Happy New Year & 2015 Goals

Happy New Year from the Arborian Lascannon Squad!

Hello!

I've been quite busy since my last post here, and not had a lot of spare time to highlight hobby progress or games played. I have been posting updates on the Indy40k Facebook group.

My Hiatus began in July at the height of summer. August and September are the busiest time at work, due to number of public outreach and education events that I work on. October is also busy with early archery season. Starting in November I was able to recommit some time to the hobby and to getting games in. I finished all the infantry in my Arborian Rangers company and played in an Apoc game at Indy Gamerz.

Imperial Commanders: Chili Waagh Apoc Game

Ork Bosses: Chili Waagh Apoc Game

Arborian Infantry Company: Finished at Last!

In October, Imperial Armor 13 came out. This renewed my interest in Chaos which had been neutered with the 7th Edition allies chart. No longer would my hordes of Blood Pact inspired infantry remain foam-case bound. I purchased a second-hand chaos army and have been converting it into an Iron Warriors & World Eaters war band.

IA:13 Resin for the Resin God

Iron Warriors Obliterators

I also acquired two Ikea Detolf glass display shelves to put my armies in. I'll need probably two more shelves to accommodate future army expansions, especially when I finish my Tempestus Scions and Chaos armies.

Detolf Shelves

2014 is arguably the most productive year in the Hobby for me in recent memory, thanks to two new hobby strategies:

1) Hobbying one hour a night. I don't always get this done, but instead of working on stuff at random times, I make incremental progress. Its hugely motivating to make progress. 

2) Painting to three-color and based first, then moving on to another unit. This allows me to get a whole army table-top ready, then come back later and finish the details. As details are what hung me up on the Arborian army for so long (mostly dreading the time-consuming webbing and gunmetal stages), this lets me play with painted models more quickly. 

Furthermore, I've made a dedicated effort to get more games in, as often as once a week, but sometimes 3 times per month. Actually playing the game motivates me to hobby more and makes me feel like I'm getting "value" from my time and monetary investment. 

2015 Goals

1) Forgeworld order: 2ish Sicarian tanks, 2ish Hell Talons, and some other odds and ends

2) Finish Iron Warriors and Renegades & Heretics armies

3) Get some more Chimeras for my Arborian officers. They get punked on turn 1 usually. Light infantry is for the birds.

4) Play in some 40k events at GenCon. I stopped going to GenCon despite it being literally across the street from my office because they offered no 40k events. 2014 was different and 40k events were there. So I'm going in 2015. 

5) Play more games & GM campaign. 

That's it for now. Happy hobbying and gaming!

Modular Gaming Table Construction Pt. 1

Last weekend I assembled a crew (father, girlfriend, & loyal assistant) to create a gaming table for the basement. I'll have a billiards table which this table will rest on top of. I wanted it to be modular so it would be easy to move (hence the 2'x4' sections of plywood) and double-sided for added functionality. I'll be creating a new post (hence this post is part 1) detailing the process used to create the table. Basically step 1 involved adding pegs to the individual sections, and step 2 involved gluing felt to those sections and trimming off excess felt.

Finished Product: Grassland/Forest/Jungle side, Gale Force 9 terrain

Wolfcraft Dowel Pro Kit: Trouse Dowel Pro (Ace Hardware).
Used to peg together four separate 2'x4' plywood sections from Menards.
Wood glue used hold dowels in place.   

Spray Glue: Used to secure felt (Grey side for Urban/Facility/Space settings) to plywood.

Assistant. Generally worthless for assembling gaming tables. 

Indianapolis & Bungled GW Orders

Over the last 24 hours, I received two pieces of news, one happy and one not-so-happy:

First, the good news: I'm moving to Indianapolis

I'll officially be moving to Indianapolis in a little over a month. I already work there, and will be looking forward to living in this great city, host to GenCon and other great gaming events. If any of my readers are in the Indianapolis area and want to get together for a game. My only requirements are that you 1) Are not a douchebag 2) Shower at least once a day and 3) do not bring Space Marines (or any derivatives) or Grey Knights.

Now the bad news: GW’s Bungles Advanced Gamer & Collectors Edition Orders

Apparently GW has decided that its brick-and-mortar retailers, and their customers, now are going to play second-fiddle to their own online store. I recently placed an order with my local game store (http://www.3sdgames.com/) for the Gamer’s Edition. Apparently GW relayed to their distributors, the “trade account managers” that they would be unable to guarantee availability of 40kV6 Collectors or Gamers Editions. This information failed to be passed down from the trade account managers to the retailers themselves, and subsequently to customers (such as this blogger). Long story short: customers who relied on their brick-and-mortar stores to get Collectors and Gamers editions of 6th Edition of 40k got the shaft. So if anyone has an extra 6th Edition Gamer's Edition Man-Purse, please let me know.