Lord Cypher

Lord Cypher - keeper of secrets & traditions. This is another test model for my command squad. I didn’t like the original GW Cypher model so I converted my own. I bought a box of the fine cast black templars veterans or command squad box to rework them into the “inner circle” of my dark angels army. The hood is my first attempt at sculpting to add to the mysterious feel of the Cypher character. Any ideas for a suitable “broken sword”?

Dust Warfare: 150AP Axis vs Allies

Looks like I am going through a Dust Warfare craze at the moment. Organised another game on Monday to play with Ahmad. We chose to play 150AP instead of escalating it to 200AP. I still think I need more games in before I jump into the higher point levels without fully understanding the entire ruleset. 

Ahmad selected the above for his army. A diverse and nimble army. 

This is my army albeit still unpainted. I will be working on them soon. Still learning more about painting tanks.

So we rolled on the Battle Builder and ended up with Off Table Shelling, Eliminate the Enemy and opposite deployment.

Abdullah could choose deployment so went for the other end leaving me with the graveyard. Deployed most of my heavy units closer to the enemy with the second line comprising Infantry 2 units. 

Abdullah on the other side

During the First Turn I used all my command actions to get my entire army forward. 

Abdullah on the other had hugged terrain really closely.

Both our walkers were at a standoff as they were  out of range to each other and we both chose not to commit them. Abdullah however had exposed his Light Walker to me I shot him. 2 turns later that thing miraculous survived all shots claiming hard cover from the crashed aquila. 

I gambled by sending my units out into the open to engage his retreating unit  called the BBQ Squad. In hindsight this was a bad move...

In return Abdullah poured a huge amount of fire and destroyed my Laser Grenadiers and the Heavy Grenadiers scoring 2 points.

Leaving me with very little choice, I started retreating my units, bringing my Command Squad into range of both the walker and my unit of Heavy Flak Grenadiers to attempt to heal and repair. 

With a diminished Axis army and seeing me on the run, Abdullah picked up the courage and moved out of cover...all Hard Cover mind you. 

I shot and blew up his Walker giving me one point. Hmmm, I could pull a draw off?

While I kept my retreat, Abdullah kept pushing forwards. I felt he should have just retreated now that he was 1 point up on me. 

Luck returned to me and I managed to roll not only a heal but also managed to remove the damage on my tank! I was back in business! I proceeded to move my tank up to destroy his unit right in front of the tank giving my 2nd point. Looks I can pull a draw now.

Surrounding me from the treeline, Abdullah moved up his BBQ squad to flame my Command Unit. This was supported by his light Walker.

Abdullah rolled his 3 dice for my 3 command members and 2 of them were hit. I now had 2 saves (Inf2) and I saved one! He could not destroy my command unit and since this was Turn 5, it's a draw!

Lessons learnt: ALWAYS USE TERRAIN. With a longer range, I could have just hung back and shelled him with my tank while he had to advance to get in range (allies has shorter range).

Still a good game and I am liking this game even more! Go on give it a try!

Dark Angels Veteran Test Model

A buddy of of mine(alex) has reminded me if they are green, even if wearing PH armor, technically its the period of The Great Scouring. Below excerpt taken from 40k lexicanum: "The Great Scouring was the Imperium's counter-offensive against the rebel armies of Horus, following the defeat of the Horus Heresy in c.M311. Horus's campaign to strike towards Terra to achieve a quick and decisive victory had ultimately been defeated. The rebels were broken and in retreat. Before actually being confined within the Golden Throne, the Emperor had pronounced judgment on the rebels: they were to be driven into the hellish region of the Eye of Terror, which would hold them for all eternity. All records and memory of the Traitor Legions were to be expunged from the Imperial archives. Worlds such as Isstvan V and Davin would be scoured and the Traitors' associated troops were to be destroyed or driven into the Eye. It would be as if the Traitor Legions never existed."

Sporecon 2012 - Singapore's Annual Gaming Convention

I just got back from the madness of Sporecon 2012! This year's gaming event saw more tournaments as players begin to establish their player base in various gaming systems other than the usual Warhammer Fantasy, 40K and Warmahordes. 

Lots of things to see and many models showcased. At the bottom of the display is a very impressive looking Heavy Gear game. With lots of cool N-scale terrain bought from a Japanese toy/model maker. Sure looks great! 

The terrain all comes pre-assembled and painted! Reminds me of the days when we were younger and simply opening action figures and toys. Instant gratification. I'm gonna try to get my hands on these!

There was also a table where they had games of the old skool Subbuteo soccer game. Sure brings back memories. I heard they are re-releasing a new edition. Can't wait to play it with my friends and relive the old schoolboy days!

Some pictures of the 40k tournament and the tables with games going on.

Really nice terrain this year!

There was also a Deathwatch section.

This was what I was largely involved in during the event. FoW tournament. I hardly get involved in tournaments, as I'm mainly a casual gamer who would rather laugh my head off as my troops run off the table and lose the game dramatically. Rather than trying to lob the head off my opponent in a competitive deathmatch. However the FoW community (although small) in Singapore are a really great bunch and we are all doing it in hope to create a positive experience and to hopefully provide more exposure to this otherwise unpopular (unfortunately) game system here in Singapore.

A shot of the table for FoW. I felt the tables were a little to sparse though. 

A shot of my Russian Tanks in battle.

And a German Panther army ready to deploy.

And here is my Russian Forward Detachment Tank Company. All displayed out for the painting segment of the tournament.

Which I proudly bagged the Best Painted Army award!

Took a picture of the Malifaux table before the tournament began. Unfortunately I did not manage to take pictures when the games where going on because I was busy playing in my FoW games.

However one of us managed to snag the 3rd place in the tournament for that! Yeah!

Congrats Defeng!!!

Overall it was a good experience, as with all Sporecons. This is the only gaming convention in our little nation and brings us all together for 2 days yearly. But its good enough for me. 

Dark Angels Pre-heresy Forgeworld Conversion Assault Marines

-x10 more to go -will have magnetized backpacks to switch to jump packs

Dust Warfare - Quickrep

Had 2 games of Dust Warfare yesterday with an old friend and a new friend! The pictures turned out with a slight blueish tinge and I have no clue why.

Both games are still at it's introductory phase as most of the players at our LGS are still learning the game. 150AP (this is basically Dust Warfare's version of points). We then dice off to bid for scenarios and special conditions. Very interesting system that is a game within a game. Then start game proper.

I played Axis Germans with a mix and match of the units I got from the Revised Core Set and a few expansion box sets. This is my list:

1. Sturmgenadier Command - contains medic, engineer, officer and 1 supporting staff
2. Laser Grenadiers 
3. Heavy Laser Grenadiers
4. Heavy Flak Grenadiers
5. Ludwig Medium Walker

Caught a few pictures mid game because I didn't feel a full on batrep would have made sense since we are still learning the rules. Hopefully these pics inspire you to check the game out and venture beyond GW since there's a price increase creeping around the corner (May 28th 2012 mind you...)

First game was with Ethan Cai and his Airborne. He deployed only one unit which was his Command and they held the torn out 40K building at the top of the picture. I spent 2 turns moving up the field then to unleash multiple shots into the building. I managed to suppress his unit but other than that between hard cover and saves, nothing happened to the Command Unit.

He then dropped his 2 other units during Turn 3. Ethan used Rhino - a jump pack hero.

This was Turn 3 when Rhino dropped in at the back of my lines.

I managed to kill of Rhino and his team but in return Ethan killed off more units than I did. Since the mission was basically Eliminate the Enemy, Ethan beat me by one so he wins! While I took out Rhino and his unit, that only counted as ONE point. Since my units were normal units, they had less survival ability hence gave points away quicker. Hmmm, this is worth mulling over. My Laser Grenadiers actually did very well, removing multiple wounds on Rhino and his unit. These guys actually earned their points cost back in just one phase of shooting!

Holding hard terrain is very important to the game. Being in the building meant I could hardly kill his men. In hindsight, I should have just left that unit in the building and played the waiting game. When his unit dropped, I could just take them out one at a time since I had the longer range. Lesson learnt and the game was fun.

Ethan's second unit dropped behind the forest. This was still Turn 3. I didn't manage to take any other photos from here. 

Second Game was with Shum and he played a similar list to Ethan - i.e. jump packs and Infantry 3 units so they were mobile and harder to kill. Note to self: snipers for next purchase. We played on the same table again but this time the scenario changed a little. Off Table Shelling meant that Suppression counters remain on the units. The objective still was to Eliminate the Enemy.

This time I chose to deploy my army on the right flank instead, putting the tougher Infantry 3 units up front. Ludwig hung out behind to support with his 36" range guns.

This was Turn 2 and I have moved my units up forwards while Shum hugged the terrain piece again. That terrain piece  is starting to haunt me. 

Nothing much happened in the earlier part of the game but towards the end my Laser Grenadiers did their magic and took out Shum's Gatling toting Infantry 3 Unit which he threw into my line.

Turn 3 Shum moved his tank hunters up the field to take out my Ludwig. He moved the rest of his army up  to engage me but the sheer firepower took his units out. A combination of Suppression and lucky dice helped me. 

He managed to take out my Ludwig but it was two units that helped me win the game. Once the Laser Grenadiers removed the Gatling threat to my infantry (first point), my Flak Grenadiers supported by the Heavy Laser Grenadiers was now able to win me another point (second point) in return taking the unit out in the open. Shum then engaged my Flak Grenadiers in Turn 4 of the game but I managed to Suppress his unit with the Laser Grenadiers during my command phase in Turn 5. Shum attempts to remove Suppression and failed to remove the counter. With 2 kill points to me and one to Shum, the game draws to a close in Turn 5. I actually won!

I hope you guys are inspired to at least try out the game. The minis are good quality and the cost is very justified. Go on, you know you want to. 

Flyers Are Here

Got these from BOLS forums. Let me know what you guys think. I actually like the Necron and Orc flyers

Completed: Dust Allied Medium Walkers

I am currently in a DUST: Warfare painting frenzy. And that can only be a good thing as this means more painted models! As with my already planned color scheme of Team America. I wanted my walkers to have a white washed look. So I sprayed a heavy coat of White over a black undercoat and went to work painting in the colors and stars. Vallejo Game Color Ultramarine Blue and Vallejo Model Color Scarlet red respectively. 

Unfortunately I was so caught up painting these guys furiously that I did not manage to take any pics of the process. In short I gave the colored areas a wash of GW's Badab Black. Then using the torn sponge technique of weathering I applied GW's Adeptus Battlegrey liberally over parts that worn see most wear and areas that would be first to scrape off the white wash and reveal the paint underneath.

Here they are completed and based.

I painted all four different turrets to utilize in the game.

A side shot.

Another one.

And this is my army as it currently stands. I'm awaiting my large-ish order from Maelstrom to arrive. As well as heading down to my LGS over the weekend to pick up the revised core set I reserved. I should have a sizable army in no time!

Crushed glass bases & Completed DUST: Rangers Command Squad

Just finished up the HQ squad for the allied forces. Painted them up in the red,white and blue scheme. I think the army will look great when all amassed.

Also I decided to do my bases in a dirty melting snow cum urban theme. I saw how most snow flock simply looking very white and clean. So clean that nothing shows through. However secret weapon miniatures had a set of crushed glass flock. Which makes snow look extremely convincing along with its wet look and transparency. So I got an extra bottle of glass and went outside to smash it up. Wrapped in a few layers of plastic bags.

I then applied them with PVA glue. And once dried I applied a thick coat of Vallejo gloss varnish. I think it looks the part. Dirty, melting and convincing looking ice.