Happy New Year!

It's been an amazing first year so far for Legio, and we're totally looking forward to 2009 and all the hobby goodness coming our way.

From our little beginnings in April, through to a good showing at SporeCon in June, the mayhem of MOATAB, the 40k Legio Tournament and Season 1 of the 40k League, and the amazing gaming goodness every week at Hobby Night, I must say it's been a great trip thus far. All hail the 3 Purity Seal winners of 2008! All hail the other award-winners of 2008! All hail the participants to Legio events and activities! All hail all!!!

Here's to an incredible 2009! Look out for the FoW League, further seasons of the 40k League, tournaments for several game systems and our 1st Anniversary celebrations coming up in the next few months.

Happy New Year!!!

All Hail the New League Champion!

After 4 weeks of slogging it out amidst countless armies on a thousand battlefields, when all is said and done, when the sound of battle and furious dice-rolling fades away, there can only be one Legio 40k League Champion for Season 1.

And that Champion, holder of the coveted Purity Seal of the Legio, is none other than Peter Cheah. All hail the Champion!

This is well-deserved, having had almost a dozen regular season games (a contender for the Fanatic Award), a top-4 LPA average, fully-painted and repped army, and then battling it out in the championships and the final game against another Chaos army (and against the elements).

The Purity Seal and the awards for Fanatic, Best Sportsmanship and Best Appearance will be given out at the ceremony to kick-off Season 2 in February. So stay tuned.

Congratulations to Peter, the award winners, the finalists and all who took part! It has been a blast taking part in this League. Looking forward to Season 2. See you guys then ...

... in the meantime, I'm breaking out my FoW Brits for the FoW League starting in a couple of weeks ...

Merry Christmas!!!

The Legio's first Christmas, and we've seen some pretty great gaming and hobbying in the past few months. Looking forward to the 40k League Season 1 Championships this Saturday. Should be a blast.

And don't forget that the Legio venue will not be open on 26th December, so there will be no Legio Hobby Night this Friday. We'll see you at the Legio on the first Friday of 2009. In the meantime, let's check out them Championships,

40k League Season 1: End of Regular Season - On To The Championships!

It's been a hectic League month. Because of the short season, League players have been frantically getting games in with just about whomever who dares pick up the league challenge. We see people making all sorts of excuses to get in more gaming time, some of which actually make sense too ... ave Legio!

The last regular season dice have been rolled and the results have been tallied, and we end up with the regular season final standings at the bottom of this page. AND, we have the Final Four:

1. Chuah S.
2. Syamael
3. Peter C.
4. Nahri S. (Wild Card)

Azlan R. bowed out gracefully.

Chuah, remember that the League rules are clear that your models need to be fully painted and properly repped in order to actually make it to the Championships. If for any reason you can't make it, then we will pick the next in line in the standings to play in the Championships.

The Championships will be held at Comics Mart in Mid-Valley on Saturday 27th December, at 12:00 noon. The games will have a 2-hour time limit, and I will bring the scenarios that will be used.

With the end of the regular season, we've also found Season 1's Fanatic, Appearance and Sportsmanship winners, and they are ...

Legio 40k Season 1 Fanatic - Shazli M., with an amazing 15 games!!! ... the last of which was played and ended in time for the midnite deadline.

Legio 40k Season 1 Best Sportsmanship - Faizal S. ... proof that Chaos Space Marines are, deep down inside, really nice guys at heart.

Legio 40k Season 1 Best Appearance - Azlan R. ... gee, thanks guys.

Legio 40k Season 1 League Champion - find out on the 27th who will be crowned the first ever Legio league champion and thus win the coveted Purity Seal and have his named placed on the Legio Malaysia Hall of Fame plaque.

The awards will be presented at the awards ceremony during the kick-off of Season 2 in mid-February.

Anyways, it has been a blast! I hope you all had fun - I did! See you all on the 27th for the play-offs. I'll also be sharing a bit more about the Legio 2009 Calendar (which, btw, you can find below) ... good times!

The Final Week!

Well, the regular season of our first ever league is drawing to a close. All confirmed stats that have been sent in have been updated. Please remember that at midnight this Friday, the regular season will end. No more league games may be played after this point. Any results reported after midnight will be discarded. At midnight, we will determine the top three league players, and confirm they have painted armies. We will also do the wild card draw then, and announce who is going into the finals via the blog. Good luck to all!

World War II Comes To Legio Malaysia!

2009 promises to be a HUGE year for Legio Malaysia and Flames of War! We've planned not only a league and a Legio Tournament for FoW, but also our first-ever campaign with the impending release of Firestorm: Bagration. It's gonna be awesome!

Our first venture into war-torn WWII Europe will be our first season of Flames of War league action. You'll need to submit a 1500 pt, Late War list to join The League- we'll start accepting them on January 9th, and you can start playing games on January 16th. There is no fee to join the Season 1 Flames of War League, and games may be played anywhere, not just at Hobby Nights!

For the Season 1 FoW rules packet, click here.

For the Flames of War Legio Results sheet, click here.


In addition, we're running the Flames of War "Firestorm: Bagration" campaign starting February 13th. More details will come very soon for what promises to be an awesome time.

Finally, we'd also like to bring your attention to the next Legio Tournament, which will be a 1500 point Flames of War Late War tournament to be held on Saturday, March 21st. Themed for the Eastern Front during Operation: Bagration, this tournament should be a great time for all comers. Again, full details and a rules packet will come very soon for this tournament.

We're thrilled to be able to support this outstanding game system for our membership and for other hobbyists in Malaysia. For those who haven't tried it, there hasn't been a better time to get involved!

Cheers,

Jeff

Stats Update- New Leader!

Congrats to Chuah for shooting up to the top of the rankings with some decisive victories- nicely done! I've gotten some results, and updated a few games. However, the following games have NOT been added:

Azim, I need your results from your game with Chuah before I can post them up.

Harvinder, I need your results for the game you played against Azlan. I'll post your game up once I get those.

To clarify, folks, BOTH players must email in COMPLETE results as soon as possible- preferably within 24 hours of the game taking place. To avoid your results getting lost or misinterpreted, please email them in through the Legio Malaysia site. Do not email results via forums, Multiply private messages, or to other people like Azlan. It would make it a lot easier on us if all of the off-site game results were sent to one place.

It would also make things easier if everyone would please use the results form we posted at the beginning of the league. Click here to download a copy, and if at all possible report your results by filling out a soft copy of this and attaching it to your email through the Legio Malaysia site.

Your cooperation will make things a lot easier for us to properly tabulate accurate, timely results. We appreciate it! :)

Week 3 ends tonight folks, and tomorrow will start the 4th and final week of Season 1. Remember, all games MUST be completed and results turned in by Friday, December 19th at midnight. Once all of those results get compiled, we'll announce the top 3 regular season players, and we'll also let you all know who won the "Wild Card". We'll then make immediate arrangements for the finals at Hobby Night on December 26th!

Hopefully I'll see a lot of you tonight at Hobby Night!

Cheers,

Jeff

Weekend League Stats Updated

All of the Week 2 games I've been told about have now been updated. Fortunately, both sides reported in for all games, and there were no discrepancies. Huzzah!

As you may have noticed with the league stats below, I've made a formatting change to make understanding current league standings a little easier. From this point forward, only those players who have current minimum games completed will be ranked. The minimum games number is equal to the current league week minus one. So, since we've started Week 3, everyone at this point should have already played 2 games to be current. Therefore, anyone with 2 or more games played will be ranked. Anyone with 1 game or less will not. However, if you're one of the "red" players, don't despair! As soon as you get caught up in your games, you'll be ranked.

We did this to avoid the scenario of someone playing one game, scoring a very high score (like a 19), and then not playing another one for the rest of the league. It's not fair to list them in 1st place over other players who are getting games in.

If anyone is confused about this and need more explanation, I'd be happy to explain to you. Just drop me an email and we'll get ya sorted!

Cheers

Jeff

Awesome League Night

The action is still raging at Hobby Night: The Comics Mart Invasion! We've had a great time so far tonight- at one point we had to have a whopping seven tables set up for all the league games taking place. Stats are being updated as the games come through, so keep checking!

Also, please note that no more league lists will be accepted for entry into The League. Wong's Sisters of Battle are the last ones to join the fray. That makes 20 league players!

Get your game on!

Big Hobby Night- Bright Future

Well folks, tonight is a big Hobby Night for us. We've reached the midway point of The League, and thus far we've signed up an astonishing 18 players for Season 1. I'm thrilled that so many Legionnaires and other hobbyists have answered the call of battle!

As part of our budget planning for the 40K RTT, we've recycled two of the lava tables and turned them into grassland tables. Another one is scheduled for a "moonscape" makeover, and yet another will be terraformed into resembling the surface of Mars. After all, Mars is where my office is located! ;)

We've come a long way since our humble beginnings in May. I've met new players, made new friends, and have seen the miniatures hobby grow before my eyes. MOATaB and "Battle in the Eye of Terror" were two fun events that represent what Legio Malaysia is all about. Fun, great looking miniatures, and a spirit of fellowship and friendly competition. I'm proud to have been a part of them.

2009 holds even more for both our members and the hobby community as a whole. You'll see campaigns, leagues, tournaments, and even the first of an annual painting competition. More games like Flames of War and Warhammer will be featured in club events. In short, we have a slew of things that should get everyone's hobby juices flowing freely!

So, grab your minis, dice, and tape measure, and hang on for not only the second half of The League, but also for the future of Legio Malaysia. Wargaming never looked so good!

Only 3 Days Left to Join!

League action has been hot thus far, with several games already in the books. Believe it or not, Season 1 will be halfway done in three days! Remember, ANYONE who completes 4 league games and plays a fully painted army has a chance to be League Champion and earn the coveted Purity Seal. The more games you play, the better!

Being almost halfway done also brings us to another milestone- the end of signups. That's right, anyone interested in playing in The League who hasn't signed up yet needs to get it done NOW. At midnight this Friday, Legio Malaysia will no longer be accepting new entries into Season 1. So, don't wait- join today. You can either show up Friday night and turn in your list, or you can email us through the Legio Malaysia site. If you're a 40K enthusiast and enjoy playing, don't miss out on this historic first season. It's fun, and it's free!

Site Update- Driving Directions

Hey folks,

Now, when I first launched this site back in May, the Wikimapia area map seemed like a good idea. Admittedly however, it's not the most useful thing. I admit it!

So, I've changed the link on the right to bring up an area map that should be a little more helpful as far as driving directions go. Over the next 24 hours we're going to add some more details and street names, so stay tuned.

Enjoy,

Jeff

News flash! GC 40K RTT pushed back 1 week

That's right, Legionnaires, Richard has pushed back his first Grand Prix 40K Tournament back from Dec 13th to the 20th. Why, you might ask? He wants to give everyone another week of planning, hobbying, or other mayhem before the tourney rears its mighty head.

So, if you're planning ahead you have a week's reprieve. If you know you're going to go, be a pal and get in touch with Richard.

Cheers,

Jeff

Flames of War Figure Cases Coming!

I don't know about you, but I've wanted to have a figure case with compartments specifically designed for Flames of War miniatures and tanks. As I understand it, a company called "Feldherr" offers carrying cases are available in a soft case/backpack, as well as a more traditional hard case. According to Imagine Games, both cases feature customizable foam trays specifically designed for the Flames of War miniatures range. Imagine Games is bringing these into Malaysia, so be sure to email Imagine Games if you're interested in grabbing one of these bags!

Weekend Stats Updated

Howdy folks,

After a nice vacation away with my lovely wife, I'm back in the hobby mix with the latest update of league scores. After a relatively quiet first week, there were a slew of games played over the weekend. Awesome! However, we are still missing some results from matches. Remember, when you choose to play games offsite, BOTH SIDES must email in the match results. This must be done within 1 week, or the match will be disqualified from league consideration. Here are the results we're waiting on. If they are not turned in or emailed in by the end of the night Friday, these matches will be stricken from the records:

Peter C, you have not emailed in the results from your matches with Tay J. and Raymond.

Tay and Raymond, I highly suggest you cajole, threaten, or otherwise motivate Peter to get those stats in! :) Peter- please don't forget to include Sportsmanship and Appearance scores for the previously mentioned matches.

Also, note that if your name in the stats below appears in green, that means that you qualify for entry in to the league finals with a fully painted army and 4 games played. If your name is in white, that means you have played enough games to be current in the league (at this time 1 game). If your name appears in red, that means you are behind in games and you need to get some played!

I'm very glad to see all the league action, particularly from our outstation brothers at Comics Mart. After all, we're all one big hobby community, regardless of where we play, or who we hang out with.

Cheers!

Jeff

GC 40K RTT December 13th

That's right, Legionnaires, Games Circle is running a 1750 pt, single elimination 40K tourney on Saturday, December 13th at Games Circle. This tournament is the first event in a "GC Grand Prix 2009 Tournaments" series of tourneys that they have planned for 2009. We've added this event to the Legio calendar, and as we get more info on future events you can be sure we'll put them up.

For more information, contact Richie at GC!

New site feature- live league stats!

That's right folks, if you scroll down to the Legio Events calendar, you'll see the league stats right above it. This is updated daily, so you can follow who's in the league, how many games they've played, and what their ranking is! We're still working with the format, so stay tuned!

Cheers!

"The League" is Here!

That's right folks, the league we hinted about at the end of last weekend's Legio Tournament is upon us! If you've never played in a wargaming league before, this is really something you should check out. I've played in and run leagues for years, and they are a great excuse to play lots of games and try out new armies. I highly recommend it!

For the complete rules packet, click here.

For a copy of the Legio Results sheet (in Excel), click here.

To celebrate the launch of league gaming, we're doing a couple things to help promote Season 1 (of what we anticipate to be many, many more) of the 40k League. First, we are waiving the fee- playing in the league will cost you exactly 0 bucks this season.

Second, we are allowing non-Legio members to take part. That's right, if you are not a member, but love playing 40K, join the league! As you'll see from reading the rules packet, you can even play your games at your favorite local haunt instead of at Hobby Night. Of course, the finals will be held at Legio Malaysia, but the regular season matches can be played anywhere. You can even email your results in!

The system is fair, flexible, and a lot of fun. Be sure to mention it to people you know are 40K fans, and let's get a bunch of people playing! After all, Legio Malaysia is here to GROW the hobby, right?

So, there you have it. As always, if you have any questions let me or Azlan know and we'll get you sorted. To all people joining "The League", I wish you all success on the battlefield. Ave Legio!


Cheers,

Jeff

Glory to the Legion!

There's the last picture of hundreds that were taken- wargaming tables that saw their first action in Legio Malaysia's "Battle in the Eye of Terror" 40K tournament. Terrain was built, models were frantically painted and based, and trips were made in preparation for our first ever Legio Tournament. What a time it was!

20 players fought three grueling rounds across tables all themed to be the surface of a volcanic ash waste. Players not only came from amongst Legio ranks, but also from Penang, JB, and even Singapore. We had a fantastic mix of players and armies participating in the tournament.

While we wait to get the pictures, we're going to go ahead and post the final results here. First, the winners!

Overall Champion: Iskazri's Orks

Best Sportsman: Shazli Abd Aziz

Best Appearance: Joe Soon's Necrons

As you will see in the complete results below, we actually had ties for all three categories. For Overall Champion and Best Appearance, we use their total sportsmanship scores as tie breakers. For Best Sportsman, we use total victory points as the tie breaker (if you can win games and still get high marks, you must be doing something right!)

Below are the complete results for the tournament, sorted in overall ranking. Thanks to everyone who participated, and especially to Iskazri, Shazli Merican, and Shazli Abd Aziz for their invaluable assistance making the terrain and tables. Ave Legio!

...and the tournament is full!

Howdy Legionnaires!

We have now officially registered all of the available spots in the Warhammer 40,000 Legio Tournament being held on Saturday, November 15th. From this point forward, we are still happy to accept reserve entries. If anyone on game day is a no show, we will fill their spots with members of the reserve list on a first come, first served basis.

In addition, we have had some more questions that we'd like to answer for everyone...

Does extra armor have to modeled on my vehicles if I choose to take that wargear?

Absolutely. Plasticard is a fast and easy way to model extra armor. Multifilla has a fantastic selection of plasticard, brass, tin, and other goodies for conversions like this. You could also use spare track links, logs, sandbags, etc. to represent this wargear choice. Of course, Forgeworld also has a lovely range of extra armor for Rhinos, Predators, and Land Raiders. Vehicles that do not have the extra armor modeled may not be equipped with it in the game.

Do melta bombs have to be repped on my figures?

Yes. Characters taking this wargear must represent it somewhere on the model. Squads equipped with melta bombs must have at least 2 or 3 models equipped with melta bombs.

What about Special Characters?

This is a good one to bring up. A good example of this is Chaplain Cassius of the Ultramarines. He's equipped with a combi-flamer, but most versions of the model do not include this wargear.

For Special Characters, if you are using the actual model (and not converting one of your own), you do NOT need to convert all their wargear if you don't wish to. Since Special Characters can't normally change their wargear, it's ok to assume that the model intended for that character represents that character just fine. However, please use common sense. Don't show up with the power armored version of Marneus Calgar and try to use him as the one equipped with Terminator armor... hahaha!

Remember folks, we're not trying to be a kill joy with our modeling standards for Legio Tournaments. We just want to create an environment that supports the total hobby- an ideal that most if not all Legionnaires share. It's a lot of fun to play against a fully painted, WYSIWYG army. Great looking battles with no confusion are awesome to take part in. So, if you're a little vexed that you need to do some extra modeling time, remember that once you're done your army will look that much better!

Cheers,

Jeff

Two Weeks to H-Hour ...

... and Legio members were seen furiously basing models, painting, assembling and trying out army lists. We welcome new Legionnaires Faizal (belated welcome, sorry), Cikgu Din and Khairul to the ranks.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome Hobby Night. With 2 weeks to Legio Tournament I, there was plenty of 40k action going around, with all kinds of armies represented. I will not let on what these armies are, to keep it fair for the tourney, but I can tell you that my new 6th PzGdr list had the misfortune of playing 2 KP games, and got a right trashing in both. We also saw how effective the Thunderfire Cannon can be - MVP for that particular game.

There was some FoW action going on with Vinder's US Armored Infantry taking on Khairul's panzers. The FoW table featured the new river terrain pieces, which was real nice looking - straight out of the box too.

And in the background the buzz and whine of power tools and hobby knife busily hacking away at wood, masonite and blue foam means that our Fabricator-General will have no respite, no peace till all the tables are done for Legio Tournament I.

See you guys next Friday.

That Was Some Great Gaming

Last Friday's Hobby Night was a blast. We had plenty of 1500pt 40k action as people are trying stuff out for the tourney. My Land Raider-spam Thousand Sons took on Jeff's Salamanders ... and we found that truly, loyalists Land Raiders are finally better than those of Chaos. There were Chaos, Orks, other loyalist Marines, Eldar in action too with Dann, Nazrin, Kadir, Faizal, Iz and Din. Firaya was busy touching up the bases of his army. A really great-looking FoW action between Germans and US Airborne was happening too. And all this amidst the terrain-building chopping of blue foam and wood.

Oct 17 Hobby Night Canceled

Sorry folks, but a last minute staffing problem has shot down tonight's Hobby Night. However, we will be back in full swing next Friday. Be sure to come- we'll have a sneak preview of the tables and terrain for next month's 40K Legio Tournament!

Cheers,

Jeff

Tournament FAQ 1

Hey folks,

We've started getting questions emailed in about the tournament, which only makes sense. However, rather than email individual replies, we are going to post these questions and answer them right on the Legio Malaysia site. That way, anyone else wondering about the same thing will already have the answer. Huzzah!

Must models be fully based?

Yes indeed, my friend, your entire army needs to be based. At a minimum, this consists of painting the base and glueing some kind of basing material on top of it. Note that if your entire army isn't based with a common appearance/theme, your Appearance score will not be as high as it can be. Many tutorials are available online to help with basing. Here's an example!

How would the Orbital Strike from the Daemonhunters/Witch Hunters Codex? Since I don't have to let my opponent know where the strike will fall, how should I record it?

I played a Daemonhunters army a while back, and I used a simple method for this that worked a treat. I created a 4x6 grid on a piece of paper that represented the table- I printed this out on my computer beforehand. Then, after terrain was set on the table, I quickly sketched out the terrain features on the paper, and indicated which table edge was mine. Then, I marked a big "X" on the terrain feature that my Orbital Strike would be centered on. This way, it was very clear, and my opponent had no doubts as to where I planned my Strike to fall. See the pic on the right for an example.

On wargear, how would a wargear work if both players are using it, but with different codexes which provide different abilities for it? (Older SM/SMV/DH storm shields vs the latest SM storm shields)

Each player simply follows the rules in their own Codex. All players MUST use the latest version of their respective Codex, as stated in the Legio Tournament Packet. If this still isn't clear, just email us the specific question/rule you need a ruling on, and we'll let you know. This also links into the next question...

Just to clarify, are Games Workshop FAQ 'patches' allowed?

Yes, and we've even provided the link to the GW FAQ page in the Legio Tournament Packet. Be sure to print off and bring with you a copy of your army's FAQ, just in case. FAQs may end up updating rules for older Codexes. When this is the case, the FAQ will take precedence. If there are any questions about the relevance or use of any FAQ, please email Legio Malaysia.

So, that's it for Round 1! Email in your questions and we'll get 'em answered up here. Cheers!

Our First Tournament Is Coming!

That's right, it's official. On Saturday, November 15th, Legio Malaysia is running our first 'Legio Tournament', a 1500 pt Warhammer 40,000 tourney. This will be a three round tournament, starting at 9:00 AM and finishing up in the evening with the awards ceremony. The tournament is themed, with all 15 tables being custom made specifically for this tournament. Battles will be fought across a volcanic ash plain, on a world deep inside the Eye of Terror.

Click here to download a Word document that has all the information you should need to prepare and register for this tournament. Registration begins now- we have only 30 slots available. Once they are gone, everyone else will be added to reserve list. Download the packet for the details.

We're very excited to be able to host this tournament, and we're really looking forward to seeing some new faces. I'd also like to give a big shout out to the nutters from PI in Singapore- I'm looking forward to meeting you, and we hope that our tournament here can be as fun as the one you ran at Sporecon!

As always, feel free to post some comments. What armies you thinking about? Who's coming? Any picks as to who might win this thing?

Get ready for "Battle in the Eye of Terror!"

Happy Hari Raya! 'Id-Mubarak

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Hari Raya. We trust you will have a great time with friends and family and food. Amidst all the fun and festivities, please don't over-indulge - or risk the prevations of Slaanesh and the consequences of such (not just from Slaanesh, but also from the resulting Astartes cleansing mission that it would necessitate).

Have a safe journey home to your kampungs, home planet, rock, fungi, etc. Just be sure all appropriate Land Raider, Rhino, Chimera, Sdkfz 251's and Proton have received the local Tech-Magi's blessing and such relevant services, especially invoking the rites of engine oil, tyre thread, tyre pressure and fuel capacity.

The Legio will be closed on Raya week (i.e. no Hobby Nite on Friday 3rd October). Furious dice-rolling and hobbying at the Legio will resume the next Friday, 10th October. 'Id Mubarak.

Friends + Food + Lotsa Good Hobby = Excellent Hobby Night!

I gotta admit the Buka Puasa Pot Luck Hobby Night last night was a tremendous success. We all thought that there won't be enough food - turns out there was all kinds - nasi tomato, oodles of beehoon, chicken, beef rendang, sambal, otak2, all kinds of kueh, fruit, drinks - we all kinda gorged out ourselves silly.

But Hobby Night started way before dinner. I managed to start assembling a Basilica Imperialis from the brilliant 40k city ruins set. That is one amazing building kit! I'm about 40% done right now, and can't wait to get it done. Saleem went to work on some terrain and his SoB.

The first games started an hour before dinner. My Eldar faced Jo's real cool Speed Freeks, and we had such a great game (with afore-mentioned dinner break after Turn 2), we had another one right after.

There were lots of furious dice-chucking going on, so much so that we had to break out the spare table and terrain (used only in emergencies - note to self: must bring/build more). There were some real interesting models on-table too. Some amazing-looking looted wagons, battlewagons, trukks and dethkoptas, a scratch-built Iron Warriors Land Raider, and there were lots of models from the excellent Black Reach box set too.

Man, that was excellent. Now I'm so looking forward to next Friday. See you guys at the Legio.

I'm Baaaaack!!!

Last Friday's Hobby Night was a blast! I've been away too long, and it was difficult to decide what to bring - Eldar? Thousand Sons? FoW British? Should I do some terrain? ...

Eventually settled on my Eldar, and had my first-ever 40k 5th ed game vs 2000pts of Ultramarines (yes yes, pretty late, but I was away). And folks, this 5th ed thing is just amazing. All I can say is GW has done it again. Not only do the standard and quality of new models keep edging up, now even the game has improved tremendously. I don't want to sound too much like a free plug for GW, but it is what it is.

It's even got Saleem back into 40k. He who had forsaken the 41st millennium for the past 4 or 5 years was actually seen feverishly rolling dice with glee at the head of his mean Sisters of Battles army. One shudders to think what he'll do with his Salamanders.

It was definitely a 40k flavor for the night. I think it may be the first ever Hobby Night that saw only 40k games being played - Orks, bunch of Chaos armies, Necrons, the SoB, Eldar, Marines - without the usual mix of FoW, Warmachine and Fantasy battles going on.

Looking forward to next Friday. My painting table right now is a terrible mix of FoW British (just need to finish the basing), some Eldar, the amazing GW ruins set, and a whole bunch of Ravenwing. We'll see what I'll work on this week and what I bring to Hobby Night next week.

See you guys at the Legio.

Nurgle's Rot has come to Legio

Hey folks!

First off, I'm back from my wedding and honeymoon- huzzah! Many thanks to my fellow Legionnaires who were able to make it out. I had a lot of fun, and I hope you did as well.

Unfortunately, upon my return to work both Saleem and myself have caught some kind of nasty bug. We're both pretty under the weather, so we're NOT going to be able to keep the factory open tonight for Hobby Night. I had put the announcement off in hopes that I would feel good enough to attend, but neither of us can make it.

So, enjoy your Friday in another way, and be sure to come by on September 5th. I won't be there, unfortunately, as I'll be on a plane to NZ for a Battlefront meeting, but I will be back for the September 19th Hobby Night. Take care!

Hobby in Plano TX, Part 7

Well, this is the final instalment of this series, for come later next week, I fly home!
And I can roll some diiiiiiceeeee!!!


Anyways, had a great time at Hobby Annex tonight. Quite a vibrant gaming community with really friendly people. I arrived at 8:30pm, and there were a couple of people leaving, but there were at least 20 people there. The 8 tables were pretty cool. Anyways, I let the pictures do the talking. Btw, the one above is a shot of a horde of Orks who were having a hard time against Emperor's Children.



Some painting action going on - while a Riddick movie plays on the PC.

Orks charge across a bridge ... waaagh

Green slime oozes from beneath the door of this mysterious manor.

This Ork sentry post comes komplete wid praktikel reminderz

If you boyz wansta git in ...

What big wings you got grandma

Apparently, gaunts breed well in Texas too. Must be all them steak y'all.

4,000pt Fantasy action

There is a reason why the gates are locked ...

Hobby in Plano TX, Part 6

Checked out this store called Hobby Annex. And this is one gamer's store. Recently under new management since June, this is a store owned and run by gamers, of gamers for gamers. Nice selection of hobby supplies, plastic and resin kits and some RC stuff, but mainly GW 40k and Fantasy, some LOTR, Warmachine, AT-43, Battletech, Magic, etc.

One of the regulars, Bob, walked me through the store. One half of the store, separated from the rest of the store, was the gaming and painting area. 6 tables with ample space, and nice racks of terrain. There were some freshly built Orky buildings, which I thought were real cool, and quite characterful (the lookout station had graffiti that said "oi, wake up!"). There's also a room where some nice diorama projects are kept. Real cool 1/35 scale stuff.

The store manager, Jeff, is real friendly and being a gamer and modeler, was really helpful with hobby tips, and gaming tips. He's building a Tyranid army and showed me a couple of models, pretty cool - one gaunt had an OOP Warrior's head on it, which looked nice.

Anyways, the store will soon be moving a couple of miles up the street to a better location, so they are having a Fantast/40k gaming frenzy this coming Friday - which yours truly will definitely attend.

Meanwhile, my Brit infantry are all done, and the last unit of the army list - the 25 pdr battery - is on the painting table, primed and ready to go. With luck, I'll be able to finish this by next weekend, and that would complete my 1500pt FoW late-war British rifle company army.

I did a bit of shopping too - the excellent Imperial Sector set and the moonscape craters. Look out for them on Legio tables next month.

Hobby in Plano TX - Part 5

Came back to Plano yesterday after 2 weeks in Fort Worth. All in all, these past 4 weeks have been pretty productive. I finished painting an infantry platoon (including PIAT and knee mortar which I forgot to paint for 1st platoon), an MG platoon, an anti-tank platoon (complete with 6 pounder guns and Universal Carrier) for which I had to convert 4 crewmen, and 2 M10 tank destroyers. And I'm about 80% done on the 3rd and last infantry platoon. The only thing left for my 1500pt British Rifle Company list is the 25 pdr battery, which I'll start right after the infantry is done.

On the drive from Fort Worth to Plano yesterday I popped by Big World Comics in Carrolton. It's a small store that's jammed packed with stuff. An entire wall is plastered with FoW stuff - the stock is really good. They even have some stuff leftover from early-war, which is cool. Another wall is filled with GW stuff, 40k and Fantasy. What's cool about the store is that they still keep some real OOP stuff. There were even some old BFG stuff. Nice.

At the store, I met one of the regular FoW gamers who meet there every Saturday. His collection is pretty cool - Rumanians, Finnish, and early-war stuff. And he's quite the veteran wargamer with collections in all kinds of periods and scales and we had a good time talking shop. To me, that's the cool thing about traveling - getting to meet wargamers from all over the place.

Talking about that, I suddely remembered about a group called the Dallas Thursday Night Irregulars. I had bumped into them online a long time ago, but for some reason totally forgot about them. Anyways, I shot them a mail and we're looking at a possible game next Sunday - most likely a FoW 1942 desert bash. That would be awesome. They also gave me another list of stores to check out ... which of course, I will!

Slow, but cool hobby night...

For the first time (to the best of my recollection), last night was the first hobby night that featured everyone building and/or painting miniatures. Not a single game was played! Norman, Saleem, and I all furiously worked on our budding forces. Norman is painting a Warmachine warjack that keeps looking better and better. Next time you attend hobby night, be sure to bug him and check it out. I personally love the inked verdigris effect on much of the exposed metal parts. Very cool.

Saleem put together the bulk of his Soviet "Tchanka" teams- basically horse drawn wagons with a machine-gun team on board. He even incorporated resin tree stumps and creative arrangement to give them the sense of rushing along at breakneck speeds, happily shooting down as many fascists as possible.

As for me, I put together and spackled another two armored panzergrenadier squads, assembled another Panzer IVH, and put together two bases of Nebelwerfer rocket launchers for my German Panzer Lehr armored panzergrendier company.

We also listened to way too much 'Tenacious D' in our never ending quest for the perfect fusion of metal and hobby. Well, I would like to find that anyway!

As a final reminder, there will be no hobby night on Friday, August 15th. I'm getting married, and Saleem is coming as well. So, we won't have anyone to keep the factory open for hobby madness. However, Saleem has agreed to open hobby night on August 22nd, so we won't have to cancel that one as I originally thought. I will be on my honeymoon so I won't make it.

So, last night was quiet but very productive for the folks that made it. I look forward to seeing you all after I get hitched, and I'm also really looking forward to getting in some serious Flames of War gaming!

Cheers,

Jeff

Good news for Hobby Night

Howdy folks!

I have some more news to add to the steady stream from our international correspondent Azlan! Up until recently, on the schedule we've had Hobby Night closed at Battlefront for two Fridays, the 15th and the 22nd. This is because, as many of you know, I'm getting married on the 15th. Hobby Night night will definitely NOT be happening on that evening.

However, Saleem has agreed to come in and open up Hobby Night on the 22nd. I will still be on my honeymoon, but the rest of my fellow Legionnaires are welcome and encouraged to keep Saleem company.

Last night was an excellent Hobby Night- I assembled and basecoated my Panther A platoon, and also assembled 2 Tiger IE tanks. I've decided to switch from doing SS to Panzer Lehr in the Villers Bocage book. Azlan, I WILL have 2000 points painted by the time you get back, so keep up your awesome efforts at getting your Brits painted.

So, that's about all for now folks!

Hobby in Fort Worth TX - Part 4

Not much updates this time round. Been real busy at work, but managed to get some painting done. Behold, 2nd platoon is now ready for action, and so is the company's machine-gun platoon. I'm very pleased with myself for keeping to the paint schedule. Was going to post pics, but my camera phone just don't cut it. I was tempted to break out the Ravenwing models I bought, but resisted the temptation and will be working on the M-10s next.

One thing I did not update last week was that I got to watch the tail-end of some league games. Pretty cool. The fights were fierce, but quite fair, and mostly loads of fun. I did notice that some people were not too clear on the rules. Sometimes I bother correcting them, sometimes I don't - depends on whether they are having fun or just plain competing. But all in all, yet another interesting example of watching different play styles and different ways of playing the armies. There was this IG army that had a couple of sniper squads. Not only do they look good, they are pretty effective too. And I saw how spamming Khorne Berzerkers in Rhinos can get pretty scary for the opponent. I'm sure our very own Lord Akkarrin can relate.

On another note, I've been slightly distracted with the HBO mini-series Generation Kill. Is it running back home? Real excellent stuff. Go catch it if you can.

This weekend I'll be deciding whether I should get the Imperial Sector building box set or not. Let me think it over.

Hobby in Plano, TX - Part 3

Dropped by GW Grapevine today, which is about a half hour drive away. The intent was to check it out and then go back to the hotel to finish about 5 hours worth of homework. Problem is, I parked on the opposite side of the mall and had to walk past several other interesting stores before I actually got there - which lengthened my trip somewhat (Rock Band for Wii is tempting, if only I can figure out how to lug it home).

It's quite a typical store. 3 demo tables up front, 3 gaming tables to the side. Terrain was ok, and there was a nice-looking village, complete with barn and bell-tower (which in a game I was watching, housed a Devastator squad, and counted as AV11). My intent was to pick up some Cadians and some WFB cavalry, but I kinda forgot.

Watched a couple of games. One was this cool Ork army wiv lotsa boyz doing some serious Marine-pounding. The Ork objective was surrounded by 26 boyz, and behind a building manned by Lootas and guarded by a looted vehicle ... that would be a challenge to grab. The Marine player did not have enough troops choices, and the Orks literally strolled to victory (well, it was actually bloodier than that - slugfests between Chaplain, Assault Squad, Nobz, Boyz and all ... it was quite messy).

Another game going on was a 1850pt Dark Eldar vs Marines. We all know what happens when Marines even think about fighting DE :) Anyways, the Marine army had a tad too many points-sinks - a Land Raider, Land Raider Crusader, 2 termie squads, dreadnought, 2 tactical squads. The DE army is very different from what we are used to. For one, the guy actually used a webway portal - haven't seen that in ages. The army had a full Incubi retinue for his Archon, 2 Wyche squads, 2 Talos, grotesques and only 2 Raider squads. The Wyches were equipped with haywires, and they easily blew up both Land Raiders. At the end of the game, both DE and Marines (all 2 surviving battle brothers) only held 1 objective each - tactical draw (though I don't think the Marine player felt it was).

Anyways, the store was running a paint workshop, and I had stayed too long as it was. Now I've got to steel myself for the homework, or at least get started.

Iron Painter Rescheduled- Date TBD

Hola folks!

Amongst a few other things discussed at this month's meeting was the decision to push forward the Iron Painter to another date. Unfortunately it looks like a lot of folks are pretty busy during this time, and we also haven't gotten the word out as much as we could have. Better planning, and we WILL run this uber painting event- count on it!

Don't forget Legio member shirts are in and waiting for all Legionnaires. Keep hobbyin', and I hope to see you all next week! Well, maybe not Azlan... ;)

At last, member shirts have arrived...

That's right, we finally got these delivered today, just in time for tomorrow's hobby night AND Legion Meeting. So, all members have TWO killer reasons for showing up tomorrow night...


I'll be building my 2nd SS Flames of War army for Iron Painter. What are the rest of you hobby nutters doing?

Hobby in Plano, TX - Part 2

Went back to Hobbytown after work. Wednesday nights is like Games Night and there were about 14-15 guys and a gal there. There were a lot of 500pt 40k action going on. Quite interesting to watch totally different styles of play.

I watched a tiny BA army take on an equally tiny EC army. The BA got shredded to pieces by Slaaneshi firepower. By turn 3, only 3 DC and an attack bike were all that's left of the army. Another interesting game was IG vs Orks ... needless to say it was the largest game of the night. They rolled Annihilation, and the Orks won quite easily (ok, their losses were horrendous, but hey, they can't be beat). Btw, the Ork player showed me his WIP Looted Vehicle - an enslaved Carnifex, chained and reined and herded by little Grots, all on nicely modeled MDF base.

There were also some other gaming action going on. I saw a 1,500pt Death Guard vs Chaos Daemons game, which was quite brutal. The Daemons fielded 2 packs of flamers, and they were just eating up the Death Guard with their 3 templates per turn. The flamers were eventually butchered but they are deadly. There was also a 2-a-side game, with some nice Eldar. And one table had some Warmachine action.

Since I didn't have my army with me, I just grabbed another Attack Bike.

Hobby in Plano, TX - Part 1

Just got back from the Plano branch of Hobbytown USA. Not bad at all (especially considering that I arrived less than 10 hours ago in the middle of the night). Hobbytown stocks all kinds of miniature stuff - railways, military model kits, Warmachine, Fantasy, 40k, all kinds of RC (cars, aircraft, boats) and a great selection of tools and materials.

What's interesting is that for a generic hobby place, the 40k scene is not bad at all at this store. They opened late on Friday so that they can do Midnight Madness - selling 40k 5th Ed at 12:01 a.m. They kicked off the 40k release with an Escalating League. Pretty cool league - 1st week 500pts, 2nd & 3rd week 500-1000pts, etc. Painting nights. Objective and terrain building nights, and all the stuff you'd expect from a games community.

Apparently I missed out on some good gaming yesterday, about 15 gamers (they have 4 tables). Gaming is usually on Saturdays, Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings. We'll see what happens this Wednesday.

They also gave me their Gaming and Event Schedule, which goes out to end-August. Other than the stuff I mentioned above, there's going to be a Mega Battle on 9th August, and a Fantasy league which kicks off on 30th August.

I like the place, and is definitely worth saving on my GPS for much future return visits. I originally went to the place for some paints and the Apocalypse Reloaded book. The book's release has been pushed to Friday, but I got my paints AND a nice big Ravenwing squadron box set :)

Stay tuned, there are a few more stores to visit over the next few weeks, including GW Gainseville.

Iron Painter advice from a vet who's been there...

Howdy folks! As the title suggests, I’ve run and competed in several Iron Painters during my time with GW. Iron Painter evolved a bit over time, mostly because we learned from some early mistakes and assumptions. Each iteration got better and better as we learned more. From this experience, as well as experienced gained from competing in them, allow me to share my experience and impart to you a few suggestions. For Legio Malaysia’s first Iron Painter, I won’t be competing for the Purity Seal despite the fact I plan to paint something anyway. I’ll be judging the entries at the end to determine a winner (if any! One Iron Painter I ran had an appalling drop out/failure rate, and no one won!). In the future if we get high attendance, we’ll let Iron Painters vote for their favorite army as the winner. However, this time I’m suspecting that our first one might not get a huge turnout. Feel free to ask me questions/seek advice during the competition if you like.

First, let’s start with the army you’ll be painting. The most common problem with past competitors is that they didn’t bring a LEGAL army. A big part of the idea behind Iron Painter is to get something done that you can use on the tabletop by itself. So, if you decided to compete with a Warhammer army, you better make sure you’re painting an army general and two core choices from your chosen army. If you don’t have those three things, your army isn’t legal! Remember that you need to have at least 30 models, and that the models must be worth at least 1000 points. Do up an army list for yourself and for the judge (me), and make it easy to prove that you meet the mark.

Now, let’s get on to the practical side of painting. Use the time you have before the Iron Painter wisely. Clean all the flash and mold lines off your models, and assemble them nicely. If you plan to glue sand on the bases, do so before you spray prime them. When you prime them, make sure you get every crack and crevice of EVERY model. Set yourself up to be as successful as possible- SAVE TIME AND ENERGY.

When the bell rings at 12:00 noon Saturday, be sure to get crackin’ and keep crackin’. Know how you’re going to paint your army- don’t wait until that day to figure out a color scheme. While you’re painting, be thinking of the next step so you waste as little time as possible. Get up every few hours and take a short break. Walk around a little bit. Check out the competition. Get some fresh air. Then, get back to work!

I strongly recommend that you paint your General, Command HQ, or HQ choice first if you want it to look good. Your mind will still be fresh. Your best painting is only going to last the first 6 to 10 hours or so unless you have inhuman mental endurance. Take advantage of that “good time” and paint the difficult stuff right off the bat. Save the block painting for when your mind turns to mush at 5:00 AM Sunday.

Finally, I have a list of things that experienced Iron Painters tended to bring with them in the past. Read through this and make sure you bring what you’re going to need (other than your army and standard hobby supplies!).

• MP3 player with headphones
• Charger/batteries for your MP3/music source
• Portable lamp that clamps on to any table
• Your favorite snacks and energy drinks
• Seat cushion (if you have a hard time sitting for extended periods)
• Pillow to catch a cat nap on the floor

I wasn’t kidding in the initial post when I said finishing an Iron Painter is like finishing a marathon. Make no mistake- this is not an easy thing to do. Fatigue will smite you without a doubt. The average Iron Painter contest I ran in the past had a whopping 75% dropout/failure to complete rate. Grind it out. Keep putting forward effort no matter what. The feeling you get by finishing something that hard is well worth the lack of sleep. Remember, you’ve got the rest of Sunday to fall into a painting induced coma!

IRON PAINTER!

Paint an entire army in 24 hours!

The ultimate army painting challenge - you have from noon Saturday to noon Sunday to paint a 1000 point, 30 model/stand minimum Flames of War, Warhammer, or Warhammer 40,000 standard legal army.

You may show up with your army assembled and primed. RM25 fee (RM20 for Legio members) includes attendance, pizza dinner, and coffee throughout the night. Even though there can be only one winner, EVERYONE who successfully completes the Iron Painter will be getting something special.

Iron Painter is like running a marathon- finishing is a feat unto itself! Sign up during Hobby Night, or click the email link on the top-right to register. Space is limited!

Do YOU have what it takes?

When: Sat, Jul 26, 12pm – Sun, Jul 27, 12pm

Where: Battlefront Miniatures Malaysia

"Houston, we have blue foam."

That's right folks, we finally managed to get a decent quantity of blue foam together for a table or two. Our first project is to produce a test table for the 40K RTT on November 1st. Hobby Team members, please keep your eyes peeled to the events calendar for our terrain session dates and times.

Also, this coming Friday we'll hold a meeting with the RTT Hobby Team members, and discuss where we're at now, and what needs to be done. Please attend if at all possible.

Thanks!

MOATaB: Carnage on a Saturday Afternoon

Not an infantryman in sight as 10,500 points of Imperial armored might clashed with 8,000 points of the enemy. As the tanks thundered to the start lines, the battlefield was choked from end to end with all manner of armored behemoths – 6 Baneblades, a Shadowsword, 2 Warhound Titans, 10 Land Raiders, 12 Predators, 15 Leman Russ, 14 Dreadnoughts, a Brass Scorpion and around 40 other AFV.

In the 3-hour mayhem that ensued, much carnage was to be had as tanks and other machinations from all sides clashed in mighty battle, blazing guns, roaring engines, thundering blasts and screaming commanders barking orders to their charges over the din of battle.

The phrase “much carnage was to be had” is no understatement. Within the first 60 seconds of battle, 6 Leman Russ were destroyed in quick succession, prey to a pair of Warhound Titans.

A formidable line of venerable dreadnoughts hurling themselves at the enemy were pulverized as they crossed open ground. Astartes Land Raiders and Predators faced off against an armored company as the might of IG gunnery took their toll on the Marines.

A Chaos Brass Scorpion skittered across no-man’s-land with amazing speed and hit the Space Marine gun line, miraculously not killing its targets, while nimble Land Speeders and Sentinels weaved amidst the carnage to deliver their disproportionately deadly munitions.


As Space Wolves reinforcements arrived, a communiqué rang across all the commanders’ headsets. “The enemy is amongst you! Turn your guns! Turn your guns!” Friend became foe as former allies set upon each other, individual tank commanders forcing their charges into impossible manouvers to bring guns to bear. A Space Wolves venerable dreadnought could be seen charging headlong into a Space Wolves Land Raider, utterly tearing it apart.

Suddenly, a blinding shaft of white light descended from the heavens as a lance strike from an orbiting battlecruiser hit home, instantly vaporizing a Baneblade and 2 escorting Leman Russ (the battle actually paused for a moment as the shock of the blast seared into the commanders’ minds).

As the battle continued, the frenzied Brass Scorpion was finally put down, and the resulting explosion claimed a Predator and a dreadnought which had the misfortune to be within 10” of the monster.

The comm-net buzzed again, this time re-affirming that the original allies were indeed true and loyal, and once again guns swung to acquire fresh targets. One of the Warhound Titans had advanced ahead of a Baneblade company, and came under fire from the rear and beneath void shield coverage. It did not stand a chance.

In the last few moments of the battle, a final dreadnought charge took out the last mobile Baneblade on the field.

As the smoke began to settle and noise of the battle began to die down (as the gamers were starting to lose their voices), scribes and servitors began the grisly task of counting the cost of the battle.


Of the 10 super-heavies that started the battle, only 3 survived, the Shadowsword, a Warhound Titan and a Mars-pattern Baneblade – both the latter were immobilized and heavily damaged, the Titan with one primary weapon remaining, the Baneblade with only its pintle-mounted heavy stubber still firing.

The commands of Azim, Han and Faris were all wiped out (for Azim, that’s 2,500 pts worth of the Emperor’s finest tanks). Quake, who started with 13 tanks, was left with 2 Leman Russ and the Baneblade, all heavily damaged. Jo, whose dreadnought line looked so menacing, was left with a couple of dreadnoughts and a Vindicator. Antu’s Monoliths were almost untouched, and his last surviving Predator still had 1 serviceable lascannon, though it couldn’t move. Firaya’s gloriously brave dreadnought unfortunately bit the dust, but the Shadowsword survived, as the enemy couldn’t be bothered to shoot at it after its primary weapon got knocked out. Iz’ glorious 344th were reduced to 1 Russ, 2 Chimera, a Hellhound and a couple of Sentinels. Peter’s menacing force was also badly mauled, with only the Titan remaining.

And from the ashes rose a new Legio Tank Ace, whose deeds shall be spoken of in ages to come, indeed the stuff of legends. The first recipient of the Legio Malaysia Purity Seal for heroic deeds upon the battlefield is the Son of Russ the Space Wolves Battle Leader Syamael. All hail Syamael!


(even as he has to explain to his Wolf Lord why one of his dreads took out one of his own Land Raiders).

To everyone taking part in and helping make this the amazing event that it was, I personally thank you all! It ranks as among the best wargames experience I've had in a long time. Let’s do some more!


Check out Peter's pics of the battle here, and more of Syamael's shots here.

Event Update: MOATaB

Hey folks!

For those of you planning to attend the MOATaB with your Flames of War tanks (if any), we have decided for our first event to limit the scope this time to 40K. So, there will NOT be a Flames of War tank battle happening on Saturday.

Instead, we have begun planning "Kursk II", a massive "what if" tank battle that will be exclusively for Flames of War participants. Once we get the particulars nailed down, we'll let you know when this will be held. Also, keep your eyes open for our announcement on the first Flames of War League we'll be running shortly. It'll be a blast, and a great way to get games in and see how you rank up with the rest of the Legion.

Sorry if this spoils plans for any of you, but we wanted to make sure any event we do, we do right. We look forward to seeing 40K tank fans tomorrow at noon for the Mother of All Tank Battles- MOATaB!!!

Flames of War Tournament, August 2nd

That's right tournament nutters, the good folks at Imagine Games are running another FoW tournament on August 2nd. It's a mid war, 1250 point tourney that will be fought over three rounds. Check out the events calendar for more details, or email Imagine Games and they'll give you the low down.

Get your WWII game on! :)

Spore Con 40k Scores

This just came in from Singapore. Nice to see that Malaysians make up half of the Top 10. Also see below how the scores are generated.

1) 72.3 Quek YH - team MY
2) 71.5 Azlan Ramli - team MY
3) 71.3 Tsui
4) 70.0 Peter Cheah - team MY
5) 69.0 Lord AK - team MY
6) 66.3 Iskazri - team MY
7) 59.2 Chang Wiloon
8) 58.5 James N.
9) 58.0 Abdullah
10) 58.0 Bernard Low
11) 57.8 Zach
12) 56.0 Doc Selvam - team MY
13) 53.5 Alvin Huang
14) 52.5 Azim Azman - team MY
15) 52.3 Keh Win - team MY
16) 51.5 Joe - team MY
17) 50.2 Dann Toh - team MY
18) 49.7 Nick Leong
19) 49.3 Sean
20) 48.7 Kenny
21) 48.7 Marc Chong
22) 47.3 Shazli - team MY
23) 46.3 Bryan Yong
24) 44.3 Chee Yong
25) 41.5 KC
26) 35.8 Ralph Chiam

And here's how the scores are tallied:

Gaming: 40%
Painting/Theme/Sports: 60%

For games, you earn points for margin of victory:
1 - Loss
2 - Draw
3 - Solid Victory
4 - Crushing Victory
5 - Victorious Slaughter

So your game score is bascially X/15 x 40

For example, if you got a Crushing Victory, draw and Loss, your score will be 7/15 or 18.7%. A person who wins 3 times does not mean he's going to be way better, especially if his margin is not high enough. Take someone that has 3 solid victories, that is 2 wins more than you, but he only has a score of 9/15 = 24%, only a 6% difference from the above example.

Black Coach + Hobby Night = Good Times

Howdy folks!

For those of you who missed it, we had a fantastic hobby night Friday with excellent turnout and lots of gaming to be had. We also held our 2nd club meeting, and worked out a bunch of cool stuff including some hobby teams and what we're going for our July 26th main event. Stay tuned for details on what "Iron Painter" is all about. For now, all I'll say is that the Iron Painter competition is an AWESOME way to get that pesky army completed that you never seem to find time to paint...

I played my first Warhammer game in Malaysia against Iz, and we had a blast. Not only was it my first Warhammer game here, it was also my first game using the new version of the Vampire Counts army book. I really liked the new Black Coach rules, and the Varghulf (Otto von Carstein in my army) was also a great addition. I've ordered more Wraiths so I can field the new skirmishing unit in the book. Good stuff, and a great game. Iz's Orcs and Goblins list was a fun army to play against, and only some luck with the Giant prevented the Vampires from a potential defeat. Thanks Iz!

Fear not aspiring members...

The new batch of dice have already arrived from the US, a stunning six days after I ordered them! So, if you're interested in becoming a lvl 2 or 3 member, we have the dice you're looking for!

For existing 2 & 3 members, we really need your shirt sizes, please. If you haven't given them to us please do so ASAP. We are ready to order the first t shirts, but we can't do it until we know what size you are.

On a personal note, I've brought my Vampire Counts army to the factory, and I'd love to get a game in on hobby night. It's fully painted, and I've even added a new Varghulf to the mix as of last Friday. It's been a while since I played, so be gentle! ;)

Cheers!

My best hobby night

What a cool night!

Not only was overall attendance close to 20 souls, we also signed up another member. "Doc" Selvam snatched the last set of Legio dice from me, but fear not, more are on the way from our supplier. We had some great 40K gaming as per norm, but Doc and Iz also cracked out their Warhammer armies and duked it out.

As for me, I had an awesome hobby night. I came up with the final color scheme I'm going to use for my Death Korps of Krieg army. I'm really happy about that! I also got a chance to use the new Citadel Washes, which are very nice. I also managed to assemble, putty, prime, AND paint the newest addition to my Vampire Counts army, a Varghulf. Next week, if anyone is interested in a game of Warhammer, I'll have my army there...

Don't forget that next week is the monthly club meeting folks, so if you're a member (or want to join), please be sure to show up if at all possible. Among other things the biggest topic of discussion will be the formation of the NOv 1 40K RTT Hobby Team.

Ave Legio!

MOATAB - Mother of All Tank Battles

For miles afield, the ground trembled as the air filled with the thunderous rumble of massed armor grinding incessantly forwards to do battle. In the hot and sweaty confines of the more primitive Imperial tanks, crew made ready for battle, readying shell and ordnance, checking energy, weapons and drive systems, shouting to hear themselves above the din of roaring engines.

On 28th June 2008, at precisely 1200 hours, mighty armoured forces will clash at the Legio. The Mother of All Tank Battles is loosely based on Warhammer 40k Apocalypse rules with the following Legio Event Rules:

Tank Ace:
The tank that scores the most number of kills (enemy vehicle destroyed) AND survives the battle, will win the Legio Malaysia Tank Ace Honorifica. Note that only one individual tank will win the Honorifica. You can bring and play as many tanks as you wish (in fact, the more the better), but only 1 tank will win the Honorifica. Super-heavies or any vehicle with structure points will not qualify for the Honorifica if they lose even 1 structure point.

Who Can Play:
Anybody who turns up with Eligible Models. This is a Legio Monthly Event, so you do not have to be a member to participate.

What Models Can Play:
Any model with an AV value and no W value. Chimera, Dreadnoughts, Wave Serpents, Baneblades, Titans, etc. EXCEPTION: Tyranid players may use Monstrous Creatures or larger creatures. All models must be painted as per typical tournament rules (3 colors, etc.).

Deployment:
As per Apocalypse rules, except both sides deploy simultaneously to save time. Players will be given a time limit to deploy. Models not deployed at the end of the time limit will not enter battle. There will be no reserves in this battle.

Apocalypse Strategic Assets/Cards:
MOATAB will not be using any Apocalypse Strategic Assets. As you can see, we are keeping this as simple as possible to ensure maximum carnage.

Objectives:
There will be 5 objectives – all in no man’s land. And trust me, you’d want to capture these …

Singapore 40k Tourney - How to Spend a Weekend

After an almost uneventful drive to JB (almost – a Legionnaire actually forgot to pack something truly crucial and had it couriered same day to JB), we met up with Quake at Pelangi Mall, who guided us to the hotel.

And the place, Compact Hotel, is pretty cool. At RM99 nett (shared 2 to the room), it overlooks the Causeway, is clean, has running hot water, is comfy and totally recommendable. It’s even got a funky car park (you should check it out just for that). Plus I had a Tzeentchy room number (1602).

As most of us didn’t have much sleep the night before (painting mah), it was only natural that we immediately went out looking for food and drink as soon as we checked in. Ok, Dann actually stayed in for a couple of hours to paint his Monolith, but we did all eventually go out for some makan.

Doc tried to tempt us with excessive amounts of Tiger combat drugs, but we managed to eventually pass Ld and went back to the hotel at a reasonable time. Lord Akkarin managed to unleash some killer dispel scrolls and got past lash of submission to join us at the hotel just before lights out.
=At precisely 0530 hrs on Sunday 8th June, I was packing up stuff in the room when the guys called from the lobby, raring to go (!). We left one of our transports at the hotel, and packed into 2 vehicles to make the crossing.

We were at the Singapore Immigration checkpoint when Ravenscream revealed that this was the first time he had been anywhere outside Malaysia. How about that? The first time overseas and it’s for a 40k tourney! How cool is that?

Traffic was lighter than expected and we arrived at Chua Chu Kang Community Center at around 0645 hrs, and were delighted to find that parking is free on Sundays! We messaged the organizers to let them know we’d arrived (“what, already?”) and went off to get breakfast. And we had what was simply the best roti prata telor and kopi ever (at RM6+ it had to be good, yes), and the team feasted well.

Antu joined us at the venue, where 40k tables occupied about a third of the hall, with the rest occupied by WFB tables, Warmachine, Catan, a couple of card game and boardgame things, as well as demo games for GW core games, and even FoW (by none other than the Edwin himself).

At around 0930, the 40k gamers were asked to display their armies, and everyone was given a form to vote for their top 3 painted and top 3 themed armies (you can’t vote for yourself). Judges were also going table to table scoring the armies for painting and theme.

This was one of my favourite points of the whole thing. I was able to check out some really cool armies that you don’t find back home. There was a Daemonhunter army with Krieg troops and Land Raider Mk.II from Forgeworld, a nice-looking Iron Warriors army and a great all-infantry IG Drop Trooper force (with only 3 Sentinels for armoured support), among others.

Dice started rolling for the 40k tourney itself at around 1000 hrs. I won’t get into the details of the gaming side, suffice to say that it was 9 hours of furious battle filled with the clatter of dice-chucking, the huzzahs of the victors and the howls of the vanquished. Ok, maybe not so dramatic, but something like that.

What was certain was that we had a great time gaming with people and armies we had not played against before (2 exceptions which couldn’t be helped – round 2 Excise vs Asco, round 3 Quake vs Executor), with nice terrain and interesting scenarios.

The scenarios themselves were nicely conceived. The first one – Dawn of War – was a modified cleanse, with our objective markers offering lots of bonus VP (only infantry can capture those – it’s like raising the flag in the PC game). The second one – Fog of War – was purely objective-based, each player must take 2 objectives, with one of them kept secret to the opponent and only shared with the judges. The last one – God of War – was an excellent no-holds-barred total annihilation scenario.

I must say that the tourney was very well run. Nothing was delayed. Breaks and lunch and dinner were just the right time – not too long, not too short. The staff, despite being obviously snowed-under, were friendly and helpful. Lots of good marks all-round.

The last dice was chucked at around 1900 hrs, and while we were waiting for the results to be tallied, we had lots of pictures taken of the team. And not just by our own cameras. It seems that 11 people turning up in the same black shirts attracts a lot of attention, and for a good 10-15 minutes, there was a galaxy of camera flashes that kinda blinded us. Nice to feel like a celebrity once in awhile J. Legionnaire Dice caught some attention too – not only because they look great, but also because it became obvious that a bunch of people were using the same dice. We also took the opportunity to spam (legally) the flyer pre-announcing Legio Malaysia’s RTT in November.

All in all, we had a great time. Most of Team Malaysia were tourney noobs, and it’s good to see the team have a good time. I haven’t got the detailed results, but this is how the team members’ games went:

Player Army Wins Losses Draws
Quake Eldar (chaotic) 3 - -
Ravenscream Tau 3 - -
Lord Akkarin World Eaters 2 - 1
Asco Imperial Guard 2 1 -
Executor Chaos 2 1 -
Excise Blood Angels 2 1 -
Doc Dark Eldar 1 1 1
Danntoh Necrons 1 1 1
Antu Necrons 1 1 1
Joe Necrons 1 2 -
Spunkybass Thousand Sons 1 2 -

And the final results? Wow. Out of the 6 awards for the 40k tourney, Malaysians bagged 3:

First Overall: QUAKE! (Eldar)
His brilliantly themed Khornate Eldar army played to character and went for blood, annihilating armies and making them happy for it too. And Quake hadn’t touched 40k for a year. Congratulations!

2nd Overall: Me (!) (Thousand Sons)
Everyone, myself especially, was totally surprised by this one. I was massacred twice, and TA’d the opponent once. But apparently I maxed out on painting, theme and sportsmanship to earn enough points for it.

3rd Overall: Tsui
I didn’t play with this guy – anybody can add here? Congratulations anyways!

Best Painted: Doc Selvam (Dark Eldar)
Not bad at all for a first-timer with his first ever 40k army. This might just get Doc to spend more time off the Old World. And all this while taking the all-important role of master tempter of Tiger combat drugs too, like the good haemonculi he is. Congratulations!

Best Theme: Marc Chong (Iron Warriors)
Great-looking Iron Warriors army, whose lord had the misfortune of being the victim of the only time my Gift of Chaos power actually worked. Congratulations! And thanks for being such a great sport.

Best Sportsmanship: Benard Low (Grey Knights)
This guy is brave, fielding a pure Grey Knight army in a tournament. But hey, the army looked great, and having chatted with him for awhile, it was obvious why he won this award – he’s just a great guy, who happens to own 15 dreadnoughts, and is eyeing that excellent new chaplain one from Forgeworld. Congratulations!

Anyways, that was simply one of the best tourneys I’ve been to. My congratulations and hats off to Dom, Donkey, Damien and all of the organizing team, staff and judges. You guys did awesomely well.

And for Team Malaysia – this is just the beginning. The unique experience of the tourney gave us some great memories – and we’re going to create more! Thanks guys!

Btw, we took lots of great pics. I’ll put them up as soon as we get them together.

Team Malaysia Victorious!

That's right folks, according to a post on the 40K Malaysia forums by Dethray, one of the tournament organizers, here are the final results:

First - Quek Yong Heng (Team Malaysia)
2nd - Azlan "Spunkybass" (Team Malaysia)
3rd - Tsui
Best Painted - Doc Selvam (Team Malaysia)
Best Theme - Marc Chong
Best Sports - Benard Low

Spunkybass will edit this thread VERY SOON (won't you??!!) and let us know about all the action that took place. In the meantime, congrats to our intrepid competitors from Malaysia! You did us proud.

...and so are the tournament shirts!

Yes indeed, if you've registered for the Singapore 40K tournament coming up this weekend and you live in this area, we have a shirt for you! There is no cost to the tournament players for this shirt, and the shirts have nothing to do with Legio membership specifically. Spunkybass and I simply wanted to sponsor all of the Malaysians heading down to Singapore, so they show up looking cool, and more importantly looking like a team. I think there may have been 1 or 2 people who registered at the last minute that we may not have a shirt for. However, two people (besides myself) bailed at the last minute, so those shirts are potentially available if the sizes are right for you.

Regardless, try and make it out to Hobby Night tomorrow and grab your shirt. Any shirts not picked up will be left with Spunkybass to distribute at the tournament site. Most of all, good luck to Team Malaysia!

The dice are here!

That's right folks, if you have signed up as a level 2 member we have your set of 10 customized Legio Malaysia dice. If you're a level 3 member, we've also included a nice dice pouch to hold them in :) Be sure to come to Hobby Night this week and pick your set up!

In other member benefits news, I'm waiting on another quotation before ordering the first set of shirts. If you're a level 2 or 3 member, please get us your shirt size so we know what to get you- the sooner the better. I'd love to order these by the end of the week...