Haemunculi Coven raider

I have a few Coven units in my army, and after looking over some of the BoLS DE plogs, I got inspired to modify one of my old raiders with some Skaven buts I have lying around.

Updated Wracks/Master Beliel Conversion

First up, 4 converted and painted wracks, two with special weapons:

Talos/Chronos Pain Engine

Painted him up today:

Converted DE Wrack

Quick Friday update: Now working on my unit of wracks, a picture of one is down below. The pain engine has been based, work will likely start tomorrow.

Lets break down how he was painted:

Step One: Primed black
Step Two: Skin wetbrushed Tallarn Flesh, Drybrush Skull White
Step 3: Cloak Mechrite, then Scab, then Blood Red highlights, loincloth is Snakebite Leather highlighted with Iyanden Darksun
Step 4: Weapons drybrushed Chainmail, armor highlighted Blood Red
Step 5: Washes. Ogryn Flesh and Red Oak Stain

Painted Grotesques, sneak peak at (converted) Talos/Chronos

EDIT: My camera has come down with a case of the sucks, I shall try and get it fixed, sorry for sub-par photo quality.

To celebrate at Boxcars getting its 5,000th view, I give you this:

The Kabal of the Howling Gale update

Here are painted elements of the Kabal of the Howling Gale, namely 2 Squads of Kabalite Warriors, 2 Raiders, 6 Reavers, 1 Venom, 4 Trueborn and my Archon/Duke.

First up is Kabalite Squad One, The Searing Arrow and thier Raider Death that Sails
Squad includes a Blaster/Shredder and a Splinter Cannon, with the potential for one model to be the Syrabite.

Dark Eldar Grotesques conversion.

More conversions up today, this time using Ogre Kingdoms Gorgers, some green stuff and, and various new plastic bits.


Here is Grotesque Number One (He/She/It hasn't been named yet), using the Gorger as a base, a prow from a Raider/Ravager for a head, Several splinter weapon barrels for his Flesh Gauntlet/Scissorhand, and some green stuff tubing and added flesh sacks on his back.

WIP Prince of Pain/Duke Sliscus

I picked up a bunch of bits and pieces of dzer0 (link over in the linkafication section), which included the two Female Slaves Dark Eldar/Elf models, and the Dark Elf Hero character model Lokhir Fellheart. Which got me thinking, what better way to show a dashing Pirate Prince than by using Lokhir and a slave girl? (DISCLAIMER: Not trying to offend anyone here, as the more astute amongst you may have guessed, my Dark Eldar kabal is firmly rooted in the "Saturday morning cartoon villain" spectrum of evil, not trying offend anyone.) Anyway, here is how he is looking now. Prince Zhai Mor 'counts as' Duke Sliscus.





The Prince/Duke was primed black, his armor highlighted Goblin Green and Hawk Turquoise, his helmet is pure Skull White,his cloak was first painted with Scab Red, then Mechrite Red, then a heavy drybrush of Blood Red, followed by a slightly lighter drybrush of Warlock Purple. The inside of his scale cloak is Tallarn Flesh, then Skull White, then Tallarn Flesh again with a light wash of Leviathan Purple and a heavier wash of Ogryn Flesh. Swords are basic Chainmail, with Turquoise Blue and Skull white for the poisoned edges.
His lady friend (yes, the way she is placed is completely intentional) was primed yellow, her skin is Tallarn Flesh followed by a store brand acrylic paint "Buttermilk", her hair is Iyanden Darksun, then a drybrush of Sunburst Yellow, her make up is Blood Red, her chains are Chainmail, her clothes are Snakebite Leather highlighted with more Darksun.

Work to Do:
Base him(them?): My main issue here is to whether wait for more resin bases to arrive, or base him myself. The models take up most of the base, so what would be seen wouldn't matter that much, but I still want it to look good.

Highlights and touch ups: The Prince/Duke needs his blades highlighted, and I think I can do a better job on his eyes and cloak. The girl needs here eyes done, as well as overall facial highlighting.

Oh, and I'm working on a way to make a WYSISYG Shadowfield, so stick around if you are interested.

GMing and the art of consistency.

Though this site has a very heavy war gaming and hobby focus, I still think t hat this is an issue I can address with some skill.

We've all been there, you have your story set, NPC dialog ready, enemy stats out, encounters planned. Only one problem, you are currently running your game with a slightly unfamiliar system. A player wants to do something, and you have no clue. What do you do?

Make something up. And stick to it. This is one of the most important skills you have to have as a GM. Your players look to you to provide a fun, fair experience. It's up to you how the game runs, but changing rules on the fly is not going to provide a good experience for your players. You need to stick to your guns.


Lets have an example. Your players are playing Dungeon Crawler, the Dungeon Crawling Game, where monsters are hit based on their DEF stat.
Ranger Tom is shooting at a skeleton, you, not knowing the the DEF stat of the skeleton, make up a number off the top of your head. Ranger Tom can't hit the skeleton because the DEF stat you made up for it is too high. Later on, Wizard Ian attacks a similar skeleton, and this time you have looked up the skeleton's DEF stat, and it is less high than the DEF you had given to it in Ranger Tom's encounter. But, you want to stay accurate to the rules, so you give it the lower DEF and allow Wizard Ian to hit and kill it. Now Ranger Tom is rather upset with you.

And you know why? Because you tried for accuracy over consistency. As the GM, it is your job to create a world for your players to experience, and changing up the rules in the middle of games will break immersion for your players, as well as giving certain players unfair advantages/disadvantages.



Of course, some of your players may not want you to do this. Generally, rules lawyers will want you to stick to the book as much as possible. What should your answer be? Ignore them. Your players need you more than you need them, your job is to make sure the majority of them have a good time. If you do something right, and consistently, it'll seem like you haven't done anything at all. As as the GM, that is exactly what you want your players to think.

Selling Ogre Kingdoms army

Title says it all really, I am selling off my beloved Ogres. Army comprised of 11 Bulls, 7 Ironguts, 4 Leadbelchers, 2 Gorgers and one Tyrant (plus army book). Tyrant, one Gorger, 3 Ironguts and 10 Bulls are painted and based, pictures below. Going for $100, send me an email at themushroomcloud@gmail.com or comment on this post if you are interested.
More pictures here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/108444605804616857276/OGRESFORSALE#

Aboard Damnation's Laughter, after the Prince of Pain's magneificent raid on Viridis Sileo

Battle Report for game 2 of the Battle for Viridis Sileo mini-campaign is up on Disposable Income.

Wrap up:
It was a draw, with the Kabal of the Howling Gale and Splinter Fleet Orochi scoring equal objectives.

Anyway, more fluff.

The Prince of Pain stood laughing, a goblet of tarnished gold, filled to overflowing with a dark summervine clutched in his thin, pasty hands. Before him was a large window, allowing him to see the soon to be plundered world of Viridis Sileo from orbit.

"My Lord" whispered a deck hand, prostrating himself. "It is advisable to re-enter the Webway, sir. Our fleet cannot hope to hold off the Bio-Ships for much longer."
Zhai Mor turned away from the window, shielding his eyes from the silent explosion of one of his Torturer class escorts. Captained by the fool pilot who had dared to arrive late to their latest raid. A fitting punishment, the cost of several hundreds of loyal crew a minor one, at best.

"Allow me to enjoy my victory for a moment, churl. Capturing those supplies ensure we have enough food for the next few cycles." Spoke Prince Mor. "My Lord" said the deck hand, a look of anxiety and fear on his pale face. "We only secured half of the intercepted shipment before we had to pull out. The insects overwhelmed most of us, even your body guard and personal Venom where wiped out, as you no doubt saw. And, Lord, the supplies appear to be mon'kiegh munitions, not food. It there was some mistake."
"MISTAKE?" Howled the Prince, throwing his goblet with such force into the face of a nearby slave that is broke apart. "You dare accuse me of making a mistake?!" He growled, before delivering a swift kick to the deck hand's head. It was only then did he realize that the deck hand was one of his more competent Dracons. Loathing overwhelmed him, and he vomited it over the collapsed Eldar in the form of slurry of insults, before kicking in the man's teeth for good measure. "I do not make 'mistakes', Dracon, it was must have been one of you. Look here, one of the Reavers arrived with two crates, AND the mon'keigh pilot in hand. There was no mistake, only your incompetence." "My Lord" spat out the collapsed Dracon, through bleeding lips "The pilot is dead. It appears he was killed during the fighting. The remaining Haemunculus has informed me that the body was riddled with claw marks, full of our most deadly posoins, and his brain was half-way melted from what appears to have been a warp blast.

Zhai Mor turned to face the large window again, watching as a squadron of Razorwing Fighters engaged cluster of Tyrannid void-born flyers. "You are telling me that all we have to show for it are a few crates of worthless ammunition?" "Yes, my Lord" whispered the Dracon, just now standing. In a flash, the Prince of Pain had impaled the Dracon with his hidden agonizer, concentrated agony flowing throw the violently shaking Eldar until his nerves burned out. "You there!" Cried Zhai Mor, pointing to a shocked deckhand with the rank of Syrabite. "Welcome to the Prince's Court, Dracon. First order of business, contact the mon'keigh ruler on the planet below. I believe we have some ammunition to sell to him"

The newly appointed Dracon began shouting orders in the razor sharp tongue of Low Commorragh's hellion gangers. It appears he was a former Hellion of some sort. No matter, thought the Prince, sitting down on his terrible throne as a holo-image of a frightened, ape like mon'keigh appeared on the main projector screen on the bridge.

Cleaning and painting resin bases

EDIT: For some reason I cannot get some of the picture to a reasonable size. I'll try and work around it. If you want a clearer photo, just click on it, it'll expand for you.

I got some resin bases this morning from Secret Weapon Bases, and I figured I should do a quick run through of how to clean these guys up.

First, the materials:
Your resin products:

and some warm water, soap/dish detergent, and a file.


Now the, Step One: File away.
You may find that you have some flash, file or cut it off, but don't try and snap it. Resin is very brittle, it will break. Be careful to not inhale any of the resin dust,its not very healthy.


Step Two: Wash.
You may find that the resin still has some sealing agent on it. This is when you wash it in warm, not hot (as this will make the resin soft and bendable) and soapy water. Make sure you clean it well.


Step Three:Prime.
Your resin models will need to be primed to allow paint to stick well. Make sure wha you have is a "Primer" or a bonding agent. Regular spray paint can work, but primer is better and you won't lose as much detail with it.


Now, lets apply some paint. As these particular bases are ruins, I used a lot of greys, blacks and metals.
Here are some painted ones:


Now I'll break down how I painted these.
For the rubble, I either used 1) a base of black, followed by a dry brush of dark grey (equal parts black and white "Apple Barrel" brand paints). Or 2)A base of black, followed by Snakebite Leather, then Scab Red, then a drybrush of Snakebite Leather again.
For the pavement/side walks, I used a base of black followed by a light grey layer (2 parts white, one part black.)
The roads where done with 2 parts black one part white paint.
Metals where done with a simple black basecoat, then a layer of Chainmail and a wash using Red Oak woodstain.

And here is a fully painted and based unit, complete with Transport. Specifically the Searing Arrow kabalite squad with their Raider The Death that Sails. Yes, I did replace its flying base, but the resin base is the same size, so I doubt anyone will mind.

Jokearo Weapon Smith and Castellan Crow pictures

In case any of ya'll don't read Wraith Gate, here are the models for Castellan Crow and the Jokearo weapon orangutan thing. If I do end up starting Grey Knights at some point, my army will be entirely comprised of converted Jokearos.

Assault Cannon Razorback conversion

Heres a conversion I did awhile ago, using the rhino from the Blood Angels battleforce, the assault cannon from the Land Raider Crusader that I destroyed for a trerrain piece, and a bit of elbow grease.

Here is how it came out, unpainted So far:

Now, how did I do it? Well, the first thing you will need, if you have them lying around, around:
A saw and file, I used these, specifically:

And after you get these, you'll need an assault cannon. I used the bits from the LRC, and hacked off the ammo chain thing it had on the bottom. Alon with that, I sawed down the inside edges of the two cannons to allow them to fit over item three, specifically the turret mount from the Imperial Bastion kit. Making sure they fit snuggly over the center bar, as this will serve as the anchor to keep the guns on the razorback. Apply some glue and you'll get something like this:

And that is ready to fit on the Razorback weapon mount roof option from the Rhino/Razorback kit. Congratulations! You now have an effective,WYSIWYG, and, if you have tons of buts lying around like I do, cheap, conversion for an awesome vehicle.

Dark Eldar Kabalite Trueborn conversions

Thats right folks, here is another set of conversion I have done, this time they are ten Kabalite Trueborn. I wanted to make these guys look more skilled and better equipped than their Kabalite Warrior "brothers". To get this look, and in keeping with my space pirate theme, I used a mix of Dire Avenger and Kabalite Warrior bits, and tried to make these guys look really individualized.

First up, Kabalite Drachon with a spear stolen from an Exarch, pointing at something.


Next up we have three heavy support dudes, all decked out in their "borrowed" Dire Avenger armor suits and Dark Lance weapons.


Another Drachon, with a blast pistol I think, and a nice sharp arm mounted blade thing, possibly used to WYSIWYG a Ghostplate Armor suit's shield generator.

A splinter cannon wielding trueborn, turning about to open fire on the poor fool who got into his cannon's range.


A couple of sneaky 2 hand weapon Trueborn.


Double trouble double pistols to represent a Shardcarbine.


Another guy, posed shooting a gun one handed, blade at the ready.


As some may be able to tell, I wanted to make these guys look very dynamic, so that is why they are in such odd poses, but I think the unit turned out all right.

Mantic Abyssal Dwarfs (Gorgoth's Legion of Terror) Unboxing

So this arrived in the mail:

So its time for another unboxing. Opening up the package, I found another box inside, filled with plastic and metal goodies, loosely packed in bubble wrap.
Lets see what we get:
Multiple sprues of regular Dwarf plastics (the official numbers are available at Mantic's website)
Multiple metal conversion buts (heads, torsos, weapons, shields, etc)
Printed rules on a pamphlet
Mantic Journal #3 (with printed rules and army lists for Dwarfs, Undead and Elves






Here we have some warriors I managed to build real quick, and the super secret Conclave members, the Goblin and Dwarf Centaur guy




Over all, while the whole range so far has a nice chaotic, retro feel to it, the quality of the casting (at least in my case) of the metal is pretty poor. Lots of flash and irregularities. However, for the price that you pay (I got the whole 60 odd model box for about a hundred dollars), one can't really complain.

Old Stuff Day post

Today is Old Stuff day, so here is one of my favorite old posts, a three player scenario I wrote a few months back.

"The Siege", a Warhammer scenario for three players.
Right, in order to accommodate a three player game, and get to use some awesome terrain, I've developed this scenario:

Game Lasts 6 turns
Objectives:
There are three objectives. The Village, the Pass and The Castle. The Castle is in the Defender deployment and is worth 10 Points. It is under control if the controllers army has more units (point wise) in it than the other, or if they are the only army in The Castle.
The Village is worth 5 Points. Same method of capture as above.
The Pass: The pass is worth Zero points, but If it is under control, all Core choices of the Army that controls it can, after being destroyed, re enter play with the same equipment and numbers, minus any magic items. They are treated as entering play form Reserves.


Point Allocation:The three armies are divided into two groups, the Attackers, and the Defender. The Defender is allowed only 66% the point value of the Attackers, but all Defender units are Stubborn, and there is no limit to the repetition of units for Special and Rare selections.
The Attackers: The remaining two armies are clustered into the "Attackers". The point value of the "Attacker" army has to be divided evenly between the two Armies that make it up. For example, the Attackers Army is composed of two 1500 point Armies, commanded by two separate Generals.

Winning Conditions:
Over all: who ever has the most Territory points at the end of the Game wins, however there are other ways:
Defenders: The Defender's deployment area has to have at least one unit, not engaged in combat to gain victory, or the Attacker's army is at 33% of their point value, in which case the siege is broken. However, the Defending Army has to have more units (Point wise) alive than the Attackers to be able to have this victory condition applicable.

Attackers: follow this special rule:
STARVE THEM OUT!: If an opposing Army controls "The Village" than, for every turn after turn 3 that the Village and The Castle remain under separate hands, the Army controlling "The Castle" has to take a panic test. If passed, they lose the Smallest unit (point wise) to starvation. If failed, then the Army panics. A randomly selected unit Breaks towards the nearest table top, and the smallest unit bar the fleeing unit is starved to death. This continues till the Game ends or the Village switches hands.

The Attackers are also subject to this rule:
Alliance Broken!: If the Attackers shared point value drops to 33% of its total, the alliance is broken. The Attackers now count as two separate armies, and can attack each other, take objects held by each other, and do not benefit form any bonuses that would be shared by an Alliance i.e. buffs, re-rolls, and are treated for all intents and purposes as two separate enemy armies, to each other and the defenders.

Deployment:
The Defenders Deploy from their labeled "Deployment Zone", The Castle is located inside the Defender Deployment.
The Attackers deploy 12 inches from the long table edges, but cannot get within 6 inches of the Defender's deployment or the Pass.