My Xmas Present

I recently got from my girlfriend a gift card from Robot4Less and I used it to buy the 1/144 RG Strike Gundam. Real Grade kits are along the same levels of detail and articulation you would find in a master grade kit. Normally 1/144 scale kits come in first grade (FG) which has barely any articulation and needs lots of coloring or they come in High Grade (HG) that does not require as much coloring but has better detail and the kits pose easier. On 1/100 scale kits you have the High Grade lines and then the Master Grade line which offers again superior articulation for the model kit. The strike gundam is a favorite of mine since it has a nice paint scheme along with its ability to carry different backpacks depending on the battle. The Aile pack offers mobility with a mix of ranged and close combat. The other 2 are launcher which is heavy range and sword that specializes in close combat. Here are a few more pics of my Work In  Progress.

Stolen Army

I am posting this here on behalf of TheHod, the other contributor her on No Turtles Allowed.

I recently sold a Lamentors army on Ebay and the buyer complained about the army and wanted a refund. He had buyers remorse and straight away opened a case and won so I lost the money from the auction. He said he sent it back but after a month of waiting (he lives in Germany) I emailed him asking what happened and no reply. I contacted ebay but had to go through the German site (because he opened the case in the German site)  and I complained the package never arrived. They said he supplied a tracking number but it was not my address and could not give me back the money that was automatically refunded to him. So not only am I out an army but I lost the money from that auction. The seller is joe_pepper on ebay. This guy not only scammed me but also stole an army so be on the lookout if he tries to resell.  

A Christmas Sneak Peak

Just a quick sneak peak for you guys before Xmas! Happy Holidays!

Khorne Berzerkerd from DV Chosen

Crazy Dave from No Turtles Allowed here. With the release of the 6th Edition Chaos Codex, I have been jazzed up to redo my World Eaters army. I first became a convert to Chaos back in 3rd edition. This was back with the original Chaos Codex release in 3rd. Before any Chapter Approved articles or any FAQ's. Like most teenage boys, Chaos had the angst and look that proved irresistible.

Back then, we had the awesome plastic Khorne Berzerker set. That set was the Bee's Knees back in early 3rd. My army of 12 years ago was made entirely of those models. Sadly, GW has done nothing to improve or resculpt them since. Sure, we have the Forgeworld Conversion Kit, but for a gamer like myself, I do not like using conversion kits that are readily available to everyone. Therefore, I set about to make my Khorne Berzerkers out of the new Dark Vengeance Chosen models, along with various other bits.

Chaos, It Has Marked Us All

        Chaos, It Has Marked Us All


Chaos Space Marines, the first codex of 6th, has dropped. We have all had enough time to digest it for the most part and make our own conclusions about the book, the Good, the Bad, and for the most part, the Bland.

The new codex has presented itself as rather in the middle in terms of power and flavor. The later being quite ironic as Chaos is the most flavorful of all the armies in 40k. The book is a definite improvement over the dull, repetitiveness of the last book, but falls short of the 3.5 Codex. In all honesty, it feels a lot like the original 3rd edition codex for chaos, lots of units, but not a lot in the options department.

Dread Knight Counts-as

Up this week are a few Dread Knight Counts-as models that I built up with dynamic poses and on scenic bases for Next Level Painting. Ken over there then painted them up with some amazing colors to go with his latest project. Here are the pictures of the finished ones I built up.

Refining a tournament: Painting Scores

   The independent tournament scene contains many variations on to how their ideas of a competitive environment should be. Now for soft scores, one of the more common issues I have heard from players has always been "why did I get this paint score?" and "how did that guy get that score?" It is an all too familiar discussion after a tournament between the organizers and the players. One idea that has helped ease those discussions has been the establishment of a painting rhubric for the players. This itemized list showed in order to maximize their painting scores, they had to meet certain criteria outlined in the rhubric. Now while this effectively makes painting scores anywhere from 80-90% objective, it leaves the remainder subjective and that can lend to discussions still.

   No matter what organizers will claim, every paint judge has a bias on what makes an army look good. Some judges abhor the use of airbrushes and have given lower scores if they know the army is airbrushed. Other judges put more weight on conversions and will score an army higher on that. This is based on personal knowledge, and talking to judges who scored GTs and local tournaments. For some players those bias and preferences can change the outcome of an award or overall standing.

     Time for a painting score game-change

  One possible solution is to adopt a policy that was used in the London 2012 Olympics. Any army that is fully painted recieves 10 points. An army that is based recieves another 5 points and finally if the models are fully WYSIWYG then add in 5 points. This gives 20 points to the player and is easily attainable for simply painting and basing your army and making it fully represented. This also cuts down the need to go through 5-10 min of reviewing a scoring rhubric for judges and allows speed of judging.

 Next, have 4-5 judges score painting on a scale of 1-10 on how they think the army looks in their own opinion.  Once they are finished scoring, have the top score and the bottom score discarded. This leaves the middle scores and they can then be combined. The plus side to this idea is that you can discard the scores of judges who are generous with their painting scores or judges who may harbor some prejudice towards a painting style.

  Another idea can be utilized if there are less than 4 judges and have the scores averaged. If there are some decimal points after the averaging, just round up to the nearest whole number. This may require a bit of math on the organizing side.

    This solution does not eliminate subjectivity but helps migate an excessive high or low score due to that subjectivity and with painting scores it is in they eye of the beholder. Note that this idea works best in a GT environment and does not translate well in the RTT environment. I will be writing about my ideas for an RTT environment in future installments.