Why I love Devastators, part two

Dipping my toe into counts-as.

Part two of why I love Blood Angels Devastators, especially the missile launcher flavor, starts with a fear of nothing, or perhaps fearlessness.  The so-called "Rifleman" dreadnaught, armed with a pair of twin-linked autocannons, is often advanced as an alternative to devastators.  A Rifleman can put out an equal number of shots (4) as the Devastators can, and the twin-linking means all of those shots are likely to hit, whereas one or two Devastators will probably miss per turn.  The Rifleman can also shoot while moving, so terrain will cause less LoS problems since the dread can adjust itself without losing a shooting phase.  Cost is always a factor, points-wise, and the Rifleman shines here.  Vanilla marines can get a pair of dreads, pumping out eight shots per turn, for 250 points.  Thorough readers or those with a sharp memory will note that this is the same price as a Sternguard squad with missile launchers and just 20 points more than a single missile launcher Devestator squad.  The accepted wisdom is that models with an armor value, like dreads, are more resilient than models with a toughness, like infantry, but I think that's situational and is a point I'll address in a bit.



It isn't all peaches and cream in dreadnaught land.  The biggest drawback is the autocannon itself, at least when compared with a missile launcher.  While a a Rifleman has the same 48" range as the Devastators, and an equal number of shots, the autocannon is less effective than a missile launcher against both armor and infantry.  At first glance the strength 7 autocannon isn't far behind the strength 8 krak missile, but that little gap means that the autocannon can only glance AV 13, while the missile at least has a chance to penetrate AV 13 and can glance AV 14.  The missile will also insta-kill toughness 4 models, which covers the vast majority of troops in the game, while S7 will not.  To be fair, both will wound T4 on a 2+.  The other big difference is in AP: 4 for the autocannon, 3 for the missile.  The extra benefit of the missile is that it cuts out Feel No Pain, which is a huge bonus against Plague Marines or Blood Angels.  These two relatively minor difference yield quite different results.  While the Rifleman is likely to hit with all its AC shots, thanks to twin-linking, and three of those four shots are likely to wound, all wounds will allow a power armor save, and FNP where applicable.  By contrast, the Devastators will miss with a shot, and occasionally two, but those shots will cut through armor and FNP.  The results, on average, are one dead marine (or equivalent) for the AC, versus two dead for the missiles.  I hear you pointing out that I said you could get a pair of dreads for about the same as a Dev squad up above, and I did.  Using my very rough averages, doubling the number of AC shots will double the number of casualties to two, the same as the missiles.  The difference is in the dice.  While you have the potential to kill eight MEQs with the pair of dreads, assuming all shots hit and wound and result in failed armor saves, there's a lot of chance involved.  It's plausible that 8 PA saves could all be successful, and if you factor in FNP the odds get even better.  The missiles take out the armor save entirely.  Your opponent never gets to pick up the dice, only the models.  Knowing that your shots will kill is a much nicer feeling than knowing that your opponent has to fail a save, or two, for the bodies to start falling.  In related news, splitting fire is impossible with the Rifleman, while combat-squadded Devestators can shoot at two different targets should the need arise.

I kinda like this design.

This is the part where I address the durability advantage of things with an armor value.  It takes three successful rolls to take out a vehicle: the shot has to hit, the hit has to penetrate, and the resulting damage table roll has to destroy the vehicle.  Having to roll a 5+ on that damage table is a pain, but when that shot goes in and makes a boom, all the vehicles weapons are done.  Thought the odds are long, a single shot can take out the Rifleman.  By contrast, a single shot will never wipe out an entire Devestator squad (barring an ordinance template or something of that sort, which would make equally short work of a dreadnaught).  A full Dev squad packs in 6 extra wounds for those missile launchers, so the squad will have to take quite a pounding before it starts to fall in effectiveness.  Add in the relative ease in getting infantry a cover save versus the difficulty of getting that same save for a vehicle and you get a unit that's hard to remove.

Looks like this will be a three-parter.  At least it will be up on time for today, so that's progress.  As a parting gift, a bit of obvious truth that should be stated all the same.  I'm basically reinventing the wheel here.  I'm sure that everything I'm saying here has been said better elsewhere by people who know what they're talking about more than I do.  This little series, and this whole blog really, is for my enjoyment foremost.  If anyone else gets some use out of it then so much the better.  Tactics and number crunching aren't my focus, nor do I expect them to become so in the future, but they are a part of gaming and something I've largely neglected to this point.  Next time will be predators and what makes BA Devs so hot snot.  For real this time.

Why I love Devastators, part one

These guys...I love these guys.

Starting time for this post is 11:40 pm.  I want to state now that the day doesn't end until I go to sleep.  This also may well be the first of a two parter.

I love my missile launcher Devastators.  They are the stand and shoot portion of my army, a task they accomplish with aplomb.  The missile launchers are cheap and can take on armor or infantry.  Krak missiles will negate power armor and can penetrate armor 13, while frag missiles are useful for clusters of targets.  When combat squaded into two units with two missile launchers, they can effectively split their fire.  The "filler" marines with bolters act as extra wounds for the missile launchers and can add some mid-range fire when the opportunity arises.  The long range on the missiles means they can generally fire on turn 1 and will be able to cover most of the board. 



The internets don't like Devastators, at least for vanilla marines.  Over-costed is the complaint I see most.  The base marines are the same cost as a Tactical squad of equal size, but for vanilla marines the problem lies in the reason Devastators exist: heavy weapons.  Weapons start at 10 points a piece and cap at 25 for Blood Angels, while codex chapters pay from 15 to 35 points per weapon.  While a relatively minor difference, it does add up.  A 10 marine squad with four missile launchers costs 230 points for vanilla marines versus 210 for Blood Angels.  The gap increases as you progress to plasma and lascannons: 270 vs. 230 for plasma cannons, 310 vs. 270 for lascannons.  If you field two missile launcher squads, like I do, that's a 40 point savings.  This is a point I'll return to, but onward for now.

620 points does seem like a lot to address tank busting for vanilla marines, so alternatives figure into any discussion about Devastators.  Sternguard is one possibility.  They offer more use for the bolter marines, and pack a pair of attacks for melee, but they can only field two heavy weapons.  They get these at a big discount though, and points for a 10 man squad for both vanilla and red marines is 260 with missile launchers, 280 for lascannons.  While the missile launcher option is more expensive than the Devastators, it's only 30 points for vanilla marines, and those 30 points buy a substantial upgrade while also freeing up heavy support slots.  For Blood Angels, the difference for missile launchers is 50 points for half the missiles.  Blood Angels also have better options for melee, and for my purposes the squad should never fight in the assault phase.

Looks like this will be a two parter.  Next time on Khadoran Machine Never Breaks (but may be a minute late sometimes), alternatives continue with vehicles and walkers.  Then I'll address specific strengths of Blood Angels Devastators beyond cost, and then wrap it all up with a bow.

Early Breastfeeding Obstacles Part #6-Cluster Feeding and Growth Spurts

It's late in the evening. You breastfeed your baby and put her down. 30 minutes later, she's screaming again. You check her diaper. Dry. You rock her. No such luck. She is rooting around and sucking on her fists. She's hungry? How could she be hungry? You JUST fed her. So you bring her to breast again. Half hour later, she's hungry again. In an effort to support you, a well meaning friend/spouse/pediatrician nurse line suggests giving baby a bottle of formula because baby is obviously not getting enough.


Try again. What baby is doing is cluster feeding. What your baby's doing is increasing your supply by creating a higher demand because they are going to need more food. If you introduce formula, or even a bottle of pumped breastmilk, you are interrupting that natural rhythm and not increasing your supply as baby is telling your body to do. As we've said before, babies go through several growth spurts especially in the first three months. Kelly Mom says, "Common times for growth spurts are during the first few days at home and around 7-10 days, 2-3 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months (more or less)." That's FIVE growth spurts in just the first three months alone. It's important that you nurse as often as baby demands during these times. Yes, during these times, it's exhausting. I personally went through a growth spurt where my baby was nursing every 15-20 minutes for about 4 hours every evening for almost a week.


SOLUTION: KNOW about growth spurts and don't forget! Make those around you aware of cluster feeding and tell them NOT to suggest formula. Get a huge glass of water, a few snacks (because you WILL feel like that baby is sucking the food you ate that day right out of your boob) and turn on instant queue on netflix. Use this as an opportunity to catch up on your favorite TV show and enjoy this special bonding with your beautiful baby.

Be sure to check out:

Early Breastfeeding Obstacles Part 1 - Visitors & Helpers

Early Breastfeeding Obstacles Part 2 - Comfort Levels

Early Breastfeeding Obstacles Part 3 - Lack of Support

Early Breastfeeding Obstacles Part 4 - Scheduled Feedings

Early Breastfeeding Obstacles Part 5 - Fear

Varnishing in progress

Improvised painting stick and drier in one.

I managed to snatch a very few minutes today for hobbying.  I pulled the second batch of assault marines off their painting holders and stuck them to my now-standard paint stirrer covered in masking tape.  One nice afternoon, and a few minutes later, resulted in some shiny marines. I didn't do the bottom black strip on the bases yet because I wanted to get them varnished and didn't have time to get the paint on and let it dry.  I'm more concerned with getting the models ready for decals, and having written that just now reminds me that I didn't varnish the two rejects from the first batch, though only one needs to be prepped for a new decal.

I also went by Michael's this afternoon to look for the decal additives.  I talked to a guy who looked like a gamer, but didn't know what I was looking for.  I poked around near the models, but found only Testor's enamels and superglue.  I also looked by the Pinewood Derby stuff, but no luck there either.  I'm considering going to the not-so-friendly local hobby store before work tonight, but am on the fence about it.

In the further future, meaning tomorrow, I hope to get a start on the last of the assault marines, but that may be a long shot.  More reasonable goals include twiddling with lists and starting on some backup posts.  While I feel a little weird discussing a list I got from someone else, the first idea that came to me was breaking down the Blood Hammer list and how I (should) use it.  This will be good for a couple posts, which will be a start.  A short post for today, but a post all the same.

Repost: The Princess And The Chick Pea (And The Grape And The Walnut)

http://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.com/2009/07/the-princess-and-the-chick-pea-and-the-grape-and-the-walnut/

(The following story is fictional. Should you see yourself in the Queen then kudos to you!)

Once upon a time (as recent as a moment ago), there was a Queen who gave birth to a Princess. What made her a Queen was that her partner called her one, and what made their daughter a Princess was because they thought her so. Aside from the nicknames, the Queen and the Princess were not unlike any other woman or baby girl.

Shortly after the Princess was born the Queen tried to breastfeed her but the Princess wouldn’t latch. The Queen was disappointed but knew she would try again later. The baby slept for a couple hours and then she tried to nurse her again. Again the Princess wouldn’t latch.

“Isn’t she nursing yet?” inquired a nurse coming into the room. “She looks hungry. I can get her a bottle of formula.”

“Oh, no!” replied the Queen. “She’s fine.”

The nurse looked at the Queen with concern. I’m going to come back in one hour and if that baby hasn’t nursed she’s getting a bottle. You don’t want her to starve do you?” And with that the nurse left.

Rattled, but not to be disuaded the Queen tried to nurse the Princess again. Still no luck. Now the Princess was screaming and all the rocking and cuddling and shushing didn’t work. The Queen asked her partner to take the baby for a short walk so she could collect her thoughts and figure out what to do. The Queen had had two other children. All of them had been breastfed. The Queen had attended numerous La Leche League meetings and was passionate about breastfeeding. She knew there must be a way to nourish her daughter without resorting to formula. Then she remembered. She decided to hand express some colostrum into a spoon. Satisfied with the teaspoon she made, she fed it to the Princess when she returned. The Princess took the spoon, swallowed the colostrum and went back to sleep.

A new mom in the bed over, who hadn’t seen what had happened but who had overheard the commotion with the nurse and crying baby, leaned over and whispered to the Queen, “My baby didn’t latch either so I let the nurses give him some formula. One bottle can’t hurt, is my opinion. Then the baby sleeps and you get some well deserved rest too.”

The woman next to her piped in “My baby latched but my milk hasn’t come in yet. I told the nurses I was concerned by how much he sleeps so they recommended I give him a bottle too. Aren’t you worried your baby might be getting hungry?” The two women looked at each other with a kind of solidarity sympathy.

Ah, the comraderie in ignorance, thought the Queen, who had been hoping to avoid this kind of confrontation. She took a deep breath and said to the first woman, “My baby is only a few hours old. Her stomach is the size of a chick pea. How did your son fare when you gave him the bottle?”

The woman looked confused by this reply. “Uh,” she stammered. “He threw most of it up, but he did get a little down. Why?”

“He threw it up because a day old baby can’t fit that amount of formula in his stomach,” said the Queen pointing to the empty bottle on the side table. “and tomorrow, she continued, his stomach will only gave grown to the size of a grape. So that’s how much milk he will need tomorrow. There’s the perfect amount of colostrum in your breasts to satisfy his hunger.” She smiled weakly at the woman. “I didn’t mean to put you off. I just hate how uninformed so many maternity nurses are. And I’m sorry to tell you this but one bottle of formula does make a difference. It introduces a strain of bacteria to his intestines that would otherwise not be there and it can affect his immune system.”

The woman looked horrified. “What should I do?” she asked.

“Tell them to help you with your latch,” offered the Queen, “or ask to speak to the hospital’s lactation consultant. Or just relax and let the baby latch when he’s ready. That’s what I’m trying to do. This one is my third. They do catch on eventually. They have to eat right? And before formula came along babies breastfed. I can’t imagine many babies died from from failure to latch correctly in the first few days.” She turned to the second woman. “How old is your son?” she inquired.

“He’s just over three days old.”

“You don’t need to be worried that your milk hasn’t come in yet. It will. It always does. Some women’s milk just takes a little longer to come in than others, but it’s still normal to wait up to five days. And he’s getting all he needs from your colostrum too. His tummy is only the size of a walnut so he still doesn’t need too much. I guarantee it! Oh look, here comes my little Princess!”

The Princess was awake and peaceful now. The Queen had disapated most of her stress from the earlier incident with the nurse by talking with her neighbours and felt quite relaxed. “Put her on my belly,” she instructed her partner.

The baby lay on her chest with her little head turned to one side. Her lips turned into a little birdie beak and she began to root. Back and forth her head turned searching for food until at last she sensed what she wanted. She moved towards it her mouth open wide, and finally, with a smack of her lips she latched and began to suck. Her partner looked down on the Queen and the Princess with amazement and joy. A nurse who had been watching quietly from behind the curtain sucked in her breath. “Well, I never!” she stated. They all watched in wonder as the Princess nursed for a few minutes on each side and then fell asleep in milked-out bliss.

“Well, I guess I can cancel the formula,” said the nurse, turning to go. “For now.”

“My Princess won’t be needing any formula,” said the Queen. “This baby was born healthy, with a healthy weight to a healthy mom. She is breastfeeding now and I will continue to do so. She doesn’t need formula to fill her up because her stomach is the size of a chick pea. Tomorrow it will be the size of a grape and the next day the size of a walnut!” She took a breath and went on.”Furthermore, although I do hope you already know this, my breasts make colostrum to provide antibodies to my baby, not to serve the nutritive equivalent of a five course meal! My baby needs to sleep and adjust to the world, she does not need to be force fed formula. By giving these babies formula you’re interfering in their breastfeeding relationships with their mothers. You’re “f-ing” with these mom’s perfectly fine milk supply levels and setting them up to fail. As well you’re taking away from these precious babies their chance to receive nature’s finest immunity building substance known to people-kind! Tell me you already know all this and you’re just being forced by your manager or formula companies to give these babies bottles and I’ll stop yelling at you and go yell at someone else instead!”

The nurse was pale. “Uh,” she stammered. “Uhhhh…” and then without another word she turned and flew out of the room.

“Okay, settle down sweetie,” whispered the partner, “You’re going to wake the baby.”

There was clapping from behind the curtain. The Queen started to cry.

“What’s wrong?” asked her partner in alarm. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just so glad she latched,” said the Queen, as her shoulders heaved and she wiped away her tears.

Tweaks I came up with late last night

Is this the answer?

I picked a bad time to start posting more, but poop happens.  I may fold under the pressure someday, but day one is not that day.  Instead of buckling like a belt, I'll be pulling my socks up and getting on with it.  Today's post is about the Blood Angels list I play.  I run what is effectively the "Blood Hammer" list that's all over 3++ in various incarnations.  I have some small tweaks to my list, but the core is the same: jump assault troops backed up by missile launchers.



Before you cry "net listing dbag" and throw something heavy at me, there is a bit of explanation.  I ran Devastators back in 3rd to support my Rhino rushing troops, especially as shooting increasingly dominated my lists.  Jump troops should really speak for themselves.  I like mobility and punching people in the face, via the table.  Jump packs make that happen, plus they're in keeping with the Blood Angel character.  I started with the idea of having a heavy jumper element combined with a firebase to support their advance.  I looked around quite a bit before finding the Blood Hammer list, which had everything I wanted.  I wasn't sure about massed missile launchers at first, but they've been the best performers in my games so far, so I guess the internets know something after all.

With that said, it makes plenty of sense that when I go to start tweaking I look nigh-immediately to the Devastators.  First to get the axe are the Sanguinary Guard, but once I start looking around for more points to free up, I find myself looking at those missiles.  I have no good reason for this.  It makes no sense considering I've just pointed out that they're the most effective part of my army.  Yet they are under fire all the same.  I came up with a few lists last night, permutations on a basic theme, and this is what I came up with:

130 - Jump Pack Librarian
180 - 2 x Sanguinary Priest w/ Jump Pack and Power Weapon
235 - Assault squad w/ 2 Meltaguns, Power Fist
235 - as above
275 - 10 Death Company w/ Power Fist, Rhino
220 - Tactical squad w/ Flamer, Missile Launcher, Rhino
210 - Devastator squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers
145 - Baal w/ Heavy Bolter sponsons
120 - Dreadnaught w/Multimelta, Power Fist, Extra Armor
1750

So what am I trying to accomplish?  First, breaking up the missile launcher hegemony.  I have no good reason to do this, and probably make my firebase weaker by subbing in a dread and Baal.  However, I like my Baal and haven't fielded it in forever (to say nothing of my Vindicator), and I'm not sure I've ever used the dread that I've had for many years.  When I started tweaking, I accepted that I probably was going to hurt more than help and that I should be guided by playing the models I wanted to play instead of going for the most effective combination.  This explains the DC.  While they're an iconic Blood Angels unit, probably the Blood Angels unit, they're too unpredictable in this edition, to say nothing of how expensive they are.  I like them though, and have a bunch, so I want to use them sometime.  They're not a bad choice, at least in my eyes, they just aren't the best choice and so get left behind.  The Tactical squad was a driving factor to get me to tweak at all.  I wanted a bit of fire support that could still move around and, most importantly, hold objectives as a scoring unit.  While I haven't gotten bitten by the objective based scenarios yet, it's only a matter of time.  Plus I feel bad playing a Marine army with no Tac squads.

So there it is, my first attempt to mess up a good thing.  There are a few concessions to models I actually own.  In a perfect world I'd probably replace the dread and Baal with a pair of the so-called Rifleman dreads, but since I only have one I decided against the pair.  I'm also not sure GW actually makes twin-linked autocannon arms, so Riflemen may be by conversion only.  Of course I have some bits set aside for that, but that's still a plan and not a solid, usable model.  I know that subbing in the vehicles results in a loss of firepower and less durability, but you have to stretch sometimes.  I'm very happy with the Blood Hammer list and would play it more or less as-is if I were playing in a tournament or something like that, but variety is nice.  Much as I'd like to get a firm grip on a single list, I imagine EV would want to strangle me well before I got truly comfortable with any given list.  Plus I'd want to try something new before I was comfortable with what I had.

To wrap this up before midnight, I don't know that I'll get much painting in over the weekend.  As I mentioned last time, I want to do that last strip of base and get a coat of varnish on the "finished" marines, but beyond that things are in flux.  I'd like to get a couple stock posts together so that I can have something on hand if RL intrudes, but that will take some doing.  I'll keep working this new mongrel list over too, to see what I can come up with.  I love the idea of a big, fat hammer unit (TH/SS termies in a LRC, DC in a Stormraven) but they're just so expensive that I can't justify them in 1750 games.  At least, I can't justify them yet...

Yesterday's news today

So close I can taste it.

The second batch is now (mostly) finished, thanks to a heroic bit of drive last night and this morning to get them done.  I finished all the actual painting last night, save one ring at the bottom of the base.  I'm holding off on this so I can keep the minis on the medicine bottle tops and handle them as little as possible.  This morning I did the static grass and Micron pen-ing, the latter of which I did a pretty horrible job of.  All that remains is that bottom bit of base, decals, and varnish.  A trip to Michael's is in the works to look for decal solvents/setters, though I'm not sure when I'll be able to go.

Meltagunner the First.

I've been considering my painting order during this last batch and have come up with some alterations that I hope will make the process quicker and easier.  I've been doing the armor first, at least up to highlighting.  Next is the helmets, followed by "whites," greens, blacks, and metals.  Basing is done at the end.  To try the paint inside to outside idea, I'll still start with a bit of the armor, namely the collar and shoulders that are around the helmet.  The eyes are next, followed by the helmet.  Armor ribbing will be next, and then it kinda breaks down.  I'll probably end up doing the armor last, or at least after all the details that aren't part of the armor.

Meltagunner the Second.

Anonymous chainsword guy.

My method of painting black is also under consideration.  Instead of trying to highlight the black, I'm going to paint it a mid-to-light grey and then give it black washes until I'm happy with the result.  I don't know how well this will work on a meltagun, but for a chapter badge I think the results will be good.  If it's also easier than the way I do things now, then so much the better.

You know who.

In the immediate future, I want to get that last strip of base painted and a first coat of gloss varnish on the models tonight/tomorrow.  After that progress will depend on decal accessories, humidity, and time.  This last one looks to be in shorter supply than usual over the next few days, but I've gotten enough finished on my LPC vow that losing a few days won't hurt too much.  I'm more than halfway done, if you don't consider jump packs and wings.  The remaining models are a sergeant, a squad leader, and the Sanguinary Guard, so there will be plenty of new stuff to keep things interesting.

All these pics are from last night, if you've been wondering where my scribblings are.  I had a purity seal and a half (which turned out ok), four squad markings (which did better than before, but still not good), and two big name scrolls.  These last two were very bad, which was disappointing after how well the first one did.  They'll look fine at arm's length, and this is effectively a learning project, so I'll keep them as is.

Rebuilt and improved.

There was a bit of a disaster yesterday.  The to-be-painted sergeant took a tumble to the carpet.  I was amazed when he popped off his base, but when I looked closer it was a tiny contact area where it broke.  This makes me wonder how secure my other marines are since most of them also have the "on one foot while running" pose.  I put a pin in the foot, then ran it through the base and greenstuffed around it.  This should make the join stronger and also add weight to the base to keep the model from tipping over.  It turns out he has a shoulder pad that has "Sanguinius" sculpted on, along with a company badge, so I can scratch that itch.  No sculpted chapter badge though, so I hope I have some yellow decals.

This is a poor time for it, but no time for improvement like the present.  I want to post once a day here and generally step the blog game up.  It may take a while to figure it all out, but it's something I want to work on.

Parenting Kids Through Difficult Choices

Not long ago on OGrownups, there was a discussion about a blog post that Katie Granju wrote about making a choice for her son when he asked her to. Little did I know that Livy apparently reads OGrownups and gets ideas for new ways to behave. :) In no time flat, we faced the same kind of situation in my house, twice in a 24 hour period.

The first incident was about whether we should go to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History on Saturday or have a friend come over to do a sewing lesson with Livy. I was completely neutral about my part in these things. As neither were better or worse for me, I told her that she could choose which one she would rather do.

"Which one do you think I should do, Mom?"

"I think you should do the one that you want to do the most."

"Yeah, but which one is that?"

"Only you can know that, sweetie."

Skip ahead to tears, rolling about on the bad in apparent agony, and much pleading. Finally, she asked, "Why won't you decide for me?"

"I don't make decisions for you because I don't want to boss you. I want you to control your own life and make your own choices, so that you will grow up to be a really good decider."

"But it's not bossing me, if I tell you to boss me."

"It's not just about you, Livy. It's about me. I don't think it's okay to boss people, and so I don't want to do a wrong thing. I can help you think about your choice, but I will not make it for you."

The second please-boss-me event was the next day when she had to choose which princess dress to wear to a friend's birthday party. She pulled out the choices, tried them all on for me, and then asked me to pick. I reminded her that I wasn't going to make choices for her, and I helped her think through the dress choice: Which is prettiest? Which color do you like the most? Which is most comfortable? Which will the birthday girl like the most at her party? Etc. Etc. for a long time.

She wasn't any happier this time when I refused to make up her mind for her than she was the first time. Again tears and gnashing of teeth. Why would I not just tell her, you may be wondering. Is it really so important a principle to make me endure all this crying? Yes, I think it is.

Choices between two good things are the toughest kind of choices. We want them both; both would have good results. How on earth do we pick? We examine our values hierarchies and try to tease out which choice fits best with our long term best interests. This is a hard skill, and I want Livy to learn it.

The other reason I didn't give concerns what I do not want her to learn in this situation. I don't want her to learn that when we are faced with hard choices, we look to others for a final decisions. We may look to them for advice, for help with problem-solving, or for a sounding board, but we do not relinquish our independence. Each person must accept responsibility for that moment of final choice.

I also don't want her to learn that it is okay to accept responsibility for someone else's decisions. I strive to be a model of virtuous behavior for her, and I, by refusing to stand in for her independent judgment, show her the proper role of an advisor, friend, parent, or spouse. I don't want her to grow up to be the kind of person who accepts the responsibility for other people's decisions.

Lest someone think that I would never enforce my authority in Livy's decision-making, I'll add this. I do make final choices for Livy very occasionally. I hold final say on decisions that endanger life, limb (in a serious way), or other people's rights. But those kinds of decisions are very, very rare. Other than those cases, I advise, counsel, help, and then stay out of the way of Livy's independent judgment. Even when she asks.

Last night and this morning

Group progress, I has it.

I finished the "whites" last night and did the chapter badges to boot.  I'm getting close to the end with this batch, close enough that I might get there tonight.  If you exclude basing, and discount that all the jump packs are unprimed and that a few of them need greenstuffing.  This is a very achievable goal, provided I finish blogging and get started soon.  The only problem is I like having some of the pictures be off to the side, like this one, but am loathe to not have a paragraph cradling the photo like a caring mother.  This naturally requires extra time writing, not to mention things to write about, and the problem only compounds the more pictures I have.  In a situation like this, where I want to turn out something quickly but have half a dozen pictures, it's a concern.

Shoulder cross also lined.

Still, I will forge on all the same.
To-do list to finish the second batch:

Flexible armor
Weapons/silver areas
Company badge
Writing
Armor highlights
Basing
Touch-ups
Varnish
Decals
Varnish

Don't have varnish or decals on hand, so the most possible today is through basing.

I really did highlight that chest chalice.

My Warstore order came in yesterday.  I finally got the Uncharted Seas 2nd edition book.  While I haven't read any of it yet, I have taken a hearty flip through it and there's a lot more artwork, especially of the sailors from the different fleets in drawn or miniature form, plus updated army lists for all the races.  It's been a while since I played US, so it'll be good to get a refresher as I make my way through the book.  I also got a new pin vise, an Army Painter one.  I have an ancient"GW" one that's just a tub with chucks at either end.  Only one side of one chuck is usable with the bits I have, and using it for any amount of time results in gouging my palm as I press the bits into the model while twisting.  This new one has only one chuck, but the other end is basically a large nut that rotates, giving me something larger to press down on while also rotating to not eat into my flesh.  It came with new bits to boot, so a solid upgrade overall.

Some chapter badge detail.

 I ordered some dice I've been looking at for a long time, black with red pips and yellow with black pips.  I like having colors match when possible, and while the blue dice did fine they didn't exactly fit in with my Blood Angels scheme.  Or Iron Dwarves.  Or Khador.  They'll see the field again with Empire stuff though, and perhaps Orks as well, so they're just getting some time off instead of heading out to pasture.  In a final bit of impulse, I got a Warrior Priest as well.  He'll probably serve as an Arch Lector for a while because I love the model and will probably be using one for my general.  I wouldn't mind figuring out a way to put him on a War Altar, but that's down the pipe.

My beside-the-photo paragraphs are losing steam, but I still have two more pictures to go.

A blank naming canvas.

While looking over this batch to see what I had left to do, I started thinking about what to put on the various scrolls on the armor.   Much as I'd like to put "Clubhouse" on the Marine to the left, I think the scroll is long enough to fit "Sanguinius" on instead, and that's more in keeping with the theme.  The chest scroll on the Marine with the chalice above will require a bit of delving into the Iliad for Trojan names, but my copy isn't handy at the moment.  What is handy is that it looks like I can have overlapping pictures, so that whole lengthy paragraph thing I was going on about might prove to be less of an issue in the future.

I've started thinking of this guy as "Clubhouse"

When collecting links just now, I saw that the Warstore is stocking a new line, Scibor's Monstrous.  I think I've seen some of their stuff before, and certainly found a few things that caught my eye(!) this time, so when I get that urge to paint something that looks nice but has no real gaming value I'll have some ideas.  I could certainly use those as Space Marines or Fantasy models, even if the aesthetic would be a little off, but I already have lots of GW Marines, so the need to use one as a Librarian isn't high.

I have this problem where I want my models to be "useful."  Not in an over-arching, real world sort of way, but for my hobbying.  The myriad color schemes for Marines are one of the things I like most about them, but I know that if I paint up a handful of Space Wolves, Black Templars, or some scheme I think would look nice I'll eventually need bodies for a new Blood Angels squad.  Then I'll curse my "waste" of a Marine and start thinking about re-purposing it.  Something like that Spartan fellow is different enough that it wouldn't really fit in with the GW stuff, so there (hopefully) will be less desire to use it as a gaming mini, thereby allowing me to exercise these flights of scheme fancy.

If finally happened.... I was offered... formula

In my 29 months of being a nursing mother I have considered myself to be one of the fortunate ones. Never had anyone nay-saying my breastfeeding relationship (family, friends, or otherwise) and never had any serious breastfeeding issues.

Early February I needed to have a pre-surgery physical. It was at this physical that I mentioned my baby would not take any bottles and I was worried about her being hungry while I was away from her during surgery. The nurse practitioner admitted straight up that she had no idea what I could do, so she grabbed the pediatric nurse figuring that she would have an answer for me. Then it happened.... the nurse offered me free samples of formula. After picking my jaw up off of the floor I said I had gallons of pumped milk, having something to give her wasn't the problem... it's that she doesn't like a bottle.

Now, in her defense, she did seem extremely wary about offering it. And who knows, maybe am exclusively straight breastfed baby would take formula from a bottle. BUT... would it do more harm than good? I'd have to say yes. It is a slippery slope.

Let's say we gave Chicklett a bottle of formula and she took it. Now we have a door open for any opportunity where in the past we would have relied on timing of naps and speed of my errands that we could now do formula instead. Chicklett nurses a little less, but it's not all that noticeable. Then mama gets a cold or illness of some kind and out of sheer exhaustion, I have Rooster give extra formula bottles I can stay in bed longer. Then without warning teething or mastitis happens... the list of foibles goes on and on. See how easily it can all fall apart?

But, lucky for myself and Chicklett, I scoffed at the formula suggestion and stuck with my original plan of using a supplemental nursing system (SNS). Really the point in me asking the nurse advice about breastfeeding was the hopes that she would offer me a SNS to take home and try. At the time I was not sure if the one I had ordered would make it in time, or if it had extra tubing for more than one use so we'd be able to test it out.

Now, I've said it before and I'll say it again... if you truly needed formula I am glad it is available to us. But, we could probably all agree that it is something that is overly offered and used in situations that do more harm than good. If I had been anyone other than myself, this could have introduced a huge kink in my nursing relationship and prematurely ended everything.

I tell these stories because I hope it will get the next mom to think twice if she is offered formula too. Brainstorm with your breastfeeding supportive friends and I guarantee you that formula will almost always be one of the last solutions offered up. When brainstorming possible ways to get Chicklett to drink breastmilk for the three hours I'm away from her... just look at this long list I came up with when talking to girlfriends... yet the two nurses I spoke with that day offered none of this information:

Different bottles

Different nipples

Spoon feed

Supplemental Nursing System

Medicine Dropper

Sippy Cups

Cup feed

Have a friend breastfeed her

Pacifier

Keep our fingers crossed for 3 hours

See what I mean? LOTS of completely plausible solutions. Just gotta think outside the box sometimes.

What I've Done Today

Quick photo dump while I take a break.

The standard group shot.

I started by doing the gold areas.  Then I moved on to the green, my real target.  I did blood drop gems and eyes, though I forgot company markings now that I think about it.  Perhaps I'll get them later tonight

See it?  Around the gem and the top of the vial.

These pictures make them look good, but I'm not so sure about the gems.  The eyes came out better, if a little messy.  I'll do them first on the next batch.  I want to try working inside to outside.

Oooh, reflecty gems.

Finally, I started on the white/bone/parchment areas.  I should finish them tonight, then either helmet touchups or start on the silver.

Nearing the finish line.

I also did repair work on the two decal casualties.

No more holes.

Trying to fill in the chapter badge didn't go so well, but it still looks better than it did.

Still shiny, but less broken.

The end of the month is less than a week away, making my hopes to finish the squad before March slimmer with each passing minute.  I hope to finish the middle batch tomorrow and at least get a decent start on the last three by Monday.  Now, back to the table.

~270 points

270 points gets you a unit of 5 Sanguinary Guard[200] with a Chapter Banner[30], 2 Power Fists[20], a Plasma Pistol[10], and an Infernus Pistol[10].  Did you ever wonder what you could get for those 270 points, give or take a bit?  I did, and I came up with 23 (mostly) plausible uses.

220 - Astorath the Grim
225 - 10 x Assault Squad w/2 Meltaguns, Power Fist
250 - 10 x Tactical Squad w/Lascannon, Meltagun, Combi-melta, Rhino
250 - Mephiston
255 - Lemartes w/ 3 Jump Pack Death Company
255 - Stormraven w/Typhoon Missile Launcher, Hurricane Bolters
260 - Land Raider Crusader w/Multimelta
260 - 2 x Predators w/Heavy Bolters, Extra Armor
265 - Honor Guard w/4 Meltaguns, 3 Storm Shields
270 - 3 x Land Speeder Typhoon
270 - 7 Death Company w/Jump Packs, Power Fist
270 - 7 x Bikers w/MM Assault Bike, 2 Meltaguns, Combi-melta
270 - 6 x Terminators w/Cyclone Missile Launcher
270 - 10 x Devastators w/4 Lascannons
270 - 3 x 5 Scouts w/Missile Launcher, Melta Bombs
270 - 5 x Vanguard Vets w/3 Power Weapons, 2 Storm Shields, Power Fist
270 - 2 x Dreadnaughts w/double Autocannons, Extra Armor
275 - Reclusiarc w/Jump Pack, 5 Assault Marines w/Power Weapon
275 - 10 x Death Company w/Power Fist, Rhino
275 - The Sanguinor
280 - 2 x Furioso w/Extra Armor
290 - 2 x Vindicator
290 - 2 x Baal w/Heavy Bolters

Off Topic Tuesday - Childhood Obsession

It seems to me that in typical American family situations when a child shows an interest in a certain cartoon iconic figure some switch goes off in their brain that ignites consumerism at its best (or worst as the case may really be in my opinion).

Around 18-20 months I let Chicken Little watch TV for the first time. I was pregnant, had mega morning sickness, and was recovering from a broken knee cap... it was bound to happen. Just so happened that he woke up at 8am, and on PBS at that time was Curious George. I would let him watch a 15 minute segment. He really enjoyed it and would light up every time it came on. We happened to have a hand-me-down shirt with Curious George on it, and he would always get excited to wear it.

I started peeking online shopping for Curious George books, videos, clothing, toys, etc. Then I took a moment to stand back and think about what I was starting to do. I was going to develop and encourage an unhealthy obsession of Curious George with my child. Did I really want to do that?

No, I did not want to do that. There is a fine line between encouraging the love of a child with a television character and being a collector of every POS with a smiling monkey on it.

I recalled babysitting as a teenager and dealing with children fighting over certain plates at meal time, "I want the strawberry shortcake bowl!" ... "No, I want it!" ... Hysterical fit of screaming sisters follow by time outs and a stressed out babysitter. Ugh.... really? It's something you EAT on.

I know picky children is something you can't truly avoid, but I'm going to do myself a favor and not feed into the frenzy. I'm not going to go out of my way to buy a particular character. Sure, we have a few items around... but I feel that by not buying into the madhouse of one particular character it's going to cut down on the possessive nature that happens when a child idolizes something. It doesn't always have to be a character either. I've found myself hiding certain toys during playdates that I have noted to be a hot button toy. Things like trucks or trains will get put away before other children come over because it seems like every time there are children battling over it senselessly; pushing, crying, screaming, stealing, and ultimately raising blood pressures of the parents who are here to get a little socialization of their own. Oddly enough, it has never been my child doing the scream/pushing/crying. Not sure if it is because that's just his nature, or if it is because he hasn't had opportunity to raise a particular item/character to iconic level. We'll see how well this goes over with child number two before I go patting myself on the back about it.

Am I mean? Probably. But the other thing to think about is the carbon foot print. Sure, I could make my son the ultimate Curious George bedroom... but what happens a few years from now when he no longer likes it? Sell it? Throw it all away and buy the next fad? Or... how about if I just have a relaxing neutral toned bedroom instead... because that is what a bedroom is for... relaxing and sleeping. I'd rather buy some nice USA made bedding that will last until it falls apart before we need to buy something else, not something that is disposable simply because he has grown out of love with it.

I want my child to actually like something because it is good quality for the price and has the smallest carbon footprint to boot - not because it has a smiling monkey on it. We're too practical in this house for that kind of business.

The decal debacle

I thought this post would be finished by now, yet I hadn't even started until just now.  I'm actually feeling more like sleeping than writing for once, so this will be a short/sparse one, heavier on pictures than on text.  As per last time, I attempted to finally finish the first batch of assault marines the other day, with mixed results.

An innocuous group shot.

Things started well enough, with the painting and the finishing.  After the optimism of the week before last, things on the painting front have bogged down.  The above shot represents the near totality of my work for the past eight days or so.

Detail shot.

Witness above the poor squad markings and static grass.  Taking a suggestion from somewhere or other, I filled in the shoulder X with the Micron pen and I'm mostly happy with the result.  It doesn't overpower the model, but it acknowledges the detail, and it doesn't look like I just ignored the pad anymore.

The favored son of the first batch.

The good news through everything that followed is that this guy up here was unscathed.  Having a sculpted chapter badge meant he didn't need a decal, and so looks exactly like this picture.  Except that he's varnished now.

Shoulder detail.

A closer shot of my shoddy squad markings.  I decided to just put them wherever I felt they'd work.  Considering how individual each marine's armor is, it seems silly that the squad markings would be so rigid.  I had planned to mix Roman and Arabic numerals for the different squads, using decals or "freehand" as necessary.  In the wake of recent events, I'm reconsidering that.  You can also make out the finished blood drop swinging away.  I had intended to paint these up as gems, complete with highlighting scheme, but wanted to get them done.  The vials got the same treatment.

Check out that base.

I got some static grass from EV, which worked like a charm.  I was worried the bright green would look out of place, but I think it works well.  Plus the green grass echoes the green spot color on the purity seals and company badges, so there's that.  Which is nice.

The decal aftermath.

Taking pictures of the decal disaster proved more difficult than expected.  Since the decals were reflective, most of my shots were far too fuzzy to show anything, despite having turned off the flash. 

This was the best of the batch.  Honest.

The problem was that the edges hadn't adhered to the minis.  The varnish helped a lot, but not enough to leave alone, so I started pulling and scraping off the decals.

This one turned out well.

I thought this one was a complete success, but looking at the picture I see one of the lobes of the left wing is missing.  It looks much better now, despite that lobe, after a bit of ministering.  I'll touch it up a little bit and this guy will be done.

This one turned out not so well.

This marine...not so done.  The decal was determined to stay on, enough to make me get out a knife when my fingernail wasn't sufficient for the job.  The good news is I didn't make it down to the plastic.  The bad news is that I have to repaint the shoulder pad before trying to decal it again.  This is exactly the sort of thing that makes me reluctant to finish models off, but in this case I wasn't worried.  I knew I might do this sort of damage, but I was confident that I could fix it up and make it look fine.  It remains to be seen whether or not I can actually do that, but I don't think it will be a problem once I pick a brush back up.