Dose O' Hobby 11/20/10

With Coastal Assault approaching at breakneck speed I am struggling to get my army fully painted and based. I have set myself to attempt to finish a unit per week, so we shall see how that goes. Here is the first complete unit, a thirty man Swordsman Regiment, "The 8th Mark Wardens", changed from the "8th Mountaineers" who will be my Halberdiers regiment. I am trying to give each unit some character, so the 8th gets to use one of my many unit filler bases, as well as the Unit Champion being made from the Empire General kit.



Also, here is what my list for that tournament is probably going to look like:
LORDS:
Arch Lector, AoMI, War Altar, Hammer of Judgment, Van Horstrum's Speculum: 305
Wizard Lord, Lvl4,Armor of Taurnus , Dispell Scroll: 270

HEROES:
Warrior Priest, Heavy Armor, Shield: 96
Warrior Priest, Heavy Armor, Greatweapon, 98
Captain, BSB, full plate, shield, 85
CORE:
30 Swordsmen, Full Command, 205
Detachment: 15 Halberdiers, 75
Detachment, 6 Handgunners, 48

30 Halberdiers, Full Command, 170
Detachment: 15 Halberdiers, 75
Detachment, 6 Handgunners,48

30 Flaggalents, Prophet of Doom: 310

SPECIAL:
2x Cannons: 200
Mortar:75
30 Greatswords, full command, 330

Rare:
Helblaster, 110

My main concern is that all my lords and heroes are somewhat vulnerable, so I will probably be tweaking this list. I will be posting part-1 of my Empire troops analysis, and expect a battle report on Sunday, with an update on the Road to Korpslieb on Monday.

Rules for fielding Sigmar.

As I am currently in Pennsylvania, I can't update with any modeling or painting goodness, but I have been thinking up some rules for fielding Sigmar. Keep in mind, this guy was basically, at least according to fluff, a demi-god, so here goes:

Sigmar, the first and greatest Emperor, 725 Points
WS:8 BS:7 S:5 T:5 W:5 I:6 A:5 LD:10
Equipment (cannot be changed):
Skull Splitter: Gifted to Sigmar by Kurgan Ironbeard, this master-piece of Dwarf weapon-craft ignores all armor and ward saves, any unsaved wounds become D3 wounds.
Mastercrafted Gromil Armor: Forged by master dwaven armorers, this suit of shinning plate confers a re-rollable +3 save that ignores attack strength for calculating armor saves.
Pendant of Sky-Iron: A rough-cut gem sits in the center of this pendant, gathered from the landing site of a comet, it glows with a magical power which confers a +3 ward save and magic resistance(1)

Special Rules:
God Amongst Men, Daemon amongst all others: Sigmar stands a head taller than the tallest man, and his visage inspires courage in all who behold him, and fear in his enemies. Sigmar and any unit he joins are Immune to Psychology, and are also Stubborn. Sigmar causes Fear in any non-human enemy. with the exception of Dwarfs.

Slay Goblinoids whereever they are found: Sigmar and any unit he joins Hate all greenskins, as well as causing Terror in Greenskins

Pride of a Nation: Sigmar cannot ignore a challange

Glory of the Emperor: Any Empire unit within 18 inches of Sigmar may use his leadership for all leadership tests.

So what do ya'll think?

Empire unit filler, part two, now with %100 poorer lighting.

Here is the second bit of filler that I've done, instead of actually painting my army. the idea I had while making this was "If the Flaggelants will chain themselves to statues, how does the Empire treat prisoners?". in short, I took a 40k Ork Boy, cut him up, and chained him to a ruined plinth from the Arcane Ruins set, then placed two empire soldiers in front, one with a standard another with a horn, and one has a broken sword... anyways, the paint scheme is the same for all my empire, the usual Warlock purple and Sunburst yellow, same deal with the water as well, and the blood. I painted a trail of blood from the top of the plinth and it goes all the way to the murky water and mixes in. I think this piece really captures the inherent brutality of what Warhammer is, a wargame, where we make little plastic men kill each other with little plastic swords.

Empire unit filler, part one

I've found myself in need of Halberdiers, so I'm creating some unit filler for my 40 man Swordsmen horde. Here is the first piece, using a 40mm base, and pieces from the Flaggelant and Empire Chapel kits, and GaleForce 9 grass. I'm tempted to make this count as a musician and standard, as the enoous statue and screaming fanatic are pretty easy to spot, especially since the flaggelant isattached to the statue by a chain and is dragging it with him. I think I will name him William Phips (cookie for reference). Tell me what ya'll think please:




Here is how I went about painting it:
first, William Phip, who was painted looooooong ago, I think in June or August. Walmart quality Black, dark Blue, and white for his clothes. The mud is calthan brown with Ultramarine Blue and the blood is Scab Red layered (a bit heavily ) with Mechrite Red. The water is based in Calthan Brown, then Ultrmarine Blue, followed by Hawk Turquoise, and the white water effect is Hawk Turquoise mixed with simple white paint. As with the blood, after the paint dried, I applied a thin coat of Krazy Glue for a shiny-wet effect. The Statue is FolkArt Inca Gold, then Dwarf Bronze, with Hawk Turquoise highlights. If you focus, one of the statue's faces is crying tears of blood. Angsty I know, but i thought it looked cool.

First half of Empire Swordsmen-done

I have manged to finish re-painting and basing a solid twenty Swordsmen for coastal assault. The have been painted using a black basecoat followed by Warlock Purple for the purple areas, a white basecoat and then Sunburst Yellow for the yellow bits, various mixes of Tallarn Flesh and Dwarf Flesh for the skin, Hawk Turquoise for the feathers Stirling Silver for the iron.steel and Dwarf Bronze for any copper or bronze areas. The basing was done with wood glue, Galeforce Nine Static Grass (green) and Calthan Brown. Once I have finished painting the entire army, I will begin doing highlits and touch ups, but here they are in their base 3 colors of purple, yellow and silver, the first half of the Ostermark 8th Mountaineers:

Them Army vote off, modeling fun with skeletons, Battlefoam case review and new Death's Kingdom miniature

Howdy readers, I've got some interesting things to share today, first, I've narrowed down my choices on creating a themed army to two, namely, 2500 Points of Witch Hunter Empire or 2500 Points of Frankenstein-inspired Vampire Counts. Work would begin in roughly a month'd time, so which ever is more favored by you, the reader, will be chosen. just post a comment telling me which I should do or chastising me on poor section of armies, the later of which will be promptly ignored.

Secondly, I'm in the final haul to finish up all I will need for my table top exxxxxxxxxttttrrrrraaavaganza next week. All that is left to model and hopfully paint are roughly twelve Skeletons, here are six I have built today, using a mix of Zombie and Skeleton Warrior bits:


I wanted to give these guys a "rising from the grave look". Once I base them with some brownish "freshly turned" soil.

I wanted to make these skellies like like they where put together and revived with what was on hand, namely both bones and corpses, so they still have some fleshy bits on them. I'll likely have these guys finished, along with the rest of the skellies, in about two weeks, maybe a bit more.

I received my PACK 432 Battlefoam bag a few weeks ago, but I figured I should post some pictures and talk about how great it is. The bag holds about 7 and 1/2 inches of foam (in terms of thickness), along with several pockets that can hold various things (dice, rulers, templates, super glue, hammers), and the bag is re-enforced with hard plastic plates so I won't crumple. My only complaint is that the there is no way to secure your foam with the exception of filling up the entire bag, but that isn't really an issue with the bag in itself.
Here, have some pictures:





And last, and the most horrifiying, is this (NSFW) thing. It is a masterclass in "what not to ever sculpt", but I suppose that the more perverse of you Chaos army players may find use for it.

The Road to Korbsliebe, part 1

so there they where, fleeing from an enraged Ogre, on a dirt road in the dark and dreary Reikwald Forrest. Actually wait a minute, let me explain myself. Ahem.

This will be the first part of several updates for the FW Game Club's first WFRP (2nd Edition) campaign. Now then, lets list out the party:
Ozark Speedman, Dwarfen tomb robber and employer of...
That elf guy I can't remember the name of, Kithband Warrior, archer and loyal body guard to Ozark.
Rankar Crux, human zealot and combat expert
Delila, Brettonian tradeswoman
and, uh, a human rat catcher who failed to show.

The adventure begins with the four of the sitting round a table in a dingy dirty tavern, a hooded man siitting along with them, pointing at a map "My masters wish for you to deal with a corrupted priest of Morr who has been selling corpses to a Necromancer. You will find him in Korbsliebe, a three days journey from here, through the Riekwald, it is dangerous, so I suggest you find a caravan to travel with." He also mutters a few words in Breton to Delila,"Make sure they find this priest." With that, he slams a dagger into the table, marking the location of Korbsliebe on the map in the center. Rankar, using his inspiring oratory, attempts to rouse the bar patrons from their drunken stupors, but fails. Elf guy asks the barkeep, who directs them to the small town's "mast" which has any news anyone would need to know regarding The Town on it. The party ventures into the streets, and finds a man tied to a stake, with messages written on him in ink, the town mast. A particularly large area of his person is dedicated to telling persons of interest of a convoy of merchants has made camp in The Town, and will be hiring guards for their journey to Altdorf. Examining the map, Ozard points out that the road to Altdorf stops by Korbsliebe, so he and Elf Guy go to speak to the convoy's Coachman, as Rankar follows Delila as she wanders off in search of another way to find safe passage. The enter another bar, in which is a road warden, who is traveling to a coaching inn this very night, to make sure it is still in good condition.

Meanwhile, back at the convoy's camp, the Coachman attacks Elf Guy with a club, striking the elf on the arm in a dis-interested fashion, then attempting to strike Ozard, who blocks the blow. The Coachman is impressed by Ozard's skill, and hires both he and the elf as guards. At this time, Delila and Rankar have managed to find the convoy's camp, and inform Ozard and Elf Guy that the roadwarden would allow them to travel with him for a time, and points out that "If he dies, he has a gun, which you can take." Deciding the roadwarden is a better bet than the convoy, the party waits by The Town's gates, until the roadwarden is seen riding his sickly looking steed, and they enter the Forrest along a dirt road.

After a few hours travel, it is becoming dark, and both Ozard and Elf Guy's keen night vision allow them to see shapes following them in the woods, however, the warden insists that they mean nothing, that is, until a full grown Ogre bull and a small pack of Gnoblar greenskins burst through the foliage and attack. With his massive club, the Ogre crushes the Roadwarden and his mount into a pulpy mass of meat, blood, bone and broken armor, as the Gnoblar's cry their squeaky battle chants, and attack. Rankar uses his religious fury to attack the Ogre singlehandedly, slaying it in one turn off combat with his flail, or so he thinks, as the creature has just been knocked out. The Gnoblars encircle Ozard and Elf Guy who takes the brunt of the hits. He attempts to strike with his quarter-stave, and injures a club wielding Gnoblar, but his martial skill is not enough to prevent him from being knocked on the head by a flail wielding greenskin, which leads to his head splitting open, and he promptly passes out. Ozard fights back, defending himself and even wounding the three green beast while blocking their blows with his shield. Delila examines the ogre's "corpse", finding, among other things, very large pants, a very large club, a very large iron glove, and a partially eaten rooster, an apparent snack. Rankar charges into a Gnoblar and attacks, as Elf Guy, passing a Toughness test, rises and runs a few yards back, and readies his bow. The Ogre rises, which garners Rankar's attention, and he rushes screaming at the now very angry brute. Ozard slays a Gnoblar with his Sword-breaker as Delila cuts off another leg in a fluid sweep of her dagger, it dies from blood loss seconds later. Elf Guy rains arrows on the remaining Gnoblar, killing it, and the Ogre, which absorbs the arrows with his large gut. Ozard flees to Elf Guy's side, leaving Delila and Rankar to fight the towering Ogre. Rankar wisely flees, and so does Delila.

Which brings us to where we are now. The party is presently running through the Riekwald, at night, in the hopes of escaping from the very hungry, very angry Ogre. At least no one died or was crippled, and only one party member counts as "Heavily Wounded", so as a whole, they preformed better than expected.

Six Knights done, new recipe for blood, magic part 2

I've been busy busy busy working on many projects. Updates are:

=> I've finished 6 Brettonian Knights
=> the FW Game Club's WFRP party is finalized
=> Battlefoam
=> It looks like I won't be able to paint all of my 1000 point of Bretts for my trip back home, sorry guys.

Right, picture time, first off, here is half of my unit of 12 Knights of the Realm:

I used, for the base colors of the various heraldries, Krylon Plastic Paints, satin finish, to speed up the process, because I despise painting yellows. The blue areas are based in black, the greens, reds, etc, are based in white. The red is achieved through Scab Red followed by Mechrite Red,the yellow is either the Krylon brand or layers of Sunburst Yellow, the Blue is ULTRAMAHREENS BLU and any green is Krylon brand green plastic spray paint. Any bronze is Dwarf Bronze, any silver is the Sterling Silver (again, from FolkArt). The blood is a slightly altered recipe, replacing Blood Red with Mechrite Red, which I actually don't like, as it looks to dull for my tastes. I'm going to work on some basing and highlights tomorrow for them, for your viewing pleasure. Oh, and here is some modeling work I've done to make a mounted Warrior Priest:

The horse is part of the Empire Generals kit, and the torso, arms, hammer and head are made from the old metal Knights the White Wolf metal kit.

I've recently come into some battlefoam and a battlefoam bag. It is great, but I am pressed for time, so I'll fill ya'll in at a later date.

The Game Club's WFRP party is comprised of:
a human Zealot
a human Rat Catcher
a human Trademan, who can't speak the same language as the rest of the party
a dwarf Tomb Robber
A elf Kithband Warrior
Interesting group overall, no spellcaster though, but that is all right. I have found a great set of critical hits charts here. And that about covers all I've been up to recently.

Where the magic happens

I figured I should show my workspace, so here it is:

All those sprue are a mix of Brettonian, Vampire Counts, Empire and Imperial Guard kits.

"The Hive", Guard vs. Tyranid scenario

Inspired by a conversation between myself and Mike(see the link to his site over in the links box, down yonder ==>),which basically established that all our 40k games are like Starship Troopers in table top format. Which leads me to this:
"The Hive", a Tyranid vs. Guard scenario. These are the first test rules I'm going to set up, and they will be modified based on how they play out in test games.

SCENARIO:

Army Compostition:
The Tyranid player fields a 3000 point army, however, they may only field one HQ, and any models with the "Infiltrate" "Scouts" and "Stealth" special rules will be considered to not have them, and units may not deep strike or be held in reserve.

The Guard player fields a 2000 point army. Additionally, one unit of Conscripts may be taken independently of that 2000 point force, using rule "FOR THE HOMELAND" (see under "Scenario special rules, further down.)

Fluff:A tyranid Hive-Ship has been shot down over the skies of your homeworld. The Imperial Navy refuses to waist ammunition on destroying it for good, and the nearest Ordo Xenos Deathwatch marines are engaged in boarding actions in the space battle in the heaven above your world. It is up you and your fellow PDF troopers to finish off any Xenos that remain.
Game length is covered in the Special deployment and rules section
Deployment and terrain:
The scenario is played om the Standard 6x4 table. The tyranid player deploys in a 4x3 area on the short table edge. All terrain inside the Tyranid difficult terrain. All non-Tyranid infantry in this deployment must also take Dangerous Terrain test, to represent the jagged rock, molten stone and pools of acidic ichor left by the Bio-ship (Note: Monstrous Creatures and Walkers MUST take Dangerous Terrain test in this area. One slip one a boulder or a fall into an acid pit will harm even them. Tanks treat it as Difficult Terrain, their massive bulk and grinding treads crush over any small hazards like rocks, bone and the stray Ripper Swarm. Flyers and Skimmers treat it as open terrain, but Skimmers cannot end their movement phase inside the Tyranid deployment, as no pilot will risk leaving their ship on the ground in that area. The Guard player deploys anywhere else on the board. However, the Guardsmen deploy first, to represent their entrenchment around the crater, as well as receiving the first turn.

Scenario special deployment and rules:
"THE HORROR OUT OF SPACE": The Tyranid player does not deploy his whole army at first. Instead, he follows the following deployment chart (note, the Tyranid player MUST have two units of troops deployed by turn one:
Turn 1|He may deploy up to two(2) units of Troops and any number of Fast Attack units
Turn 2|He may deploy up to 2 more units of Troops, any number of Fast Attack and up to 2(two) units of Elites
Turn 3| He may deploy up to 2 more units of Troops, any number of Fast Attack, up to 2(two) units of Elites and one unit of Heavy Support
Turn 4| He may deploy up to 2 more units of Troops, any number of Fast Attack, up to 2(two) units of Elites up to 2(two) units of Heavy Support, as well as his HQ choice
"THE LEVIATHAN IS DYING": At the end of turn 4, roll a D6. on a 4+, the living ship lets out a massive death cry as its final massive organs die. All non-Tyranid infantry models take a Str2 hit, with no save allowed (that helmet won't stop your eardrums from bursting or your teeth shattering from the noise)
"FOR THE HOMELAND": Starting from turn 2, the Guard player may deploy his unit of Conscripts. They are treated in the same manner as units coming in form Reserve. At the end of each following turn, that Unit can be destroyed in its entirety to be re-deployed from the chosen table edge the following turn, during the beginning of the Guard's movement phase.
"THIS IS OUR LAND" All Guard units count as Stubborn and Relentless. However, a unit loses these rules if they break from an assault, or are reduced to 25% of the unit size at the beginning of that turn.
"ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT INCOMING"/"THE ENDLESS HUNGER": At the end of Turn 5, roll a D6. On a 5+ the game ends. At the end of Turn 6, roll a D6. On a 3+ the game ends. The game ends at the end of Turn 7 at the latest. If the Guardsmen met the victory conditions (See below) then it is considered that the hordes of vile Xenos have been delayed till a bombardment from a Imperial Navy ship bombs the Bio-ship and its deadly inhabitants to oblivion. If the Tyranid player meets the victory conditions, then it is considered that the Tyranids devour all the men before them, and spread throughout the countryside, claiming a foothold on the verdant, tasty world.

Victory Conditions:
HOLD THE LINE (Guard victory conditions):
Self explanatory, the Guardsmen must survive until the game ends. Even if a single Guard unit survives,it is considered a win. Fleeing and off table units do not contribute and are considered destroyed for all intents and purposes. If all of the Tyranid army are destroyed then the Guardsmen have won a crushing victory, and instantly win, no matter the turn.
THE DOOM OF THIS WORLD (Tyranid Victory Condition)
The Tyranids must annihilate every single unit in the Guard army in table to gain a victory (they are gonna need a lot of bio-mass to spearhead a planetary invasion.)

Comments, suggestions, criticisms are welcome and encouraged.

Get me more readers Competition

Right. I wish to expand the number of readers my blog receives, so I present this challenge:
LOYAL READERS! SPREAD THE WORD!
Pass links, tell you forum friends, tell those at your LGS!
The person who can be attributed to getting me more followers will receive one plastic GW kit of your choice worth up to $40.
However, if you are the only participant, then there will be no reward, as there wasn't really a competition.

Due date is two weeks from now, good luck.

First Knight

I needed to add some Knights to my Empire army, so I ordered some Brettonian Knights instead. I love the models, but good Lord are they annoying to paint. This is partially my fault. I made the mistake of painting yellow without a light base coat. I painted the first Knight in the heraldic colors of my family ancestors in Spain, namely blue and yellow. Here is Cayetan D'Castile.


All this is based in wonderful plastic grey. Half way through I decided to base the rest of the yellow in a cream colored paint form "Americana" under the name Buttermilk. The blue is just multiple layers of Ultramarine Blue. The finished yellow is Sunburst Yellow. The horse's fur and skin is Astronomicon Grey, all the brown parts are Calthan Brown. The silver of the armor is FolkArt Silver Sterling. The bronze part are Dwarf Bronze.

New stuff abounds!

I've finished the main quest of Fable 3, and come bearing gifts of pictures! I've received the new Citadel Painting Station and the Citadel Cutting Mat, which has cleaned up my desk to no end. Here's a picture:

I've managed to fit most of my paints and brushes on it. Anyway, I've managed to finish up a Warrior Priest and five more State Troops. The Warrior Priest looks good enough form far away, but I really should have thinned my paints:



The Skin is Tallarn Flesh, then a mix of 1:1 Dwarf Flesh and Talarn Flesh. The stubble I made by mixing Astronomicon Grey with water, till it had an almost milky consistency, and then applied it in layers. The metal is the same metalic paint I always use, brushed with Leviathan Purple. The Robe/Cape is made of multiple layers of Scab Red (my favorite color). The Hammer's head is a mix of Dwarf Bronze and Walmart Metal, then washed with watered down Hawk Turquoise. The cover of the book is Graveyard Earth, and metal details are Dwarf Bronze. The pelt on his back is Astronomicon Grey highlighted with white.