The Wolfs Rest

Posts are back, and Skyim is fantastic!

2011-12-20T16:23:00.004-05:00

Today I reinvigorate my blog, revive my writing, transfer the mess swirling in my head to words on the internet. After much gentle, persistent, prodding from a good friend, I could do no less. I also figured that aside from the fabulous Tinkerbell stocking filled with Black Library novels I gave him, the best gift I can give is to post here again. I’m going to add something new to the blog to simply be called at this time – “What freaking game are they talking about?”. At times I come across juicy sayings that people use to refer to one of the many awesome games out there without mentioning the title of the game. Through much innuendo you can discern what they are talking about. Today is a great one from my cousin. It is at the end of the post, guess what game the quote is referring to and you will = awesome. So, without too much ado, here is a Skyrim post I worked on in the past and wanted to finally get out there. These were my earliest experiences with the beautifully constructed game.

To put it mildly, Skyrim is beyond all of my expectations, and putting it mildly does this game an injustice. I have invested five hours into the game and think I barely scrapped the surface of the main plot line. If you so choose to follow the main plot, Bethesda brilliantly leads you by making it seem like you are not being led at all. As you explore and engage individuals in towns and villages, or along the road, anywhere, and ask questions, it may lead you to a quest. They don’t blatantly have an obnoxious exclamation point over their head, or plastered on the map. It subtly refers you to your quest log if you happen across one such conversation. You can look at the quest log where you need to go trudge off towards that direction.

The mine was beautiful. The walls, rocks, miners tools, everything seemed to belong and was richly detailed. Out of habit I crouched and crept along till I heard two individuals speaking. One was refusing to sleep due to his security concerns, the other assured him the guard outside, and rock trap (that I accidentally tripped but was moving so slow I avoided damage by not moving under it), would keep out any nosey individuals. He relented and went to sleep, only to have it be disrupted when I launched an arrow from hiding at the one walking away. I crept through the rest of the mine and was impressed at every turn by the detail. This was not like a cave from Dragon Age 2 that seemed generically thrown together and reconstituted for a different task. I’d like to think all dungeons will be this original and have such a feeling of wonder.

After the mine I continued my walk and was fascinated again when I found you could harvest things found along the way. A bush that blended perfectly in with the mountain foliage was harvestable. I figured these flowers might be used in performing alchemical experiments to create potions. Just about anything in the environment, short of equipment, can be grinding into some tasty sort of potion. It took me a lot of random trying, but once you figure out a few properties of items you can glean others properties. Also, feel free to eat anything you come across, you might determine some properties by whatever happens to your character. I made the mistake of trying to store all my ingredients in a chest, and spammed the wrong button. Instead of storing the items, I ate them all. I should have noticed something was wrong.
These were early explorations and discoveries of mine into the world of Skyrim. I have much more to discuss since its been over 30 hours of playtime since writing this.

Time for today’s "What freaking game are they talking about?”! Good luck... No the answer is not World of Warcraft…

“The amount of human hours that game has feasted on is incalculable. It is the Great Maw that the Ogres worship. The insanity of spending years amassing a fortune to buy a spaceship that is then subsequently destroyed by some saboteur who has let an enemy corporation through your galactic defenses is too much for me.I'll stick to corpse runs in WoW, or alt-tabbing while the gankers jump and dance on my body.”

Feel free to comment with guesses. I’ll give the answer in the next post, which will force me to write on a schedule!

Hero Quest Revived!

2011-07-24T00:17:00.003-04:00

Thursday we gathered to game. Instead of Shadowrun we needed a different avenue to satisfy our gaming needs. In that time of uncertainty, I pulled from the shelves Hero Quest. It saved the night!

What can I say about this game? It came out back in 1990, I was around ten or eleven years old when I got my copy. How did I end up getting it? Not sure, my parents purchased it for me for Christmas on a whim or because they felt I would enjoy it. I did like board games and I use to really enjoy playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons on our Intellivision. Whatever the reason, I still should thank them today for buying it.

The game is basically Dungeons and Dragons lite. One person keeps in hand the map of the level and all key information and runs Zargon's Forces (the bad guys), and 1 to 4 people play the characters shown above. There are special dice made for the attack rolls, all characters stats are completed and shown on cards. There are magic cards split between the heros. It was a blast. I believe I enjoy it more now than I did when I was young and foolhardy. One thing I had back then that I keep to this day, is my ridiculous, and obsessive, need to account for every piece of my games. I scrutinize the floor to make sure nothing is lost. I panic if someone mishandles my game pieces. I don't panic openly, this might take away from the fun, but if something is happening that borders on breaking or ruining a game piece I'm all over it.

Hero Quest on Thursday saw me as the Dungeon Master and four of my D&D/Shadowrun friends as the heros. The first level specifically talks about teamwork to survive, team work, working together, etc. I was surprised how much it mentioned it. Much to my pleasure the guys/gals threw caution to the wind and started romping around the dungeon solo. Opening all the doors they could! Before I knew it, I had 3 orcs, a chaos warrior, the gargoyle, 2 zombies, and one mummy chasing the heros back to the stairs. At this point the Barbarian, Ulric, was dead and I was debating to allow his twin, Alric, make a showing.

Once the threat was handled sufficiently, the group set off again. Just the barbarian going out on his down, to die again. Olric made his way into the Dungeon next, who knew Ulric was one of triplets? The Elf died, but I allowed Alric to thump him back to life at 2 HP and suffer the loss of one mental point because of the head bashing Alric used to awaken him. There were other rule bendings and eventually they succeeded in making it out of the dungeon.

The second quest saw my monsters bowled over by an efficient team of heros and terrible rolling on my part. Maybe we'll get to do quest three sometime. According to this magic 8-ball, "My signs point to yes".

Dark Eldar Raiders Ravaged

2011-07-09T02:02:00.004-04:00

Elated over a new bolter? Happy for sending more xeno filth to the Emperor for righteous judgment? Or barely contained joy over a fresh shipment of Imperium standard bar chocolate and much needed feminine hosiery requisitions finally made it to your deep space outpost.... You be the judge. (the photo was retrieved from DeviantArt user Luthernial, credit goes to him on a pretty sweet drawing)

Whatever the result of her smile, my Sisters of the Burning Blade succeeded in their second preparatory NOVA Open battle. This was against my friends Dark Eldar host consisting of 3 ravagers, one raider with haemocculi with wyches, and several venom craft, some with elites, others with 5 man troops and blasters. My sisters owe much of the battle to the steadfastness of their inducted guard allies, especially the durability of the chimeras. The chimera's were heavily targeted by my DE opponent. This was probable because of the threat the vehicles posed with multi-lasers and autocannon occupants, or the guard squads inside would make easy kill points once extricated from their armored carriers, or he just so happened to mass on the side where the chimera's were located. I think it was the latter.

My celestian unit, in addition to their immolater transport, were the first target eradicated. It took a large amount of dedicated shooting but they did fall to the first shooting phase. Exorcist# 1 bought the Imperial Hydroponics plot first turn, as well as my platoon command squad chimera and two troopers. A trio of foolhardy DE bikers thought the remaining guardsmen would be easy prey, this would end up not being the case.

The first Dark Eldar turn put out a lot of shooting and was fairly successful in that it gave my opponent 4 kill points. I was questioning my deployment heavily since my force was separated. It appeared the right flank, where he placed all his units, might buckle swiftly the next turn before my flanking units could intervene. The next shooting phase would not go as well for the DE.

His shooting effectively hit, but often could not reach glancing or penetrating levels, or failed do wreck or destroy the vehicle targeted. Scourges came in but I knew I could snatch quick kill points with one or two well placed flamers. My firing was slowly plucking away the 11 and 10 open topped DE vehicles. While his force inched slowly toward my chimera's that continued to weather his fire. By turn 4 my other units were engaging the flank of his forces, which never turned from the chimera's to face the approaching threat.

The game ended at 17 kill points to 9-10 kp for the DE. Again the early turns, like my battle against the IG, proved to be painful. Steady progress was made through the game which brought a final victory. I know the above post was not a very descriptive battle report but I just wanted to put out significant points I noticed from the battle.

What I learned

-heavy fire designed to cause armor saves will eradicate squads with enough DE shooting .

+ power armor of sisters forces much more shooting to kill entire units.

-Inquisitor Squad with 2 plasma rifle vets managed to eliminate a ravager and proved mildly effective in a game without negating psychic powers.

-Hitting armor and penetrating armor is just half of the game, that dreaded damage roll can confound everything if you continue to get 1's or 2's

-Don't forget faith points for killed units

-Don't forget Chimera's do not come with extra armor like Sister Rhinos

-Platoon Command Squad counts as a Troop for claiming objectives and such

-Chimera's massed in an area may provide an attractive target for the enemy

That is it for now.

My Sisters Schedule a Dark Eldar Date-night

2011-07-02T01:58:00.004-04:00

August is quickly approaching and the time to tune my army for the NOVA Open is dwindling. I managed to finally compose a list that I am 90% comfortable with. I played one game against my long time friend and opponent General with the list. It was a tough game, came down to the end, to one leadership roll that chased his unit off his objective. That roll combined with the rolls that failed to kill my unit on my objective. The victory was slight, but the most I got from this battle was that my army weathered a ton of Imperial Guard fire and was still around.

Now my Sisters have set a date to battle my friends Dark Eldar list. I've seen his army and know I'll be walking into a game of withering fire and facing vehicles that will limit my own army's ability to range them. It will be interesting to see how the new DE army will fight. I can recall several games with my brothers Dark Eldar, who decimated many opponents at the GW Battle Bunker. Those games often saw my sisters on the better end, but times have changed, and so have army books.

I think I prefer to stare down Dark Lances before Heat Lances. I feel much better when someone tries to penetrate on S8 with 1 die, as opposed to S6 on 2 dice. Two dice are much more forgiving than one. I am curious how much shooting he will have and if it will be enough to handle all the vehicles and the armor. Where the guard have large blast templates combined with high strength, I am not sure the Dark Eldar have the same capabilities. I predict more direct fire weapons and a better chance for a larger amount of troops to survive. The DE will bring more combat ready troops and a threat of eliminating my guard, and even sisters in Hand to hand.

I need to take in games at the local hobby store "Your Hobby Place" and get some battles in against the new Grey Knights, Blood Angels, and Space Wolves. All marine armies with new lists and powerful capabilities. I need to read the rules and get down to specifics. What happens to skimmers that turbo boost if they get immobilized? When do you roll for leadership tests? If you are pinned does that overrule a leadership test to flee? Lots of rules taken for granted in friendly games, but facing down a tournament setting it pays to know in advance.

What else needs to be done?

-buy another Exorcist

-Put together Autocannon crews

-Build two more Chimeras

-Work on painting the entire army

-Design a board to carry the army

-Prepare another list incase the Sisters of Battle rules change before August 1st!!! I already know I'll just throw as many sisters in as possible.

Maybe I can get some completed tonight? Asking too much?

NOVA Open 40k Grand Tournament

2011-01-24T08:33:00.003-05:00

I recently threw my lot in to participate in the Northern Virginia Open Warhammer 40k Grand Tournament. There was a hiccup at first when I attempted to registered, but spots did not sell out and I was able to nab one of the 256 tickets. Two hundred fifty six people playing in a 40k tournament, just that was enough to make me want to join the fray. I also stopped by the 2010 open held in Dulles to see how a friends fantasy army was doing, that also wet my whistle for NOVA GT melee.

Now that I am signed up, what is the plan of attack? One option is to decide casually on a list, maybe even write it up the day before the tournament and just walk into it. The other is approaching it like a sport even to train for that is months out. Make several lists, try these lists out in smaller tournaments, study strategies and find out what lists out there are the ones to beat, find out the literature spread on the web about my list and army (if any), plan a deployment for different situations, know my army inside and out, know the rules and oddities, and be ready to rock and roll come game day!

How will that play out? Well I want to shoot for the latter approach, but I am sure I will hit the mark somewhere in between. The biggest thing I need to decide on is to use Sisters, Sisters with IG, or Grey Knights. Problem with the Grey Knights is they do not get released until April. It is probably better to work with a codex that is not in a state of flux.

So in the coming months will be the march towards the NOVA Open 2011. This means aside from the preparation in the rest of the post, painting my chosen army to completion is a goal. So let the fun begin.

14 Days of HALO

2010-09-02T02:17:00.016-04:00

Halo 1 made its way into the world on November 15th, 2001. I cannot say exactly when I purchased it, but when I did buy it, I did so by purhcasing the limited edition Halo Xbox console! Halo: Combat Evolved made its way into my FPS heart and would stay there through the years.

My love for Halo came from the story, the graphics, the ability to play four players to a console and link four Xbox systems together to allow for 16 players to battle it out! My love for FPS multiplayer was bred from Doom 2, Quake 2 and Golden Eye. With tight bonds to my cousins and siblings we all loved to pile onto the early Nintendo system and play Gauntlet 2, Off Road Racing, M.U.L.E., then Super Nintendo's Bomber man and various other early excursions into the multiplayer realm.

With a terrific background raised in gaming with others, Halo 1 brought everything to the table that appealed to me. I dove into Xbox and Halo well after its release, but never wanted to leave. Each time a new Halo was released I was there at midnight waiting to get my copy. The next day I was calling out sick and playing it all day, once my brother Ben joined me in the ritual!

When Halo 2 came out it was my first experience with a Halo game right at the release. It was exciting waiting in line (one of the few times you'll ever hear that said) outside the Gamestop for the midnight release. My brother and I played together through most of the Campaign since it allowed for Cooperative play. This was another appealing asset of the Halo games. This game was the first Halo to allow play on Xbox live. Another great addition that only added to the greatness of the Halo games and never took away from them! Halo 2 did have a huge cliffhanger at the end and left us wanting more. The only solace I took in the abrupt ending was that there would be a Halo 3. No way they would leave us hanging!

Halo 3 - This game came to me and was bittersweet. I longed to play it the day I finished Halo 2's campaign. The story needed to continue, but also, this was the third game in the trilogy. As the midnight release near I struggled with the realization that this may be the last Halo game to be put out.

September 25, 2007 came, it was after midnight. I'm pretty sure I had to work the next day but this time I was even more prepared than with Halo 2. Instead of calling out sick, I took an entire week of leave to play Halo 3. If this was to be the end of one of my best loved video game series, then I was going to devote a small amount of my paid leave to appreciate it fully! I bought several of those limited edition Halo 3 mountain dew soft drinks and sat down to some well deserved gaming! I still have one of those limited edition Halo 3 cans on display in my house and a 12 pack downstairs. They are definitely expired by now!

Halo 3 walked through my door and right into my console. By now Xbox live was even more commonplace and I could play cooperatively with my brothers and cousins through it without leaving the house. You could still play 4 player coop on one console, but in times where everyone could not gather together, it was nice to be able to just send an invite and go to town! One of the things that always made me appreciate Bungie and Halo, was that they never skimped on the multiplayer portion of the game. Series like NASCAR, Call of Duty, Gears of War, these games did not allow 4 players to a console and 4 consoles wired together. You could do 16 players in Call of Duty, but you better have 16 TVs, 16 games, 16 consoles. Those games took away from my ability to wire all of us up on four TVs, 4 consoles and get 16 people into a match. Halo 3 still allowed us to do that. Bless the guys at Bungie for keeping that awesome part of multiplayer alive.

Halo 3 was great, the ending sad, and the game satisfying. After playing it the online play and quest to reach a high rank waged on, but I hung my head because the story came to an end. While I was saddened I also was intrigued. During the Halo games I took notice of the troopers around me (the Master Chief) and I really got interested in the troopers who were labeled ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troops). I loved their helmets, I loved the orbital drop theme, I wanted to be one of them! I immediately adopted the ODST helmet for my Halo 3 multiplayer character and dreamed of being one.

So this was the end, the series was over. I lived my days often, then only occasionally, online in Halo 3 multiplayer. I sported my support for ODST with my helmet choice and never considered any other. I never considered another game would be released, or one that would strike so dear to my soul that they might as well have wrote themselves a check for $59.99, signed my name, and took the money from my account. Halo 3: ODST was announced.

Do you SEE THAT!?! That is my helmet! Holy crap you guys are mind readers and are awesome and I don't care that I only get to do one orbital drop, and that the game was kinda short, and some other stuff, but DAMN, ODST! Ahahahahaha!

Ok, so once I remember the world kinda revolved around money, and that the Halo series was $$$ it was not to simple to grasp the idea that Bungie would do another game for the series! I think the fact the story ended with Halo 3 forced a bit of finality into my mind. I didn't think they would touch on another story or part of the game later. It made sense they might, and I knocked myself in the noggin for completely writing off the option of another game. Especially after Halo: Wars was released, but RTS did not appeal to me at the time, but we'll return to that later.

Halo 3: ODST - Wow... Right now I want to let you know anything you read after this is totally bias. I am a Halo 3 ODST fanboy, so keep that in mind as you read. Halo ODST puts you in the shoes of a rookie ODST trooper in the company of a group of seasoned troopers with background together. What I loved was they included Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin as two voice actors, these guys played together in Firefly. A terrific series that was short lived because of the ignorance of FOX, but I digress. Two of my favorite actors, from one of my favorite shows, in my favorite game! Who dared to bring such a boon to a video game of mine!

The game played through a mission that the troopers jumped into. The Earth city of New Mombasa was under Covenant attack. A female officer, Dare, attached herself to the mission in order to fulfill some intelligence recon requirement and disregarded the ship hovering over the city. The games graphics were great, the night time helmet friend and foe system was neat to use. I only wished the game expanded out beyond the city and allowed for more combat drops. Only once in the drop pod was too little for me! ODST also added a firefight option, much like Gears of War horde game play where you face waves of enemies alone or with several friends. It was a good game overall, short and some controversy on whether it was a true sequel or expansion, worth $60 or $40. What else was included in the game? A nice little code that allowed you access into the Halo: Reach beta testing! So here we go, Halo: Reach, but before we get there, lets touch on, I'm ashamed to say, one of my less experienced Halo region.

Halo Wars... a game that took the FP out of FPS and threw in an RT instead! Real Time Strategy. Not one of my strong suits. I enjoy the simplicity of pointing, clicking, and dealing out death one frag at a time. Management of resources, multiple units, differing strategy, objectives, and the fact I've never attempted an RTS on a console before, kept me from getting excited about Halo Wars. I regret I did not make it to a midnight release of this game, if they had one. Since I am an avid Halo played, I still did purchase this game after a year.

The game takes place 21 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. You are onboard the Spirit of Fire and fighting against the Covenant as they seek out some ancient technology. The graphics are decent, you get to use many of the equipment seen in the Halo games with additional versions of tanks and vehicles not used in the games. I am enjoying it but am not finished with it yet.

Now we come to the end, of the beginning, of wait... Here we have Halo: Reach! It is the site of the Spartan project. The once home of Master Chief, who boarded the Pillar of Autumn and blind jumped away as Reach was being sieged. We return to the beginning in this game and live the last days of a dying planet. What will we see? Who will we see? Will this be the end? Past experience with Halo: 3 tells me no, but my heart aches thinking that nothing with the name Halo on it will appear on the shelves after this. Who knows where we go from here, but on September 14th, we will remember Reach.

So, after that long winded post, I come to the reason for writing this. In honor of Reach I dedicated the first 14 days of September 2010 to Halo! On September first I dusted off Halo: Combat Evolved, made a character and started the campaign. In 14 days I will navigate through Halo 1 to Halo 3, onto Halo ODST and then Halo Wars. I feel foolish to admit, but starting Halo 1 over and going through the beginning on the bridge gave me chills. I doubt there will be enough time to tackle all the games but I will do my best!

Below are some awesome Live action videos, commercials, spoofs and good fun that Halo helped create! Enjoy!

Halo 3 Live Action videos linked to the Master Chief descending into orbit to Earth - approx 6m

Halo ODST TV Ad

Halo ODST Ad shortened

Halo Reach: Deliver Hope - love this video

Halo Reach: Birth of a Spartan - good video, too many needles for me

Halo ODST Fanboy Spoof - This is hilarious but so TRUE! - don't forget to watch the very end!

Halo Reach: The day before - Where were you?

~Remember Reach

I write like

2010-07-17T21:26:00.003-04:00

There is a viral website where you can post a sample of your writing, it does some computer/math stuff, and then spits out what author your writing matches the most. Here is mine, I didn't see this coming, LOL.

I write like
Stephenie Meyer

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Target Bastion A-21 - Planetary Forces repel Attackers Pt. 2 (edited)

2010-07-17T04:48:00.002-04:00

Well I managed to read through my last work and do some changes and alteration before moving onward. I'm far from happy with it. Here it is, I figured I would just repost in instead of going back to the post.

Target Bastion A-21 - Planetary Forces repel Attackers Pt. 2 (edited)

Imperial junior officer Stanz Freider ran his grimy hand across the blonde stubble of his high and tight haircut leaving sweat smeared dirt across it. The Raven Guard’s dawn assault was staggering. He was amazed they even managed to survive the battle. The guardsman situated on the ground with a portable vox caster beside him was busily trying to raise wayward defense units separated during the battle. Several squads were scattered in the fighting, but most were dead. The young officer hoped at least someone was left and that they were willing to heed the calls and return to fight.

The chipped handset resting in Freider’s left hand was silent. He tried for the last ten minutes to reach higher headquarters to report. There was only static from the vox inside the bastion. Feeling the comm array might be damaged, he and his command team departed the structure to attempt to raise them on the manpad systems.

“Are we being jammed?” Stanz asked to the trooper manning the vox.

“Negative sir, we can still transmit to platoon level. There is static on the division channel, but no chatter. Headquarters is unable to respond or the short range signal cannot reach.” The man turned back to his system and called out for Alpha squad. Stanz glanced at his mic and keyed the button to open a channel.

“Orion Prime this is bastion Alpha-2-1, respond.” Freider paused a moment, then tried again with the same message.

“Alpha-2-1, this is Orion actual. Freider, is that you?” A voice that came across the handset was a familiar gruff tone that he knew to be Commander Geitner. It was a welcome sound to know they were not alone.

“Orion Actual, this is Officer Freider. We report heavy casualties. Loss of three squads, Leman Russ battle tank disabled as well as two destroyed chimeras. Inquisition forces sustained losses but are still present. Enemy forces are routed. Over.”

“You must have fought a paltry force,” the commander sounded incredulous. Freider held back the urge to strangle the mic in his hand. The force that they confronted was anything but paltry. The voice of Geinter continued, “The entire line of bastions have fallen to the attacking forces. Reinforcements are mobilizing but will not be reinforcing to your position.”

Stanz stared at the handset. Was his hearing fading? The junior officer did not like sacrificing so much for a position only to abandon it. The fact that they would not be sending additional forces to secure the area struck him deeply.

“Freider, you fall under the command chain of the Inquisition now. Maintain contact with the Inquisitorial forces there. “

With a blank expression he responded. “Understood, command.” There was a long pause and the officer thought that the commander finished with his transmission.

“Freider,” the voice called back across the handset sounding very serious. “How did you manage to survive?”

The officer looked from the machine to the brightening sky swirling with red dust and remembered the dark, harrowing hours of dawn.

It was the darkest hours of Orion five. While the sun slept, the planet prepared for war. The permacrete bastion sat at the base of a looming craggy mountain range. The surrounding landscape was flat but riddled with rocky outcroppings. The Inquisitional forces hoped to use the limited avenues of approach to their advantage. Aegis barriers were erected around the bastion forming a single defense line. Barriers formed two other half circles to the front of this line. Here a squad of Freider’s men would dig in and defend.

A makeshift strongpoint was assembled using a natural rock formation and the remaining barriers. Here another squad would be placed as a delaying tactic. Stanz hoped they would provide an obstacle to slow the attackers advance and give the defenders much needed time to acquire firing vectors.

The barrier line closest to the bastion was occupied by two of the Sister squads and one of their heavy tanks, an exorcist is what they called it. The relic of a machine looked more like an organ with grand pipes protruding from the rear than a main battle tank. One of the sister superiors assured Stanz that it was a very deadly piece of weaponry.

An inquisitor along with her retinue also took up battle positions behind the defense line. They were all in possession of deadly plasma weaponry. The sister superior stated the weapons were very effective at destroying power armor and the formidable terminator armor. The officer countered with the unpredictability of the weapons to overheat and explode. The sister agreed and smiled “they should have faith in the Emperor then.”

Two of Freider’s squads were set up at point positions, surrounded by the protective barriers, while two chimera armored carriers secured the flanks. If the marines tried to alter their drop zone the chimeras would harry them long enough to bring more defenders.

Two sisters were positioned inside the bastion monitoring the progress of their reinforcements who were rushing with all speed towards the battlefield. The Palatine of the sisters forces radioed in that they would be starting their decent via jump packs in five minutes. That is when the signal turned to static and the dark night sky began to burn.

Stanz rushed to one of the forward observation slits of the bastion in time to see a huge ball of fire plummeting through the night sky towards him. The flaming inferno looked like a small sun descending from the heavens to destroy him. He turned quickly away from the slit as the entire bastion shook from the tremendous impact. From the feel of the blast the strike missed the bastion but landed somewhere to the left flank.

If the attack from the heavens had hit the bastion itself, Stanz hoped the reinforced permacrete would be enough to protect them. Darting through the bastion to a side view point he saw smoke. The first firestorm barrage from the space marine vessel destroyed the quad gun emplacement. Several sisters were lying on the ground and started to get up, when the sky began to brighten again.

This blast missed the units on the ground and gouged a huge hole into the base of the mountains behind them. Freider’s eyes blurred from the intense light, his night vision having to adjust after each blinding blast. The officer looked out at the aegis emplacements. His men were huddled down behind the barriers, probably praying to the Emperor that the firestorm would be over soon. Stanz moved back to the center of the bastion and scanned the screen of the auspex. His men had the right idea, seek cover and stop gaping like an idiot at the orbital bombardment coming from the heavens.

Several more volleys scoured the battlefield. Stanz could only brace himself inside the fortified structure and await the last of the orbital attacks. There was another close blast that hit behind the bastion, then silence. The officer noticed several red dots appearing on the auspex screen when suddenly the radio cackled to life, “Adeptas Astartes drop pods incoming! All units prepare to repel the attackers!”

Mechanical servos of the bastion’s weapon emplacements began whirring as enemy signals were detected by the bastions defenses. Stanz grabbed a rifle and moved to a firing position to observe the battlefield and give direction to his men. Just as he reached the forward firing point he saw a conical shaped pod roaring towards the ground. It’s retros screamed as they flared to slow the rapid decent, spraying dirt and rock everywhere. Several blasts echoed through the night as the pods doors blew off and black armored figures rushed forward roaring their battle cry and spraying bolter fire at the bastion’s defenses.

The sisters and guardsmen surged forward to the defense lines and opened fire. Below him he could hear the engines of the battle ranks flaring as the tanks pivoted to fire. Further in the distance the air was filled with lasgun fire from his men’s positions as they fought to repel the attackers.

A unit of space marines charged directly forwards, planting melta bombs on the exorcist as they moved. There was an explosion from the sister tank just in front of the bastion. Smoke roiled up from the weapons bay and the crew spilled out to get away from the fire that burned inside.

The second squad of drop marines charged the left defensive position. His men quickly became overwhelmed by the furious assault, those still alive fled. Freider felt his gut wrench as he watched them cut down, but the feeling was quickly replaced by the unmistakable force of a Leman Russ volley. The heavy tank aimed its main gun dangerously close to target the marines who slew their fellow guardsmen. The metal behemoth fired! The blast sent the five man marine squad flying in pieces from a direct hit. Once the dust settled only a single marine was left intact after he threw himself to the ground.

An explosion hit the battle tank and smoke began to creep out of the top hatch. The marine squad destroyed the exorcist tank also was successful in wrecking the Leman Russ. That unit quickly and decisively removed two great threats to the Raven Guard attack.

The Sisters, furious at the destruction of their revered vehicle, responded the fury of their bolters and melta guns. Bolter rounds exploded against ceramite power armor and two marines fell from the close range volley. A third marine was split in half as the melta guns heat ray easily seared the warrior in two. The final two marines roared their battle cry and almost reached the sisters but were stopped by a unit of jump pack equipped sisters. The angelic warriors surged from behind with flamers and bolt pistols, overwhelming and slaying the two Astartes.

Shouts and screams came across his personal vox, the squad in the strong point was overrun. To his right a guard unit was cut down by hulking beasts of men clad in terminator armor. The sisters tried to target the marines but they teleported too close and the sisters would not risk firing upon the guardsmen.

The lascannon mounted on the roof kept firing, as did the bastions heavy bolters. The machine spirit of the structure was guiding the fire in an effort to suppress the invaders. All around him weapon fire blazed through the night air. Ammunition burned through the sky, through armor and flesh.

A unit of marines assaulted from the left flank after disemboweling one of Freiders chimera vehicles. Its guns went silent as it exploded. His stomach sank as the unit that destroyed the vehicle, aided by jump packs, leapt into the air closing the distance to the bastion quickly. The warriors landed and were met with bolter fire and the shouted oaths of a battle sister squad. More fanatical shouts and calls for absolution of a priests filled the air as he accompanied the sisters into combat.

On the horizon light was slowly coming to the land and Freider could see the carnage in all its fury. In the distance a sisters vehicle was burning, nearby a space marine dreadnought was stationary due to a destroyed leg, while another metal behemoth was battling two sisters in bronzed armor!

“By the Emperor!” The words slipped from Stanz’s mouth as the two sisters charged the hulking space marine walker and planted grenades in vulnerable places. One of the sisters was crushed in the massive claw of the dreadnought. A moment later one of the grenades exploded and the bloodied arm hung limp at the machines side. Dust from a new rhino obscured any further view of the last sister. The vehicle charged directly through two lines of aegis barriers in an effort to bring fresh troops quickly to the fight.

The frantic melee between the sisters squad and space marine jump pack unit ended. The turned their melta weapons against the marines, connecting with one and melting him in half. The second marine was throw back up against the mountain as his jump pack detonated. Freider lost sight of the man and turned to the deadly melee in the middle of the field. The drop pods storm bolter was silenced in a tremendous explosion. The vehicle ignited sending flaming scrap metal across the field of battle. A sister with a melta gun ducked quickly back behind cover after connecting with her shot.

The explosion covered the space marines locked in combat with the jump pack mounted sisters. None of the marines or women flinched. Terminators and tactical marines battled fiercely with the Palatine commander of the sisters and two other women. A slash of a power sword meant to strike the Palatine was intercepted by the sergeant of the seraphim jump squad. The woman took the strike full in the chest and fell to the ground. Her sacrifice saved the life of her commander.

The bastion shook from several blasts coming from far off past the strong point.

“Heavy weapons squad targeting the bastion. A mechanical voice sounded across the intercom.

“Chimera Bravo, target that squad and suppress that fire!” Freider commanded through his headset.

“Target acquired,” came the reply. The vehicles bolter and laser cannon opened fire at the target in the distance.

“Sir, more units of Inquisition forces approaching, it appears the space marines are falling back.”

“Try radio command and give them a status report,” shouted Freider over another explosion.

“Negative,” replied the guardsman, “comms to higher are fried in here, the signal won’t reach!”

“Grab the man portable vox, set the antennae up outside, we need to get through!” Freider grabbed a las pistol and followed his personnel guard through the exit.

Outside the gunfire had diminished, the sky was heavy with black smoke from burning vehicles and equipment. More deep red rhinos were barreling into the area and women in dark red power armor were rushing about the field. There was an urgency in all they did, and they moved with unflinching determination when commanded.

Stanz looked to the middle of the field and saw the Sororita commander speaking with a fallen marine. A rhino rushed to her and a robed women leapt out and quickly scanned the woman. After exchanging words the robed woman tended to the space marine on the ground.

As the officer finished describing the battle he fell silent. His eyes cast a careful glance across the smoldering field. Sisters and their vehicles rushed about in a very orderly manner. The sun cast aside the night, the only shadows left the ones cast by the dark red rocks of the field. The absence of weapons firing was oddly calming. Freider knew the storm was far from over, this moment of peace was only the eye. After a time the receiver in his hand began to vibrate angrily.

“Freider, FREIDER!” The handset shouted.

Freider pressed the key to speak. “Sir, it was hell.”

Target Bastion A-21 - Planetary Forces repel Attackers Pt. 2

2010-04-21T05:51:00.001-04:00

Part 2 of the story for the first planetstrike game. Didn't read over it yet for errors, my apologies for grammar and spelling errors!

Stanz Frieder ran his hand across the short blonde stubble on his head, smearing dirt and sweat across it. The dawn assault was staggering, he was amazed they even managed to survive. The guardsman situated on the ground beside him was busily trying to raise his men on their squad channels. All of them were scattered in the fighting and most were dead. The young officer hoped at least someone was left.

The chipped handset resting in Frieders left hand was silent. He tried for the last ten minutes to reach higher headquarters to report. There was only static from the vox inside the bastion. Feeling the comm array might be damaged, he and his command team departed the structure to attempt to raise them on the manpad systems.

“Are we being jammed?” he asked to the trooper manning the vox.

“Negative sir, we can still reach platoon level. There is also static on the division channel, just no chatter. They either are unable to respond or the short range signal cannot reach.” The man turned back to his system and called out for squad Alpha again. Stanz looked to his mic and keyed the button to open a channel.

“Orion Prime this is bastion Alpha-2-1, respond.” Freider waited for a response and then tried again with the same message.

“Alpha-2-1, this is Orion actual. Freider, is that you?” The voice that came across the handset was a familiar gruff tone that he knew to be Commander Geitner. It was a welcome sound.

“Orion Actual, this is Officer Freider. We report heavy casualties. Loss of three squads, Leman Russ disabled as well as two Chimeras. Inquisition forces sustained losses but are still present. Enemy forces are routed. Over.”

“You must have fought a light force,” the commander sounded incredulous. “The entire line of bastions around you have fallen to the attacking forces. Reinforcements are mobilizing but will not be reinforcing your position.”

Stanz stared at the communication system. The junior officer did not like fighting so hard for a position only to abandon it. The fact that they would not be sending additional forces struck him inside.

“Freider, you fall under the command chain of the Inquisition now. Maintain contact with the Inquisitorial forces there. “

The man keyed the mic, “Understood command.”

“Freider,” the voice came back. “How did you manage to hold?”

The officer looked to the dust swirling brightening sky and remembered to harrowing hours earlier.

It started in the darkest hours of Orion five. The small bastion sat at the base of a large mountain. The surrounding area was stricken with rocky outcroppings that the Inquisitional forces hoped to use to their advantage. Aegis barriers were erected around the bastion, forming a hasty, yet formidable defense line. A makeshift strongpoint was assembled using a natural rock formation and barriers further from the bastion. Stanz hoped they would provide an obstacle to slow the attackers.

The barriers closest to the bastion were occupied by two of the Sister squads and one of their heavy tanks, an exorcist is what they called it. The relic of a machine looked more like an organ with grand pipes protruding from the rear than a main battle tank. One of the sister superiors assured him that it was a very deadly piece of weaponry.

An inquisitor along with her retinue also took up battle positions. They all appeared to be wielding plasma weaponry. The sister superior assured Stanz they were very effective at destroying power armor and the formidable terminator armor. The officer countered with the unpredictability of the weapons to overheat. The sister just nodded and stated “they should have faith in the Emperor then.”

Two of Freider’s squads were set up at point positions, two chimera’s protected the weaker flanks incase the marines tried to alter their drop zone. Two sisters were set up inside the bastion monitoring the progress of their reinforcements who were flying with all speed towards the would be battlefield. The Palatine of the sisters forces had just radioed in that they would be starting their decent via jump packs in five minutes. That is when the signal turned to static and the dark of night was burned away.

Stanz climbed the ladder and swung open the hatch at the top of the bastion in time to see a huge ball of fire barreling through the night sky towards him. The flaming inferno looked like a small sun descending from the heavens to destroy him. He ducked back into the hatch and the entire bastion shook from the tremendous impact. If the attack from the heavens had hit the bastion itself, Stanz would probably be dead. Scrambling through the hatch he saw smoke coming from the left side and leaned over. The first firestorm from the space marine vessel destroy the quad gun emplacement. Several sisters were lying on the ground and started to get up. The sky began to brighten again.

This blast missed the units on the ground and gouged a huge hole into the base of the mountains behind them. Frieder’s eyes went black again, his night vision having to adjust after each blinding blast. The officer blinked and looked out at the aegis emplacements. His men were huddled down behind the barriers, probably praying to the Emperor that the firestorm would be over soon. Stanz hurried to his feet and ducked back down through the hatch, his men had the right idea, seek cover and stop gaping like an idiot at the fiery death coming from the heavens.

Several more volleys were directed at the battlefield. Stanz could only brace himself inside the fortified structure and await the last of the orbital attacks. Suddenly the radio came alive, “Adeptas Astartes drop pods incoming! All units prepare to repel the attackers!”

Mechanical servos began whirling as enemy signals were detected by the bastions defenses. Stanz moved to the roof to better observe the battlefield and give direction to his men. Just as he breached the roof hatch he saw a conical shaped pod slam into the ground, spraying dirt and rock everywhere. Several blasts echoed through the night as the pods doors blew off and black armored figures rushed forward roaring their battle cry and spraying bolter fire at the defenses.

The sisters surged forward and his men opened fire. He could not see past the defenses just below him but he could see the heavy lasgun fire of his men’s positions as they targeted units in the blackness.

Suddenly there was an explosion from the sister vehicle just in front of the bastion. Smoke roiled up from the weapons bay and the crew spilled out to get away from the fire. A unit of space marines charged directly forwards, claiming the exorcist with melta bombs as they moved. The second squad of marines charged his mens left position. His men quickly became overwhelmed by the furious assault and fled or were killed.

Frieder felt his gut wrench as they died, but it was quickly by another gut wrenching feeling, the unmistakable force and power of a leman russ volley. The heavy tank aimed its main gun dangerously close to target the marines taking the guard position, it fired! The blast sent the five man marine squad flying from a direct hit. Once the dust settled only a single marine was left after he threw himself to the ground.

Suddenly the leman russ suffered an explosion and smoke began to rise as that same marine squad assaulted and destroyed its systems. Sisters responded with their bolters and melta guns, claiming several of the attacking marines before a unit of jump pack equipped sisters surged from behind with flamers and slew the remaining men.

Shouts and screams came across his personal vox caster, the squad in the strong point was being overrun. To his right his men were cut down by hulking beasts of men shrouded in terminator armor. The sisters tried to target the marines but they teleported too close to his men and the sisters would not risk firing upon the guardsmen.

The lascannon mounted on the roof was busy adjusting its aim and firing, as were the bastions heavy bolters. The machine spirit of the structure was guiding the fire in an effort to suppress the invaders. All around him weapon fire was ringing out in the night air. Ammunition burned through the sky, through armor and flesh.

A unit of marines assaulted from the left flank after disemboweling one of Freiders chimera vehicles. Its guns went silent as it exploded. His stomach sank as the unit that destroyed the vehicle leapt into the air and landed closer to the bastion. It was met with bolter fire and the screams of an Adeptas Sororita squad. The fanatical shouts and calls for absolution of a priests filled the air and accompanied the sisters into combat.

Light was slowly coming to the land and Freider could see the carnage in all its fury. Further off a sisters vehicle armed with flamers was burning, a space marine dreadnought was immobile from losing a leg, while another was battling a two sisters in bronzed armor!

“By the Emperor!” The words slipped from his mouth as the two sisters charged the hulking space marine walker and planted grenades in vulnerable places. One of the sisters was crushed just as the dreadnoughts combat claw blew right off the main body. Dust from a new rhino obscured his view of the melee. It charged directly through two lines of aegis barriers in an effort to bring fresh troops to the fight.

The melee between the sisters squad and space marine jump pack unit ended, the sisters somehow broke from combat and turned their melta weapons against the marines, connecting with one and melting him in half. The second marine was throw back up against the mountain as his pack detonated. Freider assumed the man was lost and turned to the swirling melee in the middle of the field just as the drop pods storm bolter was silenced in a tremendous explosion. The vehicle ignited sending flaming scrap metal across the field of battle.

The explosion covered the space marines locked in combat with jump pack mounted sisters. None of the marines or women flinched, the combat continued. Terminators and tactical marines battled fiercely with the Palatine commander of the sisters and two other women. A slash of a power sword meant to strike the Palatine was intercepted by the sergeant of the seraphim. Unfortunately the woman took the strike in the chest and fell to the ground, but she managed to give her life to save her superior.

The bastion was rocked with several blasts coming from far off past the strong point.

“Heavy weapons squad targeting the bastion. A mechanical voice sounded across the intercom.

“Chimera Bravo, target that squad and suppress that fire!” Freider commanded through his headset.

“Target acquired,” came the reply. The vehicles bolter and laser cannon opened fire at the target in the distance.

“Sir, more units of Inquisition forces approaching, it appears the space marines are falling back.”

“Try radio command and give them a status report,” shouted Freider over another explosion.

“Negative,” replied the guardsman, “the comms are fried in here, the signal won’t reach!”

“Grab the man portable vox, set the antennae up outside, we need to get through!” Freider grabbed a las pistol and followed his personnel guard through the exit.

The handset shouted, “Freider, FREIDER!”

Freider pressed the key to speak. “Sir, it was hell.”

Target Bastion A-21 - Planetary Forces repel Attackers Pt. 1

2010-04-15T04:56:00.001-04:00

Caterina surveyed the carnage that was laid out before her. The star of this dusty reddish world was starting its trip across the sky, barely rising in time to behold the vicious onslaught that was about to unfold. The battlefield of bastion A-21 was riddled with craters caused by powerful explosions, smoldering hulks of armored vehicles, and pools of the Emperor’s faithful servant’s blood. It was a dismal scene, but the day was won.

Past the array of fortified aegis barriers, the Imperial officer that was sent to aid the Palatine and her forces was working with his vox-man to raise any elements of his men that might be lost on the battlefield. Several squads were committed to the front line defense of the bastion. They braved the night and the fire that scorched the sky and earth around them.

The men of the Planetary Defense Force stood bravely against the planet assault of the Adeptas Astartes. Despite their best efforts, nothing could prepare them for the ferocity of battling the Raven Guard. Some of the scattered men may return, but she knew they would find just as many dead, just as she would find many of her sisters.

The palatine turned her head to a groan that came from the ground, one of the space marines stirred. She was not at all surprised he was still alive; she only severed his hand, arm and destroyed the front of his armor with her blade, devastating his abdomen. He was a space marine after all, most of the wound would heal itself immediately, bleeding would stop, the power armor and gene-seed of the Emperor made these men almost impossible to fell for even several of her sisters. He was too wounded to fight, but with aid would return to the battlefield in a matter of days.

Her head turned to face a large crater full of burning metal, a piece showed the white Raven like emblem of the chapter across it. A well placed melta shot detonated the drop pod as she and her seraphim battled for their lives with space marine terminators and a squad that charged to help. Now along with the burning pieces of the drop pod, bodies of seraphim lay strewn across the ground with large hulking marines in black armor. Her seraphim were sisters with jump packs, they plummeted to the ground in mid battle to give much needed support and surprise the enemy. She was the last of the ten to be standing.

Quickly Caterina jerked her head to the patch of rocks further away. Three large rocks were packed close together, the gaps protected by more Imperial Guard Aegis defense fortifications. She scanned the area for a black figure that appeared earlier on the battlefield. At the pile of bodies she watched the terminator space marine sergeant fell her last seraphim, Caterina watched as he blade deflected pathetically off the personal shield that the special armor gave the marine. He turned to face Caterina for the final show down. Their blue lighting wreathed blades met, but she was forced on the defensive early as her blade deflected once again from the marine’s personal shield. He made no sound as he pressed the attack, Caterina having no such protection was forced to parry blow after blow away or lose her life.

Suddenly a black blur caught her eyesight in a flash, but was gone. She worried it was a fellow marine but it moved too quickly. The sergeant she was battling missed it entirely, and that proved fatal. Standing behind the eight foot tall marine was a woman sheathed in a protective skin tight suit, a shimmering blade held in her left hand. The assassin danced in behind the man and slashed her sword across the power source of his terminator armor severing several leads and the man’s spine. His face turned into a painful grimace and Caterina gaped as the assassin delivered two more blows before the marine hit the ground. The shield never had a chance at stopping that blade, the blade of the C’tan, a definite call-sign of the Callidus temple. Those blades were nothing short of the power of a star-diety melded into the fixings of a sword. It allowed the blade to pass through any armor and shield regardless of thickness or power.

The assassin was present on the battlefield, but as fast as the night began to turn to day, she was gone. The dust storm was quickly approaching and there was no time to waste. Caterina knelt on the ground beside the wounded marine and took his arm.

“My brother, this field is lost to you today. It would be an affront to the Emperor himself to let anymore of his faithful bleed to death on this rock. Contact your brothers, advise them we will be caring for your wounded and sending a Hospitaller rhino to the drop zone with whatever survivors we can find. On this I swear to the holy Emperor himself.”

The marine laid there a moment, digesting the words the fellow warrior standing over him. “As you wish it…” the marine’s metallic voice echoed deeply from his helmet.

“Palatine Caterina, of the Sisters of the Burning Blade,” she added.

“Palatine.” The marine nodded and began to signal through their internal communications to command.

A deep red rhino barreled quickly up beside Caterina, kicking up more sand and dust everywhere. She shielded her eyes and most of the debris clung to her blood coated armor.

“Mistress!” a younger woman dressed in white and red robes shouted as she leapt wildly from the vehicle before its magnetic brakes finished engaging. “Are you injured!?” The young woman wore a small panel and computer on her wrist that she immediately activated and began waving in front of Caterina. The woman was barely in her twenties, her hair covered by a white head dress and a white shawl hung at the side of her face.

The woman was a Sister Hospitaller; the image of a blade with a single drop of blood shown on her chest piece signified she was part of the order of the Sacred Wound. These sisters we masters of mercy and could keep even the more grievously wounded soldiers alive to fight for the Emperor once more. Likewise their skills of healing are of great value to Inquisitors who need to extract valuable information by way of pain and torture. The sisters Hospitaller despise the heretic and the witch and few are often found alongside an Inquisitor acting as a chirugeon, to aid in extracting information.

“Persephone!” Caterina grasped the younger woman’s arm tightly to cease the arm waving scan. The girl jumped, taken aback by the commanding voice of the Palatine. Even though the tone was stern it was not harsh, she stopped scanning as her fears diminished, seeing no wounds upon her charge.

“I’m sorry my lady, forgive me,” the robed women said as she bowed her head reverently.

“No need,” Caterina took her by the hand again and led her to the fallen space marine. “Aid him and any others in this area with the rest of your order here. I will have the rhino take you to the drop zone where you will leave the Astartes in the best condition you can for retrieval. Understand?”

The woman nodded her head solemnly and knelt down to begin administering to the marine’s wounds. Caterina turned from them and strode to the rhino via the side access hatch. A sister in red power armor was manning a vox and turned to regard the Palatine as she approached.

“Your will, Palatine?”

“Open a channel to our forces. We have little time to prepare.”

Planet Strike - Part 2

2010-04-13T04:58:00.001-04:00

The Hive city of Zelris looked like a the blade of black jagged knife jutting from the ground. From several kilometers away it appeared to be wreathed in a permanent blood mist of black. Staining the air where it pierced the depleted soil of Orion 5.

Stanz Freider sprinted across the motorpool as the base sirens blared their angry cry. Troopers of the Orion Planetary Defense Force scrambled to their designated positions. The warning of the sirens signaled an alert. When an alert was issued every trooper was to prepare to repel invaders, which meant vehicles needed to be checks, weapons issued, orders received and support equipment stowed.

Sergeants shouted ordered to manage the chaos and channel the sudden surge of energy created by this hostile sound. Stanz hoped it was a drill, but there was something in his stomach that told him the winds were blowing ill will their way. This was his first assignment after becoming an officer in the Imperial Guard. He was a line trooper that was lifted to momentary greatness when held an outpost against an Eldar assault.

It was a lightning fast attack, break in and capture slaves and escape. Better to die then let them take you alive, he thought to himself. He managed to rally the soldiers after suffering heavy losses and direct fire and disable several craft. The depraved Eldar fled before the guns of the Guard could render all their flyers disabled.

His men fell upon the depraved xenos with all the fury of a Inquisitor would upon a heretic. Without their crafts to maneuver around the defenses the foul beings were at a loss. Stanz ended up capturing an Eldar being that interested certain dark hooded figures of the Inquisition. After the attack he found orders promoting him to junior officer and sending him to his duty station on Orion 5.

The world appeared before him in the form of a thick permacrete wall and a heavy plasteel door that lead to the command center. Behind him in the yard tanks roared to life and a promethium laden truck hastily fueled the remaining vehicles. Stanz entered his passcode into the small consol and laid the palm of his hand against the screen. The door whooshed upward and allowed him into the small foyer only ten by ten.

A storm trooper stepped forward in carapace armor with a hand scanner. Stanz noted the serious look covering the man’s face, some of these glory boys took themselves way too seriously. The man scanned Stanz’s datacard and awaited the appropriate clearence to populate his handheld. The two gun slits flanking the door ahead were empty, but the officer knew there were two troopers behind him ready to fry any intruder attempting to gain access to the command center.

“Green, sir.” The gruff man stepped away to the corner and waited for the next person to come through. Stanz turned from him and the door opened revealing a room crammed with computer consoles, screens with planetary maps and war tables. The room was crammed with equipment and officers, but all these men were huddled around one single holo-table at the far end of the room. A single vox trooper was issuing orders across the planetary net and another was receiving incoming reports from various outposts.

The junior officer avoided the mass at the tables and walked toward the vox troops.

“What is the report.” He asked to either of them. The trooper sending orders regarded him but finished his transmission before replying.

“Mobilization to repel planetary attack, sir!”

Stanz’s eyes widened but the vox transmissions kept flowing and the trooper barely missed a beat between his reply and returning to his job.

“Stanz, get your no good ass over here before I put the torch to it!” The voice was that of the base commanding officer, Senior Officer Geitner. The rest of the officers turned to offer their stares of dark eyes full of resentment and disapproval. The entirety of these men were born and raised on this planet and came from prominent families. These positions allowed their children a “distinguished” position in their world’s military. Apparently these men believed they were bred for command, and Stanz was bred for slinging chow. Even their neatly trimmed black hair seemed to scorn his lighter off blonde color. Stanz was the outsider in more ways than one.

The blonde haired, blue eyed man approached the table and the uniform sea dark haired officers parted as if to avoid the volley of ordnance Geitner was about to launch at tardy junior officer.

“Well, well,” touted Geitner. “Maybe you can tell us what these are.”

The black glass tabletop showed several red space vessels and their designations as they approached the fifth planet of the Orion system.

“Sir, those are Adeptas Astartes codes.” He resisted the urge to explain any gutter rat worth his salt as an officer would be able to tell that from Imperium Naval vessels. There was a twinge as he felt his brain working to understand but he fought the urge to voice his next thought, How can the Astartes already be responding to the alert?

“Smart off-worlder. They even teach their miscreants the basics.” Muttered Geitner. The older man was thickly built and his dark hair seemed to only turn blacker with age instead of graying like other humans. His uniform was crisply decorated with few Imperium medals and extensively with Orion military decorations. Stanz doubted there was any room for the Emperor on that uniform.

“This is the situation men.” Geitner turned his ire from Stanz and to the situation before them. “This is a planetary invasion alert. Adeptas battle cruisers and frigates entering Orion space are designated at enemy contacts the moment the appeared from warp space. According to our orders these ships will attempt to make planet fall and we are to deny them with every last man, lasgun and Russ.” This information caused a murmur to spread across the officers like wild fire.

“Are these Chaos marines?” asked a broad shouldered man across the table.

“According to our information these Astartes are designated the Ravenguard.” Added Geitner. “This chapter is not designated as traitors.”

“Why are they here, what have we done to them?!” Another officer asked with hysteria in his voice. The man was right to be worried. Fighting aside an Astartes would be an experience one would never forget. Fighting against them would be an experience one might hope to live to forget.

“Their mission is unknown, but they are considered hostile. This information comes from Inquisitor Gastone located at Hive city Zelris. We are to deploy to defend key planetary defense guns and to resist planetfall!”

A questioning glance was exchanged among the officers.

“Regardless of who they are!! They want to come to our planet and bring fire, then they will be met with fire! Now hop-to-it!! Get your orders and deploy your men!” roared Geitner.

The junior officers knew their place in the food chain and scrambled as if the warp incarnate was chasing them. As the last of the lieutenants passed through the door Stanz just shook his head and calmly headed toward the exit. His mind was afire with questions and requirements needed to mobilize to his designated coordinates. Suddenly a gruff voice rumbled from directly behind him causing him to snap out of his haze.

“Not you, Freider!” Commander Gietner was behind him now, glowering menacingly over him.

“Sir, I have to get my men together and depart in less than…”

“Your present orders have been rescinded,” the superior officer cut him off in mid sentence. “This was sent for you.” The older man handed him a folder with a set of papers inside. Stanz took the papers and glanced over them cautiously. The Imperial signet of the Inquisition was stamped directly at the beginning of the page. Stanz wanted to cringe at the symbol but his past experience with the Inquisition gave him the smallest bit of courage. This wasn’t to inform him he would be tried as a witch, they wouldn’t be so formal as to send him notice, the young officer knew that much.

Freiders commanding officer puffed out his chest and appeared to be waiting for the man to finish reading.

“This says I am to take three squads with heavy weapons teams, two chimeras and a Russ and depart for these coordinates to support the Sisters of the Burning Blade in their defense of Bastion A-21.” Stanz looked up at his superior and could only imagine the infuriation he must feel at the sudden acquisition of men and equipment under his command by an outside force. Geitner stepped over to a terminal and began punching several keys.

“I’ve sent word to the motor pool. Take the vehicles, but man them with your own men. Take your own squads and get there without hesitation. I’d much sooner fire a plasma rifle on full auto for three minutes straight than face an unpleased Inquisitor.” Geitner turned and shouted at the stunned Freider, “Get out of here! Before you get us both kill for keeping the Emperors people waiting!”

Freider was out the door, all questions and queries leaving his mind. He was already behind schedule.

-battle results to follow with pictures-

Planet Strike

2010-04-09T04:46:00.006-04:00

I am doing a small amount of writing to go along with a planet strike campaign I am playing with my friend Rysm. Here is the first part. I will post a battle report and hopefully a story to go along with it after the game. (I apologize for being unable to indent paragraphs, blogger is frustrating me)

The Search Delayed

Inside the confines of the command Rhino, sister Diodona stared in unflinching silence at the picto-screen before her. A box of lightweight metallic material was fused to her back and connected to the circuits in her head and arms by various wires penetrating skin and vanishing behind greasy unkempt brown hair. Her eyes were covered by goggles that allowed extremely quick browsing of encrypted data displays, while her ears were augmented to understand thousands of different languages cataloged in the vast libraries of the Imperium.

Flashes of strange lettering skittering across the vacant screen came at such quick intervals a regular person might mistake them for mere flashes of light emitted from a faulty monitor, but Diodona was intently digesting the message appearing before her. As her mind deciphered the message an aged box whizzed and shuddered from her pack. A bit of parchment was slowly pouring forth, the words of the message appearing on it.
The woman reached back with her lanky arm and snatched the sheet free of the print mechanism. With her other pale hand she reached toward a small green button on the console and pressed it with an incredibly thin finger. A short scratch of static pierced the silence and opened a channel to the drivers chamber at the front of the vehicle.
“Sister Clement, please and by whatever means necessary, make it possible for Palatine Caterina to return here immediately. There is an urgent communiqué from the Canoness commander.”
“Acknowledged.” Came the curt reply from the speaker. Sister Diodona pressed another button to close the channel and leaned back over the screens before her. As a sister of the Sacred Word she was built for communication operations and knew the exact frequency and rate of sync with which to reach the Palatine directly. This course of action would be the most direct but oddly enough not the preferred method. The sisters of the Burning Blade were a military Ordo of the Ecclesiarchy and adhered strictly to the chain of command. To contact the Palatine directly would not be prudent and circumvent the sisters operating procedure. She stared at the screen and turned a dial several spins clockwise, increasing the bandwidth she screened and listened intently for some trace of a signal.

Several valleys away from the command Rhino the wind was thrashing dust against the dark red ceramite plating of Palatine Caterina’s power armor. The gale winds ripped and tugged at the lone figure perched atop a rocky slope. The woman glanced up at a rocky ledge and knelt. With a thought engines blazed to life and she propelled herself upwards, leaping from jagged rock and smooth rock face until she landed dexterously at her destination. The winds were harsh for maneuvering jump packs, years of combat missions and lightning fast reflexes allowed Caterina to avoid danger.
The sound of a channel opening in her helmet registered above the heavy groans the billowing winds created through this desolate place.
“Palatine Caterina, this is Tamara” It was the sister superior of the seraphim jump squad checking for caves and openings at lower altitudes of the mountains.
“Go ahead, sister.” Replied the Palatine.
“Diodona says she decoded a priority communiqué from the Canoness commander .” The message ended and the woman paused to think. They were under a comms blackout while searching this area to restrict knowledge of their presence. Many of the sisters knew the Inquisitions hand played a part in their travel to this world. Another hunt to root out witchcraft and heresy. Unlike those sisters, Caterina knew more of the story, though she knew it was far from the complete version. They were here searching for secrets hidden from the Imperium by a specific Adeptas Astartes chapter. It was not her place to question orders, even the most revered battle brothers have had comrades turn to the taint of chaos. If the taint was here it will be purged, regardless of who or what gets in the way.
“Tamara, recall all of our units to field command. Once all units return I will advise based on the new orders.”
“As you command Palatine. Emperor protect.” The net went silent, leaving Caterina listening to the planetary winds howl and moan through the gorge. After a moment she thrust herself into the air and the fire of the jump pack was lost in the dust.

....more to follow

Godzilla Online Rollcall!

2009-12-20T20:18:00.005-05:00

In April 2008, when I started this blog, I started with a post in hopes to find old friends in an online game long gone. In September 2009 someone finally discovered that post and replied, OmeneX_DR the leader of Death Row. Here is the originial post

Omen was the first of a few Godzilla players that posted to my call to Godzilla Online brothers! Today my old friend, and the one to get me into the Shadow Wolves AND Godzilla Online, JuGGaLo_SW posted a comment to the blog. I can't explain how awesome it is to be reunited with so many old players who loved Godzilla Online.

Today I am renewing my effort to find more of the old players and my effort to try to obtain a player run server of the game. With some luck I believe it will be accomplished. Below is the list of players. I am happy that so many found this! We will get this game back up and we will get one big ass Egg game going!!!! Maybe even some Chrissy/Sub drama! haha!

Again I am so glad for all of you guys that found this posting! This has me so excited, and right before the Holidays!! All of you have a Merry Christmas!

OmeneX_DR
RancidSick_DR
OneRep
Nookie_DR
DynamO_SW
Bandido_SW
Smart_SW
Newster_SW
JuGGaLo_SW!!!!

Just so you know Jugg, I never listened to ICP and had no idea what JuGGaLo meant, haha! So I never think of that band when I see your callsign. Are any of you other guys on XBL? Here is a pic I found online to get everyones blood pumping more! Catch you all around!

The First Drops of Blood Fall

2009-11-24T20:53:00.003-05:00

The Brigand War Campaign kicked off Saturday evening into Sunday Morning! Several armies converged on Blood Grove, their goals were their own, their intentions … to spill the blood of their enemies!

Some came to apprehend the Brigand King, Lord Hannibal of the Outcasts of Athel Loren, the others seeking to destroy hated enemies or claim glory for their people or clan. A few of the group managed to complete two battles, some put one under their belt. We had three seasoned players and four new players. It was a good time for all to learn a new game system and get some much needed battle experience!

A brief battle report is posted here at Rysm Tower http://loreseeker.blogspot.com/2009/11/brigand-war-1st-round.html
Below are the battle results

(Army - Massacre/Solid Victory/Marginal Victory/Draw/Loss)

Wood Elves Brigand King-0/1/1/0/0

High Elves-1/0/0/0/1
Ogre Kingdoms 0/1/0/0/1

Lizardmen-0/0/0/0/1

Dwarves-0/0/0/0/1

Bretonnians-1/0/0/0/1

Dark Elves-0/0/1/0/1

Here is a breakdown of the points achieved by each army based on performance in the battles.

Wood Elves
First Battle - Lizardmen (1000pts)
MV – 15, Heros – 2 = total 17pts

Second Battle - Dwarves – (1500pts)
SV – 20, Heros – 2, BSB – 5, = 27pts

Total Score – 44pts

Bretonnians
First Battle - Dark Elves (2000pts)
Loss – 0, General - 3

Second Battle Allied Battle (Dark Elves and Ogres)
Results were a massacre but since Allied battle is shared and confusing for scoring, both High Elves and Brets get a Marginal Victory for pts and all heroes killed.
MV – 15, General x2 – 6, Heroes – 2, = 23

Total Score – 26pts

High Elves
First Battle – Ogre Kingdoms (1500pts)
Loss

Second Battle – Allied Battle (Dark Elves and Ogres)
Results were a massacre but since Allied battle is shared and confusing for scoring, both High Elves and Brets get a Marginal Victory for pts and all heroes killed.
MV – 15, General x2 – 6, Heroes – 2, = 23

Total Score - 23pts

Dark Elves
First Battle – Bretonnians (1500pts)
MV – 15, General – 3, = 18pts

Second Battle – Allied Battle (High Elves and Bretonnians)
Loss – 0, General – 3, Character – 1 = 4pts

Total Score = 22pts

Ogre Kingdoms
First Battle – High Elves (1000pts)
SV – 20, General – 3, Hero -1 = 24

Second Battle – Allied Battle (High Elves and Bretonnians)
Loss – 0, General – 3, heroe – 1 = 4

Total Score = 28pts

Dwarves
First Battle – Wood Elves (1500pts)
Loss – 0, General – 3 = 3pts

Total Score = 3pts

Lizardmen
First Battle – Wood Elves (1000pts)
Loss – 0

Total Score – 0pts

Brigand War Warhammer Campaign

2009-11-03T17:31:00.005-05:00

In less than three weeks a bunch of my friends and cousins will meet for a day of Warhammer Fantasy battles. This will be a large kick off for a small campaign we are running. Below is a list of my Wood Elf units with names to spice up the flavor. If the army does well we will collect points and I will be able to assign small upgrades to particular units. This is a nice upside, but has an equal downside. The unit gives extra points if they are destroyed, and the unit loses its ability if it is destroyed. The bonuses might be short lived!

The Outcasts of Athel Loren
Main Army Battle Roster

Leader – Lord Hannibal, the Renegade
Spellsinger Sulina Whiteleaf
Spellweaver Yuriel Whiteleaf
Branchwraith – Trindal the Black Rose
Noble - Princess Ilyara the Windtouched

Glade Guard 1 – Ariel’s Host
GG 2 – Loren Marksmen
Wardancers – Swift Blades
Dryads 1 – Black Briars
Dryads 2 – Blood Grove (lvl 2 trait "Feared") Now cause Terror
Treekin – Gnarled Jaws
Wild Riders – Twilight Ghosts
Glade Riders – Silver Spears
Warhawk Riders – Screeching Death
Waywatchers – The Faded Leaves
Treeman – Old Rosebud

This is most of the units at my disposal. I thought about taking an Eternal Guard unit, but I'm not sure they will really suit me well. Maybe in the future I will add them to a larger game, but for this one I think the introduction of treekin is enough for now.

Dragon Age - Tomorrow!

2009-11-02T16:21:00.005-05:00

Dragon Age: Origins is upon us. Tomorrow, hopefully before work, I will be able to snag my reserved copy from Gamestop! I am unsure what type of character and path I am going to try. It will be a male character, and most likely I will go for something magical or melee oriented. We will see! I'll hopefully be able to post more after playing! Poor Dead Space is still not beaten yet. I am close but still need to finish off the last chapter or two! I guess it might have to wait a few weeks!

The Outcast Army

2009-10-30T11:00:00.002-04:00

Figures slinking through the brush were masked by the darkening sky and cloaks camouflaged with browns and green. The clothing they wore hardly resembled shirts or pants, but seemed to be extensions of the woods themselves. Light did not show the bright fair skin of their elven heritage, it was dimished by mud and concoctions devised specifically to conceal flesh from the eye. They stole from shadow to shadow, unseen to any that were unaware of their presence, even other wood elves, creeping to the bodies of the fallen sylvankind. These fallen wood elves were part of Lord Hannibal’s host. The scouts hoped to find some of the missing men and women alive.

A man stood silent, further back from the scouts, his waywatchers. Black armor of leather sheathed his entire body, a black cloak billowing behind him in the cold sea wind. His dark brown eyes surveyed the scene before him with placidness, the ire that roiled behind them reserved for someone else. Several companies of the forests best archers scattered or fell today, the result of a brilliant charge by a smaller unit of errant knights. The rest of his forces failed to commit or were harried by battlefield confusion. This impart to the misdirection of one Highborn elf. The elf arrived early in the morning, just before the battle and caused havoc among the ranks with regards to the battle plan. Sent by arrogant lords and nobles of Athel Loren to right what they believe Hannibal was wronging. With his crazed machinations for the battle the original plans were shattered as the fighting reered its ugly head. This caused the day to be fought to a draw with Lord Rincewind’s forces, and the death of the Highborn himself.

“I never liked him much anyway,” commented Hannibal as he looked down at the lifeless body of the elf. To the elf lord's credit, he fought and slew a great number of knights, before another contingent ran him down. Hannibal’s black charger pawed the ground beside him, snorting her dissatisfaction. The man’s hand patted the hard flank of the horse. “Easy, this was not our mess, but I am afraid it is now.”

“That is right.” A voice came from behind him. The lighthearted voice of Princess Ilyara felt diminished, burdened with grief, “There is more bad news.”

“To achieve victory the “lords of Athel Loren” needed a much greater victory.” Disgust lined the words as the man spoke. “With such a loss of force we will not hold all of the ground we took, and I am willing to wager the item our illustrious nobles wanted so badly, is not what it appeared to be.”

“Right, right, and right again.” The elven maiden nodded slowly, with still more to come. The man said nothing, letting her speak instead of talking for her as he usually did. The news she needed to tell him next affected everyone that was left in his army and it was hers to bear to him. She took a step closer, her smaller frame dwarfed behind him. ”We are being blamed for this failure. We are outcasts now, unable to return to Athel Loren on pain of death, even hunted by some of our bretheren.” Her voice started to crack, the pain she must feel from all ties being severed from her home and family was something Hannibal was unable to share. He was still a man, and she an elf princess, but he knew she might be lacking in that title for remaining loyal to his army. She said we, Hannibal knew full well it was his burden to bear and rightfully he should let it fall upon him. A smile crossed his lips that she did not see, but he would not let her loyalty go unnoticed.

“Much of our rear forces are intact. They maintain a heavy presence along the forest that is growing. The range of the chaos relic we found did not manage to taint it and our casters concealed the vile magic as best they could. I sent runners to everyone loyal to you to rally there.”

“Princess.” The man interrupted her. She stopped immediately, lowering her head as if to receive more punishing words.

“I am not a Princess anymore,” she said so softly the wind almost carried her words away before Hannibal could hear them.

“Princess Ilyara,” he started again his voice much softer than before. “Are you hurt?” His head turned and he adjusted his body to look back at her. She stared up at him, her silvery eyes shining happily at his effort to show her the respect he knows she deserves.

“I am fine, perfectly fine, my Lord.”

“That makes me very happy,” he said. “I was worried.” With a motion of his hand he indicated the blood of men and elves splattered across the field, and the fallen lord at his feet. His face looked much harder now, his mind set to the mission of survival. He lifted his slightly, and let a smile creep back to his lips. She moved closer and let him embrace her tightly. With a hand he wrapped the cloak around her and started to walk away from the lonely field. It was warm inside the heavy material and she took comfort there, knowing that harder times lie ahead.

November and Battling for Time

2009-10-30T06:08:00.007-04:00

November is two days away, which means after those two days Dragon Age: Origins is 3 days further! My writing skill is insufficient to begin to tell you how well Bioware made Mass Effect. It is probably my preferences that make it such an awesome game to me, but no one can refute the list of awards it received either. A Sci-fi epic RPG game, character customization, interaction with companions, a variety of skills-weapons-armor, tons of background and lore, an interesting story with a vast world to traverse, should I go on? What can we expect from Dragon Age: Origins? I believe we can expect everything that made Mass Effect successful, in a Fantasy setting, and more. I dig a nice side romance story in all my RPGs, when a game throws one in that is done well, I am a very happy gamer.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is due out the 11th. I am not the die hard COD player that so many people out there are, I recently jumped into COD4 for the Xbox 360 when it was first released. I played COD3 for computer, so this was the first leap back onto the console. What attracted me most was the adaptation from WW2 and previous wars to the Modern Day. The weapons are familiar, the game was done well, and I actually succeed (to a point) in the online multiplayer game! Many of my friends play it and are eager to jump onto Xbox live and hook some people up!

November 21st, a day that will rock the Warhammer world as several armies converge on an area sandwiched between Bretonnia, Athel Loren and the Eastern Mountains. Several forces are arrayed and will possibly be present to wage war, High Elves, Wood Elves, Brettonians, Ogre Kingdoms and Dwarves. We might see an appearance by Dark elves, and maybe even lizardmen if my brother shows.

There was already a minor skirmish of Wood Elf and Dwarf forces. The Wood Elves closed the flanks swiftly and routed two warmachines, but just as they turned to smash the Dwarven center, a beautiful but foreboding elven horn sounded from the forest. The general of the army looked to his Wild Riders and sounded the retreat, the elves vanished into the forest, lacking a few Dryads and wardancers from the encounter. This game was to help the commander of the Dwarf forces to cut his teeth on the warhammer rules. It is one thing to see them on paper and another to experience them on the game table!

I read Rosario+Vampire Four and started on book five. The manga is great! Tsekune, a human, gets involved with different types of monsters at his new school. Moka - a vampire-the most powerful monster, Kurumu-hot succubus-my favorite!, Ginei(aka Gin) a werewolf and hot shot, and Yukari-11yr old witch who has the hots for Moka. Awesome cast of characters, GREAT drawings, a good fun story with great encounters. It is a really good Manga and I would recommend it to anyone interested in chasing down a new book!

The Brigand War - Campaign Traits

2009-10-24T08:25:00.008-04:00

Warhammer Campaign - Starting post http://loreseeker.blogspot.com/2009/10/chaos-prince-war-campaign.html

Below are details for the upcoming Warhammer campaign. This post details traits that can be applied to warhammer units based on points scored during the campaign. Below is a tentative list of players in the campaign.

Myself as Lord Hannibal - Wood Elves
http://loreseeker.blogspot.com Rysm - Bretonnians
http://finklestale.blogspot.com Finkle – Dwarves
Thiridhren, Warden of the White Tower - High Elves
Castion (possible Warriors of Chaos player)
Borgoth - Dark Elves (possible)
Sir David – Ogre Kingdom Player (possible)

Warhammer Campaign Traits/Upgrades
-Points are earned for every +20 points gained through battles.
-When a unit gains a level 1 trait it must wait until three other units are upgraded before upgrading to a level 2 trait.
-Each upgrade costs 1 point.
-You cannot stack level 1 traits with other level 1 traits. Once a unit has a level 1 trait it stays with it until the end of the campaign or it is destroyed.
-A level 2 upgrade costs 1 points at the time of purchase.
-Any unit with this bonus that is destroyed, fleeing at the end of the game or flees off the table loses the trait/traits.
-A unit that is destroyed in the previous manners gives 1 victory point for each trait it has to the opposing general.

Level 1 Traits

Lucky – be it protection of a diety or just plain luck, these guys can credit a piece of their survival to it. Once per battle reroll successful to hit rolls in the shooting phase and reroll scatter dice for templates that hit the unit.

Fated- This unit is destined for greatness making them tougher to kill. Once per game this unit may reroll failed armor saves.

Steady – This unit has weathered encounters with fierce units and thus may reroll panic tests. If this unit rerolls panic test it must reroll at its own leadership, not that of a general or other modifiers.

Bloodthirsty – This unit craves battle and doubles its effort to cover the battlefield with their enemies blood. This unit may reroll failed rolls “to wound” during the first round of combat.

Dirty Fighting – This unit knows how to cheat to win and is not shy about tossing dirt in their enemies face, going for the knees or biting. In the first round of combat one enemy engaged against this unit is -1 to hit

Nimble Blades – This unit has customized their weapons to be lighter or they are just naturally faster with weapons. This unit gets +1 to their initiative.

Unit Fighting Style – This unit has learned several tricks throughout their campaign and improved their methods of dispatching foes. This unit receives +1 to WS.

Marksmen – this unit does not suffer the first -1 penalty incurred when shooting. If the unit is shooting over half range, it does not suffer -1, If the unit is shooting at skirmishers, under half range it does not suffer -1, but if the unit is shooting at skirmishers over half range it suffers a -1, instead of a -2 total.

Level 2 Traits

Hardened – This unit is tough as nails and will stand to the last man. This unit can reroll all break tests.

Feared – This unit has made a name for itself among its foes for being ruthless in combat and relentless in its treatment of enemies. This unit causes Fear. If the unit already causes fear it then causes Terror.

Protected – This unit has scavenged the battlefields and improved their armor in vulnerable places enemies like to strike. The unit is protected by a +6 ward save.

Deadly Ammo – sharpened arrowheads, heavier shot, regardless of the type of ammunition used, this unit specializes in dealing death from a distance. All armor saves caused by this unit are taken at an additional -1.

Divine Intervention – These fellows carry religious or divine trinkets with them to battle. They know in the time of their greatest need they will be protected. Once per game the unit takes armor saves normally, but is also allowed a +5 ward save.

Dire Charge/Expeditious retreat – this unit throws caution to the wind to get into the fight and adds +1 inch to their charging range, in contrast they also know how to break contact, gain altitude and return to base, receiving +1 inch to their total flee distance.

Expert Flankers – This unit is adept at maneuvering around the battlefield unseen and taking their foes by surprise. Do not deploy this unit normally, instead it is placed in reserves until it is called upon. Starting in the movement phase of turn 2, during compulsory movement sequence, rolled a D6. On the roll of a 4+ the unit enters on the table edge of a flank. Determine the side of the table based on a D6. A roll of 1-3 represents the owning players left side, 4-6 is the right side. If the unit fails to enter on turn to, continuing rolling, turn 3 roll on a 3+, turn 4 a 3+, turn 5 a 2+ and turn 6 an 2+. If the unit fails to enter by turn 6 it is considered destroyed for scoring purposes, obviously they lost their way, were hindered by enemy movements, or went to the local tavern for drinks. The unit enters during compulsory movement phase, thus can not declare charges. The unit may move in the remaining moves phase, but only at regular speed. The unit cannot march due to the cautious nature of its arrival due to surrounding enemies. No characters can be included with the unit, the unit may still shoot or cast magic if it is allowed. The unit counts as moving even if it does not move in the remaining moves phase, for the purpose of calculating shooting.

Players of the campaign feel free to comment publicly on thoughts, changes, questions and concerns in the comment section here, and please follow up with an email to the entire group of players.

~Rafe of Wolf's Rest

Wednesday's Social Event

2009-10-11T06:57:00.002-04:00

This Wednesday's gaming event will be held at my abode. I, Don Raphael - Inwood Ranger and scoundral extrodinaire and my wife The Duchess of Kentuckiberry, will play host to a miriade of avid game players.

Now cutting to the chase, a bunch of my friends will be coming over the 14th to get in on some gaming action. We are taking a small break from Rysm's Dungeons and Dragons game to play some warhammer. I will be playing Rysm in the final scenario of our five battle campaign. This will start around 4pm so we can be well into the game as the other players arrive.

For a fluffy version of the battle, see the previous post; for a general run down, keep reading. The battle takes place in Mousillon, well inside the borders. The elves mission to seek out a powerful slumbering relic and claim more territory for the forest seems almost complete. The defenders valiantly continue to bring the elves to battle in an effort to send them packing from their realm and claim it once again. The score sits at 85-10 pts, Wood Elves (me) with 85 and the Bretonnians at 10. The 100 point mark needs to be reached for the campaign to be successful for one side. If the Wood Elves march to victory, they should reach 100 points.

That being said, the elves relic is of questionable background. It is quite possible the relic may be of chaos origin. In light of this news, some wood elven units may be unhappy with the path the elves are taking and join against the effort on the side of the Bretonnians.

In another light, many knights have lost their lives bravely at the numerous battles against the wood elves. Some defeats stung much deeper and left many knights dead or severely wounded. A few knights have offered their flag to the wood elves, on the stipulation that Lord Rincewind be brought to justice for his flagrant waste of the Lady's knights.

Now back to the rest of the gaming night. Several of our friends, who we play D&D with, are coming over. Two of them will be learning Warhammer Fantasy on the Battle for Skull Pass. Rysm and I will be assisting, once our game is over, in their knowlegde of the game mechanics and rules. We also may try to get a small game in if there is time.

After the Warhammer Fantasy we will be moving onto a separate Pathfinder RPG game hosted by our friend, Finkle. This game takes place in the world of Pathfinder and may take parts of the adventures built by the creators of Pathfinder. I will be playing a dwarven fighter for this game. A dwarf is a step out of my usual comfort zone of playable races. I usually play a character I think I would like to play, dwarves usually do not fit into that category, but I think I've found a character I may enjoy using. I guess we will see after I come back and post how it went playing him.

That is about all on the list that is on the docket. There will be some Xbox 360 action and who knows what else might pop up into existance. I'll recount the story after the event.

A Battle Approaches

2009-10-08T18:23:00.004-04:00

This part of the forest was deathly quiet. The hour was late, the moon and stars masked by heavy clouds and the earth pitched into a deep darkness. Through the thick undergrowth and misshapen trees shone the only light. A few torches and small fires surrounded a small clearing. The flicker of the fire cast unsettling shadows from the twisted and bare trees.

Several sentries, undetectable without the keenest eye, kept vigil hidden from view of anyone unlucky enough to stumble upon this place. Their elven hoods were thrown up and bodies camouflaged with pieces of the forest. In the midst of the clearing stood two individuals, one much larger and broad than the first. Beside the tall man stood a heavy black charger, pawing the soft earth anxiously. The smaller woman, an elf, beside him watched the hole carefully.

"I don't like it." the man said at last. "Nothing about the forest feels right, are you sure about this relic?"
"The Spellweaver and lords of the forest seem sure enough. That is good enough for me to come to this place." she replied. "Why, do a few gnarled trees and shadows put you on edge, Lord Hannibal?"
The man clenched his jaw, considering the area around him a moment before replying, "No, they do not, Princess. What might come out of this ground does." He finished speaking and hefted himself up into the saddle of the charger. The princess looked over at him, unwillingly to express unwillingness to remain in this part of the forest alone. It was Mousillon, as the humans called it, and who knows what they might find. It was suppose to be a lost artifact to return to Athel Loren, but she felt, skeptical.
"Going so soon?" she started to say and tried to devise a method to keep him here.
"Yes, any moment your scouts will be coming to tell you Lord Rincewind is preparing for battle." Lord Hannibal indicated with a hand at a figure slipping through trees towards their position.
"Again? These humans are most frustrating, they must breed like orcs!" The princess turned to intercept the elven runner.
"Yes, but if they were orcs they would have killed Lord Rincewind by now, and elected a stronger leader." Hannibal added pointedly. "Unless Lord Rincewind is strong enough to behead them first, and thus remain in power."
Princess Ilyara frowned and was glad they did not have any other such armies to contend with. The scout rushed up to her and knelt.
"My lady, I bring word of an approaching host of Bretonnian knights." the elf finished between breaths.
"Rise my brother and send another to carry the word, we assemble for battle." The princess moved beside Hannibal and shifted into a wolf. The man looked down at her and smirked, "Not staying to watch the dig?" The wolf snarled and rushed off into the forest, followed closely by the black charger.

Kiira Delving

2009-10-06T22:07:00.003-04:00

Below is a small bit of writing based on our previous Dungeons and Dragons game. My wizard received a kiira, a gem used to store spells, enchance with magical properties and be used for other good tasks! It is an awesome find and I wanted to write about it, so I finally accomplished that task. I am sorry for any grammatical errors, I rushed when reading it over so I could publish it before leaving work. Enjoy!

The ocean waves crashed angrily against the hull, only thick planks of wood separated Talindra's small compartment from the frigid depths. She looked around the room, filled with stores and crates of goods. The ship was very swift, a modest vessel built for carrying cargo, not passengers. The crew bunked entirely together in overlapping hammocks, while an officer or two might have a room to his or herself. The captain might have offered his quarters to her or the other women of the company, but Talindra did not give him the chance. There were five extra souls aboard, who had seen far worse in the last few days than she and her friends. They deserved what comfort that could be spared, Talindra simply needed a place where she could manage to avoid interruptions. Come to think of it, she might need to reiterate to Borgoth the need to be undisturbed while resting. It was a tedious and often grueling process to commit spells to memory, leaving only a fraction of the spell left upon the time of casting. It was difficult to concentrate without proper rest, in a few minutes she would try to trance, but right now, the small clear gem in her hand intrigued her.

Around the ship outside the gold elf could hear sailors recounting the scenes from the battle that took place earlier. They were less hurried now, the repairs they toiled tirelessly on would hopefully last until the ship could reach port. Some spoke in high, swift voice in awe of the fireball that struck the Zhent ship and wounded her sails, others shouted a saying "wizard see, wizard do" in reference to the return fireball that struck their own ship and set fire to its sails. It took Talindra by surprise the immediate return volley, but it was what she probably would have done. She cursed herself for not anticipating that move before launching her own spell, maybe she could have prevented the damage. It was said once if the sun elves felt something was worth doing, they'd take fifty years to decide how to do it.

It was true that her gold elven kin were the most slow to act, or methodical in their thought process. With hundreds of years to live, why rush head first into disaster, when there is plenty of time to think the problem through. Some of the other elven races were more quick to act, but more of the rest of the elven race occupied Faerun and lived among human realms. Evermeet was where almost the entirety of gold elves abide. There they would stay stationary while the world rushed past them. Perhaps in Retreating is where the elven race had failed, the rest that stayed on Faerun were too small in number to fend entirely against very real and terrible threats. Talindra found herself wondering if her exposure to the human lands had affected her, making her judgement hasty. Then again, when you were running and time was a luxury you did not have, haste meant the difference between life and death. She did consider there was a difference in a hasty act, and a rash one.

Again she found herself lost in thought, staring off the short distance to the wall of the small compartment. Shrugging closer under the winter blanket she was wrapped in, she looked again at the faceless gem. A warm bronze elven reflection stared back, the images hair was tousled and dirty from exposure to battle and the elements. The face was dirtier than it usually was allowed, but the golden eyes retained all the shine and fire that drove Talindra. She could simply tidy up her cloths and image with a quick use of prestidigitation, if she had noticed she was dirty. Right now her mind was a mass of questions, concerns, and intrigue. The gem in front of her was special, when she inspected it she almost immediately knew it was a kiira, and would increase the mental powers of those who used it. She could store spells inside it as if she had placed them in a spellbook, and study them from it just as readily. This precious little piece would be the item she needed to test her newly completed studies. A smile couldn't help but cross her weary face, it was almost the mirror image of a child experimenting with a new toy.

Gently cupping the prize in both hands she eagerly clasped the gem and touched it to her forehead. The gem willingly began fusing with her mind and appeared as only a slight pyramid like point from above the center of Talindra's brow. Once the binding was complete she closed her eyes, again a smile crossing her small lips, and pressed her mind towards the gem. Suddenly the world around her blurred, and she found herself in an empty space void of everything, no ship, no sound, no cold. The expanse could go on forever, or appear to end just in front of her nose. She wondered if she was standing or floating, but preferred to be on firm ground and then a realization later, she felt like she was standing on firm ground. She glanced downward and saw her smooth slender legs, caressed by flowing fabric of a red dress. Her boots had been traded for soft supple sandals. They were very elegant she appraised and noticed there was no ground visible beneath her, but she felt like she was standing. She gazed in awe at the area around her, knowing she was helpless back in the reality she knew, and could not spend much time here while she was vulnerable. Setting her mind to the task she spoke an incantation to reach out to the magical properties of the gem.

Several filaments of translucent white material as thick as a finger appeared from an area of white representing the ground and reached upward. The fibrous threads sprung together once forming a central node of sorts level with Talindra's shoulders. There was a single string among the twist that was colored, it was a soft blue and she felt it humming with constant energy. Reaching towards the center ravel of cords she touched the blue one and instantly the fibers untwisted and appeared vertical, side by side, spaced evenly apart. Her soft bronze fingers caressed the blue strand that was centered before her, she instantly felt the spells woven into it, giving life to the magical property of the kiira that increased her mental prowess. The care that went into the creation of this spell was exquisite, a perfect blending of the spell and its host, giving the first life to the creation of this wondrous item.

Next she touched a translucent piece of the kiira's nexus, beside the blue. It was empty as she imagined the rest were, just waiting to be worked with magic and flowing with the power of Mystra and the weave. She brought the final words of a spell to memory and saw the piece extend like parchment. Immediately the recalled phrases and words of power glowed with a golden hue and were written upon the strand like it would appear in her spellbook. It would take some time to detail the entirety of the rest of the spells and she would come back for those as soon as possible. For now she would make the first of her changes to the kiira, a simple cosmetic gesture.

She let the strand with the spell go with a simple thought, it quickly twirled back to a smaller piece, exactly like the rest of the filaments aside from a symbol that appeared wrapped around it. Talindra knew it immediately to be her arcane mark, a heart inside a small tiara with a single gem in the middle, and the initials M and D etched in elven upon either side of the heart. She reached for another filament, one that would hold future enchantments for the gem. There were only so many to hold spells and realized the power of the kiira was limited to the amount of cords appearing in front of her. A few days study would tell her the extent of what she could empower the gem with. The spell she intended to use would hardly summon a fraction of the kiira's ability.

With a careful phrase and gesture Talindra cast her spell of prestidigitation. She was most interested in the spells ability to change colors. Reaching out she touched one of the empty white lines and with a quiet word the small cord spread into even thinner pieces. Taking one gently between her fingers she began working the words to a spell of preparation. The spell would use the power of the weave to allow her access to the small thread before her. She finished the final words and felt the thin line open, she spoke softly and gestured with her free hand. Mystical colors swirled and the line began to become an icy, sky blue color. As the thread changed the white world around her began to spring to life with the same color. When finally the white was gone and the blue remained she spoke the words needed to seal the spell within the kiira's thread. It accepted the spell and with a thought of release the line swirled together into its original filament and the rest of the strands whirled together into the hourglass shaped node before her.

Talindra smiled at the small achievement, this color now be the color of the gem itself back in reality. She was just about to separate from the gem when she felt a small tug from the tangled node behind her. Her head turned to the right and she saw as clear as day a memory of her childhood. The world around changed and she felt herself standing in sand and watching waves crash on a lonely shore. The sand was pristine and the water clear as a diamond. A small sun elven child with blond hair played happily on the dunes. She knew it was her, and this was Evermeet. The kiira was showing her that she could store memories, almost like a journal. If she could do that she might also be able to create an image of herself to recount important events she would not want to forget, or even to protect the contents of the kiira.

As Talindra thought the world changed around her and she looked up, suddenly she was in a very real room that she knew was one from the gambling hall back in Hillsfar. There she was walking through the door, being led by Myla. Talindra not only felt her heart racing faster, she heard it pounding inside her head. Both the sun elves entered the room and Talindra swore under her breath. How could she be so stupid. Talindra winced as she watched Myla pin the image of herself against the wall and force open her shirt. Talindra recalled the strength of Myla and cursed silently to herself, though she was sure the kiira heard her. Talindra's heard was racing and she turned away as Myla kissed her image, the memory vanished as the kiira somehow knew she did not want to recall what came next.

The elven wizard was angry, frustrated and scared all at once. She felt her arm trembling and wondered if she was trembling outside the kiira as well. The gem emitted a reassuring ebb, almost what felt like an apology. A soft smile appeared and Talindra shook her head, "No, no I know you did not mean to upset me. I am not angry with you, but myself. You showed me what I needed to see, how I missed signs and become careless. Thank you. I do need to go now, but I will return." She felt warm and touched her hand to her chest, lips and then forehead and let herself fade from the kiira.

The ship came back almost at once, as if she never left. The cold touch of winter and the rush of the sea crowded her senses. There was a knock at the door and she stepped over a crate to answer it, wondering if it was Castion wanting to learn more about "fireballs" or Borgoth who was very interested in a new book he acquired, maybe one of the others...

Work in Progress

2009-10-04T07:05:00.006-04:00

For those werewolves out there and those interested, lastnight was a full moon! Burglars and foodpads beware, its bright out there! No this is not a picture of it, this is acutally called the Blood Moon, or Hunter's moon. The first full moon after the Harvest Moon(full moon nearest the Autumn Equinox).

Does anyone else ever feel like they never complete any of the things you set aside for yourself? I have a million things go through my head daily, many of them involve setting aside a small amount of time, or a greater bit of time, and doing that task. The task could be writing about something, practicing drawing, getting some time in on an Xbox 360 game, painting some miniatures, working on D&D stuff, gaming on the computer, working out! Notice I did not add anything on there that involved housework or chores, because those suck and I usually get them done before the rest, usually...

So I had a few things that I wanted to do over the weekend, despite my being at work for the last half of it, I wanted to throw them up somewhere I can recall them. If I don't, my attention span will be overloaded and I'll forget them, always happens. So here they are:

Write thoughts up on Harry Potter Parody.
Write some Talindra notes/spells (current D&D character)
Work on drawing my hand a couple times.
Start and continue painting my Warhammer Fantasy Wood Elf army.
Paint up my miniatures for Talindra.
Brainstorm some D&D stuff for future campaign.
Post Talindra's character sheet - 3.5 version and Pathfinder version.
Prepare training regiment for Triathlons and begin training for the Spring.

Ok, enough of this for now. I tell you that small list of items is hardly a fraction of the train wreck that is my head. I won't bother you with details on those, presuming the previous writing hasn't bothered you already!

Halo ODST - Mission Accomplished

2009-09-30T05:56:00.003-04:00

Well, on September 28th I defeated Halo 3 ODST. I will not place any spoilers in here so fear not. I will go on to say I felt the game was shorter than the others available in the series. I don't mean that in a bad way, I still enjoyed the game greatly despite the length of play. I managed to find 21 out of 30 audiofiles. I didn't really pick up on looking for them right away. I could have gone back to locate the rest but I really wanted to see the way the story continued and ended.

I will say that there was not much to the game when you were playing the Rookie walking from point A to point B. The city kept you limited to certain areas, and you pretty much encountered patrols of grunts, jackals and brutes. Occasionally you would run into a new alien race, non violent towards you, and Hunters. The hunters could be a real pain. Once I managed to find a ghost any patrol or encounter with the Rookie turned into easy mode.(on Normal Difficulty). I plan to try Legendary next.

The backstory of the rest of the squad was fun to play. It was a different way of looking at the game.

I have not tried Firefight yet, nor the multiplayer side of the game. I'll post a separate post mentioning stuff that includes spoilers.

What the Hufflepuff?!

2009-09-29T23:37:00.003-04:00

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Well if that isn't a kick in the teeth. My friend and I were scheming about Harry Potter spells, houses and the like, when I had the idea to write myself, her and a few others we know into the Harry Potter setting, for fun of course. The News has shows Rowling becoming so obsessive about anyone writing about ole HP she'll sue you faster than you can blink! Oh well, no sense rattling on about that.

So, I am looking at four characters: Myself, Tal, Ace and Rysm. I decided I needed to officially try to sort myself to see where I'd belong. My friend was screaming Gyffindor, I was saying possibly Raveclaw (creativity) and I was gagging at the thought of Hufflepuff, and did not see Slytherin as too far fetched. So it was off to the internet to uncover a few quizzes.

I managed to find two sites that I seemed to respect the questions and results. One was short with 12 questions, the other was rather unweildy at 100+ questions (very thorough). So what did I get? You can make a good educated guess if you recall the beginning of this blog entry; thats right, Hufflepuff.

Now, at first I was disappointed, I kinda wrote Hufflepuff off as the runts, the average joes, the meek and weak of spirit. I mean you have the hard charging houses, Gryffindor - brave, courageous, jocks, we had this house shoved down our throats through every book. It was the base of the story, good versus evil. So basically you weren't anyone unless you were here. Slytherin, well not much to say here. Scheming, dark, cruelly intelligent, pure blooded, family line is everything. Then Ravenclaw, who didn't get much game time either. These are the intellectuals, the brains, the pens the brushes, maybe even diviners of truth and the cosmos. Lastly Hufflepuff, and as I felt from the books, "the pile of everyone else".

Now to be fair, those are just labels. I am sure if there was an actual sorting hat, there would be plenty of wiggle room, its magic after all. Since we live in a reality without a sorting hat, I guess my creativity and the general base of the quizzes will have to do.

Thats all for now, if I manage anything soon I'll post it up.

The Company of Art Blades

2009-09-25T03:26:00.004-04:00

This band of adventurers started out in a very cold Eleint, amongst the Dalelands. Each seeking a path all their own, but together forming a stronger bond of loyalty and friendship. The sun elven wizard of the group, in a very forward thinking human manner, sent a request to the Royal Kingdom of Cormyr, seeking to make the small band official in the eyes of the surrounding human kingdoms. A lesson the gold elf was quickly learning, to survive in human dominated realms, one must either be human, or act human. She sent a formal request to the Royal Regent Alusair, offering services of the very capable band in return for formal recognition of the Company. An official charter was drawn and solidified with the Royal seal.

A charter of this nature, signed by the Forest Kingdom, is not taken lightly. The Dalelands while not Cormyrian in nature, will undoubtedly recognize the trust given the adventurers. Harpers as well will respect the formality of the document and recognize the station it provides. Sembia will not be impressed by the document and will warily regard the company as operatives of Cormyr, and that such a paper has no bearing on Sembian business. Merchants of Sembia may still see a band of capable adventurers and may be unable to resist the possibility of committing some royal subterfuge.

Below is the Charter that is signed by her royal Highness, Regent of Cormyr, Alusair.

The Company of Art Blades

“Expressly empowered by Her Royal Highness Alusair, to grant a charter of the right to bear arms within the territories and protectorates of Cormyr”

Witnessed by Brenden Ylisire, Royal Court Scribe,
Eleint, XX 1374 DR

“The Company of Art Blades is relied on to act in the best interest of the Kingdom of Cormyr. Know ye all, by this good and true document, that the bearers are entitled by the Crown of Cormyr to bear arms within the lands under our writ and hand.”

Such lands of Cormyr, reach from the shores of Suzail and the Dragonmere west to the Storm Horns, including Skull crag and the High Horn; Northerly from Suzail past the Kings Forest, beyond the Storm horns and into the Farsea swamp and Stonelands; Northeasterly from Suzail as far as the Shadow gap and Tilvers Gap, east along the Immerflo, past the Hullock forest and to the Thunderpeaks; Lastly as far easterly from Suzail, along the Dragonmere and the Way of the Manticore – past the Vast Swamp – and into Daerlun. These boundaries comprise the lands of the Forest Kingdom, the Kingdom of Cormyr.

“While in good standing, Members of the Company of Art Blades will receive the rights and benefits of the Royal Kingdom of Cormyr citizenry. The Royal Kingdom of Cormyr, grants members of the Art Blades unhindered access to its lands in the service or protection of the Crown of Cormyr. In matters of security and special circumstantial missions, members of the Company of Art Blades shall not be detained or questioned without due reason.
A member of the Company of Art Blades word is supported by royal mandate. Members of the Company of Art Blade will be expected to cooperate with Purple Dragon patrols, War Wizards if approached and such Patrols will respect the rights granted by this charter.
Members of the Company of Art Blades have great honor and power bestowed upon them by the Royal Kingdom of Cormyr, and to betray such trust will exact a heavy toll.”

Hereupon is written the Company of the Art Blades Formal list of Adventurers, to hereby receive complete benefits bestowed upon them by the Company of the Art Blades and Royal Kingdom of Cormyr. Ergo their appellation will placed upon this billet and be recorded as law:

Talindra Shalandaerl

Dungeons and Dragons, meet Pathfinder - Your New Home

2009-09-18T02:44:00.005-04:00

Pathfinder, is the way into the future of Dungeons and Dragons. Through Paizo.com Pathfinder was born. This newest edition does not say Dungeons and Dragons directly on the cover, but it is Dungeons and Dragons. The newest source book for D&D adds to Wizards 3.5 edition. Players who purchased hordes of books over the last nine years can convert their adventures into Pathfinder rules. The new book updates and fixes some problems with the Third edition gaming mechanics, and also adds new flavor to the game. It does not alienate a loyal player base dedicated to the game Dungeons and Dragons.

I played Fourth Edition and can honestly say that it is a terrible game compared to Third Edition or Pathfinder. I returned three of the newest books I purchased for Foruth Edition, I just could not have fun reading them or playing the destroyed game they called Dungeons and Dragons.

Pathfinder gives Dungeons and Dragons a new lease on life and has allowed so many gamers to continue playing a game they know and love. One day the game will change again, on that day the gaming community of Dungeons and Dragons will make their decision based on Pathfinder or Fourth Edition. Until that day, I chose Pathfinder as my Dungeons and Dragons. True to the game, True to the player!

Halo ODST - 3 days 21.5 hrs and counting!

2009-09-18T01:47:00.003-04:00

HALO ODST will be released this Tuesday, September 22nd, at Midnight. Since the release of Halo 3 back in Fall of 2007, I did get a great sense of anticipation from new game releases. That does not mean there are not any games that have been released since then that I do not like. Since Halo 3 was released, I came to love Bioshock, Mass Effect, and Call of Duty 4 and Gears of War 2, to name a few. Maybe it was a time in my life that I was in a video game rut. I recalled, over the previous last two years, that much of my time was devoted to increasing my physical activity, college work and other types of gaming. Perhaps because of these distractions I wouldn't allow myself to get captured in the wonder of these releases. Maybe there just was not a game that grabbed my attention before hitting the shelf. Well now that has all changed.
Halo Wars failed to catch my eye, I just was not interested in a Real Time Strategy version of Halo. Maybe I was not interested because it was too soon after I felt the Halo genre ended. I should be wise enough to realize, Halo would never go away provided it would generate countless millions in revenue for Bungie. Now Halo ODST is hitting the market and I am the most excited about a game than I have felt since Halo 3.
I think a few things are catching my eye about ODST, besides it being a Halo FPS, that sold it to me. Firstly, I get that Master Chief is pretty much super human. He makes his way through the entire Halo series and helps save Earth, humans and Covenant alike. What really lends to my personality is that ODST is the story of actual humans. These humans are of course the elite, hardened, tough as nails men AND women of the human forces. I think it is great that the regular forces fighting alongside the Chief are included.
Second, the ODST helmet was my helmet of choice in multiplayer and I loved the idea of ODST since Halo introduced them! Now it appears my love of ODST is rewarded and we are going to get to see the battle from the point of view of these Shock Troopers!
Third, the game will include cut scenes to other ODST troopers. As you play, you will encounter scenes of destruction or carnage or story where you will go back to that time and play through the other ODST troopers as they fulfill their mission.

I am going to be at my Gamestop at 10pm, Sept 22nd, in the Winchester VA Appleblossom mall for the game release! I also am excited about Modern Warfare 2 coming out just after Halo ODST, Dragon Age - by Bioware makers of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2!!!!, Bioshock 2 due out early 2010 and Mass Effect 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In 2010. These next 6+ months are going to be fantastic! See you on Xbox Live!

Absent too long

2009-08-27T09:44:00.002-04:00

It appears that the Wolf's Rest has been vacant for the last few months. I don't believe there is any room for excuses on my part. I could pretend I was too busy to even think about publishing anything, but then again I remember plenty of moments in the last few months I sat on my butt doing nothing for any range of a few minutes to half an hour. So I will recap major events that I will post on in the near future.

I recently played my cousin in a Warhammer 40k game. His 1500 pts of Imperial Guard against my 1500 pts of Sisters of Battle. There were some special conditions that made the game very fun, mainly a blizzard traveling across the board at 12 inches a turn. I'll throw the details into the post.

I participated in my first triathlon. I intentionally did not say my "first and last" because I am still very pumped to participate in another one. My brother did very well and humbled me with his swimming ability and resistance to the hardships I faced during the event!

A new Dungeons and Dragons campaign has kicked off recently! My friend Rysm (codename) is running it. We decided after much consideration we do not approve of Wizards of the Coast or what they did to Dungeons and Dragons by publishing 4th Edition. Yes we actually tested the system out with a few games before passing final judgement. More about that in a separate post.
So Rysm is leading us in a 3.5 edition Forgotten Realms campaign setting starting in Mistledale. I can hardly wait until each new session. Out of all of the dungeons and dragons games I participated in during my lifetime, and all the DMs I was lucky enough to play under, Rysm brings the best to the table. He'll probably read this and first be shocked that I posted (finally) and second try to post a comment that plays down the praise for his awesome DMing skills. I will post in more detail about the new campaign soon!

Some fool decided he wanted to speed through my parents neighborhood at 60mph, lose control and plow through their frontyard. My dad was talking with my brother as the incident happened. He was standing on the front porch when the suburban came within 5 feet of hitting him. It decimated his motorcycle, smashed into the left front side of my brothers pick-up truck and pushed it several feet. It was some punk and his girlfriend acting like total losers that you have the ill fortune of coming across in life. Everyone was ok.

I totally blew my Axis and Allies game for the tournament hosted on the forum I frequent.

Our visit to Ocean City was a great time. I can't believe how much I missed that place. I couldn't think of anything else after leaving but to head back.

There are other things happening but I will post more of that later. Time to get this bad boy up!

Naruto Character Quiz results!

2009-07-02T19:37:00.002-04:00

Which NARUTO character are you!? Your Result: Congrats you are "Sakura"!   Smart and studious, you are the brightest member of your class. You are constantly distracted by a fellow classmate of yours, but can ninja training compete with the power of love?
Congrats you are "Hinata"!
Congrats you are "Ino"!
Congrats you are "Naruto"!
Congrats you are "Kiba"!
Congrats you are "Kakashi"!
Congrats you are "Sasuke"!
Congrats you are "Shikamaru"!
Which NARUTO character are you!? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

There it is, it was rough deciding which answers fit my persona. To someone that watches Naruto you can easily figure out how to answer to pick the character you want to end up scoring. My friend said to detach myself, so there it is. My answers were based on how I would respond and act if I was in their world and that of course means I would be dazed and dumbfounded around Hinata! haha! Fun stuff brought to you by Rysm's tower.

Warhammer Fantasy Campaign Battle 4 - The Panty Raid(Camp Assault)

2009-05-28T09:34:00.018-04:00

The Great Panty Raid was named for the fourth battle of this Warhammer Fantasy Campaign. Between my Wood Elves and Lord Rincewind's Bretonnians. The theme of this battle was to out manuever the opposing army (most likely at dawn or dusk) and attempt to gain the advantage by ravaging the enemies camp. Since I am partial to female characters and elves, and Lord Rincewind had a damsel (and hopefully a couple others at camp haha) we decided to jokingly name this the Panty Raid! Successfully winning the battle would yield lacy plunder to the opposing force! Here follows is my account of the battle.

Above is my armies deployment. Pay no mind to the pegasus knights with my Warhawk rider, she is rather stubborn and thinks she can make mounts of them, she always manages to kill a knight with shooting more than 50% of the time so I don't argue. From Bottom picture to top We have (left to right)

(Sorry about the retardedness of going from bottom to top, the blogger moved them all around and this the third time i've changed the writing to try and fit the pictures!!)

My highborn (lord) Alter kindred with Bow of Loren, Arcane bodkins (no armor save) pageant of shrikes, and briarsheath.
3 warhawk riders
10 GG
Waywatchers deployed in the open more than 12 in away from his army (was gambling here)
GG in the forest
Noble with GW, Helm of the Hunt (HoTH), and Hail of Doom Arrow (HoDA) Alter kindred
8 wardancers
Treeman
Dryads
6 Wildriders coming out of camp still carrying win
and farrrr to the right the 5 glade riders.

I wanted to free up some points in this game for another GG unit so I dropped a character. My branchwraith did not come, so I was very light on magic. I knew, and hoped, my friend would be light on the magic. He never uses much of it and I was banking on him taking one damsel to my one level 2 spellsinger (yes I took a level 2 while most would argue take a level 1 instead to save pts)

I rolled treesinging first and i was unahppy because I would have to accept call of the hunt if I rolled it next. I rolled Ariel's Blessing instead, manageable to cast on 3 dice. I took one scroll - didnt need it he never cast anything - and a deepwood sphere. I kept the SS in a wood with the GG knowing he would charge and they would flee out, if he got in the wood he would suffer S5 hits on any model in the wood with my SS, even partially, in my magic phase - plus I could cast treesinging to damage him.

Above is his deployment, Bottom picture to Top one (left to right):
10 Peasant Bowmen (PB)
5 Knights Errant (KE)
10 Skirmishing bowmen
10 more PB
5 Peasant Yeomen infront of the bowmen
9 knights errant (I think)
8 Knights errant with Paladin BSB in it (starting the left of the right picture now)
4 horrid, wretched, dirty pegasus knights (PK)
Lord on a pegasus behind them, just getting his lazy butt up out of the mud.
Trebuchet behind the PK
5 Grail Knights (GK) with damsel level 1 - Lord of Life spell that heals wounds to models.
and of course, the required KoTR unit, who says it needs to be big? Just needs to be, and it is that at 5 models.

Now starts the battle.

Bottom picture is my first movement of my left flank. Glade riders didnt make it out of LoS of the PB and take 3 casaulties on his turn and actually flee back behind the WR. His other shooting is negligible. On my right flank (bottom pic) I fire away with 20 GG, HoDA that only rolls 5 shots, Waywatchers that moved just within 15 inches of his PK to shoot for Killing Blow (KB) 3 warhawk riders fire, and my Highborn fires at his GK killing 1 (lucky 2 Ward Saves). After all the firing he had 1 PK left and I was happy with that because that unit bugs the heck out of me.

On his turn he charges out at my Waywatchers (WW) with his Lord, Pegsus Knight, and Grail Knights - my Waywatchers flee, and I hoped they would roll just over a 6 to get out of flyer range, they rolled an 11 and ran all the way behind the Wardancers. His flyers had to move full distance and are out of position, his GK stop at 8 inches. This is shown in the picture below

He moved his KoTR to cover chargers of the GK or PK I think, moved his KE on the left to charged my GG and turned his other KE w/BSB to cover his peasants incase i charged them, foolishly, with my Wildriders or dryads. Next round I dont have pics for but I charge his lord with myWD - they fight and lose in challenge but hold. Then lose when charged by his GK, flee and are caught, his PK goes down to firing and a few more GK are picked off by my lord off picture, my Warhawks fly out of LoS of his 5 KoTR and line up the Trebuchet for a charge. WW fail to rally and flee 10 inches, almost just off the table edge.

Hext his KE charged my GG, they flee and his unit stops just infront of the woods, darn! His BSB KE unit charges my treeman, who is sitting just to the left of this picture in regards to the KE unit and Peasant Yoeman base showing.

I take a play from his handbook and challenge the paladin so the rest of the unit can't hit. We do no wounds to each other! I lose combat, need an 8 stubborn and roll a 9, get run down. There goes the treeman, to his defense he has never broke from the many combats he has fought, so it was inevitable and set his BSB unit up perfectly to receive my WR flank charge and Noble rear charge.

bottom picture is my warhawks murdering the dreaded Trebuchet, in the right hands of someone who guesses guess range weapons like the devil, this is deadly. I am just glad I dont have a horde army and when it does scatter it misses! It didn't manage much this game, and I didnt give it chance. The "Pegsus herder" killed 2 crew, no wounds back, and outnumber sent them packing, I hoped to roll high enough to get off the board and away from his KoTR and I did, see you next WE turn!

In the top picture is my left flank, his right. My dryads charged his PW and wiff, killing one, he fears me but has more models and hits on 6's instead of running. Go figure he manges to kill 1 and outnumbers me. I roll over the 7 I need and my dryads run!! OMG tree forces are having a rough day. They dont get run down but hit my glade riders that turned to face that direction on my turn. They fight next time around and the riders kill two and the horses one, no PB hits so they flee and are caught by my riders, who get to set up for flank charge on the next PB unit!

bottom pic is my battle with the BSB and KE still picking out treeman splinters. The charge yields me about 5 WR wounds and 1 horse, and 4 from the Noble. In all they kill about 5 or 6, not getting hit back. With a banner/warbanner/fank charge, rear, and negating ranks he needs a 2 to stay, with the reroll he fails and they run. Both pursue and the WR hit the side of the KE unit outside the woods, Noble gets 1 inch behind the fleeing unit.

In the top one is just a picture of the dryads running and the GR getting their hands dirty handling some peasant rabble.

This bottom pic shows the WR smashing into the KE flank, they manage to do well in combat again, even the horses, and the unit flees, don't catch them, but charge the next turn and they almost make it out of my units 18 inch charge range - so are destroyed. The lord charges my WW that rally at the table edge, I lose 3 in the fight, fail break test and they run off, Lord holds. GK can just see the last GG on the left and charges only to die in stand and shoot.

The Grail Knight unit was picked off by more lord shots, and the damsel got 1 wound from my pageant of shrikes, this last turn i shot them again and they wounded her, and she rolled her 6 ward save!!! The NERVE! So I took the Glade guard and pummeled them with arrows, doing enough to randomize a wound to her and finish her pretty little self off, and take a GK leaving that lone model left.

Bottom shows the dryads rallying and taking more heat from the PB on the left shooting. Good thing they get -1 for moving and -1 for shooting skirmishers. The Glade riders avenge their fallen friends and charge more peasants, doing some nice spear hits and chase them off, catching the unit.

Top picture just shows his Paladin and unit turning around, they suffer the effects of the Deepwood sphere but live, and even treesinging doesnt do much. My GG move to see them and shoot, only killing maybe 1. But.... The far unit of GG, I wanted to shoot at his lord before committing my Lords arrows. They fire and doe a nice amount of hits, he rolls his armor save and fails 3 out of 5 or 6 of them. No biggie, he has 3 wounds and a 4 up ward save (due to items) and fails ALL three rolls - again. Easy come easy go said the treeman.

The GG finishing him off allowed my lord to pepper his 5 KoTR and kill 2 and u can see where my WR caught his KE in the back of the pic.

After this there was some more maneuvering around his KoTR with my Warhawks and my GR headed back towards camp, WR went to mop up those KoTR and noble headed left to help with the knights stuck in the woods and the PB. My friend had to concede at this point because of family obligations so we ended there. I took some prized banners, damsel "clothing articles", the camp and the day

Highborn: "Will you wear this?"
Princess Ilyara: "In your dreams, buddy."

The End

Some musings

2009-05-18T10:33:00.003-04:00

Just some random stuff I threw down on paper while attending meetings, maybe it will get me in the mindset for my creative writing class that starts soon.

So great is the space
Dividing my world from hers
My heart knows nothing

From pen and paper
A life is born that turns me
Is there something wrong?

Stalemate at Blackadder

2009-05-17T11:11:00.006-04:00

Here was fought the battle of Blackadder. Many a peasant was slain this day, much attributed to the elves, but the Prince would say otherwise! He slayed hundreds of them! Anyway, my Blackadder TV show reference is somewhat off, Rysm might glean a peek into that episode and how it compares to this battle. To the right are the Brets, seemingly more numerous than the poor elves! But I did have two units in the buildings, one scout unit in the closest, and a waywatcher unit in the building on the right. They impacted the battle very little. My bowmen are hiding at the bottom left of the screen in the forest, with a spellsinger even deeper in there. For future reference that grey building is 24 inches from the hill with the trebuchet, not that anyone is counting. (inside joke)

This battle was magic heavy, and when I say that I mean we took our Lords as casters, with one additional caster required. Since my magic is anything but, offensive. I took a level 3, threw glamourweave on him and a mount - waste. The one good thing about this lord is that he took the wand of the Wych Elm - allows me to reroll dispel attempts. My level one spellsinger carried two dispel scrolls. I also took a Branchwraith with the level 1 wizard upgrade and cluster of radiants to add an additional dispel die. My dispel dice were up to 7! Good for neutering the Bretonnian magic, maybe not a Dark elf or Chaos magic phase, but a start.

Both the picture above and below are facing each other on the battle field. This is the side my wood elves eventually conquered, but were conquered when it came to the other side. It was a turn or two of staring at each other and the treeman moving himself up in the trees along with my noble. Bowfire was exchanged between the Glade riders and the peasants with each side losing some. Peasant Yeomen found there ways into the middle to bait, and my noble almost bit, and she probably should have because her +3 ward save didnt save the charge she gladly accepted. Don't use leadership dice for armor saves, they will do you wrong. The knights errant smashed into her and then ran into the treeman, who gladly held opened his gnarley arms to his old friends, and then the wardancers pranced into their flank. Dryads moved up to find the skirmishing villien Bill and got within an inch. The next turn they charged the bowmen who fled through another set of knights errant. This led the fear causing dryads into the knights errant, who turned tail and charged (fearlessly) off the table - past the running bowmen. Eventually Bill got his dream and fought the branchwraith mono y tree spirit. To his credit Bill would have hit the wraith, had he got his turn to strike.

Below the Men at Arms move to surround the house in the picture. They heard there were elven women and drink inside. They charged to the building and met with the 7 waywatchers, who themselves were drunk by the shooting rounds that followed, and fought them hardily for the right to the brothel and drink! The battle was fought in initiative order, to the benefit of the armorless extra hand weapon wielding waywatchers. Striking first the waywatchers take down about five men at arms, allowing five to strike back causing no wounds. The peasants take a step back and think about digging under with spoons, before being barreled over by a different kind of forest "spirits".

The battle ended in a draw. With the Bretonnians surrounding their precious trebuchet in the fifth turn and coursing out from it, catiously, to claim another table side. The Elves were routed and had no presence there, and were too far away to bring themselves to bear against the Brets from their now human deprived side of Blackadder. A single scout lived (still not worth the points against a mostly armored foe like brets) The waywatchers also survived the day but should be strung up by their big toes for lousy shooting from such a promising position. Coming soon, the elves regroup to try and gain momentum to push further into Mousillon.

More Hinata Tribute

2009-05-17T09:53:00.002-04:00

Blushing and red cheeks
your fingers tap with head down
Lady of the clan

Back to homework!

Gamesday 2009

2009-05-17T09:05:00.006-04:00

So, this post is somewhat, belated? Gamesday was a week ago, and I am just now getting around to posting about it. Apologies, but I can get pretty busy... (or lazy) This Gamesday was held at Baltimore, and Ace of Cakes make an armored squig including swallowed squig herder! At first glance I thought this was just a statue, but I recalled overhearing Ace of Cakes was in the building and someone mentioned this beastly thing was actually a cake. Don't get caught licking the icing on this one.

The event included many Club gaming tables and several GW ran events. People could partake in an Apocalypse battle between the Imperium Tanks and Orc Super Heavies. Or they could take control of one of the many forces defending or assailing Minas Tirith pictured above. It was a very big table with a huge model of the famous Lord of the Ring city to add to the flavor. I was not sure who was exactly winning, but I saw many dead riders of Rohan!

The Golden Demon is truely a highlight for many of the avid adventurers of Gamesday. I always consider entering into the competition with my meager skills, until I see things like this one. Above is a regiment submission, I believe, of Bretonnian Knights. My camera skills only take away from this incredible artwork. You had to be there in person and look with your own eyes directly at these tremendous models. I am sure some people would not be as awed as I, but this was a high light for me. Below is a conversation using Bretonnian bitz and Saint Celestine from my sisters 40k army. I could pick it out easily and it held a place in my memories of GD 2009. Awesome modelling.

Here is another picture of the Squig Herder cake. It is crazy what they can do with some cooked cake batter and some glue. Save me a leg!

My camera died at some point during the wandering of the arena. My cousins, Greg and David, and I participated in the conversion contest. You were given sprues of Chaos Warriors and Space Marines and told to make the best, craziest, whatever your mind could think of and you could glue to a base, model to enter into the competition. I have no idea who won, or what the winning model was comprised of that allowed it to win. After looking at some of the crazy stuff I saw, it must be phoenominal.

We traveled to the scenary make and take and I met my old friend from the bunker Joe Neet. We exchanged some friendly banter and he supplied my cousins and I with some cities of death sprues and we went to town making some buildings. I eagerly made a two storey building to act as a church for the next Warhammer Fantasy battle between myself and a friend. It turned out very well.

My friend Dave and his gaming club was present and totally were hosed out of winning the banner contest. GW usually held the contests until close to the end of the day when most everyone was finished gaming . This year the banner and costume contest were overshadowed by events still ongoing. The time was moved up drastically and many people did not participate in judging the banners or the costumes. Several people with costumes did not even make the contest, which was a shame because they had some very good ones. I will not even touch on, what was suppose to be a seminar, that I attended. Nothing good can come from me talking about, but I will say that I was severely disappointed - and not because I had some super question I wanted answered that would never be, but because nothing came out of that seminar, nothing.

Will I go to Gamesday 2010? Who knows, probably, for $25 I got to enjoy a day out in Baltimore, make some scenary, make a chaos dude, check out some armies, meet up with old friends, maybe make a costume next year, who knows? Bring some friends, split parking costs, smuggle in some snack bars to munch on to cut down on food $$$, and have a good time!

Warhammer and 40k worlds collide!

2009-05-17T08:01:00.003-04:00

There are two battles left in my campaign with Loreseeker, from Rysm Tower, before it comes to a close. I am charged with conjuring up the next juicy tidbit to battle over, so let us hope creativity wins out and we get an interesting theme. My friend also finally reach warpe traversing technology and is delving into the vast universe of Warhammer 40k. A new Space Marine chapter is born in his 901st Grenadiers. I foresee a huge clash coming in the future between his Marines, my Sisters of Battle led by Canoness Pandora, my brothers Dark Elder (who harbor a sort of blood rivalry with my sisters) my younger brothers Eldar (if they are still together), my cousins Imperial Guard armed with their new codex, and my cousin David and his Black Templars. Other smaller regiments of Tau, Space marines, Daemonhunters or Chaos may make their presence known.

My goal for the next few months is to attempt to gather enough forces to me to construct a semi-decent board to play with. Possibly add more terrain to be used in Cityfights or used in general games. The sky is the limit with my ideas, but my skills of organization and motivation are the lead weights that keep me groundside.

Daily Naruto Haiku

2009-05-11T09:05:00.003-04:00

For my Naruto Girlfriend, Hinata!

Hinata, my cutie
She speaks so softly for me
Drawing my feelings

Maybe I will try a new one each day, or some kind of poetry. Maybe some Warhammer or 40k stuff.

Thundering hooves come,
Men face the invisible
The crows come to feast

Taking a request for SaKuRaLoVeR999999999 here

Sakura, we wait
When you smile, it gives breath pause
Your pink hair delights

The Inwood Rangers

2009-05-03T12:12:00.002-04:00

You can imagine what the blacked out area is, and it totally makes this picture worthy of being the Inwood Rangers callsign! I am going to get some transfer sheets and iron this bad boy on some Inwood Ranger T-shirts!

New Imperial Guard Codex

2009-05-03T10:50:00.005-04:00

Well, another long awaited Codex has made it's way from the maw of the beast (GW) and onto the plates of avid Warhammer 40k players. Typcially there are always nay-sayers, and supporters. The codex reveals new rules for the Imperial Guard army. The army was plagued before by old rules that made the Guard inadequate for many of the scenarios available in a 40k battle. The hope of this codex is that it would bring the IG in line with the rest of the 40k world and provide them with some much needed ammunition to help combat the evil enemies of the Emperor.

The new codex as graced the IG with the good, and the bad. The first and foremost new piece of shiney gear they are given is the Hydra flak gun variant. This new tank basically will negate the ability of skimmers to only be glanced by hits if they travel over so many inches (6 I think). Skimmers are the bane of my existance, and it is always hard to combat them with heavy weapons when they are given such a rule to avoid being shot down.

Next, new versions of hell hounds are given different variants that range from the regular heavy flamer template to a poisonous chemical one that is AP3. A power armor players nightmare, of course the template probably ignores cover saves as well.

Some bad things that the Imperial Guard lost. The ability of their commanders to share their leadership with surrounding squads was lost. The ability to use the vox casters to use the commanders leadership is gone. If tanks or vehicles are taken in a squadron and suffer immobilized, they are considered destroyed. Tanks cost are slightly higher. Heavy weapon teams now act as a 2 wound model with a larger base. This means they are destroyed by one strength 6 shot, and one whole model must be removed before allocating wounds to other models in the unit. Before you could remove the lasgun wielding loaders first, now that is changed.

More to follow after I read some of the book myself!

The Sisters of the Burning Blade

2009-04-30T04:54:00.005-04:00

A look into the force that is going to be arrayed in my new 5th edition 2000pt Sister of Battle list.

Canoness - Blsd Wpn, Clk StAsp, Inferno Pis, BoSL
Retinue, VSS - Combi-flamer, 4 x Celestians w/ Melta, Hvy Flamer, and mounted in Immolater EA/Smoke/Twin linked Hvy Flamers
SoB Sqd 1 - 10 Sisters, Flamer, Hvy Flamer, VSS - BoSL - mounted in Rhino - Smoke/EA
SoB Sqd 2 - 10 Sisters, Flamer, Hvy Flamer, VSS - BoSL- mounted in Rhino - Smoke/EA
SoB Sqd 3 - 10 Sisters, Flamer, Hvy Flamer, VSS - BoSL - mounted in Rhino - Smoke/EA
SoB Sqd 4 - 10 Sisters, Melta Gun x 2, VSS - BoSL- mounted in Rhino - Smoke/EA
Inquisitorial Storm Troopers - 5 men, plasma rifle x 2 - mounted in Chimera
Exorcist 1 - EA
Exorcist 2 - EA
Seraphim - 9 Sera jumpacks , Flamer x 2, VSS - BoSL - (Can deep strike now, yummy)
Celestians - 6 sisters, melta x 2 - mounted in Immolater - EA/Smoke/Twin linked Hvy Flamers

Here is where I need to start considering options - maybe swap out for the Celestians

Retributors - 6 sisters, 4 HB (very fond of this unit)
Celestians - 6 sisters, melta x 2 - mounted in Immolater - EA/Smoke/Twin linked Hvy Flamers (for the extra annoyance of fielding another tank and being able to pop heavies w/ meltas)
Armor Fist Squads x 2 and Leman Russ Tank x 1 (I love taking the Russ, hopefully we might be mentioned in the IG codex as allies, but I do not see WH being able to use IG special rules, it would be too sweet)

Warhammer Wood Elf Additions

2009-04-30T02:52:00.003-04:00

Looks like there will be some additions to my Wood Elf army coming next week in celebration of my seventh anniversary. Hopefully I can manage to get 3 more warhawk riders (really dislike the models on the backs, might try to model some Glade Guard on there instead), some dryads, and I will be attempting to model a caster on a horse from some dark elf models, giving my casters a more sinister look to them! I'm not sure how well the mounted spellweaver will work out, maybe it is better to just leave them on foot?

I really dislike how Games Workshop decided to move away from selling Bitz to this awkward set of bitz ordering from the site. It is horrible. Before you could order any piece of any army, make your model with not much hassle and COST to you. Now you need to pay up to buy the entire box set if you want to use some pieces out of them. I modeled a Sister of Battle unit, Saint Celestine with Pegasus wings way back in the day. Now, I would have to buy the entire pegasus knight and just butcher it for the wings! What sense does this make? I can see that Games Workshop might want to save money, or probably they want to increase their revenue more.

GW should not be hurting for business, even with this Recession and talk about it everywhere, they plan to open over 400+ stores in the next few years. I know for a fact they closed down to unsuccessful ones around the Northern VA, MD area. They do put out quite a few new books, design new models, and run a very good gaming system that many people enjoy. I guess if the prices were too demanding, then people would stop buying them. That has not happened yet so I guess the price is still right. I will never be happy with losing the ability to order bitz!

While I'm grumbling, give me an updated Witchhunter Codex and Daemonhunters! And new models! And since you want to not allow us access to precious bitz, make a wood elf mounted caster model!!!

Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, 2

2009-04-28T05:01:00.003-04:00

I need to hand it to the guy at Gamestop, I went in just browsing and a picture or reference to Bioshock 2, and before I knew it I reserved Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2 and even Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2! The originals of these games were very interesting games, probably some of the better ones I came across lately.

Bioshock was a very creepy different take on first person shooters. It set you inside the world created by a man who wanted men to be free of governments and morality. This freedom soon led to disaster when people became out of control and inevitably sought power over one another. The graphics were very good and how sounds or voices would creep to your ears or echo from all around you kept me jumping. I heard that in the second game you will take the place of a big daddy still in Rapture. Rapture is the city and the big daddies were the guardians of the little sisters who held the coveted "Adam" used to increase ones physical or mental self. You fight these big daddies in the first game, now supposedly you get to be one.

Mass Effect, this game was exceptional. I felt I was immersed in an endless universe, with possibilities to go anywhere and do almost anything. You become a special operative and are tasked with seeking out a rogue agent. This really is the story in its simplest form. Through the game you gather allies to yourself, and choose the squad you wish to command. One of the greatest features is the ability to decide the fate of yourself and others throughout the game. You are given the choice to pick the path of good, evil or even neutrality. The game mixes the ability to create a unique character, with several different careers, each with its own abilities. There is not just a game Mass Effect, there are two novels out. The first one is the prequel to the game. You follow the story of a human as he tries to become the universes first SPECTRE (Special Tactics and Reconnaissance agent. The second book takes place in the universe after the affects of the game plays out. It was a very good game, that I actually played through over four times, to attempt to complete all the achievements. I hope that the sequel is even better.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2
I knew COD4 was a hit, but I could not believe they were actually making a sequel to the first one! This immediately made me recall when Final Fantasy X-2 was made, and many avid FF fans were like, huh? Also, Call of Duty: World at War was recently released a few months ago, not even fresh off the shelves Call of Duty 4: 2 is in development? I started playing COD4 again, I truely liked the game and can handle my own much better in it than in Gears of War 2 where I get obliterated. I can apprecaite COD4 because it takes place during the Modern Day. I was in the military and like the skins of the different forces and the story in general. I regretfully played the game through on the hardest level, and the suggestion of my younger brother, and the game was much more difficult to beat. The story mode had a tendency to not save correctly at checkpoints and I found myself dying endlessly at the same spot for days on end. Aside from that the game is a great play and I look forward to seeing if COD4 - 2 follows the path of Final Fantasy X-2 or breaks the mold!

Cyber Nations - Browser Based Game

2009-04-28T01:17:00.004-04:00

Let me tell you about a game I got into over three years ago. This game is played online, without graphics and unlike regular PC games. It is a browser based game called Cyber Nations. In this fictional world players can make a type of "sim city" like nation. You pick a name for your nation, name your ruler, and place yourself somewhere on a real world map. As you increase your land the area of influence spreads. This really does not affect much, since so many people are playing it everyone would overlap and be lobbing bombs because you claim that their territory is your backyard.

The game allows you to edit your nation, make it your own by answering some questions, dealing with events and allowing you to choose to fight in wars or be purely peaceful. Like many of these games, the powerful can control much. There are vast alliances of countries throughout this fictional world that vie for most important of all, more members. The instant you create a nation you will be sought after by any number of alliances. They will offer you money, technology, treasure, riches, the right to smash enemies or be part of a nice friendly group of online gamers.

Many of these alliances have charters, codes, and stuff much like political entities. They try to govern based on the particular system of government the alliance chooses. Some are democratic, others dictatorship like or ruled by councils. Like everything people do, you will have those people who put much of their life and time into a game like this. They are the ones that shape the game politics and mold the alliances. Others who can put a moderate amount of time will be active on their alliance forums or military. Then the bulk of alliances, the members that just get on to check their taxes, manage their nation and are part of an alliance so they are not beaten up for being alliance-less. These members make up much of the rank and file of the alliances day to day numbers.

As each day passes you are allowed to collect taxes from your people. As you collect taxes you must first pay your bills like any good country out there would. You manage taxes, build infrastructure - the main way to increase your population, and purchase technology - used to purchase better weapons, military units and improvements. Lastly you must eventually purchase land for your people. They do not like overcrowding and will be very upset if they are forced to live in stacks upon stacks of cubbie-hole homes. As you make your people happy, they will be willing to make more and then you can make more revenue off your tax collections.

The game allows for you to grow substantially and make your nation unique with improvements at first, and then national wonders later in the game. My last nation I built over the course of two years and finally they updated the game with more national wonders and naval units. I then blundered and accidentally deleted my nation by not collecting taxes often enough. I was waiting so my collection would be large and I could save money using improvement swapping techniques. I left my nation inactive for over 20 days and it passed from existance. I was depressed about this for a few weeks, but tried to remember it was just a game.

After some time passed I decided to come back to the game and work at it over again. So I registered a new account and began playing Cyber Nations all over. Without a doubt I will be able to grow my nation much better than last time, and I even spent a week deleting and remaking my nation until I got natural resources that I wanted.

Here is a link to the game: http://www.cybernations.net/

My fledgling nation: http://www.cybernations.net/nation_drill_display.asp?Nation_ID=303220

Here is a link to IRON, my current alliance: http://www.iron-command.com/

There are many more details in this game than I can begin to talk about in a single posting. New nations will be solicited for selling technology to larger nations. These big nations must pay extrememly high prices for technology, because it rises as you gain more. Small nations pay trivial amounts and can get large amounts of money from big nations for such trades. Tech for money. There is much about the war system to talk about, guide written by many players throughout many alliances. There is also a tournament version that is reset every so often if you wish to play the game more aggressively. Cyber Nations is a fun game and if you read this, are interested, or need some help getting started, feel free to contact me and we can work on getting your nation started

RunaMuck Mud Run 2009

2009-04-27T23:37:00.010-04:00

RUNAMUCK MUD RUN 2009!!!!

Viper Squadron Delta - Four man Team

(Left to Right Uncle David, My Dad - Ralph, Me, Brother Ben)

So this year, in an effort to get in better shape, my wife suggested we try to get our family out and run one of the many "Mud Run" events held around the Northern Virginia and Maryland area. This event took place in Rockville Maryland. There were six different events, individual, team, and couples runs and three more that involved costumes. The first race started at 9am and last started at 2pm. Our race was at 10am and my uncle had to come directly from work, but made it will 30 minutes to spare!

First some background that led up to this event. I started mentioning this back in February to my family, with a bunch of definites. I ended up needing to find enough people to fill out three four man teams. By the time the Mud Run came to less than two weeks, I barely could fill out one four man team! So many drops, some too young, some busy, maybe I needed to pressure people more, haha. That is the family way, I think with this year's race being a success, it will garner more support for next year.

The race course weaved around a small lake, actually a better way to put that is that the race course weaved through the lake. There were several hills on the left side of the lake, my dad was a steam engine and muscled his way through each one. My uncle and brother took an early lead to scout ahead and waited for us at the Jungle pit. I would like to add that they looked VERY clean for having already ran through the longest mud spot labled the "Mudstrip". I helped to remedy that particular detail. Here is a link to the festival site if this is hard to see - http://www.runamuckfestival.com/Race_Info.html

At the Jungle Pit, runners were forced to crawl, to a point, through the mud because of some ropes slung across the mud pit. My uncle and brother were waiting, rather clean. I charged down the hill and shouted my brother would have to get muddy now, he replied he knew. He turned to get into the pit and I gave him a friendly shove that sent him spraying through the water doing the backstroke. My uncle Dave waited for my father and then started to cross. After splashing and dealing out some Tom Foolery, Ben and I waited just at the end of the pit for my uncle, intent on bringing him down. My uncle reached the one dry island before the last water hole and saw us there, thinking we were waiting for him. He recalled to me what went through his head when we started at him. Uncle Dave: "I saw you to there and thought you were waiting for your father and I to get across, I shoulda known better than that. When I saw you to coming at me out of the water like two cops I knew you dirty #@$#%@ were out to get me." My uncle is a fairly sturdy guy and I probably would not bring him down myself, but Ben knew what had to be done and after we finished he was muddy up to his chest.

Me and my Dad. My wife Dawna, Rebekah and my mom thought they saw us coming towards them but they saw three red shirts and one brown one. Eventually we got close enough and they realized who we were. Below is my uncle and my brother heading up the front of the formation. Also, notice I lost my number "11" bib!! The last mud pit my brother exacted revenge upon me for sailing him through the last mud pit. As I entered the pit he moved to engage me in hand to hand combat. We fought and I yielded, several other racers started joining in the festivities and started turning on their fellow team mates. My brother tried to break away and I grabbed his foot and threw it up, and then it was a footrace through the pit. I could see his feet splashing through the water and knew i just needed to get a little closer to leap and grab them. I closed just enough space and leapt and with my right hand clenched his right ankle. It was an awesome dive that got many cheers and even more when my brother managed to squirm out of my grasp. It was an awesome attempt!

Here we go, running off to the finish! Thanks for the cheers ladies!

Viper Squadron Delta after the finish! Ben promotes the Sobe flavored water!
Then finally we have some pictures of us eating and relaxing after the run. Pictures we did not get that I wish we had was one of us getting hosed off by this huge tanker truck with freezing cold water!!

So it was a great day! I definitely was tired after getting back to my parents house to hang for awhile. Here are a list of things I would like to remember for next year:

Bring a disposable waterproof camera to use during the run.

Duct tape shoes to keep them from coming off in the mud.

Begin making team shirts at least two weeks before the run and use dark colored transfer sheets if your shirt is any color other than white!

The check in went fast and was very orderly, did not need ID if you looked over 16.

Make sure to staple down the bib incase it is lost again! haha

This is the end for now, will post more about running in future posts or next year for the Runamuck Mud Run 2010!

Murmurs Across the Warp

2009-04-21T04:48:00.003-04:00

The words of the message vanished from the screen. It was sent coursing through the lifelines of the frigate, the Helena. The commands would relay the message to an astropath, deep within the ships sanctum, for delivery across the warp with secure protocols. The warp was a term that hardly even scratched the surface of the world beyond their reality. Beyond worlds, beyond space, beyond the very recycled air she breathed was the realm of chaos. That realm is home to beings of unimaginable power and cruelty, daemons that feast and prey upon the souls of Pandora's reality. Only by the grace and power of the almighty god Emperor were humans able to create technology and have faith to resist being torn asunder, during deep space travel, by these monsters. Humans are far from perfect, and it is unwise to misjudge the raw power that the warp can weild over the realm of men.
Canoness Pandora leaned back in her aged wooden chair, mulling over the thought of something passing across the warp, securely. The old chair, which was designed for a much larger and more languished imperial officer, did not plead or resist under the steady shifting of the woman's unfamiliar physique. The desk was metal, with wiring and wear that suggested it was wrought from some derelict and placed intently in this office. Somewhere in the Emperor's vast empire, a garbage scowl is missing its helm. To her left was a small alcove that could be used to store uniforms, but the doors were welded shut, rather poorly she thought to herself. The single item to adorn the empty walls was a piece of crud metal polished so finely it could have passed for a lasconnon lense. Clearly several deckhands were ordered to engage in the polishing of this bare metal and slap it up with the intention to mock their newest addition to the ship.
Pandora stood up, careful not to dislodge the flimsy wires that managed to power the archaeic consol. The entire ship shuddered as it traversed the warp, a distant moan of the hull echoed through empty corridors. Her entire station flickered with power loss, the spartan lights lining the ceiling shuddered and blinked sharply. Her tan colored fatigues hung loosely from her slender shape as she manuvered around the bulky metal barrier and stood infront of the makeshift mirror. Unconcerned about the constant precarious situation the ship and its denizens faced as they sped towards their destination. The ship blazed a brilliant signature for all the warp to sense, and right now she new there were fiendish beings pressing and tasting the defenses of the vessal. These defenses were projected by astropaths, reinforced by rituals and augmented by ancient shielding devices. The Emperor protects, she thought to herself.
Pandora pushed the tan headgear up and off, matted tresses of curly fiery red hair lit up the mirror. The woman could not help but admire the efficiency of the reflection, it shone back the color of her vivid locks and perfect cream colored skin The pigmentless color of her eyes shone a harsh and icey blue. She hardened her sharp facial features and glared deeply into the image cast back. The stern look that quelled even the most obnoxious officer and resistant penitent sent a quiver up her spin. Her eyes looked down at the hands that dealt death in the Emperor's name, smooth and elegant came to mind. The fact was the rest of her was just that, hardly the image of a bride of the Emperor, battle tested across alien worlds, scarred and mangled in the glorious service of his name.
The first thing anyone saw was a woman of grooming, a carefully scultped hive princess, perhaps even the matron of some wildly considered "morale" vessel full of ladys to service the Imperiums heroic masses. The many that looked only from afar would keep this perfect fantasy playing in their mind, while the few that reached this maiden of death face to face gave little credence to their previous thoughts. Many snap smartly when first exposed to the intensity of her eyes. Chasing away any thoughts of impurity, or lust before they fear their mind read and they are punished thusly for such heresy.

-More to Come

The Forces of Athel Loren Defend their Waystone

2009-04-21T02:13:00.005-04:00

Celebration at the Waystone! Victory for the Elves and the Forest!

Lord Hannibal's Wood Elves effectively defended their Waystone from the Bretonnian forces. With this second victory the fey forces will negate the -1 tree terrain pieces that Mousillon afforded Lord Rincewind's armies. The Wood Elves now are well inside the boundries of Mousillon and will need a serious effort to uproot them from their position of power.

Campaign Key
D-Draw -10pts
MV- Marginal Victory-15pts
SV-Solid Victory 20pts
M-Massacre 30pts
Current Campaign states are:
Battles fought: 2
Wood Elves: 1 MV, 1 M - 45 pts
Bretonnians: 0 0 pts

-Picture

-Battle Summary- Posted here by Rysm!

http://loreseeker.blogspot.com/2009/04/forces-of-loren-prevail.html

The Loren Waystone - Newest Mousillon Landmark

The successful defense of the newly erected Loren Waystone has ensured the elves of the forest are able to readily call upon the power of the forest. The rolling farmland and pastures that once covered this muddy landscape are now populated with the beginnings of a woodland. Many refugees fled before the coming battle, and those so dedicated to defending their land have either fled at the routing of Lord Rincewind's army, been conscripted to their own militia forces or slain for failing to yeild to the lands newest masters. As the wood elves gaze out upon the rolling fields they wonder what Mousillon has left to offer, and if the swine and cattle left behind is edible by elven standards.

More to follow

Axis and Allies 1942 Edition

2009-04-17T03:33:00.003-04:00

Here is a link to the newest edition of Larry Harris' Classic Axis and Allies to grace the gaming shelves.

http://previewsworld.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=23&s=134&ai=81067&ssd=

The game is a very affordable $35 when compared to earlier predecessors. It is speculated among the avid Axis and Allies gamers that this could be a newer version of AA Revised, updated with information from the latest Axis and Allies 50th Anniversary Edition.

AA 1942 Edition will include 5 world powers, ecluding the playable Italians added in the 50th Anniversary edition. New pieces will be made available while old mainstays like paper money, used to represent Industrial Production Counters, will be excluded.

What else could be new? The map will most definitely change from the previous edition. Technologies could face changes based on the new ones available in the 50th Edition. Many new rules regarding cost of units, stats, and special rules will could mirror the 50th edition with a few upgrades or few entirely new changes.

What will be the same? The quest for Germany to defeat Russia before the United Kingdom and the United States can effectively halt the Germans will probably remain. Among many Axis and Allies game afficionados it is a game ender once the Soviet Union falls. The lose of this capital proves to be, morally or economically, the stopping point of many allies players. While the loss of any Axis capital can be the standard time for an Axis player to concede. Ultimately games are decided on Victory city count at the end of the turn. After the U.S. player ends his turn both sides check for victory, if no side has enough victory cities the game continues. This is rarely the end game if a high number of cities are needed and is only a matter of time for the side who claimed a capital to reach it against diminished foes.

I would like to see emphasis put on achieving a win through victory cities. If the game is won by the number of victory cities controlled, then why do players end once a capital falls? It is almost impossible to liberate a capital once it is taken and still maintain a front against the enemy. If there is no solid way to continue the fight once a capital falls, and most of the time logically it would be the end point, why even include the victory city counts in the game?

The Setting of the Stone

2009-04-17T02:46:00.003-04:00

The Wood Elves having won a victory were afforded a position inside Mousillon territory. With this victory they erect a waystone.

-The affects of this waystone will allow the army controlling it to reroll failed rolls to rally fleeing troops.
-The army controlling the piece will have its model the closest to it, not fleeing or engaged in close combat, at the start of every phase.
-Unit strength 5 is required to control the stone.
-Wood Elves will place the waystone after deployment sides are chosen.

Current Campaign states are:
Battles fought: 1
Wood Elves: 1 MV - 15 pts
Bretonnians: 0 0 pts

Current location - Fringes of Mousillon
The countryside is in a state of flux, being affected by more powers than the changing season alone. With the coming of spring, life has begun anew across the land. This is increased by the presence of the wood elves. Peasants were allowed to flee before the host, as the riders and dryads cleared the countryside of human interlopers. Any hostile encounters were quickly decided, eliminated or routed. The greatest threat remains in the army forming outside the range of the new forest the host of Lord Rincewind.

Preparing the Loren waystone

As the figure walked past elves and forest kin alike they revered her passing. Dryads gaunt branches trembled fiercely and they emitted unearthly wails as they were touched by the power this being held over the will of the forest. Sentries moving purposefully paused only briefly with solemn nods before returning continuing their vigilance, while others laboring about the camp stopped abruptly to kneel and bow in respect to the maiden before them. The sun was dipping behind the land to the west, leaving crimson and orange streaks across the sky. The newly rising trees cast unfamiliar shadows across the land once used for farming. Everywhere the reach of the forest was choking out the structures and designs of the humans and replacing it with the familiar touch of Athel Loren. As she neared the center of a large gathering, she was reminded of the importance of this ceremony in sanctifying the waystone that would continue to guide the forests growth. Forest spirit and elf alike mingled in the gathering, a gruff looking human and the princess Ilyara stood apart from the rest.

Hannibal watched as one of the most beautiful elves he ever had seen approached the elegant monolith. She was naked as the day the gods made the elves but for a faint green sheen that surrounded and flowed from her. Her pure white hair was lined with leaves and vines of green. It whipped wildly behind her as if torn at by some ferocious force or unseen gale. A soft song began resonating through his head and probing his mind, but the spellweaver never spoke a word. Closing the space between herself and the stone, it began to share her green glow with more intensity. The hum of the elven hymn held his mind firmly. The man felt drunken, his senses dulled and unable to react in a way to part from listening.

Ilyara watched silently from behind the gathering. The power of the light was becoming stronger as the mage was almost to the stone. The song flowed through her entire being, touching her soul and showing her with feelings of warmth and comfort. Her skin began to tingling underneath her exquisite leather armor. She squirmed slightly, this was the first time she would experience this form of magic and she was unprepared for the feelings that she felt. Suddenly the tone rose to its highest level, the maiden’s outstretched hand reached the flawless surface of the rock. No one moved as the spellweaver’s song started and blended with that of the earths. The gathering froze, sentries and forest kin alike gave pause, the mages hair stood in place no longer affected by the wind, nor gravity.

The tingling reaches its apex and Ilyara shuddered from it. The princess pushed into Hannibal and thought quickly to apologize. She never did. Hannibal stood paralyzed by the event, his eyes glazed over and distant, transfixed on the stone and the mage. Her hand lightly tapped the side of his cheeks, her face became even more twisted with concern as her fingers smeared crimson dripping from his ear. She quickly placed her hand over his mouth and smashed her hand into his back. His eyes closed and he crumpled heavily into her embrace. Without disturbing the pinnacle of the ritual, she hefted the man up and dragged him away from the gathering and towards the tents. “I guess there is still a part of you that is human,” speaking to the unconscious form she was moving. “Do you even know? Her question went unanswered and she sighed to herself and resumed their trek. A green light exploded through the trees and into the night, illuminating all in the area for a brief moment. In an instant the light and song was gone and the landscape was black with night. Despite being alone in a strange land with darkness and enemies around them, the princess smiled as she felt the safety the forest would now afford them.

Break Week

2009-04-01T10:26:00.003-04:00

Ok, three days into my one week off between classes and what to do? Next week my hand is forced, I must take two classes that are 16 weeks long. Aside from those two classes I need a bi-term class to ensure I get my full GIBILL benefits. Plus in 16 weeks I will be running my first Triathlon, so my 16 week training period will be commencing. It is going to be a busy summer!

Over two months ago my wife and I ditched cable for good. Partly because it ate up most of our free time, partly because there was never anything good on leading back to wasting our free time, and mostly because we wanted to save money. I felt no strong attachments to any shows except Battlestar Galattica, but even that did not sit me down infront of my computer to download it. We did finish watching the series and it was good, now we just need to find out where to download Dexter when season 4 starts.

Other stuff to look forward to are future DnD games, Warhammer games, a half marathon in September with my cousin, and getting rid of nasty credit cards!

Once more unto the field my elves!

2009-04-01T08:33:00.008-04:00

Two days passed, my army of Wood Elves met my friends Bretonnians on the field of battle. This battle just the next in a long line of clashes between them. In an effort to sort this rubbish into a meaningful end, we began a campaign. My forces marches, on the cuspe of their victories, into the land of Mousillon. There, in unfamiliar terrain with a lack of vegetation, the wood elves of Lord Hannibal managed a marginal victory and grew roots on Bretonnian lands.

This battle was a tough fight for my wood elves. Leadership saves did not pan out as well as I had hoped due to a few error: poor placement of Wild Riders netted them total annihilation; three warhawk rider positions are now open - apply within; the armor of the Brets proved nigh impossible to breach; my magic could have been more effective and less defensive - but who can rely on magic? Some of the incidents mentioned above just could not be helped due to dice rolls. I did manage to learn much more about my army in this marginal victory than any of my massacres.

My treeman did well to bother two of my opponents entire knight units; the peasants I counted on fleeing taking their fellows keeping the trebuchet warm did indeed go on holiday; while the glade riders did flee, twice from battle and three times in all, they were still counting and alive to contest and board corner; there are a few other things I took from this battle, but mainly are only of use against highly armored opponents like Bretonnians. Mousillon, we are here!

Below are just a few other "interesting" game pieces.

Who said we didn't play with any marshes or bogs this game? Above is an absolute mess of a fight that started at the start of turn two and lasted until the top of turn 6. First starting with the treeman, the focus in the center, and the Glade riders versus the Knights Errant (oriented above the treeman). The elven side won combat but failed to make the Errants flee, the Knights of the Realm then thought to join the melee and caused three wounds on the treeman, and won combat. The Glade riders fled, leaving the stubborn treeman to hold off two units of knights. Another elf turn passed with the dryads moving into position to charge the KotR's flank. The treeman continued to hold! The dryads (brown tree looking things) and my Lord (behind the Knights Errant) charged to the rescue. Alas the rescuing did not happen right away. The lord did carve up the Knights Errant with the help of the treeman, then charged into the KotR, to start the bog all over again. Dryads slowly dropped down to two left in the end, but the KotR were finally decimated in turn 6.

This is another angle of the battle mentioned above. If you look to the rear of the melee you see another knight unit (Grail knights) and they are in the upper right of this picture. They mercilessly charged my wardancers and the defense the wardancers provided was paramount and worth mentioning.
Having no other choice since the Grail Knights were charging, with a lord and palain in the mess, and facing two attacks each from 5 Grail knights, I had to activate my dancers Shadow Dance to permit them a half decent +4 ward save. This save was still facing a slew of strength 6 hits and any kind of losses would put my unit in danger of fleeing. Miraculously in about a total of 6-8 wounds, I only failed 1. With over 10 attacks back, some focused on the paladin BSB, he was slain but the fight was lost to my elves, who faced a leadership test. They passed a hard roll needing under a 6 I believe and held on a 4 or 5.
They would not be so lucky next round, lost more of their number and fled the battle, the misplaced Wildriders ate a new charge in the side and bought the farm. The wardancers, seeing the carnage caused by their failure upon their kin, rounded on the Lord leading the Grail Knights. In the final round they charged and struck the Lord down with three well placed blows!

Paladin am I

2009-03-10T02:11:00.002-04:00

D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium

So I am a paladin. As my friend told me, and I agree, the test itself is easy to load the answers to get the class you want at the end. I wanted to answer according to how I felt toward the questions. I would prefer to wear armor and use a shield, I also tended toward stopping anything from hurting my group by physically placing myself between them. I also would want to adhere to a strict regiment to rely on my skills and physical prowess to get me through situations. I am also partial to serving a diety so that also affected my answers.

Princess Ilyara

2008-12-19T06:49:00.001-05:00

Ahead was a small clearing, with few tiny fires scattered about burning quietly. To outsiders the scene might look like some wayward traveler left several fires unattended, but this was the elves realm, and Ilyara knew this the was site of the force gathering to do battle. The wind picked up, carrying the sounds of a conversation of her kin keeping vigilant watch for intruders that might stumble upon their encampment. Clearly the chances of that were slim, enchantments and the forest would see them protected from the approaching knights, or else they might be taking their position as sentries more seriously. It mattered not, Ilyara would penetrate their defenses and be out without anyone ever knowing. She brought her lithe shadowy cloak tightly about her, and shrouded her lower face before moving off, when suddenly she halted. A hand, steady and honed with years of plucking the bow strings that brought death to so many creatures, reached up to move the cloth mask down slightly. An unfamiliar scent caught her attention, it was foreign to the forest, but not to her. After a moments time she slipped back into the forest, unheard and unfettered to find Lord Hannibal’s tent to let him know his horse gives away his presence.
The man rose from his bedroll on the floor of his tent, walking towards the flap blowing in the breeze. Looking out it was difficult to tell where the wood elves constructed their shelters for the night. If he did not know better he would assume they slept in the trees, but he knew their tents or lean-tos where out there, hidden and making his stand out like a sore thumb. His steed pawed the ground with a snort followed by a short whiny, it was familiar with the woods but that did not mean the beast liked being here. Hannibal smirked, “Don’t be so scared, the only thing out there that will get you are trees.” The mount snorted angrily, it knew all to well the double meaning. If anything would protect the forest, it was the trees of the forest itself, they would come to life and rend the flesh from man and beast that dared trespass these woods. The man looked up through the canopy of trees, the light of the moon illuminating his face and the long jagged scar that ran down his left temple diagonally down across his cheek and to his chin. His hand reached up to touch the old wound before securing the flap and turning to retire for the night.
“Sleeping alone tonight?” called a soft feminine voice from behind the man. Every muscle in Hannibal’s body tensed for a moment, the intrusion of someone into his personal tent setting him on the defensive. His hand would have finished its swift motion to grab a hidden knife but he would have been dead before it was drawn. The one that caught him off his guard would have seen to that, and there were few who could pull off such a feat. It was a second before he relaxed his body and turned to face the intruder. He knew the one that so expertly invited herself into his tent, he had asked for her personally. There was no other being that could move so stealthy without so much as disturbing the air around her.
“Ilyara,” a wry smile creased his lips as he turned slowly to face the elven waywatcher. “I see you found your way home, I even left the door open for you, “ Hannibal indicated a vacant area on his tent wall without so much as a window or crease to peek through. She was dressed in light clothes of durable elven cloth. The fabric was so fine it dulled any sound she might make and lessen the significance of her body’s movement to the naked eye. Scattered about her figure were areas of tight leathery strands and ropes from which wood or leaves could be used to help conceal her presence. Her arms and hands were dirty from extended time in the forest with no bathing, her clothes themselves were made to last and resist the elements and dirt and were much cleaner than she. Even with the small light of the candles he could tell she had a considerable build up of dirt on her face. She must just be returning from a very long hiatus in the forest. It was good his request of her presence was answered so quickly, whether or not it was well received by the warrior was something he did not yet know.
To be a way watcher is to be secluded from all other elves, kin, family. They spend their time deep within the forest, communing and protecting her majesty from harm. They consider themselves the most devoted of wood elves, practicing their art and honing their skills in solitude. Rarely do any show themselves at their celebration halls once they tred down the chosen path. They are know to lay in wait for days for the perfect time to ambush their enemy.
Ilyara stood up, reached back and loosened a tight band of cloth keeping her hair up. At first Hannibal was not sure she removed anything, because her hair didn’t move. After a quick shaking with her hand, several twigs, leaves, clumps of dirt fell to the tent floor. Hannibal pursed his lips as he noticed a small potato bug crawl away from the scene. “Life in the forest has been good, eh?” he asked, reeking of sarcasm. She gave her head a quick shake back and forth, spraying small deposits of loose dirt across his sleeping area, “very.” She pulled down the cloth bandana covering her face and despite the amount of black that covered it, her beauty shone through as stunning as Hannibal remembered.
She noticed his momentary lapse and strode slowly towards him, tossing one glove at a time onto the ground at his feet. “So, this Lady Portman, is she the new prize in Lord Hannibal’s possession?” He watched her approach, she started circling him slowly, loosening her garments as she moved. “Very recently acquired,” he said as he stood up straighter, her proximity provoking an odd feeling of anxiety that only their confused past relationship could. “You have many ladies, if I recall correctly,” the words slipped from her mouth like silken thread laced with a hint of acid. “Yes, I still do.” He added simply, continuing to eye her seductive path around him like a sailor would pay heed to a hungry shark. “Of course, you have this power over them, something they—we cannot resist.” Her fingers slipped between his shirt buttons and arms went around his back, slipping herself up against him using her nails to rake slowly down his back.
The man jumped slightly, the familiar scratching bringing back some very pleasant memories of him and the elven warrior, ones that would truly complicate this meeting and his life. The fingernails dug in and he could only do his best to resist by thinking how dirty they might be, though that did little to ally the feelings growing inside him. He would have to play her game, “Some are strong enough to,” he added coyly as he looked down at her entwining around him. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she dug those nails in where they were, enough to break the skin. “One was sent away to a life she did not choose, because she was not strong enough.” her voice was a low growl, one from a creature who was not relinquishing her grip. “Imagine my surprise, the very same thing—or should I say man, who was the reason I was sent off to the depths of the forest, is the same reason I am called back from the forest.”
Hannibal did not wince under the pain, he had felt worse but also knew she could do much worse. Her words took him back several years to a time when he met her, and their romance that blossomed. Of course he was a man, and not a very particular man when it came to entertaining women, elf or human. Her father, accepted Hannibal for who he was, a guardian chosen by the forest. This was undisputed for no denizen of the deep trees would approach or attempt to harm the man that walked through the wood. No enchantment could lead him astray from the path he sought. Eventually the elven elders divined that the man was a being who the forest thought of as a protector or chosen. Regardless of that, the elf king did not want his daughter seeing the womanizing man, nor could he simply slay the man and be rid of him due to the respect he was given by the tribes and beings of the wood. No, instead his daughter would “choose” the life of solitude and that would be the last they would be allowed to see each other, with all “physical” contact strictly forbidden with the elven Princess Ilyara.
“Whats wrong?” she asked, her voice almost turning pouty as she started to poke out her lower lip. The knight looked down at her, into those eyes that had not changed one ounce over the years. While he had aged over a decade and was well into his late thirties, she had also aged into her sixties. Where he was reaching late middle age she barely scraped the human equivalent of teenage years. He could still see the crush of the young woman in those dark blue orbs. The tough exterior and banter about other woman to show her disinterest were but a façade. Her father forbid them from ever coming together and threatened Hannibal himself on pain of death despite his good favor among the forest spirits, what was worse he threatened the same fate to Ilyara, but only Hannibal knew of it. It fell to him to keep himself as far from her as possible, the fate of their lives depended on it.
For a moment she thought she might have swayed the man in her arms, his eyes softening as he finally met hers again after so many years. Could there still be an inkling of longing he might possess for her? She felt the happiness welling up inside her, a familiar twinkle coming to her eyes. All of it was suddenly smashed as the mans face hardened and his eyes turned cold, stealing the warmth that she held in a breath.
Lord Hannibal reached inside his shirt, grabbed her now shaking arms by the wrists and held her up before him. It was impressive, sometimes it was simple for her to forget that the object of her affection was a veteran warrior, a knight toughened by years of hardship and battle. His strength was incredible, and her feelings dulled her senses enough for him to catch her off guard. She was not willing to fight against him, too wounded to care.
Hannibal lifted her arms above her head, her feet slightly rising from the floor as he brought her level to his face. She was scared, but not of anything he would do to her, he knew his words would bite into her easier than a blade would tear flesh. “Listen to me, Ilyara,” his voice starting as a low shout as he tried to raise his ire to increase his performance. “I shall not entertain your childish, pathetic games, nor your attempts to seduce me!” he spat the words that hit with the force of a warhammer. “Just do your damn job as general tomorrow, I have a real woman to return to, and you have your dirty little woodland playground to roll around in.” With those hateful words driving home like daggers through her heart he threw her to the ground, storming out of the tent as one of the elven glade guard came rushing through the flap.
“Lord Han—,” he stammered. “Out of the way!” Hannibal threw the man aside with such force the tent wall almost buckled. “Tend to your general.” The man left the tent, walked to his horse and rode off from the area. His hand reached up wiping his hand across his scarred cheek, the tear mixing with the dirt from her skin and leaving a dirty smear there. He let a long sigh as he rode, the nights events weighing heavily on his heart.
“Princess Ilyara!” The elven man stood up quickly and moved over to her, unsure of how to react to the sight of the princess almost exposed through her loosed clothing. She lay quietly on the ground, her features expressionless. Inside her soul was in turmoil, her arms slowly pushed herself up and she got to her feet. “Kalir,” she said plainly as she adjusted her clothing, replacing straps about her clothing and kneeling down to pick up her gloves. “How do you expect us to defeat the forces marshaled against us when a raging orc could detect your babbling sentries!” She flew into a rage quickly, forcing Kalir down to a knee. “Your highness, I apologize for their lack of duty.” She eyed him venomously, a glare that was meant for another but the Lord’s Bowman would wear the brunt of her anger this moment. “I don’t care for your excuses! If I sneak past them one more time tonight you and your men will be facing my father in his hall! I swear it!” She stormed past the elf who did not flinch or look at her as she pasted. She was a noble, he was a lowly footman in her service and would obey the proper rules of such a station.
“Get up, Kalir! Those sentries will not improve by themselves!” she shouted back towards the tent. Kalir stood slowly and brushed himself off. “Yes m’lady,” was his reply, more for himself because she was far from the tent by now. He stood there a moment, looking around the misshapen tent. What had he gotten himself into?

The Gears Keep Turning

2008-11-12T07:24:00.003-05:00

I am partly through Gears of War 2, GoW2, so I will relate to anyone some of what is different, new, better or worse. The multiplayer side, a big part of many shooter type of games, recieved a complete overhaul from the previous version. The graphics and world remain stunning, even better with a new TV. They kept what worked with previous weapons and added some new flavors of weapons and definately increased the types of horde that you encounter.

Firstly the changes to multiplayer are huge. You now have the option of entering with a group of friends, and not having to search for the game created by someone. I'm sure there are glitches to be had and I already ran into people crying about the similarity between past maps and some of the new ones. Also I guess its not a good thing to have a Hammer of Dawn on the Day One map. Maybe you should be the group to get to it first then? I'm torn on whether chainsaw duels in multiplayer are a good thing, with lag and all, but I won both of the two I encountered so I'm not complaining!

The graphics are as good as ever, but they were outstanding in the first one. I do own a new TV and it makes everything more vivid and alive. The way the game flows and camera moves can make it really feel like you are in the fight. I an immerse myself in this world that is so different from ours and enjoy every moment of tearing the horse apart.

It is almost a given with a new game you will see new weapons and several old ones. Some of the old ones might be improved upon or taken out but I believe all of the old guns are present in GOW2, no removing a most loved weapon like the pistol from Halo Bungie! One of the new guns making a huge impact is the mortar. It definitely makes players aware if they are under cover knowing one of those are being lugged around the battlefield. Also a new trick of sticking grenades to a wall via a melee attack and turning them into proximity mines has huge uses. It is almost a critical mistake if you do not do this in a match with many teams or players. If you are playing wingman and you can not defend all avenues of approach, expecially if an enemy is to the front and you must concentrate, the proximity grenade can be an early warning system against rear or flanking attacks. Learn the different grenades and stickm to the walls.

New types of horde? There are quite a few, from a flamer packing locusts, to some mutated looking wretch, small suicide bombing bugs, Boomers now seem to carry more than just a rocket launcher, they can carry a huge gatling gun or you can fight a mauler that wields a flail and a shield. You can fire a pistol from behind the shield and keep in cover, but you don't see much from behind that piece o metal.

All in all, it is a fun and enjoyable game. See you online!

Shadow Wolves - SW - Godzilla Online

2008-04-04T07:21:00.000-04:00

Well, over the years since I was 15-17 I searched the internet for old friends from a game we use to play together on GameStorm called Godzilla Online. It was a small group of gamers in the larger GameStorm community. I was befriended by some guys there and they were part of the clan SW, or Shadow Wolves. Two of the guys names I recall was Juggalo_SW and Quixzilla_SW. I will continue trying to find the rest of the guys, but in the event they might search for me or others, I am planting key words such as: SW, Shadow Wolves, Godzilla Online and Gamestorm, into this blog so maybe on the long shot it will appear in some Google or online search. If any of you guys are out there, its Hannibal_SW. Also some other buddies from the Godzilla Online community were Chrissy, SGT_Rock, and Mitsu.

~Hannibal_SW