The 101st Galleria Regulars

Hive Fleet Conqueror: Conquering the Gladiator

2011-04-10T20:34:00.003+08:00

After 2 months of blood and sweat, finally the Conqueror Conquers them all, taking home the bacon as this year's Gladiator Champion (John Cena's intro music playing in the background... "♪You can't see me my time is now...♪"... too much wrestling). Among all 40++ players that joined the league, only the top 8 went in for the finals; the top 2 for each of the 3 sectors and 2 wildcards. Here's a link for the rules in this year's Gladiator: Rules

The Spawning:

Before the start of the tournament, I have been playtesting my 60 genestealer list to represent my tyranids in Gladiator 2k11. But I think the list was kinda 'meh' because it was just genestealers and hiveguards, and doesn't represent the true strength of the army which is synergy. So I changed my list and built around my favorite killer of them all, the Swarmlord. so here was the final list I submitted:

Swarmlord: 280
2 tyrant guard: 130
- lash whip and rending claws

Tervigon: 195
- toxin sacs, adrenal glands, catalyst, cluster spines

18 termagants: 90

11 genestealers w/ broodlord: 250
- toxin sacs

3 hive guard: 150

3 zoanthropes: 180
spore: 40

8 ymgarl: 184

If you know me, I love genestealers, for the past 2 years I have been playing with 60 or so genestealers as part of my army, I even went to last years Gladiator finals with my all stealer list with no guns, but unfortunately my luck stopped on the second round. So I went outside of my comfort zone and try a new concept.

I'm not used to playing tyranids without tons of genestealers as my speartip. So, I read tons of articles from tyranid hive, dakkadakka, heresy-online (oddjobs' article), and hyv3mynd (synaps3.blogspot.com, best tyranid blog to have ever read) to learn on how to properly and effectively utilize each unit. I playtested with my list a couple of times until I get used of how each unit work.

The devouring
It's time!!! February 5, 2011, first week of the Gladiator, but unfortunately I wasn't able to play the first mission due to work. It all started on the second week, here are the links for my first 2 games:

VS Imperial Guard
VS CSM

I ended up with 1 win and 1 lose for my first 2 games, and got a 3 game winning streak afterwards. Here are the links for my 3 games:

VS Pre-heresy CSM
VS CSM and Salamanders

The streak ended when I fought against Kerwin and his Space wolves, but I never got to make a battle report for this one and my last game against J-soon's crimson fist. So I'll just give a quick recap on what happened on my last 2 games before the finals.

Against kerwin's SW:
The mission was for week 6 (check out mission I played against the salamanders under "VS CSM and Salamanders" link). Both my ymgarls and genestealers went for his longfang while my other units are dancing with death against the lasers of doom. We went for turn 6 after his thunderwolves was able to kill my termagants claiming the middle objective and consolidated to take the center. I can go for a tie if I ran my swarmlord or go for the win if I assault the 3 remaining thunderwolf with lord, since it's just a one point difference between a draw and a lose, so go for break and went short by a millimeter to reach his twolves with my swarmlord, giving him a 5-3 victory.

The last game was against J-soon'c crimson fist, check the link for week 7 mission(look for the week 7 mission). My Swarmlord was on the rampage killing Cantor and 5 LC terminators, 2 squads of tac marines, and a landraider, failing to wipe him out as a single rhino survived the combat against my swarmlord. It was a 16-2 victory for the Conqueror.

I went second overall in our sector and managed to grab a spot for the final 8.

The Conqueror:
April 9, 2011, the top 8 players slugged it out on a single elimination game using this scenario:

2011 Warhammer 40,000 Gladiator Finals
April 9, 2011
Lito's Battle Bunker

In The Coliseum

I see before me the Gladiator lie
He leans upon his hand - his manly brow
Consents to death, but conquers agony
-Lord Byron

Victory Conditions:
Simple. Have more Gladiator Points or Kill Points than you opponent at the end of the game.

After deployment, BUT BEFORE THE START OF THE GAME, flip a coin. If it's heads use the Gladiator Point System to determine the Victor. If it's tails use the Kill Point System.

Game Length:
Game 1 - 6 Turns
Game 2 - 6 Turns
Game 3 - 7 Turns

Deployment:
Players flip a coin and call it. Winner chooses whether to deploy his entire army first and go first or deploy second and go second following the deployment given below:

Game 1 â€“ Dawn of War
Game 2 â€“ Pitched Battle
Game 3 â€“ To Be Revealed

Mission Special Rules:
All Gamesâ€“ Reserves, Infiltrate, Scouts, Deep Strike

Good Luck to All. smile.gif Spectators of course welcome!
Remember registration up to 8:50 am tomorrow. We'll start at 9:00am.

The Grand Dic

Here are the representatives for the gladiator finals:

Galleria sector (the Basterds, we's reprezent!!!):
Emcee Castillo - Space wolves
Ian "kuneho" Siongco (moi) - Nids

Bunker Sector:
Jeff Jongko - Space wolves
EJ lim - Death wing (he's the only newbie that went to the finals, kudos to him)

Team EYOT sector:
Paolo Lapa - Orks
Lucas Jacinto - Dark eldar (GT 2k10 Best General)

Wildcards:
Sunny Yu - Nids
Freddie yu - SoB with IG (GT 2k10 best overall)

Browse through the link if you want to know each list:
Finals list

After knowing each list, the army that I'll be having a problem will be against the DE and emcee's all terminator loganwing army, hoping not to play against them on the first round. So the random pairings were made. Here were the first pairings:

Emcee (SW) vs Lucas (DE) - Emcee won with KP (Emcee has only 6 KP in total, 6-5 victory for the wolves)

Jeff (SW) vs Sunny (nids) - Sunny won with most gladiator points

paolo (orks) vs Freddie (SOB) - Paolo won with KP

All four tables have good amounts of terrain with a mix of blocking LOS terrains. So, I have to take advantage of the terrain to pull out a win whoever my opponent would be.

The Execution:
First game against Ej's Deathwing using gladiator points:

That's me with the brown/orange shirt
Ej has 4x5 man assault terminators with CML and has 1 unit that has banner and apothecary, belial, and 3 vindicators.It was a game of bad rolls for both of us, me for getting perils 4x and him getting bad rolls for his shooting. For the first time, my tervigon never stopped spawning termagants for the whole game which basically is one of the key factor of my victory, blocking and shooting. My swarmlord didnt do much and was killed by belial and gang but managed to whittle them down to 2 termies (only the CML termie with banner and regular th/ss termie survived) and belial. 2 of his vindicators were wrecked by turn 2 while the remaining one got weapon destroyed.

All of my termagants soften up one squad of terminators at a time before I assault it with my toxin stealers. In the end the only remaining unit wass his weaponless vindicator. It was a great game and victory for the nids.

Second game: VS emcee's logan wing space wolves

Ok, I can fight his list if there are objectives in the game, but with Gladiator points, he can just stay in one corner, sitting in terrain, and shoot me to death. He had 2x10 man terminators, mostly with power weapon and storm bolters with 2 CML each. logan and a rune priest in one squad, then a wolf priest with saga of the hunter and another rune priest in the other squad. He got first turn and deployed both units in cover. How do I pull out a win against this list? Simple, I took advantage of blocking LOS terrains and shoot him down with my hive guard unit.

After 6 turns, it's still a draw. So we go for a sudden death that went up to turn 9. Whoever scored the highest Gladiator point in a player turn wins. I just need to kill of 2 terminators to put his units to half and get half of the unit's points to seal the deal. He kept shooting at my swarmlord and gang with FNP, who kept shrugging off ML and living lightning wounds. And on the 9th turn, shooting from my zoanthrope and hive guard managed to reduce one unit to half that won me the game....

The Lord of the Swarm:

Final game against Sunny Yu with his all reserve Nids. He managed to seal a win against Paolo's orks. He has a flying tyrant with single BL devourer, with OA and HC, trygon prime, mawloc, 3x8 genestealers, 7 ymgarls, 16 toxin hormas, and 2 zoanthropes on pod. My plan was to stay on terrain and let him come over to me.

During this game, the only key mistake I did was I didn't able to fully occupy the terrain where his ymgarls went dormant, who managed to assault my tervigon on the second turn. My Swarmlord Proved to be the king of the swarm. it killed the mawloc, the remnants of the ymgarl, depleted hormas, and a small squad of stealers, who, did great in this game, not just providing the kill, but also supporting the little critters around him.

The another key factor of my win was utilizing the proper use of termagants for blocking. I was able to block the prime's path to avoid him assaulting my zoanthropes, who, with the help of the hiveguard, managed to reduce the prime down to only 1 wound. After the dust settles, what remained in my army was my Swarmlord with his 2 buddies, and my 3 hive guards. Sunny was left by an unwounded tyrant and a wounded trygon prime. It was a 1 Gladiator point win for me and was held as the Gladiator 2k11 champion.

I would like to extend my thanks to all the players who participated in this awesome tournament and to all of my opponents... till next year's Gladiator... the swarm will be waiting.

Come and Get Them

2011-03-07T13:01:00.001+08:00

WHY I PLAY ELITE ARMIES

“This is serious. We're Rangers, not some sorry-ass JROTC. We're elite. Let's act like it out there.” – Sgt. Eversmann (Black Hawk Down)

Like most new 40K players, I had no particular battle plan in mind when I built my first army. Needless to say, I also had no idea on army composition, what works best with what… etc. However, after a full year of getting pulverized on the table top (I got my first ever win only after 7 months of playing), I learned a thing or two. One marked improvement was in my army lists.

“At age 7, as is customary in Sparta the boy was taken from his mother and plunged into a world of violence. Manufactured by 300 years of Spartan warrior society to create the finest soldiers the world has ever known. The agoge as it's called, forces the boy to fight, starves him, forces him to steal... and if necessary, to kill.” – Dilios (300)

Of course, Neutral Grounds is no Sparta and I am not/was not 7 when I started, but seven months (and then some) of early “learning” from the veterans made me the player I am now. At that time, I saw how they can get many from so few (ie min max) so I naturally went through that path. My mindset was how many “X’s” can I fit into “Y” points. Long story short, I had an army that was alternatively called “The Light Show” by the sheer amount of lascannon/plasma/missile/assault cannon/bolter shots it can throw at the opponent. However, the focus on guns and guns alone left me with just less than a hundred points for my HQ. Although it is rare that an opponent’s army reaches my lines, but when they do, my army folds like a poker player does with a bad hand.

After years of using token HQs and armies with limited close combat ability, I decided to go the other way. This turn came around at first during the Eye of Terror campaign, when a souped up Space Wolf list was made available (13^th Company). From then, I saw the value of what a strong HQ can do and what elite forces provide. Coupled with my affinity for the cinematic or the flair in everything, I slowly went through the elite path. The decision was cemented with the recent codices/codexes providing options to field entire armies made up of elite units.

So, why do I like to play an elite army? Let me talk you through some bits of my warhammer psyche and show you the reasons why.

I will “know my army” better.

“You know, you shouldn't jump around when this nice woman is holding a sharp pair of scissors. If you move she could slip and slice your jugular vein, on accident. There is no way to stitch the jugular. All of your blood will be on the floor in four minutes. I have seen this. I have done this. You don't want this.” - Zohan

“Knowing” my army is two-fold. Since elite armies specialize in only certain aspects of the game, I would know what my army can or can’t do like the back of my hand. Second, hobby wise, I would have fewer figs to assemble and paint, so I would have more time to make the army look better (all things being equal).

Elite units are usually harder to kill.

“I once fought two days with an arrow through my testicle.” – Godfrey of Ibelin (Kingdom of Heaven)

”Why you do this? You know I feel no pain.” – Zohan

“Then we will fight in the shade.” – Stelios (300)

I am not bold in real life. I’m not a coward, but neither am I brave. I am just a regular schmoe. So, given the chance to play make believe super humans in the far future, I would take it and go to the extreme. There are few better options in warhammer than having the confidence of being able to take almost everything the opponent’s army can throw at you and still come out of the smoke alive. Of course, in 40K nothing is certain, and there are times when the best protection doesn’t work and your supermen still drop like flies, but more often than not, they shrug off most stuff. This is good for me, and demoralizing for my opponents.

Elite units are better at killing.

“You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers than you did.” – Leonidas (300)

Can your squad take-out an enemy army in close combat? Mine can. Mine did.

Elite armies are harder to use.

“They will ask for terms. We must ask for terms.” – Almaric (Kingdom of Heaven)

I have nothing against it, but I want my gaming life to be better than me just me lining up all my guns and shooting. I have been there, I enjoyed it, but I want something else. Using an elite army, I have to be careful of every deployment, every movement, every target. One mistake, I die. It’s that simple. This is good for me since one reason why I got into miniature gaming is to use that parts of my brain I don’t use in my everyday life. Most games, my options would be limited from the start because of the size of my army. There would be missions where my only option would be to not get killed. Every game is an uphill battle. This is fun for me. It’s make believe anyway. I’d like to think of it as brain calisthenics.

There is always “glory” after every game whatever the outcome.

“The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle is over, that even a god-king can bleed.” – Leonidas (300)

Something special happens in almost every game I play. It’s either a glorious defeat or a glorious victory. We talk about all the saves I made when I shouldn’t have. We talk about all the saves I failed when I should have. We talk about how you thought you can take on my squad with yours and you finding out otherwise. We talk about that little bit that made a whole difference to the game. When all else fails, I can pack my army and put it in my small bag in less than five minutes.

2011 40K Gladiator Scoreboard - Galleria Sector

2011-02-07T15:55:00.001+08:00

Gladiator Score Board (unofficial) :

Updated as of Feb. 5, 2011

Players	Games Played	Total Tournament Points	Total Gladiator Points	Gladiator Point Differential

Kuneho	0	0	0	0
Emcee	1	15	14	5
Zeb	0	0	0	0
Patrick	1	9	12	0
Joel Tiongson	1	9	12	0
VicVic	1	14	12	7
Kerwin	1	7	10	5
Joshua Soon	0	0	0	0
Martie Wong	1	6	10	8
Matthew Wong	0	0	0	0
Ryan T.	1	2	9	-5
Ryan C.	0	0	0	0
Melo	1	2	2	-8
Nigel	1	2	5	-7
JB	1	2	5	-5

Journal # 154 - This is where we fight! This is where they die!

2011-01-16T19:38:00.003+08:00

January 15, 2011

Attendance - Ian, Zeb, Emcee, Joshua, Phil, Marc, Wiley, Freddie Tan, Jack, Matthew, Joel, and Martie with Special Apperances from Augie, Jeff, Doc Benj, Johnathan, Patrick and Ryan Chung

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Ian (Tyranids)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Joshua (Space Marines)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Zeb wins!

Game 3
Phil (SM-Blood Angels) vs Marc (Space Marines)
Points: 1300
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 4
Phil (SM-Blood Angels) vs Jack (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1300
Mission: Capture and Controo
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Phil wins!

Game 5
Matthew (Dark Eldar) vs Joel (Chaos Space Marines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 6
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Martie (Tau)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Martie wins!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
Freddie Tan (Beastmen of Chaos) vs Wiley (Vampire Counts)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Pitched Battle
Result: Wiley wins!

Session Ends 8:00pm (by my estimate lol)

Journal # 153 - We're Alive and Fresh with New Blood

2011-01-16T19:23:00.004+08:00

January 8, 2011

Attendance - Vic Vic, Ian, Zeb, Nigel, Emcee, Phil, Jack, Chino, Joshua with Special Apperances from Jeff, Ryan T., Ryan C., Wiley, Dennis, Tony, Augie, Patrick, and Kim

Game 1
Vic Vic (Orks) vs Ian (Tyranids)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Vic Vic wins!

Game 2
Nigel (Tau) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Zeb wins!

Game 3
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Phil (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Emcee wins!

Game 4
VicVic (Orks) vs Jack (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1200
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Vic Vic wins!

Game 5
Chino (SM-Blood Angels) vs Joshua S. (Tyranids)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Game 6
Ian (Tau) vs VicVic
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Ian wins!

Session Ends at 10:00pm with Ian and Zeb ever so nicely waiting for VicVic to get fetched. :p Kuyang-Kuya talaga! :)

Basterdz Celebrity Counterparts

2011-01-06T10:27:00.008+08:00

Zeb

Kyuzo (the one on the left, but take the whole picture in context)

The Meanderer

Kuneho

Wboy

Balian (the one in the middle)

Martie

Salubri (the one on the right)

Just for the sake of something new to read aside from what the "fembots" in the chatbox say, and out of boredom, I present our celebrity counterparts (this is a work in progress, if you have any suggestions/comments, please contact me).

Strength and Honour

2010-12-09T09:58:00.002+08:00

Written by Martie Wong
Co-winner, Best General - 2010 40K GT

(Photo courtesy of Neutral Grounds)

There really isn't much to say that hasn't already been said by the other players. All I can say is that this has got to be the best tournament experience I ever had and It's not because I won best general. It was because of the joy and thrill of the game and the great company and friendship I have with the other players. Sure I was aiming to win but at the end of the day, it always about the experience and being with people who share your love for the game.

A few weeks before the tourney, I was really wracking my brain on what army to use for the GT. It was bothering me so much that I couldn't work properly and sleep well due to my constant pounding on the calculator. I really wanted to play Tau since I played Orks last year but thanks to the advice of Ian and my brother Mathew, I decided to go with Orks instead. Tau are powerful but they don't have the pushing power of Orks. I needed more than just shooting my opponent to bits. I needed to smash face and grab objectives. So I went for Orks.

And good thing I did because the new Killer Khans were my MVP in most of my games. Tying down units, breaking vehicles, blasting infantry and murdering in the assault. For a mere 45 points each (just 5 points more to a terminator) the Tin Kans did everything! And thanks to them, they won me Best General. (Which is probably the first ever trophy I ever won!)

Before I end, I would like to thank all my opponents in the GT. All my games with them were great. But I have to give a shout out to Freddie Yu. I must admit, Freddie was one of the few people I didn't want to face in the GT and I was like "$*)#!" when we were paired up to fight. But Surprisingly he turned out to be the best match I ever had! Though I lost to him (VERY close fight), I'm proud to say I did all I could to win and couldn't done any better. It was well played and well fought and that's the kind of game I look for. Even though I lost, the match was so awsome that I had a smile beaming on my face! Though I always aim to win and play competitively, what I really want is a challenge. Something to get my blood pumping and my brain juice flowing. And Freddie Yu delivered. Thanks Freddie Yu for a great and awsome game! I hope to challenge you again someday.

All in all, this year's GT was the best. And I am honored to win Best General along with Lucas. Though I'm looking forward to a game between him and me. The only advice I would give to the new and old is honor your opponent with a good fight. What that means is, be fair, be fun and give your best. And in return, your opponent will honor you for it. Thanks again everyone for ending this year's GT with a BANG!

Pang Sports Pa!

2010-12-05T19:58:00.002+08:00

Written by Patrick Chua
Co-winner, Best Sportsman, 2010 Warhammer 40K GT

(photos courtesy of Neutral Grounds)

Coming to play in a grand tournament (or major tournament) has always been a nerve wracking experience for me, considering I have played many competitive CMG games from the past. This years GT was in my mind no different than last years....I was wrong...this years GT was more serious, focused and fun!

Winning the co-sportsman award was actually a shock to me since my tables had their fair share of squabbles (professional squabbles naman) but all in all we all played like gentlemen and continued onwards. But I never imagined na makukuha ko pa ung sportsman award at kasama ko pa si Wiley! (ang aking makulit na partner ng kulitan sa galle)

Well a lot of people have been asking what makes a good sportsman, well basically its about being sport, being able to dish the heat and take the heat and having fun while you are at it. Everybody hates to lose and by losing with a smile and knowing you did your best despite of everything, congratulating your opponent and learning from your mistakes. This years GT was actually a blast and a good experience for me both on and off the tabletop. My Advice to fellow players both new and old, love our hobby, love our community and most of all play nice play fair and be good!

The Spirit of the Game

2010-12-04T21:37:00.003+08:00

By Wiley R. Peralta

Co-Best Sportsman Warhammer 40k GT 2010

In all honesty I was shocked when I won the Sportsmanship award (of course together with Pat Chua), I never thought I had a chance.

Coming in to the 40k Grand Tournament I had one thing on my mind: win. I have always seen myself as a competitive player and it is nice to prove your mettle against other opponents. The challenge of competition is thrilling and very addictive. Unfortunately, this year's GT was not mine to take (so I still am dreaming of that Best General or Best overall) and my performance was average with 2 Major wins, 1 Minor win and 2 Major Losses.

But of course the tourney experience itself is something to be remembered and were 2 days well spent, playing the hobby that I love and with friends (and more new friends) I enjoy gaming with and there is always next year. And that is where I believe I was able to reel in the Best in Sportsmanship award by making sure that the gaming experience was a mutually enjoyable one.

Here's a short list of mindsets that I believe help one become a sportsman:
1. Every Game Is a Learning Experience
Looking at 40k from this perspective is a refreshing one; both of you can learn from each other. For example, after the playing you can talk both about what happened, what one could have done instead, or your opinion on a certain unit, it's use and it's performance in the game. Compliments on an opponent's list, strategy and tactics also fall in line with this. This is something I picked up from Jay and Kuneho; game postmortems and room for improvement.

To be honest there is so much to talk about and whether you win or lose it's a great thing to try and learn from your opponent.

2. Be Honest, Play Clean and Be Fair
This is pretty much common sense. I try and make it a point to explain to my opponent everything; I avoid springing a trap on him by non-disclosure. I shake his hand before and after the game.

I measure my movement and don't go over, when I roll my dice I pick out the misses instead of the hits. It is also important to be clear and explain your movement and what you are doing to your opponent (ex. when you attempt a clipping maneuver). I avoid rules lawyering and give my opponent some leeway with his movement, dice-rolling and so on; or point out discrepancies and protests in a polite way.

I believe it's important that one or both of you don't feel cheated when the game is over.

3. Have Fun
40k is a hobby. This is our hobby. We have hobbies to relax and enjoy; at the very core it's all about having fun. If you take the hobby to seriously (like your life depends on it) means you are missing the point entirely.

Sure it's perfectly fine to cuss a bit when you roll those 2+ terminator saves and you roll a 1, or roll for difficult terrain and roll a double 1 and all those crucial rolls that never seem to work but shouldn't darken your mood or wreck your game altogether. Laugh it off, there are times when the dice just won't go your way; it's perfectly normal and it happens to everyone.

But a final caveat on this: always try and make sure BOTH of you have fun. If you get your kicks out of totally crushing your opponent and then rubbing it in you have got to grow up. It's fun to tease a bit, especially when you're pretty close but it's also easy to go overboard. Be sensitive.

A lot of this I've picked-up from the guys in the 40k community; you know who you are. :) Now that I think about it, when I started again with this hobby almost a year and a half back I didn't know much about sportsmanship,but if anything it's something one can always learn.

So keep playing and remember this hobby is about fun and friends. Keep it that way it's one of the best ways to make our little community grow.

Bringing Home the Bacon (aka How to win a 40K GT) by Freddie Yu

2010-12-02T11:52:00.002+08:00

Written by Freddie Yu

2010 Warhammer 40K GT Overall Champion

(photos courtesy of Neutral Grounds)

Let’s face it, it is a fact that everyone who joins any GT has always the secret hope and ambition that he/she (we can always hope we get a SHE to compete in a GT don’t we?) can be lucky enough to win a prize after the event (However, bringing an unpainted army and aspiring to win Best Painted is of course overly ambitious). The Best Overall trophy is THE top prize in the tourney, and to get this involves elements of the other 3 major awards (Generalship, Painting, and Sportsmanship). This I believe is good since my opinion is that Games Workshop never intended its games to be exclusively tournament oriented, as I consider both 40K and WHFB more “Beer and Pretzel” games and a hobby more than anything, and as such the elements mentioned above are equal parts in what makes 40k a great hobby.

The Painting aspect is something I would like to start with. I have always advised new players to pick an army based on how much they like the models, rather than its rules. With the way GW changes editions and rulesets, there is a cyclic nature among the different codices and relative power levels. Painting and modeling your miniatures properly however is “forever”, and reflects a player’s dedication and love of his army. Besides, everyone knows competing with a well painted and modeled army is additional “pogi points”, and is as much a source of pride as is winning with them. .I am happy NG realizes this and rewards it accordingly.

The Sportsmanship element has been criticized sometimes as being too subjective and a way for losers to get back at winners (or at least some winners have claimed this before). However, as 40k IS a “Beer and Pretzels” type of game, one should not be too serious about this, and it is more important for both parties to have FUN in the games, losing or not. Nothing beats friendly competition, and having a good sportsmanship score despite beating other gamers reflects the respect one gives to his opponents.

On Generalship. There are many discussions online on what army build is the “best” for each codex, or what units are the most efficient, and you can see many “cut and paste” armies on the net which spam these so-called efficient elements. I, however, am a believer in fluffy yet balanced armies, and as much as possible I try to include different unit types from the codex. Whatever your build is, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT, and frequent gameplay is a necessity in order to master what your list can do, and the synergies which may arise from them. In the end it is the player and how he uses his units that matter, as a good player can always make a supposedly weak list win. In 40K, there is no such thing as an “Autowin” button or list.

Finally, I did change 1 thing for this versus last year’s list. I deliberately reduced the unit and model count, in order to be able to play quicker and finish the games faster. Despite what others may say, model and unit count DOES matter in how fast you play, and I’m happy that I finished 4 out of the 5 games on time (hey I still had 90 models in my list…it’s an IG army after all!!!).

Thanks to all my opponents in this year’s GT (Lucas, Martie, Pat, Jonathan, and Sunny). It was great fun, and again the 7^th Galen Rockhounds manage to bring home the bacon!!!

A Call From the Dark Side - 40K GT account from Lucas (Best General co-winner)

2010-12-02T11:36:00.002+08:00

Written by Lucas Jacinto
Co-winner - Best General, 2010 40K GT

(Photos courtesy of Neutral Grounds)

I am very pleased that I got co-best general at this year's GT. I wasn't expecting anything when I decided to use Dark Eldar knowing that the risk was great. Being a new codex it works both ways, at my advantage because no one has fought against it yet and to my disadvantage, I am still at the experimental stages in using it.

I was actually going to field Eldar. For this year's GT, I have put together craftworld Norrae-Kai, a fire based, tank-heavy Eldar army. With the release of the new Dark Eldar codex, I couldn't resist. I followed strange whispers from the warp. Sir Freddie Yu, Ian Siongco and Paulo Lapa. Sir Fred helped me make up my mind between using Dark Eldar and Eldar stating that if they let me use the new codex then its a good idea to push through with it. Ian was very supportive and gracious in allowing me to use the new codex. He states that it will bring much excitiment to the tournament if the new codex was present, and it actually did just that. I engaged in a lot of exchange of ideas during the tourney on what combos go well together and so forth. It seems that a lot of people were anticipating this codex release. And lastly, I have to thank Paulo for helping me streamline my list. Being last year's best general, he knew a lot in terms of what strategies work in the current 40k scene, as well as having a good idea on how to remove fat from an already good list.

Dice played a major role in my games. With my first game with Freddie, i was massacred. It could be because of my initial deployment or maybe my target prioritization. I blame the dice. I was rolling 1s and 2s with 15 blaster shots and 12 dark lances! I wasn't able to blow up a single tank. I even rolled a 1 on my first shadowfield save. The dice was against me. But on the succeeding rounds, the tables have turned. i was so impressed on how my dice were performing I nearly dropped my games and headed for a casino - I was destroying everything and I was rolling way beyond statistics can justify. I even kept on saving my 5+ flickerfield save! I have to say that luck was definitely on my side during the GT. To conclude all this, I preach that don't lose faith in your games, GT or otherwise. It still can be anybody's game. You just have to have a good attitude toward's winning and losing. Accept failure as well as you accept success because it is all part of the game.

On a side note, I actually had a lot of fun putting together the new DE army. Being an old DE player i thought it would be easier for me to do whip up a list. I was wrong. The new codex had a different dynamics to the game as compared to the old codex. To be specific, instead of Raiders, I needed Venoms. Looking at the codex artwork and scanning the net, I decided to turn my shelved Vipers into something useful. With the help of a couple of boxes of Reavers and a few unused Raider bits, I had Venoms. My DE army was ready for action in no time.

The Benchwarmers - 40K GT 2010 Account from the Old Wolf

2010-12-01T09:59:00.004+08:00

Written by Jeff Jongko
Winner, Best Painted Squad, Warhammer 40K GT 2010
(Photos courtesy of Neutral Grounds)

The Iron Priest ... to use or not to use ... relegated to a benchwarmer, the Iron Priest has seen little action since the earlier tourneys of 2010, Keso and Sigismund Cups. The ultimate form over function unit, looks cool and can do quite a but of damage but used improperly is just ... roadkill. But a lot of work went into converting and painting this model ... the image of a bright red power armoured techmarine on a cybernetic thunderwolf in a vast sea of grey Space Wolves simply captures the imagination too much to be ignored. But too many times has this unit died miserably and failed to live up to its potential. Thunderwolf Cavalry seemed much more useful and it seemed that the Iron Priest would never see action ever again.

But my initial GT list felt lacking. It had Thunderlords, Thunder Cav, Rune Priests and a ton of Grey Hunters but it just wasn't the same without the big red guy. After the list died miserably to Joel's Chaos list during the pre-GT practice session at the Bunker, I decided to re-evaluate what I had since I would need to paint lots of stuff to make the GT deadline. In the end, the Iron Priest had a third squad of Grey Hunters to thank for its inclusion in the army; I didn't have time to paint anything else which includes the other Thunderwolf Cavalry I needed to make "The Magnificent Seven".

After submitting the list to Ian, he commented I was crazy to use such a list. Not only did I completely ditch the Thunderwolf Cavalry and replaced them with 15 Fenrisian Wolves and the Iron Priest, I replaced both Rune Priests with Njal Stormcaller. And so another benchwarmer comes into play, my Rune Priest in Terminator Armour now newly converted to match Njal's specs (including that damn bolt pistol). I figured if you were going to go the look cool route, go all the way, so the Iron Priest got some newly converted Cyberwolves with matching red color scheme.

So came the first test game with Ian at the Bunker. Mission 3. Complete disaster. Not only did the Iron Priest and his dogs die in on close combat with a Trygon, Njal could not negate psychic powers on a 3+ if his life depended on it. And so another dismal defeat. Maybe they should have stayed on the bench afterall, and Henry suggested to take the late list penalty and change my list. But I was committed to this course.

GT day 1 ... I had just finished painting everything needed the night before and was rather drowsy and needed some coffee. It was still early and went to Starbucks 6750. Kent was there just like in the Keso Cup waiting for Jojo. Little did we know that Kent and I would fight the first round.

Game 1: Was thoroughly thrashed by Kent's list ... Iron Priest was held in back to claim objectives. Near the end of the game, Iron Priest bravely tried to save the Long Fangs from a group of plague marines. A galant charge ... but he missed 5 3+ to hit attack with his thunderhammer and servo arm, failed his morale check, ran off the table and lost all the objectives he was holding. Njal fared better slugging it out with daemon princes but was blown to bits by a plasma cannon. Was only able to squeak a win due to the Thunderlord taking all the objectives and running off.

Game 2: Goodie ... Ryan's Salamanders ... again. Looks like history repeating itself. Njal finally got his game face on ... blocking Ryan's libarian's successful psychic checks for Gate of Infinity and Null Zone. His Lord of Tempests making life miserable for the walking Hammer-nators. Njal eventually died to the Hammer-nators in a sudden last turn continuation and the Iron Priest was shot to death in a fusilade of bolter shots. Last turn win for Ryan.

Game 3: Jesse's White Blood Angels ... Not much happened here thanks to Njal's Tempest Wrath scaring off the big assault squad and his Living Lightning killing some vehicles. Iron Priest didn't do much except sit in the back. Managed a minor victory here.

Game 4: Jun Ubay's Tau ... Redemption. Benchwarmers carry the whole battle. Njal does a daring drop on the Tau managing to assassinate the Tau commander with Jaws of the World Wolf. Tempest Wrath messed up the Tau's movement doing some damage to the battle suits. Iron Priest runs beside a rhino to support Njal. Njal runs amok doing massive damage with Living Lightning and Chain Lighting for several turns All Tau vehicles blown out of the skies in a swirl of lightning and tornadoes. Complete and utter victory.

Game 5: Lucas's Dark Eldar... Defeat. Cheezed to death. Njal died turn 1, Iron Priest fails to hit 5 4+ to hits on the Dais of Asdrubael Vect which could have changed the result of the game. But the Iron Priest managed to kill most of the wyches forcing Vect to run off like the cheezehead he is. So while it was a good effort, no cigars at the end of this battle.

In the wake of the stupendous victory against Jun's Tau, the Iron Priest and Njal made appearances in their respective painting categories. Surprisingly the Iron Priest even took home the plaque for Best Squad. A benchwarmer's moment in the sun. All in all I was very happy with the performance of my list and these two benchwarmers this GT. As I tell all the statistic-spewing folk out there no matter what odds are, believe.

Seeing Red

2010-11-29T10:08:00.003+08:00

If Santa Claus was an angry chaos lord, this would be him. Oh wait... he is an angry chaos lord! :P
(photo courtesy of Neutral Grounds)

Whew! What!?! My very first award. Nice trophy to boot.
(photo courtesy of Neutral Grounds)

It's always nice to be rewarded for hard work. To be recognized by your peers, even more so. To stand in the company of the best painters in the community and snag victory was quite an experience.

My entry for this year's GT, single miniature category actually began several years ago but never finished. It's a relic from my old chaos days. As soon as the GT was announced I contemplated joining and realized I didn't have a good figure to work with. I didn't want to cut up the precious farseer or the librarian I had in my stash as they were gifts from friends. It was serendipitous that I discovered the chaos lord while rummaging thru my uncompleted miniatures box (you can tell there's a lot since i had to rummage thru it). With only less than a month to prepare I thought it would fit the time frame perfectly. The base figure was done but there were plenty of things to do and modify. I was new at putty sculpting when I started working on the figure a few years back and I could easily see my mistakes this time around. I also decided to change a few elements like the weapon which was formerly a sword made out of plasticard. The sculpting took about a week and a half. For the painting, Red was definitely the way to go. Not by design choice. It was the only complete set of paint left in my box that hasn't dried out from disuse (for those who aren't aware I've been on hiatus from gaming and painting for nearly a year). As this was Chaos I decided to refrain from NMM(non metal metal. google it if you aren't familiar). I went metallic+inks to give it that dark gritty mood.

Ultimately everyone who joins contests hope to win but my advice is work to the best that you can and don't stop halfhearted. That way you'll always feel like a winner when you look at your work as long as you're pleased with what you made. Also as a hobbyist and painter, don't be afraid to challenge your skills. Stretch it "just a little more" each time. In ten long years I've seen people come in with no painting knowledge or experience grow to become the painters that they are now. So much so that you often hear people say to them "baliin na natin mga daliri nito" in an endearing way(:P). The key is to challenge yourself and stretch your own boundaries.

Journal # 152 - GT Around the Corner

2010-11-16T09:39:00.002+08:00

November 13, 2010

Attendance - Ian, Zeb, VicVic, Nigel, Wiley, Patrick, Martie, Chino, Phil, Henri, Alfred and JR with Special Apperances from Doc Benj, Johnathan, Jojo, Matthew, Augie, Jeff, Jesse, Bojo and Mark.

Game 1
Ian (Tyranids) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 1850
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Ian wins!

Game 2
VicVic (Orks) vs Nigel (Tau Empire)
Points: 1350
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Game 3
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Ian (Tyranids)
Points: 1850
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 4
Henri (SM-Space Wolves) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 1850
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Zeb wins!

Game 5
Chino (SM-Blood Angels) vs Phil (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Chino wins!

Game 6
Martie (Orks) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 1850
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 7
Patrick (SM-Salamanders) vs Henri (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 1850
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 8
Phil (SM-Blood Angels) vs VicVic (Orks)
Points: 1350
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: VicVic wins!

Game 9
Alfred (Imperial Guard) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 1850
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 10
Nigel (Tau Empire) vs JR (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: JR wins!

Gaming Session Ends 9:30pm

People on hiatus Speak out!

2010-11-08T10:08:00.000+08:00

First of all by people I mean ME.

I've recently read thru another post in the forums about some guys thinking that this "win-at-all-cost" attitude and that "rules-bending" and "rules-lawyering" is the pinnacle of gaming skills. That for you to be the Ryu of games is to be the most shadiest most cunning bastard on the street.

These people are sadly mistaken. Meriam webster defines what a game is: "a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other." A competition conducted according to rules. It is not an activity that guages and rewards players on how well they can play outside of the rules. There are many words to describe the contrary. Some are even illegal like "hacking". No gentlemen (and the occasional ladies)! What makes a great player is his ability to play by the rules and win. The sheer force of will when all sense tells you to surrender. A deep understanding of strategy and logic as the rules of the game dictate. In other words true skill and heart! The greatest player of any game is one who actually plays the game. To tell you the truth friends (and according to some Macedonian members of our society,.. lovers. lol)... to play and win by rules exploit is not playing the game. It's playing outside of the game. Ryu they are not. No. Sagat would be more likely. I mean seriously? The guy is taller than anyone in that game. It's like a bully picking on little kids for sport.

I do not believe that the traditional Warhammer community needs to change it's ideals or the way it conducts business to accomodate newbies. Sorry but that is wrong. When you enter a group or a community it is you who is the new comer. It is not the community that needs to go out of it's way to please you because you are not the center of their world. If you wish to join any group it is you who has to learn to assimilate. That is a fact of life. I admire the way the proper attitude was defended by the old timers. The GW hobby is meant to be enjoyed and played a certain way as dictated by PAGE 2. You wish to enjoy the game then understand that.

Lastly I find it ironic that the very same people who espouse the use of rules-exploit and run-everybody-over-to-get-to-the-finish-line-win-at-all-cost-attitude(pant pant), which is tantamount to putting one over someone else would then make an appeal to humanity when their ideals are attacked. Run over someone and ask that people be politically correct around you? There's plenty of things wrong with that picture. That's like a mass murderer who appeals to the UN council to treat him more humanely...

With the grand tournament lurking just around the corner I would hope that every member of this blog would exemplify the proper gaming attitude that we tried to foster within the Galleria sector. I'd like to think we raised our kids well. lol. :P

Journal # 151 - The Seige of Oberon Sector (in the Galleria sub-system)

2010-11-06T23:24:00.006+08:00

Passed by today to buy some paint, chanced on the 10,000 point mega battle organized by Ian and Henri. The 4x8 table looked awesome, filled to the brim with figs.

Players were Zeb, Dennis, Augie, Lucas, George, Ryan Chung, George, Nigel and Pyrothrax (of MWPH).

Kuneho, update mo na lang itong post ko ng report mo for the battle pare.

Too bad I wasn't able to stay for the duration. :) Anyway hopefully I can start playing (and do our battle report for the blog) again in Galle by next week. Need to get some games in for the GT!

Chat Box Spam

2010-11-03T14:36:00.000+08:00

I've enabled the word verification feature in order to fix the bot spammers invading our chatbox. However as of today there seem to be some problems when making posts. After the verification is done the post fails to appear on the chat box. I am still unsure if this is because cbox itself is having problems or if it's an error caused by the change in settings.

How you can help:

I only use mozilla firefox. If you guys are using Internet Explorer or some other browser do try the chatbox and see if it works for you. Then let me know how it goes. Perhaps we can determine if the problem is due to my browser or if it's something else.

We could just revert the settings to the way it was before which made posting much easier (no word verification which is more work for lazy people. lol) though that means the spam bots will keep posting all sorts of stuff.

But heck if you're fine with this "George" guy that keep appearing on the chatbox then I guess it's all okay. :P

Just kidding George. ;)

Journal # 150 - Le Paper Mâché Battle Report

2010-10-24T23:24:00.002+08:00

October 16, 2010

Attendance - John, Nigel, Wiley, Ryan, Zeb, Ian, Bojo, Dennis, Augie, with Special Apperances from Patrick, Doc Benj, Johnathan and Mark

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
John (CSM-Night Lords) vs Nigel (Tau)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: John wins!

Game 2
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs John (CSM-Night Lords)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Zeb wins!

Game 3
Ian (Tyranids) vs Bojo (Space Marines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Bojo wins!

Game 4
Dennis (SM-Space Wolves) vs Augie (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2500
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw via double tap-out! LOL

Game 5
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) & John (CSM-Night Lords) vs Augie (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Zeb and John win!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
Wiley (Vampire Counts) vs Ryan C. (High Elves)
Points: 1500
Scenario: Dawn Attack
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 2
Ian (Empire) vs Wiley (Vampire Counts)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Battleline
Result: Wiley wins!

Gaming Session Ends 7:30pm, Post-Gaming Drinking Ends 3:30am for 3 people...lol

Journal # 149 - New Blood

2010-10-12T11:36:00.003+08:00

October 9, 2010

Attendance - Patrick, Dennis, Nigel, Joshua, VicVic, Phil, Wiley, JB with Special Appearances from Lito, Ian, Jeff, and George

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
Dennis (SM-Crimson Fists) vs Patrick (Tau Empire)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Patrick wins!

Game 2
Nigel (Tau) vs Joshua (Space Marines)
Points: 1065
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Nigel wins!

Game 3
VicVic (Space Marines) vs Phil (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1200
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: VicVic wins!

Game 4
VicVic (Space Marines) vs Phil (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1200
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn ofWar
Result: Phil wins!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
JB (Lizardmen) vs Wiley (Vampire Counts)
Points: 1500
Scenario: Battleline
Result: Wiley wins via tap-out!

Session Ends 6:30pm

*Phil is a new Blood Angels player. Welcome Sir Phil!
*40k Grand Tournament will be held late November, 1850 pointage like last year according to Sir Freddie Tan. :) woot. better start practicing.

Journal # 148 - There Is Only War!

2010-10-04T15:28:00.003+08:00

October 3, 2010

Attendance - Augie, John, Dennis, Ryan C., Wiley, George, Joel, Doc Benj, Patrick, Martie with Special Appearances from Fluffy, Romy, Johnathan, Joshua, Ronald, Nicky, Nigel and VicVic.

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
Augie (Imperial Guard) vs John (CSM-Night Lords)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Augie wins! (8-7)

Game 2
Ryan C. (SM-Salamanders) vs Dennis (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Ryan wins! (7-3)

Game 3
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs George (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Wiley wins via tap-out!

Game 4
Patrick (SM-Blood Angels) vs Martie (Tau Empire)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 5
Augie (Imperial Guard) vs Dennis (SM-Space Wolves) and George (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
Joel (Skaven) vs Doc Benj (Warriors of Chaos)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Battleline
Result: Joel wins!
Session Ends 9:30-ish with the last 40k game. :)

Journal # 147 - the Forces of Destruction

2010-09-27T21:27:00.005+08:00

September 25, 2010

Attendance - Zeb, Ian, Mike, Xavier, Martie, Patrick, Wiley, Mickie, Nigel, and VicVic with Special Apperances from Justin, Doc Benj, Johnathan, Jeff and Carlos

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Ian (Tyranids)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Xavier (SM-Ultramarines) vs Mike (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 500
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Xavier wins!

Game 3
Patrick (SM-Blood Angels) vs Martie (Tau)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Patrick wins via tap-out!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
Mike (Warriors of Chaos) vs Wiley (Vampire Counts)
Points: 1600
Scenario: Battleline
Result: Wiley wins via tap-out!

Game 2
Mike (Warriors of Chaos) vs Mickie (Daemons of Chaos)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Battleline
Result: Mickie wins via tap-out!

Game 3
Wiley (Vampire Counts) vs Mickie (Daemons of Chaos)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Dawn Attack
Result: Wiley wins via tap-out!

Game 4
Nigel (Skaven) vs VicVic (High Elves)
Points: Island of Blood Set Pointage
Scenario: Battleline
Result: VicVic wins!

Session Ends 7:00pm

CONGRATULATIONS to Emcee who now has a Space Wolf Cub. :) May he become strong and inherit your vast armies.

Journal # 146 - Light Skirmishing

2010-09-23T20:01:00.003+08:00

September 18, 2010

Attendance: Ian, Emcee, Wiley, Joel, JB, Zeb, Mickie, Nigel, Sigismund with Special Appearances from Patrick, Martie, RJ, Justin, John and Nicky

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
Ian (Tyranids) vs Emcee (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Zeb wins!

Game 3
Nigel (Tau) vs Sigis (SM-DA-Deathwing)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Sigis wins!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
Joel (Skaven) vs Wiley (Vampire Counts)
Points: 1500
Scenario: Dawn Attack
Result: Joel wins via tap-out!

Game 2
Joel (Skaven) vs Mickie (Chaos Daemons)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Watchtower
Result: Mickie wins!

Changing the rules

2010-09-17T08:46:00.001+08:00

In order to facilitate more open discussions among the gallerians(TM!) and other warhammerers (TM!) I am now opening the security settings for this site to allow registered users with blogspot and those using openID to post comments here. just use the chatbox as a... well... chatbox from now on.

Reminder folks. Use your words responsibly. These days it's worse than a loaded gun.

btw... I also gave Wiley admin privelages so he has the right(and the capability) to police anyone who refuses to be civil.

Journal # 145 - Give Us A Field and We'll Do Battle

2010-09-12T22:26:00.003+08:00

September 11, 2010

Attendance - George, Augie, Nigel, Jevon, Dennis, Wiley, Emcee, Henri, Mickie, Ian, Zeb, Mike, Martie, JB, Joel with Special Appearances from Ryan C.,Nicky, Patrick, Matt and Ronald.

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
George (Tyranids) vs Augie (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Augie wins!

Game 2
Nigel (Tau Empire) vs Jevon (Eldar)
Points: 500
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Game 3
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Dennis (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 4
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Henri (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Emcee wins!

Game 5
Ian (Tyranids) vs Mickie (Chaos Daemons)
Points: 2000
Mission Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Ian wins!

Game 6
Zeb & Dennis (SM-Space Wolves) vs Mike (SM-Ultramarines) & George (Tyranids)
Points: 3000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Zeb/Dennis wins!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
JB (Lizardmen) vs Martie (Empire)
Points: 1500
Scenario: Meeting Engagement
Result: Martie wins!

Game 2
Wiley (Vampire Counts) vs Joel (Wood Elves)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Blood and Glory
Result: Joel wins!

Game 3
Wiley (Vampire Counts) vs Joel (Wood ElveS)
Points: 2000
Scenario:Classic Pitched Battle
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 4
Henri (Dwarfs) vs Mickie (Chaos Daemons)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Classic Pitched Battle
Result: Mickie wins!

Session Ends 7:30pm

*Top tip when gaming against Ian/Kuneho: pagnatatalo ka batuhin mo ng laruan na spider o kahit anong parang ipis. auto-win ka sa reaction. mwuhahaha.
*Game 1 with Joel had me sending my Vampire Lord to undead hell with a miscast + dimensional cascade for the 3rd time in a row on the 1st turn. Game 2 with Joel had him miscast+dimensional cascade+go to hell on the 1st turn for his Wood Elf caster lord dudette. hahahaha.
*Managed to get in a lot of gaming today by inadvertently stealing the NG backroom from the Heroclix boys. Sorry dudes didn't know you'd be coming in! Haha

Journal # 144 - Good Hunting

2010-09-06T17:21:00.004+08:00

September 4, 2010

Attendance - Emcee, Augie, Zeb, Dennis, Wiley, John, Henri, Joel, Martie, Nigel, VicVic, with Special Appearances from Patrick, Nicky, Ian, Doc Benj, Ryan C., Justin, Joshua and Sam

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Augie (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Emcee wins!

Game 2
Nigel (Tau Empire) vs VicVic (Imperial Guard)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Nigel wins!

Game 3
John (CSM-Night Lords) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 4
Henri (SM-Space Wolves) vs Martie (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Martie wins!

Game 5
Dennis (Space Marines) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 6
Joel (SM-DA-Deathwing) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 7
Augie (Imperial Guard) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Wiley wins via tap-out!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
Joel (Wood Elves) vs Henri (Dwarfs)
Points: 2000
Scenario: Watchtower
Result: Joel wins!

Session Ends 8:45pm

We would like to extend a warm, warm welcome to Justin Uy and John! :)

John is a 3rd Ed. Night Lords player who has returned to sow terror in Galle once more. Justin played a bunch of times almost 10 years ago and has decided to return (after having most of his Ultramarine army painted by Emil).

Journal # 143 - War Across Time, All The Time

2010-08-30T19:04:00.002+08:00

August 28, 2010

Attendance - Emcee, Henri, Patrick, Ryan C., Zeb, Martie, JB, Wiley, and Mickie with Special Appearances from Romy, Fluffy, Ian, Matthew, Mark, Jojo, Kent, Nicky and Doc Benj.

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Henri (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Patrick (Chaos Space Marines) vs Ryan C. (SM-Salamanders)
Points: 2000
Mission:
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Patrick wins!

Game 3
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Martie (Tau Empire)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Martie wins via wipe-out!

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
JB (Lizardmen) vs Martie (Empire)
Points: 1000
Standard Pitched Battle
Result: Martie wins!

Game 2
Wiley (Vampire Counts) vs Mickie (Chaos Daemons)
Points: 2000
Standard Pitched Battle
Result: Mickie wins via wipe-out!

Session Ends 7:00pm

Journal # 142 - A Little Sci-Fi, A Bit of Fantasy

2010-08-23T11:13:00.006+08:00

August 21, 2010

Attendance - Emcee, Wiley, Zeb, Martie, JB, Mike, and Nigel with Special Appearances from Ian, Romy, Patrick, JR, VicVic, Doc Benj and Johnathan.

Warhammer 40,000

Game 1
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Emcee (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Zeb wins!

Game 3
Mike (SM-Ultramarines) vs Nigel (Tau Empire)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Mike wins via wipe-out!
*tsk tsk using a Korsarro Khan list on a newbie who is using a static army. tsk tsk tsk. :)

Warhammer Fantasy

Game 1
Martie (Empire) vs JB (Lizardmen)
Points: 1000
Scenario: Classic Pitched Battle
Result: JB wins!

Session Ends 8:30pm after teasing mike about his evil actions for 30+ minutes.

Journal # 141 - Gloriously Bloody Battlefields

2010-08-09T10:57:00.004+08:00

August 6, 2010

Attendance - Dennis, Joshua, Vic Vic, Nigel, Emcee, George, Nicky, Zeb, Lance, Patrick, Wiley, Martie, Joel, with Special Apperances from Ian, Doc Benj, Mike and Johnathan.

Game 1
Joshua (Space Marines) vs Dennis (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 1500
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Dennis wins!

Game 2
VicVic (Orks) vs Nigel (Tau)
Points: 660
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: VicVic wins!

Game 3
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs George (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Battle Missions - Chaos Daemons - Night Fight
Result: Emcee wins!

Game 4
Joshua (Space Marines) vs Nigel (Tau)
Points: 660
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Joshua wins!

Game 5
Nicky (Orks) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Nicky wins!

Game 6
Lance (CSM-World Eaters) vs Patrick (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Pat wins!

Game 7
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Martie (Tau)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 8
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Joel (Space Marines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Joel wins!

Session Ends 8:00pm

Journal # 140 - Stalemates

2010-08-03T11:01:00.003+08:00

July 31, 2010

Attendance - JB, Emcee, Wiley, Henri, Nigel, with Special Appearances from JR, Lito, Ian, Nicky, Augie, Doc Benj and Johnathan.

Game 1
Emcee (Space Marines) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Emcee (Space Marines) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 3
Henri (SM) vs Nigel (Tau)
Points: 500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Session Ends 6:30pm

Journal # 139 - Back in Space

2010-07-25T21:57:00.002+08:00

July 24, 2010

Attendance - Ian, Zeb, JB, Patrick, Henri, Jean, Wiley, Martie, George, with Special Appearances from Ronald, JR, Joshua, Jeff, Fluffy, Mike and Augie.

Game 1
Patrick (SM-Halo-Halo) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Patrick wins!

Game 2
Ian (Tyranids) vs JustinBieber (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Ian wins!

Game 3
Jean (Orks) vs Henri (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Jean wins!

Game 4
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Martie (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Martie wins!

Game 5
George (Orks) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Zeb wins!

Game 6
Ian (Tyranids) vs Henri (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Henri wins!

Session Ends 7:30pm

Journal # 138 - Report lost in the Warp

2010-07-06T10:16:00.001+08:00

(report courtesy of Pat Chua)

Pick-up games: June 26, 2010; NG Galleria

game 1, 2k pts

JB (IG)-emcee (SW)
annihilation/ spearhead
7-9
emcee wins

game 2 1k pts
joshua vs jean gabriel
sm vs orks
seize ground/pitched battle
winner-joshua

game 3 2k pts
jojo vs marty
sm vs orks
seize ground pitched battle
ork wins via tap out

game 4 1k pts
jasper vs jean gabriel
deathwing vs orks
annihilation/ dawn of war
jasper wins

game 5 2k pts
matthew vs augie
eldar vs IG
annihilation/pitched battle
11-6 matthew wins

game 6 2k pts
pat vs dennis
sm vs sm
seize ground/spearhead
pat wins 2-0 obj

game 7 2k pts
augie vs jojo
IG vs sm
(battle ongoing as of press time)

Journal # 137 - Annihilation on Neutral Ground

2010-07-05T20:51:00.005+08:00

July 3, 2010
Attendance -Emcee, JB, Jean, JR, Wiley, Zeb, Lance, Matthew, Patrick, Martie, Ryan T., Henri with Special Appearances from Jay, Ian, Lito, Pat, Dennis, George, Nicky, Francis, Doc Benj, Johnathan and Ryan C.

Game 1
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Emcee wins!

Game 2
Jean (Orks) vs JR (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: JR wins!

Game 3
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) & Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Lance (CSM - World Eaters) & Matthew (Eldar)
Points: 3000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 4
Patrick (CSM) vs Martie (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission:Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Martie wins!

Game 5
Ryan T (Eldar) vs Henri (SM)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Ryan T Wins

Session Ends 7:00pm

NG Galle now has a Realm of Battle Game Board courtesy of course of Mr. Freddie Tan. Woot!
Jean is a 14 year old Newbie Ork Player with painting skillz

Journal # 136 - Here Comes the Rain

2010-06-24T12:44:00.002+08:00

June 19, 2010

Attendance - Emcee, Ryan C., Mike, Joshua, Wiley, George, Martie, Doc Benj, with Special Appearances from Henri, Romy, RJ, Carlos, JR, Nicky, and Johnathan.

Game 1

Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Ryan C. (SM-Salamanders)

Points: 2000

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Dawn of War

Result: Emcee wins!

Game 2

Mike (SM-Space Wolves) vs Joshua (Space Marines)

Points: 1500

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Dawn of War

Result: Joshua wins!

Game 3

Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs George (Orks)

Points: 2000

Mission: Capture and Control

Deployment: Dawn of War

Result: Wiley wins!

Game 4

Doc Benj (Tyranids) vs Martie (Orks)

Points: 2000

Mission: Capture and Control

Deployment: Spearhead

Result: Martie wins!

Game 5

Joel (Chaos Space Marines) vs Jasper (SM-BA-Lamenters)

Points: 2000

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Dawn of War

Result: Joel wins!

Game 6

Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Mike (SM-Ultramarines)

Points: 2000

Mission: Seize Ground

Deployment: Dawn of War

Result: Mike wins!

Session Ends 7:30pm

Journal # 135 - Another Fun Crowded Saturday :)

2010-06-07T21:52:00.004+08:00

June 5, 2010

Attendance - Henri, Joshua, Zeb, Ian, Emcee, Wiley, Nico, Jasper, Mike, Jesse, Willard, Lance, Ryan Chung, Felix, Martie with Special Appearances from Doc Benj, Johnathan, Patrick, Jeff, Jojo, Matt, RC, and JB

Game 1
Henri (SM-Space Wolves) vs Joshua (SM)
Points: 1100
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Henri wins!

Game 2
Ian (Tyranids) vs Zeb (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 3
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: War of Attrition (IG Battle Mission)
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 4
Nico (CSM) vs Jasper (SM-BA-Lamenters)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Nico wins!

Game 5
Mike (Imperial Guard) + Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Willard (CSM-World Eaters)) + Jesse (CSM-Luna Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Wagghhh!! (Ork Battlemission)
Result: Mike & Zeb win via tap-out!

Game 6
Ryan C (SM-Salamanders) vs Felix (SM-Salamanders)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: To Be Determined

Game 7
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Martie (Tau)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Martie wins!

Game 8
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Mike (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Mike wins!

Game 9
Zeb (SM-Space Wolves) vs Ian (Tyranids)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Session Ends 8:30pm
Special Crackhammer Addict Award goes to Zeb for intense gaming...4 games!
And I am missing a 1000 point game. I just need to make sure who played against who.

Gaming Club Network - Philippines Chapter

2010-06-02T21:00:00.008+08:00

(wboy's post intercepted by Darth Ravage and Darth Chuck... what follows is the 101st coffee-induced official unofficial non-regulated stand done while lying down) :

It has come to my attention that venerable dreadnought Oberon is working to have a Philippine chapter of the GCN network. While I and I assume my other friends Kyuzo, Balian and Sigis hold this effort in high regard I must make it clear that the name "101ST GALLERIA REGULARS" is a patented trade mark of the Sith Triumverate +1 (me, Balian, Kyuzo, Sigismund). It(along with this blog) was formed over pizza and beer at a time when most of you younglings have yet to arrive on the scene. While many of the conflicts of the time have been resolved and hatchets have been buried and swords were turned to plowshares in a matter of speaking the lessons of that age remain valuable lessons for those of us who had to go thru the sad events that occured. In this regard this Group (101st Galleria Regulars) was formed with the intent of forever remain a small group of like minded individuals who treasure our close personal ties more than the game of Warhammer. As such we reserve the right to use the name 101ST GALLERIA REGULARS to refer to us only, and by us I mean only those whose names are listed on this blog (If you are a member of this blog then you are a member of 101ST GALLERIA REGULARS). We founding members however (Kyuzo, Balian, Me and Sigis) remain official voting members and grand dictators of 101ST GALLERIA REGULARS for life (although benevolent ones). Also the official position of 101ST on the matter of the GCN Philippine Chapter is not to become part of it and maintain our independence from it, as joining an umbrella group goes against our unwritten code. We will forever remain a small group of friends keeping the fire alive by playing and helping out where we can. Occasionally running tournaments when the community needs CPR. Hosting valuable exchange of information on this site whether Warhammer related or not. etc.. etc... all independently. Because we're kinda cool that way. :P

Now I mentioned we are not against Oberon's efforts of uniting the community under one banner. So we do not discourage members of this blog and the group that is 101st Galleria Regulars from joining the GCN Philippine Chapter. However you may not use the name 101st Galleria Regulars as that remains our Intellectual Property as well as our group's personal Identity. And by our group's decision not to join then such an act would constitute a form of identity theft. So yes, in the end you can be a regular Galleria player without being 101ST GALLERIA REGULAR.

Wiley: Sorry but to avoid confusion you will have to post your call for the GCN on some other site as posting it here may be too easily misconstrued as our intention to join as a group.

P.S. by Emcee only - whatever you do, in organizing into clubs or not, just don't forget to support our local game store.

2nd Sigismund Cup

2010-06-01T16:32:00.005+08:00

Certificates

the 2nd Sigismund Cup / Trophy / Plaque

Thank you so much to everyone who came and played.
Thank you to Freddie Yu & Pat Chua for judging the event.
Thank you also to Fred & Des Tan of Neutral Grounds.

Congratulations to the winners.

Jojo - Best Overall
Martie - Best General
Joel - Best Army Appearance
Jeff - Best Sportsmanship

see NG forums for more pics.

Special thanks also to the guys who passed by to see the event.

Journal # 134 - Sigis Cup Training (lol)

2010-05-24T22:16:00.003+08:00

May 22, 2010

Attendance: Ian, Mike Nieves, Wiley, Henri, Doc Benj, Lance and Nico, with Special Appearances from Emcee, Jesse, Jasper, Johnathan, Patrick, Lito, RJ, Jay, Ricky, Mike, Sigis, Augie, Ryan C., Martie, RC, Fluffy and Obi.

Game 1
Mike N. (SM-Ultramarines) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Wiley wins! (9-5)

Game 2
Henri (SM-Space Wolves) vs Doc Benj (Tyranids)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 3
Lance (CSM-World Eaters) vs Ian (Tyranids)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Ian wins via wipe-out!

Game 4
Mico (Chaos Space Marines) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Wiley wins via tap-out!

Session Ends 8:30pm

Journal # 133 Hot Summer Gaming

2010-05-17T23:31:00.003+08:00

May 15, 2010

Attendance: Emcee, Henri, Ian, Ryan Chung, Wiley, JB, Dennis, Zeb, Chino, Sunny, Anton and Joshua with Special Appearances from Patrick, Sigis, Augie, Felix, Francis, JR, Freddie Yu, Benj, Matthew, Mickie and Nicky.

Game 1
Henri (SM-Space Wolves) vs Emcee (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Ian (Tyranids) vs Ryan Chung (SM-Salamanders)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Ryan wins via tap-out!

Game 3
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Game 4
Joshua (SM) vs Anton (Necrons)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Anton wins!

Game 5
Sunny (Tyranids) vs Chino (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Sunny wins via wipeout!

Game 6
Dennis (SM-Space Wolves) vs Zeb (Tyranids)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Game 7
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Henri (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 8
Joel (Imperial Guard) vs Ian (Tyranids)
Points: 1850
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Ian wins! (with special priiiizzzzeee) :))

Session Ends 8:30pm

2nd Sigismund's Cup

2010-04-21T17:45:00.004+08:00

What: 2^nd Sigismund’s Cup (2,000 Points Warhammer 40K Tournament)

Where: Glorietta Activity Center

When: May 30, 2010

Registration Fee: Php 500.00 (which will include GW door prizes)

Prizes & Perks of Participants:

10% off on first purchase for a period of two (2) weeks to all participants, after which the said discount will be void.

· Store credit to all major winners at your Neutral Grounds Home Store

· And other special prizes

Trophy for the Over-All Champion.
Certificates for:

Ø Best General

Ø Best Painted

Ø Best Sportsmanship

WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)
SOS (strength of schedule)
SWISS Rounds
2000 pts
2.5 hours
3 games
+5 pts for early birds
FOC (force organizational chart)
Partially-painted, primed, non painted armies are also welcome to participate

Point system:

Loss – 10 points

Draw – 15 points

Win – 20 points

Penalties:

A one (1) point penalty for every turn missed shall be given TO BOTH competing players as a consequence of not completing the standard rounds.

Standard Rounds	Turn Missed	Penalty Point
1	4	-4
2	3	-3
3	2	-2
4	1	-1
5	0	0

Journal # 132 - The Blood Angels Descend

2010-04-18T15:00:00.005+08:00

April 17, 2010

Attendance - Ian, Joshua, JR, Emcee, George, Wiley, Chino, Miko, Martie, Matthew, Patrick, with Special Appearances by Jay, Mickie, Niko, Jasper, Augie, and Anton

Game 1
Ian (Tyranids) vs Joshua (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 1500
Mission: Spearhead
Deployment: Seize Ground
Result: Ian wins via tap-out!

Game 2
Ian (Tyranids) vs JR (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1500
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Ian wins!

Game 3
Emcee (SM) vs George (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Blitzkrieg (Battle Mission)
Result: George wins!

Game 4
Chino (SM-Blood Angels) vs Miko (CSM)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Miko wins!

Game 5
Wiley (SM-Blood Angels) vs Ian (Tyranids)
Points: 2000
Mission: Wave Assault (Battle Missions)
Result Draw!

Game 6
Patrick (CSM) vs Martie (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Demonic Invasion (Battle Missions)
Result: Draw!

Game 7
Matthew (Eldar) vs George (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Pre-emptive Strike (Battle Missions)
Result: Matthew Wins!

Session ends 8:00pm

Journal # 131 - Mission Start

2010-04-18T14:54:00.001+08:00

April 10, 2010

Attendance - Ryan Chung, Wiley, Emcee, Henri, Joshua, Martie, Alfred, Jesse and Joel

Game 1
Ryan C. (SM-Salamanders) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points:1500
Mission:Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Wiley wins! 1-0

Game 2
Henri (SM-Space Wolves) vs Emcee (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Cut and Run (Battle Missions)
Result: Henri wins! (14-10)

Game 3
Joshua (SM-Ultramarines) vs Martie (Orks)
Points:1500
Mission Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Martie wins!

Game 4
Alfred (Imperial Guard) vs Ryan C. (SM-Salamanders)
Points: 2000
Mission: Night Fight (Battle Missions)
Result: TBD

Game 5
Joel (SM-Dark Angels) vs Martie (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: From the Battle Missions Book
Result: TBD

Game 6
Jesse (SM-Luna Wolves) vs Emcee (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Vanguard (Battle Missions)
Result: Emcee wins!

Session Ends 7:00pm

Journal 130 Photos

2010-03-31T14:03:00.004+08:00

You can check out more pictures from last weekend's game (Journal 130) over at my Facebook site. Just add search "Jay Estaris" and add me as a friend.

Shameless plug: While you're at it, you might want to become a fan of: "Vote for ManongGuard for Councilor, 1st District, Facebook". Hehehe.

Thanks!

Journal # 130 - (Standard) Mission End. :)

2010-03-28T23:34:00.004+08:00

March 27, 2010

Attendance - Augie, Emcee, Jay, Matthew, Joel, JR, JB, Miko, Wiley, with Special Appearances from Pat and Martie

Game 1
Augie (Imperial Guard) vs Emcee (Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Emcee wins!

Game 2
Joel (Chaos Space Marines) vs Matthew (Eldar)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Joel wins! (2-1)

Game 3
JR (Blood Angels) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: JB wins!

Game 4
Jay (Thousand Sons) vs Wiley (Ultramarines)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Wiley wins! (8-7)

Game 5
Augie (Imperial Guard) vs Miko (Space Marines)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched BAttle
Result: Miko wins! (10-5)

Session Ends 8:00pm

Post Script - This is journal 130 because we're waiting for last week's report care of Kuneho :P

Journal # 128 - We Now Return to Regular Programming

2010-03-08T22:52:00.008+08:00

March 6, 2010

Attendance - Ian, Joe, JB, Ryan C, George, Emcee, Wiley, Martie, Matthew, Joel, Jasper, with Special Appearances from Romy, JR, Henri, Nicky, Augie, Patrick, and Doc Benj

Game 1

Ian (Tyranids) vs Joe (Space Marines)

Points: 2000

Mission: Capture and Control

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Result: Ian wins!

Game 2

JB (Imperial Guard) vs Ryan C (SM-Salamanders)

Points: 2000

Mission: Seize Ground

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Result: Draw!

Game 3

George (Orks) vs Joe (Space Marines)

Points: 2000

Mission: Capture and Control

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Result: George wins!

Game 4

Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)

Points: 2000

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Result: Emcee wins! (9-6)

Game 5

Matthew (Eldar) vs Jasper (SM-Lamenters)

Points: 1500

Mission: Seize Ground

Deployment: Spearhead

Result: Jasper wins!

Game 6

Martie (Orks) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)

Points: 2000

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Result: Martie wins! (9-7)

Game 7

Ian (Tyranids) vs Joel (Orks)

Points: 2000

Mission: Capture and Control

Deployment: Spearhead

Result: Ian wins!

Session Ends 7:30pm.

Journal # 127 - Some Quick Gladiator Respite

2010-02-28T17:39:00.005+08:00

February 27, 2010

Attendance: Ian, Joel, Wiley, Mike, Joe, and JB with special appearances from Emcee, Pat, George, Joshua, and Ian

Game 1
Mike (SM: Ultramarines) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Mike wins! (7-4)

Game 2
Ian (Tyranids) vs Wiley (SM: Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Game 3
Ian (Tyranids) vs Joe (SM)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Joe wins!

Game 4
Joel (Pre-Heresy CSM!) vs Wiley (SM:Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Wiley wins! (9-6)

Session Ends 5:30pm

Imperial Fists - FOR SALE!!!

2010-01-27T15:24:00.004+08:00

1.) Predator, painted, all bitz included for 1800 pesos
2.) Normal five-man Scout squad (no sniper rifles), painted, all bitz included for 600 pesos
3.) 2x Ten-man Terminator squad, sergeant, Cyclone missile launcher, Assault cannon,
chainfist, all bitz included for 2000 pesos. The five normal terminators are from
the AOBR box set...
4.) Pedro Kantor, painted for 600 pesos
5.) lapdance...free!

40K Gladiator 2010 - Weekly Tally (1st Week) - NG Galleria Sector

2010-01-18T09:44:00.007+08:00

Here's the first tally of scores from 40K Gladiator games played 01/16/2010 :

Player Name	Army	Total Points	# Games	Record (W/D/L)
Player Name	Army	Total Points	# Games	Record (W/D/L)

Ryan Chung	Salamanders	19	2	2-0-0
Patrick Chua	Salamanders	15	1	1-0-0
Wiley Peralta	Ultramarines	13	2	1-0-1
Emcee Castillo	Space Wolves	5	1	1-0-0
Mike Nieves	Imperial Guard	4	1	0-0-1
Ian Siongco	Tyranids	4	1	0-0-1
Joel Tiongson	Order of the Clenched Fist	2	1	0-0-1
Dennis Reyes	Space Marines	1	1	0-0-1
JR Roxas	Blood Angels	0
Augie Trillanes	Imperial Guard	0
Freddie Tan	Imperial Guard	0
Martie Wong	Tau Empire	0
Ricky Lozano	White Scars	0
Ryan Tamayo	Eldar	0

Journal # 126 - Let The Games Begin

2010-01-17T20:37:00.003+08:00

January 16, 2010

Attendance - Ryan Chung, Ian, Emcee, Dennis, Patrick, Wiley, George, JB, Jasper, Martie, Mickie, , Mike, JR with Special Appearances from Lito, Romy, Henri, and John.

Gladiator Games
Points: 1500
Mission: Victory Point Game
Deployment: Pitched Battle

Game 1
Ryan (SM-Salamanders) vs Ian (Hive Fleet Conqueror)
Result: Ryan wins!

Game 2
Emcee (SM-Space Wolves) vs Dennis (SM)
Result: Emcee wins!

Game 3
Patrick (SM) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Result: Patrick wins via glorious wipe out!

Game 4
Ryan (SM-Salamanders) vs Joel (SM-Order of the Clenched Fist)
Result: Ryan wins!

Game 5
Mike (Imperial Guard) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Result: Wiley wins!

Regular Games

Game 1
George (Orks) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle

Game 2
Jasper (SM-Lamenters) vs Martie (SM-Black Templars)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 3
Ian (Hive Fleet Conqueror) vs Mickie (Chaos Daemons)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Ian wins!

Game 4
JR (SM-Blood Angels) vs Martie (SM-Black Templars)
Points: 1300
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: JR wins!

Game 5
George (Orks) vs Jasper (SM-Lamenters)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Session Ends 8:00pm

Quote of the Day (Care of George)
During George's Shooting Phase against Jasper. Martie, Mike, John, Mickie and I were watching the last game of the day. George was declaring what his 15-ork squad of Lootas were gunning for.

"The Shootas Lootin' at the Vindicator!" Hilarious laughter ensues.

Out of the Woodwork: The Return of the Living Dead

2010-01-11T10:45:00.008+08:00

Ah Life... It's come full-circle for me. Back to the game that used to be constantly in my mind and, more importantly, back to hanging out with long-lost friends.

The Klasmeyts are coming out of the wood-work. So many old faces are gearing up for battle this Gladiator Cup and this makes me very excited. I'm hoping the new talent-pool will learn some things from these old dogs. Last Saturday, I was able to game with my batchmate Ricky "Rickeso" Lozano which was immensely fun. On the flip-side, I also had a 1500 skirmmish against the no-Njal Space Wolf army of one of my new comrades, Henri.

The Gladiator cup has brought back life (for some weird reason) to these old school players. Last I checked, the following have already signed-up for the Gladiator League:

1. Jay Estaris
2. Ricky Lozano
3. Ian Pena
4. Jun Ubay
5. Jeff Jongko
6. Arvin Tan
7. Obi Parcon
8. AND PORK Borja
(Si Garrick na lang ata kulang... haha!)

So all you current players out there, why don't you take on one of us for a Gladiator Skirmmish. Bonus Round. We're not too aware of the new rules anymore so you might not find it all too challenging to beat us but you will certainly have fun playing against us. Easy pickings... promise!

And here are some non-bonus-round original Klasmeyts members who signed up in the Gladiator Cup. These guys never left and continue to push the game forward:

1. Lito Tan
2. Ian Siongko
3. Kim Navarro

Check out my Saturday Gaming and Camera guruing Photo documentation on my Facebook site.

Journal # 125 - Loads of Gaming

2010-01-10T20:19:00.002+08:00

January 9, 2010

Attendance - Henri, Wiley, Ian, JR, Jay, Ricky, Mickie, Matthew, JB, Dennis, Patrick, Lance, Chino, Anton and George, with special appearances from Lito, Martie, Romy and Ryan Tamayo.

Game 1
Jay (Dark Eldar) vs Henri (Space Wolves)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Ian (Hive Fleet Conqueror) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Ian wins!

Game 3
Mickie (Chaos Daemons) vs Wiley (Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 4
Patrick (SM) vs Lance (CSM)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Patrick wins via wipe out on turn 5!

Game 5
Dennis (SM) vs Chino (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Dennis wins!

Game 6
Henri (SM-Space Wolves) vs Ricky (SM-White Scars)
Points: 1500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Ricky wins!

Game 7
George (Orks) vs Anton (Necrons)
Points: 1300
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: George wins!

Game 8
Lance (CSM) vs Mickie (Chaos Daemons)
Points: 1500
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Mickie wins!

Game 9
Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Matthew (Eldar)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Matthew wins!

Game 10
Jay (Dark Eldar) vs Ricky (SM-White Scars)
Points: 1500
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Jay wins!

Game 11 (WHFB)
JR (Lizardmen) vs Wiley (Store Night Goblins)
Points: 1000
Result: JR wins via wipeout!

Session Ends 8:40 pm

Balian's Warriors of Chaos : Part 1 - The Plan

2010-01-06T09:12:00.001+08:00

To usher-in the year 2010, my first warhammer project would be Warriors of Chaos for WHFB. Basically, they are still space marines so I won't be straying too much away from my comfort zone.

The latest delivery of GW stuff from Neutral Grounds meant I already have the components I need for the army. I will just finish-up on my Space Wolves (only highlights to go) and then proceed to assembling and painting this whole army. I assembled some marauder horsemen last saturday, and the figs look great!

The plan is to have this project completed by March 2010. The Bretonnian project is still ongoing, but the pace for that is very slow (one knight per week). Also, part of the building process for this army would be a new basing technique I came up with recently while building/painting a fig for Kyuzo. Will reveal this ultra cheap but somewhat nice idea in my coming posts.

I have no working army name yet. No, it won't be Steel Falcons :P If you have any suggestions, let me know.

Next installment would be pics on the assembled figs (should be within the month if I want to stick to my schedule). For now, here's my working list for your comments. Coming up with a competitive list was the least of my concerns. I just wanted a force that would look good on the table, and made sure the list was legal (if there is a slip-up somewhere, forgive me... technically I am a WHFB newbie :D )

Blood for the Blood God!!! (I still can't say that line convincingly :P

Hero

Exalted Hero

Points

Exalted Hero in chaos armour with hand weapon (110 pts), shield (5 pts); Mark of Khorne (15 pts); Mount - Juggernaut of Khorne (50 pts); Magic Item - Axe of Khorne (45 pts), Favour of the Gods (5 pts); Gift of Chaos - Acid Ichor (15 pts)

245

Hero

Exalted Hero

Points

Exalted Hero in chaos armour with hand weapon (110 pts), shield (5 pts); Mark of Khorne (15 pts); Mount - Juggernaut of Khorne (50 pts); Magic Item - The Bronze Armour of Zhrakk (15 pts), Filth Mace (35 pts)

230

Core

Chaos Warriors

Points

15 Chaos Warriors in chaos armour with hand weapon (225 pts); Mark of Khorne (30 pts); additional equipment - shields (15 pts); command - musician (6 pts), champion (12 pts), standard bearer (12 pts)

300

Core

Chaos Warriors

Points

15 Chaos Warriors in chaos armour with hand weapon (225 pts); Mark of Khorne (30 pts); additional equipment - shields (15 pts); command - musician (6 pts), champion (12 pts), standard bearer (12 pts)

300

Core

Chaos Marauders

Points

20 Chaos Marauders with hand weapons (80 pts); additional equipment - flails (20 pts); command - musician (4 pts), standard bearer (8 pts), chieftain (8 pts)

120

Core

Marauder Horsemen

Points

5 Marauder Horsemen on warhorses with hand weapons (65 pts); upgrades - flails (10 pts)

Core

Marauder Horsemen

Points

5 Marauder Horsemen on warhorses with hand weapons (65 pts); upgrades - shields (5 pts), throwing axes (10 pts)

Core

Chaos Warhounds

Points

5 Chaos Warhounds

Core

Chaos Warhounds

Points

5 Chaos Warhounds

Special

Chaos Knights

Points

5 Chaos Knights on barded chaos steeds, with ensorcelled weapons, chaos armour, shields (200 pts); Mark of Khorne (30 pts); Musician (10 pts), Champion (20 pts), Standard Bearer (20 pts)

280

Special

Chaos Knights

Points

5 Chaos Knights on barded chaos steeds, with ensorcelled weapons, chaos armour, shields (200 pts); Mark of Khorne (30 pts); Musician (10 pts), Champion (20 pts), Standard Bearer (20 pts)

280

Special

Chaos Knights

Points

5 Chaos Knights on barded chaos steeds, with ensorcelled weapons, chaos armour, shields (200 pts); Mark of Khorne (30 pts); Musician (10 pts), Champion (20 pts), Standard Bearer (20 pts)

280

Lord

Heroes

Core

Special

Rare

TOTAL POINTS

475

935

840

2250

Percentage to Total Points

0.00%

21.11%

41.56%

37.33%

0.00%

Journal # 124 - Seize the Day!

2010-01-02T20:40:00.004+08:00

January 2, 2010

Attendance - Jay, Emcee, Dennis, Joshua, Henri, Ryan Tamayo, Wiley, George, Romy, Chino with Special Appearances from JR, Lito, Jasper, Ryan Chung and Anton

Game 1
Dennis (SM) vs Joshua (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 1200
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Capture and Control
Result: Draw!

Game 2
Jay (CSM-Night Lords) vs Emcee (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 3
George (Orks) vs Henri (SM-Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Henri wins!

Game 4
Ryan Tamayo (Eldar) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Wiley wins!

Game 5
Romy (CSM-Black Legion) vs Chino (SM-Blood Angels)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Romy wins!

Game 6
Jay (CSM-Night Lords) vs George (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Jay wins!

Session Ends 7:00pm

Journal # 123 - Saying Goodbye to 2009

2009-12-27T00:07:00.002+08:00

December 26, 2009

Attendance - Henri, Emcee, JB, George, Wiley, Ryan, Joel, Mike, JR with Special Appearances from Romy, Joshua and Ronald.

Game 1
Emcee (Space Wolves) vs Henri (Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Draw!

Game 2
George (Orks) vs Wiley (Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Wiley wins via tap-out! (Top of 6th)

Game 3
Ryan Chung (Salamanders) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched BAttle
Result: JB wins!

Game 4
Joel (Dark Angels) vs Mike (Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Mike wins!

Game 5
Emcee (Space Wolves) vs JR (Blood Angels)
Points: 1000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Result: Emcee wins!

Some of us enjoyed some post-gaming pizza care of JR. Thanks bro :)

Session ends 7:30pm.

Journal # 122 pre-Christmas gaming

2009-12-19T22:21:00.003+08:00

December 19, 2009

Attendance - Emcee, JB, Ryan, Wiley, George , Joshua, Jasper, with special appearances from Romy and Patrick

Game 1
Emcee (Space Wolves) vs JB (Imperial Guard)
Points: 2000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: JB wins! (1 claimed, 1 contested)

Game 2
Ryan Tamayo (Eldar) vs George (Orks)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Ryan wins via tap-out!

Game 3
Jasper (SM-Lamenters) vs Emcee (Space Wolves)
Points: 1000
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Draw!

Game 4
Martie (Orks) vs Wiley (Space Wolves)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Wiley wins! (1 claimed, 1 contested)

Game 5
Jasper (SM- Lamenters) vs George (Orks)
Points: 1000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: George wins!

Merry Christmas people :)

Winning is everything...

2009-12-17T08:49:00.000+08:00

Written by Liberato Tan
Sportsmanship Awardee for 2009 GT held by Neutral Grounds

Sports⋅man⋅ship
-noun-
1.   the character, practice, or skill of a sportsman.
2.   sportsmanlike conduct, as fairness, courtesy, being a cheerful loser, etc.

As you can find and read in the dictionary the meaning of sportsmanship. In the 40K GT, I wanted to win. I wanted to crush my opponent. I wanted to be the best. So who does not feel that way even for a second? After 10 years of playing Warhammer 40K, this is my first award in sportsmanship. What did I do right this time? Let me see.

1)   I came in on time and prepared my army. After each game, I cleaned up the table and got my army ready to move to another table.
2)   I printed out two copies of my army list. (One for my opponent and one for myself)
3)   I explained my army composition, special weapons and acts of faith to each opponent.
4)   I gave my opponent the opportunity to ask any questions about my army.
5)   I shook hands with my opponent before and after each game.
6)   I complemented my opponent’s great saving throws. (My bleeding heart)
7)   I tried to play fast and limit any delays in decision making during my turn.
8)   I curse a lot on my bad dice rolling but kept it to myself (as much as I can, and yes I did shout a lot but with a smile) and try hard not intimidate my opponent .(bad rolling this time, failing divine guidance below 10 and failing leadership check on a 10. This happened too many times and in one game, as much as six consecutive times)
9)   I smiled a lot during this tourney even when my dice rolls do "epic fail".
10)   I showed my dice rolls to all my opponents.
11)   I did not complain much on Line of Sight issues.
12)   I had fun and made sure even if I was on a losing or winning streak, my opponent enjoyed the game as well. (Experience taught me a lot. Playing against different players we must emulate their good points; for example Emcee’s Killer Smile, Ian Siongco’s gay attitude “whatever, just roll”, or Jay Estaris “My weak army”, small things that make you smile and laugh, even when you are on the losing streak.)
13)   I did not gloat on destroying the other army and shook hands after making a great kill.
14)   I complemented my opponents great shooting or winning a round of assault.
15)   I sympathized with my opponents when making lots of failed dice roll. (heart pumping fast, Yes!!!)
16)   Courtesy to your opponent and being civil with your tongue is very important.

Winning is everything to all of us, but winning new friendships and renewing old ones is the best one. Cheers. See you all at the gaming table.

How to take crappy pics of beautiful girls with a really great camera!

2009-12-14T11:06:00.000+08:00

First you drink Vodka ice. (or two but not shown in picture). After awhile you start to look like this:

After a few more bottles you start to look like this:

By now you're all red and you can hardly feel your face plus your lips are stuck in a permanent smile but who can resist on more drink especially when the promo girls are so pretty? :P

At this point we didn't want to let the night pass without taking away something from it. More Juicy scenes about the scandal that happened after the jump (click on read more).

With the photographer henri so freaking drunk and trigger happy (with the camera that is!), here's what we came up with for all you guys out there. Eat your heart out!

Hazel and Angel from Ginebra. (probably Kyuzo's friends in facebook by now)

Nikka from... I can't remember. Must've been the LBD. lol

Wait... that's not how it happened. Oh... okay we'll give Kyuzo this one. lol

Definitely a night for the books. Which also gave me an idea. We should do a series of these. lol But maybe next time we assign a bottle quota for Henri! :P

Journal # 122 - Hayok parin maglaro :P

2009-12-12T21:41:00.002+08:00

December 12, 2009

Attendance: Chino, Emcee, Wiley, Henri, Joel, with special appearances from Romy, Joshua, and Anton.

Game 1
Chino (Blood Angels) vs Henri (Space Wolves)
Points: 1400
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Spearhead
Result: Henri wins! (2-1)

Game 2
Emcee (Space Wolves) vs Wiley (Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Wiley wins via tap-out on the bottom of the 5th!

Game 3
Joel (SM) vs Henri (Ultramarines)
Points: 2000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Result: Joel wins! 2 claimed to 1 claimed and 1 contested.

Session ends 7:30pm

You are What you Eat!

2009-12-11T12:29:00.008+08:00

Old Skool-New Skool Series (Article 2)
Your choice of army defines you

I have always been an odd little boy (and yes I was pretty small when compared to my peers as I was growing up. It was only through the no-scientific basis myth of post-circumcision growth spurts that I have grown to the stud of a man I am now… but that’s another story.)

Where was I? Oh yes. I have always been an odd little boy, choosing the road less traveled over the proverbial path of least resistance. I, for example, stuck with the Go-Bots well after I started watching, and loving, the Transformers as rented from the commonplace illegal betamax rental store. I took up baseball while everyone else was avidly playing soccer. I was reading Harper Lee and J.D. Salinger when everyone else was reading “Choose Your Own Adventure”. I… well I’m sure you get my point.

In true ManongGuard form, my army choices have always been odd and a tad more challenging than they have to be. I have been known to field the following 40K weird armies:

1. Assaulty Tau (with no Kroot) – Might not be fluffy but hellalotafun
2. Orange Speed Freeks with a Warboss on Trike and a Basilisk on a Buggy
3. Night Lords when no one else was playing Night Lords… weird looking Defiler called Hydro-cephalloid
4. Thousand Sons crap army
5. and now Iyanden Eldar

This brings me to my longest planned, never delivered army – The Salamanders.

I love this game. I love how hundreds of people fire up their neurons to deliver the ever-changing 40K rules BUT if there is one thing that I love most in 40K, it is the richness of the story. While I will not claim to be an expert in 40K canon (that’s why I have my three trusted buddies to educate me on fluff – Kyuzo, Salubri, and Balian – who are, [could it be?] possibly nerdier that I am), I try to read up as much as I can on armies before I commit to them. I came across the Salamanders (as I did with the Night Lords and Thousand Sons) in one of the old Index Astartes offerings. I read the fluff and liked them immediately. They had almost as much flavor as my favorite loyalists of all-time, the Iron Hands (too bad I do not like black and silver armies), they had challenges that you had to conquer (they used to be I3 marines) and some nice toys as well (Fury of the Salamander, Never Give Up, and that funky Armor you can put on your tanks). They were far from the powerhouses they are now.

I love playing against people with the same philosophy. My game against Beefcake’s Stealers army, for example, while ending in a draw, was memorable as hell. Some other examples are Salubri’s way gay BA Barakus army, Arvin’s lethal Oblits and Heavy galore Iron Warriors, Ricky’s viper-ridden Saim-Hann and Lito’s never-changing SoBs.

So what is my point? I would suggest you get to know your armies, not just rules-wise, but in terms of fluff as well. If you decide to field canonical armies (ones that do have mention in original 40K material), then try to read up on them and field lists that at least approximate what they are supposed to be. I promise you that you will have a richer experience when playing with and against such armies. Challenge yourself. What separates Warhammer from other TCGs and CCGs is that it should not only be about winning.

If you don’t want to bother, then make up your own chapter/craftworld/horde/klan/etc, please. On that note, I leave you with the following message: VULKAN HE’STAN is not a LUNA WOLF! – bang bang Jessie! Peace!

For more pictures of my Iyanden Eldar Serpents, please visit my blog.

JGR Journal # 121 - Just Can't Get Enough

2009-12-08T16:32:00.017+08:00

December 5, 2009

The Regulars are back at NG Galleria for more 40K battles a week after the GT.

Attendance : Balian, Salubri, Kyuzo, Henri, Ebon, Manongguard, George, JR, Tsuruchijo, Scrivener, with special appearance from Marty

Game 1 – 2000 pts; Balian (Deathwing) vs Henri (Space Wolves / Iron Wolves)
Result - Draw!

My take on the game – I showed up with Belial and 40 terminators and nothing else. Army selection was based on ease of transport. Henri came with an army just tweaked a little bit from his GT list. Game played in less than 2 hours!

Game 2 – 1500 pts; George (Orks) vs JR (Blood Angels)
Result – Draw!

My take on the game – Orks taking the fight to the emo marines (emo->twilight->vampires->blood angels->marines… get it?), with JR just barely holding off the ork horde, aided by a lucky attack bike - rapid fire bolters and a multi-melta shot killing 3 ork bikers in one go, with the ork bikers running away off board due to failing Ld check (needed 9 or below, but still failed…)

Game 3 – 1250 pts; Tsuruchijo (Crimson Fists) vs Scrivener (Black Templars)
Result – (I forgot)

I didn’t get to observe this match. I just hope no one got raped :P

Game 4 – 2000 pts; Ebon (Deathwing/Ravenwing) vs Salubri (Eldar)
Result – Salubri wins with 1 objective to none

My take on the game – both veterans showed up with no obvious signs of gaming rust… but their dice were not cooperating :D

Salubri: it was interesting playing against my other army. i was already afraid from the beginning knowing how difficult it is to crack terminators (even from the DA list). fortunately my eldar managed to rain enough ninja stars to nail the occasional terminator (not sexual in context). it was the last minute moves that caused ebon the game as his right flank collapsed and was unable to hold the objective. from there it was a simple matter of contesting and running for the objective on the left side. also Kyuzo's (guest dice roller) juju dice rolling turned out an early finish to what could have been a very long game of hide and seek. lol

it's nice to discover that i can still play warhammer with some amount of sucksess. hehe...

GW shipment arrived this day... a lot are still obviously building up their own "private armies".

Manongguard showed up late with his newly painted Eldar Army, but everyone else was too tired to play against him. Sabi kasi one hour, dumating after two hours :P

Kyuzo showed up, but with wrong equipment (big billiard stick)

Marty showed up, but was in galleria just to shop.

Belated birthday greetings to JR and thanks for the pizza and drinks!

PS - I heard the gang went out for coffee after, but I am already a domesticated animal so I was not able to join. In the words often used by Kyuzo, I am sure the coffee place did not disappoint. It rarely does. :D

Salubri: we did. first dropped by Henri's place for the birthday bash for Thomas ( I still shudder when I remember them spiders. :S ) before going for coffee... original "coffee" place was packed so we went for the backup "coffee" place which didn't offer much "in-sight" but we got to play the game of "Why are they here and who are they waiting for." :D

GT Strategy

2009-12-04T09:10:00.001+08:00

Written by Paulo Lapa
Best General for the 2009 GT held by Neutral Grounds

WRITTERS NOTE: This is a compilation of the different strategies I used for each race, and army types I fought. *** WARNING*** It was two days of gaming so it will be quite long. It includes several key details about each army and game. have fought 5 different armies and I believe I fought the best; That means competitive lists you might face in the future might very well come from these guys… feel free to go directly to an army you would like to learn about more. I broke each encounter down to "assessing the opponent", "The Strategy", and of course "Game Highlights and Tactical Notes". It would be difficult to write a general strategy for the whole GT as each mission and army was different. I know I do not have as much tournament experiences as most of the guys who will probably read this but it will be worth it if someone learned from it or taught me something in return:

Match 1: IG vs. OBLITERATOR CHAOS
Match 2: IG vs. BATTLEWAGON-MEGANOBZ ORKS
Match 3: IG vs. THUNDER SPACEWOLVES
Match 4: IG vs. VULCAN HESTAN MARINES
MAIN EVENT: IG vs. IG!

MY STRATEGY GUIDE FOR RUNNING TO GT GAUNTLET

"Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."

- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

       In more than a decade of my Warhammer life, I have only joined 3 Tournaments, all of them GTs. Of the these three the best strategic lesson came from my first one, funny enough I got sick then and I had to tell Freddie Tan that I had to leave with barely a quarter into the whole thing. I was a noob and fought Luigi Scarella's Dark Eldar in a cleanse match, and seeing that I had Lascannon and fire power superiority I felt good about my chances. Back in the 90's you only needed 5 marines to get 1 heavy weapon. So with a bunch of ground troops, 3 dev squads with all heavy bolters, and Las-plas razorbacks up the wazoo, I blasted away. Hey, I was a teenager, so being brash and stupid was kind of a valid excuse. I even got to kill my first archon with shadow field and thought: "Yey, me!". It was a beautifully painted miniature so I knew it was kick ass (another lesson learned: Want your kick ass units to survive... don't paint them too well, =D). What I didn't realize was that Luigi wanted me to shoot his archon! His and the game's final turn came. He didn't even shoot anything, he zoomed his Raiders to contest all quarters, claim one and the victory. I think my jaw broke when it landed on the floor. :D That's when it hit me like a dark lance to the face: "It's not always about killing"... That's how my beloved Necrons won before, with the Veil of Darkness not restricted to one. Claiming anything was not even a problem.

       The funny thing was I almost didn’t play because I thought everything had to be painted (if anyone had pictures of my army you’d notice that day 1 and 2 had glaring differences). Heck, I was even assembling the Valkyrie parts during deployment! Nonetheless I was happy I did.

       The Imperial Guard list I made for this GT was never for mass killing (killed en masse, maybe :D). I had but two "pie plate" units and one of them wasn't even designed for offense (psyker battle squad). With mostly direct fire, it was designed to stop the enemy from being mobile and for strategic strikes, so that it can take its time to maneuver, kill, and accomplish objectives. In an environment of mechanized races, I say make all of them walk! Or else next thing we know GW will start manufacturing miniatures such as obese Eldar, or produce The Biggest Loser: 40k. (See how the Necrons keep their figure, it’s because you can’t even ride on their transport, they have you out and walking as soon as you get on it. lol =D)

       Among my obvious choices for this concept was getting the Vendettas versus the mass-killing Valkyrie with MRP or Marbo versus getting a high damage artillery tank. The army relied on what I like to call the "First strike capability" and "Target overwhelm". First strike means using outflank, these units get to strike first, fast, and hard. Needless to say that Last mission came back to bite my order issuing behind... but I'll get to that in awhile. On the other hand, Target overwhelm means I have a large numbers of foot troops that I use to thin the enemy ranks, and if needed, use as human walls to make getting anywhere with the opponents army impossible. Forget coversaves, after the 3rd or 4th turn it will become mathematically improbable for him to get anywhere near his destination or try and kill all the units in the table because the army presents too many targets. This army is like water, it is not fierce like fire or tough and unbending as the earth, it simply fills the container (the table) until it takes over. Lastly, like a lot of the vets, I crunch numbers. Yes, it was mainly used for dice results probability, but I crunch numbers to CALCULATE MOVEMENT. That's how I know if a unit has enough in them to achieve anything, and that's how I track the opponent's progress.

       The most obvious weakness I have is that I am no rules lawyer (I usually defer to rule gurus Freddie and Lucas). I know the rules, yes, but if anyone says otherwise I'd usually doubt myself. This mainly stemmed from the fact that I am playing with people I haven't played before means there will be a lot of differences and grey areas. As generally an outsider coming in the GT, we follow the host’s rules. I have to ask judges what I can and cannot do. i.e. We define coversaves differently. Also, till I faced the Hestan Marines, I thought batch-rolling was mandatory, I was told that it was actually optional. Another one is that I cannot do an emergency disembarkation in a wreck, if the lone access point is blocked even if two other sides are perfectly open.   These are just a few examples. I honestly played these differently in the south. If you were in our shoes, you'd understand why we often had to ask for clarifications because we play the game entirely different from where we come from so ambiguity cannot be avoided. I apologize for any inconvenience. The lesson here, given that I cannot control any of these factors, I have to master my strategy and make sure to control those factors that I can.

Salubri3i: This is a really long article filled with many tips on tactics from the writer. to see the rest, click on "Read More" right below. (ngayon ko lang natutunan meron pala nun! lol)

Match 1: IG vs. OBLITERATOR CHAOS

Mission: Annihilation with 3 turns of Nightfighting

Assessing your opponent: Pick your poison. An obliterator list is deadly because not only does it have anti-tank firepower but has killer anti-infantry as well. The premise of this army is simple: open up with deadly salvos of Lascannons to get everyone out of their transports then have the sorcerer lash everyone into submission or convert them to the chaos faith with the good ol’ powerfist. It’s as subtle as performing open brain surgery with a hammer: Simple… ugly-elegant… and deadly.

* Obliterators were given the name for a reason. Two wounds each, powerfist, 2+ save, Fearless, and with the benefit of coversave, these are tough bastards that will make short work of your army if you don't have a direct solution for them. They have Lascannons for long range, meltas for short, and Lash-Plasma cannon combo for infantry who thinks they are safe behind their little "area terrain".
* Troop choices are no pushovers. Two of the 3 troop slots are plague marines. That means massive shooting wont cut it this time.
* "They are toydarian"... :D My Jedi (see my psyker battle squad conversion) mind tricks don't work on them. Excluding transports, 7 out of 8 of the units are fearless. That means other than a random D6 offensive weapon, my psyker battle squad are just another group of cute guys in dresses.
* He has "First strike" capability. With a chaos icon on each squad, all his Plague marines have to do is not get wiped out and his obliterators get to plop right in the middle of the battlefield, guns blazing.

Strategy:
* We like flashlights (with my drunken shooting, and lights all over the place, add ecstasy and we could pass as a Techno-bar). Our guardsmen aren't the only ones packing flashlights. With 10 vehicles having searchlights I have to exploit the 3 turns of night fighting. Bringing a flashlight to a gunfight doesn't necessarily mean I lose. :D
* In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. In this scenario, the lowly rhino with its searchlight is king. The earlier the rhinos are destroyed, the more turns I have of exploiting the night fighting. Without a searchlight of their own, target prioritization becomes risky, or he'll have to settle for whatever chimera used the light.
* All hands on deck. Outflanking all of my Vendettas would not have been a wise decision, seeing as I have more "eyes" than my opponent. Keep them on the table in the far end to wreck havoc on rhinos. When the obliterators arrive, feeling their way through the dark, Vendettas should deal with them with extreme prejudice.
* Any insta-kills should be reserved for obliterators.
* Try to do something productive with my Psyker Battle Boys.

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       Amazingly, this is the only game that deviated too far off plan I had to go to plan B yet somehow everything went perfectly fine. The wrench in the engine was the fact that those rhinos stayed for 3 turns, despite being able to see all of em'. Despite all the manticores, hydras, vendettas, multilasers, and autocannons that can see all 3 rhinos, I was only able to pop 1 a turn. I dunno if these chaos guys are putting extra love on their tanks, or if my guardsmen came from a party last night. Whatever the case was, they stayed for awhile.     That means I needed a wildcard. He denies me his left flank by deploying everything on his right. But being IG means we cover most of the table so we recover more from it than any other race in the game.
       That wildcard came in the form of the Psyker battle squad. After the hydra downed the Rhino with the CSM tac squad inside (complete with heavy anti-tank weapon) the Psyker battle squad sprung into action, as if frustrated at me for having written them off. The tank blast kills 3 guys, and the psyker battle squad casts "Weaken Resolve" and makes them run off table. Next, with 1 Vendetta down and two suffered from bad wounding rolls it would appear that the obliterators would get to kill its share. But again, the Psyker Battle squad, thinking it had nothing to lose anyway, casts a hail mary of a soulstorm on the obliterators.(Str equivalent to the number of Psykers, AP D6) and rolls a 1 on the AP then HITS! Talk about “with a vengeance!” I never underestimated them after that.

       All three rhinos were gone by the top of 3rd and it pretty much went as planned after that. It was a good game but I was lucky with the mission. Having more searchlights gave me the edge.

Match 2: IG vs. BATTLEWAGON-MEGANOBZ ORKS

Mission: Claim the objectives in a Dawn of War scenario with Vortex bomb surprise.

Assessing your opponent: Here come the greenskins! The battlewagon lists are small in numbers but made to deal maximum amounts of damage. It counts on 14 AV protection to deliver its deadly cargo. With two wounds, 2+ save, and a powerklaw each, the meganobz are a handful. They are fast with the red paintjob, and when they reach your firing line, they sure as hell ain’t there to invite you to tea and crumpets. The big caveat of this army is that objective grabbing was the trade off. Scoring numbers barely numbers to 30, and when you play Orks, 30 is already the red zone.

* Lootas will destroy anything AV12 and below but being "Heavy" means you sacrifice mobility. They are excellent support units but being a Heavy weapon greatly limits their versatility.
* Meganobz are extremely deadly but "slow and purposeful" means you can't expect them to go far without a ride.
* His Snikrot was the main threat, a flanking or rear position could mean problems for heavy support or distract everyone long enough for the Nobz to do their deadly craft.

Strategy:

* The numbers game. Having small numbers is a huge disadvantage in this mission. The Nobz and a single rutherd squad are the only scoring units. If they are destroyed, it is game over.
* Make the Meganobz carry all the weight. Pop the battle wagon and make them pay for that slow and purposeful rule. Deal with them at my pace with 3 vendettas and a truckload of meltas.
* Reserve Autokills/anti-tanks for the scoring Nobz.
* From "Waaaagh" to Wag! Have them use Waaag! But make sure they don't get the full benefit of free movement from it.
* The Lootas. The more they shoot the less they achieve. Keep the lootas stationary and comfortably parked so it cannot attempt a contest. It does not have enough fire power to kill every single IG scoring unit.
* Life is cheap, and I have 94 of them. Use large amounts of troops to line my whole table edge to nullify Snikrots outflanking maneuver.
* Make him earn the objective. When facing a close combat army, it is advisable to put your objectives near the middle and out of any type of cover. That means if by some small chance they do get to your objectives (and no, as ferocious in close combat as your guardsmen are, they will not drive them out in close combat using butter knives), he gets to earn his objective by having nowhere to hide. With more than 100 guns trained at the claimer, that unit will have more red dots than a guy with chicken pox.

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       The ork army was at a disadvantage from the beginning, since it usually counts on the army to get a wipeout. The advantage of being infantry IG is that wiping them out is easier said than done. The only priority I had was the nobz. Stop them from getting to the objectives and I automatically win, 2 objectives to 1 (if the rutherd claims one).

       To accomplish this plan though, I had to make sure that it was then impossible for the ork's moving units to contest anything. I made the megonobz walk as soon as they appeared on the table and blocked them up close with screens from vendettas, it doesn't matter if they assaulted. What mattered is even if meganobz rolled all 6's from movement, to fleet, to assault, to consolidation, you prevented an ork player from maximizing a possible 24" movement (move 6", Waagh for 6", assault 6", Consolidate 6"). Facing them up close (the closer the better) when you think their gonna waagh! means you get to shave a lot of free inches worth movement since they wont fleet or go far with assault anymore. If they chose NOT to use it, they run the risk of using it too late. Basically, you are trading a single unit for the relative safety of everyone.

       After he rolled 4's and 1's in the 3rd turn, I crunched the numbers again. I knew no Nob, especially with just 2 in each squad and whether I chose to blast them with Vendettas or not, will reach an objective whatever the roll. As for the Lootas, though they were tank killers, it was impossible for them to kill ALL 77 scoring infantry footroops with their 4+ coversave.

       After the Waaagh! was spent, I was simply playing out the game as the Nobz were nowhere near their target as expected. It was a well fought game but the Ork army simply wasn't designed for the mission: 2 objectives to 1. Had it been for kill points, I would have been sorely been behind.

Match 3: IG vs. THUNDER SPACEWOLVES

Mission: Chance encounter, Secret Mission with a spearhead deployment

Assessing the opponent: I'm facing an old friend (matagal ng kaibigan, hindi matandang kaibigan a. lol jus kidding Pat!) and a fellow student of Rasec. We virtually have the same experience in the 40k universe, with him slightly more since I shelved my toolbox back in 2000 with only a few games now and then. We usually know how the other tailors his list. He likes heroes and champions; I on the other hand like to see ordinary little men and women (I don’t mean midgets) in mass numbers band together for a common goal (cue patriotic music). One is not better than the other, it’s just a matter of preference.
       He is also using Spacewolves, the new sheriffs in these here parts. Close combat wise these guys are kings of the hill. The army relies on Land raiders for their protection and clipping/multiple assaults for mass carnage.

* Thunderwolf cavalry are monsters not only in the size of their bases. They do mass murders as if it was their morning coffee. These guys hit fast and hit hard like a ton of bricks.
* Njal is called stormcaller for a reason. He gives a new definition to the word "s#!t storm". And the best part? He was purchased an invul save. As if the guy wasn't tough enough.
* There were 2 Land Raiders, but only two troops. This could play an important factor.
* He has "behind enemy lines" scouts... The anti-tank specialists.

Strategy:

* The mission might be a classic cleanse. Deploy everything to be a single step away from 3 table quarters. Let the Vendettas take care of the last quarter.
* Have a Vendetta for Njal… Literally! Have a twin-linked Lascannon with his name embossed and blinged on it. This guy gets crankier every turn. And seeing that he has an Invul save, sending Raguiel (marbo, a.k.a "The Emperor's Messenger”) to sic him out might not be enough.
* Land Raiders are no monoliths. They aren't as hard to kill so avoid the trap of going after it too much if it doesn't contain anything worth killing.
* Play "pop the puppy" from a distance. Forget the Land Raider, if this was going to become an Annihilation mission the Thunderwolves will kill its fair share. Keep the Vendettas healthy and pick those dogs off from a distance.
* Be ready for anything, kill what can be killed and outmaneuver what I can't.
* Line all infantry squads along my Table edge, effectively neutralizing the scout's "Behind Enemy Lines" rule and be one step away from a table quarter.

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       Fastforward to the 3rd Turn, the mission is announced to be capture and control, with each of our objectives 6" from our starting corners! With one Land Raider Popped and the other tactical squad disembarked I had a new objective: Kill all 20 of the grey hunters! I left the dogs to their wiles, the only reason I shot at them before was because I had Autocannons and Multilasers sitting around... I used it or lose it. With the dogs near the middle, a chimera wall in place, it could only get to one objective at best. The Grey Hunters are out in the open and so my flamer guys went wild. All the guns, from multilasers to heavy bolters, to flamers, and even lascannons, were all aimed for the grey hunters.

       The Thunderwolves were wrecking havoc as predicted, killing everything in its path, but they were irrelevant now. Mathematically speaking, The Space wolves didn't have enough numbers to make it to the objectives in terms of movement and survivability. It was going to be my turn with 2 vendettas (1 still in reserve) with objectives in hand, a hydra, a manticore, 4 squads with special weapons, 2 Infantry squads, 1 Psyker Battle squad, and 2 healthy chimeras versus 5 grey hunters out in the middle and out in the open. Funny enough we were in German uniforms so it was the Battle of Normandy again. Yeah the dogs were probably full with all the guardsmen meat they have been eating (probably has constipation by now because of lack of fibre. lol :D) but I would’ve made sure those grey hunters felt like the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. If those grey hunters made it to the end in one piece, I shouldn't be playing Guard. 2 objectives claimed a lot of littered bodies.

       It was one of the best games I have played this year. Thanks for the great game Pat! Looking forward to more scrimmages.


Match 4: IG vs. VULCAN HESTAN MARINES

Mission: Kill the HQ

Assessing the Opponent: He's using Charleston (get it? Lolz…hehehe *crickets* *tumbleweeds*). The 3+ invul save, 6+ str, Heavy Flamer and the ability to twinlink the already formidable marine shooting shows that he means business. He's one of the popular Marine Character choices and that's no coincidence. This army has the best of both worlds: twin-linked meltas, and twin-linked flamers!

       The units are spread evenly. The list was balanced with more troops and numerous but lightly armoured targets. With the exception of the techmarine-thunderfire combo, the list looked like something I would have used myself. I hope I can use this to my advantage.

* Lucky draw. I had faced a lot of opponents, but this is Kill the HQ. And yes, I’m facing Vulcan Hestan accompanied by 7 Stormshield guys, arguably the toughest SOBs in the marine's current roster... Lucky me. >_>
* The allied grey knights have psychic hood. There's a good chance my psykers will sit this one out again.

Strategy:

* Make Hestan Walk. The best chance of killing Hestan would be to make him footslog. If he gets to close he can clear a table half all by himself... No exagerations. I've used Hestan countless of times and did the same thing. When he's surrounded with assault terminators, he becomes twice as deadly.
* 6 wounds = 1 dead terminator. Use massive firing to thin down the assault terminators, assault terminators aren't as invincible as they seem.
* With the exception of Hestan's Land Raider, pop low armour vehicles first to reduce the numbers of threat. Greatly reducing the number of armour piercing guns.
* Initiative cannot be stolen. That means I could scout and deploy my Vendettas freely without fear. Ask any of the South guys or Kuneho, of the 5 times I chose to use the scout tactic, 4 of those got my initiative stolen! Hence my famous last line: "What are the chances"? This time I can use the tactic well without fear of that surprisingly insurmountable 16% chance of screwing that up.
* Scout them to within 12” of Hestan’s Land Raider, then on my turn deploy my melta guys within 2”, move 6” then blast that Land Raider like it just stole insurance money from my grandma.
* If it's a similar to a list I would use, I could probably get the opponent's mindset better. So I could either be 2 steps ahead or walking into a trap.

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       I thank Jojo for the Mefanamic as a throw up inducing headache was ravaging me at this point. However, destroying the Land Raider went according to plan and offered minor comfort (try not sleeping before the 1st and 2nd day of GT to finish painting). Other anti-vehicle and artillery units followed suit, but the psychic hood foiled my attempt of an early victory by thwarting “Weaken Resolve” twice. Then something unexpected happened, after he massacred my melta guys with assault terminators and Vulcan, one guardsman was left standing… and rolled DOUBLE 1’s on his morale check!!! Hell of a time for this guardsman to be brave, this guy will be scrubbing latrines well into the 41stk. As if Vulcan wasn’t tough enough, he was saved one turn of shooting. And he was in charge range of my HQ on a “stunned” chimera.

       I had to disembark my my HQ and block line of sight with a couple of chimeras. The advantage I had at this point was that the army list he was using was something I would use. That means all I have to do is think how I would use the list myself.

       I knew that if I hid behind my chimeras out of line of sight, he would use the plasma template to target the corner of the chimera and snag my command squad… I know I would. That was why I let go of everything else and ran. I spaced my command squad 2 inches away from the covering chimera. The only way to hit me now would be a lucky deviation.

       I had the army right where I wanted, all thunder hammer guys are dead, no anti-tanks, no support in range, and Vulcan Hestan smack dab in the middle all alone WITH ONE WOUND LEFT! That’s when Freddie Tan announced TIME! What my Guardsmen would have given for a final turn but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. It was still one hell of a game. It’s a Draw!

MAIN EVENT: IG vs. IG!

Mission: Classic Cleanse, NO RESERVES! *head slumps down*

Assessing the Opponent: Do not expect mistakes. Freddie has been on tough slobberknockers, meat grinders, rubber matches, and slugfests. Needless to say he knows how to use his army and he knows how to use it well.
    Obviously there’s nothing here that I don’t already know about. It was almost a mirror match with slight differences. Our type of IG relies on having a whole bunch of targets that slowly takes over the table as the game progress. We both use cheap units so both of us knows neither of us would not hesitate to get into a battle of attrition!

* Bringing a cannon to a gunfight. The army is similar to mine, except it has more firepower and table clearers versus my flankers and skimmers.
* Chimera attack. It is almost as mobile, it has more chimeras. I have a slight advantage with my vendettas.
* The army uses counter strategy. The mystics weren't a problem but the Psychic hood could be. Because of the vast numbers and coversaves, it is virtually impossible to clean a squad right away. I needed the Psykers because that means I only have to kill a few to make them run off the edge.

Strategy:
* Top priority: Deny the Chimeras. Only scoring units can claim quarters, my best bet is to keep the troop carrying chimeras at bay... Even if it means ignoring his heavy support (ouch!!! A bitter pill to swallow). He must not be mobile enough to get quarters.
* No to gung-ho. I say this in all seriousness, to have an epic battle one needs to have an epic opponent. And it doesn't really get any more epic than Freddie Yu. Freddie rarely commits a mistake so playing with him means I can't gamble (which I often do), No taking unnecessary chances!
* Major setback. The ultimate kick in the nuts was the "No Reserves" rule. With my army configuration, there goes my "First strike". That's like telling Pacquiao "No punching with your left hand"! I had to play to my strengths. The vendettas make my army more mobile and effective in longer range anti-tank capabilities.
* My deployment zone had little to no cover. That means my infantry should hide behind tanks and forget about shooting.
* Overpopulate the quarter. If I stretch everyone, a combined infantry platoon can claim 3 quarters. Since I have two of these, I have to start moving them by turn 3 and use chimeras as covers.
* Wrecked Chimeras work to my advantage, they provide valuable coversaves.
* Get lucky…

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       He gets first turn and I have no “Reserves Rule”… it was going to be a long night. With the Vendettas out in the open, and minimal cover, I was already readjusting tactics in my head based on what I think would be left of my forces. Initially Freddie suffers from poor shooting. I thought I was in the clear until his Manticore teed off, with one shot he obliterates my Hydra and destroys my Manticore’s eagle storm rockets virtually making it an expensive paperweight. Using his last shot, he just levelled my whole heavy support! I was counting on one of them to get at least a single shot off. Now I am left to gun for the chimeras with no cover fire.

       I had to go for broke. I overloaded his left flank with my vendettas and trained their guns to his right flank, aiming for the 3 scoring chimeras set to take his right quadrant. I shoot at their side armour with TL lascannons and I managed to destroy one. 7 veterans were left after the explosion then I threw another Psyker hail mary. I cast weaken resolve on the Veterans which Freddie contests with a Psychic Hood. It was my Leadership 9 versus his leadership 10. I roll a 3. But lady luck was smiling today as Freddie rolls a 2! Vets run off the table.

       What happened the next few turns was a blur, with tanks exploding left and right, troops getting scorched or blasted. It was the bloodiest battle I have ever fought. The surviving Kriegs are currently being treated for post-trauma disorder.

       Luck played a huge role. I knew luck was involved, because not only did my HQ beat Marbo in single combat, but one of the PCS in a Chimera I was using to contest a quarter got blasted clean leaving my PCS unprotected. Freddie blasted with a flamer and rolled for 5 guys, under the rules you have to be 50% over, and scoring in order to contest a quarter. Freddie rolls 5 1’s!!! He took a picture of it just so we could believe it happened. :D That means for probably the first time in the badluck riddled 40k rolls of my life, Lady fortune chose to bend the laws of probability in grand fashion.

       The table was a mess, all I remember was that on the last turn I had virtually no tanks left. Freddie had a Chimera contesting his right quarter which was coincidentally near a flamer special weapons team from a wrecked Vendetta, and a bunch of PCS melta guys. I melted the Chimera and toasted the troops inside, giving me 2-1 in quarters held.

       So there I had it, it took 2 miraculous Psyker attacks to go through, Freddie’s 5 miraculous rolls of 1’s to wound, My HQ to incredibly beat Marbo in single combat, and my vendetta to be wrecked at the right place at the right time…. Whew! Thank you sir may I have another!!!

Return of the Comeback

2009-12-03T15:35:00.004+08:00

OK where do I actually start….hmmm wow my first GT in 10 years…..a little history hehe, I started playing warhammer 40k back in 1996 where I bought my first box of metal 2^nd edition catachan troops. Wow it was around 1,095 php per box then…expensive?! But I loved the metal stuff and the GI Joe feel of it so I was always looking forward to it..after a few weeks and more allowance saved I bought my first Leman Russ Battle Tank! Woot! Finally after all the time I spent playing, painting warhammer from 40k to fantasy…from working as a staff at Neutral Grounds….to finally quitting after the Virra Mall incident…wherin 200k php worth of my entire collection went to ashes ….I never thought to myself I would actually get back to warhammer again….fast forward..2009…March…after much prodding and much consideration (after Freddy Tan also agreed to revive his old Imperial Guard again) I went back into the game. Lo and behold! My first purchase after 10 years I got myself a Space Marine Codex and a Thunderfire Cannon!! (everyone was like WTF that’s useless), well let’s leave the thunderfire cannon story for some other time… after much playing and painting and getting to know the rules all over again (it was a monumental jump from 3^rd ed to 5^th ed) finally after a few months…GT time…I was in fact excited at the same time tense as I have never joined any GT event let alone play in a competitive environment in a long time. Many new faces where seen after I entered the scene again..the only old dinosaur I still recognize was Ian Kuneho…after actually looking at my space marine collection came Space Wolves…my old 3^rd edition army! WOW! Finally I can get those old dogs going again…. Now comes the challenge..painting!! With work in the way and lots of things to do…wedding preps….manning the renovation at our house…I made a little plastic tool box as my mobile painting box….I get to paint on the go…since I really liked the dark angels army color scheme I decided to paint my army in that scheme with a twist of course! I got my GF to paint with me as well, helping me with the painting and basing and all…every time I look at my stuff, I remember how lucky I am to have someone to share my hobby and interests…..mind you she buys some of my stuff too….without me even asking her to..she knows what I need LOL heck she can play if she wants to…. The dog army I built was actually not as competitive as others would think it was…it was more fluffy than competitive… most of the constructing time spent was making those thunderwolves…I built them from scratch..I was inspired to actually field them in combat… anyway come GT time…I was skeptic…I was nervous..I was happy..finally, a GT after such a long time….I had a great time those 2 days of gaming, after making lots of warhammer friends in galleria and having a blast playing! It was good to see the old faces like dpaul and Fred Yu…and it was a welcome sight to see Sir Lito play in a GT…and of course finally a Neutral Grounds WH 40K event!!

I never thought I’d actually win it….

The Steel Falcon Experience - an account of the 2009 WH40K GT

2009-12-02T16:19:00.005+08:00

I always look forward to Warhammer 40K Grand Tournaments.

I have been playing 40K for 6 years now and I think I haven’t missed one GT yet (not sure though, as there’s one year’s worth of lost gaming time I can’t account for).

My primary motivation in joining is not the awards – just to be clear, I want to win any of the categories… and it’s obvious I have a preference for a certain category that you can win even before the GT, not dependent on dice rolls or tactics, and the probability for winning it is directly related to the amount of time you spend working on your army. :D Anyways, back to motivation – more GTs means less unpainted plastics in boxes at home. A GT is a “carrot on a stick” for me to be able to finish an army… and we all know the last part in completing an army is painting, basing and flocking, which are all related to the Best Painted Army category.

Each army I have, I build with the GT in mind. After my first GT I swore to myself that from then on I would always work on my army in advance and I would never, ever, stay up late until the morning of the GT to finish painting my army. Now I am thinking, maybe instead of swearing an oath, I could have put a curse on myself as the last minute painting marathon overnight on the eve of the GT sessions never left me… and this year was no exception, only more challenging.

This year was a true test. Below is a brief recap of what I had to go through to get that new Steel Falcon (counts as Ravenwing) army to the table come round 1 :

- The components of the army have been purchased at Neutral Grounds within 2-3 months after the current Dark Angels codex came out. If memory serves me right, that was in 2007. The bikes and speeders were all assembled and primed black within a month. The vindicators were meant for a Black Templar based army, converted much earlier using Empire mortar bits, dreadnought arms and heavy bolter sponsons from the predator kit (this was done when there was no plastic vindicator kit released yet… but still the conversion is 100% GW). This gives you an idea as to how far my painting backlog is. Also, that also means my unit choices were never influenced by the current metagame (just a coincidence I was packing 5 multi-meltas and 3 meltaguns)… well, except for the 2 vindicators.

- I settled on a colour scheme (which is crucial if you are entertaining thoughts on bagging the painting award) about a week after this year’s GT was announced – yeah, the army was in all-black glory for about 2 years, thank you. I basically decided that an all black army was too boring, and that space marines are probably smart enough to wear matte armour (instead of shiny) even if their chapter name was Steel Falcons. Same scheme as the original, but this time with what I call “cheater’s NMM gray” instead of boltgun metal as base.

- I was painting at an ok pace. I remember knowing I would finish with 2 weeks left to spare. I was planning to use those 2 weeks for practice games. I was also aiming for the Over-all championship, you know… and then….

- Ondoy… I wouldn’t discuss this anymore save for saying I lost about 1 month focusing on real life. Played the Ondoy card too many times already.

- Heaven sent assistance – went to NG, saw the citadel spray gun, an angel in the form of Manongguard providing the final words to convince me to buy it. This was about a month before the GT. Saved me time doing one step in my painting process, which was painting on a dark tone of the main colour I am using for shade… this was supposed to be me mixing chaos black and codex grey and painting the mix by hand onto the whole army… would have taken me a week… with the spray gun I did it in 2 hours. Hallelujah!

- Magnificent find number 2 – Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement. I went on a trip to Cubao after a long while to get basing stuff from the hobby store in Ali Mall, as all my mini rocks, modeling sand, flocking materials were washed away. In the display case was the said product. Seals my bases nicely, in matte. Cool. Will be experimenting on this for future projects.

- From then on it was just me, my paints and brushes, discussions with the wifey on staying-up late painting, and trudging on painting shades of grey, shades of red, shades of brown, and black and white. With the ambitious plans in painting the army in a new way for me, I knew about 1 week before the GT that I woudn’t finish the army in time. I had help from what Salubri and I call “painting elves” (painting elves is just me painting overnight without sleep) on GT eve and GT eve plus 1… déjà vu of my first GT.

I’ll try to post some pics here in the next few days. I’ll locate some of the in progress figs left to give you an idea on my step by step process.

Parting shot - you may think from all the things I said that I am just one of them painting jocks. I still don’t consider myself one of the warhammer painting elite. I am not humble, “mataas lang ang standards”… hehe. I was also lucky none of them painting gurus showed up to join. Anyways, I also pack a mean game and a killer smile, so I am a triple threat!!! I think I finished 4^th or 5^th overall, if my estimates are correct… I am not sure. My only loss was against Patrick.

Kidding aside, I had a great time last weekend. Thanks to Neutral Grounds and the Untouchables (the volunteer judges and photographers) for the well-run GT. This GT may have set a record of sorts in having the most number of player wives, girlfriends and kids in attendance. I think my wife now appreciates why we are what we are, whatever the hell that is :D

Now I am still wasting time doing nothing at home but stare at my new shiny precious trophy. No work being done on any army at all, although I already cashed-in my store credits :D. Hopefully next GT I wont be saying “here we go again”… but, come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind the sleepless nights if that’s what it takes to get another shiny thing.

As always, see you at the gaming tables.

Your friendly neighborhood 40K retired newbie rapist - The Steel Falcon

WH40K GT Pictures

2009-12-02T15:22:00.006+08:00

as taken by the super-gwapo photographer.

I mostly spent my time taking pictures during the GT, going through more than 600 photos taken between two cameras and three lenses. The light was terrible even with my stupid Sigma Speedlite (mental note: get a couple of Nikon Speedlites ASAP). All in all, I managed to post-process 120 salvagable shots from the D300. I haven't gone through the photos taken with my backup cam.

I hope you enjoy the pics. Please feel free to grab and repost. I would appreciate it if you could repost this version with my nametag attached instead of the ones that were posted on the NG Facebook site (tulungan niyo ang semi-career ko as a Photographer), better yet, leave me a note on my multiply site just so I know you went by.

The complete albums can be accessed through these links:

Warhammer 40KGT 2009 Album 1
Warhammer 40KGT 2009 Album 2

Thanks Guys,

ManongGuard

Another GT Comes and Goes!

2009-12-02T14:05:00.003+08:00

Written by Freddie Yu
Veteran 40k Player and Co-Overall for the 2009 GT held by Neutral Grounds

Picture this......a room full of laughing people moving toy soldiers and rolling dice. Lots of tables lined up and painted armies in action. A set of trophies prominently displayed to be won. Shouts of success, groans of failure. Scenes from last weekend's GT? Nope. This was a scene sketched in my head when I participated in my first WHFB GT around 10 years ago, in a location somewhere in QC.

Flash forward to last weekend. Same scene, except this time the GT was in a more public place in Robinson's Galleria. This is 1 big change from 10 years ago. Our hobby has grown in exposure in that it once could be considered elitist and underground, but is hopefully gaining momentum as a more "mainstream" game, which is good as it nets new blood, more exposure, and therefore potential FRIENDS to meet, know, game and have fun with, both during the game and after the game!

This year's 40K GT is definitely a successfull one. Kudos to Freddie Tan and the organizing team! Getting 18 people to compete in a 5 game 2 day event is a feat. There have been past GT's where only 8 people showed up! I completely agree that a GT should have at least 4 games, as 3 games may penalize early losers who had the bad luck in the early matchups. The scenario breakdown and variety was also good, although the vortex grenade scenario was a bit over the top as it tends to penalize elite armies. I would have dummied down the effects of the vortex to be more like a melta blast with ap1 that causes d3 wounds and is autopinning, but hey if them US folks can live with this scenario then so can we!

Another thing I would like to comment is that for the existing environment, it is difficult to complete 5 turns in 2.5 hours for armies like my horde IG. In the old days, 2 hours was enough as pointage was at 1500, and most armies then were marines. Veterans have noticed that GW has been slowly pushing for armies to have more model counts in both 40k and WHFB, as that is good for business. In addition, horde armies are getting to be the norm, as GW started to make more plastics, unlike in the eraly days of 3rd ed 40k when the IG, nids and Orks only had metal infantry models (Ouch!!!). I remember the days when a WHFB chaos army had only around 25 models in a 2000 pt army! And SM armies only 30+ models. My advice is that GT tourneys in malls where you have set opening and closing times MUST start earlier. This gives more leeway for time extensions. In 2006 when we organized the 40K and WHFB GT this was no problem as we held the events separately outside the malls, and I insisted we started early. We held 4 games in 1 day, and there were no complaints of short times, stalling, etc. There were no PYTs though to look at. Nothing is ever perfect anyway!

As a gamer and participant, my experience and advice can be summed up in the way I do my "Emperor's Prayer" die roll. Give your army the energy and "feel" and personal touch! When you create your list, think of a personal story and fluff for them. In general, organizers reward armies which are not "cookie cutter" or lists optimized just to win. There may be tourneys where there is an army composition score. This "personal touch" effect extends to painting. Painting (and good basing! People underestimate how well done bases highten the overall look and cohesion of the army!) not only makes your army look good, but makes playing with you more enjoyeable. I do not know of anyone who does not enjoy playing versus a well painted army.

However, my best advice is to come into GTs with a healthy attitude of playing the game to have fun. We all want to win, that is for sure, but to do that with a poor attitude robs a good gaming experience for your opponents. In addition, certain conventions should be clarified, explained, and re-explained before the tourney starts (like for dice rolling) as misunderstanding arises among people who do not play regularly versus each other over these issues. It is really bad to leave the GT with the feeling you were cheated (I know, as I was a victim of this in my first toruney!), or worst be accused of cheating even though you really did not cheat! It is understandable that certain people are hot blooded and really want to win, but to do this at the expense of your enemy is really poor form. In a community as small as ours, word gets around, and sadly such a player may become ostracized from the community by his/her own actions, which is really a shame. So everyone brighten up! And any new opponent is an opportunity to gain a good friend. I have gained a kumpare through this hobby (Sir Larry), and I'm sure others also as well!

Again, any new GT brings distinct memories. Past ones include wiping out Warner's 500 pt Chaos Knight unit with the "Assault of Stone" spell from my Slann, My Slann Mage getting killed by the Staff of Nurgle by Pat Uy's Chaos Sorceror on a Griffon, then it being wiped out by poisoned skink arrows the next turn, My saurus warrior unit surviving a charge from Pat's Chaos night unit by rolling a lot of 6's for the "Scaly skin" save, then grinding them down in the next turns, killing Sunny's Orc Giant in the first turn with a single cannonball shot, seeing Arthur (Omegatron) do a first turn inflitrate then flame toasting my HQ with his Chaos Raptors led by a lord, and of course winning the WHFB Best general plums in 2002 and 2004, and Best overall in 2003 and 2005. This year adds a lowly guardsman dealing the final wound to Ghazskull Thrakka the turn the Beast charged, thus gaining me the primary objective, Matthew's horrendous luck as Edlrad Ulthran's unit and 2 more skimmers are sucked in the warp by Vortex grenades, and definitely the 5 1's I rolled for the to wound roll from a flamer hit on Paulo's infantry, which failed to remove it as a scoring threat! And of course, winning the 40K Best Overall title together with Pat Chua. I also got to game versus new people like Felix and Wiley. I hope to do so again!

Great memories, good friends, and having a blast moving toy soldiers in a friendly competitive atmosphere, win or lose. THAT is the essence of WH GT gaming. Long live 40K and WHFB (although GW really does have to settle the imbalance issues with WHFB)!

Wave Serpent Alpha

2009-12-01T15:12:00.002+08:00

I just finished the detail work on my first Wave Serpent. I'm pretty happy with how this project is turning out. It's just sad that I couldn't finish in time for the GT. This probably would have given Emcee's beautiful gray Ravenwing army a challenge at the very least.

The base is in homage to Jun Ubay's Tau army... the prime reason I got into 40K. I saw his army displayed in the old Galleria NG and thought to myself, "Hmm... I can do that too." More than 10 armies later, I think I'm still getting there (maybe 25% of the way there.). Progress is progress.

As a side note, six of my current stash of seven serpents (aba alliteration) have had their initial coat of mango yellow and dark blue applied. From there I would need to highlight each one and then proceed to ink-lining and detailing. Hope I finish within the year.

Taken with my D300 paired with my Tokina 100mm Macro prime lens and with the help of a Sigma Speedlite and my trusty light tent. Please post your comments.

*my sensor seems to be really dirty. sigh.

For more pictures please visit the Wave Serpent Alpha entry in my photoblog. Comments welcome.

After GT report

2009-12-01T09:56:00.002+08:00

Congrats to the winners again. Balian texted me the list but I seem to have misplaced it. Perhaps we can have a few articles from the winners? The ones I'd like to put here would be:

Best Over All - Overall take on the GT. Your experiences (and maybe lessons you learned?)
Best General - Blow by blow account of his games or atleast his winning strategies for each game.
Best Painted/Player's Choice - An article on how you painted your army.

Whaddaya guys think? Can you honor these pages with those? Let's have something to mark the event with. I'll pin them on the side bar under Soldier's Journal sana.

Journal # 120 - the games before the storm...

2009-11-22T22:35:00.005+08:00

Nov. 21, 2009

Attendance: JR, Wiley, Ian, George, Ryan, Joshua, JB, Martie, Matthew, Roy, Lester, Rodski, with special appearances from Jay and Patrick

Game 1
JR (Blood Angels) vs Joshua (SM- Ultramarines)
Points: 1000
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle
JR wins!

Game 2
Lester (SM) vs Roy (SM)
Points: 680
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Roy Wins! (3-2)

Game 3
JB (IG) vs Joshua (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 600

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Pitched Battle

JB wins via tapout!

Game 4

Ian (Tyranids) vs George (Orks)

Points: 1500

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Ian wins via tap-out! (Bottom of 2^nd )

Game 5

Matthew (Eldar) vs Dennis (SM)

Points: 1850

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Spearhead

Matthew Wins! (8-5)

Game 6

Wiley (SM-Ultramarines) vs Martie (Orks)

Points: 1850

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Wiley wins via tap-out! (Top of 4^th)

Game 7

Ryan (SM-Salamanders) vs Matthew (Eldar)

Points: 1850

Mission: Seize Ground

Deployment: Spearhead

Matthew wins! (1 claimed, 2 contested)

Game 8

Roy (SM) vs Rodski (SM)

Points: 600

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Dawn of War

Rodski wins via tap-out!

Session ends 6:45 pm

When Math isn’t Math anymore

2009-11-19T14:26:00.005+08:00

Old Skool-New Skool Series (Article 1)
Insights on 4th edition strategies in a 5th edition world
*sorry about the images - I forgot to take my cam off of ISO3200 after I did some night work*

Some of you may know this about me. I may not look it, but I number-crunch a lot. Number-crunching actually takes up a third of the major elements in my strategy. I number-crunch when I’m making army lists (mostly to evaluate weird lists and their efficiency). I number-crunch while playing. I number-crunch when doing post-mortem. Heck, I number-crunch when I’m reading my codices while taking a crap (beware all you who would dare borrow my codices). It is unsurprising, when viewed from this perspective, that I would tend to attempt to go back to my old ways now that I have returned to 40K gaming.

It was during my first battle under the 5th edition rules (and the beating I got from Matthew’s Eldar) that I noticed how my math simply does not work anymore… at least not the way I expected it to.

My brand of number-crunching is all about 1)reducing random results when possible, and 2) anticipating randomness through a crude probability computation. In my golden years, I could very effectively predict the outcome of assaults with a 2 model/wound margin of error. This allowed me to anticipate the chances my units will win in a particular combat and, more importantly, how long the combat would hold before my units or the opposing units get wiped-out. Gone are those days and here are the major reasons why:

1. Assault – The wound allocation rules are putting me off. A lot of my computations relied on the powerfist guaranteedly surviving the round of assault. Current wound allocation rules dictates that you have to distribute wounds prior to taking saves.

2. Shooting at units – Cover saves are awesome! I knew this way back when I was playing Nightlords. In fact, I would spend the extra 5 points per marine for Stealth Adept except on my assaulty units. Now everyone gets the 4+ invulnerable save I used to have to pay for. This rule adds 50% randomization to my results as compared to the 33% that I had to contend with using old rules.

True-line-of-sight is also putting me off. Do I have to anticipate the 4+ cover save for that unit or don’t I?

3. Shooting at Vehicles– Vehicles taking a cover save? A new set of Glancing Hits results? I hope I get used to this. There was a time when cover meant “Glancing Hits Only”. I abused this rule through my Manongguard patented T-Rhino Assault Formation which basically guaranteed a maximum of only 2 glanceable transports as my opponent’s legal targets per turn. No randomness.

I cannot seem to get the hang of computing for results based on the chances of getting an immobilized or destroyed result when you compound the new table with the cover rules. I end up shooting land raiders with 8 bright-lances a turn and coming up with nothing.
Rhino’s in-turn, are ultra-easy to pop (it’s just sad that I use so many rhinos). Pop-smoke and you only get a 50% chance to become unpoppable. Sigh.

4. Assaulting Vehicles – What?! Units always get to assault the rear? They simply made the Land Raider a bigger monster and made everything else afraid of getting assaulted (Why do they love the Land Raider so much – I have 2 CSM armies and an SM army and not one Land Raider).

I’m at my most vulnerable right now and it’s a wonder that I haven’t lost any of my games so far. I don’t know if I will ever get back to number-crunching on the table or if it’s simply time to let the dice gods have their way with me.

Just some thoughts from an old dog trying to… you know the rest.

Iyanden Ghosts - St. Luke's Chapter

2009-11-18T17:33:00.008+08:00

The result of three days (and change) cooped up in St Luke's while "Stoney" was being treated. I went through a Urethroscopy + Lithosomethingoranother. It's basically the joy of inserting a camera equipped with a jackhammer through your genitals.

Silver lining was that I got some painting done. I finished 4 Wraithguards, 1 Wraithlord, and 10 Storm Guardians (Conversions - Still have to paint the gems and base of 5 of em). Mostly, this builds my painting speed confidence. I might be able to finish the entire army before the year ends... maybe even before the GT.

Tell me what you think.

Photos were taken using my D300 with the PLASTIC MASTER. Light-tent shots were taken in my house.

Visit my multiply site for more photos.

Journal # 119 - GT around the corner gaming

2009-11-16T19:23:00.002+08:00

November 14, 2009

Attendance - Henri, Ryan, Wiley, Lester, Romy, Joel, Matthew, Martie, JB, , Chino, and Raz with special appearances from JR, Patrick, JB Baylon, and Anton.

Game 1
Ryan (SM-Salamanders) vs Henri (Space Wolves)
Points: 1850
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Ryan wins! (7-5)

Game 2
Raz (SM) vs Lester (SM-Ultramarines)
Points:500
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
Lester wins via wipeout!

Game 3
Matthew (Eldar) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 1850
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Wiley wins! (8-5)

Game 4
Ryan (SM-Salamanders) vs Martie (Orks)
Points: 1850
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
Martie Wins! (1-0)

Game 5
Joel (CSM- Deathguard) vs Henri (Space Wolves)
Points: 1500
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment:Pitched Battle
Joel Wins! (2-0)

Game 6
Romy (Dark Eldar) vs Wiley (SM-Ultramarines)
Points: 1850
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Wiley wins! (14-2)

Game 7
Chino (Blood Angels) and Joshua (SM-Ultramarines) vs JB (IG)
Points: 2000
Mission: To Be Determined
Deployment: To Be Determined
Result: To Be Determined

Duck Season!

2009-11-16T16:00:00.004+08:00

At long last the local 40k players have reason to rejoice once again. The 40k Grand Tournament is just around the corner! After an extended hiatus, Neutral Grounds will be holding the event that many players dream of in their sleep(admit it. especially you power-gamerERs! yes I mean you! :P). Sadly I will be sitting this one out as I focus on other things for now... and yes it has something to do with women... and robots... giant ones... ah but I digress. So what's this post all about? I wanted to leave you guys with some last reminders in case you lose your way while gunning for that most coveted "Overall Champ" award.

Be a sport!
Remind your opponent if he forgot something. Be gracious to your opponent. Don't get hung up on rules arguments. Don't roll your dice with the specific intent of downing your opponent's cheesiest models as though they were bowling pins! If someone does that tell them you'll ram your ork battle wagon up their behind... but say it politely! :D In other words... BE NICE, PLAY NICELY! I remember what I used to do with the sportsmanship scoring(back when it was done by giving the opponent a score of 1-10, 10 being the highest). We start the game I assume my opponent gets a full 10. For every offense I deducted one point. lol But just so you know none of my opponents ever got below 8. Maybe it was the dagger looks I kept throwing at them to make them behave. >:D

Be mindful of the time!
Tournament matches run on a tight schedule. Be conscious of the time you're consuming each turn. Try to finish your game within the time constraints. Nothing feels worse than losing because your opponent took too long on his game turns that you had to end your game before you even got to pull your earth-shattering-skirt-blowing-mind warping-butt kicking... where was I? Oh that's right. Strategy. I meant to say strategy!

For Santa's Sake Paint your freaking Toy Soldiers!Paint your figs. I'll avoid expounding on this as that's an entire chapter filled with horror stories and bitter gripes. Paint your figs and do it to the best of your abilities. If you've ever been to a room full of well painted figs... the experience itself can be rewarding. I gather you'll feel much like Gulliver in Lilliput. Just don't get carried away and start stomping on the little guys. I mean hey! Some of those can really hurt your foot!

Accept the Bitter Aftermath
So you won. So you annihilated your opponents. So you grinded them beneath your heel. If you're not satisfied with that try not to complain. The most important thing about playing Warhammer... and this is so overused it's cheesy... is about the experience of gaming with your buddies. The chance for you and your opponents to enjoy some good old fashioned butt kicking on the table top. If you had fun and they had fun don't be disappointed if you didn't win. There's always next year! Don'g get angry. Get even! ;)

So with that said on the night of November 27 pack all your things. Don't forget your codex, dice, white dwarf articles, GW FAQs, tape measures and most of all don't forget your armies! On November 28 and 29 show up well groomed(that also means you have to cut your nails and clean your ears!) and have the time of your life. We're only this young once. (Coz in Never Never land we never grow! :P)

This pre tournament reminder is paid for by the friends of Salubri3i