000 Point Imperial Fists Army

Last, but certainly not least in my run through all the Chapter Tactics List Building exercises is the Imperial Fists. I think they have one of the stronger Chapter Tactics, with all bolter weapons getting pseudo preferred enemy. That said, probably the main reason I've left them until last is because I'm just not a fan of their look on the table (or in a magazine - no offense intended if you like or have Imperial Fists, just not to my taste). 

Don't get me wrong, this is awesome, but on a model I'm not usually a fan.