Gaming 102: Improving your game (tactica)

Warhammer 40k Tactica

So, you have amassed an 40k army, and played a few games with it. Yet, you are struggling against some of the more experienced players. How do you step up your game? How do you make an army list that is competitive? Hopefully this post will allow you to make that next step.

Each army has a many, many different units to chose from, but some of them are... awful. Others are ok, and  there are some that can be a foundation for a great army. Usually, when regarding the usefulness of a unit, it will be referred to as:

-"Competitive"- This unit performs well for it's intended purpose, whatever that may be. It's positives outweigh it's negatives, and it is a unit that can perform well in tournaments if used correctly.

-"Semi-Competitive"- This unit may perform well against certain armies, but poorly against others. While not as good overall as "competitive" units, they may be useful in tournaments.

-"Casual"- This unit will probably not contribute positively to your army. It could be too expensive, too weak, or have too many negative special abilities. It also may be that there is an alternative unit that performs similarly, that is cheaper or stronger. These units should only be taken in special circumstances, like when playing against close friends.

Sometimes determining what category a given unit falls into is relatively easy- like when you can tell it is complete garbage or super awesome. Other times, it takes several games, putting that unit in situations to prove it's worth, for it to be correctly categorized. You should also note that these are only opinions, and depending on how you use that unit tactically, your evaluation can differ from those given by other players.

Creating a unit breakdown of everything in a given codex takes a lot of hard work, experience and knowledge. For a single codex, this could take weeks/months of playing games and analyzing outcomes. Therefore, I will be creating a list of Tactical articles that I have found and deemed acceptable. Here they are:

Grey Knights Tactica
Imperial Guard Tactica
Chaos Space Marine Tactica (not completely finished, but still very good)
Dark Eldar Tactica
Necron Tactica
Space Marine Tactica
Tyranids Tactica
Oks Tactica
Sisters of Battle Tactica
Tau Tactica (Only goes over changes since 5th edition)
Dark Angels Tactica


Most of the above links are from DakkaDakka. If I could not find decent ones there, I searched elsewhere. Some of the newest 6th Edition codexes aren't up here (Daemons, Dark Angels, Eldar) because they are so recent, nobody has had the time to write up a decent tactica for them yet. I will post they as they are available.

These articles are an invaluable resource. I highly recommend reading the one for your army, and the others if you have the time. It's in the same category as reading the codexes for the other armies: Basically, know your enemy.

These tactica serve another important purpose: knowing which models to buy. Instead of buying every model for the whole army (which would cost a fortune), you can create two or three competitive army lists with different specialities. Using those lists, you can then buy only the models needed to create them (saving you a bundle). It also saves you the time and effort of painting those models that will never be a sucessful part of your army.

I hope this has been very helpful to you all. Be sure to comment with suggestions, corrections, or other random tidbits of information.

Gaming 101: What you need

I have already posted once about gaming, and some of the things I will go over will be somewhat similar. I will try to make this as helpful as possible though.

What you need(Essentials):

-Your army- This is pretty much a given.

-Your army list(s)- A list of all the units you will be taking for a given battle. Having a clearly defined army before you start the game is essential, especially if you are using proxies. Proxies are models that are used in place of other models for one reason or another. I occasionally use my Chaos Daemon furies in place of Chaos Warp Talons, because I don't own any Warp Talon Models. An army list makes sure both you and your opponent are completely clear on what rules/weapons your models have.

Below is a screenshot of one of my recent army lists. It wasn't that great, so I made others, but this one is the most organized. You can see the point distribution for each of my units, as well as their wargear and special rules. The rules are defined on the right side, so I don't have to check the Rulebook every time I want to use that unit. This style of list has been extremely helpful, and I would recommend this way to any player regardless of experience.

-The Big Rule book (BRB)- This is, in my opinion, the most important thing that you bring to a game (besides your army of course). There will no doubt be times when a dispute of rules comes up, and you need to come to an agreement. There is no way you can memorize everything in there, so it's best to bring it along. The traditional rule book is $75 on Games Workshop, but you can always find it cheaper in other places (a used copy on Ebay will probably be cheapest). Also, a condensed version can be found in the Dark Vengeance set (I haven't seen/read it, so I'm not sure how thorough it is)

-Codex for for army/armies- Everything that applies to the Rule Book applies to this as well. Especially at the beginning, you will be constantly checking your unit's stats and special rules. You should also carry along the codex of your allied army(s), and possible the codex of the army you are facing (if you know it, and own the codex).

 

-Dice-  In a dice-based game, you definitely need some dice. You need more than just a few, though. My suggestion is to buy one of the games workshop dice boxes, which also comes with a scatter dice. Also, having some differently colored/sized dice is very useful for attacks that have different characteristics. Having a dice bag to keep them all together might also be helpful.

-Templates- In Warhammer 40k, some weapons use templates of different sizes and shapes for their attacks. There are three different templates which can be purchased, or cut out of cardboard (or another like material).

-Tape Measure- Nothing fancy, just needs to have a range of over 72". That is usually the longest distance you  will be working with in the game.

Other Recommended Accessories

-Carrying Case- This should probably be in the essentials, because it is so important. If you plan on doing any serious gaming, you need a carrying case. Otherwise, the trip to the hobby shop could leave your models broken or with chipped paint, which is a total downer. For those of you who don't want to fork up the $60 for the cheaper of the GW ones, you can always make one. I made one out of a cardboard box and some packing foam. There are also plenty of tutorials online on how to make your own. Here's one. Here is another using magnets (very interesting).

-Other Items- As I am almost positive I have forgotten something, or several thing, please let me know if you can think of them. As always, I appreciate the comments. They let me know what you guys think, because ultimately, I'm doing this for you.

Sometime soon, I will be doing some changes on the blog, trying to make it easier to navigate. Also, keep an eye out for more sculpting posts. I have sculpted many things since my last post, but none of them are worthy of showing anyone. One of my current projects is semi-promising, so we will see about that.

Getting into Gaming (Warhammer 40k)

Before now, I have been mostly fixated on the painting and modeling portion of Warhammer 40k. However, I have recently taken the plunge into the gaming portion. I went to my local hobby shop, watched a couple games, and then played 2 games with a friend of mine. From my little experience, I have just a couple tips for someone wanting to start gaming

(Pictures are from my local hobby shop. They are just to show what a game/game board can look like.)

First, you should read the rule book. I know it's huge, but only the first quarter of it or so is rules. Borrow it from a friend, and read it once through. If you are very sure that you are going to be sticking with the hobby for a long time, you should buy one. A rule book is a necessity for playing the game.

Second, just going and watching a game can be extremely helpful, especially if the people you are watching are new and learning the game themselves. Veteran players tend to remember most rules from memory, and an onlooker might not even realize what is happening. Still, any game you watch can be a learning experience. You get to see some of the rules in action, and you get a better understanding of some of the basic concepts (assault phases, line of sight, etc.).

Third, find someone to actually play a game with. It can be as small as one squad against another, but this will help you the most when it comes to fully understanding the rules. You will make some mistakes, but that's ok. You can play against another beginner, reading the rules as you go, or an advanced player who will coach you on the rules as you go.

The rules can be pretty confusing at first, so if I were to try and help someone understand the game, I would start playing with abridged rules, and then slowly adding more and more complexity, finally ending with playing the game in it's entirety. This is what I mean by abridged rules:

Abridged rules(for novice players learning the game):

(These are mostly to be read by the experienced player who is teaching the newer player. Not everyone agrees with me about the use of these rules to teach someone how to play.)

-Condense the game into just the three phases: Movement, Shooting, and Assault. Make an emphasis when ending one phase and beginning another
-Play without objectives, complex terrain (such as mysterious or dangerous terrain), missions, reserves, warlord traits. allies, etc.
-Play without leadership tests/morale checks, physic powers, multiple assaults, and other concepts that may be confusing to new players.
-Play without using special rules (very novice players). This means you will basically only be using your units' stats (WS, BS, S, T, etc.) and it's basic weapons. You will not be using rules like Hatred, Hammer of Wrath, Gets Hot, Instant Death, etc. You can gradually add these rules in as you see fit, maybe explaining them as you play, but not using them (i.e. saying, " In this instance, I would get to re-roll this die because I have Hatred").

The purpose of the abridged rules is to introduce the new player to the fundamentals: understanding the charts in the back of the rulebook (To hit, to wound charts) as well as other basic rules (such as armor pierce, armor penetration, vehicle rules, etc).

 

I hope to share my gaming adventures with you. I will still be posting about painting and modeling, as well.
Feel free to share any thoughts or comments you have, about this post or the blog in general. I get lonely when nobody comments... :(

Warhammer 40k Basic Modeling Tips

Useful Modeling Tools, Tricks, etc.

Pinning

Metal pieces sometimes do not hold together with just superglue. They need to be pinned ( have a metal rod inserted into both pieces for added support). This is usually done by drilling a small hole into both pieces and securing the pin into each hole. This can be done with either super glue or green stuff, if the hole is big enough. The drilling is usually done with a pin vise, but can also be done with a low-power drill or dremel tool (be extremely careful if you do these, as you can easily ruin your model).
Pinning can be extremely helpful with metal miniatures. I have seen it done with plastic miniatures as well, but only to secure them to a cork base while priming/painting.

Pictured to the right is basically all you need to get started with pinning: a pice of a paper clip ( or some other thin, metal rod), a pin vice and an appropriatly sized drill bit.

Gluing

I know this is a pretty simple concept, but it deserves some explaining. There are basically two types of glue: super glue and plastic glue. Simply enough, you use plastic glue for plastic (and resin/Citadel Finecast) models.

For super glue, you just need to find a decent brand and use it. It does not need to be specific to Warhammer/Modeling. Some generic brands are ok, but I have yet to find a very good super glue.

 For plastic glue, it is a little more difficult to find a good brand. First off, the GW plastic glue is complete crap. Just throw it in the garbage. Some other modeling companies make better plastic glues, but I find that it is actually "polystyrene cement" that works the best. People always have their own opinions on what the best brands are. You can do some reasearch on some gaming forums and decide for yourself.

Acrylic medium

Until recently, I had been using water to thin my paints. Although this worked well for a long time, I have moved on. I bought some liquitex Matt medium online, and it has changed the way I paint. I highly recommend it.

Matt medium basically thins the paint, without making it run like a wash (stay in recesses). I will be using it all the time from now on. I also use it sort of like a glaze medium in some cases.

Green stuff

I already went into detail on the uses of green stuff (see 100 Hours - sculpting first post), so I will just briefly describe it now. Green stuff is an epoxy putty that can be used by games to fill gaps between model pieces as well as sculpt new parts to a figure, whether it is a symbol on a backpack or a new body part. It is definitely a useful tool for advanced hobbyist to get acquainted with.

Pictured to the right is my green stuff. I found the tubes to be much more cost effective than the strips. Again, this is all explained in my earlier Green Stuff post.

Magnetizing

This is for very advanced hobbyist, and is usually applied for people who play in tournament. The idea is that instead pf having a different model for every available armory option, you can havr one model with interchangeable parts. People magnetized parts of their models so that they can be switched when they modify their army. As an example, they may switch out a terminator's combi-bolter for a heavy flamer in their army list, and instead of using an entirely new model they can just remove the arm the the combi-bolter and replace it with a heavy flamer arm. Magnets can be used on any number of models, but they are usually used thing like tanks and elite squads, not so much on basic infantry.

Magnetizing is done by drilling a hole, the size of the magnet, in either side of what you want to change out. Magnets are placed into either hole (making sure opposite polarities are facing each other, or else you need to dig them out and start over), and glued into place. You can place a magnet in each part you want to change out, making sure that the polarities work out as such. Usually, rare earth metal magnets are used, because they are the only ones that have the strength to hold the pieces together.

Miscellaneous

There are a few tools that can be used for the same tasks. In order to remove models from their sprues, you can use sprue cutters (more likely you will find then as flush cutters) or a hobby knife (X-acto makes good ones of these)
In order to remove mould lines, you can use the dull, reverse side of a hobby knife blade, needle files, or something like a GW mould line remover.
Picking up a decent set of needle files is recommended, they come in handy a lot, and don't cost more than $20 or so.
There are a bunch of other tools you can find in various places, often disguised as other craft tools.

My opinion is, buy tools that you need, don't find buy tools and then make up a need for them. This hobby is too expensive as it is without purchasing useless tools all the time.

Learning More

If you read something here that was confusing, or you are interested in learning more, post a comment and I will try and help out the best I can. For some extra reading, there are some interesting posts of DakkaDakka (a gaming forum) that talk about tools, and methods to better use them. Here are two of my favorites:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Useful_painting_and_modelling_advice

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_Toolbox%21

The Painting and Modeling forum in an invaluable too. Always search the forum about a topic before you ask, especially if you would be starting a new thread. If you do join DakkaDakka (I highly recommend it to all gamers), my username is dmerr187, you can friend my if you want to.

Obviously, I don't know everything. I am only a moderate painter/modeler, so I still have a lot to learn. If you read something here that is wrong, or maybe you just disagree, say something! I don't want to be spreading false information if I can help it.

100 Hours - Painting: Dark Eldar Wyches

I have a bunch of discontinued Dark Eldar Wyches from my first army. Recently, I decided to strip them and start over. To the right is my first of the batch, primed and ready to paint.

Below is my WIP photo, as well as my finished project.In the first photo, I painted a basecoat of Dwarf Flesh on the skin, Boltgun Metal on the metal parts, and Regal Blue on the blue sections. I used a flesh wash, and then repainted the skin with Dwarf Flesh. The photo below is right after the wash (I ended up washing again with a thicker wash). I highlighted the skin with a 50/50 mix of Dwarf Flesh and Bone White. The armor was highlighted with Ultramarines Blue. I painted the eyes with just white and black.

This was an extremely simple Wych tutorial/paint scheme, and is more just so I could get some practice painting skin. Overall it went pretty well, but I will be making some changes to my skin colors soon. Anyone with with tips on painting faces/skin, let me know! It's wicked hard.

Painting time elapsed: 1 hour
Learned: A little about painting skin, but I have some work to do on that.
Painting Time to go: 93 hours

100 Hours Painting: My First Ork

My First Ork/First Painting project

In this post, I will detail my latest painting project, which is my first project back from break. I think it went pretty well, and it is one of my best models yet. I will go through my painting process with photos, explain what I did at each point, and recap what I learned.

Side Note --- I work on miniatures one at a time. This is definitely not the fastest way to paint them. I just like to learn from my mistakes as I go, so I don't end up with a bunch of models that all look bad from the same mistake. Also, because I am not playing Warhammer 40k, I have no tournaments or deadlines to meet, so I can take as much time as I need.

The model (pictured above left) is the Ork model I will be working on. It has been assembled and primed. The priming job was not great, as my spray paint was very close to empty, so I touched up the model with black and let it completely dry before doing anything. Also above is the paint, palate and brush I used. The paint is Reeves acrylic craft paint, and the brush is a Robert Simmons White Sable size 3 brush. A lot of my brushes are White Sable, and it is my favorite type of brush. Another reason for the palate picture is to show the consistency of the paint. I know it is very difficult to see, but the craft paint comes out extremely thick. I thinned it with plain tap water until it would no longer obscure details on the model.

This is my basecoat of Caliban Green on the Ork's face. There is no need to be conservative with the paint, as long as it is thinned properly. Don't worry if you get your base coat everywhere, you will be painting over those other areas later.

The above left picture shows my next layer, which is about a 1:1 mix of Caliban Green and Moot Green. I used it to cover almost all areas, except for the deepest recesses.
The above right picture show the model after it has been washed with Thraka Green mixed with a tiny bit of Nuln Oil. A highlight of Moot Green was then applied to only the most raised edges of the model (some areas on the face, edges of fingers, etc.).

The two above pictures show the painted jacket. It was painted with Codex Grey and Highlighted with a 1:1 mix of Codex Grey and Skull White. The gun and sword have been base coated with Boltgun Metal.

These final four pictures show the model completely finished (besides basing, which will be done later). I skipped a couple steps with the pictures, but I will explain everything. All metal parts, which had previously been painted with Boltgun Metal (also called Leadbelcher) were washed with Nuln Oil and highlighted with Runefang Steel. The straps on his arms and backpack, as well as his boots, were painted with Scorched Brown. His pants were painted with Snakebite Leather, washed with Agrax Earthshade, and highlighted with Kommando Khaki. His teeth and the skull on the end of his sword were done basically the same way as the pants, but with another highlight of Screaming Skull. His eyes were painted with Red Gore. After this was all done, the model was coated with a Matt Varnish.

After that, I just went back and touched up some things. It is by no means perfect, but I am pretty proud of it, especially as my first painting project back.

I learned a couple things too. I should base coat everything first, not just work on one part at a time. I did the Ork skin, then the vest, then the pants, when I should have been working on them simultaneously. I had to sit and wait for some of the washes to dry, because there was nothing else for me to work on. I also learned I need to take better care of my brushes, as one of my favorites is starting to fray! I think I will do a brush-cleaning tutorial soon, even though its pretty straightforward.

These are all the paints that I used for this project. From left to right, it goes : Kommando Khaki, Scorched Brown, Caliban Green, Screaming Skull, Runefang Steel, Boltgun Metal, Thraka Green, Red Gore, Agrax Earthshade, Moot Greene, Snakebite Leather, and Nuln Oil.

These are a mixture of old and new GW paints. To find out the new equivalents to the old paints, look at the Citadel paint conversion chart Here.

Overview:

Painting time elapsed: 6 hours ( I think I could have cut this time down if I wasn't waiting for paint to dry as much.
Learned: Basecoat everything first, take better care of brushes.
Painting Time to go: 94 hours

Tips for Starting Warhammer 40k: Painting Basics 3

Here are just a few more general painting tips, I won't list them in any particular order, and I will definitely add to this list in the future, and if I learn new things.

Paint Thinning

You NEED to thin your paints. The new GW line is supposed to be usable right out of the pot, but I don't agree. Most painters will agree that all paints need to be thinned. What they don't agree on is what to use to thin the paint. Some people use just plain water, while other use things like Future Floor Polish, and homemade concoctions with snake oil and such. For master painter, this might matter, but for beginner, just plain old water should work just fine. Ideally, it should be deionized/distilled water, as some of the added substances in tap water, like chlorine, iron, copper, etc. can affect the pigment in your paint. I haven't really had issues with tap water, but I have never used distilled water, so I can't really comment on that.

Also heavily debated is how much to thin paint. Ratios like 1:1 and 4:3 of water to paint are thrown around, but it really depends on the brand of paint and the application. Drybrushing doesn't usually need to be thinned, but base coats and layers do. Some people say that the paint should be the consistency of skim milk. I think that's a little too much thinning, and again it depends on the brand, color and application of the paint.

So, how much do you thin? Your goal is to find a sweet spot of good coverage with as few coats as possible, while not obscuring detail. As a rule, your paint should not leave streaks, and your base coat should be completely opaque in 2-3 coats. You really just need to practice thinning and eventually you will be able to eyeball a good paint consistency for optimal paint performance. 

Water Pots

As you are painting, you will need to regularly wash off your brush. Try to wash of the paint every 5 minutes or so, maybe even more often, even if you are using the same color again. This prevents paint from drying on the brush itself or at the base of the bristles (which is a guaranteed way to destroy a brush). 

Keeping two or three water pots at your paint station at once is recommended. One is for regular paints, the other for metallic paints, and possibly a third just for thinning paints (you can use a dropper bottle for thinning instead, so you can measure how much you use). Metallic paints contain flakes of aluminum, which make the paint sparkle, for lack of a better word. When you wash your brush with metallic paint into a water pot, the flakes come off with the paint, and can be transferred to other, non-metallic paints if you use the same water. This can lead to your regular colors "sparkling" like metallics, which can make your miniatures look kinda silly.

I try to change my pots every painting session, but sometimes I forget or I am lazy, and do it every 2 or 3 sessions. As long as your colors are not being influence by the water in the pots, you should be fine!