Overview of the Rookie Rumble 2016.

Last Saturday, I took part in the 2nd  Rookie Rumble - WH40K 2016 Tournament hosted by the FLGS known as GR.  This was my third overall tournament I took part in and the second singles tournament I took part in.  A year has gone by and I have added more experiences under my belt.

Prior to the tournament, I had set-up at least 5 practice sessions with Luminator and Farseer G.  The results did pay off.  I made changes to my list and got rid of dead weights in the army.  Although my list is still a typical CAD army and is still lower the power level of most "Decurion" style formation armies.  

This year, Cmdr Ryanbo was not allowed to participate having becoming one of the top 8 in last year's final tournament.  Think of it as a ladder or league where only the top can compete.



The Tournament itself.
Format is exactly the same as last year's rookie rumble.  Same Maelstrom missions, same number of objective markers, same table size, same points and breaks were given between the games.
The only difference is that this time we actually get to place the objective markers.  
 

 First round – Eldar Harlequins (Shadowseer JY)

JY as I am told is a relatively experienced player and very nice person to game with.  I was not familiar with his army and so adopted the conservative approach and deployed my units within cover.  Throughout the game he extremely patient and explained to me what each unit could do and sometime repeating it when I forgot.   Since both of us were late, we didn't have the opportunity of playing the game fully and had to end at around turn 5.  At the end of it, I manage to secure a minor victory over him.  I attribute some of these to good dice rolls on my part and bad dice rolls on his part.  Overall, I was fortunate as Harlequins was not ranked high on the power tier compared to other factions.   

Second round – Mantis Warriors Space Marines (Cmdr WK)

WK was part of our gaming group and took part in the Badab War Campaign early last year.  This is his first tournament and he brought with him a triple dreadnought list.  Captain on bike with command squad accompanied by Scouts.   I have experienced Drop Pod Alpha Strike list quite often and knew what to expect.  My deployment was to essentially to deny him alpha strike capability and minimize my own casualties.   This game was hard fought, we both inflicted heavy casualties on each other and the game could have swung either way.   Our cards were equally bad and neither of us got to capitalize on it.    In a way, the dice rolls favored neither of us.  Both of us got bad dice rolls but at end of the turn 5.  Variable game length decided that game will end when I had slight lead, resulting in a minor victory for me.

Third round – Tau Empire (Cmdr YA)

YA is a long-time veteran but has mostly been painting and not playing.  Unlike the previous two list, he is using a hunter contingent cadre with formation special rules.   This means his list is significantly higher on the power tier even though he isn't using the storm surge.  He also managed to seized the initiative, allowing him to pick off my units that had the ability to punch back.  The game was pretty one sided.  I could not get over there to lay the hurt and would lose many units.  Needless to say, I lost this game pretty badly.

Since I am in no position to actually score or win.  My plan was to not get tabled by the end of the game and entice him to close ranks so that he will be within reach of my weapons.  The plan kind of worked, I also managed to tarpit his Riptide for 4 Turns.  That is 4 turns of the Riptide not being able to bring its devastating weapons to bear on my units.

RESULTS OF THE TOURNAMENT

This year, Farseer G cliched the top spot.  After many tournaments and being matched up with some of the strongest list and players in the competitive scene.  Farseer G finally clawed his way to the top.   The only true competition this tournament was Overseer A.   He is by far the player with the most playing experience playing competitive games and had one of the strongest list.

This year however, we see Archon RC take the top spot for best painted.  Having previously won Australia's Golden Daemon, it is no surprise.   It looks like this trend is going to stay since RC no longer works for the other FLGS known as Titan Games, which at the time of writing this article has already closed down. 

Conclusion

I enjoyed myself immensely, even though for my 3rd match I could not do anything against the Tau.  For the first time, I actually managed to score 2/3 score in a tournament.  I was fortunate to be paired up against mid tier list and friendly players.   My preparation prior to the tournament also paid off as I learn to focus more on the mission rather than fighting my opponent head on.  Just because you are within the power to do something, does not mean you should.  Depending on circumstances, sometimes it is better to divert your resources elsewhere where it will do more good.

The TO has also mentioned that this will be the last Rookie Rumble that they are organizing.  In the future, minimal points format is at least 1500.  I was sadden to hear this of course, as I am just starting to grasp the 1000 point bracket.   Looks like I will have my work cut out for me.

Dungeons & Dragons: A new beginning

How it all started

Our gaming group knew each other by playing MMO, and stuck together for several year.  The journey started in Ultima Online and we eventually progressed to other MMOs throughout the years.  Dark Age of Camelot, City of Heroes, Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft & Star Wars The Old Republic Online and Guild Wars 2. 

It has been a long journey but finally came to an end when people's interest in the current MMO started to wane and people went their separate ways.   Two prominent members got into WH40K, which I joined about 10 months later.  One of my friend expressed interest in getting back together but since no MMO could hold our interest but WH40K is too cost prohibitive for him to start.   He suggested that we started with D&D and it went from there.  When I heard about it, I was excited, I have not played D&D for almost a decade and was interested to get back into it.

Making plans...

It seems like I do this a lot more than actually painting & gaming.   I can't help for the latter because you do need to people to play against and I can't drop by the FLGS whenever I wanted to.

My current goal is to have a fairly competitive and playable 1850 points list painted up.  Sounds easy right?
Well it should be for most people.  Except I like to "torture" myself by putting up criterion for myself to follow.


1. Paint to the best of my ability 
I am not aiming to be Crystal Brush or Golden Daemon Standard.  But something a little close to the standards shown in White Dwarf would be okay.

2. Finish all my backlogs
This involves painting up all my models which I had accumulated several years ago.  It also includes stripping paint off my poorly painted models from eons and repainting them to my current army scheme.

3.  Customize each Squad with unique loadouts, combination and posture
This isn't as bad but it can be time consuming looking for the right parts.

4.  Have playable army that is fairly competitive
I have a lot of combos and builds in my mind.   The problem is getting them painted....


Point 1 & 4 will not work together unless I am prepared to buy new models to paint up.   Thereby adding more to my collection of unpainted models.

Point 2's goal is to minimize wastage and save resources.   I will be reusing/repainting my older models and giving them a new lease of life.  Achieving point 1 & 2 means, I cannot achieve point 4. 

Sometimes I see my friends post pictures of their work.   And I am envious.  They move from project to project while I am still painting purple marines.  If you seen one of my model, you seen them all.  They all look roughly the same.  Except different postures, heads and equipment.   All vehicles share the same template. 

There aren't much conversions, putty work, freehand, not much weathering or even OSL.   My models are neat, subtly toned and shaded but aside from that, it doesn't pop out.  I would say they are reasonably well painted.   Not the best but well painted.   But no "WOW factor". 

Nothing I am working on surprises people.  Just take for example.
Chaos Lord SJ - always have some kind of conversion.  Weathering and freehand.  And it just wow people.
Chaos Lord CF - always working on something new. 
Cmdr C - always speed painting something, always sharing something
Wolflord Melhammer - paints reasonably fast, not as fast as C but puts out quality work.  And moves from project to project.  Always something new that wow people.  Freehand, smoothness and neatness.

Me - takes forever to get something done... when done its the same thing that you seen 6 months ago.  Except this is a slightly different unit with different load out.  Wow so "exciting" huh....



Dilemmas... decisions...

2 vs 2 40K Tournament

On the 19th of September, I had experience my 2nd 40K tournament.  I am going to recap my experiences and put some comments.

Prior to the tournament, myself and Commander W psyched up the rest of the gang to join up for the experience.  Cmdr Desmondus and Wolf Lord Melhammer obliged, being the good sport that they are.

Both Melhammer and myself were not in it to win the tournament, although I had some expectations.



BEST APPEARANCE

I was one of the winners for BEST APPEARANCE for the previous tournament that I took part in.  Judging by the overall standards of painting by other participants and given Melhammer's high standard of painting, I felt that we stood a pretty good chance of winning BEST APPEARANCE again.

After I realized that Rico is taking part as well, I am not as certain of our odds.  Rico is one of the best painters in Singapore and have clinched a Golden Daemon in Australia before.   While I was particularly worried, I lowered my expectation a bit.

Lucky to have Melhammer as partner, enabling us to win best appearance

The day came and the judges awarded our team for BEST APPEARANCE.  It was a close one.   The judges have mentioned that painting are judged based both armies in the Team.  As a result we won, Rico might have won if his partner had a well painted army as well.




TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE
I had already known my list was sub-par.   In a competitive setting, I would rate my own army list a 3/10.  I am fully aware of how limited my list is and its weaknesses.  But I paint too slow to be able to churn out a competitive list.

Melhammer OTOH had some beefy units that are useful.  Unfortunately they are not configured properly and were lacking the proper equipment to pull off the viciousness that Thunderwolf Calvary list were known for.  He also lacked ablative wounds by not having enough Fenrisian Wolves.  Likewise, it is too late for him to paint something new in such a short span of time.

Still his list hits harder than my does and I am counting on his Wolves to carry us.  While I count on my experience to help carry us further into the game, since I have more games under my belt than he does.


First Game - vs Necrons & Blood Angels

I had faced Blood Angels before and knew more or less what they were capable of.  But Necrons was completely new to me.   The special rules or mission packs also threw us a curveball.  I think on the whole, I should have redeployed or moved my troops to assist Melhammer's Space Wolves.  Our opponents utilize a divide and conquer strategy which we fell for.  At later stage, I could not find suitable targets to shoot at while Melhammer was tied down and slowly being whittled down by Necron Wraiths.

It was indeed a learning experience.  All my previous game experience counted for nothing since I only faced other Marine players before.  At the end, we lost by a significant margin and barely had enough troops left to make a difference.

Second Game - vs Blood Angels & Space Marines

We faced up against our own friends.  Desmondus and Cmdr W.  I had faced this army before and knew what to do.  Tried my best to deny any advantages to Skyhammer Annihilation Formation and opt to go second.   Although the deployment generally helped, choosing to go second did not.

At the first turn, we lost several key units in Space Wolves element to Cmdr W's move 12" and shoot str 10 barrage template Vindicators...  something which I really dreaded.  Again, our forces were slowly whittled down until very little was left.   At the last turn (game time ran out), I moved all my units that are still alive to the objective and secured them, played accordingly to the special rule of the mission.

We still lost, but it was marginal difference in VP.  Not bad.  But then later, Desmondus realized that his Grav Cannons actually had 3/5 Salvo and not 4 shots. He had played them wrongly.  So if he had done it correctly, I think our different in VP would be much more significant.

 
Third Game - vs Tyranids & Eldar

 The tournament carried on until evening and as the day went by I started to develop a headache.
I have some rough idea of what Tyranids and Eldar could do in theory but never played against them before either and our opponents are two of the most experienced players in the 40K tournament scene.

At this point in time, I could no longer focus with my headache and knowing we stand very little chance against our very experienced opponents - I have mentally thrown in the towel already.
The mission this time requires us to pick up the relic and hold it until the end of the game.  So we deployed most of our forces in the center near the relic since we have no idea how to deploy against our opponents.

As expected, our opponents took us apart piece meal and eventually tabled us.  Both of us were quite tired and just conceded after 3 or 4 turns.    The saving grace was that our opponents were quite entertaining and we had a lot of funny moments in that game even though we lost.    Out of all three games we played, the last game was the most entertaining.


CONCLUSION
I think that both my partner and myself were not really prepared to go all out to win.  We basically wrote army list based on our collection of painted models.   A competitive player serious about winning would include competitive units or set-up within their army list and have appropriate models for it.

Although I am a little disappointed with myself that I did not help carry our team and that we ended up at the bottom of the tournament. Felt that I let my team down.

At this stage, I think I fall into the category of a narrative gamer/collector. 
My current focus still remains to finish my backlog of unpainted models to the level I am satisfied with.  What this means is that I will still be far away from actually being able to compete seriously in a tournament.  I will need to re-adjust my expectations regarding competitive gaming.  I should probably refrain from giving tactical advice or commentary until I have some substantial wins under my belt.

I really should paint up more transports.   My current list feels so much like a sitting duck army list. It is just waiting for things to happen and far too passive to win any games.
Still a looong way to go....

Rookie Rumble - WH40K 2015 Tournament

Last Saturday, I took part in the Rookie Rumble - WH40K 2015 Tournament hosted by the FLGS known as GR.  It was my first 40k tournament I have ever participated in… ever.  In this post, I will do my best to recount my experiences and thoughts about the tournament.

Farseer G vs Ork Warlord Pat

The Tournament itself.
Maelstrom Missions: Tournament Organizers (TO), decide which mission we will all be playing instead of rolling on the chart itself.
All tables and terrain were set-up by the TO beforehand as well as the objective markers.  Due to the size of table being typically smaller than usual, 4' x '4.  So instead of 6 Objective markers, the TO reduced it to only 5. One Objective right in the middle of the board and remaining four with one in each quadrant of the table itself.
There are three rounds of games for this tournament.  Participants are randomly paired off based on their relative experience and skill level.  If you have participated in previous tournaments you are automatically classified as a non-rookie and will be matched against more experience players.
In subsequent rounds, players are paired off based on the results of their 1st and 2nd match.  Participants who did well in earlier rounds can expect to face tougher opponents in their subsequent matches.
Each table has 2 hours approximately (+/-) to finish off their match.  Breaks were given in between the matches for participants to catch their breath.

My match-ups

Black Templars swarm the Imperial Swords dreadnought

First round – Black Templar Space Marines (Marshal Exantis)

Marshal Exantis is a player who returned to 40k for quite a few months starting since Sept 2014.  Roughly 3 months earlier than me.  And had a lot more playing experience than I am.   A passionate wargamer, he also dabbles in Cosplaying, making his own Space Marine costume.   This was a fairly fun game, Marshal Exantis knew the rules pretty well and did not take too long.  We both decimated each other’s forces.  But ultimately he won through scoring of objectives and was ahead of me in VPs by a huge margin. 

Second round – Space Wolves (Wolf Lord YX)

YX is a relatively new player, starting sometime around the same time as I am.   From what he tells me he has been mostly playing “Kill the Xenos” missions.  I don’t know what that means, but it sounds like typical cleanse & destroy missions where both players slug it out and try to inflict as much damage as possible.   The tournament was actually his first time experiencing a Maelstrom mission game.   Although I was leading in VPs and almost tabled his army, it wasn’t truly a fair fight.  His army list was simply not geared for the mission and he was not familiar with what he needed to do with his models to secure VP.   For a newcomer, his models are quite reasonably painted, with enough time he will be one of the better painters out there.

Third round – Spaces Wolves (Cmdr Ryanbo)

Because of how I scored in the second round, my third round was matched against Ryanbo was won his first two games.  Ryanbo and myself were both in the same gaming group so I knew what I was up against.  It was evident from the get go that I would not win.  Still, I tried my best to stop his grey tide of fur and fangs.   I succumb to the pressure of facing against his army and forgot to move my scouts in from reserve.  However, none of it mattered as my gunline simply did not have enough or the right type of firepower to counter his grey tide.   The game went pretty swiftly and I was tabled in the end.

Marshal WL vs Ork Warlord JZ

Results of the Tournament

According to the FB page, the prize category was as follows.
3 Wins - $50 worth of GW kits
Runner Up : $30 worth of GW kits
Best Appearance: $30 GW / Army Painter Voucher
Lucky Draw Prizes: $10 GW Voucher for every 8 Players participating

Unexpectedly, four players actually managed to secure 3 wins.  So the top prize and runner up prize was combined together and split equally amongst the four winners.  

From what I have been told, previous tournaments were based on most VPs accrued over 3 match ups unlike this tournament which awarded best general based on winning all 3 match ups.   As mentioned by one of my friends, one reason for this could be to encourage better sportsmanship.   In the previous tournament he took part, he recalled one participant deliberately prolonging the game to farm “VPs” even though the participant could easily table my friend.    Dragging on an unwinnable game and overall was not the most pleasant experience.

I count myself lucky to at least went home with something

Originally there was going to be only one prize for Best Appearance category as well.  But Instead of one best appearance prize.   GR awarded three prizes this time round citing that all three armies had styles that were too distinctive from one another and it is hard for them to decide who is ultimately the best.  Both Chaos Lord SJ and myself managed to snag this prize.   The prize went from single $30 SGD voucher to a $20 SGD voucher for three different persons.   I feel this is a good gesture by GR  to encourage the participants to put in effort to paint their models.   They didn’t have to do this but they did anyway.

However, if we go by the number of likes in FB page, I think Chaos Lord SJ would claim the top spot.  Although I put in a lot of effort painting my models, I think it is the final result that counts more.  As said, the end justifies the means.  The comment from the TO about my painting being “reminiscent from 90s GW” actually made me feel like my painting style is out of fashion.  And if I am truly keen about winning any future painting competitions, I will need to learn new techniques and evolve.  


Conclusion

All in all, I enjoyed myself.  It is a good experience as we get to socialize with fellow hobbyist that shares the same passion.  In a sense to get in on the vibe that the community extends beyond our immediate gaming circle of friends.  It is really an eye opener as well as you are exposed to so many different participants.  Each with their unique style painting, army composition and how they execute their plans.  What I find fascinating is also how each of us evolve in the hobby.  The newbie that we met in the tournament this time may turn out to be different the next time.  Developing their own unique style when it comes to painting, building a list and executing his/her battle plans.

Creation of a new Space Marine Chapter

Introducing the Imperial Swords, my homebrew generic Space Marine Chapter! 


I used to collect a Dark Angels army and I really love the green little guys.  Though I never found much use for Deathwing or Ravenwing.  The models themselves look great in their own right but being the OCD that I am, I prefer that every model in the army would have a uniform colour scheme.  That and the only thing truly unique about Dark Angels was the first two companies which I didn't fancy all too much.

So instead doing what everyone else is doing, pick a founding legion or a GW created chapter.  I decided to break away and create my own Space Marine Chapter!  (I suppose collecting Space Marines doesn't actually qualify me as unique... )

And thus are the IMPERIAL SWORDS born!   The original chapter icon and name was drastically different from one shown above.   It was supposed to look like a sword within an iron halo and the chapter would be called Halo Swords or Hallowed Swords.... then I realized I cannot draw perfect circles and came to a compromise.

Below is the 2nd version of the chapter icon.  When I got the decals printed, it ended up not looking right when I finally got the decal.  

I thought the reason for that was because of my design.  Too much small little bits... and trip off the spikes.  I then ended up with the below which is the 3rd version and final version of the chapter icon.

I wanted more but since my freehand is terrible.  I will just have to make do.  I think the icon looks fairly decent...  it had to right?  Right?   Oh well.... it better... I poured countless hours into it trying to make it look OKAY.

Using Coat d'arm paints

My beautiful colors!

My Coat d'arm paints has arrived and I am quite pleased with the quality of the paints.  The consistency, hues and tint are what I am looking for.  Much better than relearning or trying to mix your own paints using the current GW range of colors.

I'm most particularly pleased with Dark Elf Green (Perfect for Dark Angels armor, any woodland green I am trying to paint.  Ranger cloaks etc...)
While Hairy Brown & Barbaric Brown form the basis of my neutral colors for anything leather or things in brownish nature.

What happened here "Gun Metal"?  :(

With exception of Gun Metal, which turn out to be thicker and much more grainier than I would have liked.

GW Paints

I mentioned earlier about my paints drying up.  After going through all my paints more thoroughly, I found some of the paints that survived the long hyperspace sleep!

I tried to re-constitute some of dried paints that looked like coloured mud.  But it is near impossible for 50% of the paints, those that I did succeeded in were rather thick and splotchy.  Not the kind of consistency you want on your models.

That being said, I notice an interesting trend.  The very first batch of GW paints survive intact, they were in the condition that I left them in 10 years ago.

A: 1st Gen GW Paint, B: 2nd Gen GW Paint (Boltgun Shell design) C: 3rd Gen GW Paint D: 4th & current Gen GW Paint

The subsequent batches did not fare so well and most have dried up.  I am unsure if the chemical composition of the paints had anything to do with it.  But it is likely that the design of the bottles were the reason for the longevity of some paints.

Lets take a look at the paints when we open the caps. 

Comparison of previous generation of GW Paints

A: Being the first generation paint survive fairly well into this day and I would still use this pot of paint.
B: Looks like moist Turquoise mud.  It might be salvageable but its hardly worth the effort.  The consistency would most likely be too thick to be used on models.
C: Is dried and cracked Dark Angels Green mud.  It is beyond salvage.
D: I didn't feature the current generation of paint since it was not subjected to test of time.  But we shall see over the next few months if this design fails me.

I can only conclude that the very first generation of bottles are significantly better at preventing evaporation and retaining moisture.  Some of the bottle caps from the 1st generation paints are cracked and damaged.  Yet the paint within it stays the same.

This is unlike the 2nd and 3rd generation design bottles.  The bottle caps are largely intact and made of sturdier material yet the paint within it does not survive the test of time.

 EDIT - 19th Oct 2014

Since then, I have bought several new paintpots of GW colors.  One of the color I needed most was White.  For those that don't know they are now two white colors for GW range of colors.
 Ceramite White (base) & White Scar (layer).  I went with White Scar seeing as the description states "They are designed to be used straight over Citadel Base paints (and each other)".

I need something of the right consistency that isn't too thick or thin.   The paint worked fairly well in most cases, although within 1 - 2 weeks.  It has turn into this....thick sludge of white sewage mess...

It is not just good to "Thin your paints!", it is compulsory now

Whereas, the other GW paintpots that I purchased managed to stay at the right consistency.  That is bewildering for me... the other GW paintpots maintained the same consistency.  So it can't be the design of the bottle... perhaps the pigment?

Out with the Old and In with the New

It has been more than a decade.  It is realistic to expect the quality of the product (consumable at that) to have degraded over the years.  However, being the optimist (or cheapskate) that I am, I was determined to give the spray cans a go.

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out all too well.  The paint particles simply didn't travel far enough nor were they spread out consistently enough.  I could tell when I pressed the button. 

In the end I had to spray closer and much longer and this ends up clogging the details on the models.
Not a good sign.

Fast forward sometime later, I took a "un-used" spray can and test it as well.  The result is a little similar.  The jet of paint particle / air was stronger but it still gave very little coverage.  To make matters worse, the paint is now leaking out from the nozzle.

That is a lot of spray cans gone to waste :(

  I guess it is pretty much a done deal with these cans. Which is a pity as I have quite a lot of them and most are likely not going to work.

For the varnish, I'm not keen to test them out on a model that I have.  If it turns out to be a bad can, it might just completely ruin the work I put into the model.  Perhaps, I can use them to varnish terrain pieces.....

Now then...there is the paints...

Return from the Void

Under the table

It has been more than a decade since I picked up my brush and got back into the hobby.
I was laying around one day, feeling rather bored.  Looking around, I decided to clean up my room.  It is filled with clutter, lots of clutter.

My cupboards are filled tons of plastic bags and boxes.  These plastic bags were filled with tons and tons of old metal miniatures from Ral Partha and miniatures from other companies.  In the cupboards, above the cupboards and below the tables - sat boxes of miniatures from Games Workshop.   Anyone else walking into room would have thought this was a made-shift warehouse for FLGS.

Above the cupboards - its really dusty up there

These things have been around for more than a decade.  Half of them in mint condition, still in the wrapper and completely unpainted.  I thought it is high time I do something about it...


So I took a look at my equipment I used to use.  The paints were all completely dried up except for a few bottles.  To make matters worst, I discovered that Games Workshop and completely revamped their line of painting products.

The polar kangaroo is lord over his own domain and will not share his space with miniatures

The old palettes and hues of colours which I am familiar with are no longer there.  It looks like I might have to start all over from scratch too.  A new (not quite so) beginning to a new (or old) adventure.