Monday, May 31, 2010

Long Fangs

My Long Fangs are finished, at least tabletop quality. I say tabletop quality and not finished, because I am not happy with them by any means. I have a lot of detail work, maybe some highlighting, some dry brushing, and another wash on the metal. BUT they are done enough to base them and finish my May resolution... the most important part. Now to get ready for June, and hopefully find the time to go back and complete the months I missed: March and April.

In battle report news, I had another game against Warboss Gargunki's Orks. I changed up my list to play with a Wolf Lord on a Thunderwolf, 4 squads of Grey Hunters in Rhinos, and 2 full squads of Long Fangs with missile launchers and a few other odds and ends. The 4 Squads of Grey Hunters was great. They really are an excellent Troop choice. The Wolf Lord was sub-par. Maybe I don't know how to use him, maybe I need to support him much better. It was Dawn of War so he was very isolated and got killed quickly trying to get into combat, so at the very least I need more practice with his tactics. And the Long Fangs were great. Missile Launchers... 12 missiles per turn because I had a Wolf Guard with a Cyclone Missile Launcher.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

June Resolution

The June 40k Fight Club painting resolution is a painter's choice... and I have a LOT to choose from. I'm throwing up a poll regarding my options, hoping that some of my former readers know I am actually back blogging and participate! Here is what I am looking at:

Wolf Priest. He accompanies my foot-slogging or sometimes Land Raider transported 15-man Blood Claws


Rune Priest #2. He is the GW Rune Priest in power armor, with the bolt pistol added to replace his plasma pistol. I usually hold him back with my Long Fangs.


Lone Wolf in terminator armor, with chainfist and storm shield, and 2 Fenrisian Wolves. This guy is a beast on the table top.


Venerable Dreadnought. My old Ironclad Dreadnought modified to be a Space Wolf dread. I need to get some new FW resin weapon arms. Not in my regular list currently but adding a Dread to any list is easy.


More troops. Either a Blood Claw squad or Grey Hunters. I have 3 Troop choices left unpainted in my regular army, but only 1 more month dedicated to Troops.



I'm equally interested in painting all 5 choices for different reasons. Also, I am looking to go back and paint my Wolf Scouts and probably a Landspeeder for the 2 months I fell behind.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Let's finish May off with Long Fangs

I'm really hoping to finish up my May painting resolution now that my desk and hobby supplies are finally set up. But, I'm contemplating doing a 1500 point tournament last minute (THIS SATURDAY) and I sort of want to slop 3 colors on the rest of my army. I'm undecided if I am going to fulfill my painting resolution or furiously get 3 colors on a Landspeeder, 10 Grey Hunters, 15 Blood Claws, 2 Rhinos, a Drop Pod, Lone Wolf, and 2 characters. Well... when I type it all out it seems like quite a lot. Painting is not required for the tournament, if I even go. It's more of a personal preference.

As for my resolution, I started with some gray primer for the first time. I ended up going back to black. I just like the primed finish as opposed to the type of gray I have. I'm definitely going to use the gray primer this time around to speed up my vehicle painting.

And I guess that ends our update. Here is a very WIP pic of the Long Fangs (only some base gray before I wash them). And a nice shot of the madness that is the new home for my paints and models (along side my pc this time).


Finding my style with the Wolves

I haven't played too many games yet with my Space Wolves due to taking a short break from the hobby. Last night I MADE time for a trip to Pandemonium and faced off against Warboss Gargunki's Imperial Armor 8 Mega Dread list. I wanted to field a balanced list that I could build some strategies on, and by the end of the game i felt more comfortable with the army. I'm starting to get the hang of them. We played 2000 points:

Rune Priest, terminator armor, jaws, hurricane
Rune Priest, chooser, living lightning, hurricane (Long Fangs)
Wolf Priest (Blood Claws)

4 Wolf Guard with power fists and 1 c.melta, 5 in Terminator armor (1 Cyclone in Long Fangs), drop pod
5 Wolf Scouts with a melta
Lone Wolf with a chainfist and storm shield, 2 wolves

9 Grey Hunters, meltagun, power weapon, Wolf Banner, rhino
9 Grey Hunters, plasmagun, power weapon, Wolf Banner, rhino
15 Blood Claws, power weapon

Land Speeder, multi melta, heavy flamer
Land Speeder, multi melta, heavy flamer

6 Long Fangs, 5 missile launchers
Vindicator



Terminator Wolf Guard drop podding with the Rune Priest turned out to be a big failure. I'm still not convinced this won't work for me, because they got pretty unlucky getting shot to pieces by regular Ork Boyz. Really? Ork Boyz? Yes. The Wolf Scouts did their job coming in the second turn and annihilating a full squad of Lootas. I couldn't have asked for a better performance. They have been a great unit for me so far. Grey Hunters continue to prove they are one of the best Troop choices in 40k. I'm undecided if I want to chance my army composition to 4 Troops in 2000 points to get another unit of them in there. The Blood Claws with a Wolf Guard and Wolf Priest seriously tore the Ork Boyz a new one once the foot slogged their way into combat. They went through 2 full units of the Boyz before getting vaporized by Burna Boyz. The Land Speeders did well and harassed the Orks for much of the game. Land Speeders are usually a given in my army lists because I've used them so successfully often enough. The Vindicator had a couple decent shots, but the better Heavy Support choice were the Long Fangs doing an awesome job raining down missiles.

The MVP of the game was the Lone Wolf. Chain Fist, Storm Shield, Terminator armor, Eternal Warrior, Feel No Pain, 2 Fenrisian Wolves to soak up wound allocation. This is the perfect equipment loadout for this guy. This was also the perfect storm for him to perform excellently though (very heavy Dread list) and I don't expect a repeat performance every game. First he took out the Ork Dread, then he took out 2 remaining Killa Kans, and finally he immobilized the Mega Dread at the end of the game, keeping it out of reach of my objectives and ensuring me victory in the seventh turn. Rerolling all his attacks vs Walkers was amazing.

Another very good upgrade that I now consider a must-have are the Wolf Standards. This was my first time using them and I will forever after include them in my Grey Hunter squads. Once per game you can use the standard, and for the entire remained of the assault phase you may reroll any 1's rolled. This includes to hit, to wound, armor pen, vehicle damage, and even armor and invulnerable saves. Pretty awesome for 10 points even if it is only 1 use.

It wasn't one of Gargunki's typical lists, but it did have some tough stuff in there. The Mega Dread having a 5+ invulnerable save for everything was pretty rough, but could have been worse. The trukks of Burna Boyz had a major impact killing my Wolves, and would have done a lot more damage if deployed on the table or if they arrived sooner, I think. He had to place much of his army in reserve, because with Spearhead deployment even on a 6x4 table the Orks couldn't fit their army on the table if they tried!

And finally, great laughs were had when his looted wagon (I think) with a Shokk Attack Gun misfired and teleported 3 stories up in the air to Tank Shock my Long Fangs! I believe the Long Fangs, even in their many campaigns of glory, needed to change their armor after that surprise.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Back!

Alright I've taken a bit of time off from the hobby with madness of school and moving. The madness of school is still present, but I am unpacking things and trying to organize my Space Wolves to get painting again. I am dreadfully behind in my painting resolutions! First things first, painting this months entry... then I will see about catching up on other months missed. Homework comes first but maybe I can crack the paint open this Sunday. The next step is getting in a game. SOON!

More updates to come asap.