A Multitude of Milestones!

I thought I would condense all of these into one single post as the blogging milestones have all been coming together recently. 

This post is my 300th on the blog! I can't believe how much I have been able to write in just 16 months. 

In addition to that, last week the blog hit over 200,000 views! That is crazy to me, considering it took about a year to get the first 100,000. Not only that, but I recently got over 100 followers and over 2000 comments on the blog. 

I'm really pleased with the direction that St Andrews Wargaming has been going in and hope it will continue for some time. 

Of course, this wouldn't mean anything without everyone out there who takes the time to read and comment on my work here. I'm always looking to improve the blog, so if you have any suggestions as to this or anything you would like to see on the blog, comment below. 

Hobby Season 2016/2017- Hobby Goals

With the recent hobby season coming to a close, I began to cast my mind's eye towards the future and what I want to achieve in the coming years. Here are some of my hobby goals for the 2016/2017 season. 

1. Find a new gaming club

This is the big one for me. I will be moving to Newcastle in a few of weeks to start a new job. As a result, I will be leaving the St Andrews area and the awesome Dundee Wargames Club. My main hobby priority will be finding a new club that I can continue to play at. For me, gaming is one of the great joys of 40k. I do enjoy painting and modelling, but gaming is why I really do this hobby. I will hopefully be able to find a club to continue to do so. 

St Andrews Wargaming is Moving!

Well, not St Andrews Wargaming, but I will be moving! I will be moving to Newcastle in a few weeks to start a new job. 

Do not fear though, St Andrews Wargaming will be continuing even though I am no longer in St Andrews. There may be a bit of a lack of content in the coming weeks as I get settled into my new digs and try to get everything sorted. The most significant lack of content will be new battle reports until I can find a new club and get some games played! 

On that note, if there are any gamers in the Newcastle area that are aware of any local gaming clubs, please let me know!
Another bonus of moving further south is that I may finally get to visit Warhammer World! And I should be able to attend more events at the North West Gaming Centre in the future.

I have really enjoyed my time in St Andrews. A special thanks to all the members of the Warsoc games club in St Andrews and the Dundee Wargames Club for welcoming me into their ranks and providing some fantastic content for the blog over the years. 

Hobby Sunday 28/08/16- Imperial Church and High Elf showcase

This week, I put the finishing touches to my Imperial Church that was built a long time ago, but I only recently got round to painting. 

I gave the doors and decorations a second coat of Brass Scorpion, followed by a wash with Agrax Earthshade. I also painted up some of the vents in Leadbelcher to break up the grey a little. 

Codex Deathwatch Review: Part 4- Formations

This final part of my Deathwatch review will take a look at the formations available in the new codex. Most of these formations are based on different Kill Teams available to the Deathwatch squads.

Kill Teams
The majority of the formations available to the Deathwatch are in the form of Kill Teams, made up of combined units from the codex.
All Kill Teams are fixed at a maximum of 10 models in the unit, excluding transport vehicles. Each member of the Kill Team forms a single unit that can't be combat squaded and cannot be broken up as the game proceeds.

Codex Deathwatch Review: Part 3- Fast Attack

Welcome to part 3 of my review of the Deathwatch Codex. This section of the review will cover the Fast Attack portions of the army. 

Bikers

Unusually, a Deathwatch Biker unit consists of only a single model, with the option of taking a squad of up to 5 models. The Bikers have a Veteran's profile and come armed with Special Issue Ammunition for their bike. The unit also gains Split Fire and Skilled Rider. This is great for ensuring that the bikers don't kill themselves with difficult terrain and gives them a bonus to their Jink save. In addition, any model can take a power weapon (only 5 pts), meltabombs or a teleport homer. 

Deathwatch Codex Review: Part 2- HQ and Troops

The second part of my Codex Deathwatch review will look at the HQ and Troops units available in the new book. 

HQ Units

Being a Space Marine Chapter, there are many similarities between the HQ units in the Space Marine and Deathwatch Chapters. 

Watch Master

The Watch Master is essentially the Chapter Master of the Deathwatch army. He comes with the Chapter Master stats, along with a 2+ save, Guardian Spear, Iron Halo and Clavis. He also allows you to change the Mission Tactics for your army once during the game. 

A Watch Master is a solid character to lead the Deathwatch. He comes with a 2+ save and 4+ invulnerable, meaning he can be quite durable in combat or to shooting. The Guardian Spear also allows him to strike at S5 and AP2 at initiative, which is quite good for taking on a range of opponents. Changing your Mission Tactics is also great for some added tactical advantages during your game.

One downside of the Watch Master (and most Deathwatch HQ units) is that he is unable to take a Jump Pack or Bike. This seriously hinders his mobility on the battlefield and will force you to take a transport vehicle and an attached squad if you want him to move around the battlefield quickly, with some additional protection. 

Deathwatch Codex Review: Part 1- Special Rules, Warlord Traits, Wargear and Relics

Welcome to the first part of my review of the new Deathwatch codex. We are truly in a golden age of 40k, where armies such as Harlequins, Cult Mechanicus and Imperial Knights are getting their own codices. The latest addition to the wish-list of new factions is the Deathwatch. This review will look at the special rules, warlord traits and Relics available to the Imperium's foremost Xenos hunters. 

Special Rules

The Deathwatch have access to a few special rules that add some flavour to the army. These include Atonement Through Honour, Combat Squads and Mission Tactics. 

Atonement Through Honour- A model with this rule gets to double its attacks when locked in combat with a number of selected model types or if their squad is outnumbered by the enemy unit(s). When I first saw this rule, I'd hoped that it applied to an entire unit. Imagine a unit of Veterans that got 4 attacks base when outnumbered by the enemy! Unfortunately, that is not the case. This rule applies only to Black Shields, a special upgrade for a single model in a Veteran squad (which will be covered in more detail in the Troops review). This is still a nice bonus for a single model. I would be inclined to give the Black Shield a melee weapon of some type to benefit from the increased number of attacks he is likely to get. 

Better Know A Blogger- Part 21: 256th Imperial Battle Group

This week's Better Know a Blogger features Steven Burden from the 256th Imperial Battle Group. 

Steven has been a long time reader and comment-er on my own blog, and I found his own blog after he started following St Andrews Wargaming. 

Steven's blog features a good mix of content to keep a reader entertained. You will find a number of editorials and opinion pieces on a variety of topics, such as Battlescribe, Super Heavy vehicles and creating armies. 

You will also find a lot of hobby progress and the occasional battle report as well.  

A great addition to the blog is the detailed background on his various 40k armies. This gives some great fluff for his armies and is well above what most players will devote to their game (I don't even name my units or characters, never mind come up with a history!). 

Here are Steven's answers to my questions:

Me with the bairns (the pink thing is the young lady's leg).

1. What age did you get into gaming and what started it off?

I don't remember the exact age I started playing but I was at senior school, so maybe 12 or 13. I remember the first time I saw a figure though, a friend of mine had brought in some RT Blood Angels that he'd bought at a car boot sale. I remember being hooked at first sight and from then on I was pretty much always dropped of at the local GW store whenever we had to go to town, much to the relief of my mum as well I think. I also remember the first time I really read the fluff, when I got the started box set, and I read it several times over, it was unlike anything else I had ever seen before.

Medusa IV Campaign- Final turn results

My map-based 40k campaign has recently come to an end. The campaign lasted just under a year, had 18 players at one time or another and over 130 battle for fought for control of the Kharysian sector of Medusa IV. 

The moves and results for battle phase 1 were:

Turn 8, battle phase 1 moves.