Monday, November 15, 2010

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.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

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.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

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.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

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.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

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.