Where Has Lantz Been?

Once upon a time I wrote for five separate blogs at the same time. Four of them hobby related and one political blog that ended up not wanting my opinions. Long story short, aside from getting "fired" from one I ended up dumping the rest all at once. Why? It was just too much to handle. Too much of my time was wrapped up in typing for hours on end when I wanted more time set aside for other important things. Like booze. Anyway, not too long after that I started up on TLA once again and then STC and now I have a new series on HOP. I find myself wondering if I'm falling into bad habits that will eventually cause me to loathe logging onto Blogger. So, for the time being I'm going to be putting my effort into STC for personal posts and my series over at HOP and leaving this post at the front of TLA until I spread my writing wings again or Eric pops back on for a post.

I'm not going away, I'll always be with you in your heart...and on STC and HOP.

Later days.

Shout Out: Warhammer 40k Never Sounded So Good

When it comes to music and 40k, most of our minds go straight to either Noise Marines or some sort of Eldar orgy, either way it involves Slaanesh. I can't vouch for the slut-god's involvement in this project, but I can assure you it's some good stuff. Maybe not Eldar orgy good, but no one can boast that claim. Anyway, my buddy Colin (also known as Dethtron) from over at HOP, if you didn't know, has a band that has some Warhammer influence and is some good listening to boot! And now, they're asking for your help to go mainstream. More info after the jump.

Rumors: New CSM/DA Starter Box?

Chaos Chosen

Apocalypse 40k released some possible pictures of the new starter set for 6th Edition and it appears because their pictures are linked to 4Chan they seem to work on and off and aren't always viewable. So I took it upon myself to pull off a lazy-man post this morning with un-linked pictures. Enjoy!

Painting: Not Sure What Happened

I'm not entirely sure what happened or when, but I've gained an immediate love for painting. I attest it to the social phone game Draw Something for getting me hooked on painting nonsense with my finger, but I'm not entirely sure what's kept me going. Either way, I suppose it doesn't matter because my favorite army is quickly getting completed and starting to look snazzy. Obviously as you scroll through these pictures it'll become very obvious that I'm not the most talented painter on my street, but they're not horrible looking and that's essentially my goal.

Look What I Did: New Tattoo And Swag

Hey there! I'm out of town for a day, so I thought this would be a great time to bring in a filler post. I've gotten a lot done over the past month and I mean a lot. And when I mean done, I'm talking about tattoos on my body (no naughty parts, sorry ladies,) painting and purchases to enhance my 6th Edition experience. Since I don't want to overwhelm with too big of a picture dump I'll show you all what's been depleting my wallet lately and save the painting album for later this week. More after the jump.

Codex: Necrons Re-Review Part III

(click to enlarge)

Welcome to the third and final installment of the Necron re-review. In this section I'll be going over the larger changes made to the dex in the wargear and special rules sections of the book as well as summing up my thoughts on the dex as a whole now that we've hit 6th Edition. It's time we settle the debate once and for all; are the Necrons uber powerful? The answer, after the jump.

Shout Out: Standard Template Construct

Hello and welcome back. A quick break from the rules talk to share a new tidbit. I was offered to join in on a new blog called Standard Template Construct recently and will be posting regularly over there as well as here. I haven't decided how I'll go about splitting it or if I'll just share on both so no one misses out. Either way, I'm joined by Jack Redscorps, Aridmonk, Lucky No.5, DrkMorals, Citizensmith and HOTpanda; three lovely gents from all over the world ready to slap your ears around with awesomeness. We'll be covering everything from painting and conversions to rules and strategy as well as product reviews and rumors around the mill. Come check us out tomorrow when I'll be posting my own introduction.

And if you like what you read and you'd like to help us get the word out, here's a widget for your own blog:

Stay tuned!

Codex: Necrons Re-Review Part II

And we're back with Part 2 on the Necron codex re-review. From this point we'll cover the vehicles, and characters, following up with wargear and special rules in a future post. I thought this was going to be a two-parter, but I severely underestimated my ability to ramble. Remember that I'll be breezing through and only going through things that I feel are worth noting on changes from the 6th Edition release. As always, if you do feel that I've missed something or have something way off-base feel free to let me know via the comments box below. Anyway, enough chit-chat. Let's get to it!

Painting: Annihilation Barge

Welcome back. Picking up on the painting front, even though I have a friend painting some of my Necrons for me, she still needs a point of reference on things since she isn't familiar with this whole 40k business. You know, what weapons do what, how they should look, which robot skeletons should look awesome and which ones don't matter, etc. So, having four CCB/AnnBarges to be painted up I took one home and got it done in a relatively quick time-frame. Don't freak out, but I think I may have began to enjoy painting. I know, right? Crazy... Anywho, the AnnBarge portion is complete. Picture dump after the jump.

Codex: Necrons Re-Review Part I

After my last article I realized even five minutes after its posting that I left so many things out and any continuation of the article will only result in several other continuation articles as my brain slowly reminds me of things I've left out throughout my day. So, to ensure I've analyzed every nook and cranny of the Necrons I'm going to do something I haven't done before. A codex re-review! Over at MWC last year I ran through my initial thoughts of the codex when the new 'crons hit store shelves and that was all fine and dandy for 5th Edition, but we're in 6th now and the robot zombies deserve a fresh once-over.

Necrons In 6th Edition

Oh the fires of 6th keep on burnin'! Hello there and welcome back. Today I have some discussion on 6th Edition once again, but I want to focus on the greatest race that ever lived; Necrons (they were here first, they have dibs.) Necrons, while (somehow) arguably competitive in 5th Edition seem to be turning up the heat in the current 6th Edition conundrum we find ourselves in currently. Here and there I'm spotting extremely positive talk about Necrons on blogs and podcasts alike (I stay away from forums as I don't enjoy actively decreasing my IQ.) So why, you might ask, are Necrons slowly gaining ground on the minds of the masses as the top tier army? Well, let's go over things in detail.

6th Edition: Disclaimer and Continued Thoughts

Side Note: After A Healthy Debate I Also Like To Go And Pee On Things

Oh no, I'm not even close to done ladies and gents. Continuing from my last ramblings I want to toss in a disclaimer for my previous post as well as sum up some thoughts I had forgotten to include. Seeing as it's pretty late right now, I'll probably have a continuation of this continuation tomorrow as well; go go sleep deprivation! Moving along, today's post is of course all about 6th and while some of you may be sick of 6th Edition posts, I really couldn't care less and will continue to do my part in cluttering up your RSS feeds as so many have done to me. More after the jump.

6th Edition: First Experiences

I was first thinking of making battle reports for my first two games with 6th Edition, but since then I've decided against the idea just due to the fact that I would guarantee Sterling and I were doing so many things wrong during these two late night games. Instead, I'm going to go over small highlights and my thoughts on new aspects of the game and how they will effect everyone. For our two games, Sterling and I played a 500pt IG vs Necron and a 750pt IG vs Necron games on a 4x4 (our only option currently) table which took us into the wee hours of the morning since neither of us had played 6th Edition before. Overall I think I enjoy the game more with this new edition as situations are more visually stimulating than they were before, but I do have a few qualms. More after the jump.

Painting: Ghost Ark

My Previous Best In The "Painting" Category

Hello all. I'm here to show off my sub-par painting skills on something I once again finished months ago and hadn't posted about: My fully painted Ghost Ark. My painting skills aren't the greatest in the land, but I'm very pleased with how this thing turned out. And going from start to end on a model feels really good...however, not so good that I'm willing to start painting on a regular basis or anything so don't celebrate just yet. More after the break.

Power Fists In 6th: The New Cat's Pajamas?

Tremble Before My MS Paint Skills

I am fully aware how awesome Power Fists are already, no one really needs to point that out. They offer SMs the ability to cause Instant Death and IG the ability to.. umm, wound on 2's I guess. Anywho, before I get too far into the topic at hand I want to make it very clear that I do not have a 6th Edition rulebook in my possession, yet. Hopeully by tomorrow I'll have it in my possession. Until then I have the numerous blogs out there to get little glimpses of information from. IDIC (the lucky bastard) got his copy early and has been posting condensed informationals on the subject of 6th Edition which have helped me wrap my head around some of the changes.

Allies: Worst or Best Thing Since Sliced Bread?

That really is the question lately. The rumors are pouring out of the tubes via blogs, forums and... I don't know, MySpace? Is that thing still around? Anyway, from what I've gathered you either despise this "new" concept with the hatred of 1000 suns (pun intended) or you just cannot wait for its inevitable release. For those of you that fit into the latter category, go away. I have nothing for you here. Seriously, leave, we aren't friends anymore. As for the rest of you, I'm here to put your minds at ease from the nightmares of 2nd Edition and put a nice spin on things for you. That spin is entitled; possible reality.

Conversion: Magnetizing A Barge

A Barge Kind Of Like This, Only Without The Party Slide

Those who have been reading this blog for a long while may remember my previous title; the self-proclaimed Magnet Pro. Those skills didn't just spiral down the drain, of course. I use them when necessary and even sometimes when it's not necessary... In this instance, however, it was the only option I saw. Months ago, the plan was to have an easy way to switch between a Catacomb Command Barge and a Annihilation Barge quickly and easily. This is the result of the experimentation. More after the jump.

Conversion: Crypteks

I've been experimenting a lot with Crypteks in the last couple of months. I was when the 5th Ed Necron codex first came out, but it was more of a getting-the-feel of what they can do rather than what they're capable of strategy-wise. Anyway, long story short, each one has a purpose through my playtesting experience. It will typically require your army built around a couple of them for them to see any use, but really...that's all this codex really is. Picking one of numerous viable strategies and working everything else around a unit or two (something that seems to baffle tournament-grade list builders.) So, with this knowledge I wanted at least one of each type of Cryptek. The problem being GW only makes one kind that...well, leaves a lot to be desired. This is where I come in.

It's Official, My July Is Shot

"I farted."

Video here:


Link here:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=2700048

Here's to 6th!

Conversion: Scarab Bases

"When life gives you lemons; just say "f*** the lemons" and bail." Truer words have never been spoken, probably. Hello and welcome back. This week I've got a kitbash of sorts that stemmed from a happy accident. You see, I've been wanting to get some special characters into my lists even though most of them aren't worth it strategy-wise. This is more for how super-neato they look and things of that sort. So having purchased an Imotekh model I thought having some average base under its feet wasn't going to do, this guy needs something that will stand out. Enter Puppetswar and their unique and captivating line of copyright infringing, resin cast miniatures.

Posts Incoming!

It's been a crazy few months and it doesn't look like any conceivable end in site, which I'm more than okay with. As much as I'm missing the hobby, I'm really enjoying not having time for it. However, this week I managed to find a day to myself and so I thought I'd get a few posts out of the way. Over the course of the next 3 weeks I'll be posting some work I completed back in February and a couple from May that I just hadn't managed to get around to writing about. I'm sure you all will really enjoy.

On the fandex front, it's been pretty quiet, but have no fear; I've been working on some ideas with my fellow rules-tinkerers Mr. Lemon and Mr. Reihe since the last update and I'll begin work on this once I have seen and properly digested 6th Edition. On an aside, I'm aware the website is down at this time and I'm working on getting that back up soon.

Stay tuned!

Shout Out: DFG Contest

Lantz here. No big post today, just a shameless plug for an entry. What entry you ask? Well, Adepticon is closing in and the DFG guys already have their plans in place. The most important plan? Getting smashed. It's definitely on my list of priorities at least once a week. And while I can't make it out to Adepticon this year, for those of you that can, you can win free stuff just for helping out the DFG crew in their journey to drink the booze.

Head on over the DFG now to find out how!

Long Time No See

It's been a while since I've posted...well anywhere. But Lantz isn't lost in the Warp, just on a writing hiatus while I get the rest of my life settled down.

As far as 40k goes, I haven't been up to much except gaming with the new Necrons and Grey Knights. There's word of CSM on the horizon, which I am excited about. More details about my project there soon.

That's about it for now folks. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Shout Out: MWC Conversion Contest

Morning, readers. As you may already be aware, I write for a snazzy blog called MWC when I can. Typically in the way of product reviews. If you haven't already, be sure to check out all of MWC; there's a lot of helpful tips, tutorials and information. This shout out, however, is about the Conversion Contest going on over there right now! So if you're interested in winning up to $100 and then some in plastic crack, head on over!

Seriously, what are you waiting for? I'm not writing anything else today; leave.

Conversion: Magnetizing An Ark

Meh...

So it's been a while since I've actually posted some content anywhere aside from SCW. A lot of this has to do with my drinking habits, promiscuity and, in the last couple of weeks, a video game involving lightsabers and lightning shooting out of fingertips. If I was truly being honest with myself here, it's all about habit. The holidays stopped my constant writing habits whether I liked it or not, and after about 3 weeks of not writing much I continued the habit of...not writing that much. I'm a creature of habit constantly at war with myself to break habits such as laziness and cheese-product. So, here I sit, Silversun Pickups blaring, lights off, cigarette in hand and fully focused on the connecting fingers to keys in a coherent succession. Today I bring you something I completed over a month ago; my magnetized Ghost Ark (and how I gave up on the whole idea.) More after the break.

No TLA Today

If you've been living under a rock for the last year you may not of heard of SOPA and related intentions by the government to decide what can and what cannot be available to the world wide web. With clever names like "The Fight Against Online Piracy" and "Internet Equality" the gov't has managed to confuse the masses into thinking these are well-intentioned documents for our own good; not so much. Please do the research and find out what it's all about and make an informed decision yourself, though I feel it's quite obvious. Other organizations seem to feel the same including Google and Wikipedia who are staging blackouts today along with countless other websites, blogs, forums, etc. Here at TLA we take our freedom to post whatever we like whenever we like and do so responsibly...kind of. In any case, starting at 9am CST TLA will be blacking out for a 24 hour period today into tomorrow. If you're wanting to voice your opinion on the matter I suggest you head over to Google.com and clicking on their logo.

To the future.

Rules: Necron FAQ Is Out (Finally)

Well it's about damn time, right? Lantz here and I'm very pleased to announce that Necrons finally have their FAQ. And unlike the GK fiasco of 2011, almost every question was answered. A lot of cleanup happened and even a few shocking developments. So, enough with this intro, let's just get on with it already! After the break I've listed key items from the FAQ and left out a lot of the obvious and 'who cares?' stuff. We'll go in sections on this with The Good, The Bad, The Meh and The Unanswered with my commentary in a fitting Green.

Shout Out: Best Blogs Of 2011(The Apologetic Part 2)

This post is basically going to be an addition/what should have been included in the last post. You see, I work...a lot. And at really weird hours. At the time I wrote my last post it was around 5am on two hours of sleep and over the weekend, one by one I realized how many blogs I wanted to include, yet hadn't remembered in my sleep-deprived state. I was originally going to leave things, chalk it all up to a mistake and move on. Unfortunately I don't handle guilt well and the more I think about it the worse I feel. More after the break.

Shout Out: Best Blogs Of 2011

Lantz here. As we enter the first week of 2012, I want to take a moment to look back at the best blogs of 2011 according to yours truly. There are so many amazing writers and hobbyists out there, it's hard to nail it down. For this article I'll be using categories and selecting the best of the best out of my selections. Just like the Grammys, this will be two or more hours long and will consist of pop artists ruining classics like "Sweet Child of Mine". So strap in and enjoy the show.