Results: Lucky 13's Character Story-writing Event!

The fiction submitted as part of April's Lucky 13s Apocalypse Campaign Character Story-writing Event was uniformly good: existing heroes were amplified upon, new villains burst onto the scene, internecine rivalries gained friction...and the tabletop experience in future battles should significantly increase in mood, atmosphere and enjoyment, as result!

All eleven participants earned Lucky 13s Event Stamps for their entries; in addition, three prizes were awarded by HobbytownUSA Dallas and Games Workshop. The winner of Best Story will receive the in-stock codex or army book of their choice (including the new Daemons books!); a special Youngbloods Prize for Excellence by a younger hobbyist was also awarded, and that winner will receive a copy of the new White Dwarf (featuring local event coverage!). Finally, a Door Prize random draw from among all remaining participants was conducted, to reward--and encourage future--participation, and that winner will receive the in-stock Games Workshop paperback novel of their choice!

• BEST STORY: 'Aurelia Darklight,' by Jack Salva
• YOUNGBLOODS PRIZE: 'Uldrad,' by Blake Weinstein
• CHARACTER EVENT DOOR PRIZE: 'Way of the Scorpion,' by Chad Jones

Congratulations to the winners--and to all participants, as the level of storytelling was tremendous!

Results: May Lucky 13's Daemonic Council Painting Event

The Daemonic Council will lead Chaos forces in next Saturday's Lucky 13s Apocalypse Campaign mega-battle 'I Didn't See That Coming'--and will look impressive doing so as a result of today's Lucky 13s Painting Event. Judges (including participants present) voted for their favorite submitted models in each of four categories--Favorite Chaos Spawn, Favorite Daemon Prince, Favorite Character Model, Youngbloods, and Favorite Overall--with the following results:

• Favorite Overall Daemonic Council Model: Bob Westbrook--Chaos Spawn
• Favorite Daemonic Council Character Model: Eric Smelley--'Destiny' Greater Daemon of Tzeentch
• Favorite Daemonic Council Daemon Prince Model: Jack Salva
• Favorite Daemonic Council Chaos Spawn Model: Brady Allen
• Favorite Youngblood Model: Blake Weinstein--Chaos Spawn

It is always worth noting that every model except one received at least one vote in some category. I am not sure it is worth noting that the only model which got NO votes was the one *I* painted, but in the interests of full disclosure, there you are :) The Chaos Spawn category was, curiously, the most hotly contested, with the model voted Favorite Overall a Spawn and both top finishers in the Favorite Youngbloods offering Spawn (Brady's Spawn was second in that category and won it when Bob's won Overall, and Blake's Spawn was second in the Youngbloods category, winning that when Brady's won in the Spawn category). Special mention should be made of Ashley McDaniel's Daemachinex Character model: it finished *one vote* behind Eric's Changer of Ways in that category, and finished third overall behind Bob's Spawn and Eric's Greater Daemon (and is probably the best painted model I have seen Ashley produce, besides).

HobbytownUSA Dallas and Games Workshop provided all five winners with prizes of Warhammer and 40K model boxed sets--from Bretonnian Knights to a Khorne Lord to Tomb King Chariots to Goblin Spider Riders to a Carnosaur!--so get by HTUD at Walnut Hill/Central Expressway and admire the submissions in the game display cabinet, opposite the Mordant 13th High Command they will soon face on the tabletop; thanks again to HTUD and GW for sponsoring the ongoing Lucky 13s Campaign, and to the Daemonic Council participants for completing their models, and to such an excellent standard!

The mega-battle awaits!

The seals have been broken. The wards have been shattered. The thousand-year-imprisonment is at an end. And the Daemonic Council is loose upon the galaxy once more.

Participants in the HobbytownUSA Dallas Lucky 13s Apocalypse Campaign banded together to create the Mordant 13th High Command Squad in March, to lead the 'good guys.' Between now and Sunday, May 25th, participants will have the opportunity to return the favour, for the 'bad guys,' by purchasing, constructing, converting and painting a model to represent the Daemonic Council of Colfax--which will then lead the Chaos forces the following Saturday, May 31st, in the third Lucky 13s mega-battle!

Colfax was a system of Imperial worlds which, millennia ago, were corrupted by the Ruinous Powers. A gatherum of the most powerful daemonic entities completely enslaved the worlds, so totally that the only response the High Lords of Terra could make was exterminatus--obliterating each world, and every living thing upon it, in turn, until the daemonic leaders of the rebellion were trapped on the last surviving moon of the system. Instead of destroying it, however, and releasing the entities to the Warp, the Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus contrived to seal the Daemonic Council inside a towering obelisk, making of the moon in its entirety a daemonifuge, an eternal prison for the rebellious daemons, then cast the moon adrift through space, and declared it perdita, prohibited from all contact. And so it--and they--remained until recent events, when representatives of a host of races were lured to the Prohibited Moon of Colfax by the false projection of the mysterious Warp signature which has been driving the campaign-across-the-galaxy of the Mordant 13th Imperial Guard. The races battled across the moon, until their efforts unwittingly burned out the hexagrammatic wards sealing the Council in their nether-prison: the obelisk faded from existence in this physical reality, and in a geyser of screaming Warp entities, the Daemonic Council returned.

The Council is led by the Daemachinex, an Arch-Daemon of Chaos Undivided who bows to no one, man, myth or machine. Daemachinex, an entity part muscle/part machine, is attended by Fellsoul, a daemon of smoke and shadow who acts as Daemachinex' advisor in all matters sorcerous. The four chief Ruinous Powers which facilitated Daemachinex' rise to mastery over Colfax are represented on the Council each by an ancient and obscene Greater Daemon: Tzeentch by a vulturous Lord of Change, Khorne a rampaging Bloodthirster, Nurgle a grotesque Great Unclean One and Slaanesh a mysterious Keeper of Secrets. In its glory day, the Council boasted a great number of Daemon Princes stationed just below these most-powerful entities; trapped for centuries and cut off from their patron powers, the Princes of the Council are now fewer in number, but those which remain will join with their principals to seek vengeance without quarter...and they will bring with them their brethren, reduced by their eons of imprisonment to mindless Chaos Spawn, driven now only by their abject hatred for those who brought them low....

Participants who wish to contribute a model to the Daemonic Council may sign up to do so at HobbytownUSA Dallas, once the sign up sheet is formatted and posted in the Game Area. Unlike the High Command Group, which is now a permanent HTUD feature, the Daemonic Council will be central only to the upcoming May mega-battle, so participants *will* get to keep the model they contribute to it, once the mega-battle is completed, for use with their own armies. Rules for the Daemonic Council will be based on entries in the upcoming Codex: Daemons, and will be posted in advance. The Council will act as a single unit in the May mega-battle, essentially a 'super HQ' choice.

Interested participants will have the option of signing up for one of the six Council choices which require specific models--*or* they may create their own member of the Daemonic Council, but signing up for either a Daemon Prince or a Chaos Spawn. In the case of the former, the participant who signs for that choice MUST use the indicated model; in the case of the Daemon Princes and Chaos Spawn, players are free to use their creativity and imagination, with the caveat that their submissions must be Citadel miniatures or conversions primarily based on Citadel miniatures, and must clearly and recognizably represent the Daemon Prince or Chaos Spawn entry, using existing GW models and imagery as guidelines.

Participants must have their model completed, painted and based by Sunday, May 25th at 1pm, when they will be gathered together and displayed for the week leading up to their showcase mega-battle the following Saturday. As with the High Command Group, participants and judges from HTUD will be allowed to cast a ballot for Favorite Model, with the winner collecting a prize from HTUD and Games Workshop, and there will be random prizes distributed to eligible participants, as well.

For further information, see http://www.adeptusnorthtexas.com or HobbytownUSA Dallas.

Prepare for a storm of vengeance. Prepare for the coming of the scouring wind. Prepare for the wrath of the Daemonic Council!

HOBBYTOWNUSA DALLAS LUCKY 13s MAY PAINTING EVENT: THE DAEMONIC COUNCIL RULES

Please sign up in person at HTUD for the model you wish to complete. These models will remain yours to keep and use in your own 40K army; the only requirement is that they be submitted to HTUD in finished state by Sunday, May 25th at 1pm, where participants present will vote for their Favorite Model. The Council will then remain on display until Saturday, May 31st, where it will lead Chaos against the Imperium and the Mordant 13th in Campaign Mega-Battle Three! Specific models must be used where indicated in parentheses following; Daemonic Princes and degraded Chaos Spawn may be representative models of the participating player's choice from the Citadel Miniatures range. Event judges retain the right to disallow any model deemed inappropriate from inclusion in display, including eligibility for prizes and use in battle. Participants who sign up for a specific slot are both making a commitment to the event and denying that slot to other interested participants in turn; failure to complete the signed-for model on time could result in the participant being excluded from future Lucky 13s and other hobby events at this and related venues.

• DAEMACHINEX, ARCH DAEMON OF CHAOS UNDIVIDED (Soul Grinder model)
• FELLSOUL, SORCEROR-SENESCHAL OF CHAOS UNDIVIDED (Be'Lakor model)
• GREATER DAEMON OF KHORNE (Bloodthirster model)
• GREATER DAEMON OF SLAANESH (Keeper of Secrets model)
• GREATER DAEMON OF NURGLE (Great Unclean One model)
• GREATER DAEMON OF TZEENTCH (Lord of Change model)
• DAEMON PRINCE (model of choice)
• CHAOS SPAWN (model of choice)

Results: Lucky 13's One Road, One Ride Multiplayer Event

Fourteen players found their way to the hostile surface of the Prohibited Moon of Colfax, and survived its perils--and each other--to reach the obviously-not-natural spire sitting menacingly astride its day-to-night terminator, and unlock its secret, in the first April Lucky 13s event, One Road One Ride, at HobbytownUSA Dallas.

Players discovered that the rogue moon had been locked in stationary orbit by a tiny, brilliant and completely unstable white dwarf star (which they promptly dubbed Grombrindal). They battled over an 8'x6' Apocalypse table which represented this state, with one side overexposed by white light, solar flares and radiation and the other, across the terminator line, shrouded in night-fighting darkness. An additional unconnected table represented a warp gate at the far end of the moon's dark side, where competing vehicles could find themselves inexplicably hurled by the clash of energies at work on Colfax, and have to fight their way back.

The race to reach the mysterious spire at the moon's center was a seesaw affair, with fast vehicles like Bob's deep-striking Ultramarines land speeder claiming it quickly, but failing to retain control of it long enough to decipher the arcane wards scrawled across it, to win the game. Alliances were formed--and then broken in turn--as players tried to find the perfect tactics for reaching the objective quickly enough to have a chance to win it, but not so quickly there were enough guns still active to knock them off of it.

In the end, Ashley's Thousand Sons Defiler, Alex's Winged Hive Tyrant and Jack's Techmarine Razorback all came close, and Josh's Jade Legion Razorback (led by the wounded but still very-much-alive radical Xenos Inquisitor Rhadamanthus Goh) dropped its passengers and made a late run under the guns of alliances forged on both flanks...only to meet its fate at the claws of Brady's Carnifex, which then survived a hail of fire from every compass point on the table for over a turn to win the race for the mystery obelisk.

The climax was tremendous, as Eldar, Chaos and Space Marine guns failed to bring the monstrous creature down--leaving the last player to move in the turn, Chad, to try a sweeping tank shock with his Falcon in a final desperate gamble to dislodge the Carnifex and keep the game going. The moment heightened as every consequence, intended and unintended, was considered, and every response calculated: the Falcon crested into the difficult terrain around the objective, surviving rolls which might have brought it down; the Carnifex chose death or glory, with virtually any result but snake-eyes insuring the destruction of the Eldar skimmer--which it promptly rolled; but then everyone remembered the unpredictable energy shields around the obelisk, the roll for which displaced the Falcon back off the spire.

The Carnifex met the victory conditions, the ancient hexagrammatic wards carved into the towering spire flared brilliantly to life and then burnt out, the structure itself lost its integrity in the physical world before the surviving warriors' eyes, shimmering out of existence--and allowing a geyser of long-trapped Warp entities to scream into existence from whence they had so long been imprisoned. The secret of Colfax moon stood revealed: the entire moon was a daemonifuge, a millennia-old prison holding a gatherum of mighty daemonic entities--known as the Daemonic Council--which had once corrupted and ruled over an entire Imperial system...and with the wards and seals destroyed, the Daemonic Council was free again, to lead the Forces of Chaos against the Mordant 13th, in next month's Lucky 13s mega-battle!

As for the winning model, it reaped the benefit of proximity to so much unleashed protective energy: that specific model will benefit from a 4+ Invulnerable Save in that mega-battle next month.

Other highlights (and lowlights) of what was a fine afternoon of multi-player gaming included David's Wave Serpent suffering a crisis of confidence in the first turn and deciding NOT to race onto the objective, as he had built it to do--whereupon it was immediately immobilized and spent the rest of the game sitting in the blinding light of Grimbrindal, doing nothing; Blake's Thousand Sons Rhino racing to protect Ashley's flank and weathering an amazing volley of fire from a fusion-gun-wielding squad of Fire Dragons--only to be immobilized by a lucky shuriken-cannon shot; Kyle's Ultramarine Land Raider Terminus, undoubtedly the most dangerous weapon on the table, suffering bad break after bad break, from turns of star-blindness to actually shooting itself, when one of its rounds of fire drew a solar flare from the white dwarf star to it and rebounded lascannon fire back at it; everyone on the dark side of the moon rolling laughably for night-fighting range, but especially Blake's Thousand Sons and Jimmy's Ultramarines Predator, which stood less than two feet from each other for more than half the game without ever getting off shots; poor Forrest's Exorcist, without doubt the most-shaken vehicle in the game; and Barret, playing his Deathwatch dreadnought 'Thunderbolt' in his first-ever game of Warhammer 40K, surviving the entire battle without a scratch, despite being shot at by--at least--a Predator, a Falcon, some Striking Scorpions, a Fire Dragon Exarch with a Fire Pike and a Defiler, being assaulted by a Winged Hive Tyrant, and--in the final turn--being tank shocked by Eric's Space Wolf Land Raider...which Barret death-or-gloried and, with one lascannon shot, blew to wolfy smithereens.

There are still some kinks to work out with these 'massively-multiplayer' battles (to borrow a phrase), the down-time between turns and the general level of talk when players are not directly engaged which results, probably foremost. But some of the steps undertaken this time around--particularly the compactness of forces controlled by each participant--seemed to go a long way toward remedying some previous issues (we easily finished the game in under three hours, for example)...and the synergy which comes from having over a dozen enthusiastic hobbyists all playing toward one goal, forming and breaking allegiances and sharing (or keeping) secrets is, I think, undeniably worth it. So expect to see variants of events like this again, soon...perhaps the next time with *all* superheavies!

Meantime...

The second April Lucky 13s stamp-eligible event concludes next Sunday, as players complete and submit 1500-word-maximum short stories featuring one of their Lucky 13s Campaign-participating characters. I am hoping the entries for this event will further personalize future battles...and illuminate the nature of some of our deepening grudges.

The first May Lucky 13s event will spring *directly* from today's multi-player battle, as the Daemonic Council freed by the race to the obelisk will manifest to wreak their vengeance upon the Imperium of Man, in a painting contest to culminate Sunday, May 25th. Interested participants will be able to sign up at HobbytownUSA to submit models (which, unlike the Mordant 13th High Command, will in this case remain theirs to keep and use after), and then the entire Council will lead the Chaos assault against the Mordant 13th in the May 31st Lucky 13s Campaign mega-battle.

Sign up at HobbytownUSA Dallas for that May 31st mega-battle will be announced soon, once the specifics of the scenario are released by Games Workshop.

And watch adeptusnorthtexas.com for word of potentially a third Lucky 13s stamp-eligible event in May, which will be something completely different...

March Lucky 13's Event: Mordant 13th High Command Group Complete!

Hobbyists met Sunday, March 23rd at HobbytownUSA Dallas to complete one of the most unique and satisfying Lucky 13s Apocalypse Campaign events yet--and the Mordant 13th Imperial Guard High Command Group was an enormous success! 19 of the 20 possible models were claimed by participants--and an impressive 16 of those 19 hobbyists delivered on their commitment, arriving on the day with a contribution to the retinue of Lucky 13s Colonel Jago Kallowen which excelled all expectations across the board!

Counting participants, interested hobbyists present, and HTUD staff, 23 ballots for 'Favorite Model' were collected; 11 of the 16 models received at least one vote, suggesting the broad quality across the submissions. Five models received more than one vote: Bob Westbrook's Mastervox Operator collected two to take Third Place, and three hobbyists tied for Runner-Up with three votes each--Vincent Headrick's Staff Officer, Bill Zalman's Standard Bearer, and Matt Mayer's High Commander Colonel Kallowen himself! The winning model, collecting six votes, was Ogryn Bodyguard Ognot Plasma-Face, created by Aaron Wheatcraft!

Thanks to Games Workshop and the staff of HobbytownUSA Dallas for contributing two 40K boxed sets and three randomly-awarded 40K model blisters as prize support--and thanks and congratulations to all 16 participants who earned their Lucky 13s Event Stamp by delivering on their commitments to make this event a tremendous success. Get by HTUD to see the High Command on their display base in the cabinet in the Games section...or come view their battlefield trial-by-fire against the Great Devourer in Saturday's second Lucky 13s campaign mega-battle in the HTUD Game Hall, 'Not On My Watch!'

Congratulations to all the participants on a job well done! View the full gallery here: Lucky 13's Command Retinue Gallery.

Results: Waaghmbat Patrol Tournament Final!

Five consecutive weeks. Fifteen rounds. Three dozen participants. Over a hundred individual games. One Champion.

The four preliminary heat qualifiers in the North Texas Combat Patrol series, The Waaghmbat Patrol, met at Games Workshop Grapevine Mills Sunday in a round-robin, winner-take-all final to determine the Warhammer 40,000 'Combat Waaghmbat' of North Texas. All four participants put forth amazing efforts: representatives from Games Workshop US Headquarters in Baltimore were on hand on the day, and took home copies of the graphically-beautiful, content-intensive army lists completed by the finalists (as well as some choice creative examples from previous rounds!) to show off around the home office; all four finalist armies were not only completely painted, but to uniformly masterful degrees (the tables looked stunning--expect to see photos uploaded providing coverage imminently); all four finalists had attractive framing display bases for showing off (and safely transporting) their armies (the Ork players in particular outdid themselves in this Presentation category); and virtually every battle was closely-contested, as these generals faced scenarios more complex and tactically challenging than any in earlier heats.

Competition was ferocious; at the end of the day, the three runners-up were separated by exactly one point...and the Overall Winner had truly earned his victory.

As befit a tournament series saluting the green scourge of the forty-first millennium, two of the four finalists--Aaron Wheatcraft representing HobbyAnnex and Steve Triolet representing Lone Star Comics--fielded new Ork armies (though--perhaps portentously--The Waaghmbat himself was absent from both patrols); their opponents--Bob Westbrook representing GW Grapevine Mills and Juan Diaz representing HobbytownUSA Dallas--both fielded examples of the 40K army which has become the dominant tabletop force in North Texas, the Tau. Tau pre-eminence continued, with Bob and Juan facing each other undefeated in the final round, in a tense combat which tipped either way more than once: though dice exerted their tyranny, as they will, the question of victory on the top table ultimately hinged on decisions each general made, and the consequences of same...and Juan's unsung Kroot--appropriately, as by consensus they were the very best looking unit amongst four wholly-gorgeously-finished armies, and actually developed a cheering section of their own during the course of the event!--shot Bob's Crisis Suit off the high ground and seized it themselves, to deliver the day to HobbytownUSA Dallas' Juan Diaz!

BEST OVERALL/ WAAGHMBAT PATROL TOURNAMENT CHAMPION: Juan Diaz/Tau

Though the greater good could claim to have been served, even in defeat the Orks prevailed--as Juan used his Winner's Gift Card to acquire a selection of brand new 40K Ork models to begin his new greenskin army. Waaagh!!!

Thanks to the four sponsoring retailers and their staffs, and to Games Workshop US for its generous and unfailing support. Congratulations to winner, finalists and all of the prizewinners and participants in this month-long event! Keep abreast of all things related to the Games Workshop hobby--including future contests such as these!--here, on Adeptus North Texas!