#14: How to use Undead legions...

...without getting beaten up in the car park after the game. With this new generation of army lists, with more and more combos and tactics opened up for craziness, I wanted to look at how this has changed the landscape of the game we know and love. 

I plan on doing an article on each legion list as well as looking at those poor factions that got no love with the End Times series, and it seems only fitting to start with the first legion list, Undead.

Now to be fair, Vampire Counts has bee up and down in the power spectrum from edition to edition and army book to army book. But they have always been a threat. When you face down against a Vampire army, you know it's going to be a rough ride. From huge slabs of troops that just don't die, to a terrifying magic phase and then finally the vampires themselves, who are among the most skilled combat characters in the game!. In the hands of a skilled player, they were a truly difficult challenge. There are certainly some weaknesses within the army, and after a character or two die, the force can be crippled when deprived of magical support. In their current incarnation, as a stand alone army they are good. You don't see them winnng every tournament. In fact there are tournaments that Vampires are completely absent from. 

Then there is the other half of Undead Legions. Tomb Kings. Where vampire counts have a distinctly European flavour, Tomb kings are Egyptian, through and through. And I know the creators of their army book had their heart in the right place when they wrote it, but it's just... 

Bad. 

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of flavour, and some units that are both impressive and effective, but a lot of elements are a touch over costed, and then there is that one word that makes every TK player shudder and assume the feral position. Heirophant. 

No matter what your Tomb King opponent had in his army, there would only ever be one model that needed to die, and you would throw everything at it until it met an unpleasant end. Then it was a matter of conserving points and surviving the collapsing remnants of his force for two turns. 

So when news of the end times and the return of Nagash, all those dead, cold players cheered (without lungs, go figure) 

And awaited eagerly to see whether or not their models would see new purpose.

And my word, did they get looked after. The heirophant rule disappeared, there was a handful of new, very powerful characters, the Vampire counts and Tomb kings list became rolled into one wth the exception of a few characters, and they were gifted with a brand new Lore of Undeath. 

So what did this mean? Having double the units to pick from, there's certainly a lot of combos available. There are now a few "must-have" units, such as the Casket of Souls, that Vampire Count players have only ever dreamed of. The removal of Lore of Vampires/Nehekara as compulsory lores gives previously unheard of flexibility to the magic phase, even allowing Tomb Kings to field a Light Council, or vampires to abuse the lore of Shadow to their own ends. This expansion has removed much of the liabilities of undead armies, and has strengthened them to become a brutal freight train of bodies and monsters. 

Nagash has been gifted with a spectacular model and rules to fit. While he isn't as scary as some other End Tomes characters in combat, he is undeniably one of the best casters the game has ever seen, easily summoning an entire army's worth of units in a game.  Weighing in at 1000 points means he may not be seen on the table much in such a character heavy army, but it's nice to know you can field the big dog!

The other standout characters are three famous undead characters riding morbid monsters into battle. Manfred Von Carstein has become the most popular of the three, being given the option to sacrifice some of his ample attacks for reliable power dice. Combined with a casket, you are almost guaranteed a strong magic phase every turn, making him wildly popular for this magic dependant force. 

Arkhan the Black is the second, being primarily a caster, and being pretty good at it to say the least. And Neferatta is the third, shifting focus toward combat. While these two, are good, in my mind, Manfred edges them out with versatility!

All in all, there are now many dirty tricks up the sleeves of a crafty undead player. The summoning lore alone is enough to throw the best laid plans into disarray, and that's not to mention simple things like tomb princes conveying their high weapon skill onto a 300 point unit of zombies. The possibilities are endless, and I still think that the surface has barely been scratched with combinations between the two books. 

And how to beat this new undead threat? It's not easy. The dangers with fighting VC has always been getting your killer elite units bogged down punching zombies who are getting rapidly replenished, while terrorgeists scream you to death from the safety of nearby. The way to beat them is the same, it's just a bit harder now. Shutting down the magic phase has always been key, but not as simple as stopping that one spell. Almost every Vampire character is a wizard, and Tomb Kings ain't to shabby either. The trick to beating Undead legions is killing their casters, and hitting who you want with the unit you want, not being corralled into charging your prize Steam Tank into a 12-rank unit of zombies that even without magic support will still take him a whole game to grind over. Easier said than done of course. And with Lore of Undeath, charge blocking will bring you no end of frustration. But they can be beaten and offer a real challenge to a player brave enough to face them in all their might!

Now, I must apologise to you, dear reader, as this article is awfully late. I am entering my tenth straight work day and have had very little time to write or even paint for that matter! And while I am a touch behind on my painting for Border Wars, I plan to have a very productive Easter Break!

Until we talk again, 

Gabriel

#13: Border Wars - Mustering the troops

How quickly four weeks pass! Felt like last Saturday that I painted an inexperienced Mage about to go on his first voyage. And despite my ongoing battle with capes, robes and all things flowing, I actually managed to paint a considerable amount. 

Despite the not-so-amazing lighting, you can see that I managed to get a fair bit painted. The unit of archers turned out better than I was expecting, and with only their banner to do, they are all but complete. My plan is to leave all the banners blank until the very end, so that I can pour a decent amount of time into them when pressure to paint whole units has been lifted. 

Now, those of you with good memories will notice a distinct lack of Dragon Princes in that photo. And yes, I admit, while they are nearly completed, I have not finished them. But knowing that I was nearly out of time, I put four of the Knights aside and focused on one to show you what the intended finished product will be. 

This finely dressed fellow still has some highlights to go, and of course some basing, but you get the general idea. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed painting this unit. During assembly, I was dreading it, for these are among the most detailed and intricate models in the range, but they were a joy to paint. I simply did not allow myself enough time to give them the attention they deserved leading up to today. 

All in all, I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge posed by this army, both in painting and gameplay. Painting-wise, the challenge posed by the detailed models is rewarded by looking great when completed. My fledgling force is legal, and I plan to post more than a few battle reports if anyone is keen to test their own armies. 

Despite falling just short of the deadline, I was one of but a few. I have been flooded with photos in the last day and a half of participants who have gone above and beyond, displaying what a great hobby we are a part of. So without more ado, here are just a few five hundred point forces painted and modelled to the highest level!

Liam: Night Goblins

Now my first thought when I received this picture was, "How on earth did I fall short, when Liam painted this metric ton of models?" 

He's put a mammoth effort in, and it shows. A huge unit of night goblins dominates his force, complete with betters, fanatics and a truly magestic rank filler. Using the cauldron from Skragg the Slaughterer, a crazed shaman stands atop a column of rock, cheering about his latest batch of potion, doubtless containing a lethal quantity of Mad Cap Mushrooms. 

It's so easy to get rank fillers wrong, but Liam has added a huge amount of character to his army with this mini-diorama! I salute you, sir. 

Glen: Beastmen

Beastmen have the mild misfortune of having very little in the way of range, with almost half their army having no current models. So when Glen turned to his impressive abilities in converting, I knew it was going to be impressive. 

Slugtongue is an ever popular character, and Glen's interpretation of this morbid character is spot on. Resembling the artwork from the army book, he is more of a vile apparition rather than a living shaman, and he easily portrays the pestilent shaman who heralds death wherever he goes. Great blending as well. 

He also whipped together a unit of harpies, using Ungors and gargoyle wings to create a dynamic unit of the impish terrors. To be honest, my favourite thing about this unit is the bases. They are different, dynamic and the green of the foliage really pops the models. As a Beastmen player, and having attempted this conversion myself, I am wildly impressed with his work, and I look forward to seeing much more from Glen.

Alistair: Empire... Wait, no. Khorne?

Alistair redeemed my change of armies early on by switching his army three times, finally settling on Warriors of Khorne. With the recent injection of models and rules for the followers of Khorne, enthusiasm was in high supply for Al.

Embracing the murderous violence of warriors, and bypassing the magic phase entirely, Al has focused on making a true mono-Khorne army. His first installment includes twelve warriors with extra hand weapons (all the better for hacking and slashing), ten hounds using the Fenrisian Wolves (not pictured) and an Exalted Hero atop a hulking Juggernaught. 

He has poured a lot of time into the basing of his models, but the most striking highlight of this army is the white armour, veering away from the typical red seen on most Khorne-themed models. 

Josh: Legions of Chaos

With Festus drawing more and more followers to his cause, he is joined by a unit of ironclad warriors and a rumbling chariot in the same striking green as the rest of his already massive army of Chaos. Not one to rest on his laurels, however, he has already kicked in to his next five hundred points and I can't wait to see the finished product. 

Davey: Wood Elves

Davey was a late comer to the party, but has quickly hit speed with the rest of the pack. 

Davey's wood elves are themed strongly around American-Indian culture and his painting does this army true justice, from the subtle contrasts of colour to the faultless blending. 

Painting two characters, Davey has chosen a Spellsinger, who is adorned with elaborate tattoos, braids and warlike facepaint, and a noble on a giant eagle, being represented by a spiteful dryad-prince. Davey has also written a fantastic fluff piece about his army, that I'll share at the earliest opportunity. 

Ryan Z: Legions of Chaos

Last installment, Ryan put forward a truly great model in Gutrot Spume, forcing his way into the role of arch-rival for my Elven fleet. Continuing the theme, he has completed an appropriate bodyguard for Spume. 

Of all the models released in the last year, the Blight Kings are amongst my favourites. These Nurgle champions are awesome and their kit has so many options available in it. Where Al has chosen Khorne as his sole faction, Ryan has decidedly chosen Nurgle. 

Matthew G: Ogre Kingdoms

Originally entering the fray at the head of the Wood Elves, Matt joins the ranks of us who changed our minds. 

Where most army colour schemes are tied together with uniforms, this Ogre army is instead tied together with the skin tones, adding pops of different colours with their varied pants in vibrant tones. 

Wasting no time with his change of heart, Matt has quickly produced five hundred points of high quality painting and hardened muscle. Bringing to life a personal nemesis unit of mine, he's lavished attention upon three trigger happy brutes, hauling around their salvaged cannons packed full of scrap metal. 

To round out his force, Matt has chosen a Butcher, adding some magical strength to the warband. Butchers seem to be less common these days, taking the back seat to Firebellies, but they still pose a significant force in the magic phase and in combat. 

I still have several participants to display, and look forward to showing their work. 

As always, thanks for reading. 

Gabriel

#12: Chaos and Killing and Carnage, oh my!

In this post, I will be discussing the latest End Times book, which is only a day old. So if you haven't gotten your hands on it yet and don't want details disclosed, I will say this. I will avoid ruining it but there are certain events that can't be ignored while discussing the book, so SPOILERS AHEAD. 

Well as most of you know, the final book of the End Times, titled Archaon, dropped into stores yesterday, bringing the series to a brutal conclusion. I'll tackle the rules side of Archaon first. The first and bluntest new rule was the introduction of what is essentially "unbound" army selection. No more caps on multiple units, no more mandatory core spending, limitless points allowed in Special and Rare, multiple BSB's and absolutely no requirement to have a general. 

My natural reaction was one of disgust. There is a certain degree of complexity involved in constructing a well rounded army list within the rules of the game, and I felt that this change removed a lot of the art of constructing an army. You reall like Skull Crushers? Or Banshees? Have a whole army of them! 

But "time heals all wounds", as they say, and I must say, I have a much more level headed view of it now. In reality, these new rules have not been Errata'd into the main rule book yet, and even if they are, which right before 9th seems unlikely, no one is forcing me or my opponents to use them. It certainly opens the door for some incredible themed armies, but it flings the flood gates open for abuse as well. In the twenty four hours since, my regular gaming group has certainly curbed my fury, reasoning that firstly, change isn't always bad, and secondly, we simply won't use the Archaon army construction rules. Deep breaths were key to me coming to this conclusion and I am certainly calmer for it. 

As I turned past the first page (yes, one page in and things had already gotten pretty wild), I was met with a plethora of existing characters that had been supercharged by magic or just pure awesomeness. Grimgor Ironhide was back, bigger and badder than ever. Balthazar Gelt had become a magic wielding meteor of power. Caradryan was hurtling around on a Phoenix with a neat-o combined profile. And Archaon, having had a significant points bump (now weighing in at 865 points), has turned into an unstoppable (and unbreakable) force of demolition and death with 7 wounds, four wizard levels, and a profile that dragons would envy. Also, Isabella Von Carstein happens to be on very good terms with Nurgle. Yep, you heard me...

Existing characters weren't the only ones to feel some love. The three new Bloodthirsters are amongst the pages, as well as two new infantry units for Khorne. One unit contains powerful warriors dual wielding Ensorcelled Blades, the other rocking around with two chain-flails, showing Goblin Fanatics how to get business done! While being infantry with three wounds each, they are on 40mm square bases, becoming the Khorne equivalent of Nurgle's Blight Kings, just with less toughness and significantly more bloodshed. And to round out the Khorne pain train, there comes a new character to stand alongside his new comrades. His name escapes me (something about skulls and blood), but he is essentially a Berserker Lord, rocking around with two battle axes with built in flails, killing all before him in a Khorne-worthy trail of destruction. His standout special rule, is one that allows him to get back up after suffering the most heinous injuries and soldier on with his task, only being made stronger by killing characters and monsters along the way. 

All in all, the new characters and units are incredibly powerful, but demand a significant points investment. I genuinely had to fight the urge to start a Khorne contingent in my Warriors army... Or did I.

Having grown accustomed to these super-characters being introduced to the game, I was not greatly phased, because as a famous actor once said, "If it bleeds, we can kill it.", and all of these characters bleed.

The storyline was at first impression an epic tome of mighty duels and titanic battles. While I have only read a snippet  of the main book, one thing was clear to me. No one was safe. Characters of all races were colliding in impressive battles and, well, it may come as no surprise that a lot of characters end up dead. These battles were portrayed on the page with incredible imagery. Among many duels, Sigvald the Magnificent clashes with Krell in a brutal encounter, Ungrim the Slayer King meets Scylla in a rather violent course of action, and Schwartzhelm and Valkia, Handmaiden of Khorne, get to know each other. I won't spoil any results, or moments of heroism and victory, but if you can, read the book! It's amazing. 

And finally, with the last installment of the end times, the events from the last four books build to a cataclysmic conclusion. Again, there was plenty of warning as the the final event, and I won't go into too many details, but the end of the book left me more than a little stunned and lost for words. I am still unsure how I feel about the ending. It is both very open ended and absolutely final at the same time, which leaves me torn on how to feel. 

This, again was one of those things where the more I think about it, the more I am ok with what they did. The future of Fantasy seems to be going steadily forward, and with rumours of 9th edition in the coming months, time will tell on what changes I will, at first passionately resent, and finally come to really enjoy. 

Get out and read Archaon though, it truly is a great book so far. 

A reminder that next week marks the deadline for the 500 point stage of Border Wars. So if you can, send me a quick pic of your army in progress before next Sunday night. If you haven't fully finished all 500 points, that's totally cool, I'd still love to showcase what you have painted. 

As well, I have been asked if the new army construction rules will apply to Border Wars. They will not. We will continue with the following...

Up to 50% Lords

Up to 50% Heroes

At least 25% Core

Up to 50% Special

Up to 25% Rare

Characters and units from the End Times books will be allowed as long as they fit within these points limits and, more importantly, the theme of your army. Legion Lists may also be used, but purely for theme, not for abuse. 

Well, I have a significant number of High Elves to paint, so as always, thank you for reading! Until next week.

Gabriel 

#11: The devil in the details...

Slowly but surely, my host of high elves grows. The variety of units in my collection have steadily broadened, including rarely seen units like Skycutter Chariots and Sisters of Averlorn. And I must say... The quality and detail of these models is ridiculous. 

This is particularly true of Dragon Princes. As part of my first 500 points, these were among the first models to be assembled, and with every piece I glued, it dawned on me how dauntingly elaborate the models were. And while part of me dreads beginning work on this unit, the whole reason I chose high elves was to push my painting to new levels with these challenging units. This unit, I feel, will be a standout unit in the army if I can give a paint job worthy of the models. 

While I am on the topic, I wanted to discuss my choices in my High Elf colour palette. High elves are typically bright and colourful, having plenty of clean white robes and sashes, with flashes of colour. I wanted to steer away from this stereotypical theme, opting for a much darker tone. By using a muted palette and keeping to a dark grey and crimson theme, the eye is drawn more to the armour and weapons, which are much brighter. The reason for this is to accentuate the fact that my army is not a crowd of potters and painters who have taken up the spear and bow to defend themselves. This is a military force, trained and ready for conflict. 

Despite my waffling on about colour schemes and painfully detailed models, my brush has not been idle. I am planning on painting roughly a unit a week to stay on schedule, and this week I lavished attention upon five Swordmasters. These models are complete, only needing some basing details, but I am incredibly satisfied with the end result. With their extravagant plumes and their battle ready stance make these some of my favourite models so far. They wear full body armour which looks incredibly sturdy, but unfortunately only conveys a 5+ armour save, making this tiny unit incredibly vulnerable to anything stronger and a light drizzle of rain, but I do love their 'Deflect Shot' special rule, allowing these samurai-esque artists of war to use their longswords to parry arrows, throwing axes and ballista bolts as they charge headlong into the enemy. I plan on filling this unit out later in our journey, but for the moment, five with a musician is all I could afford.

I'm actually pretty happy with the pace that I'm painting, helped along by a low model count. And I am always interested to hear how your Border Wars force is going, and photos of your works in progress never go astray!

I must say, as well, dear readers, that this Border Wars has generated a pretty significant response from the community. Participants have been flooding in with their characters! And I am incredibly excited about this. For that reason, I'll be posting a midweek article with the remaining characters that have joined the party! 

Remember, for those of you who are participating in Border Wars, your 500 point forces will be showcased on March 21st, and I would love you to send your photos in to the page before this date with your painted force. If you have more or less than 500 points, that's totally cool as well. 

Thanks for reading, and I'm excited to see your projects as they grow. And with my 500 point force assembled, I'm always keen for a (very small) game if you have a spare half hour. 

Gabriel 

#10: Rocking up late to my own party

So, after last weeks mid-blog change of heart and complete shift in direction, I am pleased to present to you, without any fluffing around, my character for stage one of Border Patrol. Caelithir, the Mage of the Heavens. 

Eschewing the temptation of High Magic, and even Fire magic in partnership with the Sunfire Gem, I chose heavens for two reasons. The first being that Heavens is a great utility lore that benefits High Elves a great deal more than others. The second is for reasons of theme. My army is based strongly around a naval force, traversing the high seas of the Old World and protecting their shores against interlopers. The High Elf Prince, that shall fill the role of Admiral in my fleet, has called upon the services of Caelithir and his attuned connection to heavens magic, in order to manipulate the weather, directing his fleet with powerful winds, and ravaging enemy ships using destructive storms! I feel this fits splendidly to my theme. 

I'm really excited for this army. The more I read the background, and collect models for this rapid expansion, I get keener to paint and play this army. The Mage above was a little painful to paint, being a very dynamic model with plenty of flowing robes. But of the models in my first 500 points, he is by far the most difficult, and that fills me with optimism. Speaking of five hundred points, I see it as only fitting to share with you my first stage of painting. 

Caelithir, level two Mage of Heavens

14 Archers with a banner

5 Swordmasters of Hoeth with a musician

5 Dragon Princes with a musician

My favourite thing about this list is that it is legal and well rounded. I am keeping my Mage simple, choosing no magic items to represent his inexperience in war. However, as the army grows, so will his arcane power and arsenal of items. The archers provide a convenient bunker for Caelithir, add some long ranged fire support, and would doubtless be a common sight on the ocean and in landing parties. The Swordmasters act as a hard hitting counter-charging unit to threaten any unit that ventures too close to my fragile archers (I mean, more fragile than the rest of my fragile units). And lastly, I included five Dragon Knights, which I think are fantastic shock cavalry, and add some significant hitting power to my army. Cavalry on boats? I hear you say...

While most military naval forces have little use for horses, I have included them because I imagine there would be a few on board for when they launch landing parties. I am keeping horses to a minimum, but reserved a unit of Dragon Princes and a Prince to use as my Admiral and his bodyguard, who pose a significant threat in battle. Also, I really love the Dragon Prince models! As far as cavalry go, they are fantastic models. 

Onto other content now, as I dwell too long upon my own efforts once again. In the wake of last weeks showcase of characters, each with their own themes, motivations and dreams of glory, a new host of characters join the fray!

Ryan: Legions of Chaos 

As if to throw a filth-encrusted gauntlet directly onto the deck of my flagship, Gutrot Spume enters the fray at the front of his rotting fleet, shattering coastline cities and corrupting the shores with his decaying horde of destruction. 

Ryan has executed the paint job on Spume incredibly well, accentuating the true disgust of this model. His base and accompanying Nurgling only add to the hideous visage. I feel a grudge match coming on...

Quentin: Legions of Chaos

This sorcerer of Nurgle has split from Gutrot's main crusade in order to build a kingdom of corruption within the broken borders of Drakwald Forest. Drawing the malicious creatures of the woods to him, he hopes to establish his own empire deep in the woods. 

Quentin shows how a simple head and hand swap can completely shift the focus of a fantastic model!

Jeremy: Dwarfs

This dwarf lord, Frank (strange name for a dwarf...), is an already famed warrior and leader, who's full title I shall not repeat due to some expletives within, the terrible slaughter of his kin has driven him to a point of madness, leading his remaining throng on a path to certain death and unimagined glory, intent on bringing the hordes of Ratmen to their knees before slaying them before they could stand again. 

I'm so glad that we have a dwarf player in our midst, as they always add character and theme to anything they are involved in. Jeremy has given a glow to their eyes, giving them an otherworldly fire, desiring only the defeat of their verminous foes. 

And lastly, Jamie: Empire

Focusing on the survivors of Marienburg, this grizzled captain, Lars leads the shattered remains of a once-powerful battalion of Empire troops. His horse was one of only a few surviving beasts, and a disturbingly attentive crow has chosen Lars as an unwilling companion. 

Jamie snuck this chap in with literally twenty minutes to spare before I wrote this article, and how glad I am that he did. This guy has so much charm, and I'm very excited to see where he goes with the range available to him. 

I'd like to close out this post with some big news. I have been putting a lot of thought and planning into this blog, and I'm always thinking of what I can do to make it better. And so I present you with my biggest challenge yet. At the end of our journey through Border Wars, with so many players painting and building, we will be celebrating our completion with the very first tournament facilitated by the blog, The Rune Axe Winter Warfare tournament! This is in the very early (and I mean, very early) stages of planning, and will be after the last stage of our challenge (meaning we'll all hopefully be bringing fully painted armies) but I have no doubt that with your support, we can make it happen!

Sorry for being a day late, my dear reader! Thank you for reading, as always.

Gabriel