On the Board!

It took several weeks, but I finally scored my first win and my first painting points of the new year.

The final drop pod didn't take nearly as long as the first two.  I'd definitely attribute that to a higher degree of focus.  Perhaps that wasn't the case all the time, but especially towards the end of the process, I made it a goal each night to at least get to point X, then to point Y, etc., and not putting the model aside until I achieved it. 

No more pods to go.

The most frustrating part of painting this pod was the amount of paint that rubbed off from handling it throughout the process.  The triumph of finishing was immediately deflated when I realized that all the edges of the fins needed to be retouched.  Thankfully, there weren't a lot of details involved, so it only took a few sweeps of the brush to fix the problem.  This also made me look back at the pods I had finished previously and underscored the fact that I need to hit them with a coat of varnish to protect them.  The sharp edges just seem to give up their paint easily.  So that's the mission for tomorrow, retouch and varnish.


On the table, I had an opportunity to play against Grey Knights for the first time.  I can honestly see why it's considered a strong book, but I don't think it's too far over the top.  Some of it may have come down to dice rolls, but I definitely enjoyed playing against it.  There was plenty of tension and crucial decision making (well, in one of the games) and the game was more fun for it.

My opponent ran the same list for both games.  It consisted of Mordrak, a Librarian, two squads of ten Terminators, two Psyflemen Dreadnoughts, and a regular Dreadnought with a Multimelta.  We played on a table with a Fortress of Redemption which dominated the board.  I had the opportunity to go first, and I dropped in Logan and his squad to consolidate my line.  I also dropped in my Dreadnought in his back line, intending him to be more of a distraction than anything else.

Mordrak used his special deep strike ability to drop right into the choke point created by the Fortress.  He had one turn of shooting before facing an assault from my entire army.  Despite some poor difficult terrain rolls, as well as the difficult terrain shenanigans psychic power (Sanctuary?), I still managed to pile in with Logan, two squads of Terminators, two Lone Wolves, a Thunderwolf, and a Rune Priest.  So, a fair amount of attacks to begin with, aided by Logan Grimnar's War Shout.  I took a few losses, but by the end of the round, everyone but Mordrak was gone.  It was relatively academic following that.

The second game was closer.  We moved the Fortress well out of the center and played on a very open board.  I went first again and had a very productive first turn.  The DDM did its job and blew up one Dread, while the Assault Cannons and Rune Priest managed to see off another.  In return, I lost my Dreadnought and one of my squads to the deepstriking firepower of Mordrak and his retinue.  I counter-punched with my Thunderwolf which finished off a reduced combat squad.  He then ate it to the fire of the full Terminator squad, while Mordrak split off to go after Logan.  It didn't turn out so well for Mordrak, but the big squad of Terminators proved too much firepower in the next turn.  Then my opponent's dice turned on him for good, as he failed exactly the wrong saves and way too many of them under the weight of simple Storm Bolters and Assault Cannons.  The game finished on turn six with my Lone Wolf trying to chase down the only surviving Dreadnought.  

It was a heck of a game, and while I definitely had the better of the dice, I feel like I had the better of the game as well.  I look forward to giving them another run.

And with a fully painted army!

So what's next? 

A Daemon Prince sits half-finished.  A Land Raider is halfway basecoated.  I picked up a squad of Vargheists with some Christmas funds, and I hope to do a review of them soon.  So to be frank, I have no idea.  Time will tell though.