Ish

I'm hoping its possible to separate the urban missions from the campaign system, and vice-versa.

City Fight has always been my preferred way* to play Warhammer 40,000 (just as Siege was always my favorite way to play WHFB). A properly dense board, with a good mix of intact buildings for room-to-room fire fights and towering ruins for sniper teams, roadways with blind corners, alleys too narrow for tanks, and all that other Stalingrad in Spaaaace! goodness just changes the game to favor the sorts of models I like seeing the best in the game: the poor bloody infantry. A lot of units that don't see much use on an "open" battlefield due to poor range, poor armor, or whatever, can really shine in a built up city. Hellhounds, Vypers, Storm Boyz and Assault Squads freakin' shine on a dense city table. Not to mention the terrain building. I [big bad swear word]ing love building terrain. It's probably my favorite part of the hobby, to be honest. I like to play, I like to paint, I really like the fluff... But I'm at my happiest when I'm elbows deep in MDF, foam board, flocking, plaster, and hot glue. I'm weird. * Although I also have a special place in my heart for 3rd Edition's classic "Metagrinder" mission and a proper trench-line table.

Do want.

I think the nature of the way the Internet shapes “coverage” of the hobby can also distort our perspectives on the game. When I’m looking for WH40k stuff on the Internet, I’m pretty much looking for previews of new releases, terrain and modeling tutorials, cool conversions, and tourney results. I am not looking for battlereports and let’s plays of some guys’ garagehammer casual weekly friendly game... I have my own casual friendly games. Reading someone else’s recap about a casual game is like listening to someone recap the entirety of a movie that I’ve already recently seen. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way... and I think the “Big Name” sites that cover the hobby known that. So tourney games from the top tables at LVO, NOVA, AdeptiCon, and so forth get covered. Because they get clicks. Its the same reason ESPN covers March Madness, but doesn’t cover the four dudes shooting hoops in your local city park. But I guarantee you there are a lot more people playing pick up games in parks than are playing in the NCAA finals. Casual garagehammer doesn’t get covered, sure, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get played.

With respect, that’s not entirely accurate. Mike Brandt, Reece Robbins, and others have all come forward to say “Yeah, I play tested for GW.” I don’t know how much (or how little) influence their play testing had on the design team. Doubt we ever will know... OTOH, we all know there’s no “beta test” that is ever a substitute for a “wide release.” Having a dozen guys play the game for several months just wasn’t ever going to match having tens of thousands of nerds playing thousands of games ever week. I’m happy with the balance, on the whole, of the current edition and very happy to see GW taking a more active interest in tweaking the game for the better.

It’s hard to balance a system with as many “moving parts” as a GW game. I mean, Chess has two players with identical sets of pieces, a board that never changes, and rules that haven’t seen a “new edition” since the 18th Century... and it still is “unbalanced” in favor of White. I’d say GW’s most “balanced” games are probably Battlefleet Gothic, Epic 40,000, and Adeptus Titanicus; with Bloodbowl, Necromunda, Mordheim, and LotR coming in at a collective second place; the current editions of WH40k and AoS are better balanced than most prior editions of the game, but asymmetric match-ups still happen with some regularity. As they are designed as campaign-based games with changes to each player’s team over time, Bloodbowl, Necromunda, and Mordheim can become asymmetric over time as some teams gain more wins than others... GW has taken steps to make the “snowball effect” less dramatic than in previous editions of these games, but it’s still present to some degree. I’d argue that you kind of want to have it... Otherwise, what’s the point of sustained campaigning?

That new hobby shop I mentioned in this thread said they were going to be getting a new model of "starter" airbrushes in soon and might be having an introductory workshop for it.

I'd say so. (Also those Firewarriors-as-Vespid are awesome.)

See, now all I can picture is Mephiston slowly walking through a tunnel, his force staff making an intimidating thumping noise against the stone... "That's Librarian Calistarius Mephiston. You might know him better by his nickname: "The Baal Bear." Now, if you heard of Aldo the Angel, you gotta have heard of the Baal Bear. He bashes their brains in with a baseball bat is what he does. Now, Gortoof, I'm gonna ask you one last throne-damned time, if you still respectfully refuse, I'm callin' the Baal Bear over. He's gonna take that big stick of his, and he's gonna beat your arse to death with it. Now, take your squig-lickin' finger and point out on this map what I want to know."

Man, I wish I had an airbrush...

I think that Paxsmiles and Lyraeus are both right. I just think they're having two separate conversations... 😅 Lyraeus want's to share some information so that everyone can step up their game, getting everyone to play a bit better. If I may presume to speak for Pax, I don't think he objects to anyone getting more skilled at playing the game. Pax wants everyone to remember not to abuse that information and take advantage of less skilled players. If I may presume to speak for Lyraeus, I don't think he objects to anyone playing the game in a sportsmanlike manner.

If we are going to have semantic rules debates (and given the typical nerd mindset and the level of GWs editing - we totally are) then its better we do it here in the forum instead of at the gaming table. The forum gives us the chance to work things out collectively, time to read the rules and errata at our leisure, and maybe look for other sources on internet (blogs, vlogs, etc.) that have addressed the issue.

They come on a 100 mm round base with a very short, very stubby clear stand that makes them "float" about a half inch off the table. See attached picture. However, the Repulsor has a special rule that specifies that "[d]istances and ranges are always measured to and from this model's hull, even though it has a base." Ergo, I don't expect too many people will mind if I use a model that doesn't have the base at all. Provided I follow all the typical good sportsmanship practices like telling them I'm using a proxy, asking for their permission, and so forth.

It's best used of a way to set up a trap choice for the Ork player's opponent... Let's Marine Squad A shoots the crud out of Ork Mob X and drops them to less than ten models. Now it's time for Marine Squad B to shoot... ...they can shoot at Ork Mob X and finish it off, but that will leave Ork Mob Y unharmed. ...they can shoot at Ork Mob Y, but that probably won't finish it off in one go, leaving a weakened Ork Mob X and Y.

As I've said elsewhere on this forum when the subject has come up, I think it's the intent that matters far more than the action. That Guy will use advanced rules and sly tricks to score a win against his opponent no matter what. That Guy wants to win. This Guy will use advanced rules and sly tricks to score a win against his opponent when its fair. This Guy wants to win clean.

I've always liked the way a local hobby shop back in my high school days ran their tourneys. The Win/Loss Record was only part of the total score to select the Grand Prize winner (which would be an equally weighted total of Win/Loss, Painting, and Sportsmanship). With three second place prizes, one for the player with Best Win/Loss Record, one for the best Painted, and one for the best Sportsmanship. Win/Loss was scored strictly by the results of the games that got played; Painting was voted on by all the players and the tourney organizers; Sportsmanship was voted on by the players. Plus, sometimes they'd throw in a Murphy's Luck Award for the player who (at the tourney organizers' sole discretion) had the most improbably rotten luck that day. Seemed like a fair way to balance all "three legs of the stool," as it were.

Popped into Hobbies Unlimited on my way to work today. Tiny little mom'n'pop type place, mostly model railroad, model cars, and RC planes. But they've recently branched out into the geekier end of things with a tiny little rack of Games Workshop stuff, some Gundam models, and so forth. Very friendly staff and a very pleasant "hanging out in grandpa's workshop" kind of vibe to the whole place. Since most of their focus seems to be on traditional models, instead of wargaming, they've got all kinds of neat tools you don't nomrally find in game stores: Tamiya paints, LED lights, files, screwdrivers, jigs, and all sorts of gadgets, gizmos, whozits, and whatzits... They're located at the corner of N Prescott and N Interstate, with a Yellow Line Max stop almost directly in front of the store. Right now they've got a Post-Christmas Sale going on for a lot of stuff... Including 20% Off on Games Workshop. Hint-hint. Here in Portland, us nerds aren't exactly hurting for choice when it comes to friendly local game stores. But the more the merrier!

That’s why they have another thirty-strong mob behind them.

The CA2018 missions shift the balance towards defense. Hopefully they catch on.

For the Repulsor-Replacer, I’m strongly leaning toward the Caiman Heavy APC from Khurasan Miniatures. A couple of weapon swaps, a few Aquila badges, and presto! The official Repulsor is approximately 170 x 110 x 120 mm, not counting options like radio aerials or the crewman stick out of the turret. The Khurasan Caiman is listed as being 190 mm long, but I can’t find height or width. Eyeballing it, I think it’s only slightly narrower in width and probably only half as tall... I suppose I can always e-mail them and ask.

Just MOARGUNZ!

I’d be too worried my opponents would confuse it for a Stormraven (see fig. 1).

If I ever add a Primaris Rhino/Excelsior Land Raider, I am definitely not going to use the official models. Much easier (and cheaper) to grab the basic Rhino and Land Raider kits, then order some third-party guns and radar dishes.