u/AnEternityInBruges

Howdy all!

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This is just a fun idea I've been kicking around, like my all-Dreadnought list - but how much fun is playing an SM list that goes heavy into flamer boys?

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I've ended up with about 20, and was thinking about maxing out with another 10, and giving my Dark Krakens (Salamander successors, coincidentally) a pest-control unit.

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What are the pro-flame/Salamander detachments like to play at the moment? And do we know much about how they might change in 11th?

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There's a caveman/arsonist part of me that wants to just set the whole board on fire. I just thought I'd check if that's as fun, or as viable, as it sounds in my head.

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Gratitude, brothers!

Greetings, fiends and infidels of every heretical stripe. You disgust me; may you all burn in the light of the Emperor.

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(Psst! Come back, I'm lying!)

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So. I accidentally became an Imperial Knights player two Christmases ago, when some wires got crossed and two lovely people bought me the same gift - which, at the time, was about 1000 points of Knights. I'm very lucky.

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But... Eh. I don't know: I never finished either Knight properly and when I play, I play the Marine army into which I was originally going to ally that one (1) single Knight.

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So, I'm always the goodies.

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And I've seen *amazing* paint jobs on the nice Knights. But I want to get freaky and kitbash/convert some legitimate nightmare engines to play with. I even like the idea of having a Knight House that genuinely *was* good - before the Chaos Gods made them a better offer.

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My big questions are:

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1. What are Chaos Knights like to play as, right now? I know, we're changing edition, but is the community basically happy with what they've got, and what they're expecting from 11th? (I'm aware that CK are into Battle Shock in a big way - are the rules changes a big win for you guys, there?)

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2. What sort of options are out there for converting an Imperial Knight to Chaos? Luckily, one of my two Knights is a Lancer - so no stress there. But for the other guy (regular Questoris guy), could I buy a Chaos Knight, and have enough weapon options to build the new one, and kitbash the old one?

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Or, failing that, are there any famously good kits for CK kitbashing? Or any equally renowned Chaos Knight 3D print designers?

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... It sounds like such a fun project. I basically just want to sound out the community, make sure I'm not about to jump feet first into the worst possible time for Chaos Knights by accident.

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Hail Satan, and have a lovely afternoon.

I think about this over and over whenever I think about video game design, and now that I'm (very tentatively) starting my own game, after watching a lot of Tim Cain and others on YouTube, I wanted to hear, a) people's thoughts on this pick, and b) any other line that beats it, or does something of equal genius.

It's right up there, at the very start of the game, before you even do your SPECIAL stats*.

Benny shoots you a line about your perceived (and, you know, actual) run of bad luck - then shoots you a bullet to the brainpan. Next you know, you wake up all woozy with a local town doctor asking you your name.

And then, whatever you type in, he says:

"Well, I can't say it's what I'd have picked for you, but if that's your name, that's your name."

And it's BRILLIANT.

Even without the perfect tonal delivery, it accounts for anything that any type of player could type - even those high-pitched, higher-distortion ones who do nothing but play video games and bang my mum (Mum, you're a man-eater - don't ever change).

You could, as a developer, try a blacklist of verboten names - adding hundreds with each patch and never making a dent in the problem. Or you could program in specific responses, like:

"Jane." - "I knew it! Jane, when you walk out that front door yonder, you be sure to tell Victor that your name's Jane and that rusty old toaster owes me 50 Caps next time he rolls over!"

"James." - "Huh. You know, you don't look like a 'James' to me... Still: unless that's 'James' with a silent 'P', it'll be the easiest thing I have to spell on your records after what those Raiders did to you."

"The Reaper" - "Well, I just saved 'The Reaper' from a big ol' slug of lead perched right above his hypothalamus - so maybe he ain't the Arizona Ranger he thinks he is. But you're alive, and the town's got a Gecko problem that might be more your speed. Let's just finish these tests, first."

"MyGamerHandle69" - "Look, maybe I left a metal pin bouncin' around in there; maybe you got good reason for keepin' your name a secret. Only two things you need to know are that I'm a doctor, and as such, anything you do - or don't - tell me, it stays between us, understand?"

"[Sexually aggressive adjective + horrific racial slur]/Your mum" - "Well, see, where you come from, might be that's as shocking as a Brahmin with one head and six ears. But I was just scraping bits of your brain out from under my fingernails, with a tool I own, for just that one purpose. So why don't you settle down, finish these tests, then get yourself back to wherever that place you came from was. And stay there."

(Thank you for indulging me - I had fun)

There's great writing, in every compass direction, in New Vegas. I wish I could sound as confident as Mr. House when I'm being as wrong as he is discussing future, post-apocalypse space flight (in my opinion - no crucifying!). I have Black Mountain Radio on YouTube as a playlist. Yes Man trying to explain why, actually, every terrible decision I've made (when I've made all of them) is FANTASTIC, when you think about it... Sublime.

But, TL;DR: nothing beats the elegance of that first line and the problem it solves of players calling themselves something daft and breaking the immersion before the game even starts.

I would love to be proved wrong.

*It just occurred to me writing this that Doc Mitchell owns a canon, in-universe machine - the "Vigor Tester" - that can completely transform a human being into a musclebound superman or Miss Mojave Wasteland 2010 with the push of a few buttons. We could swap that for the Platinum Chip. We could rejuvinate Mr. House - and make him a moron. The Brotherhood should give us Helios One for it - then immediately start building us Helioses Two and Three. Doc Mitchell should have hair.

I started airsoft in a country where the summers are OBSCENELY hot - a heat for which this north-south mongrel simply did not evolve.

But I never quite cracked that perfect, fits-in-a-shoe-box, two-minutes-and-I'm-dressed kit loadout.

What I need:

Something super-light, super-strong, and form-fitting. I don't want a plate carrier or anything milsim for the sake of it: I need to carry six mags and a dump pouch, I reckon. Oh: and a holster. Otherwise my small gun falls on the floor, like, every time I stop holding it.

What I've got:

Here's what I'm bringing to the field: 1x P90 with four mags (one loaded, three in pouches - all already bought), 1x Glock 17/18c (mood depending) and two extended mags (the long ones that come with some Glock 18s; I'm used to the weight and handling, now, so I use them with the 17, too).

I have some lovely Bloc eyepro I can wear as glasses or goggles, an NB Tactical "balaclava" (it's super-thin mesh and holds my metal mesh mouth and nose protection in place), and a pair of lightweight Salomon boots for my feet. I have some amazing earpro I bought for shooting (how I got into airsoft) that are perfectly happy playing airsoft, and a OneTigris universal holster thingy that I haven't played/fiddled around with enough yet to know if it's decent (but it seems fine).

Currently, all of that either goes inside or is molle'd onto the outside of this rather handsome messenger bag. It's made in Ukraine, I took it out kayaking and it kept everything dryer than an official dry-bag, and it hasn't had a loose thread in about four years. Bought it for work, but unzipped on game days, it's my dump pouch. Cannot recommend highly enough*; not affiliated in any way.

Thoughts from 6mm minimalists out there? Is there maybe a go-to "battle belt" that everyone agrees is this season's little black dress? I've not ventured into "battle belts" before, but maybe they're the answer. Or some kind of molle headband.

*That said: there's a reason no military on Earth issues messenger bags to soldiers. Probably more than one. BUT: it's a fun experiment, I already own it, and around the safe zone it says, "yeah, I'm playing with toy guns now - but let's do drinks later."