OMFG ... I've lost Disqus!

Arggghhhh ... I've lost disqus. Randomly choosing a 'nice' template to tryout has killed my commenting system full stop. This sucks badly and must be blogged about.

Register your distate by voting in my poll for the next batrep ... since no other commenting method will work.

Arggggh!

Competition: Who will win?!?

Long time, no post ... ahhhh bugger it - got some good stuff in the pipeline!

Spearhead 'spearheaded'

Had a cracking game against Mark on the spearhead front on Tuesday. 2000pts, no quarter given, maximum carnage. Now I'm off on honeymoon for a week, so my question is this... which one wins??? Suneokun's Evil tactics OR Mark's shiney new toys?

The lists are as follows:

Suneokun's Kochi 'Surprise' guardsmen

• Straken and command squad with Astropath, 2 bodyguards, a medic, 2 flamers and a melta!
• Primaris psyker
• Penal Legion #1 (Psychopaths)
• Penal Legion #2 (Psychopaths)
• 3 Chimeras with the Mechanised Assault Spearhead!
• 3 Sentinels with Lascannons and Tank Hunters
• Stormssword with dual lascannons, twin-linked heavy bolters and dual heavy bolters.
• 6 Roughriders, sergeant with melta.
• 2 Hellhounds with multimelta, smoke and the 'Ambush' formation (effectively infiltrate and stealth).

VERSUS

Mark's new toys

• Primaris Psyker
• 2 Vets Squads with melta, powerfist and lascannon.
• Leman Russ Annihilator with twin multimelta, lascannon in Squadron
• Leman Russ Demolisher with twin heavy bolter and lascannon in Squadron
• Vendetta
• 3 Lascannon Sentinels with Tank Hunters
• 3 Autocannon Sentinels
• 2 Manticores with Ambush?
• Deathstrike Missile of DOOOOM!

So place you bets, and post your predictions in here ... the game is the long board, triangle deployment with 3 objectives (and the superheavy becoming one!)

I'll be back on the w/c 5th to set things right and give you a full batrep~!

Pathfinder "inter-blog-web-thingie" - 200 posts in.

100 followers, 200 posts - when did that happen?!?

Good grief, that snuck up on me! Due to insane business (oh and getting married, never a low-key undertaking) in May and June, I've stumbled - blinded and bleeding - across the line of my 200th post!

In just under 2 years, I've lost friends from 40k (My brother ... Devilin) and gained others (Anton and Spence to name a couple ...although they're not actually an item, but you get my meaning...), collaborated with Ron at FromTheWarp and put faces to online names (here's to you Mr. and Mrs. Drax).

My war gaming has gone from a dining table habit to a weekend wonder. I've played in doubles tournaments, APOC games, Battle Missions, Planetstrike, Hordes ... and my enjoyment of war gaming has blossomed ...

I've also come to terms with my 'embaressment' at being apart time uber-geek. Certain wargamers still scare the bejesus out of me ... but wargaming tends to attract the extreme ends of asbergers intended individuals, and that's cool... just don't ask me to hang with you while you're doing your velociraptor impression ... as a bell-curve, these guys (and girls, yes girls ... I know - its truly terrifying) populate a small percentage of the population.

The wargaming fraternity I've met have been welcoming, intelligent, erudite and very very funny... doesn't count for everywhere, but my experience has been overwhelmingly positive.

Finally, and not the least. I'm touched that so many people find pleasure in the innane drivel and detailed batreps I pound out for your entertainment. The combo of 40k, my club and the online environment has been a particularly potent mix. So thanks to all the commenters, visitors and followers who've stuck around with me in the last two years...

Stick around, thing's are getting interesting!

What's next?

Well Chaos Marines are itching for their first coat of paint .. and I have rhino's to buy and build. Malifaux's itching at the edges and there's some final Imperial Guard models to do. My 40k experience is far from over ... but its edging towards the banal ... except "SPEARHEAD"... time to roll out the tanks!

Shout Out to a Buddy - Spense/Spin/The Undercoater...

Just a quick post to 'big-up' my mate Spense ... who has finally succumbed to the tinterweb and started a blog. Alike to Anton (my mad, frenzied painting buddy), Spense is ex-GW staff. Unlike Anton, his nickname is 'the undercoater' because he rarely (if ever) has painted anything, ever.

He does however have a pile of interesting ideas about the wargaming scene ... although he bitches about the loss of 4th edition SOOOO much! Check out Spense's ramblings here:

THE ORACLE

It's all gone a bit Midkemia?!?

Spearhead ... you what?

Grab yourself a cup of tea, turn the brain on,

and prepare to delve into the nefarious minds of GW...

What's GW up to? Apart from trying to ship more plastic crack (that's a given), it seems a little unclear. Alike to other bloggers, I usually eschew the expensive advertising that is White Dwarf and get my kicks from the tinterweb... however the new Spearhead release had me (and I suspect a lot of gamers) sneaking into WH Smith's for a sneaky Dwarf.

My excuse was that "I'd been asked to pick up" - and hence why I couldn't find it on the shelves... what's your?

SPEARHEAD - First Impressions

Well, its a bit odd really isn't it? Apart from the aforementioned plastic crack reasoning it pretty much grabs the whole 40k armylist rules, shakes it about and then drop kicks it into next week. As far as I can ascertain (and this is written in the best GW 'vague-o-vision'), you can run a 'Spearhead' game and thereby take 1 or more (read more) spearheads, which allow you to take many many many many tanks, with APOC type squadron upgrades.

Interesting? Yes. Weird? Definitely!

On first glance, I like it. It's weird, but quirky. It's cleverly bridging the gap between APOC and 40k. Allowing Superheavies on the small scale etc. We've mostly been doing this anyway, but this legitimises it.

If you were expecting a more in depth analysis than that, well sorry, no. I'm far too busy and have Malifaux to learn for Tuesday. Apologies ... but here's the payback.

SPEARHEAD ... BATTLE MISSIONS ... KILL TEAM ... REGRESSION

A few years ago I was a steady user of forums. IGMB (Imperial Guard Message Board) was literally hunted down by the ubiquitous suneokun, and at the time the 'we've git a crap codex' was in full flow. But I digress... another comment discussion which frequently comes up but online and live is the 'rosy tint' argument. "40k ain't what it was", they say. "Good." I say, "The psychic round was more like a pokemon battle, every round lasted an age and remembering everyone stats (like MOVEMENT, INTELLIGENCE etc) was deadly dull. Too much information.

And running, TLOS and cover saves rock.

But I do miss the 'story' of 40k. The rules had become maybe too balanced while the codexes got dull. Since then two things have happened:

1) Codex release has increased ... but codex creep has too, and;

2) APOC has demonstrated that fair doesn't always equal fun!

There's something particularly British about the notion of a fair fight. Just ask Michael Caine in Zulu, no scrub that. Or the Crimean, no not that one either. Ummm ... the second World War, we Brits love to think ourselves plucky and backs to the walls and 'fighting on bridges' etc.

All cobblers really. But we are obsessed about 'fair play', hence why the English codified nearly every mainstream sport in existence. Cricket, football (not gridiron), rugby, tennis, badminton, crochet, golf etc etc etc. Fair, fair, fair, fair, fair... which is good.

If I was allowed a machine gun, even I could beat Nadal (alright ... I could wing him). Just look at Formula One, an intrinsically English sport. Ok, its more international than anything else (although Button, webber and Lewis are kicking butt), but the mindset is very English. Cars get too fast, slow them down, cars get an advantage, chop it off ... its all about skill.

Which is where it should be.

But 40k ain't tennis. It requires little physical training (watching youtube batreps speaks volumes... the skinny dude always gets pawn'd!) beyond beer drinking and fine hand-eye coordination. Hence the 'britishness' (or englishness) of 40k has led with a high focus on 'level playing field'. Now I'm not arguing that 40k is balanced, no no no. It has many problems, but the ruling ethos is very much focused on keeping balance in the game.

A slight loophole and the players scream "BROKEN!" - I won't even go into how many guns can fire from a chimera (it's 5 by the way, any gun I want, even lascannons). This commentary on 40k balance has become more and more feverish ... until GW stopped listening.

Allesandro did (I think) a great job with the 5th Edition rules. It's a neat system and great fun. But it was born old. You see the Ethos has changed. The old rule was 'fair', the new rule is 'fun'.

This is influenced by three things:

1. Hordes and Warmachine ARE balanced, but the combo's are all about pimp-slapping your opponent in turn two to three... the hyper aggressive american influence frankly rocks. The game system is dynamic and intricate in a way that makes GW seem a little 'stilted' ... GW are aware of this and the march of Hordes/WM on the interweb and sales figures...
2. Apocalypse demonstrated to GW that players actually care LESS about fairness than they do about getting the latest pimped out superheavy or squadron. Fairness IS important in a tournament, but if you go there with a 'weak' list you'll get bitch slapped.
3. Fairness doesn't sell models. Build cool models, make a bitchin' list, watch the money pile up. GW are heavily into the 'plastic crack' version of an arms race now. Models will hit the shelves and hit them harder than the previous generations ... codex creep is here to stay. The Space Wolves/ Blood Angels are clear and unequivocal examples of their fast production turn around UBER PIMPED codeci money making plans.

So what does this mean? Well actually it means that GW of the teenies (2010-2019, what would you call them?) will actually be closer to the GW of my childhood ... and here's why!

SUNEOKUNS GW W40K PREDICTION 2010-2019

First up, the interweb has chewed out whitedwarf's monopoly of GW related stuff. It's faster, more up to date, nearly as official and actually more effective. The hype generated for the latest edition and the codici's was all about the web. GW are tied into this now, feeding information to BOLS and elsewhere and pricking the hype to feverpitch. WD doesn't deliver this.

The only readers of WD are those with that habit. Otherwise why bother?

As such, Spearhead gives a wonderful indication of how they CAN increase sales of WD and the first 'step backwards' for 40k. In the olden days (1980's-90's) batreps were rare, but WD was all about rules, stories and inspiration. An article the size dedicated to Spearhead and 6 new tanks available would be waxed about ONE new metal cadian SQUAD available. Woop!

On the up side, rules for 'Confrontation', or Genestealer Cults, or new vehicles would be a frequent addition. This 'build your own' stuff meant that WD was an essential part in keeping your army fresh and getting the latest Psychic abilities for Ork Weirdboyz. GW lost this years ago, changing from fan mag to pretty advertising (and pretty pointless) magazine. An OK read, but no tactical use (beyond a rolled up striking action).

Now we see a full circle ... which is intriguing.

My second point is GW's abandonment of 'balance' in favour of fun. The Orks, Guard, SW, BA all pushed the bar out on counter-balance. There's an arms race going on out there and its real fun. 40k is now less about fairness and more about fun. Lets face it, 40k is half a game (read sport) and half a narrative or story. We're seeing a 'healthy' move towards the 'narrative' flavour of 40k. I don't actually really care that much if my Tau are rock solid, but if I beat you with them ... you'll know!

So what do you think? Is 40k soaring away from the balanced 'tabletop' game and back to basics with the more 'RPG' narrative elements of the game. Battle Missions was straight out of Rogue Trader ... are they fabricating these elements to rock the old 'fairness' boat? Spearhead effectively throws the core 40k army list rules away and buffs everything ... but it'll be fun, won't it?

Is the obsession with balance over?

Nothing to post in two weeks?

I found this excellent strip online and

reference lee-wilson.net ... but it's not what you expect!

No, dearly beloved reader and true believer ... I have not wandered from the holy path.

(but I did squeeze in my stag do and a huge wedding in the past fortnight!)

That's right, Suneokun is now a married man!

No more skulking in the shadows, living in sin (alright, that bits quite fun!) and avoiding the vicar at tea for me*.

I'm a fully paid up member of the 'ticked all the boxes' group (although they were ticked in the 'engaged-mortgage-kid1-kid2-f*ck it (no ... did that) lets get married' kinda way).

Huge party in a Marquee in a field and muchas alcohol, band, inflatables etc and all my friends (some of them even know where I live!).

A top bank holiday weekend!

...

*I still instantly combust on Holy ground though ... something about my atheism!