Adepticon 2012: I Think I Found My Style

Normally I would have posted something about Team Snake Eyes' 2012 Team Tournament results sooner, but several things conspired against me.  Fist, we got our collective asses kicked.  That stings a bit.  :-)  Second, my photo taking/retrieving process has a few flaws in it.  Considering just about everything that went on this year in Chicago was flawed for us, it should come as no surprise that we can't post a timely blog on the subject.

Well lets pull this band-aid off shall we?  In 2010 we finished 92nd out of 110 teams.  In 2011 we stepped it up a bit and finished 37th out of 106 teams.  This year we finished 99th out of 116.  We managed 0 wins, 2 draws, and 6 magnificent losses.  Awesome.  Here's our breakdown:

184 total points (out of 444)
59 Battle Points (out of 240)
15 Sportsmanship Points (out of 16)
17 Commander's Heads (out of 32)
14 Commander's Tokens (out of 32)
45 Theme Points (out of 60)
39 Painting Points (out of 60)
6 Spirit Points (unspecified)
10 Quiz Points (out of 10)

Not only did we set new record lows for our team performance, we also managed to score lower on both our theme (which was unchanged from last year) and painting (where we specifically included better looking models than those we fielded last year), so we've got that going for us at least.

Our matchups were as follows:

Round #1 = The Midwest Fringe (Orks) - finished 61st

These guys were a great team to play, with an awesome looking Ork army.  This round had weird, random "secret missions" that neither of our armies were prepared to accomplish.  My coalition drew, while the other got tabled.  I didn't mind the poor performance here since they were an outstanding group of guys.

Bray'arth did well this game accounting for a Bike Warboss, War Bikers,
and a squad of boyz.  His lost both is arms and "his Milkshake brought
all the boyz to the yard."

This was what my other coalition's table looked like.  It was not pretty (for us).

Round #2 = Baal to the Bone (Blood Angels) - finished 106th

There were three cool guys on this team and one gigantic tool.  I'm a laid back, low-maintenance guy and I almost walked away from the table twice.  I lost my composure a few times, and I regret every moment I spent at that table.

Although his terminators are gone by the time we took this pic, and Vulkan was drug
down and beaten like a stray dog, they accounted for a great deal of Sanguinius' Sons.

Not sure what happened on the other table.  Things were a obscured by a maddening rage.

Round #3 = Fuster Cluck (Necrons) - finished 79th

This team restored my faith in humanity.  After the second round, I knew that nothing I or my team did would salvage my weekend.  We were going to lose, lose horribly, and no one would weep at our destruction.  These guys not only had a gorgeous necron army, with outstanding Wraith conversions, but before we even got to the first turn, pulled out some beers and gave us some.  It seems a simple gesture, but at that moment, it was the best thing that could have happened to me.  We lost those games, but I had as good a time as I could with those guys.  Top notch Fuster Cluckians, I really enjoyed meeting you guys.

Bray'arth, again, accounted well for himself.  He never died in all four games
despite repeated, determined, attempts to do so.  He may not have "earned back
his points" in all games, but he was fun to play.

Sweet conversion no?

Round #4 = Da Boyz Wolfpack (Space Wolves) - finished 46th

I actually played one of these guys back in 2010...it was a wolf team back then, and they were an awesome opponent then, and they're still an awesome group of guys.  We didn't really get beat by them, we got our faces kicked in.  But they too gave us beer, and they were (for the most part) under the influence themselves.  It says a lot when you can clobber another team while sloppy drunk, but at this point I really didn't care.  I wanted the pain to end, and was laughing and joking with them as everything we tried failed and everything they did turned to gold.  Good times.

This was a mission where kill points could only be earned by one half of a
coalition.  This, entirely ignorant, style of mission supports a perverse incentive
whereby half a an army hides like a little girl and a mini game of slap fighting is played.
In our case, the Space Wolves that hid also had Rune Priests with unlimited range
shooting attacks, so...yeah.

PBR with a smile?  Yeah, it was that kind of day.

Another neat fact?  Of the 17 teams that finished lower than Team Snake Eyes in the rankings, 11 of them had higher Battle Points than we did.  Team Death Star actually dropped out of the competition and finished with more battle points than we did.  Bleh.

5 and a Wake-up

Bray'arth Ashmantle, aka. "Fat Albert"

It's that time of year again.  Team Snake Eyes is headed to Adepticon in Chicago, IL for their team tournament on Saturday the 21st.  There's all sorts of stuff going on up there, and I highly recommend you make the trip if you ever get a chance.  You'll meet some fantastic gamers, and see some ridiculously talented artists put their hearts and souls into their craft for our enjoyment.  We all have a richer gaming experience because of it.  If you see us up there, don't hesitate to stop by and say hello, we'd love to meet you guys.  Some of the team will be heading up on Thursday, but the majority of us will arrive on Friday with everyone leaving at some point on Sunday.  So, without further ado, here's a tribute to my artist of choice, our very own Chaplain Aerion.  He's been the creative powerhouse behind my Salamanders army from the very beginning.  While I do a lot of work on this army, none of it matches the skill and quality that we see from Aerion.  From our very first "test marine" to what you see here today, Aerion has put more time and effort into this ongoing project of mine than I ever imagined possible, and that Mrs. Aerion would likely have wished went into other pursuits.  In that regard, I offer my warmest thanks to them both.

Left side: I'm loving the mural here: Bray'arth as a young lad
giving the Genestealers what for...before getting his face
eaten off and then stuffed inside a Dreadnought sarcophagus
for the rest of his days...

Right side: I love what he did with his DCCWs.

You think he needs to duck coming out of that Lucius
Drop Pod?  I don't, but I'll let you tell him if you do.

I love his power plant, and the heraldry that Aerion
was able to put onto the banner.

Forge World Lucius Pod, aka "Mystery Machine".  Apparently FW resin is as
much a pain in the ass to work with as you might have expected.

Venerable Dreadnought, left side.

Venerable Dreadnought

Venerable Dreadnought: I like this alternate power plant
as well.  On the other hand, I like Dreadnoughts, so
it's never really a tough sell in my book.

 These are a few of our Salamanders we'll be putting on the board this year.  Hope to see you there!

My Eyes Have Seen the Glory....

Obligatory pic of the new 145 paint range.

Okay, that's hyperbole. But it's Presidential primary season and I was feeling left out. As you may or may not know, I started the now-common practice of weening myself off the Citadel paint teat a few years ago. As colors started to go bad or empty I would replace them with the Vallejo equivalent. This, with only a few exceptions, has been a positive experience. Then GW started eliminating some key (at least to me) colors from their range. Things like Brazen Brass and Midnight Blue became as quest-worthy as the Beast Glatisant. 


As a result my motivation to continue investing in Citadel paints evaporated like moisture on the face of Tatooine in August. I settled in to a mode of steadily trying to improve my painting skills while simultaneously trying to upgrade my equipment, including paint. Gone were the days of mindlessly grabbing whatever color GW had that was close. I started paying attention to things like medium, consistency, shelf life, capillary action, and compatibility with other paint. The "back bar" of my desk exploded with new bottle shapes, namely the dropper styles of Vallejo and Reaper, and the liquid-medium gold that is P3.

A few months ago rumors and mysterious letters from Games Workshop telling their retailers to let paint supplies dwindle signaled yet another paradigm shift in painting. In two weeks Citadel will release its new 145 strong paint range. At first I blinked, then yawned, then went right back to shaking my VGC Brassy Brass. Then I traveled to Memphis, TN to attend Mid-South Con 30. On the way out on Sunday I swung by the Memphis Battle Bunker. It was a slow day and David, the manager on duty, escorted me immediately to one of a half-dozen paint stations sporting shiny new clear pots of the 145 stuff. Citadel brushes and a water cup were handily available and I was encouraged to give the stuff a try.

By Jove, they've done it again. I wasn't able to try everything there, but the two things I did try sold me.

Revelation 1: Citadel Ceremite White. If there was one gaping hole in the former GW paint range, it had to be a white Foundation paint. No longer, true believers. This stuff goes on slick. No more of that grainy nonsense and, I've been assured, the new Base colors won't separate like the old Foundation paints would. In all honesty, this stuff looked so good right out of the pot that no further white would be needed. The Base colors consist of 34 shades, INCLUDING (are you sitting down?) silver, gold, brass, and bronze metallics. There is also a black. This portion of the range has definitely caught my attention. Oh, I've also been assured that they have been tested in a spray gun and worked fine. SWEET!

Revelation 2: Dry paints are a miracle in a can. When I was handed a pot, I habitually started to shake it. David (the aforementioned manager) chuckled and said, "you don't need to shake it". I flipped the cap and saw why. Inside was a congealed mass of pigment-laden goop. You know what it looked like when Foundation paint would settle and harden? And then you'd try to add water or medium and stir it up, but all it did was clump like cottage cheese? yeah, this looked a lot like that. My raised eyebrows cued David to explain, and I had my doubts. It seems that the Dry line is designed for dry brushing (duh!). BUT, as any of us who have done a lot of that know, the amount of paint that is wasted has likely cost us several bottles of paint over the years. Citadel, in their sudden and startlingly uncharacteristic wisdom, seems to have solved this problem. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I suspect the secret lies in the medium. Naturally I'm withholding final judgement until I invest in a few pots and they don't become utterly useless in a matter of weeks. In use, however, I was sold instantly. I dipped a GW medium drybrush into the goop, rubbed very little excess off on a blotter, and proceeded to pick out the chainmail on a black-primered Lord of the Rings dwarf in a matter of seconds. The Dry line consists of only a dozen shades, all of which are light, bright, and/or metallic. I will definitely be giving some of these a try, particularly on my Grey Knights.

Etcetera:  The rest of the range I wasn't able to personally experience, though I was shown some samples of other's test models which lend a lot of credence to the hype that GW David was slinging. The Glazes seem to be a vast improvement over the washes, which, in my humble opinion, were pretty darned good. They are, according to David, a happy medium between washes and the old inks. They still run into the recesses, but they also convincingly tint whatever layer of paint they happen to be applied over. The Shades and Layers will likely be just as useable, but I won't know if they will be a valid replacement for the other companies I've been using.

Also worth noting: The paint names of old are gone. This range is being produced by an entirely new supplier so no more Chaos Black (now Abaddon Black) or Skull White (White Scar). There is, however, a conversion chart which has been seeing its way around the interwebs. How close the shades will actually be remains to be seen, but I'm sure some minor tweaks will be able to compensate for any differences. If not, we still have Vallejo!

I'll stop here as everyone else has already whipped this horse to death regarding the other new arrivals (Texture and Technical). I just wanted to share my personal observations as a (hopefully) respected painter to help my brothers and sisters of the brush make good choices during this time of change. Damn you, Tzeentch, and your silly purple ways!

Ignis Rex

I have written and deleted a half dozen witty blog posts about this Land Raider but, in retrospect, none of the them have been sufficient.  I'll stop stumbling through my futile attempts at prose, and let the pictures speak for themselves.  Before I go, however, there are three things you need to know about it:

1) This tank was built & converted by CVinton (look here and here) at Dark Future Games.
2) This tank was painted by Team Snake Eyes' very own Chaplain Aerion.
3) This tank is ridiculously awesome.  I am in awe of the artistic ability on display by the two individuals above. Enjoy.

Photoshop compilation of "before" photos.  This is how we received the tank from CVinton.

Photshop was used to make "color tests" before putting paint to model.

Photoshop "color test" of right side.

Crewman photo:  Forgeworld Salamander shoulder  pad and close up of CVinton's sculpting work.

Front Grill.  Yes, the eyes ARE  following you...Heretic!

Front Profile

Left Profile.  All hatches are fully magnetized.  Not pictured are the Flamestorm Cannons
that can turn this Crusader into the Redeemer variant. 

Left Side Sculpting

Right Profile.  If you don't love the dragon mouths on the Hurricane Bolters, you're
either not alive or not human.  True story.

Right Side Sculpting.  "Ignis Rex" is likely horrible latin for "King of Fire" or "Fire King".
We were also pleasantly surprised that CVinton sculpted a fire imp or some such
into the flames at the bottom of the tank behind the Smith figure.

As you might have deduced, there is more to come.  While we did manage to acquire CVinton's beautifully converted Ironcland Dreadnought (Seriously?  It's crushing a traitor guardsman in it's claw, how cool is that?) alas, we are not taking that to Adepticon this year, so it's not a priority right now.  I did manage to get my scaly claws on Bray'arth Ashmantle (that wasn't a shipping mistake CVinton, the Emperor was trying to tell you something...) and he will be serving as my personal HQ choice at Adepticon's 2012 Team Tournament.  Stop by our table this year in Chicago for a closer look.

Road to Adepticon: Motivational

It's 2012, the last year on Earth. Before the next Presidential election the zombie hordes are due to destroy life as we know it. But before THAT, a completely different horde of strange and wonderful individuals will descend upon unsuspecting Chicago-land for a weekend of combat with plastic and white metal warriors.

This will be Team Snake Eyes third straight Team Tourney. We are currently toiling, brush and Exacto knife in hand, to bring some new additions to our Salamander force. We are excited about these reinforcements and hopefully they will meet or surpass the standards we have set for ourselves in previous years.

I had wanted to do something for my brothers-in-arms for the holidays, but, as often happens, the holiday hecticness made me put it off until now. So, lads, here is a late but heartfelt look back at where we've been in an attempt to energize us for the sprint toward April.

I give you the first ever Team Snake Eyes Motivational. Enjoy!

Road to Adepticon 2012: Gaming the System

Well we have previously looked at the obvious requirement of getting your team together for the Adepticon Team Tournament.  I know, I know, we here at Team Snake Eyes are cutting edge bloggers continuously breaking new ground at every opportunity.

"Gaming the System" might not mean what you think it means.  I'm not referring to any sort of skeevy shenanigans that one might expect from lesser gamers, rather I mean taking at look at the Adepticon Team Tournament Rules and actually making a plan.  Shocking I know, but hear me out.

There are currently 120 teams registered for the tournament.  It is highly likely that there are other teams waitlisted since the opportunity to meet, and potentially play, me is unsurprisingly in high demand.  With this sort of competition it pays to have some idea of how you plan on getting as many points as possible.

The available points are as follows:

Battle Points (you know...winning the game) - 240 points (54% of total)
Commander's Heads (killing opponent HQ choices) - 32 points (7% of total)
Command Tokens (minimizing your use of special mission rules) - 32 points (7% of total)
Sportsmanship (not acting like "that guy" when you lose) - special
Appearance (paint your stuff you bums) - 60 points (14% of total)
Theme (do your 4 armies make sense together?) - 60 points (14% of total)
Tournament Quiz (harder than you might think actually) - 20 points (4% of total)
Team Spirit (how nuts are you about this tournament?) - special

The battle points are self explanatory.  You need to win as many games as you possibly can, by as big of a margin as you can possibly manage.  The commander's heads are also obvious.  Keep your HQ choices alive, and send the other team's HQ choices to an early retirement.  Each mission has a variety of wonky rules that adjust what constitutes a scoring unit and whatnot.  If you use your special rule, you lose a command token.  If you kill an enemy unit with a command token, then you gain one.  Your best bet here is to not use them unless you absolutely have to and kill everything your opponent puts on the table.  Sportsmanship is another category where you should be getting "easy" points.  Don't lose your cool, and work through any differences and you should provide an enjoyable game to your opponent.  Regarding appearance, I highly recommend reading the rules packet linked above.  You will be getting scored on overall painting, uniformity of your armies, detail work, highlighting, basing, and conversions.  The quiz is hard.  There's really not much more to say about that.  Spirit is the banners, shot glasses, costumes, etc. that some folks get into.  While this whole exercise benefits from large amounts of disposable income, this category in particular is just about how much money you are willing to spend.  Fortunately, it has no impact on your final score for the tournament.  Want a super-cool display board that shows the assault on the gates of Terra?  That gets you about 10 points.  Want a pizza box spray painted black with your team name on it?  That gets you about 3.  That difference equals about 1% of your total score and I don't even want to think about how much things like that cost.  While those kickass display boards are well...kickass, they are certainly not going to prevent you from scoring well if you don't have one.

In short, if you're at all interested in your team's final placement in the tournament, then make a plan.  It doesn't have to be as complex as entering into a land war in Asia, but put some thought into the enterprise.  To be honest, its exercises like this that add to our overall experience in the tournament.  If you find yourself at the tournament and wish to introduce yourself and/or your team, just look for this guy and say your piece.

Aerion's New Army

Well, maybe a LITTLE bit.

If by "new" you mean "purchased mostly when the army was released in Spring of 2011 and just now getting some love with the build and brush", that is.

Last year at Adepticon my long months of artistic guidance over the Salamander project was rewarded by a generous gift of some new models that had, just that very weekend in fact, been scattered Primarch-like across the globe by Games Workshop. As the imposing stack of Grey Knight kits was shoveled into my grateful arms I was both humbled and exhilarated. My humbleness has never waned, but my exuberance had to take a back seat to things like school, life, and various other projects.

This year another gift gave me a much needed impetus to see the Grey Knight project launched into the seas of possibility. My beloved wife, Lady Boxcars, signed me up for a Freeboota membership. For those who aren't aware (and honestly, if you're in the hobby and not, you're missing out), the lads at 40K Radio (link here) have a members only forum community collectively known as the "Freebootas". Membership has its privileges, but one big one is the friendly and supportive environment for lovers of our game.

Pursuant to that environment, the gang host an annual "Motivational Challenge". Basically they designate a goal for each month of the year for participants to accomplish. For example, January's goal was troops or "'Boota'z Choice" (i.e. whatever you want as long as it's something 40K related and you don't start it until the 1st of the month). If you complete your goal by the 15th you get a gold badge for your tracking bar. Complete it by the 30th and you get a silver. Get it done eventually and you get a bronze. As the year progresses you will ideally find that your chosen projects will be vacating your "to-do" shelf and ending up on the table.

I wanted to make my mark as a contributing member of the community so I dove in. I didn't want to start with troops (though, considering I actually had a smidgeon of free time between the holidays and the relaunch of school, I probably should have), so instead I took the "Boota'z Choice" option and got this guy out of the bitz box and prepped. On January 1 I primed him, and by the afternoon of January 4 I had this:

"Of course they have armor cleaning stations in the warp. Why do you ask?"

So that makes two complete models for my Grey Knight army. I have an HQ and I have a Heavy (Dreadknight). That gives me about 1000 points, so I'm halfway there. Woot!