Trip to Cali, Great New Podcast

Just recently, I made another trip to California to visit my friend. While I was there, I was fortunate to meet up with another good friend of mine, Reuben Qualls. He and his friend Ray have started thier own podcast, which they are calling The PodKastle. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasts.

While I was visiting, I had the opportunity to do a few segments on their show and talk about my blog. It was really cool to be able to talk about 40k and to answer a question from one of their listeners. While I spent most of the time talking about 40k and the blogging thereof, it's not the main focus of their show.

The main point of The PodKastle is to talk about tabletop gaming in general. They talk a little about 40k and a little about Magic: The Gathering and stuff like that, but they mostly talk about cool board games. I've found a lot of cool games to play with my wife because of recommendations from Reuben.

So why am I telling you all this? Everyone has aspirations of getting their significant other into 40k. I know I do. Starting my wife off with the kinds of games they talk about on their show is how I was able to get her to start playing 40k with me. Go ahead and give them a listen. They've got a lot of great things to talk about.

While I was in California, I was also able to get a game or two in with my other good friend, Sean. Our first game was down at Game Kastle. Check out the awesome terrain we played on! When I do my cityfight board, I'll be drawing a lot of inspiration from the pictures I took of this board.

Later that weekend, we played again at Sean's house. Since we didn't have any terrain to use, we used Legos! It ended up being a pretty neat Kill Team game!

Next week, we should be getting a look at all the work I've been doing on my terrain table. Check back soon to see how things turn out!

Celebrity Encounter

This past weekend, I headed down to California to visit my best friends, Sean and Reuben. Just before I headed down, I heard that the guys from Masters of the Forge (formerly from Deepstrike Radio), were going to be down visiting The Independent Characters on that very same weekend! I thought to myself that it would be an awesome way to kill two birds with one stone, so I made arrangements to meet up with some of my favorite podcasters! Snorre from MotF was the only one to make it down to Game Kastle that day, but it was still cool to say hi and show my support for the podcast. It was really neat to be able to meet some of the people that I consider to be celebrities. I even got Snorre to sign an autograph for me! I'll have a picture of it once it's hanging in my art room.

Snorre (right) and I standing in front of
Game Kastle in Santa Clara

One of the coolest parts of the whole day was how Snorre gave me a great idea for the blog. In the coming weeks, stay tuned for a whole new array of cool topics like starting a fluff-based army and what to think about when writing the background for your new army.

In other news, my new additions to the Grey Knight squad is nearing completion. Also, I was given an Inquisitor Coteaz model to paint up. Pretty soon, my 250-point Grey Knights sideboard will be completed. Keep checking back to see the new progress and to get some good ideas for your DIY army!

I hope to see you again soon!

Vacation to California, Met IC Podcast

On Wednesday, my wife and I left for a vacation to California to visit my buddy and his fiancee. He's an avid 40k gamer, so we went down to Game Kastle, his local gaming store, and played a game. My Ultramarines managed to beat his Tau in a game of victory points. It was a little close at the end, but after not playing a game for as long as I had, I think I did pretty well.

Ultramarines Devastators searching for Tau targets.

A few days later, we went back down to the same store for a flea market they were hosting. While I was there, I ran into Carl Tuttle from The Independent Characters, my favorite podcast! It was one of the highlights of the trip so far. I got a picture with him and Geoff, and then showed him some of my Ultramarines. For those of you who listen to the show, Carl is starting an Ultramarines army for his painting challenge, so I thought it would be neat to show him my army.

Left to right: Geoff, myself, and Carl

On the topic of Ultramarines, I'm reworking my entire Ultramarines army. In a few days time, I should have all new army lists posted. I think they're going to work a whole lot better than what I currently have. Keep checking back to see what I've come up with.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I've started working on my third (and final) Ultramarines Tactical Squad. I'm taking pictures after each step. Shortly after the squad is completed, I plan on posting a step-by-step tutorial on painting Space Marine armor using my techniques. Now that the Titan is done, producing tutorials is my main focus. Every squad I make should produce another tutorial or two for the How To page. Keep checking back; new content is on the way!