Games Day 2013 Table: Work Begins!

Measurable progress on the table for next year’s Games Day has begun.  Below we’ll show off the first batch of In Progress pictures but first let’s take a quick look at the process behind the creation of a Snake Eyes Games table.  Planning for the 2013 Games Day table began in Chicago just after we finished setting up the Hades Wrath, our 2012 Games Day table which can be seen HERE. Like all Snake Eyes projects the first ideas and concepts were generated at the tavern over a couple of pints.  It’s a long road from agreeing on an idea and beginning construction.  

First, we start by brainstorming for ideas.  Ideas aren't expected to be fully fleshed-out and no idea is a bad idea.  Everything gets written down (usually on bar napkins).  Once we've exhausted all of our ideas we start discussing the merits and flaws of the suggestions.  Inevitably this leads to critical conversations that revolve around three core concepts:  1)  Has it been done before  2) How can we build it  3)  Will it be fun for people to play on.  We always end up with plenty of great table concepts that are put on the shelf for future consideration.

Next, we start planning the layout and design for the table (again usually on bar napkins).  This is what we have been busy at work with for the past couple of months.  The stage involves planning everything from construction materials to which factions will be present.  We'll be announcing this soon, probably in about two weeks, so I'm not going to linger too much on the design stage.

Once we are satisfied with the design we can move on to construction. This year we have two major construction locations: Pittsburgh and Altoona.  Both teams are coordinating their efforts to ensure that the result is the most impressive table that Snake Eyes Gaming has ever produced.  Below are the first batch of construction pictures for our Games Day Memphis 2013 (July 27, 2013) table:

 

 

 

Cry HavocCampaigns

“Space Marines excel at warfare because they were designed to excel at everything. Each of you will become a leader, a ruler, the master of your world and, because there is no more fighting to be done, you will bend your transhuman talents to governance and culture.”

Roboute Guilliman, Primarch M. 31

The recent release of Crusade of Fire has everyone at Snake Eyes Gaming thinking about campaigns.  Campaigns offer an opportunity to add extra enjoyment to the Warhammer hobby.  Most players want to experience a campaign and often have dramatic ideas full of epic battles and mighty heroes that they would love to see enacted on the table top.  Campaigns take many different forms and can be surprisingly easy to get set up.
 

What is a campaign?  A Warhammer Campaign is a series of linked battles.  The battles which make up a campaign can be linked thematically, with a story dictating the engagements, and/or mechanically, with a set of rules dependent upon the outcome of previous battles.  For example, a scenario in which two friends play a series of games where the winner of one game carries a benefit over into the second battle is an example of a mechanically linked campaign.  If those two players added a story and drew a map to show the theatre of war that there battles were occurring in then their campaign would have both thematic and mechanic elements.

What scale does a series of linked games have to be to be considered a campaign?  A campaign can be any size or scale.  Players often think of the world wide Games Workshop campaigns (i.e. Armageddon, Eye of Terror, and Medusa V) or store-based map campaigns (i.e.  the Minos Campaign or Nekar Quintus); but small campaigns can be equally as enjoyable for the participants.  A campaign does not need to be any more complex than a couple of players agreeing to play an odd number of games using the same Warlord each time – the winner gets bragging rights.

Often when we think of campaigns we think of map-based systems based upon Planetary Empires.  This type of campaign is immensely enjoyable and, on a small scale, can be achieved rather easily.  The Planetary Empire tiles can appear rather daunting to paint but are quite easy to finish.  A group of friends can construct and paint a map out of a Planetary Empires set in a couple of hours.  In addition, all of the rules that you need to play can be found in the Planetary Empires boxed set and/or in Crusade of Fire.

Last time I mentioned a couple of interesting escalation leagues occurring at Legions.  First, there is the Jack’s Escalation League which will culminate in a tournament in March.  Second, there a handful of players that decided to run their own Tale of Four Gamers.  While neither of these is truly a campaign in that the battles aren’t thematically or mechanically linked they do merit a deeper look.  Both leagues foster grudge matches between players which is the perfect start to a “Best of 3” style series of games, using the same general terrain, for control over a specific planet.  For example, during an ongoing crusade there is a colossal misunderstanding/miscommunication between two First Founding Legions.  As a result, the Salamanders and White Scars come to blows amidst the cyclopean ruins of a desert world.  During the first skirmish Kor’sarro Khan uses Moondrakken to ride down Vulkan He’stan and scatter the Salamanders before his fury.  The two forces meet again shortly thereafter though.  This time the Salamanders are attempting to retrieve a relic hidden within an ancient statue.  Vulkan He’stan oversees the delicate removal of the relic and then uses the Spear of Vulkan to hold off the Khan while the artifact is transported to safety.  How does this tragic tale end?  I don’t know yet because we haven’t played the third match yet.  We were both only trying to get in battles for the escalation league but once the bolter casing started to pile up and people started to gather around the small (but somehow still epic battlefield) it became apparent that the Khan and Forgefather need to have another meeting to determine the fate of this conflict.

Campaigns can and are all of the topics discussed in detail above, and a lot more besides.  I could write a series of articles on campaigns and barely scratch the surface.  A campaign is the reason to model destroyed Necron Warriors on the base of your Orc Warboss, a chance to add to the Saga of your Wolf Lord, or the opportunity to use Rough Riders even though they are not as points efficient as some other units.  Most of all though, a campaign gives you the chance to talk smack on your friends as your Warlord cuts a swathe through their army or the chance to feel despair as three Stompas dismantle your hasty alliance of Blood Angel Assault Marines and Grey Hunters.  Over the years I’ve noticed that where it concerns campaigns and thematic games we’re all dwarves at heart, which is to say each of us has a Book of Grudges in which we enter the names of those warlords and opponents upon whom we need to avenge ourselves.

Cry HavocStarting a New Army

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”

Sun Tzu, Warmaster c. M1

 

If you play Warhammer long enough you will collect more than one army.  Players decide to start new armies for a variety of reasons:  the release of a codex, attempting to create an army from a novel, liking a new model or paint scheme, etc.

I recently decided to pick up a new army and I would like to share some thoughts about my experiences so far.  Those of you that have seen me in the past few weeks (or played against me) know that for the first time in three years I’ve been playing something other than Space Wolves.  By no means have I given up on the Sons of Russ but I’m trying my hand at something else as well.

Enter the White Scars.

My foray into the White Scars began one evening as I was sorting through some extra models trying to figure out what to do with them.  I realized that I had enough extra Space Marines to make a new army but had no idea which Chapter that would be.  I picked some Tactical Marines left over from Assault on Black Reach and decided to use them to test out different Chapter’s paint schemes.  Over the next week I painted a couple of White Scars Tactical Marines and was pleased with how they turned out.

As most Warhammer players realize, our hobby has many different facets, i.e. modeling, painting, playing, and background material.  Some people like all four parts of the hobby equally and some players prefer some aspects to others.  Whatever part (or parts) of the hobby you like best, make sure that you’re selecting a new army for a reason that is reinforced by your favorite parts of the game.  For an example, let’s take a look at my decision to start collecting the White Scars.

Anyone that’s ever talked to me about Warhammer 40,000 knows that my favorite Space Marine Legion is the Space Wolves.  I’ve read all the available novels and background material (sometimes twice!) and perhaps most importantly I despise the Thousand Sons.  What does this have to do with collecting the White Scars?  Up until this point I’ve painted 2 Tactical Marines and 1 Bike, although I do enjoy painting it is not my favorite aspect of the hobby.  Surprisingly I knew very little about the White Scars.  I started my research by digging through my old copies of White Dwarf for the White Scars Index Astartes article and have since read a couple of White Scars novels.

Now that I had my paint scheme established (there are multiple different methods for painting most armies including the White Scars) and that I liked the White Scars (from a storyline perspective), I needed to get some Space Marine Bikes.

I now have enough bikes assembled to play 750 points (which is the current point value of the local Escalation League).  Learning to play a new army is difficult and I’ve always felt that it’s best to start off relatively small so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic rules of your new troops.  For my White Scars this meant a drastic change in both game rules and play style from Harald Deathwolf’s Great Company.  I’ve had to familiarize myself with rules like Jink, Relentless, Furious Charge, and Hit & Run while at the same time get used to not having Fleet, Rending, or Counter-Attack.  It’s been a challenging process to learn and remember all of these new rules while adapting to a more fragile (and fast!) army.

I learned some valuable lessons during my first few games (which were all losses).  Most importantly I began the process of learning what the White Scars can and cannot do.  Since I’m still working this out for the White Scars let me use my Space Wolves as an example.  In the early days of my Space Wolves I thought Thunderwolf Cavalry was nigh invincible.  I would regularly charge them headlong into anything and everything.  The first lesson I learned was that Thunderwolves need Long Fangs for support fire, without Long Fangs Thunderwolves have to break open the transports themselves, which even though it’s easy for them to do, hinders the units overall effectiveness in contributing to the game’s outcome.  The second hard earned lesson I received was that Thunderwolves cannon beat Walkers in close combat.  I figured between one model having a Str 10 Thunder Hammer and the other model’s Rending attacks I should be able to destroy a Walker but experience showed otherwise (time and again).  Eventually, I ran some statistics on the match-up and it was obvious why I lost more frequently than won.

I’m glad I decided to start a White Scars army.  I still have a lot more work to do for every aspect of my new army (modeling, painting, background reading, and learning how to play them).  I’ve always felt that late Fall/Winter was a good time to start a new project, in fact I started both my Salamanders and Space Wolves during the winter.

There are some great resources available to help you if you decide to start a new army.  I mentioned the Escalation League at Legions but it doesn’t have to be anything that formal.  There are a handful of players that decided to do the Tale of Four Gamers (detailed in White Dwarf a few years ago) with each starting a new army for the project.  I hear there may be an upcoming campaign at Gatehouse Games which would present another great opportunity to pick up a new army.  However you decide to approach the matter, try not to get frustrated by early difficulties – whether it’s a loss on the table top or difficulty getting the paint scheme the way that you want it – learn from them.

Please feel free to respond with your experiences in starting a new army below.

Steel City Showdown Results

Thanks to everyone that came out and participated in the showdown on Saturday.  We had 50 participants at the event.  Snake Eyes Gaming would like to extend an additional Thank You to the Legions staff for once again letting us use all of their tables for the event.

Best Overall: David C. with Ultramarine's           150$ Gift card and the Steel City Sword

Best General:

1^st                           Cory with Chaos Daemons   $100 Gift Card

2^nd                          Jason with Necrons              $75 Gift Card

3^rd                           TJ L with Tyranids                 $50 Gift Card

Best Painted:

1^st                           Darren R with Imperial Fists    $100 Gift Card

2^nd                          Chris F with Dark Eldar            $75 Gift Card

3^rd                           Tyler M with Tau             $50 Gift Card

Sportsmanship:

1^st                            Anthony L.                             $100 Gift Card

2^nd                           David N.                                $75 Gift Card

3^rd                            Ryan J.                                   $50 Gift Card

Feast of Blades
Round 1: Patrick F.                                                 Scimitar
Round 2: Chase C.                                                 Scimitar 
Round 3: Scott F.                                                    Scimitar

Tech Marine Challenge: Jackson H.
25th Anniversary Challenge: Arden B. for losing 25 models more quickly than anyone else.

Snake Eyes Award:   Casey M. May your luck be better!

Pictures are on the way!

Steel City ShowdownA Snake Eyes Gaming Warhammer 40,000 Tournament

Snake Eyes Gaming is proud to announce the 3^rd Annual Steel City Showdown.  Every Fall between 35-50 players gather at Legions Games in Pittsburgh to test their mettle against one another for three rounds of Warhammer 40,000.  At the end of the day one participant will have earned the right to hoist the Steel City Sword and claim the title of Champion until next year.

The Steel City Showdown is Snake Eye Gaming’s biggest tournament of the year.  We always try to do something special for the participants – in previous years we’ve had random prizes or raffles.  A tournament packet containing all of the rules, guidelines, and scoring system will be available at the bottom of this post in the weeks leading up to the event.  Similarly, the missions for the tournament will be made available prior to the tournament.

There is no time for peace.  No respite.  No forgiveness.  There is only WAR.

Rules Packet

Mission 1

Where:                   Legions Hobbies & Games

                                Pines Plaza Shopping Center
                                1130 Perry Hwy
                                Pittsburgh, PA 15237
                                (412) 366-3725

When:                  Saturday, October 20^th

                              11:00 AM – Registration
                              12:00  PM – First Round Begins
                              Army lists will be collected during registration.

 What:                  3 round, 1850 point Warhammer 40,000 tournament

                               Participants will be given 2 hours and 15 minutes for each round
                               There is NO painting requirement.  Unpainted models will NOT hinder
                                          your ability to win Best Sportsman or Best General prizes.
                              NO proxies although conversions are accepted (and encouraged!).  All models must
                                          be WYSIWYG.

 Cost:                    $20 for each participant.  The entry fee includes a lunch of Subway/Pizza that will

                                         be served between Rounds 2 & 3.

                              Food will be available for non-participants for the cost of $5 per person.

Awards:             Best Overall

                             Best Sportsman (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd)
                      Best General (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd)
                             Best Painted (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd)
                             Snake Eyes Award
                             The Feast of Blades

6^th Edition          Allies are acceptable (consult the Allies Matrix in the Rulebook for options).

                          Players will roll for Warlord Traits prior to each game.
                           Each player receives 1 Force Organization slot for Fortifications.
                         Terrain will be set up by the judges prior to the event.
                           Mysterious Terrain rules will be used where applicable.
                           Missions will contain ALL deployment rules, scoring methods, and Objective details.
                           The new Chaos Space Marines Codex is fully legal for the event.

 Forge World      Forge World army lists and units are permitted with prior approval from the judges.

                         We will keep the list below updated with all lists and units that we have approved.
                       No Experimental Rules, Super Heavy Vehicles, Gargantuan Creatures, or Apocalypse
                                          Formations will be permitted.
                        You must have the official rules that detail the unit(s) that you are using.

Forge World units that are currently cleared for use:

• Land Raider Achilles
• Land Raider Helios
• Land Raider Prometheus
• Caestus Assault Ram
• Contemptor Dreadnoughts (All Patterns)
• Siege Pattern Dreadnought
• Any Special Character from IA8, IA9, IA10, IA11
• Space Marine Siege Assault Vanguard Army List
• Commander Shas’o R’ala
• Commander Shas'O R'Myr
• Pathfinder Tetras
• Piranha TX-42
• Tau XV9 Hazard Battlesuit
• Tau XV9-01 Battesuilt
• Necron Tomb Stalker
• Eldar Warp Hunter
• Death Korps of Krieg Siege Army List
• Mole Launcher
• Imperial Heavy Mortar
• Imperial Quad Launcher "Thudd Gun"
• Hades Breaching Drill
• Imperial Guard Centaur (All Patterns)
• Cyclops Demolition Vehicle
• Thunderer Siege Tank
• Chaos Decimator Daemon Engine
• Grot Bomm Launcher 
• Lucius Pattern Dreadnought Drop Pod (must be represented by the appropriate Forge World model) 
• Nurgle Blight Drone
• Eldar Corsair Army List
• Eldar Wasp Assault Walker
• Eldar Hornet
• Eldat Nightwing Interceptor
• Eldar Phoenix Bomber
• Eldar Fire Storm

Steel City Showdown Rules & Mission One

All

If you are subscribed you should see these links in your e-mail shortly. They will also appear on the blog in the main tournament announcement.


Rules Packet




Mission 1

Thanks,
Warboss Gubbinz

Beginner's Event Results

Thanks to everyone that came out and participated in the Beginner’s Event last weekend.  We had 41 participants at the event; it’s great to see so many new people getting into the hobby.  Snake Eyes Gaming would like to extend an additional Thank You to the Legions staff and the veteran players that came out to help.

Sportsmanship is the most important aspect of Warhammer 40K.  As such, we like to reward those players that demonstrate extraordinary sportsmanship.  Below are the individuals that won prizes at the Beginner’s Event, please feel free to leave any questions or comments for us.

Beginner

1^st                           Jared S.               Tau                                         Dark Vengeance Starter Set

2^nd                          Dan D.                  Space Wolves                    Dark Angels from starter set

3^rd                           Patrick M.            Dark Eldar                         Chaos Space Marines from starter set

4^th                           Andrew O.          Space Wolves                    $50 Legions Gift Card

Snake Eyes         Jen B.                    Dark Eldar                            Miniature Rulebook from starter set

    Award

Sportsmanship

 

1^st                           Geoffry B.          Orks                                       $100 Legions Gift Card

2^nd                          Jack R.                  Imperial Guard                  $75 Legions Gift Card

3^rd                           Andrew Z.          Orks                                       $50 Legions Gift Card

Gamesday 2012 Pictures!!!!

A big thank you to everyone who came out to share their day with us.  We had a fantastic time and it was great to see some of the people from last years table with us again.

To Phil Kelly and Jeremy Vetock for selecting us as the Best Community table for 2012, Club Snake Eyes and the ship Hades Wrath thank you. More thanks go to James Swallow and Aaron Demski Bowden for the kind words, if you do not know who these guys are you should!





Also congrats Jamie on his Golden Daemon in the Duel Category, he was kind enough to paint up an awesome looking daemon prince for the bridge!

Games Day 2011 and 2012 Table Rules

One of the biggest questions at this years Games Day was what modifications to the rules we made to run our tables and if we had copies of those rules available.  The rules modifications that we have made for our Apocalypse Games or even our larger games are really pretty simple.  The reason these rules came about was to try and make sure everyone was involved with the game at all times.  We have played many Apocalypse games and have been on the waiting side of things many times.  We wanted to make sure that everyone was able to consistently be involved in playing the games and be interested rather than waiting an hour for their next turn.   This is even more critical at a Games Day where we are trying to involve as many people as possible.  Since so many people have talked to us about the rules changes as well as their modifications they have made upon the rules set at Games Day this year, we decided to post them here.  Use them, modify them, let us know what you have found that works for your group as it is something that we use regularly for our larger games.

Movement

All players move at the same time up to their maximum movement range.  However, you must maintain a one inch separation from all other enemy models on the board as you would do in a normal game.

Shooting

All players shoot at the same time.  When shooting, nominate the unit you will be shooting and let the controlling player know.  As the controlling player will possibly be under fire from many people, make sure he is able to watch you roll the dice and see the results to avoid any arguments.  Resolve wound allocation as outlined in the rulebook and proceed with determining casualties.  Since shooting is occurring simultaneously, those casualties are not removed from the table immediately.  Lay the casualties on their side or back and finish wound allocation.  At the end of the wound allocation, if the player controlling the models has not shot, he can shoot or run the models under his control as well.  All models, whether they are standing are have been killed get their shot.  After shooting has been completed, then all models that have been placed on their side are removed from the table with morale checks being taken where appropriate.

Assault

Previously in 5th edition, assault ranges were set at six inches.  You used to be able to determine that if you wanted to charge a unit and the opposing player agreed, as long as you were 12 inches apart, the charge could occur as you would meet in the middle.  With the advent of 6th edition, charge ranges are now random   so are a little more unpredictable.  Therefore, you must let the person you want to charge know that you are charging his unit.  The person being charged then has two options.  

• The first option is to charge into the same unit.  If this option is selected, then both players roll their 2d6 charge range and as long as both of the results added together for each player total enough for the charge, then they are in hand to hand combat.  Both units gain the bonus for charging of +1 Attack and meet halfway between both units.

• The second option is to perform overwatch.  If the assaulted player chooses this option, then the attacking player rolls for assault if he is 12 inches or less away.  If they are 12 inches or more away, the assault fails automatically and no overwatch shots are fired as it was outside of normal charge range.  However, if it is in side of 12 inches then the shots are fired as normal overwatch rules indicate even if the dice roll fails to bring the 2 units into an assault.  In the case that overwatch is selected by the assaulted unit, they do not gain the +1 attack for charging into combat as well.

After the assault has been declared and moves have been completed, the assault phase continues as normal. Once this is completed, all morale checks are taken and the round restarts.

The rules modifications were kept as simple as possible.  The intention was to facilitate more activity by all players and not have a side waiting to become involved in the game.  Again, any questions or comments, let us know.

Heretic

"Any carnage is good carnage.  Kill for the sake of killing.  Slaughter is it's own excuse, murder is it's own justification.  Leave nothing but mass graves in your wake"

Gamesday 2012 Club Table - More Pics