My Hobby Lair

Hello Chaos fanatics and mutant scum! Welcome to yet another fatal and furious edition of Chaos Corner. Old Man Chaos is here for a look behind the curtain if you will. This will be a bit of a look into my hobby life. A look into... THE CHAOS CORNER itself. If you are not prepared for this, turn back now... otherwise, get ready to see horrors beyond imagination...

Recently, my wife and I bought a new house. The house had an unfinished basement that was the footprint of the house. All my life, I have wanted a man cave, complete with big TV, videogames and... dedicated Warhammer space (that is NOT common for a man cave huh?). I really wanted a place where my hobby flag could fly; a place where I could leave my Warhammer out for all to see.

In my previous house, I had a painting station on a desk in my bedroom. All of my armies were kept in foam trays and boxes in my basement. The aforesaid basement was an unfinished basement filled with all my family's stuff. I had a gaming table down there, but it made for a crowded basement. Furthermore, there was a boiler down there and as my friend Pete often said, when the boiler was on it felt like the gates of hell had opened down there (very fuel inefficient too).

At any rate, that was then. Let's talk about now. My wife and I had visions of doing work on our house (new kitchen, etc). The basement beaconed to me---- but would it be feasible? So after a lot of discussion with my wife, and planning and more discussion, we came to it. We would divide the basement into two halves divided by a wall (with a door, obviously). The one side would be laundry, etc. The other half would be my man cave. I would finally get my chance to have a dedicated hobby lair.

First and foremost, was the table. As my loyal readers know, I had some great friends and family build a suitable table. I have made one alteration to the table since then. I got some felt and added it to the sides of the table. These are my "rolling lanes" for the dice. While throwing dice on the war gaming area is nice, the truth is I hate "cocked dice", and I really hate the dice hitting into my lovingly painted (and sometimes delicate) models. Hence the rolling lanes. Now I put the felt so that the table is protected. Further, it makes it look really professional LOL.

The other rolling lane can be used for rolling dice, or as we do, use it for command points, cards, books, dead models, etc. Having the two lanes on either side of the table really gives the table something special. If you are going to build your own table, I strongly recommend a 4x8 table (rather than the traditional 6x4). My friend Joe, who has a gaming table of his own, says that the rolling lanes make a huge difference in both keeping things organized and keeping the game moving (again, no cocked dice, no dice knocking models around).

Another thing that I did was really try to utilize the space under the table for my terrain. Over the years I have collected a ton of terrain. Personally made terrain, odds and ends, GW terrain, friend built terrain, etc. I can't store it all under the table. So I did the best I could, organizing it so I could maximize the amount of terrain that was under there, but having it still be accessible. I got some boxes for the terrain, and used them to add more storage space (terrain won't spill out of the box).

Around my table I have placed some Warhammer art. I found a couple of pieces on Amazon that I really liked. One is a winter scene from one of the Dawn of War games. I love it because it is just so evocative of the Guard, as well as the cold environment. My second piece of art is one of the new renditions of THE battle of the Horus Heresy, with the Warmaster fighting the Emperor with Sangunius laying "dead" in the background. This is the largest art piece and it is near the center of the table. I think this is THE moment in Warhammer, so it deserves the special prominence. Interestingly (and unintentionally) the grey color in the art is similar to the paint color I used on my walls... The third art piece is the Chaos symbol with the artwork from 3.5 edition codex for the Chaos gods. I saw this and said how could Chaos Corner not have this on the wall?! LOL

Finally, I have several pics that I cut (literally) out of the old edition rule books- how many do you recognize? And I have two that came with the box sets of special characters. They just needed an 8 1//2 x 11 frame each. Small, but still effective for my purposes.

Next up in the Chaos Corner is my 40K model display cases. The cases are from Ikea. They go together pretty quickly, though I recommend having at least two people putting them together- I thank my brother for doing that with me. At any rate, I have (many, but not all) of my models on display. Again, this is something that I have always wanted to do- have my models out for all to see.

I have in my cases Ad Mech, Khorne, Thousand Sons, and of course, nearly two cases of Plague Marines (and that doesn't include Plague Zombies). My Ultramarines are not on display, as I let Brian use them and thus they are kept in carry cases.

Up next is my painting station. It is still just a desk, buttressed by two bookshelf units. I get to place extra models and paints on these bookshelves because... its my Chaos Corner and why not? Previously I couldn't have done that. Now I can. I have all my 40K books and White Dwarfs in easy reach too so I consult while painting.

That is the first half of my Chaos Corner. The other half is my multimedia setup. I have connected most of my old videogame systems up to my TV. I can now play my old TurboGrafix 16 system then switch over to my Super Nintendo! Again, a dream I have always had and has now become a reality.

Finally there is my collection of autographs that I have gotten from various ComicCons and I-Cons and the like. I am particularly proud of my George A. Romero signature. I also have Darth Maul, the Emperor, Captain Kirk, and more! I am happy to display these in my Chaos Corner.

So here is the whole thing: 

Well, now the curtain has been lifted, and you can see the complex operations happening in the Chaos Corner. I am very happy to share my gaming area to inspire you as you build yours. It took a long time, and a lot of work, but is such a pleasure for me. I am grateful to my wife for supporting me in what I wanted.

Until Next Time...

I fell off the face of the warp

Hey there Chaos fanatics! Old Man Chaos is back, with a vengeance as it were. I know I haven't posted for quite a while, but I have been very, very busy. Mrs. Chaos and I bought a new house. As I'm sure you realize, this is a big undertaking- banks, lawyers, etc... but it also meant that we had to move, get settled, do work on the house, paint, rearrange furniture for the 20th time... well you get the picture. Because of all that, I have been unable to post in quite some time. That doesn't mean I haven't been keeping up on my 40K though. I have been doing my models, reading 8th edition rules, etc. I will show the things I've painted up... when I can find my lamps that I use to illuminate the models, that is...

Besides, I have something a bit bigger than that to share with you now, my fellow denizens of the warp. When my wife and I were shopping for a house, she said that I should have a dedicated space for my hobby. Not just a painting desk, but a virtual man-cave sized gaming and hobby area. Now that is an understanding wife, no? At my old family home, I had a gaming table in the basement, but the basement was crowded with a family's lifetime of stuff and clutter. It wasn't that big either. And it had an old boiler that my friend Pete said was the gateway to hell itself (it threw out lots and lots of heat- making it impossible to play down there in the summers). At any rate, my wife wanted me to live the 40K addicts dream with a dedicated space.

With incredible luck, we found such a house that had the perfect space. Yes, it is a basement. But with a little work the basement could be finished, and it would practically double our living space. Great neighborhood, great house, good price... and an area for 40K.

Fast forward a few months. With most of the work done I began planning out my man cave / battle bunker. Half would be dedicated to a good TV and videogame setup. The other half would be 40K central. I moved my painting desk down to the cave and it was perfect (I just have to tidy up a little bit).

When it came time to get a table... I was fucked. I am absolutely NO good with building actual things (plastic models? Yes. A 4x8 table? Hell no.). My previous table was designed and built by Pete (my brother and I certainly helped, but Pete was the boss. And Joe only played with Skorpinok in my basement as we toiled). Pete has since moved far away, and while I see him once in a while there's no way he could build me another table. How could I do it now?

As it turned out, I'd get a ton of help. A bunch of my friends/family put our heads together and came up with a solution. Russ, who has never ever played 40K before is very good at figuring out things. As we described the table I wanted he said that it could certainly be done. And it would be a housewarming present to boot!

 So, a few Saturdays ago, Brian, Russ, Steve, and I went to get all the lumber and screws and such. We took it all back to my basement and began construction. It took several hours, but by the end we had created an incredible table! And despite all our efforts, there were no snags or snafus- heck, no one got hurt either (power tools and us don't mix exactly).

 We started with the legs, framing them out. Russ wanted me to have storage space underneath so that I could store some terrain, dice, models, etc. Now, it could never fit all my terrain crap, but it would certainly be helpful to have that space.

Once the legs and shelf space was set in, we then put the table top on. Now, originally it was just going to be one huge sheet of wood. However, it couldn't fit in any of our vehicles. So I said to have the store cut it down the middle for transport. Russ said he could make it work. With metal braces placed on the undersides, he as able to join them together just fine. Then, the table went on top of the legs and with some screwing, hammering, etc, the table was done.

 But we were not finished. One of the things that always bugged everyone who has ever played warhammer is when dice roll onto the floor. To solve that problem, we put wood molding around the perimeter of the table, as a border. Now, dice won't roll off the table edge.

The other issue we dealt with was WHERE to roll the dice. Now whenever Pete built a table, it was always 4 x 8. Now, usually games are no more than 4x6. I figured that I would only do 4x6. But Brian had a wild idea- build it 4x8 (just in case we wanted an Apoc game or something). Using similar molding as what we placed on the perimeter, we would cut two pieces so they would fit width-wise across the table. If I placed my game mat in the exact middle of the table, I would have a foot on each side. The molding border would be put in, giving us a rolling lane, an area to put Tactical cards or dead models or what have you. This was also accomplished with great ease.

With construction done, I decided to paint the table top black (my multimedia unit and my modelling desk are black so I figured why not match it all). I may or may not paint the table legs at a later date, but I really just wanted to get the top done.

Ah! Now it was finished I put on one of my mats that I got from FAT Mats. And then some terrain. And at that point I knew that I had exactly what I wanted- a gaming table in a place with plenty of space! And the table is just perfect.

So, about a week later, Brian and I decided to break in the new table with two games. His Ultramarines against my Khorne forces- as nature intended. Now I have played a few 8th edition games, as had Brian. I like 8th edition, though I think it still has problems. Brian with his gun line wins against me every time, because I have to go in close to get him. Though close combat is brutal, you still have to GET there, which turned out to be very difficult for me.

In the first game, we had table quarters playing big guns never tire. Brian stole the initiative and shot me to hell. I lost half my army during his turn 1 shooting phase. There was literally nothing I could do. Nothing. And I made decent save rolls too. It was just too much firepower.

 In his turn 2 he wiped out most of what remained. Brian is the type of player who always goes for the throat. Not unfair or cheating- just he plays tough and he plays to win. He said that close combat armies will always lose to that sustained shooting. He feels that alpha strike determines the winner way too much.

The second game was the arrowheads deployment and we played the cleanse and control maelstrom mission. This game Brian also won, but It was back and forth until turn 3. Heck, some of my guys even managed to kill things in combat!

 Kharn killed some stuff (including 4 of my Warp Talons- I forgot he can re-roll to hits. I rolled 4 1s and forgot the re-roll. Ugh). Again, Brian shot me to hell, but I was able to score some points with the cards and hurt him a little bit. The fact that Marines can get re-roll to hits and re-roll of 1s to wound makes their shooting pretty much unstoppable. But I got some skulls so Khorne was happy.

 Two losses in a row was not the ideal way to break in my new table, but that's OK. The table was great- the mat and terrain were just fine, and the rolling lane made it really nice so our dice weren't hitting models, getting cocked every 5 seconds, etc. 

So with that I will close this blog post. I am grateful that I have gotten the chance to have what I have always wanted- a dedicated Warhammer space. Thanks to Brian, Steve, and Russ for making it happen. And my wife, who doesn't mind being married to a nerd.

Until next time...

The February Tournament (2016)

Hey there Chaos followers and sycophants! Welcome to yet another (ugh) edition of Chaos Corner. It's been a busy hobby time for me these past few days- I have had a work break, allowing me to do more modelling, painting, and why yes, even gaming. The truth is I don't get to game as much as I'd like- but that's the way it goes. However, this weekend was a tournament at my local, and I had the opportunity to partake.

This tournament was different in a few ways. First, we were limited to 1,000 points- and then we were randomly assigned allies. In a strange twist, I was teamed up with my friend Brian. What?! The gentleman running the tournament swore that it was done randomly on his Excel program. I believe him- but seriously, what are the chances? LOL. So it was my Cult  Mechanicus with Oathsworn Knight alongside Brian's Ultramarines (which are MY Ultramarines, FYI).

Second, the tournament was set up for 3 rounds. The ranking was based on how many points your side could achieve. This was done in a very interesting way (inspired by one of the bigger tournaments whose name I can't remember). Basically, you could achieve the primary objective in one of two ways- you had to choose before setting up (and then announce it at the start of turn 1). There were also a set of 10 secondary objectives- you chose 3, and announced them at the start of turn 1. I have never played with this format before. It was a little confusing at first- but once we got going it got quite clear, and was a lot of fun.

First, I have to say that we had some nice battlefield terrain. My local had a terrain building session several weeks ago. I was unable to attend, but I donated some of the GW building sprues from the big box set that I still have. The terrain was a mix of old stuff and these newly built pieces. Overall, there were some really nice pieces on the tables. One that stood out was a set of pieces that had Tyranid spores consuming/dissolving things- built with foam and toothpicks for the "teeth". The other really nice piece (that we didn't get to play on sadly) had a huge sectional piece that had a large cliff and plateau - and a bunker at the bottom. Awesome piece. Finally, one of the guys had brought in their Fantasy Realm of Battle Board, painted up to be a desert wasteland. The glowing skulls were a really nice touch. This was to be the site of our first match.

Ultramarines and the Mechanicus prepare to wage war as allies to the Omnissiah

So, I was now teamed up with Brian, and we are about to square off against an unholy alliance of Necrons and Dark Angels (bike and terminator heavy). The game did not go well for me and Brian for several reasons. First, like I am sure all of you are aware, Necron Reanimation Protocols suck. Seriously. I don't know how many my Grav Cannons killed- but the Reanimation made it seem like NONE died at all. I have used the Mech army twice- and against that many gravs most things don't stand a chance (unless they are armor 5-6). Ugh.

Necrons and their Reanimation... UGH.

The Dark Angels also had some crazy invul saves, negating the usefulness of my Grav and the Imperial Knight's Gatling Avenger. Last, Brian and I did not cooperate as well as we could have. He deployed his Marines out of their Rhinos and ended up blocking my shots and giving cover saves for firing through our own men. Then, his Rhinos also caused a bit of a traffic jam, slowing down our movement (I guess the "free Rhino" thing has some limits then after all?).

This would ultimately become a huge traffic jam. Where's General Patton when you need him?

The most humiliating thing was when Necron Scarabs got in and charged my Knight. The truth is, this is only my second game USING a Knight, and I didn't know all the Super-Heavy rules. Should his swarms have been smashed or not? I wasn't sure. It took 2 turns of combat to get rid of them.

Shameful indeed for  Knight Vindicta

Hehe... You said "Cocked"...

However, it wasn't all bad. We all had a laugh when the Necon player rolled a dice and it got "cocked", standing on edge on the table- it was at such a great angle- even as we lost, we could chuckle at that sight. Further, Brain and I did manage to gain SOME of the secondary points. My Knight destroyed a Dark Angels Land Speeder, which we had nominated as a High Value Target. The DA player had kept him hidden, but grew too confident and brought him out to play (though, the rest of the game gave him lots of reason to be confident). My Gatling Avenger made short work of the Land Speeder- a slight triumph for us.

The Land Speeder that was our High Value Target

Ultimately, we got wrecked. And, sadly, the entire match felt like we didn't stand a chance. Between Reanimation, re-roll of invuls for DA bikes, and my team's lack of cooperation, I don't mind losing- but I want to feel that the battle was hard fought and close till the end. We didn't get that at all. On the flip side, I don't enjoy winning by tabling my opponent in turn 2 either- that may be a "victory", but not a fun game.

The Terminators mop up after the Necrons- HERESY!

As we broke for lunch (some tasty pizza), Brian and I regrouped. We discussed ways to improve our coordination. We decided that we would talk before we started moving models, making sure fire lanes were open, and that we could move without getting in each others way. Funny enough, since I introduced Brian to the hobby, we have ALWAYS been opponents. This was the first time we had to cooperate. And our first opponents presented a steep learning curve (he has never faced Necrons before, FYI).

Onto the second match. This was on the field that had Tyranid digestion pools, which I really liked. Our opponents were once again an Unholy Alliance of Chaos Daemons and Dark Angels (Ravenwing... are you sensing a pattern here). They were lead by Sammael and Fateweaver. The Dark Angels were nicely painted, and Fateweaver had a nice conversion- a "crystal ball" was placed in his hand.

We just couldn't get Fateweaver down

This time, Brian and I cooperated much better, combining our fire on targets to make sure they were DEAD. In our first round, we shot the heck out of a squad of Screamers, whom we nominated as the High Value Target (gaining us that second objective and First Blood). The DA bikes posed a problem initially, but as Brian and I combined our strength, even their re-roll invuls couldn't save them.

Dark Angel Ravenwing Column Advances

Our opponents got in their licks too though. Fateweaver was flying high, and my Icarus Cannon just couldn't tackle him. Fateweaver then proceeded to rain Psychic attacks down on our troops, destroying Rhinos and harassing the men (he also killed their High Value Targets, which were a group of my Kataphron Destroyers). The enemy Soul Grinder also did its thing, lobbing its Phlegm attacks onto exposed Marines. Lastly, arriving Dark Angel flyers did some damage as well.

Ravenwing Bikers make their way down to the advancing Ultramarines

Ultimately, Brain and I were winning, whittling down their forces at a faster rate. The final decision came at the center of the table. The objective was worth 5 points- and Brian and I had selected the secondary objective that requires a Warlord to be near the center of the table. The Dark Angels swooped in with bikes and Sammael, hoping to clear the Ultramarine captain and his squad off. Unfortunately for the DA, their initial strength had been dwindled due to my Grav Cannons, so there were fewer of them.

"Rampaging Knight kills Sammael. Film at 11"

The DA player  rolled pretty badly in that combat, killing none of Brian's Marines. However, this could have been a long drawn out fight. So, I charged my Knight in. The Knight cut through the rest of the bikers. All that was left was Sammael. So, I rolled to stomp. I only rolled for 1 stomp. Would 1 be enough. I rolled on the Stomp chart- I got a 6!! Sammael had no chance and was basically stomped to death by a rampaging Imperial Knight. With him gone, we certainly had the center of the table- and with a Knight standing by, there was nothing else they could do.

Brain and I won. Points wise it was close, but it was clearly our win. The game was a lot of fun with lots of back and forth. Our opponents were very good sportsmen, laughing at our foibles as well as their own- such as when Fateweaver suffered Perils of the Warp. A great game with lots of laughs, and fought well till the end. For my team, it seemed that Brian and I had found our groove.

Saruman wasn't kidding when he said "Two Towers"...

So- now to our third match. This battlefield's distinguishing feature was the two towers on a hill in the middle of the battlefield. Our opponent had a problem. His partner had to leave, so he was on his own. To compensate, the TO jumped in with his (guess) ... Ravenwing Dark Angels. Wow- I guess I know what the Meta is at this place! Anyway, he had Ravenwing Bikes, 3 Land Speeders (each as a separate unit, one with Melta) and a Fire Raptor Gunship from Forgeworld (a beautiful model- and quite deadly). Our other opponent was just a vanilla Space Marine list.  Nothing fancy, but enough to be a challenge.

The Tech-Priest guards the objective

The game started off with Night Fight- this didn't hurt too  much, as we were deployed basically in table corners and too far away to hit anything turn 1. Starting turn 2, we began firing on the Space Marine player, again wiping out our HVT (A Rhino). We already had 3 objectives, and thought we could prevent the SM player from getting the Relic in the middle (which THEY chose to treat as a stationary obj for their victory requirement). However, bottom of turn 2, the Dark Angels made their appearance. Bikes and Land Speeders came in from the flanks. One squad (with the librarian) came on next to me- my Tech Priest and Destroyer unit were in trenches with the objective. Luckily, I knew this was a possibility, and I had selected the Canticles that ended up giving me Stealth and Shrouded (my warlord trait allowed the Tech Priest and his unit to enjoy the highest bonus on the Canticles). The bikers shot everything they had (plasma mostly), but thanks to the Canticles I was unharmed.

The Fire Raptor enters the field

Meanwhile, the Fire Raptor came in. I used my Knight's Icarus Cannon to intercept. I manged to take a Hull Point and Make him fire snap shots. He vowed revenge. His Land Speeders did just that, assailing my Knight from 2 directions. My Knight was down to 3 Hull Points. Meanwhile, try as we might, we just couldn't clear the Space Marines from the table center- it was happening, but not fast enough it seemed.

Trying to clear the Space Marines from the center objective

On turn 3 (the final turn, due to time constraints) Brian and I went all out. Ultramarines and Destroyers firing at the approaching bikers. Using Canticle that re rolls misses, my Grav managed to kill the librarian and final bikers, thus eliminating the threat. The TO recognized that this hurt them, as did the fact that Brian managed to get into the relic thus contesting (both Marine forces having obj secured). I also had my Knight charge the nearest Land Speeder (the Melta) and cleaved it in twain.

The Ravenwing Bikers were destroyed by mass Grav fire- despite their re-roll Invuls

In the final analysis, they won by 1 point. However, the TO noted that if the game had gone on another turn or 2, it would have been a different story. The Knight was still functioning and would have done lots of damage to the Space Marine units. Further, I still had 2 squads of Grav Destroyers that would ruin anybody's day. So, while we lost by 1, Brian and I felt good about the match nevertheless. The Space Marine player was friendly and laid back. The TO was in it to win, but he was also a lot of fun- bellowing (humorously) that he would get revenge on my Knight for his temerity in shooting his Fire Raptor. A great match, and a great way to end the Tournament.

A fun day was certainly had. On a side note, we had a contest for best painted model. With a tie breaking vote from one of the store employees, my Tech Priest Dominus won best painted model. I was very happy and honored. There were lots of good looking models on the tables though- and that was awesome.

Well, this has been a long blog, but I wanted to get in as many of the details as I could remember before I forgot them.

Until Next Time