November 15, 2010

Review: Towers of Midnight


I finished reading Book 13 of the Wheel of Time series on Saturday, Nov 6 - but I've delayed reviewing it because I had to go back and re-digest some parts of it before coming to you.

For my background with the series, you can read my review of The Gathering Storm.

Review: Skyline


"Don't look up" is this film's tagline... It's supposed to mean, "Don't look up at the light," but I would argue that it means, "Don't look up at the movie screen." Man this was a horrible flick. On a scale of 1-5, I give it 1.5 - and that only because the special effects are really good.
[Warning, mild spoilers]

October 20, 2010

Time For My Other Mistress

Leaving work in 15 minutes to drive to Anaheim for BlizzCon. Yeehaw! It's a lot of fun, if not just a little bit too much of one company's offerings for the two days. But I'll enjoy the crap out of it... I don't know why though.

September 19, 2010

Evacuated



Kicked out of my house.

Twitter #Herrimanfire

[update Tues, 9/21]
Added pic of what was coming towards my house Sunday night. Still not allowed home, maybe tonight. Maybe.

September 14, 2010

To Run a Con...


So I'm going to run YetiCon for 2011 from beginning to end. Wow. I feel a bit like doctor Frahnkenshteen above.

This is my first time ever arranging such an event... okay, any event other than something like my son's birthday party - this should be marginally more complex. I'm going to be posting here the things I learn, the things with which I struggle, my victories and defeats.

September 13, 2010

NOVA Open, Game 4 BatRep


Game 4 vs Michael J (finished 50/88, went 2-2 - I know because we were both 2-1 coming into this game)
As usual, at the end of the day I was running out of my ability/desire/memory to take pics during the game, so I have 2 for you. Yeehaw.

There's not a lot to learn from this game - except that if you're going to run mixed Space Wolves (which is totally feasible), then you've got to know how to support your own units when you play against a non-standard list (like mine).

September 10, 2010

Nipple-Wing, Take 2


So after taking the Original Nipple-Wing to the NOVA Open, I decided to review what I learned about the Shiny Ones.

A - They can actually be quite competitive given the right scenarios
B - They have several shortcomings that when exploited leaves you with a sound, sound beating.

September 4, 2010

I'm a Net Celeb, Yay Me!


So I finally listened to the two podcasts from the NOVA Open. At the time, the Gamer's Lounge seemed to have a little bit more organization - and of course they had the ustream going. The 11th Company was also there, and while theirs seemed a bit more informal at the time, with post-processing they end up sounding much better.

I'm on both, but the 11th Company I'm not being overshadowed by the presence of Chumbalaya (jerk). I start talking at 1:56:35 on Episode 30.

Also, if by some miracle you came here first, and haven't been over to YTTH lately, we just announced YetiCon. Go forth and check it out!

August 31, 2010

NOVA Open, Game 3 BatRep



Game 4 vs Sam P (finished 4/88 on day 1, 4-0. finished 5th overall with 5-2 final record)

Sam kicked my ass. There's not a lot of picks here, but I'll try to identify how he did it, what he did right, and what I did wrong. Yes, his dice were rolling well and mine were atrocious, but even without that, he still would've beaten me - it just wouldn't have been a tabling.

August 30, 2010

NOVA Open, Game 2 BatRep




Game 2 vs Bob S (finished 24/88, looks 3-1 from his score)

>>> WARNING <<<
Do NOT click pics to see zoomed version - you will think you need glasses. This is the last time I try to use a phone camera for pics (who cares if it's 8 megapixels if you can't see %#@*?).

August 20, 2010

The Next Big Thing


So here's the next army I'm working on. Right now it's all proxies - I want to solidify my feel for the game before I buy that many more vehicles.

It's Blood Angels - and it's kind of AV13 MSU. Kind of... anyways, I don't feel the need to keep it secret, so here goes:

August 19, 2010

Searching for Mr Goodbar... er, Trueblood



I'm hoping that someone out there knows Joseph Trueblood. I played him on Sunday at the NOVA Open against his Blood Angels. I have some questions I'd like to ask. If you could direct him here or have him send me an email at john[at]yesthetruthhurts.com, that would be awesome.

Thanks!

NOVA Open, Game 1 BatRep


Game 1 vs Nathan M (finished 69/88 looks like 1-3)

His list (doing this from memory/pic now will double check list I have at home tonight):

August 17, 2010

NOVA Open - Army Pics, pt 2

More army pics, more to follow...

NOVA Open - Army Pics, pt 1

I have no idea whose armies these are, so don't ask... I just went around when they were setup for paint judging and took some pics. 90% of the players weren't at their tables - they were doing the same thing I was.

I present to you, in no particular order, pictures of armies I found interesting, be it theme, paint, or conversions. Click the pics for the large versions, I apologize for blurry pics - apparently my phone has an 8 megapixel camera, but no image stabilization.

August 16, 2010

NOVA Open: Army Thoughts



So I had a great time and went 3-1 with my army... but I need to add a disclaimer: my pure Sanguinary Guard army is NOT competitive.

Yes, I beat 3 tournament armies and 2 friendly games as well. But I lost spectacularly to Sam in round 3 because, unlike my other opponents, had A) had a good list and B) wasn't dazzled by my army deep-striking all around him. Not to say the other 3 were noobs or had bad lists, but they either didn't have the low AP guns or power weapons, or they just weren't able to isolate and remove threat elements.

On day 2, I was asked to play Joe Strongblood's Blood Angels for his placement round, because his opponent had left. He also had a decent army list and knew how to protect his stuff - he never gave me the chance to use my 2+ armor with FNP. It was a slaughter.

I knew this coming into the tournament. I had decided to take it as a fun list... and I had a TON of fun and got lots of comments on it.

So as a final warning:

DO NOT TAKE THIS LIST AND EXPECT TO DO WELL!

Heading Home



Well it's time to head on out.

I would really like to thank Mike Brandt for working with us and keeping pushing so that we made the trip. Honestly, the cost was nearly the same as our trip to Vegas for the 2008 GT (travel was $200 more, food $25 less, event $100 less, and lodging $100 less - so we came out on top!).

The event was a blast!  I met a lot of great people - practically every one of them would be someone I would hang out with and would DEFINITELY play a game with.

Special props go out to Bob, Sam, Nathan, and Michael (my opponents), and Chumby, Islyfe, Mobious, and the rest of the Grim crew.... and especially Mike (again) and all his wonderful crew (except John - you'll be getting a bill from my ear doctor, holy hell man ;-) ).

August 14, 2010

NOVA Open Results!


Stelek is an Ace and going to day 2.

Danny Internet won Renaissance Man - ticket to Vegas and all that.

NOVA Open, Round 4 Results



Objectives win conditions, I end with 4 to his none, 1895 bps to his 990, and 3 quarters to his one.

Highlights included Mephiston going nuts and killing a grey hunter squad, twc lord, and some twc before going down. My dice returning and deciding to make up for horrid rolling the game previous. And the general look of surprise on his face as my army dropped down and only scattered 1d6.

At the bottom of 6, he had 3 drop pods left.

NOVA Open - Round 4 Opponent



Michael Johnson with Drop Pod Space Wolves. Great guy, but I'm a little disappointed that I've played 4 marine armies. Ah well.

Pitched Battle deployment, objectives win condition. I won the rolloff and have made him take the first turn.

NOVA Open, Round 3 Results



Got tabled. Lol.

Game highlights include... him playing a strong game, and my dice abandoning me. I made 2+ saves like they were 4+, couldn't hit (like EVER) in assault (master-crafted power weapons? Who has those?), and when I *did* hit, no wounds were forthcoming.

Don't get me wrong, Samuel still played a good game. I think it would have been close going into the last round with the nod going to him for number of units and ability to claim quarters... but as it was - it was U-G-L-Y.

NOVA Open, Round 3

Samuel and his Space Wolves. Funny - he played on table next to me for round 1 and said, "I do NOT want to play your list..."

Karma man, karma.

NOVA Open, Game 2 Results



Won Game 2, objectives win condition.

I had 3 objectives to his 0, 3 table quarters to his 0, and 1695 vp to his 640.

Highlights included him never really shooting at Mephiston - so he killed a vehicle a turn. His dreads tying up a couple units of mine for pretty much the whole game (until Mephiston freed one unit at the bottom of 6 to claim the center objective. And Dante's squad shooting his Libby squad, putting enough wounds for the Libby to take a save - who promptly failed it and dies because of Dante's curse... and then the squad fails Ld and ran off the table.

More to come...

Start Game 2



Bob Sinnot - Ultramarines.

Table 9.

NOVA Open, Game 1



Game 1 vs mech Blood Angels.

VP win conditions.

I win 1771 - 570. Plus get 3 (out of 5) to his 0 objectives and 3 table quarters to his one.

Highlights included his Mephiston killing my Mephiston. Me only failing 3 2+ saves all game (out of maybe 60). He only got 3 vindicator shots off and 2 deviated off my squads completely. And him only getting 3 rends total with all his assault cannon shots.

Full(ish) batreps to come when I get back.

August 13, 2010

Stelek v Dash



... I can't tell who's winning, everything is jumbled on the table. But I can tell you this, it has been a killing field - in slow motion. Holy hell this game is taking long.

Oh btw, I tabled Chumby - but the game was a blast (and not just because I won). But when we ended our game, Stelek v Dash was still on turn 2.

DashOfLiquor



Dash brought his bottle of Morgan to drown his sorrows in his breakdown.

Chest of Gold



My highly sophisticated army transport system. Yes, that is a shoebox.

By the Pricking of My Thumb...



We've arrived in D.C.

August 12, 2010

Midas Touch



Ack, the gold! Hey, the army was just primed on Sunday.

Super NOVA


I'm about to head home from work to go pack up my army and clothes (in that order of importance) to go to the NOVA Open. Our flight leaves at 6am, so I'm crashing at Andy's house tonight.

I promise some form of pics, batreps, and other coverage - I may even see if I can figure out how to do some of it from my phone over the weekend (but I aint promisin nuttin'!). If I can't or don't have the time, then I'll have a fun-filled few days of reporting when I get back.

August 5, 2010

Nerd Rage


So I have been invited to play in the NOVA Open's Friday Night Fights. I have been paired up against Chumbalaya of Blackjack & Hookers fame. He sent me an email telling me how great it would be to trash "a true follower of Stelek." You know what? Screw you.

June 10, 2010

Winning the Game: Familiarity

This is a continuation of this article. I wanted to take a moment to address a pretty common misconception on the point of Familiarity - or Know Thyself and Know Thy Enemy. There I briefly touched upon these two concepts, but here I want to go deeper, because we need it.

The basic misconception can be boiled down into this comment by my good buddy and gaming partner Don:

June 9, 2010

Dunkin Donuts

I have a story to tell. This story is true. The names and places have not been changed to protect the innocent, because there are no innocent in this case.

I present the following for your consideration:

June 2, 2010

The Necrons Are Coming

Ok first off, no, I'm not announcing that Necrons are the next codex.

I just wanted you to take a look at this article. I for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

May 27, 2010

Gone Fishin'

Okay - not fishing, but camping for the weekend. I won't be back until Tuesday, June 1st. So the no updates thing doesn't mean that I've fallen off the face of the earth...
Unless I fall off one of the trails at Zion National Park - some of those trails get up there!

May 25, 2010

Winning the Game

How do you win a game of Warhammer 40k? Is it simply a matter of throwing some models on the table, lining up like 18th century gunlines and blasting away until everyone is dead?
Hardly.

May 24, 2010

Know When To Walk Away, Know When To Run


I was reading Goatboy's article on How Not to Be a Douche over on BoLS and one of his bullet points stood out to me.

Miniature Review: Sanguinary Guard Box Set


This weekend I started assembling my Sanguinary Guard models that I got back here. Three boxes in, and it occurred to me to do a bit of a review. So sit back and enjoy.

May 19, 2010

Blog Roll - What's That?

I'm looking to expand upon my BlogRoll over yonder =>

If you have a blog and would like to be on my mini-roll, I would love to exchange links. Leave your blog URL in the comments.

Social Wha-? Look Man, I Just Want To Play a Game


So if you're here, it's likely that you have come from a source where you have read these articles. If you haven't, get thee hence.

Warning, it's quite a bit to digest.

May 18, 2010

Myth: Foot Slogging = Static



Based on this comment from Mercer:
"Can you explain how your troops as they appear to have lack of mobility."

I would like to talk about this for a minute, enough so to bring it into its own post. This is, of course, not to pick on Mercer as I have had this comment from a lot of people - whether about my army or about foot armies in general.

May 16, 2010

Ardboyz BatRep

Sorry about the lack of pics - my camera died in game 1, sigh.

My list:
2500 Pts - Space Wolves Roster

Ardboyz Results and Thoughts

Mmm, overslept this morning - needed a recharge after yesterday.

On to the stuff! I placed 2nd - so while I can't crow about it, my YTTH creds won't be revoked.

May 13, 2010

Oooooh, Goodies!

Ok, so I wasn't going to do another entry... but out on the lawn I heard such a clatter, I rushed to the window to see what was the matter, and what to my wondering eyes should appear? GOODIES!

Ardboyz Missions, part deux



Seriously people? Getting this worked up about it? Granted, Andy tends to go overboard on his criticisms, but I have spoken to many people that feel the same way: Scenario 1 & 2 are tailored to specific army types and Scenario 3 punishes mech.

May 10, 2010

ArdBoyz Kill Point Wackiness


So I have read a lot of whining about the published scenarios for the upcoming Ardboyz Tournament. To be fair, I wasn't overly thrilled with the rules for mission 3 either (let's see... I can take my 43 KP mech Eldar, or my 42 KP shooty Space Wolves). But after a bit of thinking, I'm not so much on the "THIS SUCKS!" bandwagon.

May 5, 2010

Budget Scissors


This is a fun army... I've played with it and it can really hit hard, but it can also get swept under the rug. The great thing about it is that it doesn't cost a lot to acquire.

First, the list:

Star Wars Day

Yesterday was Star Wars Day (the original Star Wars was released May 4, 1977). In celebration of that day, I bring you the single greatest car wash.
EVAR.

May 4, 2010

Logan Tricks or My Ardboyz Army


So I decided to run a Logan-wing army for Ardboyz. Less emphasis on the Wolf Guard, more on shooting crap up.

Here's my 2500 pt list. Oh yeah... this army can SHOOT.