What comes after "Goodbye"?

My favorite FLGS closed this past Monday after a hard fight to stay open. The local community is mourning this loss... and working through our emotions to find a replacement home.

The store was a hub for many of us in the local gaming community - it was the only game store some of us frequented. The store's open tables, free tournaments, and late closing hours fostered a tight knit community of friends, not just a group of random players.

It's sad to watch an institution shutter its doors, especially after working alongside the great folks who put their hearts into running it. I spent two years behind the counter there. I learned to play Warhammer during my tenure - I'd never heard of the game before working there - and got to know some really great people I wouldn't have met any other way.

40K: WAAAGH! Da Orks! Pt. 3 - Post by Melissia

Greetings! It's a bit weird writing these articles. As I was typing this one, the first Ork article had just been posted on the blog a couple days ago-- meaning I finished writing this one two weeks ago, just as I finished writing the second one (Snakebites) three weeks ago and the first one four weeks ago (wow, time goes by THAT fast?). But enough about that, let's talk about Orks!

Just like last the last two lists, this is a 2000 point list. I was going to go a simpler route, but then I realized... I was kinda bored with it. So I wanted to keep the theme of mechanized, hard-hitting Boyz using underutilized units. And what better way to do that than use two of the three most maligned units in the Ork codex-- 'Ard Boyz and Stormboyz! (don't worry, I'll get to Flash Gitz soon). Besides, I'm sure what I had in mind the other day has already been covered somewhere else, and it's far more interesting to discuss a list that hasn't been tossed around a thousand times before. So here goes my mechanized Goffz!

WarGamesCon: The Bottom 10 Percent

My win count was at nil, but I had a lot of fun last weekend and I met some great folks. All in all, I got what I wanted out of WarGames Con.

40k: Extra Fluffy Special Characters

When the standard fluff isn't enough, make up your own.

I've heard stories about special characters that diverge from the standard fluff created by loving players to fit into thier own take of their gaming universe. Some of these back stories are based on carefully planned paint schemes and modifications, and others on various mishaps and mistakes. Here are two stories based on the latter, direct from their creators:

The Pre-Con Rush and My Expectations

WarGames Con is only a week away, and I'm feeling the time crunch. How about you?

For those of us that have demanding jobs, family obligations, and are in school it can be hard to find the time to play, let alone get prepped for a large scale con. I've spent the last few weeks scrambling to get things done between shifts and classes - modeling/painting, playing as many games as possible to get my army list down, and gathering tools to make games go more smoothly. This is my first con, so my to-do list is rather large. Did I mention I'm a flagrant procrastinator?

I have managed to fit a game or two a week in with my work and class schedule over the last month in order to learn the finer points of my list, and try new tactics against armies that continue to kick my butt. That just took some creative scheduling and convincing my body that sitting around after my shift was over wasn't an option. So far, so good on this - the one thing I like doing the most out of the whole list.

WAAAGH! Da Orks! Pt. 2 - Post By Melissia

Here's one of the hardest armies to build using the Ork codex-- Snakebites. There's no Feral Boyz, no Madboyz, no Squigs, and so on and so forth, so in order to challenge myself, I'm going for it. Get stuck in after the jump:

Thinking medieval style cannons and mortars, lots of Boyz (with 'and kannonz as rokkit launchaz), grot shields with lots of runt'erders, with a weirdboy (after all, the Weirdboy special character is a Snakebites clan member) and warboss. This might take a bit of converting to actually build, but it would at least be somewhat fluffy for the army. Just like last week's list, this is a 2000 point list.

WAAAGH! Da Orks! Pt. 1 - Post By Melissia

Greetings, let's talk about Orks! While I could talk about the in the Ork tongue, I don't think most people would actually want to read that (besides, my H key would start to feel neglected), so let's stick with Low Gothic.

The Ork codex, despite not being a fifth edition codex, has a lot of good things going for it-- along with being a very competitive codex, it also has the ability to create widely varying army lists that fit a huge amount of themes, while still maintaining its ability to krump skulls. This list is not built to be purely competitive, but rather, to be a mix of thematic and competitive. Hopefully I'll be able to do the other ones eventually as well, but for now, let's get right on to it:

Pick-Up Games: Jerks Need Not Apply

I've seen a variety of ways to handle winning or losing a friendly pick-up game. A lot of them suck.

I've seen yelling, outbursts of profanity, stomping out of the gaming space to cool off outside, catty back talking, breaking models, and throwing things. On the other end I've heard pompous bragging about how large a win was, and how stupid an opponent was. All of these behaviors make the player look like an idiot - esp in a non-tourney game. This is not what a pick-up game is about. The overall goal should be to have fun and learn from every battle, so that you can crush opponents when it really counts.

The Merits of Goofball Gaming

As you've probably noticed, I'm not a hardcore tournament player. Nor am I a brilliant painter. One thing I am, though, is a person that likes to play Warhammer - the non-ball crushing kind.

Strangleweb posted an article asking us why we play. Responses came from über competitive players that have fun by winning, and those [like me] that play to have fun despite the outcome and aren't into the whole tourney scene.

Not all of us have the desire or capabilities to be a champion of the IGT circuit - there is nothing wrong with that. Some of us just enjoy playing at local stores, or on our dining room tables with friends and some beer. We play with minis that aren't painted, let alone primed and properly based - I'm playing with movement trays with dice on them right now because the models are being worked on. We put together annoying 90% on foot ork armies that take ages to get through a turn, and play the worst armies in the game just to see how badly we can get crushed.

Mathhammer... Oh, How I Hate Thee.

Why would someone with dyscalculia start playing a game nicknamed "mathhammer"?

For those unfamiliar: dyscalculia is a set of math related disabilities. Think of it as dyslexia - instead of the "there is no doG" joke, my joke would be "2 and 2 make fish." I get the concepts, but numbers don't translate properly. This, as you can imagine, makes Warhammer a bit more difficult for me than most.

My army is sparklier than yours. Or something.

After raising the hackles of a few on my last post, I thought it best to write a more neutral one about my army and its 'My Little Pony' sparkly-ness.

I play Daemons of Chaos in WFB - the force is mainly Khorne with some Tzeentch thrown in for flavor. I chose the army for its aesthetics, not due to it [probably] being the most broken, powerful army in WFB right now - I argue that for its game system Wings of Sanguinius is worse and more cheesy than anything available for my army.

Death of a Unicorn

My army may be the sparkliest thing to hit a gaming table, but I am not a unicorn. I’m not a gamer girl. I’m just a gamer. Just like you.

I’ve participated in a number of discussions about women who play Warhammer. There are usually mentions of how rare we are. Assumptions are made about what armies we play and why. Stories about being ostracized are told by women, as well as rants by men about why women don’t belong in the hobby. The feeling I get is that women are not seen as equals by some of our counterparts for reasons ranging from simple uncomfort to full blown misogyny.

Stop. Seriously… just stop. Sexism has no place in gaming. Nor does this ridiculous habit of placing women on a pedestal because you’re not used to seeing us around. We are not special. We are gamers.