Hobby Update 31/12/16- Deathwatch Rhino and Deathwatch Veterans

This week, I have been working on some more Deathwatch Veterans armed with Bolters and my Deathwatch Rhino. 

The Rhino was really easy to paint up, I actually managed to get it all done in one day. Doing edge highlighting on a vehicle with lots of straight lines and edges is pretty easy to do, so there was only the sections I decided to paint red and the metal work to finish off once all the highlighting was done. 

2016- A Year in Review

With 2016 drawing to a close, I thought that I would take a look at what has occurred in the last year, both in terms of my gaming/hobbying and for the blog itself. 

Armies

This has been quite a productive year for me in terms of my different armies for 40k. I have managed to get games in with most of my armies over the course of the year, with only my Vampire Counts suffering from a lack of games. 

My White Scars army certainly got the lions share of the gaming this year. They are really my tournament army, so I need a lot of practice with them for the various events that I attended this year. Back in August I actually completed all the models that I had for my White Scars, with almost 5000 points of Marines completed. I also re-based the entire army from a plain green base to a nicer brown base with static grass attached. 

I often get some nice compliments on the army whenever I go to different tournaments, which is always great to hear. They have performed pretty well for me over the last year and I will continue to use them and evolve the force. Right now, I have several Bike-mounted Librarians to paint up to add a Librarius Conclave to my force. 

This year, I have also started two new armies- the Deathwatch and Genestealers Cult. Regular readers will have seen the progress that I have been making on the Deathwatch, both in the painting aspect and the gaming aspects. I am really enjoying the army and hope to continue with it in the new year. 

The Genestealers Cult have not appeared on the pages of the blog yet. I have a ton of models bought and ready for assembly. At the moment, my focus has been on the Deathwatch, but the purple-skinned menace will be featured heavily on the blog next year, so keep an eye out for some interesting battle reports and hobby Sundays. 

Battle Report 91- 1500 pts White Scars vs Orks

This week's battle report sees my White Scars take on Tony's Orks. When I arranged to play Tony, I was originally going to take my Guard for a classic Ork/Guard match up. However, I discovered that I don't have my Codex with me in Newcastle, it must be packed away in a box back in Glasgow! 

I took my White Scars instead, but opted to go for a different, milder army than I would normally take to make for a better match up.

My army consisted of:

Combined Arms Detachment

Chaplain- Bike, Meltabombs (with BS1 or C)

6 Bikers- Power Axe, Meltabombs (BS1)

5 Bikers- Meltabombs (BS2)

10 Tactical Marines- Meltagun, Meltabombs (TM1 and TM2)

Rhino (R1)

10 Tactical Marines- Flamer, Meltabombs (TM3)

Rhino (R2)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S)

5 Vanguard Veterans- 3 Pairs of Lightning Claws, Two Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields (VV)

10 Assault Marines- Flamer, Power Fist (AM)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenade Launchers, Meltabombs (SB)

10 Devastators- 4 Heavy Bolters (DS)

I went for a mixed combat and shooting force. The Bikes, Vanguard Veterans and Assault Marines would provide some nice counter assault units as the Tactical Marines and Devastators fired at the Ork hordes. We completely forgot to roll for warlord traits, so neither side had one in the game. 

Hobby Update 27/12/16- Deathwatch Drop Pod and Veteran Kit Bash

This week, I have been working on my Deathwatch Drop Pod and assembling some more Deathwatch Veterans. 

For the Drop Pod, I decided to go for a simple colour scheme, mostly just black and metal like the one pictured in the codex. 

I had a couple of problems with the painting of the drop pod. Firstly, the Thunderhawk Blue I used for the first highlight was a little thick. Watering it down helped a little, but I found it tough to get it to transfer from the brush to the Pod. Secondly, the Abaddon Black I used to touch up any mistakes I made with the highlighting or metal was a slightly different shade to the undercoat that I used on the model. As a result, the black was a bit patchy where I had made mistakes. This was helped a little by giving the model a wash with some Nuln Oil, but you can still see it if you look closely. 

Merry Christmas

A Merry Christmas from St Andrews Wargaming! I hope that Santa was good to all of you, bringing you lots of 40k goodies. Did you get any good gaming gifts this year? If so, comment below and let the rest of us know what to be envious of. 

Hobby Saturday 24/12/16- Deathwatch Bikers

Hobby Sunday comes a day early this week, as I assume most people will be too busy tomorrow to be reading blog posts!

This week, I have been finishing up the Deathwatch Bikers. For the first time, I painted the Riders and Bikers separately. I figured this would make it easier to get the details painted up individually. This did indeed make things much easier to get painted. 

The edge highlighting was much easier on the bikes with all the straight edges on the model. 

300,000 Views

Image courtesy of Confessions of a 40k Addict.

Today, the blog hit just over 300,000 views. A big thanks to all the Russian bots who made this possible, they have been particularly busy over the last month to give me the big push before Christmas!

In all seriousness though, thanks to everyone who reads and enjoys the blog (or reads and hates it!). I only hit 200,000 views back in August, so to get another one hundred thousand in little under 5 months is fantastic. 

2016 has been a great year for my hobbying and the blog and I will soon be doing a recap of the year and what I hope to achieve in 2017 going forward. Any suggestions on what content you would like to see or how to improve the blog, let me know below. 

Battle Report 90- 1850 pts Deathwatch vs Necrons

This week's battle report saw my Deathwatch take on a Necron Decurion, commanded by Tom, in the Contact Lost Maelstrom mission (3 cards per turn).

My army consisted of:

Black Spear Strike Force

Watch Master- Beacon Angelus

Aquila Kill Team
5 Veterans- Infernus Heavy Bolter
Terminator- Heavy Flamer, Auxiliary Meltagun

Dominatus Kill Team
5 Veterans- 2 Heavy Thunder Hammers, Storm Shield and Power Maul, Black Shield with Power Sword
3 Vanguard Veterans- 2 Pairs Lightning Claws, I Heavy Thunder Hammer

Corvus Blackstar- Auspex Array, Hurricane Bolter

Combined Arms Detachment
Librarian- Level 2, Auspex, Meltabombs
10 Veterans- 4 Frag Cannons, 2 Storm Shields and Auspex
Drop Pod- Locator Beacon
5 Veterans- 5 Stalker Pattern Boltguns
Rhino
4 Bikers- 4 Power Weapons
4 Bikers- 4 Power Weapons

My warlord trait was Bane of Monstrosities, giving me re-rolls to wound and AP against Monstrous Creatures, Tanks and Superheavy Vehicles for the Watch Master.
The Librarian rolled on Fulmination, getting Electrosurge, Magnetokinesis and Electropulse.

This time, I split my forces between the Blackspear Strike Force and the CAD. I decided to try the Librarian with the Stalker Boltgun Veterans. The Stalkers and Bikes would deploy first, with the rest of the army coming in via deep strike as the game went on.

Hobby Sunday 18/12/16- Deathwatch Veterans, Deathwatch Bikes and Drop Pod assembly

This week, I have been continuing my work on the Deathwatch Marines. I have completed another squad of Marines, this time armed with an Infernus Heavy Bolter and the Sergeant with a Xenophase Blade. 

Changing Up Your Hobby- Try something new

Today's editorial takes a look at some of the changes I have recently made to my hobby and gaming routine, and how it has given me a different outlook on 40k and how I play. 

Tactical Tabletop

A few months ago, I purchased the Deathwatch codex on the day of its release. I had planned to review the Codex for the blog and then re-sell it on ebay. However, after reading the codex and writing my reviews of the Deathwatch, I started the enjoy the feel of the army and decided to start my own force. 

Now, I already have two Marine armies (the Dark Angels and White Scars, for those of you keeping score at home), but these are both primarily Bike-centric forces that use speed and mobility to achieve their goals in a game. I also have two horde armies, with my Astra Militarum and Ork forces, using massed firepower or combat attacks to defeat the enemy. 

For me, the Deathwatch seemed like a new type of playstyle; a smaller elite force, with some potent firepower, but most likely to be outnumbered by the enemy army and requiring surgical precision to use correctly. I was keen to see how a Marine army would play that was not overly reliant on Grav weaponry and durable bikes, or fantastic re-rollable cover saves in order to win games.