A Couple of Weeks...

Alright, so I've been a little remiss about posting. Part of it has been because my intar-webbery has been curtailed at both work and home. Part of it has been because I haven't done much to report. Where I've been really remiss is that I promised to have a battle report of the IG-Eldar battle I played a couple of weeks ago. Well, I think this picture sums up the battle best:

My lunch was eaten. Some of it was a couple of minor mistakes I made but much of it was luck. Seriously, when the Sternguard squad wounded the Avatar (who had two wounds remaining) 11 times and he saved against all of them, that sucked. When I deep struck the other Drednaught in a drop pod, it would be land just fine as long as I didn't deviate more than 9 inches within a 30 degree arc in a certain direction. Of course, I deviated 10 inches in that very direction. On the other hand, the table was so small that all three objectives were in the middle of the board in a straight line because that was the only place there was enough room. So I don't feel too bad about the loss.

On the other hand, my birthday just passed. I had a party and friends brought me presents and among those presents were:

Now, I have a bunch of bikes I haven't painted yet so that bike is nice and all, but I don't have a Thunderfire cannon and had no intention of getting one so this gift is very cool. I also got a gift certificate for a local game store so I'm thinking that I may pick up a Planetstrike Bastion since I've wanted one, but didn't really have the money for it. Either way, I have new stuff to work on! And I've already opened the Thunderfire so I think I'll work on that for the next few days. As the proverb goes, "w00t".

I also played a couple games of Space Hulk today. It's been years since I played and this was a cool flashback. I played the same scenario with two other friends. I split Marines both times and they switched off playing Genestealers. The first time the Marines won. The second time they lost. Both times it was fun (though luck was very, VERY not on my side the second time). I highly recommend it and I will play again.

When I started doing this in June, I'm not really sure that I thought I would keep doing it for this long. Well, now I have. And Jeebus willin' and the crick don' rise, I'll be doing it for quite a while more. It's my biggest creative outlet and even when I'm not playing, the army grows bigger...

And, in memory, I give you something special. You don't know me all that well so you don't know the import of it but look at this:

These are 15 Vets (now Sternguard. When I made 10 of them, there was no differentiation) and a Dev heavy bolter. What's so special about them? Well, in keeping with my desite to have a desert table and terrain, I've flocked them in desert style! More than a year ago, I went to my local hardware store and bought a 50 pound bad of playground sandbox sand for $2. During the move, I packed it away but I kept a plastic container for projects that may come up. Well, I've started one. I intend to, step by step, base my entire army this way. It's going to take a while, but it can be done. Heck, if I do a ten man squad a night, I'll probably be done before the month is up. Well, maybe a little more to account for things with big bases like newer Termies and Dreds. But the project, hopefully, will progress! Huzzah!

On The Eve Of Impending Battle

Well, my moving is done and now I return in semi-grand style! Tomorrow (Sunday), I have a battle:

2K points of Marines


VS


1K Guard & 1K Eldar

Yes, folks, the Ancient and Glorious Astramalleus against the vile and most foreign Eldar and obviously Traitor Guard! Now, I'm not usually a defeatist, but I actually think I'm not going to win this battle. The Eldar make up for the Guard's biggest flaws (assault power and immobility) while the Guard are an excellent fit for the Eldar (numbers and big guns). I have to gear against two different styles of fighting while my opponents only have to face one well known and analyzed enemy. So I don't think I'm going to win. Because of that I've decided to take a somewhat crazy and hopefully brutal list in hopes of giving back what I think I'm going to get:

Captain w/ lightning claw, combi-plasma & Hellfire rounds
10-man Tac Squad w/ power weapon/bolt pistol, missile launcher & flamer in Rhino
10-man Tac Squad w/ power weapon/bolt pistol, missile launcher & flamer in Rhino
10-man Tac Squad w/ power weapon/bolt pistol, missile launcher & flamer
10-man Sternguard w/lightning claw/bolter, missile launcher & flamer in Rhino
10-man Devastator Squad w/missile launcher x4 in a Razorback
Speeder Squadron ([heavy bolter & heavy bolter] x3)
Dreadnought (assault cannon & heavy flamer)
Dreadnought (multi-melta & heavy flamer) in a Drop Pod
Whirlwind x2

The plan is something like this: If it's Seize Ground, I'll hold my own objective, assault another and contest a third. If it's Capture & Control, I'll do the same but there'll only be two objectives to worry about. If it's Annihilation, I'll stay squadded up and assault in force. The Sternguard will use Dragonfire ammo to deny cover saves and (if I combat squad them) possibly Hellfire ammo with the Captain to kill an Avatar. The Dred with the multi-melta will drop pod in behind the Leman Russ and Basilisk I expect to find against me. The other Dred will be kept behind for the Swooping Hawks I expect to Deep Strike near me and the Striking Scorpions I know will be assaulting me. Whirlwinds and Devastators should provide effective anti-infantry and the speeders will pick off squads at range until late game when I can rush them to contest an objective.

That's what I'm intending to do. Will it work? We shall see tomorrow.