[What follows is an essay-type-thing by a reader that may be of some interest. I was especially interested because I follow Pete Schiff and generally agree with his view on things. Schiff was Ron Paul's economic adviser during the 2008 presidential race. I will be adding my own comments as "SG- xxxxx" in bold later on]
[But first a short video that will give you an idea of where Pete Schiff is coming from. As a small business owner I see this sort of thing directly. I might like to give a raise to my workers, but sometimes can't because of the costs of regulatory burden. This isn't an imaginary thing for me; I see how BTP workers including myself are hurt by government meddling.]
Assessment of Crash Proof 2.0 by Peter Schiff
Schiff’s Core Thesis
Schiff’s primary assertion is that the dollar will dramatically plunge in value, causing an economic meltdown analogous to 1920s Germany. He’s vague on when he thinks this will happen, but his general tone and stridency imply that he thinks this going to happen soon.
He believes that the dollar’s dramatic plunge in value is inevitable due to the synergistic effect of the following events:
1. Other nations (mainly China and Japan) will conclude that the US cannot honor its obligations and will therefore stop buying US treasury securities and will even liquidate their holdings of US treasury securities.
2. When this happens, the government’s deficit spending can no longer be financed by selling treasury bonds to outsiders. The US government will then be forced to print huge amounts of money, causing hyperinflation.
3. Hyperinflation will dramatically erode the dollar’s purchasing power (as much as 90%), with these consequences:
a. Other nations will stop buying and holding dollars since their value will be wiped out by hyperinflation.
b. Foreign manufactured goods will become unaffordable in the US because they will increase in dollar cost at the same rate as inflation.
4. The US people, lacking a productive (i.e., a manufacturing) economy, and being unable to afford foreign goods will quickly become destitute since there is no significant manufacturing base in the US.
5. This will be exacerbated by the fact that the American people have few savings and have therefore incurred a great deal of debt to finance their activities.
6. China will simply start selling their goods to their own people and ultimately supplant the US.
Schiff suggest the following solutions:
1. Individuals should immediately convert all wealth to inflation-proof investments like gold, land, etc. Especially gold, since it has a value outside the US. This will protect them from hyperinflation.
2. As a whole, the American people should dramatically increase their savings and shift back to a productive economy (i.e., a non-service oriented economy), which will take a very long time and result in dramatic economic upheaval.
3. In particular, the US should return to a manufacturing economy in which a majority of workers have higher paying manufacturing jobs, rather than lower paying service jobs.
4. Individuals should invest in foreign companies in the more productive Asian economies.
My Assessment
1. Things I Agree With
a. Many of Schiff’s arguments are logical and persuasive to me. I especially agree with his indictment of US deficit spending and his observation that the Federal Reserve has utterly failed at its primary mandate – to control inflation—and that the Fed has actually created the problems it was supposed to solve.
b. I also agree that the Keynesian school of economics is fundamentally wrong in its assumption that spending is the most effective solution for recessions.
c. In general, I agree that continued deficit spending will be highly inflationary, once foreign nations stop buying our bonds. And it does appear to me that China and other nations have more or less maxed out on their purchases of US treasury bonds.
d. And if the dollar loses its status as the reserve currency, I’d agree that some devaluation of the dollar would occur.
e. He thinks that the stock market is “overvalued”. I agree, but only if you exclude any consideration in the stock prices for future growth. I’m not sure that’s a reasonable approach, though I personally think most public stocks are overpriced.
2. Things I Disagree With
a. Schiff misunderstands certain fundamental economic facts and also misrepresents some important facts that are crucial to the validity of his thesis. I won’t list every quibble and will focus on the flaws that are directly relevant to his thesis.
b. Savings
i. He misunderstands the real role of savings in the economy. He equates savings with “deferred production” -- assets that are invested in activities that will produce far more value in the future. However, savings and deferred production are not the same thing. Savings can certainly lead to deferred production. But not necessarily.
ii. Savings leads to deferred production (and therefore true investment in future productive activities) only when there’s enough demand for loans to put the savings to productive use. I'm not certain that Schiff fully understands that banks are really just “loan brokers”. They take your savings and loan it to other folks. The interest difference is the bank's fee for brokering that loan (and insuring it through the FDIC and compliance with fractional reserve rules). In economic terms, savers are loaning money to others.
iii. Therefore, the economy only benefits from high savings if there is sufficient demand for bank loans for “productive” activities.
iv. The problem is that an excessive savings rate will actually limit the opportunities to defer production. If more money is saved than can be loaned to productive enterprises, then production actually declines and the economy suffers. So a huge savings rate could easily limit the number of viable productive activities that need bank loans. This is because savers won't able to afford the goods/services produced by these ventures, which will then limit the number of ventures that are feasible.
v. Schiff also excludes stock market investments as a form of deferred productivity. I disagree; buying equity in a productive company is economically similar to loaning it money and both are forms of deferred production. Stock certificates represent an actual investment in the company at some point. By buying these shares, you enable the owner to directly or indirectly reinvest in other productive activities. In many cases, the owner is the company itself.
vi. All this means that his focus on savings is misplaced. I do not think that a low rate of personal savings will cause permanent material damage to the dollar’s prospects. Nor do I think that dramatically increasing the savings rate will help the US economy. As Japan found out in the 1990s, a high savings rate weaken economic growth. The high Japanese savings rate deprived the Japanese economy of growth capital. Essentially, the total value of Japanese savings greatly exceeded demands for loans to create/grow “productive” ventures. And this high savings rate meant that the Japanese people had less money to spend, which reduced the opportunity for productive businesses to be created. No sales (due to an unhealthily high savings rate) = no business.
c. Foreign Holders of US Treasury Bonds
i. A bond is nothing more than an unsecured promissory note. So when Asian nations buy US bonds, they are effectively loaning us money.
ii. Like any lender, the Asians could decide to stop loaning us money.
iii. Like any lender, they could decide to liquidate their stockpile of US bonds (i.e., sell the promissory notes to someone else).
iv. However, I am very skeptical that either of these events will seriously damage the US economy:
1. If the Asians stop loaning us money (by not buying US treasuries), we can probably find other lenders (though the interest rate will be higher). If we can’t, then the Asians will have done us a tremendous favor. Our political class will be forced to live within its means or court political disaster by creating serious inflation. Either outcome should be a long term benefit. As Jimmy Carter found out, high inflation will end your political career quickly. The reason Obama can be sanguine about deficit spending is that so far, foreigners have financed his deficit spending. When that stops, further deficit spending will cause a serious inflation spike, which will get Obama (and Congressional spendthrifts) fired.
2. If the Asians liquidate their holdings of US treasury bonds, then it’s hard to see how that will seriously harm us. It will hinder our borrowing somewhat because a glut of US bonds will drive the price down. But it will do serious harm to their currency and securities because suddenly, their national asset value will drop significantly. This means that their bondholders and currency holders will be less certain that they will get paid, which will force them to (in effect) pay higher interest rates for their borrowing. In addition, any commodity denominated in dollars (i.e., all of them) will be reduced in value as the dollar takes a modest hit. This will damage countries that are large exporters of commodities (like China). Assuming, of course, that the US treasury bonds are truly worthless.
3. In addition, such a liquidation would be political suicide for the political classes of many Asian nations (since they made the decision to buy all these US bonds).
d. Foreign Holders of US Dollars
i. As Schiff notes, there are a significant number of dollars held by foreign governments. This is due to two factors—(a) the dollar is used to directly or indirectly fund international trade transactions; and (b) the dollar is seen to have more value than other currencies.
ii. I don’t see either of these situations changing in the near future. What will replace the dollar? No Western currency is plentiful enough nor strong enough to replace the dollar. The Euro has – as I predicted a decade ago – turned into a fiasco and is on life support. Non-western nations lack even the most basic accounting safeguards for anyone to trust their currency. And none of them are numerous enough to do the job.
iii. Hyperinflation could cause the dollar to lose its status as a reserve currency. But that level of hyperinflation would require both item C. and D. to pass, and for the US political class to commit political suicide. I just don’t consider this a very likely occurrence.
e. US Manufacturing
i. Schiff, like many economic commentators, breezily claims that the US lacks any significant manufacturing base. This has been repeated so often that everyone accepts it as an axiom. But is it really true?
ii. Short answer – no, it is not true, and here’s why. If almost everyone was in a service economy and the US had virtually no manufacturing capability, we would all starve or die of exposure. There would be no roads, buildings, cars, machine tools, food production, etc. Since these things exist in abundance in the US, the narrative that the US is not a manufacturing country must, as a matter of logic, be false.
iii. Consider this hypothetical. Ten men constitute an economy. All of them produce tangible goods that they all need to survive. If six of them stop producing and start providing services to everyone, then the economy will immediately collapse, if nothing else changes. But if the four non-service people can triple their productivity, then the economy actually sees a net increase in tangible goods. This should apply at the national level as well.
iv. To test this idea, I pulled the US annual Gross Domestic Product numbers for 1929-2009. I excluded all “non-productive” items – services, government spending, consumer spending (even on durable goods), all imports, etc. For that period, “productive” economic activity has constituted from 30% to 40% of total GDP. The major exceptions are the Great Depression and World War 2, where it was much lower (remember that weapons are not really “productive” – they create no additional wealth). As recently as 2001, the productive economic activity was nearly 40% of total GDP. The fluctuations largely correlate with booms and recessions, which is what you’d expect. And since this is a relatively fixed percentage, and since the GDP has grown dramatically in real dollars over that period, our “productive” economic output (valued in real dollars) has increased dramatically. See the chart below:
v. In addition, as recently as 2009, the US produced about 25% of the total value of manufactured goods in the world.
vi. So given these facts, it is absurd to assert that the US is not a manufacturing nation.
vii. Now, what is true is that there are far fewer manufacturing workers today. But so what? In a technologically advancing nation, one would expect that machines would dramatically improve productivity and reduce the number of people required. And since our overall unemployment rate has been very low (until 2008) and since the average income per worker (in real dollars) has increased steadily since 1929, it’s hard to make the case that these industrial jobs were replaced by lower paying service jobs (as Schiff claims).
viii. In fact, this claim another fundamental economic absurdity in Schiff’s thesis. If manufacturing jobs were actually worth more than service jobs, then there would have to be a strong economic need for those workers. But there isn’t any such need and Schiff’s call to turn the clock back to 1950 would dramatically reduce our net economic output.
f. China, Etc. Replacing the US
i. Schiff argues that China (and other nations) will simply stop selling their manufactured good to the US and instead sell them to their own people.
ii. In my opinion, this is a ridiculous claim that highlights some serious flaws in his reasoning, for the simple reason that China cannot afford to sell all their goods to their own people:
1. China’s per capita GDP is still a tiny fraction of per capita GDP found in most Western economies. This means that the average Chinese citizen annually produces about 7% of the wealth that the average American citizen does. ($3700/yr vs $47,000/yr).
2. China is selling their export goods at very low margins. This mean that the actual economic cost of Chinese export goods is pretty close to what they sell those goods for.
3. So…how will individual Chinese citizens with only 7% of the purchasing power of individual Americans be able to buy these same goods?
4. Or, in raw economic terms, how will the Chinese people, with 7% of the per capita GDP of Americans, produce enough wealth to pay the cost of goods that their factories now export to the US?
5. China’s economy is simply too poor to pay for its own manufactured goods.
iii. This suggests that China’s industrial economy can only survive if the US (or another very wealthy nation) continues to buy their goods. If that stops, most of their factories will quickly go bankrupt. Bottom line – it takes wealth to create wealth, and China is still a poor country on a per person basis.
iv. Now, when China’s per capita GDP is close to that of the US, then Schiff’s scenario starts to become more plausible. Of course, that won’t happen in this century, if it happens at all. Indeed, I expect that robotics will largely make China’s industrial output uncompetitive.
v. As an aside, China has a serious systemic flaw in their economic approach – they are not building an educated, technically skilled middle class. If you look at construction projects in Shanghai, you’ll see very little mechanization. Rather than a couple of large backhoes, you’ll see hundreds of laborers with shovels. This “brute force and ignorance” approach will seriously limit the growth of a middle class in China. And no modern industrialized nation has ever made it to first world status without a large middle class.
vi. Finally, a comment on the recent news that China’s economy is now larger than Japan’s. Uh, so what?
1. When dealing with large nations, I think that per capita GDP is a far more useful indication of a country’s economic power. By that standard, China is hardly a powerhouse. With 12x Japan’s population, their economy is approximately equal in size. This means that the Japanese create 12 times the wealth per person that the Chinese create per person.
2. And while developing economies can experience tremendous growth early on, that growth almost always slows dramatically as the economy matures. You can’t assume that because China (say) doubles its $1500 per capita GDP in 10 years, it can do the same when its per capita GDP is $15000.
3. Also some very astute observers believe that China is “padding their books” and that their true economic performance is far lower than reported. One of these guys is the guy who figured out that Enron was cooking its books. I recall a salient point he made about China – that while they reported a tremendous increase in car sales in 2009 (increasing their total car stock by 25% in that year alone), their gasoline consumption remained flat. There are similar dissonances in other sectors of the Chinese economy. Of course, investment counselors who have touted China in the past have elaborate lists of speculation as to why this isn’t evidence that China is cooking the books. But given the fact that China lacks even the most rudimentary level of financial transparency, Occam’s Razor suggests to me that they are probably cooking the books.
g. A Return to the Gold Standard
i. Schiff argues that fiat currency (i.e., paper currency not backed by assets with inherent value) is a Bad Thing and that a return to the gold standard would dramatically benefit the US economy.
ii. While it is true that gold-backed money would put an end to deficit spending, there are some serious negative consequences to returning to the gold standard:
1. Politicians could replace deficit spending with higher taxes (economically similar), so the gold standard is no guarantee of reduced government spending.
2. Gold itself has no “intrinsic” value, other than as an industrial metal. So it is really a fiat currency as well. It’s just one that governments can’t magically create.
3. And since gold is a commodity, its value fluctuates considerably, often on a daily basis, and often far more than paper currency does. This could easily cause economic upheaval as currencies would fluctuate just as much. In addition, gold would be far easier for unscrupulous individuals to manipulate, and it would be nearly impossible for governments to counter such manipulation. There were economic booms and busts just as frequently when the US was on the gold standard. Note that the Great Depression occurred when we were on the gold standard. (Of course, the length of the Great Depression was caused by government interference in the economy, not by being on the gold standard).
iii. So I have never been convinced that a return to the gold standard would be of serious benefit to the US economy. It is certainly not a serious solution to our problems.
h. Printing Money
i. Given his detailed critique of the Federal Reserve, I am surprised that Schiff would claim that the US government would resort to printing money. This is because the US Government cannot print money. It can only tax the citizens and borrow money via bond sales.
ii. And if Schiff’s other predictions come true, no one will loan us money.
iii. And while it’s certainly possible that the US government could raise taxes to very high levels, that won’t cause inflation.
iv. Of course, the Federal Reserve prints money. And if it buys US treasury bonds, then the result is analogous to the government printing money. However, this has been a relatively small scale occurrence. To flood the economy with cash and create massive hyperinflation, the Federal Reserve would have to increase such activities by several orders of magnitude. I don’t see that happening, simply because the Fed chairman is not controlled by the Congress or the President. Also, the Congress would have to approve the sale of huge amounts of bonds, and that would be political suicide for the politicians who support this.
v. I should add that I think that the Fed will create higher inflation by purchasing treasury bonds. But 10-15% inflation is not hyperinflation.
i. Deficit Spending
i. Schiff is highly critical of deficit spending (and the Keynesian obsession with spending as a panacea for recessions). I generally agree with him that deficit spending is a Bad Thing and that the Keynesians are wrong.
ii. However, I disagree strongly that deficit spending is inevitable and uncontrollable. In the 1990s the deficit was eliminated. And had Bush not chose to fund the War on Terror with deficit spending, he would have had a balanced budget. So there is strong, recent precedent for the political class to eliminate deficit spending. They will just have to be convinced that doing so is critical to their survival.
iii. Even if deficit spending continues, it will be nearly impossible to create hyperinflation from just that. The reason is that you would have to flood the economy with ~$10 trillion of extra money to cause ~50% inflation. (Assuming about $10 trillion in the current liquid money supply, which was the case last year). And that would have to be done every couple of years to maintain such inflation. Not even B. Hussein Obama is considering that. So even trillion dollar annual deficits won’t create hyperinflation. They will, however, create normal inflation, which is bad enough.
3. Bottom Line
a. Schiff has artfully painted a very bleak scenario that seems inarguable. But – this is true only if his underlying factual assertions and logical assumptions are accurate.
b. Fortunately for the rest of us, many those assertions and assumptions are inaccurate or logically dubious.
c. Of course, Schiff did predict the real estate meltdown of 2008. However, past performance does not always translate to future performance. And it should be noted that he was hardly the only person predicting a coming real estate bubble. Many commentators were very concerned that the permissive lending environment (combined with Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac’s de facto guarantee to purchase loans, no matter how dubious) was causing housing prices to increase to absurd levels. And that there was an inevitable day of reckoning coming. But no one – including Schiff –knew when it would occur. So I wouldn’t make too much of the fact that he predicted an event that many sensible folks expected to happen at some point.
d. And note that Schiff is in the business of selling gold and investments in other countries. Awfully convenient that these are the very solutions he recommends…
e. So while I do think that there will be serious economic issues in the near future, I am not persuaded that Schiff’s scenario is very plausible. I would not make serious economic decisions based on his scenario. The likely economic problems in the future are bad enough.
Note: This paper is my opinion. I am not a professional economist, nor do I play one on television.
Crash Prone
Isle of Blood
For those that want to have us do some work on Isle of Blood, I will be splitting up the sets. You can get all the Skaven or all the High Elves for $40.
I have a pricing sheet up already.
Special #1: Get 20% off the cost of painting if you give Artistic License.
Special #2: Get 30% off the cost of painting if you go L2/4 split.
Special #3: Get 40% off the cost of painting if you give Artistic License and L2/4 split.
Note that the downloadable sheet only shows AL at 10% off.
Webcast 40K Game on Saturday
Saturday 7pm Mountain time we're having a live webcast of a game of 40K. There will be new terrain and one army you haven't seen in a Batrep yet.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blue-table-painting
We will have ONLY the overview cam. There is no one to operate the battlecam. To remedy this we'll be putting the batrep up on Youtube later.
Unlimited Pts - Space Wolves Roster
HQ: Rune Priest in Power Armour (1#, 150 pts)
1 Rune Priest in Power Armour @ 150 pts (Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Wolf Tail Talisman; Wolftooth Necklace; Jump Pack; Bolt Pistol; Runic Weapon; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Independent Character; Psyker; Jaws of the World Wolf; Murderous Hurricane; Saga of the Beastslayer)
HQ: Rune Priest in Power Armour (1#, 110 pts)
1 Rune Priest in Power Armour @ 110 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Wolftooth Necklace; Bolt Pistol; Runic Weapon; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Independent Character; Psyker; Jaws of the World Wolf; Murderous Hurricane)
Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 145 pts)
1 Dreadnought @ 145 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Wolf Tail Talisman; Wolftooth Necklace; Assault Cannon; Dreadnought CCW; Heavy Flamer)
Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 175 pts)
1 Dreadnought @ 175 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Wolf Tail Talisman; Wolftooth Necklace; Dreadnought CCW; Heavy Flamer; Twin Linked Lascannon)
Elite: Wolf Guard Pack (5#, 275 pts)
1 Wolf Guard Pack @ 275 pts (Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour; Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour; Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour; Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour; Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour)
1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Wolf Claw; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Wolf Claw; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Power Fist; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Wolf Claw; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Power Fist; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (11#, 215 pts)
9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 215 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Close Combat Weapon x9; Meltagun; Power Fist; Meltagun; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Rhino)
1 Grey Hunter w/ Power Fist (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x1; Bolter x1; Power Fist; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter; Repair)
Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (11#, 215 pts)
9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 215 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Close Combat Weapon x9; Meltagun; Power Fist; Meltagun; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Rhino)
1 Grey Hunter w/ Power Fist (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x1; Bolter x1; Power Fist; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter; Repair)
Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (11#, 215 pts)
9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 215 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Close Combat Weapon x9; Meltagun; Power Fist; Meltagun; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Rhino)
1 Grey Hunter w/ Power Fist (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x1; Bolter x1; Power Fist; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter; Repair)
Fast Attack: Skyclaw Assault Pack (9#, 207 pts)
7 Skyclaw Assault Pack @ 207 pts (Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Jump Pack; Power Armour; Mark of the Wulfen; Bolt Pistol x6; Chainsword x7; Flamer; Power Fist; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Berserk Charge; Counter-attack; Headstrong)
1 Skyclaw w/ Mark of the Wulfen (Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Jump Pack; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x1; Chainsword x1; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Berserk Charge; Counter-attack; Headstrong; Rending in CC only)
1 Skyclaw w/ Power Fist (Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Jump Pack; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x1; Power Fist; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Berserk Charge; Counter-attack; Headstrong)
Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (5#, 175 pts)
4 Long Fangs Pack @ 175 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Close Combat Weapon x4; Lascannon x4; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Fire Control)
1 Squad Leader (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Fire Control)
Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (5#, 115 pts)
4 Long Fangs Pack @ 115 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Close Combat Weapon x4; Missile Launcher x4; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Fire Control)
1 Squad Leader (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Fire Control)
Validation Report:
b-2. Apocalypse Allies: Trusted Allies only; c-1. File Version: 1.08b For Bug Reports/www.ab40k.org; b-1. Roster Options: Apocalypse, Imperial Armour, Special Characters; a-1. Scenario: Normal Mission; 1. Chapter: Space Wolves
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules
Total Roster Cost: 1997
Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com
Lift and Drag
The US accounting and tax preparation industry includes about 90,000 firms with combined annual revenue of $65 billion.
These are people who have houses, cars, shoes, food, and so forth. But they do not produce any of those things. Their productive energy is diverted into a net non-productive line. This is the cost of transferring money from an individual/group to another individual/group.
I wonder where your tax money goes? Who benefits?
I went to my accountants' building the other day and they had remodeled. Marble floors and plush furniture.
At my little putt-putt business we spend about forty man-hours a year just keeping records on the off chance that we are audited. So, if one business in fifty is audited every year it means that perhaps at least sixty man-hours on average for the other forty-nine businesses is needed just in case the Inquisitors might stop by. This is non-productive effort. It didn't do anyone any good.
Roughly: 49 small businesses like mine X 60 man-hours of record-keeping every year X (say) $15 per hour = $44,100 down the drain just so that ONE business could be audited.
This is false economy.
So, when I hear the President talk about "waste, fraud and abuse" and how he's going to close down loopholes I just laugh my head off. You can hear it all the way down the hall.
Waste!? You want to talk about waste? A full working week of my life is wasted every year storing and tracking receipts; recording my every move just in case I have to prove my innocence. And that's just what it is.
This is not freedom.
Sometimes I wistfully dream of a world where my life is my own. I dream of writing (more) checks to relatives and neighbors to help them out. I want to touch their lives directly.
Wouldn't it be better just to trust people to take care of their own neighbors? Are we so wicked as a nation that we need a small army of bureaucrats and inquisitors to be sure we do the right thing?
No we are not! Americans are good-hearted people who will take care of their own. We don't need a monstrous central government to maintain the so-called social safety net. Friends, relatives, and neighbors are a surer support. We need to bond with each other, not to the Social Security Administration.
I'm back baby!
_________________________
Hey Shawn. Hope all’s well with you and yours.
Here’s a comment to your latest blog posting. I couldn’t leave it directly for some reason, so feel free to post it yourself, if you think it has merit:
***
Shawn, it's actually worse than that. The accountants at least have competitors, which means that there are limits on how much they can charge you for their non-productive activity. In addition, some accounting services theoretically make you more efficient (tax preparation, financial statement prep, etc.)
But government workers are non-productive *and* provide nothing that will make the productive folks more efficient. Worse, they have no competitors, so the cost of their non-productive services is far higher than it would otherwise be.
That’s why sensible people want to keep the government as small as possible and to minimize its impact on the economy. The government is an economic parasite and should therefore be extremely limited in size.
***
Also, a client asked me to review a book by Peter Schiff called “Crash 2.0”. You may have read it or seen it, but it’s a bestseller that posits that the US dollar is headed for a massive devaluation and that China will inevitably eclipse the US. My client asked me to evaluate his arguments because he’s making some important decisions that will be seriously influenced by our consensus on the likely trajectory of the economy.
In case you might be interested, I’ve attached my analysis, scrubbed of any client info. Even if you haven’t read the book, I suspect you’ve encountered these assertions..
Bad Watermelon
Yesterday I think I ate some bad watermelon and it destroyed my guts from 10pm to 10am. For twelve hours I couldn't sleep more than 15 minutes at a time. It felt like someone with spiked metal gauntlets was tearing out my insides four times an hour. It was hideous beyond description. Like Abu Ghraib in my intestines.
My wife has no idea what that kind of pain is like.
Anyway, feeling a lot better now. I actually ate some dinner, that was really nice. My wife had a half a gyro left over from a lunch with a girlfriend today.
Things are groovy at the studio. We are more caught up than ever and I'm very, very excited to get some new projects set up. They can get almost immediate attention nowadays.
Ghorgons for sale
Get a Ghorgon made up:
$170 unpainted, $260 painted.
See pics of two we've done.
You can specify painting instructions and have input on assembly.
We also make a mean Jabberslythe.
$95 unpainted, $165 painted.
Hungry for Blood- an army ready to go
Bloodletter shown for scale. My review of this model: it is awesome! It's loaded with detail and just oozes Khorne.
I've got the fixins for a Khorne Daemons army on hand. It's all at the studio and ready to go*. This is a dual-use army. It can be used for 40K or Warhammer Fantasy (2250 pts). The army is proposed as follows:
1x Greater Daemon of Khorne (made from Forge World Daemon prince with custom wings)
2x Heralds of Khorne (both custom conversions, one is a battle standard bearer)
1x Skulltaker (published model)
48x Bloodletters (six units of eight or for WHF two or three units)
6x Bloodcrushers (one converted to pass as a Herald or unit champion)
This army is an absolute living nightmare for enemy heroes. Everything has Killing Blow somehow, and with plenty of attacks to back it up. This is significant in 8th edition as people are fielding more heroes and relying on one to carry the battle standard. The Obsidian Armor upgrade makes the Heralds a terror in challenges. It means that enemy heroes have to kill them bare-handed while dodging Killing Blow. The entire army has a decent stat
That's easily 2250 pts in Fantasy.
All models painted L3 (L5 for Greater Daemon)
Larger creatures need to be on 50mm rounds (not 60mm rounds) so they will double on the warhammer fantasy movement trays. However, we also include magnetized squares so they can be used in warhammer fantasy.
Cost is $1160. It will take one week to complete. All materials are on hand. If we do not have pics up within one week of you paying the deposit you pay $30 less.
If you would prefer to make payments we can split it into up to three roughly equal payments over the course of up to 30 days. The first payment is a non-refundable deposit.
This will be painted in traditional khorne colors. We will take minor requests (must be agreed to beforehand), but otherwise the army is artistic license.
Bases will be decorative type (barren or cracked lava type as you choose, but most bases with some kind of embellishment).
Options:
1) Army is only use-able for 40K = $100 less (we drop move trays, battle standard herald becomes just a herald)
2) Army is only use-able for Warhammer Fantasy = $20 less (we mount all larger creatures on squares, bloodletters still on rounds-- that is what they are)
3) Add Bloodcrushers for $40 per model (cost includes model/assembly/painting)
4) Add Bloodletters at $11 per model
5) Add Hounds of Khorne at $25 per model
6) Add anything you want (contact Shawn at bluetablepainting@gmail.com for price list)
7) Change Daemon Prince to Bel-Akor model = $40 less
8) Increase Painting Level to L4 (L6 for greater daemon) = $350 more
9) Decrease Painting Level to L2 (L3 for greater daemon) = $200 less
10) Add flying Bloodletters as Furies at $17 per model (using Tyranid gargoyle wings, awesome conversion)
Quantity and Duration are limited for this special. Normal price would be $1390, in case you miss it but still want one!
2286 Pts - Daemons of Chaos Roster
Bloodthirster (1#, 550 pts)
1 Bloodthirster of Khorne @ 550 pts (General; Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Causes Fear; Causes Terror; Daemonic; Flyer; Immune to Psychology; Large Target; Magic Resistance (2))
1 Awesome Strength
1 Immortal Fury
Herald of Khorne (1#, 150 pts)
1 Herald of Khorne @ 150 pts (Hand Weapon; Locus of Khorne; Causes Fear; Daemonic; Hatred; Immune to Psychology; Killing Blow; Magic Resistance (1))
1 Obsidain Armour
Herald of Khorne (1#, 300 pts)
1 Herald of Khorne (Battle Standard Bearer) @ 300 pts (Hand Weapon; Locus of Khorne; Battle Standard Bearer; Causes Fear; Daemonic; Hatred; Immune to Psychology; Killing Blow; Magic Resistance (1))
1 Standard of Chaos Glory
1 Obsidain Armour
Skulltaker (1#, 150 pts)
1 Skulltaker @ 150 pts (Flaming Attacks; Hand Weapon; Causes Fear; Daemonic; Hatred; Immune to Psychology; Killing Blow)
1 Cloak of Skulls
Bloodletters of Khorne (24#, 343 pts)
23 Bloodletters of Khorne @ 343 pts (Hand Weapon; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Daemonic Icons; Causes Fear; Daemonic; Immune to Psychology; Killing Blow; Magic Resistance (1))
1 Bloodreaper (Hand Weapon)
1 Icon of Endless War
Bloodletters of Khorne (24#, 343 pts)
23 Bloodletters of Khorne @ 343 pts (Hand Weapon; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Daemonic Icons; Causes Fear; Daemonic; Immune to Psychology; Killing Blow; Magic Resistance (1))
1 Bloodreaper (Hand Weapon)
1 Icon of Endless War
Bloodcrushers of Khorne (6#, 450 pts)
6 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 450 pts (Hand Weapon; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Causes Fear; Daemonic; Immune to Psychology; Killing Blow; Magic Resistance (1))
1 Juggernaut of Khorne (Brass Behemoth; Causes Fear; Daemonic; Immune to Psychology; Killing Blow; Magic Resistance (1))
Validation Report:
Army Subtype: Daemons of Chaos; Edition: 8th Edition; Game Type: Normal Game
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules
Total Roster Cost: 2286
Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com
*OK, one unit is not here yet, but is expected in tomorrow.
Reminders
I also have several armies on hand and ready to paint. They all are about 2000 pts and can be started in right away for a cost in the $950-1150 range. That's a finished army. I can nail it down if anyone is interested. I would prefer to do them as Turbo type armies with complete license.
Empire
Lizardmen
Khorne Daemons
I also have those 100x Cadians plus 8x Tanks for $950. That's 2000 points.
Speaking of that last, I've been thinking over a list for Warhammer Fantasy, 2500 points. Looks something like this:
Bloodthirster x1
Heralds on foot x2-3 (including BSB and one on Juggernaut)
Skulltaker x1
Bloodletters x48
Bloodcrushers x6
Something like that. Cost is $1300. If you order the first one it's $1050. This is with broad artistic license.
There will be a Warhammer 40K webcast of a live battle report on Saturday, August 28 at 7pm at night Mountain Time.
Perfect Day
I slept in until around 10am this morning. Unheard of really. My wife was up late last night making chocolate chip cookies, flat and buttery just like I like them. I had three for breakfast and watched a couple of episodes of Stargate (I'm starting that again to get inspiration for the sci-fi campaign).
Church was magnificent, even though we missed the first hour. Sunday School was about Job-- always something to be gained there. I am like the anti-job; not being very obedient or faithful, but blessed in spite of it. I gave the lesson in Elder's quorum. I was called less than an hour before church to give it and I agreed at long as I got to choose the topic; Grace and Mercy. It turned out quite well. It's a subject I feel strongly about. In short, I think that God if full of grace and goodness and it is up to us to learn to receive it.
After church I took a rest with Tamie while the kids went downstairs to play. In the evening there were summer thundershowers. The sky was mostly grey, like a painting, with curving panels of pale blue and white here and there where the sun shone through. The rain was scattered and warm on the pavement. It was like an alien planet.
Life is so good. Today was like a day trip to heaven.
Coming out of Retirement
Hi Shawn,
This is Emma's dad Jamie, AKA the cameraman. I think Emma will get a great kick out of having her video on your blog, as you can see she likes to ham it up. I'll show her your message in the morning.
We all enjoy your videos, we've pretty much seen them all and always look forward to the new stuff. It is some of the best, family friendly stuff on youtube, We've only been playing miniatures games for a couple years so we like the battle reports and general ramblings about the game and of course seeing all the cool models. It's nice to see people having fun, not taking themselves so seriously, the gaming sites at large could learn from that. I know that if the kids are watching BTP videos they'll have a few laughs and not get scarred for life...well except the high kickin chicken. ;)
All the best, and thanks to the whole BTP crew
Jamie
Live Webcast: High Elves vs Skaven
Links to finished vids:
Whole Game (3 hrs)
Q&A
(We did about an hour of comments with Josh and Renn, but it didn't get saved)
On the isle of Ulthan the Skaven finally break through.
Army Lists are forthcoming. Check back later.
Remember the High Elves vs Skaven battle report is on Saturday, August 21 at 12pm Mountain time (GMT-7). We are being very careful to start just on time, so please tune in.
We'll have one person operating the "Battlecam" and moving that around. The metal arm is just not doing it. Another person will be fielding questions in the chat module.
Important Links
Battlecam (moves around)
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blue-table-painting
Overviewcam (shows whole battlefield)
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blue-table-painting-2nd
General Information:
http://bluetablepainting.blogspot.com/2010/08/live-webcast-of-battle-report-tyranids.html
Skaven
2500 Pts - Skaven Roster
Stormvermin (32#, 513 pts)
29 Stormvermin @ 285 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Halberd; Heavy Armour)
1 Fangleader (Hand Weapon; Halberd; Heavy Armour)
1 Storm Banner
1 Warlord @ 228 pts (General; Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Shield)
1 War-Litter
1 The Fellblade
Chieftan (40#, 328 pts)
1 Chieftain (Battle Standard Bearer) @ 113 pts (Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Battle Standard Bearer)
1 Warrior Bane
1 Shield of Distraction
1 Rival Hide Talisman
1 Tail Weapon
38 Clanrats @ 215 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)
1 Clawleader (Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)
Clanrats (40#, 220 pts)
39 Clanrats @ 220 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)
1 Clawleader (Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)
Clanrat Slaves (30#, 62 pts)
30 Skavenslaves @ 62 pts (Musician Mus; Hand Weapon)
Clanrat Slaves (30#, 62 pts)
30 Skavenslaves @ 62 pts (Musician Mus; Hand Weapon)
Warp-Lightning Cannon (1#, 90 pts)
1 Warp-Lightning Cannon @ 90 pts
1 Engineer & Crew
Doomwheel (1#, 150 pts)
1 Doomwheel @ 150 pts (Causes Terror; Immune to Psychology; Large Target)
1 Crew (Warlock & Rats)
Doomwheel (1#, 150 pts)
1 Doomwheel @ 150 pts (Causes Terror; Immune to Psychology; Large Target)
1 Crew (Warlock & Rats)
Hell Pit Abomination (1#, 235 pts)
1 Hell Pit Abomination @ 235 pts (Causes Terror; Large Target; Regenerate; Stubborn)
Plague Monks (22#, 536 pts)
19 Plague Monks @ 195 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Extra Attack; Frenzy)
1 Bringer-of-the-Word (Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Extra Attack; Frenzy)
1 Plague Banner
1 Plague Priest @ 341 pts (Level 2 Upgrade; Hand Weapon; Plague Censer; Frenzy)
1 Plague Furnace (Frenzy; Large Target; Magic Resistance (2))
1 Dispel Scroll
1 The Other Trickster's Shard
1 1. Pestilent Breath
1 6. Plague
Warlock Engineer (1#, 65 pts)
1 Warlock Engineer @ 65 pts (Hand Weapon)
1 Skavenbrew
Warlock Engineer (1#, 85 pts)
1 Warlock Engineer @ 85 pts (Level 1 Wizard; Hand Weapon)
1 Obsidian Trinket
1 Ironcurse Icon
1 5. Scorch
Validation Report:
Army Subtype: Skaven Army; Edition: 8th Edition; Game Type: Normal Game
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules
Total Roster Cost: 2496
Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com
High Elves
2500 Pts - High Elves Roster
Prince (1#, 242 pts)
1 Prince @ 242 pts (Always Strikes Last; General; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon)
1 Armour of Caledor
1 Vambraces of Defense
Archmage (1#, 270 pts)
1 Archmage @ 270 pts (Level 4 Upgrade; Hand Weapon)
1 Silver Wand
Noble (1#, 163 pts)
1 Noble (Battle Standard Bearer) @ 163 pts (Always Strikes Last; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon; Battle Standard Bearer)
1 Armour of Silvered Steel
Caradryan (1#, 175 pts)
1 Caradryan, Captain of the Phoenix Guard @ 175 pts (Heavy Armour; Causes Fear; Magic Resistance (3))
1 The Phoenix Blade
Lothern Sea Guard (20#, 285 pts)
19 Lothern Sea Guard @ 285 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Bow; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)
1 Sea Master (Hand Weapon; Bow; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)
Lothern Sea Guard (25#, 350 pts)
24 Lothern Sea Guard @ 350 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Bow; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)
1 Sea Master (Hand Weapon; Bow; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)
Phoenix Guard (14#, 285 pts)
13 Phoenix Guard @ 285 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Halberd; Heavy Armour; Causes Fear)
1 Keeper of the Flame (Hand Weapon; Halberd; Heavy Armour)
1 The Skeinsliver
1 HighElf
Sword Masters of Hoeth (24#, 450 pts)
23 Sword Masters of Hoeth @ 450 pts (Always Strikes Last; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour)
1 Bladelord (Always Strikes Last; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour)
1 The Gem of Courage
1 Banner of Sorcery
Lion Chariot of Chrace (5#, 140 pts)
1 Lion Chariot of Chrace @ 140 pts (Chariot)
2 Crew (Always Strikes Last; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon)
2 War Lions (Causes Fear)
Lion Chariot of Chrace (5#, 140 pts)
1 Lion Chariot of Chrace @ 140 pts (Chariot)
2 Crew (Always Strikes Last; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon)
2 War Lions (Causes Fear)
Validation Report:
Edition: 8th Edition; Game Type: Normal Game; Army Subtype: High Elf Army
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules
Total Roster Cost: 2500
Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com
Standing Armies
Check out these bad boyz:
http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_gallery.php?galleryID=3697
I got fixins to make any of the following armies:
Khorne Daemons (fantasy or 40K or dual use)
Empire
Lizardmen
Space Marines
I recommend a turbo army but you can do a la carte. You will save about half on assembly AND on the cost of models. Basically, for a turbo army I'll do more stuff to account for that.
We have plenty of manpower to start on any project right away. Please contact me at bluetablepainting@gmail.com
Empire Contingent at Ready
I got an unpainted Empire army on trade, all in excellent condition (unpainted):
Alternatively, you can just buy all the models as-is for $310.
This is a strong starter army for Empire, just the right amount of each item. I would also recommend magnetized movement trays.
Again, we can start on this right away, which is the huge advantage. If you want to add items, this can be done at your option as a second part so that it does not delay the first wave.
Contact Shawn at bluetablepainting@gmail.com
Space Wolves 6000+ pts for sale
Just got in a SW army for trade. Lots and lots of goodness. I think the points cost actually exceeds 7000 pts.
It's complete with Battlefoam, the works. I have a detailed army list if you want to email me. Cost is $3450 shipped to most countries. If you pick it up before this Friday the cost is $2950.
http://www.bluetablepainting.
http://www.bluetablepainting.
http://www.bluetablepainting.
HQ |
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| Canis Wolfborn | 1 |
| Logan Grimnar, The Great Wolf | 1 |
| Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane | 1 |
| Njal Stormcaller | 1 |
| Wolf Lord | 2 |
| Wolf Priest | 2 |
| Rune Priest | 1 |
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| Elites |
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| Arjac Rockfist | 1 |
| Wolf Guard Terminators | 20 |
| Wolf Guard Biker | 1 |
| Wolf Guard PA | 5 |
| Wolf Scouts | 10 |
| Dreadnought | 2 |
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| Troops |
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| Grey Hunters | 44 |
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| Fast Attack |
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| Wolf | 14 |
| Cyberwolf | 1 |
| Swiftclaw Biker | 4 |
| Swiftclaw Attack Bike | 1 |
| Thunderwolf Cavalry | 13 |
| Skyclaw | 10 |
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| Heavy Support |
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| Long Fangs Leader | 2 |
| Long Fangs | 13 |
| Land Raider Redeemer | 1 |
| Vindicator | 2 |
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| Transports |
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| Drop Pod | 3 |
| Rhino | 3 |
World Peace
Just a reminder that until further notice shipping is the same for UK, Canada and most other EU countries; a sweet $9 flat for a box of any size. I'm calling this the World Peace special.
I plan on adding other countries as we go along.
I get asked a lot if we ship overseas and the answer is an emphatic YES. Standard rate for others is $25 flat for a box of any size.
Here are some links to companies that make resin accessories. Email me for a quote if you want anything done.
http://www.paulsongames.com/
Warrior Princess
I woke up really early this morning, maybe 2am or so. My mind is always racing at that hour. I ate some puffed wheat cereal and then went back to sleep. My lower back is in a knot.
The whole family slept in and it was a lazy Sunday morning. We finally got ready for church, but drove all the way out to Grantsville for a baby blessing. We were too late, but did go to Tamie's cousin's house for a lunch of american comfort foot (ham, choc-chip cookies, bean dip, pasta salad). My job at these functions is to not embarrass my wife. I'm man-candy on Tamie's arm-- smiling politely.
Grantsville is a small town on the other side of the mountains. It's where Tamie grew up, her young childhood. How similar our lives have been! At that same time I was growing up in another town roughly the same size and composition-- a semi-farming community-- in Oregon.
I find Tamie's Grantsville family to be entirely pleasant. Salt of the earth. I met an Aunt (?) of hers who worked many long years in the lime factory making cement mixtures.
Once home I proceeded to put the "rest" in "day of rest" by stripping down to my skivvies and lounging in bed watching Xena the Warrior Princess on Netflix. That's comfort food for the mind! Willow was nearby looking at an animal book when an amazon princess on the show lifted up both arms and let out a mighty victory cry; Willow looked up and let out an ululation of her own.
That show is so bad it's good.
School is starting soon so we're getting the kids on the early to bed routine. I love my children ever so much. I've found if I just go about my business they will come in when they need me for a dose of affection and affirmation which I am all too willing to give in abundant supply. They are getting so much better at helping around the house and getting ready for bed on their own. A more responsive and happy bunch I could not imagine.
I'm about to take a rrrrrinse and go to bed. I am on austerity measures for the next 2-4 weeks. Breakfast at home, brown-bag lunch, and home for dinner as well as longer hours at work. I plan on doing 8am to 7pm and Saturdays until the keel is even. Put your shoulder to the wheel and all that.
Here is a mental exercise for the day. Imagine for a moment that you had a choice. You will be taxed at 100% and you have to pick a stranger to completely manage your money for you. Retirement and everyday expenses. This person will decide what you will eat, what you will wear and what your entertainment would be. Or they could use a certain percentage however they saw fit. Would you agree to that arrangement?
What if the conditions were loosened (ie you can pick your own expenditures but only in broad options like only clothes with blue in them)?
Now how about 50%?
Now how about 10%?
Do you trust someone else to manage your money for you? Can you be trusted to handle your own money?
What is the difference between slavery and 100% taxation? How about 90%?
I do not mean this to be loaded questions in a strict sense. It occurred to me this morning that maybe just maybe I'm better equipped to run 100% of my own life. I am breaking my conditioning by asking questions.
Hello Again
It's been a while since I wrote about family or personal stuff. I've been very busy (who isn't?) keeping up on all my work. And that's the thing I need to be most worried about now.
Friday night Tamie was out of town with her two sisters leaving me at home with the kids. I took them to the store for suckers and ice cream and also to buy comfort food (notably pizza). Then we just hung out and watched TV. It was a dream of sorts. I love being with my kids. To me they are so beautiful and good. I can't get enough of them. My eldest, a girl of eleven, is growing into such an upright and responsible individual. Then my two boys who are so much like me-- dreamers and adventurers. And then of course Willow who is coming up on two years old. She's a delight to everyone that sees her-- so easy to get along with. She doesn't fuss hardly at all at bedtime. I sometimes joke that she's the reasonable one in the family. I'm so glad we had her.
I have been taking a rest for politics. I don't view it as politics per se, but rather as Life. It's human society that interests me. Anyway, I haven't done a very good job of it. I still consume 1-3 hours a week. But that's down from 10-20 hours a week. But I'm ready to get back in the saddle. Has it been three months?
I had a dream last night that I was at a wargaming convention looking at armies. The last one I looked at for a while and the person who created it was explaining it to me. When I awoke I had a clear idea of how it might all come together. It would be a complete scratch-sculpt. Possibly more on that later.
I will probably write more later.
Warhammer 40k Batrep- Tyranids vs Imperial Guard
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8925567
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8928638
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8929513
Here is the channel
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blue-table-painting
Retribution Advice
The biggest tip I could offer you, is to use your army to it's strengths. Your army has a great ability to manipulate where models are on the field of battle. In this specific game, you had killed most his troops and his Archnode, but his big jacks were coming around. You were concerned about that jack charging in..(And the mages don't do Ranged attacks, they do Magic attacks, so Deceleration doesn't work against them.)
You could have easily lined your mages in a fashion to actually pull his jack in. You have so many mages that you can use them in tangent to effectively 'fish' models away from the rest of your opponents forces, then use Rahn to Telekinesis your jack over to beat it to death.(Ideally loading it up on focus against a large jack.)
Also, the Battle Mages spell, they push/pull things on the hit, before damage is done (typically doesn't matter, but should it..) ..plus you don't HAVE to push/pull things. Another thing, with that many mages, keep in mind in melee they have two attacks with one higher power, so feel free to pull something into your guys to get some punchy in. (They attack just as well with melee attacks)
Like in the current turn, he moved his guy back up, you could have pulled him in range of the other group so they can charge (if he didn't use his polarity shield, which I don't think he can when he runs) That way you can get that charge damage in on him.
Continuous Effects, a Warcaster/Warjack can expend a focus to shake the effect.
Watching later in the video, it seems you did the above tactic (Though forgetting to give him focus) but it's a start, heh.
Flame with the arrow is Continuous fire, meaning you set the other Jack on fire. (Flame with stars is crit fire, flame marked out is Immune to fire)
Fan Talks about Target Games
I mentioned Target Games (makers of Chronopia for you old-timers) in a recent vid. Here's a response I got.
Here is what happened with Target games. The Swedish Parent company expanded too fast. The gaming side of the company was doing pretty good and was getting ready to release a "Epic" scale version of Chronopia. The Swedish company was getting into video games, Candy manufacturing and even dabbling in movies. I remember going down to the US HQ of Target and seeing all these cases of some odd novelty candy that was shipped to them to try and sell. The European based design studio saw the company collapsing and formed their own game company and produced Void using a lot of stuff sculpted for Warzone. It was a shame, they had a pretty good system. By the new company tried to release the new versions of the game the damage was done and it was hard to get any store to carry it again. Back in the late 90's GW went through a phase where they tried to expand to get exposure everywhere like they have in the UK. They hired more people to make high pressure sales. They talked to every store that had hobby in its name to get them to start carrying the GW "Hobby" products. The regular GW customers really got screwed, if they didn't buy enough they would get ignored or got pressure put on to buy what ever they had a bunch of in the stock room. It was even worse if business was going too good in a area then they would start to ignore the retailers and then put in one of their own Hobby Centers. After a few years they found they had a lot of independent stores with unwanted product and a bunch of unpaid invoices. They got rid of most of the sales people and closed most of the stores and settled on the current sales model. The model works fine as long as there is not too much competition, once that happens they will have to re-think their pricing. The closest competition to GW currently is Battlefront and FOW. About 75% of what I am painting is Flames of War for customers. The entry point is cheaper then Fantasy or 40K, and the rules are close to what GW puts out. Another good company to look out for is Wyrd miniatures. I have been having some pretty good sales of painted Malifaux on Ebay. Right now the largest problem I can see for GW is the dwindling support for their games. I think you mentioned on your Adepticon reports that other systems were starting gain more footage at the convention.
Steven Skutell
www.hoardpainting.com
_______________________________
I went to post a comment on your blog but you don’t have comments allowed so I thought I would email.
Talking about Target Games I was a huge fan of Warzone (based on the RPG Mutant Chronicles which had a movie come out last year and also numerous card games) and I was a fan of Chronopia as well. It was an interesting system which had us change the way we looked at our 40K games and take them unit by unit to make it more tactical.
Also with the FLGS we used to play in with the changes with Heartbreaker and the rapid expansion they went through until they went bust left them with a ton of product that no one would touch.
This was really sad since we started off a tournament scene over here in Australia which was getting more and more people coming across from GW games for the breath of fresh air a new game gives you!
I'm currently sitting on 4 Warzone armies that I don't think I could even give away at this point.
Also Speaking of older Gaming Systems, Did you ever come across Leviathan?
When you were deciding on Shawn's Ork theme I was thinking the Orks from there could have fit with their Gangis Khan feel!
As for the mention of Malifaux to you in the post “Fan talks about Target Games”, this is one I think you should try since you only need a hand full of figures to play.
Also another if you like the small skirmish games you could also have a look at Pulp City (http://www.pulp-city.com/) which you can relive your childhood by playing a wargame with Superheroes. Also for now the ruleset is free to download from their website so you can’t go wrong!
(if you want to check out my wargame painting have a look at the link to Tales from the Warzone link in my Signature)
Thanks for all the entertainment on youtube!
Damian Smith
Co-host of Kryptographik, A Podcast Covering Horror, Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy.
Host of Welcome to Heavenside, A Doktor Sleepless Podcast.
The Furnace:
Tales from the Warzone: http://www.
Kryptographik Website:
Welcome to Heavenside:
