Battle Report: Splinter Fleet Hades vs. Orks (Part 2)

Hovering quietly near the noxious atmosphere of Epison Octarius, a lone Rok traversed the skies. As it streaked a trail of smoke and debris, a flaw in the arced tail of clutter materialized. Aboard, mighty Ork leader, Warboss Grr-Gaz sparred in agitation with his Nobz. The animalistic fury coupled with the raving, unbound rage of the Warboss rapidly overcame the formidable resistance by the Ork Nobz. Amid the chaos and barbarism, the rickety spacecraft took enormous collateral damage, which impaired the thrustaz and altered the flight path straight towards the surface. Chunks of scrap flew off as the Rok hurtled at a breakneck pace, when suddenly, BOOM! A bone-jarring impact of the jalopy annihilated and scattered its remains into miniscule pieces, along with carving a crater 2 km wide in the surrounding terrain. After recovering from the planet fall, Warboss Grr-Gaz rose from the ruin streaked landing site, and noticed that the place was piled high with the carcasses of Space Marines and burning Tyranids.
"Wot iz dis?!" Grr-Gaz questioned. "Luks like da puny humies iz dead." The Big Mek, another survivor of the crash, appeared at the side of his commander, and retaliated, "I kan see dat, ya little Squig." Grr-Gaz punched the Big Mek in the face, in no mood to tolerate the impudence of the creature. 'Dis planet is good for a WAAGH!' he thought to himself. "Letz go boyz! It's time for Fightin!" yelled the Warboss, battle-ready from the copious hormones surging through his feral circulatory system.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This fight was a fun one, I deployed first, and I took the side with a building and some hills. I put one squad of my Loota boyz in the building and one on the hill. I put my Big Mek in the between the building and hill, out in the open. I also put my 1st squad of boyz on the left side of the building, shielded from fire, and put my 2nd boyz squad behind the forest, so that in later turns I could gain cover saves. My Boss and his Mega Nobz retinue went into a trukk which hid against the side of a building. Puddles_the_'Fex then put his 5 genestealers and Brood Lord on the other side of the building where my MANs and Boss were.

Turn 1:
We rolled for turns, and I got first! I ran my boyz full distance, then moved my Trukk 12 inches, and unloaded the Mega Nobz and Boss from inside. I shot at his Broodlord squad and killed the meat shield completely, while the Brood Lord remained undamaged. I also took a wound off of the carnifex. I charged his Broodlord with my Mega Nobz and Boss. After the combat was resolved, I lost 2 Mega Nobz, but my 3 other Mega Nobz smashed the Broodlord to pieces.

During his turn, he moved his guys up and tried to shoot at me. He missed a lot of his shots (apparently he also had some Orks on his side lol).

Turn 2:
I blazed forward 6 inches with my squads of boyz and embarked my Mega Nobz and Boss into their Trukk. They took off to some cover. After all my moving I declared WAAGH! This was the smartest move I made, as I got closer to his unit of Warriors and his gaunts. During shooting, I put a couple of wounds on his Carnifex, the monstrous creature now only having 1 wound remaining. The Tyrant also had 1 wound remaining. In assault, I killed most of his warriors and a lot of Gaunts making sure I would remain in combat next turn.

He moved his guys up, and shot at me, killing my Loota boyz on hill. Hey they're only Orkz, they're supposed to die. During assault, the slaughter continued, and he lost most of his nids.

Turn 3:
Most of my units were in combat, so I shot and killed one of his carnifex, my Big Mek
died from a melt down from his shokk attack gun. That was sad. I finished off his units and then pilled into his Carnifex and my Boyz stayed in combat there, and my other squad of boyz killed his Gaunts and went into the other Squad of warriors. Lost a couple of boyz in combat, but it was no big deal.

As Puddles_the_'Fex lamented over his dead tyranids, he tried to pull a draw, by shooting at some of my boyz. He was partially successful, killing a couple of Lootas. During his assault phase, we both took a couple of wounds, the assault being indecisive; it was a giant stand still in the middle of the board.

Around this time, due to time restraints, we had to leave and so we called it a game. After a victory point tally, the Orks had 712 VP's and the Tyranids had 558 VP's. A solid victory for the Orks by 154 victory points.

First Battle Report Victory goes to DA WAAGH!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Boyz swarmed over the wreckage of battle, slowly overtaking the Tyranids. Each Ork that was felled merged with the ground as 10 others clambered over him, eager to fight. Warboss Grr-Gazz was happy, with the head of the Broodlord on his pole. Now the planet Epison Octarius was in the hands of the Orks and the WAAGH! This was a good day to be an Ork. Up on top of the highest peak Warboss Grr-Gazz stood and looked on, and saw an army of his own to conquer. "Dis is a good place for my WAAGH! We git more boyz and more gunz!"

Thanks again
DA WAAGH!

Ripper's Army Case

Here I shall show the path that I am taking for making my own miniature transport case. One needs a few basic materials, such as a container ($5), foam ($22), and a lot of replacement knife blades. Its ridiculous how many blades you go through when cutting foam. Initially, I assumed this was the cheapest method, since it cost me a total of $25, but I didn't factor in the labor. Also, my box also has a little compartment at the bottom, which is nice because I can store templates, dice, and other stuff with my minis.
With the little stow away box at the bottom:Two yards of foam that I bought from a JoAnn Fabric and Craft Store:This is the template that I cut out of foamboard for a tray of just 25mm bases, and it has made my life much easier. I recommend this to everyone instead of having to mark and remark each slot on each chunk of foam. If I were to do this a second time, I would make my template out of some other sturdy material such as plasticard (sheet styrene) or even MDF, since even with the first use of the template, it has started to break apart.These are my calculations of how many 1"x2" slots I could cut out in the allotted box size. I suggest taking a piece of paper and cutting it down to the size of your container. Then draw out the layout, and see using different positions how you can optimize the maximum number of slots per foam sheet. In my case, I could fit the most slots by doing an "odd" row at the bottom.A problem I face now is what to use to create a back for the foam. Right now, I am considering using a different kind of foam sheet; it's denser, but still has some cushioning. I bought a pack of this foam from Walmart, for about $3, and will see how it turns out. Also, I wanted to test out 2 different types of adhesives for gluing the foam I really like the Liquid Nails, since it dries in 20 minutes. After it dries, the joint remains flexible, instead of becoming extremely brittle like the wood glue bond. The only downside to Liquid Nails is that it is a one time use tube, since there is no way of sealing it once it is punctured. Not wanting to waste it, I will have to glue all the trays to their backs at once, instead of churning out one foam tray at a time. Also in the pic is a sneak peek at my next project, hehe...

Ripper

Miniature Transport

Sooner or later, we all start to accumulate a large number of games under our belt, and with that, our armies expand in size. It is usually then that we face a dilemma; the transport of our miniatures. When still starting out in the hobby, a cardboard box is sufficient for transport, and we go along our merry way having fun, unhindered. Yet when armies reach the 2000pt mark, too many arms, guns, and other accessories are found snapped off when we bust out the box o' minis, pushing us to protect the little ones.

The (insert common household material here) box
It's quick, cheap, and does a sufficient job holding its contents together. But for the serious hobbyist .... no. Just plain no.

Miniature Case
There are many suppliers out there which provide foam transports; Games Workshop, Sabol, and Reaper to name a few. Pros are that it is a durable case with pre-made slots, and it is an instant remedy for transport issues, with no further hassles or deals. The problem with these is that they can't be customized to such a great extent. Some provide you with trays of perforated foam rectangles, but irregular shapes can't be made. Overall, it's a nice padded container, provided you can shell out the dough for one.

Gun Cases
An alternative to brand name mini cases is buying foam lined cases for other objects such gun cases. It shares many of the pros of the Miniature Cases, but additionally these are cheaper, costing you about $40. Yet, this case lacks the foam slots the previous case had. You would have to go through a hassle carving out slots in the pre-made foam, if you wanted individual mini protection. In addition, gun cases usually have egg crate foam. This type of foam is good for protecting against pretty large shocks (such as if you accidentally drop the container). But the design of the foam having "mountains" and "valleys" causes minis to naturally lie in a "valley". When the miniature count gets high, and the case starts to fill up, they start rubbing against each other, and once again arms start popping off. This case is good if you want a container with foam already lining it, but to ensure the complete protection of your minis, you would have to spend the time either cutting out slots, or positioning each mini in their own "valley" so that they won't rub against each other. Another thing to keep in mind is the impression you would be giving off to others if you're walking around with a gun case and an eager look on your face as you enter someones house/store.

Custom Case
Ah, the custom army transport case. A fine specimen, evoking feelings of intrigue and wonder. The pros and cons of this kind of case are cost, construction, and durability. If you know what you are doing when you make one, it can be really cheap, scrounged from available materials; accommodate a wide variety of figure shapes and poses; and can last you until the end of your gaming career. Yet at the same time, it can be a horrendous experience if you don't know what the hell you're doing.

Overall, it's truly up to the gamer and their preferences for which case to use. What case do you guys use for your needs?

Another Little Painting Update

Hey all,

Long time no post. I am posting to let everyone know that I am currently working on a project that I have wanted to do for a long time. I am making a Death Watch Kill Team (woot for a 500 point squad that only has 10 marines in it!).

I should have a working camera by the end of the weekend to take pictures of this squad and of all of the other stuff that I have been talking about so far.

Will post pictures and updates ASAP.

Later,
The Inquisitor