New Hotness: Vargheists and my Thoughts on Them

I recently broke down and picked up the new Vargheist/Crypt Horror boxed set, and I felt like sharing a few of my personal thoughts.

I originally bought the models because I really liked the look of them and they fit the vampiric theme of the Blood Angels.  I originally planned on using Varghulfs to count as Thunderwolves so I could add a new element to my original all-Terminator list.  They would represent the members of the veteran company that had truly succumbed to  the Black Rage.  You can imagine how happy I was when the new Vampire Counts photos leaked and there was Monstrous Infantry boxed set along the same line, especially after the Varghulf was released in "Finecast" and the price went up from $25 to $35, but that is a rant for another post. 

They'll look like this every time

I don't know about you, but I don't let new models stay in the box for long.  About an hour after getting home, I sat down to assemble them.  I am still a big fan of the way the models look, but I was less than impressed with them from a modelling standpoint.  Aside from choosing to assemble them as Crypt Horrors or Vargheists, there aren't really any options for customization.  Unless you have some pretty good green stuff skills, none of the wings are really interchangeable.  There aren't any extra bits.  The legs and torsos only fit together one way.  So outside of an inconsequential head swap, Vargheist 1 will always look exactly like Vargheist 1 and so on.  If you wanted to have a bigger unit, you'll either need to customize with stuff pulled from elsewhere or have three sets of twins. 

Compact but bigger than a Terminator

Additionally, the models aren't exactly a joy to put together.  Model assembly is probably my favorite part of the hobby, and while this wasn't "Old Metal High Elf Dragon" tedious, you had to get everything just so or it would leave open seams.  This also meant there was zero posing involved.  While the models are dynamic by themselves, this sucks a lot of the joy out of building them.  I feel like being able to pose the wings isn't a big ask.  The contact points were also rather thin so getting the glue to set properly was a pain. 

The set also feels like it doesn't need to be a combo box.  Outside of sharing a set of legs and the front part of the torso, the Horrors and the Vargheists don't have anything in common.  It's a tremendous waste of plastic.  It would also be incredibly hard to magnetize or to recycle the bits to another project.  If the kit had been planned better, it could have been a pair of single unit kits and wasted less plastic.  It also could have made it cheaper, but we all know that wasn't happening.

Very nice individually

The form of the models is very nice.  Though they are absolutely cut, they don't suffer from the same overly muscle-bound look as the Minotaurs.  They look like they've been mixing in a fair amount of cardio alongside plenty of powerlifting and core work, so good for them.  The faces are emotive and predatory.  Two of the three poses look very active, like they are on the hunt.  The third is a little confusing as far as what he's trying to do.  The fur and the wings are all nicely detailed. 

The Verdict:
I know it seems like I'm very down on the kit, but once they're painted and on the table, the unit will look very nice.  It's sub-par from a modelling standpoint and you're going to have to do a lot of work if you want a unit of individual looking models that's bigger than three or to get them to look different from your buddies.  But if what you want is exactly three feral-looking vampiric monsters, these are very nice models that will look good on the table top.  

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.

Defeat From Victory and Hobby Update

Quite a bit to talk about here, and all over the hobby map really.

I got in a pair of games and both were disappointing in very different ways.

The first game was disappointing because I got my butt kicked...  My opponent outplayed me, and I just failed too many saves, so by the end of turn 3 there wasn't much reason to go on.

Game two was much more entertaining and thought provoking, so I'll bore you with the details.

At Ease Games in San Diego = Awesome for gaming

I was playing a table quarters game with a spearhead deployment against Chaos Daemons.  My opponent failed to get his preferred wave.  He's played at least five games with the current army, and has yet to get the wave he wanted.  I had to go first, so I put up Tempests Wrath and waited.  My opponent's Soul Grinder came in and promptly immobilized itself behind a giant wall of containers.  I took a wound on Logan to some shooting, but got a couple favorable scatters too.  Because of that, I managed to get into three combats with his Horror squads.  It really couldn't have gone better to start off.  When his reserves started coming in, I was still locked in combat so I took little shooting, meanwhile I was working on killing his scoring units.  The problem arose when they simply wouldn't die.  My Thunderwolf couldn't get through the Horrors fast enough and missed out on a shot at a Herald.  I had to send in a Lone Wolf to help, but one model held them up for multiple turns.  A squad of Terminators couldn't finish a squad of Horrors in two turns, so when my next turn  came around they were still locked in combat.  This cost me a shot at wiping out the Plaguebearers too, and a Fiend squad got off a counter-charge and wiped my guys out.  My Dreadnought also got in against a unit of Horrors.  Round after round, he couldn't get past their invulnerable save. I have a new respect for the Horror's ability to tar pit units.  After turns one through three, I was convinced I was head for a win.  Turn four, a draw was the worst I could do.  Turn five, I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.  One of my squads climbed down from safety to try and save their brothers-in-arms.  If I could have saved them, I might have won.  Instead, I cost myself a pair of units and the game.

Did I accidentally grab my Nerf Hammer?

In the postgame, my opponent admitted that he had thought about calling the game early, but his perseverance ended up rewarding him.  Statistically, I wouldn't have blamed him.  If things had gone closer to the mean, I'm pretty confident I would have been able to eliminate his scoring units which was my main focus from the time he dropped in.  Just one less save in some cases and it would have been a very different game.  In addition, I am still struck by my big, fat lack of mobility.  It got exposed badly in game one, where I couldn't catch any of the heralds.  In game two, it wasn't quite as bad, but as the game wore on, squads got more and more isolated, which made it much easier for the Fiends to pick them off.  Additionally, my army relies on their quality of attacks, which got exposed by the Daemons' invulnerable saves.  I need to include at least one element that can bring a higher number of attacks to bear.  I have an Amazon gift card and I've put a box of Death Company (to use as Skyclaws) into my shopping cart and taken it out twice now because I am trying to stay committed to finishing more of what I have. 

Speaking of which,  I'm making good progress on my Drop Pod.  Better than I have on any of the previous ones as a matter of fact.  Just about everything has its basic colors on it, including the interior which is the biggest hassle.  I've gotten to the stage where I'm going side-by-side and doing the final coats of red to smooth it out, the detail work, and the clean up.  I'll hit it with a quick wash and then I'll be playing with a fully painted army most of the time.  I suppose it took long enough, but I've enjoyed the process for the most part.

I haven't made any headway on what I had thought to work on as a side project.  My menhir remains in the state that it was.  I suppose this is due to my inability to generate any excitement about painting large areas of white.  Please.  Does anyone have any tips?  No matter what I do, I can't get a nice, even coat.

Wrapping up a few other tidbits, I had the chance to join a pair of leagues in the last two weeks.  I've passed on both of them at this point.  It may seem weird since I set joining a league as one of the things to do this year, and since I definitely would have been forced to plug into the local scene, but I'm just kind of not feeling it right now.  I'm planning on doing some other stuff and I want those evenings free.  Of course, that means it might be harder to get games in, but I'd like to play them on my terms for now. 

What I have done is start GM-ing something of an RPG campaign with some of the guys back east.  We're not really using any written system.  It's just the two of them running around a Space Hulk in something similar to a choose your own adventure.  Of course, those books sometimes went awry.  Fun times.

Last but not least, my compressor has finally arrived!  I hope to give airbrushing a try in the coming week.

Hobby Accomplishments
-Finished Drop Pod 2!  Made good progress on Drop Pod 3!
-Played 2 games. 
-Started an RPG with friends.

Hobby Goals
-Well, what the heck.  Finish Drop Pod 3 by next Saturday.
-Airbrush something.  Anything really.
-Figure out how to paint white so it looks smooth and flat.  Please help!

No Contest

I got in a game this week.  I have to say it was an odd one.

We got kicked off a little late.  The local league was getting started and to say that we were lucky to find a table is an understatement.  There is a wait list to join both the Fantasy and 40K leagues.  There are thirteen tables and 26 people in the league, so I'm sure you can do the math.  Gaming involves a steady string of excusing yourself to slide past the guy at the next table, interspersed with jokes about buying them dinner after bumping into their backside.  It may not be the most comfortable environment, but it is pretty cool to see the community's intensity.

The horde approaches

With two folks no-showing, we grabbed the lone empty table in one of the back corners and set up.  I was running a pretty standard 2000 point list.  Basically, it takes a Land Raider to get me up to that point level.  My opponent pulled out a list he touted as one he found on the internet to beat my kind of army.  What he came up with was a massed Shoota Boyz list supported by some Killa Kanz, Lootas, a Deff Dread, and a pair of Meks.  He also had some outflanking Kommandos and Storm Boyz to deep strike.  I could see the theory, but I didn't see anything in the list that could reliably handle the Land Raider.

We rolled Capture and Control with a Spearhead deployment.  I gave my opponent the first turn, and I think the reality of the game set in for him.  We had a couple large buildings in the middle and the only way to get to my end was to split his boyz up, meaning he wouldn't be able to bring his massed fire to bear.  Not only that, but his Shokk Attack Gun had no line of sight to the building with my objective in it. 

Six vs. 80?  Yeah, I'll take my chances...

My turn one saw me deep strike in my now typical aggressive manner.  In comes the Logan pod and the Dreadnought.  Away goes a bunch of Lootas.  I hated to put them out there by themselves, but it was on a flank, so they were protected from some of the fire.  They promptly ate a whole bunch of shoota fire, I ended up failing four saves, which is a little more than average, but two of them were on Logan and one on Arjac which made me sweat.  They took a charge from Snikrot and his Kommandoz and saw them off.  Next turn, the Dreadnought finished the Lootas, while Logan and company took out a Shoota squad with a couple more losses.

It went like this until turn four.  I was down to just Logan and the Dread from the original deep strike, plus the next pod and the Land Raider with its cargo.  He had nothing within 24" of my objective until he tried to deep strike the Storm Boyz in and had a mishap.  My opponents frustration was pretty palpable, and I had taken my foot off the gas in the previous turn.  I started skipping attacks and failing an extra save here or there.  Nobody likes to be on the wrong end of a one sided game, and I thought I could give him something positive to walk away from the table with.  And then things went sideways.

Logan wades through yet another squad

We were running out of time.  It takes a while to move an Ork horde, which is understandable.  So when he said we should call it, I agreed.  It made sense.  We wouldn't finish.  He was obviously not having fun.  I knew how this was going to end.  So it surprised me when he said, "It's a draw."  Umm... what?  I own mine.  You're down to one scoring unit that could get to yours.  I have a full squad with a Wolf Priest, a second partial squad with Assault Terminators, Logan, a Dreadnought, and a Land Raider all converging on one location.  The prospect of a draw hadn't even entered my mind.  Yet he persisted and we now definitely didn't have time to finish it out.

It was really disappointing because the last hour of the game had been a rough one.  He had essentially disengaged, which sucked the fun out of it for me.  The insistence for a draw, followed by the demand that I say it was, left a horrible taste in my mouth on top of that.


It wasn't a pleasant way to begin 2012.  Where do I go from here?  What's the sportsmanlike way to go forward?  Do I squeeze the next time I have a death grip, even if it means my opponent has a terrible time?  Winning isn't the only thing, but it's not like we play to lose.  I've never run into something like this before.