Return of the Death Star * Interview with Colin McCade

Hi everyone Black Blow Fly here again to hopefully ruin your weekend... you see the army you love to hate is back in spades... I'm talking about you know - DEATH STAR !!!

Wow I feel all squishy inside just saying those two beautiful words ... hurrrrrr !

Last weekend the biggest event in the state of Texas took place, Wargamescon and a fella by the name of Colin McCade was able to resurrect the Death Star using the ever wonderful Imperium. So let's dive right into the interview.

Last Ride of the BikeStar • Texas WarGamesCon

Hi all !

With the new codex right around the corner this will be my last opportunity to play my favorite army at a competitive event. More details to follow soon.


Here is my list...

White Scars CAD

Chapter Master
Bike - Artificer Armor - Auspex - Power Fist - Shield Eternal

Librarian
Level 2 Psychic Mastery - Telepathy
Bike - Force Axe - Meltabombs

Command Squad
Bikes - 4x Stormshield - 4x Meltabombs - 4x Grav Gun - Thunderhammer
Apothecary

5x Biker
2x Grav Gun
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta
Sergeant
Combi-Grav - Meltabombs

5x Biker
2x Grav Gun
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta
Sergeant
Combi-Grav - Meltabombs

Space Wolves Champions of Fenris

Wolf Lord
Thunderwolf Mount - Runic Armor - Stormshield - Thunderhammer

Rune Priest
Level 2 Psychic Mastery - Divination
Bike - Force Axe - Meltabombs

Iron Priest
Thunderwolf Mount - Cyberwolf

Iron Priest
Bike - Cyberwolf

9x Grey Hunter
2x Meltagun - 9x Chainsword
Wolfguard
Stormshield - Power Fist Drop Pod

BikeStar list for Texas WarGamesCon

- White Scars - CAD

Chapter Master
Bike - Artificer Armor - Auspex - Shield Eternal - Power Fist

Librarian
Level 2 Psychic Mastery
Bike - Force Axe - Meltabombs

Command Squad
Bikes
Company Banner - 4x Stormshield - 4x Grav Gun - Thunderhammer
Apothecary

5x Biker
2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi Grav - Meltabombs
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta

5x Biker
2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi Grav - Meltabombs
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta


Space Wolves - Champions of Fenris

Wolf Lord
Thunderwolf Mount - Runic Armor - Stormshield - Thunderhammer

Rune Priest
Level 2 Psychic Mastery
Bike - Runic Armor - Force Axe - Meltabombs

Iron Priest
Bike - Cyber Wolf

Iron Priest
Thunderwolf Mount - Cyber Wolf

9x Grey Hunter
2x Meltagun - Power Axe - 9x Chainsword
Wolf guard - Stormshield - Power Fist
Drop Pod

Texas WarGamesCon

I've registered and will be bringing BikeStar for their final hurrah !

Missing models from WarGamesCon • Heresy era World Eaters

I lost Kharn, a squad of Chosen, two squads of Berzerkers plus some Death Guard at WGC. Kharn and the Chosen are Forge World 30k models painted in the Heresy World Eaters color scheme (white and blue). I put a lot of work into them. If anybody sees them I'd really appreciate it if you let me know.

And here is the dude with the sword...

Pictures from WarGamesCon Apocalypse Battle

I really enjoyed playing in the 30k event on Saturday then the Apocalypse event on Sunday. Both were really crazy with lots of epic things happening. It was a very nice change of pace from the competitive track. If they have another 30k event year in Austin I will do that again. I took some pictures from day two. The first turn our Titan went super nova with an enormous blast radius of 27" nuking a huge chunk of our forces. Skarbrand was gone just like that along with many other forces of disorder. My team mates and I were a bit bummed out but then we all pulled together. We still had many heavy hitters left such as Angron, Abbadon and Kharn. Angron would do much of the heavy lifting.

When you play in a huge multi player event there are many epic things occurring all at the same time. It's a lot of fun and an excellent alternative to competitive gaming. There was a very high tower in the center of the table with a golden statue of the Emperor on top. The forces of disorder wanted to destroy that statue !

Angron (played by my friend Emit) landed on the second level of the tower in a drop pod with his command squad to storm the castle. There were many Imperial Space Marine drop pods landing on top of the tower using a homing beacon to come in safe. My two daemon princes were both able to deep strike onto a perch along the edge of the second level while Angron and company quickly made their way up top.

Angron and his crew made short work of the Imperial Space Marines clearing out room for my daemon princes to come up and join the party. The mighty Primarch destroyed the Emperor's statue and their was much rejoicing amongst all the remaining forces of disorder. The Space Wolves were not to be undone though sending in a jet bike command squad to recapture the top of the tower. Oh noes those dirty bastards !!

Floating in rarified air of the high altitude the jet bikes attempted to ground one of my daemon princes but failed. The two evil princes then flew up to engage. Angron and company were ready. Moving into attack formation the veteran Space Wolves soared up under the cover of their Rune Priest's invisibility. The final battle then commenced. Angron slew the Fenrisian Warlord seemingly unencumbered by the wolf magic.

It was over and the forces of disorder emerged victorious again !

Defense of the Garden of Nurgle - Part 4 • WarGamesCon

The Black Blow Fly limped back into Isha's private chamber. Only two of his personal retinue remained. The massive attack by the enemy had been much stronger than expected with prolonged fighting throughout the garden. The enemy took quite a beating during the initial assault but the second wave of the attack was brutal. Slowly and steadily the rot took its toll depleting the enemy lines. More and more daemons had been constantly summoned to even the numbers. The Blow Fly was shocked by the alliances he had seen. Truly Nurgle's many enemies had set aside their differences to take the realm of death but it was not quite enough. The attackers were finally repelled and cast out. Isha looked upon the scarred face of the ancient Death Guard veteran. "If you had fallen." was all she had to say. He felt his many wounds reknitting themselves as Nurgle replenished him. "I didn't though." was his sole reply.

Defense of the Garden of Nurgle part 3 - WarGamesCon

Black Blow Fly looked down the dead. Mephiston and Captain Darnath lay shattered at his boots. Daemon Princes swooped overhead casting down dead bodies upon the ever flowing sewage of death. The lesser daemons of Nurgle swarmed the ground reeking of rot and decay. Black Blow Fly held the warp horn to his bloated lips and blew a low vibrating throbbing note that signaled the beginning of the next attack phase.

The defense of the garden of Nurgle - part 2... WarGamesCon

The bloated Death Guard slowly ambled over to the an open veranda overlooking the gardens. Fronds of various forms of fungi filled the air. Dank black waters swirled below and clumped offal floated by. "Bring me my bike." commanded the Black Blow Fly. No sooner than his request had been made he turned to see his ancient rusted charger. His personal cadre of Death Guard veterans stood by silently waiting his command. "Armor up." commanded the Black Blow Fly. "There is much work to be done and so little time."

The defense of the garden of Nurgle - Part 1... WarGamesCon

Isha stood upon the black helm within the sacred cathedral at the heart of the Garden of Nurgle. The constant buzzing drone of the bloated black flies filled the air. The eldar goddess held up one fist in a sign of pure revolt. Slowly she mouthed the silent words calling to her chosen champion. The putrid air stank like rot. A black spot started to grow at the center of the chamber. Isha smiled as a corpulent viral form began to take place. The drone of the blow flies lowered and the numbing chant of the many Plague Bearers filled the chamber. A single entity clad in a suit of pitch black warp forged armor stood upon the summoning Dias then bent a knee in deference to his queen.

"It is the time my chosen." said Isha. "We have held our ground. It is the end time for this cycle. We must remain still undefeated."

The image of a large black blow fly was embossed upon one the champion's shoulder pads. "As you wish." he said. His votive voice overrode the changing daemons. "Death shall reign supreme." He held out one huge gauntlet tightly gripped in a fist mimicking the sign of Isha. "Death is but a new beginning. Take my hand and I will lead you there."

WarGamesCon 2013 • One month away

WARGamesCon 2013 is Coming!

WarGamesCon takes place in sunny Austin TX (www.wargamescon.com) and is roughly one month away.

They will have the following events:

-Warhammer 40,000

-Warhammer Fantasy

-Warmachine/Hordes

-Flames of War

-X-Wing

-Infinity

-Malifaux

-Dreadball

Main page: http://www.wargamescon.com

I am going to participate in the Horus Heresy this year in lieu of the 40k GT. I'm very busy working on my World Eaters.

WarGamesCon 2013

WARGamesCon 2013 is Coming!

WargamesCon is back for its 5th year, bigger and better than ever.! Great, massive venue -  June 6th -9th at the Austin Renaissance. Be There!

Reflections on WarGamesCon

Another great weekend with lots of extremely fun gaming. Every opponent was a pleasure to play - not one TFG over the course of three whole days !! Wow that really says a lot.

So the top five armies were Orks, Daemons and Necrons (three Necron armies). It was a bit surprising to not see Grey Knights or Space Wolves at the top for a change. It seems to me that while Grey Knights are very good it's not so easy to build a truly competitive list that can do well on the top tables. I only had to play against Grey Knights once and my opponent was a great guy. The ork army (2x warboss on bike, Nob bikers and lots of 30 man shoota squads)... It seems like it was designed to go against the current meta which is very powerful and with the lack of Grey Knight armies on the top tables I think that helped him a lot as well. I think the ork army played by Alan was basically the same one as last year so from me hats off for sticking with it and winning the tournament this year. Orks can match up well versus Necrons which also definitely helped... Ben Mohile was the only person to beat Alan's ork army and Ben was playing Necrons.

There was lots of terrain on the tables this year which made my overall experience a lot better. One thing that threw me off a bit at the start was that the primary, secondary and tertiary objectives were all equal in battle points awarded - so basically all three objectives were always equal; i.e., there really wasn't primary, secondary and tertiary objectives... Just three objectives each worth 10 battle points per mission. I figured it out after my second game and was good to go. I do like this approach for competitive tournaments and think it's definitely worthwhile and should be considered by other TOs that use a w-l-d format.

One minor nitpick is w-l-d versus a pure w-l system. This hurt me as it's hard for me to max out on battlepoints consistently with Tyranidz. I do think a pure w-l system helps more to even out the playing field as you just have to win versus always needing to massacre your opponents. If you think about it the pure w-l system can promote more friendly games as there is less need for bickering in my opinion. That said I will continue to work on tweaking my Tyranid army list and I foresee lots of major changes coming with 6th edition.

Each round was 2 hours and 15 minutes which I liked a lot. The team tourney and 40k GT both ran on time so it worked out just fine. The extra 15 minutes equated to a lot of games completing at least a fifth turn which is always a good thing. I did have one game that only went four turns but I don't think my opponent was intentionally slow playing. Hopefully 6th edition will speed up the game as well.

So a fantastic weekend and I recommend WarGamesCon to everyone.

WarGamesCon final standings

I went 5-1-1 this weekend with wins versus Blood Angels, Tyranids, dark eldar, Grey Knights and Space Wolves. My one won loss was to infantry based eldar played by the captain of the American ETC team - got into trading shots across the board versus an army with more firepower. My draw was versus Space Wolves - we only got in four turns though. In a w l d system it is difficult to run through a series of games with maximum scores for battle points playing Tyranids... I think it's important to note I wasn't playing on the top tables. I look as this as a very positive result and plan to continue playing Tyranids in 6th edition. It should be very interesting indeed.

Day Two WGC

I ended up the first day 2-1-1. My only loss was the infantry eldar played by the captain of the American ETC team. Wins were versus BA and Tyranids. Draw was versus SW... Only got in four turns that game... Nidz were really eating them whole.

Day One @ WGC

Playing today with my buddy Teddy we rolled into the third round of the team tourney with one major win and one massacre. We were playing Grey Knights and Space Wolves versus xenos. The first game was a win versus Necrons and Grey Knights while the second win was versus Orks and Tyranids. Purifiers are broken versus horde... Everyone knows that. Third round was versus a stiff Hogs of War team - Necrons and dark eldar... Which ended in a draw.

Purifier spam is really nasty with a Wolfstar. Tomorrow is Tyranid time.

Tyranids and WarGamesCon • Why I'm taking this army

Well it's almost time for the big event. As many of you know I decided to take my Tyranids. Most of my friends in the 40k Wrecking Crew will be bringing Grey Knights. Good for them and I hope they all do well. There is a lot of hate towards Grey Knights and that made the army not so fun for me to play. Sure I occassionally will still break out my Draigowing and of all the popular meta lists on the Internet I think it is the most challenging to play well. Grey Knights kind of ruined 5th edition towards the end and I think a lot of people are hoping that 6th edition will bring the balance back. If it does I sure hope that GW doesn't make the same mistake again and release another over the top codex (i.e., Chaos Space Marines). Maybe for a little while there will be a brief period where there is some real balance... I think that would be a lot of fun for everyone.

I do remember when the GK codex was first released before all the hate and realization how powerful they are in 5th edition. It was a fun time to play Grey Knights. I remember when lots of people said Draigowing sucks then Blackmoor almost won NOVA with them... Instantly overnight they were labeled a WAAC list. I had to laugh because all along I knew just strong is the Draigowing. Time passed along as it always does... I was the ringer at a local tournament and ended up playing a friend's Tyranid army. Everybody says that Tyranids are auto-lose versus Grey Knights and while there is a lot of truth to that there is a flip side and I quickly came to realize that while playing the army that day. Of all the armies it turns out that Tyranids have a lot of inherent advantages versus Grey Knights. I was called out as a liar for my batreps posted on BoLS featuring my Tyranids versus Grey Knights and people said my opponents were a bunch of n00bs. I don't really care and I'll be bringing my experience with the army with me to WarGamesCon. I'm so glad I decided to bring my Tyranids so I'll have the chance to show people what they can really do. I really believe in the army. Sometimes it can still be a bit daunting to bring my Tyranids to a large tournament and see all the GK, IG and SW armies. It's not easy to win with Tyranids versus the big three armies of 5th edition. You have to play the mission and not make any mistakes. If I do well people can say I just got really lucky. If I do bad then people can say they told me so. We will just have to wait and see.

I want to say thanks to all my good friends for all the great games we got in so I could refine my list and develop all my tactics and strategies. I couldn't make it to WarGamesCon with this army without that help and that's all I have to say for now. I'm relaxing this week and couldn't be in a better state of mind. I'm ready to roll some dice.

Tyranids at WarGamesCon

Wow how time flies !! Less than two weeks now until my favorite GT I get to play rolls around. I'm very excited and also very glad I decided to bring my Tyranids. There have been a lot of awesome GTs this year already but due to my busy work schedule coupled with lots of business travel I haven't been able to attend any as yet. I really wanted to make it over to San Antonio for the Alamo but sadly it was not to be. I am trying to find another GT I can attend later this year. My plan was originally to play Grey Knights, Necrons and Tyranids at three different events - I'm thinking I'll be lucky to make it out for a second event the way things are currently looking now. Oh well, that's all the more reason to enjoy my time at WarGamesCon (WGC).

I am under no delusions about how my Tyranids will perform at WGC. Tyranids are not a top tier army by any stretch of the imagination and the primary-secondary-tertiary format used at WGC means that I'm more likely to suffer from the case of a bad matchup. I do have some things on my side though:

— Lots and lots of playtesting with many of these games versus Grey Knights, Imperial Guard and Space Wolves over an eight month period (plus a winning record for the course of these games).

— My army list as a result is finely crafted and totalky tweaked - there is no fat... I know it inside out and there are some really nasty tricks up my sleeve now.

— My playtesting includes several local RTTs with one first place finish and two third place finishes. I have confidence in my army and believe I can give anyone a real run for the money.

— Some other Tyranid players have done quite well this year at other GTs which proves this xenos race can win big... Again another factor that provides me with more confidence.

— Lots of people don't take Tyranids as a serious threat nor do you see them that often at major events. I have learned the hard way repeatedly that going into any game under-estimating your opponent is a good way to end up losing a game and it happens. A lot of players don't know what to expect either which is always a big advantage.

I think it's going to be very interesting and like I said I'm very much so looking forward to WGC. If I can manage to make the cut to the top bracket on Day 2 I feel I will have accomplished my goal. If I can somehow manage to place in the top ten that would really be something. Knock on wood of course !

Tyranids and WarGamesCon

So I have decided to bring my brand of Tyranids to WGC and there are several reasons for the decision. I will have to finish painting some units such as my Yrmgarl genestealers so I'm really glad I have such a simple paint scheme (black and red for my Hive Fleet Gorgon). The vast majority of my army was painted by Next Level Painting so it's not like it's a big deal. One of the main reasons why I decided to bring my army is based upon my experience - I feel confident, so why not? Lots of people talk about bringing their Tyranids to a big event then end up bringing another army such as Grey Knights or Deathwing. WGC is one of the really big events and this is the type of tournament I need to bring them to see just what they can really do and how they will perform. I'm not suffering any delusions of grandeur - if I can just make the cut for the second day I'll be very happy.

Mostly I just want to thank all my good friends like Mat Douthat, John Lennon and Brian Poole who inspired me to stick with the army. They have provided the most valuable input to me for developing my current 2000 point army. I don't think I'd ever be ready without their help and support. I still remember when I first saw my Tyranid army - originally it was a dipped army and after playing several games against it with my Draigowing I felt it had some hidden strengths others might have missed... It's unique and of course I like that a lot.

I had the army repainted after I bought it and changed the composition a bit but all the original fundamental concepts for the most part are still intact. If you follow my blog or the series of articles I've written for BoLS then you'll know that my Tyranid army was originally fully reserved but I've since modified the composition so there is now a solid shooty core. I'm really hoping my Tyrannofex can come through and deliver the goods - Big Pappy has always been rather hit or miss for me but when he is on the old Tyrannofex can bring a lot to the table... He's not the brightest bug out there but he has lots and lots of potential - hopefully the tendril can tap into his awesomeness. Heh !!

I'm actually thinking now that WGC and their battlepoint system is a great format for Tyranids. You can lose a game and still be in the hunt. I think it will be very interesting and I'm excited. Lots of other people have taken their Tyranids to big events this year and some have done really well. They are also a source of inspiration for me !! Another great thing about WGC is that I have for the most part enjoyed all of my opponents there the past two years - it's very competitive but it's not cutthroat either... And that's pretty darn cool.

I could bring my Draigowing as I originally planned but I'd rather just make the second day cut with my Tyranids as opposed to say possibly placing in the final top ten... Not that I can do either - it's just the way I feel.

Time Left til WarGames Con...