The last time that I sat down and tried to write some substantial material for my blog, I got roasted alive! It was either because the article was poorly written, I pushed some buttons by stoking some flames, or the idea was a bad one to begin with. The purpose of that article was to present an idea for a new type of tournament. Inadvertently, and much, much more beneficially, it caused a bunch of edrama/attention for my grudge match with stelek and the Battle for Salvation GT in October 2010. This is when I started to define or become aware of my own, "Rules of the Internet."
So here I am, sitting in the McDonalds on 125th and Broadway in Harlem, trying my hand at prose once again. This article that I am writing today has a dual purpose for me. The first one is practice. I'm going back to school for my masters in public administration and I need to be able to write better than I do now. Practice makes perfect, or at least it makes you better.
The primary reason for wasting all this paper is to discuss something that can't be defined well. Hell, the literal wording of the question itself can be twisted so many different ways that a focused discussion probably isn't possible. Like everything else, everyone has their own valid viewpoints and or opinions.
The Rules of the Internet, do they exist, and if so, what are they? From your personal viewpoint, are there predetermined lines that should not be crossed by yourself or anyone else? Does situation dictate the piety of your hateful outrage? And does the number who stand with you, or against, justify how high you build your pyre?
Ok, ok, ok! I phrased those questions in a literal and very un agreeable way;) That was my intent, to demonstrate one way the phrase could be interpreted if taken literally.
HOWEVER, I use the phrase, " The Rules of the Internet," quite often when chatting with fellow Blogger Fritz 40k from www.saimhann.blogspot.com. The phrase has a very loose meaning in our talks and would best be termed as a way to describe why we put what on our blogs, and the actual and desired reaction we try to elicit from the Interwebs. We often hypothesize about different situations and the consequences of posting those different things. We talk about why we blog and what we get out of something that we put so much of our precious time into.
When I first started this blog, what I wanted out of my efforts was to influence the Players Choice vote at the 2009 Baltimore GT. The more people who saw my army ahead of time, the more votes I would likely get at the tournament. It was just publicity. That got canceled and never happened so my reasons had to change. For a while, the attention and interaction with readers was enough until reality smacked me in the head saying, "You've lost tens of thousands in annual income, do something or FAIL!" Black Matt's Black Legion Blog allows me to build and paint armies, something I love, for a small profit.
So where is this tangent going? Well, "The Rules of the Internet," for me, are simple. It's all about numbers one way or another. The more people who visit my blog, the more armies I have commissioned, and that's directly related to how long my wife can stay at home with our beautiful son. Say what I need to say, act an ass with jokes, poke a hornets nest, or paint my heart out. It does not matter what the Internet thinks of me as long as I live truthfully and the commissions keep coming.
I am a potent commission painter who paints 40k armies to a higher standard, for a lower price than anyone out there. You won't find better bang for your buck anywhere! I am working very steadily, so I must be playing by my, rules of the internet.
Showing posts with label Community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Community. Show all posts
baals-2-the-waals
howdy everyone,
Im here with a plug for an online buddy of mine, KevinMcd28. He is starting a new blog up and I guess his balls are pressed up against the wall:;) Anyway, go check him out as it appears he is article orientated.
bits dinner booty
One mans junk is another mans treasure. I made out like a bandit last Saturday at the bits dinner. I am only now getting done with separating the stuff into races but there is a lot of stuff here. I explain the deal in the video but WOW is the only thing I have to say!
Battle for Salvation represents!
The battle for Salvation gaming group represented pretty big down at the Nova OPen in Virginia. We had 5 people going with 3 going 3-1. Our own Danny Internets took home the title of Reniessance man with Ultrabob and Jawaballs bring up rear. Ed, Edd, and Eddy didnt do as well but took plenty of skulls. My limited texting contact with them has still left me with a solid impression of a great time at the tournament. I am pretty sure that we will be using a similar format at our own tournament. Final word will come from Ultrabob on what, if any, tweeks will be done for our own tournament! Congratulations to the Battle for Salvation Gaming Club. Way to bring home the bacon!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fulgrim doesnt have anything on me
cause I am the MotherFrackin Phoenician! Over the past 6 months I have been through surgery, a renovation where I did 95% of the work, the wifey losing all income, a fist fight, work drama, game club drama, a damn near mental breakdown, and all of it by myself while my wife was in the hospital for 3.75 months. Well I dont care if this sounds like hubris. F^(& you world, the only thing you ever say is no, and here I am standing like its last man standing! King of the world bitches!
The Vengeful Spirit takes a glancing hit! / Bits Dinner
The Vengeful Spirit, (the flagship of the Warmaster Black Matt,) was ambushed by the Big Yellow floating citadel of the Imperial Fists. THE PHALANX, also known as a short bus!Out of nowhere, the bohemeth sought to merge into my lane! The hubris and foolish pride of Dorn! Little did he know that the fatal flaw of the Warmaster is that he doensnt back down! Thinking about it, he probably will back down in the future with a new car and NYC traffic!
Ok, now down the the real point of this post. The Battle for Salvation Gaming club based in Westchester county, New York is having a swap meet for bits. We will be having dinner beforehand and that starts at 6pm. We are having it where we have our club meetings. Salvation Army
16 Sterling Av.
White Plains, NY 10606
This is stricly a bits swap and no games will be played. If you live in the area and have wanted to come check out our club, bring those bits and see if you can trade or sell them!!!!!!!!!!!
Am I really a cheater?!?
+++VOX TRANSMISSION+++Hi Matt,
I really appreciate your blog!The Dropzilla list seems to work like a charm!Could you give me a detailed list (with all the biomorphs, etc...)?I sure would like to surprise some folks here in Cleveland with some drop podding beasties!
Steve
Congrats on the upcoming little one!Teach him or her to roll well1
+++ END VOX TRANSMISSION+++
It was hard to respond to Steve because when I looked at my list I discovered that I made some REALLY gross misjudgements in errors when writing my list. I included a trygon prime with regen for 170 pts, and that doesnt even count the spore mine fiasco. I got confused when changing my list under the gun and made some mistakes. THe point of this post is not to maintain my honest integrity but to question the label of cheater. It is probably the worst label that can be given in our little niche hobby corner of the world. Am I a cheater? I cheated, with or without conscience effort! When do I go from making a mistake to cheating! Is it willfull misrepresentation or when I get something wrong?
Big Announcement/ Game Changer!
Like an usurper from the north, he comes to destroy! No agenda, no goals, no satiating his thirst to destroy. Only the death and destruction of every fig he will get his pudgy fingers on. With only months to prepare, how will Black Matt's Black Legion Blog survive this? We will see? What is the right choice????
Guys, I wont do this often but when Doug wrote in with this email, he gave me an opportunity to address something. Something that would be hard for me to address without the question being asked. What army would I start that is both fun and competitive? 
"Black Matt,
Greetings....I found your blog thru "Yes The Trust Hurts>>>Bald & Screaming website"...then posting there...to you...Anyway....I love your painting and the conversion work on your chaos mini's. The Obliterators look sick. great job. So i have been watching the videos that you have posted, and i have been following 'Ard Boyz lists etc...and I just started back playing in the new 5th edition rules. I have about 5 games under my belt with my old space marine army (painted pre-heresy world eaters). The figs and paint job is about 3-4 years old, so I want to start fresh with a new list and army and then sell off my old army.I do believe that your advice is very solid, that you should really have a roughed out plan for your army, and then start putting it together, paint it, and amend it on the fly when needed.
So with that ammo I am working on a new 40k army. But, I am really torn in a few different directions, and I was hoping that you could help push me in the right direction. I want a functioning army being able to be played solid at 1750, and then having the opportunity to get more disgusting as the points increase.For this new army I am pretty much starting from the ground up (new figs, paint scheme). I currently have a decent amount of regular space marines ready to assemble and paint. I know that I am going to play some type of space marine, and I will either go Chaos or Loyal to the Emperor. I am looking to get a base army of 1750..and then go up from that as needed.I could really use your opinion and 40k experience to maybe give me some more insight on an army to be used for both fun and competitive play. I realize that playing in a tournament is a totally different mindset, I know I played in the first GT in Baltimore, and I played in the GT at games day about 4 years ago. any army would be a great foundation even if i switched a few things around for more fun type games. I also feel that I want to take my time putting together the models, converting, and painting. There is no reason to rush doing work on an army to not be satisfied with the end result.
So 'Ere We Go'....What are your thoughts on the following lists....
For the Loyalists:For the few games I have under my belt I have been playing Stelek's 1750 "Best of" list. basically it is the Master of the Forge, Telion, Snipers, 3x Dreads (MM/CCW), 3x Tactical Squads (Flamer, MM, Rhino), 3x Dakka Preds, and 2x squadrons of 2x Land Speeders (MM/HF). Pretty tight list...gets the job done. The army has a ton of meltas in it and everything in the army is a threat.I have been talking with Khornatedemon thru Dakka Dakka, and his Salamander list looks very good. I was really happy to see that you have played him in your club (which I really must try to hit since i live on long island). Having Vulkan in a list giving you rerolls is excellent. The list does suffer from the "all the eggs in one basket".His list is roughly:
190 – Vulkan,
190 – Vulkan,
200 – 5x Assault Terminators TH/SS,
250 Land Raider Redeemer (240 +10MM),
105 – Dread MM/CCW,
105 – Dread MM/CCW,
210 – Tact. Sq. Meltagun (+10), MM, Rhino,
210 – Tact. Sq. Meltagun (+10), MM, Rhino,
210 – Tact. Sq. Meltagun (+10), MM, Rhino,
140 – 2x Speeder (+10MM, +10HF),
140 – 2x Speeder (+10MM, +10HF)
Chaos:The Nurgle list really fascinates me. Playing against my one friend who uses plague marines. The plague marines are the best troop choice in the game. 3+ armor save followed by the 4+(i think) invul save. They are a tough bunch to get off an objective, or try to hurt in close combat. The list I would model would be the one from your site. it is a rock solid list. Basically your 1750 Lash list.And finally the Khorne 1750 List. I used to play a Khorne army during 3rd edition. I caused a lot of fear when that army hit the table. I am a fan of both shooting and close combat. Land raider spam can be a lot of fun, i think there is also a possible list here running with rhinos. I fear that the same problems with the bezerkers that were in 3rd & 4th may still be true. No good anti-tank weapons...
So with those 4 choices, what do you think...If you were starting an army from scratch and looking for fun (where people don't continuously calls you Cheesy) and the ability to be competitive....what would you start.What do you recommend.
Thanks for your time, Doug.
Doug,
If I was building an army with the current codexs to fulfill all of your needs I would use the space marine codex and build the list around Vulkan. With tanks running around all over the place, his value is obvious. Another reason that I would build it around him, is the flexability in the possible builds that you can come up with. Khornate Kris is working on a biker/Land raider melta heaven list that is ard as nails! Another build with the same character is "Its raining meltas!" Drop pods with melta guns that land and blast! You could incorporate some Way of Saimhann tactics with a bunch of Land Speeders using Meltas and Flamers. If you take Vulkan, you can make almost any build work to fill what it is you looking for. Im not giving my opinion on which one of these is a stronger build, I am just pointing out that if you dont know exactly what it is you want, Vulkan provides it regardless!
On the other mutated Chaos hand, I would put Vulkan's head on my pig pole and go for the Khorne list. I love the fearless beserkers and with the abundance of elite, fast attack and hvy choices I dont see there being a problem with anti tank! Skulls for the Skull throne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, not nearly as flexible or powerfull, but really fun! Death to the False Emperor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well Doug, thats what I think! I hope it helps.
Hurr!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been thinking a lot about what it is that this blog should be about. It has changed a lot for me since the first time I did it back in Jan/Feb. It used to be about winning! Both on, Best General, and off the table, Players Choice! Fritz, the master tactician, advised me in the ways of subtle suggestion. You see, I didnt just build this army to try and win at the GTs, I also built it to make another run for Players choice. Players choice is a popularity contest! I know, that seems stupid but it is. I got so many compliments from people at the GT saying that they would vote for me in Players choice but they already promised their buddy that they would vote for him. So how does writing a blog better your chances for player's choice? The more people who see your army, the more people who will recognize it. And in the end you have to ask for people's vote. Is that shallow? I didnt vote for myself in my Players choice win, but I asked my friends, the three who went, if they would consider voting for me. That is if they thought I deserved it.
So what is this blog about now and why continue to do it.
After reading the Standard Bearer in the last White Dwarf, I realized what my Blog is about my experiences in 40K as I see them now.As a 9 year Veteran with limited success towards the goals that he set for himself, Im in it now, for the community. The Battle for Salvation Club is kinda wierd in that several of us have succesfull blogs.
So what is this blog about now and why continue to do it.
After reading the Standard Bearer in the last White Dwarf, I realized what my Blog is about my experiences in 40K as I see them now.As a 9 year Veteran with limited success towards the goals that he set for himself, Im in it now, for the community. The Battle for Salvation Club is kinda wierd in that several of us have succesfull blogs.
And believe it or not after this long unfocused rant, this post is about introducing another club member with his own set of skills. Fritz has his tactics to stand on, Jawaballs tells everyone how awesome he is, Micho is a masterfull modeler, and I tell everyone how they are doing everything wrong . We call him Dan Da Spoiler! Not the despoiler, but Da Spoiler! And thats because if he isnt in the top three, he is busy knocking the rest of us out. Danny Internets, as he is known online, plays to win. Not at all costs, not at the cost of his opponents enjoyment, but if your playing him, he is thinking about beating you. He enjoys the competitive aspect of the game. He is probably the best player that we have at the Battle for Salvation. Check him out at http://www.baldandscreaming.com/ I was originally going to take an opposing viewpoint to one of his posts but this quick post turned into the longest post I have ever written. So tell me what you think about his blog!! Sportsmanship solution
Excellent, (in my best Montgomery Burns impersination!) After those well put round of comments taking both sides of the necessity of sportsmanship scores, I am now able to layout my master plan.
For this past tournament a win got you 15, a tie gave 10, a loss gave 5, with a possible 12 for sportsmanship. Score range 5 - 27! Regardless of any argument, this makes for a possible runaway tournament.
I think that Sportsmanship scores are necessary but there weight in the scoring should be decreased. In a 5-10-15 scoring scale, a MAX sportsmanship of 5 would balance things out. A loss with a good sportsmanship score would keep you in the tourney while a win with a bad sportsmanship would keep you from running away with the tourney but not keep you from winning it all if you take the next two games, (skulls!)
Another possible solution is an even lower sportsmanship MAX score with some sort of SACRIFICIAL scoring system. Ill give you a MAX of 3 sportsmanship and I will give another bonus 3 points that will be deducted from my score. If he is that good of an opponent, prove it! If no one gives the bonus three, and that is likely, then the 3 base sportsmanship score that everyone has will cancel each other out. If you get tanked, or if you get upset and tank the other person in a bad decision that you regret later, than the 3 points will most likely not have a large impact on the tournament. A little, but not a lot.
These are just some ideas I had in my head. If you think these are bad ideas to an old problem then by all means show me how stupid I am in public and not in a private email. But please leave your address so we can talk in person ;)
Sportsmanship scores = revenge?
Surprise, surprise!!!
My wife surprised me last night at the game club with the best birthday cake I have ever had, and below Brother Captain James gets to do what he has always wanted to do, lick my face! So what the hell does this have to do with 40K, Black Matt? Well I want to take the time to say how lame it is if your significant other doesnt support you in your hobby. Im not suggesting she play or even pay attention to it, but if she says that its stupid, or that your childish and its a waste of your time then she doesnt really care about what makes you happy. And if that is the case then maybe think about where things are going for you.
Mama is serious, so dont forget!
Well Ok that is it, I'm all tapped out. For a few months before I started this blog, I worked on and saved material so that I could release stuff on a regular basis, but now that reserve is a dry well! Its up to you now! I need some suggestions on topics that people would like to see! And don't forget to sign up as a Black Legion Disciple over on the right hand side of the blog!
Chaos hound unleashed
Now back to business. I have summoned a chaos hound so fiendish he consumes his own flesh. Beware for now Black Matt is back in action and with the favor of all the chaos gods, there will be no more Eldar bullhockey. At least for a while. Thanks for the attention but I had to get the eldar battle reports out. Brother Captain James and Ultrabob say hello!!!!!!!!!
Guys I have to take an opportunity to mention someone in my local gaming club, (Battle for Salvation,) who has some serioius skill. Mike Cho. He is the best modeler that I know and he has started a blog to prove it. When I say, "modeler," I mean that he has great skills in both painting and fig convertion/construction.
Check him out. http://micho-bp40k.blogspot.com/
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