Space Marine Lovin'

Lately I have not been in much of a 40k mood, I have been struggling to think of anything to post up here and to even finish the bikers that I waited so long to get. So instead of pushing out content half heartedly I waited until I actually had a topic that had a bit of spark to it, something that I really cared about. In all honesty if I don't care about a topic I am not going to post about it. Going back to my 40k roots in this post, I am going to talk about why space marines are the best faction out there. I'm going to try really hard not to make this a space marine fan boy post because it is the faults the marines have that make them attractive to me far more than their perfect image.

Captain on Bike w/pictures.

Since I do not like to proxy models or not have models that are properly represented I knew that I had to get some non Blood Angel looking bikes to represent my White Scars allies. Here is the finished product of my captain on bike or Khandepending on what I finally decide on. I still need to get my hands on some Crimson Fist shoulder pads for him to be 100% done. Until then I am pretty pleased with the finished product.

Hammer of the Emperor: Support Units

Anyone who has fought with the Guard, or against them, knows that Guardsmen are not something to be feared when isolated from support. Ten models at Toughness 3 dealing damage at Strength 3 on a 50/50 hit ratio is laughable. A squad of guardsmen are easy prey for the roaming Warrior Brood or Assault Squad, Eldar/Tau Shooters, or Heretic/xenos Psykers. As mere mortals in the face of these threats, we in the Imperial Guard have options. Tactician Delta is back again with more insight into the Imperial Guard. As with any post with a guest author anything I say will be in this red lettering.

Salamander; Book Review

I just finished Salamander by Nick Kyme and I am happy to report that it was a pretty good book. I have to give credit to Mr. Kyme for bringing a fresh face to the adeptus astartes which can be a rather difficult task to accomplish. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Slamanders s a chapter they re probably the friendliest to regular humans. Unlike other chapters that reside in huge fortresses that seclude them from a planets populace the Salamanders live among them and have a larger appreciation for human strengths and weaknesses than any other chapter. They have black skin and red eyes which makes them one of the last things I would want to see in a dark alley. Their favored weaponry is anything that has a flame attached to it and they enjoy making the weapons they wield super fancy in the free time they have. As with any book review of mine expect spoilers to be there so if you have been looking at this book and have been waiting for a stranger to recommend it to you then you can go pick it up now since it is worth the $8.99 price tag.

Into the fires of battle! Unto the anvil of war!

Wargaming on a Budget Part 2: Local Stores/Internet

Supporting your local gaming store is a very important since what you buy from them not only helps keep them open but shows the owner what is important to the customers which in turn encourages them to support that game with special gaming sessions. However it is not always the best option to buy from the store where you go play at. The internet has tons of deals, especially for those that do not want to buy the entierty of a product but just one specific piece. I know for a very long time I wanted the narthecium for the apothecary but did not want to buy a command squad box for one piece of wargear so I turned to eBay to solve my problem.

I really try and do most of my model purchases through game stores because there are so few around me that the little bit that I can support them with, I will. A lot of stores will give a 5-10% discount on all of their products which is a huge benifit and should never be scoffed at. I know some other stores have what can be called loyalty points where the more you buy the more points you earn to get some store credit or they have a straight up loyalty program where if you sign up for it they give you a flat 5% extra off of purchases. Wargaming is an expensive hobby so don't be afraid to ask what sort of discounts are available. One of my "local" stores gives out military, teacher, and student discounts on top of their standard 10% off of GamesWorkshop products. A way to help yourself and the store generate sells is to ask them if you can run an event in there store. The daily grind of opening/closing, dealing with customers, stocking the shelves, and everything else involved in running a store can leave little time to properly run events that could generate more income for the store. This is where you come in. Ask the store manager what event you can run such as an escalation league, campaign, or tournament, and in return for you running this higher profile event that will bring more people into the store they will offer a further 5% off of game products for those that sign up for the event days and actually participate. There is a dozen things you can do along this line such as prize support, awards, or even a hug from the stores one "cute" person, these usually require a modest participation fee. Get out there and work with your friends and store owner to get more games in, money going further, and making the hobby better.

For some of us just getting to a "local" game store is an event by itself and you might have enough time to try and get one game in if you are lucky and can't use that precious gaming time trying to start up a large scale event to get a sweet discount. In this case the internet is your friend and ally. Ebay offers a bunch of great deals especially when you buy in bulk. I have seen thee boxes of assault terminators for about $90 when they normally cost $150. The trouble with this is saving the correct amont and having it at the right time when what you want is actually available. The internet way is probably the best and surest way to save a few bucks but you really need to be patient to be able to find the right deal. Everyone has their own priorities of what is more important, fast shipping, free shipping, refundable, how many stars the seller has, all that sort of stuff. It's not like all the planets have to be in alignment to find a good deal but it can feel like that sometimes.

I'll admit that my purchase history is pretty erratic but I do tend to support local stores whenever possible but I have grabbed a few E-Deals in my time. I would also encourage you to support your own local store even if it is a GW store that does not offer any discounts just because it is absolutely worth having a store with friendly people to play with and good tables to play on. Naturally if your local store is full of bastards and the manager is a crazy person then don't go there. I use the internet for hard to find bits, or bits that are awesome but the rest of the kit is underwhelming and I don't want to buy the full box. Each person will buy based on their own needs almost every time though. I hope you got something out of this little post, if you have your own money saving tricks then please put them in the comments. Have an Emperor blessed day, even you Chaos worshiping scum! ;)