#18: Red Bull gives you...

Well, I must say, it has been a mental week. And while work, wife and minor home renovations have occupied my time almost completely (and let's be honest here, they are far more important than our beautiful game), I have managed to jam in a few minutes here and a few minutes there to work on my many, many projects. And while my primary projects, High Elves and Necrons, are taking up prime positions, somehow I ended up painting an arbite-style bullgryn and an Ulthwe Farseer that turned out significantly better than I expected. And before you shake your head at my complete lack of attention span, these are not new armies I'm starting. I have neither the time or money to support two more armies right now. 

As for my two main projects, I have not lavished much paint upon my necrons, instead investing time into assembling a Triarch Stalker, a unit of tomb blades, and a handful of Destroyers, all of which were a joy to put together, being really straight forward and well designed. 

When it comes to my high elves, though, I've painted what is so far my favourite unit in the range. The Sisters of Averlorn.

These lovely ladies with their sure eyes and magic flaming bows that shoot magic flaming arrows bring an extra little kick to the shooting phase, as well as some vital flaming attacks for any pesky monsters who have drawn the attention of some bolt throwers who don't want to chew through a regeneration save. To top it off, they get bonuses against forces of disorder, and come out of rare, which is not hugely competitive for high elves, particularly because I'm not including Phoenixes of either variety. 

I love the models too. When I first assembled them, I was thinking to myself, "There is no way that these girls will rank up in a unit any bigger than five". But there is a way. And I fully intend on filling out this unit, almost exclusively for the reason that I have never seen a unit of them put on the table of any decent size. When painting them, the thing that makes them stand out is their long, flowing blonde hair and the flashes of white on their sleeves. The purple that I've used on their bows is the same purple of the arcane blast being summoned by my Loremaster as well as the roiling ball of energy holding my Mage aloft. I think it ties the army scheme together with yet another strand of continuity, which I like. 

There has also been an influx of photos just today from participants of Border Wars, the ongoing army builder challenge that I've been running these last couple of months. We have just passed the 1000 point mark, and the guys have not failed to impress. 

Josh: Legions of Chaos

With the addition of an Exalted hero. And some demonic friends, Josh has filled out his force, sporting not only plenty of armour but also a devastating magical barrage thanks to Dr. Festus and his Tzeentchian allies. The almost bleached flesh ties the mortal and immortal factions together in a uniform display of colour.

Liam: Orcs and Goblins

You may remember Liam's last installation in border wars; a massive slab of night goblins with a majestic rank filler in the form of a crazed shaman working madly staring into a huge cauldron of potion. Well, he has continued to produce spectacular work and really show off the whacky nature of Night Goblin culture, as well as the awesome models they have at their disposal. 

Aside from the Forgeworld Night Goblin character pack, there is no alternative model when it comes to Battle Standard Bearers. Liam has cleverly used a handful of elements from his bits box to extend this little guy's gruesome trophy rack (already adorned with skulls that he probably stole rather than claimed) into an impressive and unmissable banner that will stand tall in the midst of his comrades. 

No self respecting night goblin player leaves home without at least one of these terrifying balls of destruction, and Liam is not one to buck the trend. Everyone I know has a healthy fear of these toothy wrecking balls, and for good reason. 

Continuing the trend of "night-goblin-ifying" common goblin units, Liam has delved into the vaults of Forge World to get this monstrosity to represent a Doom Diver. Instead of a slingshot flinging winged goblins with self-destructive tendencies into the ranks of heavily armoured Knights, this beast spits Squigs over large distances, who can and will bite your head off as they are crushing you into the ground.

To close it out, he's includes another regiment of Night Goblin bowmen to join his newest character, a deranged shaman. 

Glen: Beastmen

This. I have been sitting on these photos for days now and cannot wait to show you. Glen has gone above and beyond and really showcases his extensive painting abilities! 

Overlooking the slightly mental GW Razorgor models, he's chosen these furry bush pigs to represent, well... Furry bush pigs. 

Showcasing his spectacular free hand abilities, he has lavished this Wargor BSB with love and attention, his banner adorned with half of a chaos star. 

Then there's this bray-shaman, holding his barbaric staff aloft as if mid-casting. What leaps out to me with this model is actually the chaos star he has carved into his chest, giving the model a sinister vibe.

Now, you may notice a lot of these are not Games Workshop models, and there is a reason for this. Beastmen (and I believe I have mentioned this before) are one of the very few armies that has next to no model support. With the exception of a few plastic kits for core units and useless monsters (oh, for a rare choice that didn't completely suck), there are no models for many units in the army book. Glen has looked outside the usual range and selected some spectacular miniatures from other ranges. Just look at his Razorgor chariot. If that three-headed beast doesn't represent the stat line of the model, I don't know what does. 

And to close it out, check out his Doom Bull on a Flying Carpet!!

This guy is just a death-dealing cannonball of a character, capable of ripping off a dragons head and eating it's rider. But have a closer look...

Fantastic. Red bull. Flying carpet. The jokes tell themselves! Great attention to detail, and I am so excited to see the finished army!

Thanks so much for reading, and I'll talk to you again next week, dear reader!

Until then,

Gabriel

#17: The good, the bad, the ugly and the uglier.

If you've read last weeks post, you'd know that I'm beginning to expand this blog into the realms of 40k with all its futuristic, spacefaring awesomeness. It's not to say I have not been a part of that side of the hobby. No, if anything, 40k is what originally drew me into the beautiful game. 

Just like Fantasy, when choosing and sticking to armies, I have the attention span of a sparrow. Every now and then, I get inspired by a random model, a book or even a movie, and it starts me on a course of enthusiastic collecting and painting. However, I am always drawn back to three armies. No matter what the flavour of the month in power gaming is, what the newest release is, or what tournament is coming up, I have kept three forces at the forefront of my collections. 

The first is Space Marines. Seriously? I hear you say. Me and everyone ever. 

It's no denying that Space Marines are the staple army of 40k, and that everyone has played them and has at least a handful of marines in a forgotten box in the garage. But I wasn't satisfied with a blue and gold Ultra army. Of the founding chapters, with no small thanks to a brilliant series of books by Nick Kyme, I chose to go with Salamanders. With their green and bronze armour, scaled cloaks, thunder hammers and fire on absolutely everything, they are one of the most characterful chapters, steeped in history and culture and tied so closely to their home world. Not only that, but they get some of the coolest characters in 40k in the form of Vulkan He'Stan and Chaplain Xavier (a model that was incredibly hard to get my hands on...), as well as the most bad ass loyalist Primarch out. 

My second force is the polar opposite of the green clad protectors of humanity. Word Bearers. While word bearers are typically seen as one of the "boring" legions lacking a single focus on one of the four factions (or evil marine ninjas), this means that they have the flexibility of including whatever units they choose. And let's face it, the Crimson Slaughter should pretty much read "Word Bearers Supplement". 

The third and final (and by far the largest) is the big green tide, ORKS. They were the first army I played and over the years, my collection has just grown and grown... And grown. My collection now weighs in at approximately 12,000 points. Disgusting, really. 

I look forward to showing these armies to you in the future, and indeed putting them on the table for games, but in true "hobby butterfly" fashion, I'm currently very enthused about my current painting and gaming project, Necrons. 

Now, I know what you're thinking and it goes something like, "Get off the bandwagon". But, alas, it was no power-gaming motivation that got me into necrons. It all started with a joke. I was chatting with a mate about how, in 40k, there is no colour scheme off limits. So with a smirk, I purchased the new plastic overlord and painted him pink. I looked at the final product and had a good laugh. 

Then the longer I looked at it, the more I thought...

This doesn't look completely terrible! And so what was meant to be a single model for a laugh, turned into an army that is growing at speed. So without further ado, here's the current progress. 

As you can see, I haven't gotten very far, but I'm really happy with how the colour scheme ties together on the desert bases. Thanks to the Decurion Detachment layout, it makes collecting units simple, as I can focus on each section at a time, the first being the Reclamation Legion of course, the only mandatory choice. I haven't had a game with them yet, but am building towards a relatively sturdy 750 points. Then onwards and upwards!

It also dawned on me that today was the deadline for the Border Wars 1000 point stage of painting. And thanks to a carefully painted character and two big birds, I squeezed across the points benchmark.

Five of the Swordmasters have been carried over from a previous stage. The other five fill out the unit and add a standard and blade master to complete the command group. And as my naval theme grows more focussed, I've painted two of the old metal Great Eagles (that I aquired from an old friend) in the same colour scheme as a pale Sea Hawk. It's satisfying and motivating to see the uniform units gathering on my display shelf and only gets me more inspired to paint. 

If you have models you'd like to display on this page for Border Wars, by all means, get in touch because I would love to show them off for you! There's some particular models from a particular Beastmen player (not me, there is another Beastmen player!) that are absolutely awesome! 

Until then, time and sleep deprivation being what they are, I must leave you now. As always, thank you for reading, good friend. 

Gabriel

#16: Opening a very large door.

With Easter break being well and truly over, I had the privilege of having ten days off in which to enjoy the company of family and friends, as well as sneaking in some gaming and more than a little bit of painting. This window of time has allowed me to catch up on my High Elves, which is a relief as I felt I was slipping behind schedule. 

The easiest way to paint a huge chunk of points very quickly is to paint a lord-level character, and High Elf lords are not on the cheap side. I debated a lot as to what character to use as my fleet's admiral, and after a lot of thought, and a particularly bad ass model, I settled on a Loremaster of Hoeth. The reasons for this decision are threefold; firstly, in game, a wizard having eight spells, none of which are terrible and all of which are pretty low casting, is incredibly hard to defend against. From a boosted fireball stripping entire ranks of a regiment, to sniping expensive characters with Spirit Leech or Searing Doom, he has the tools to play a part in any situation the battle might present him with.

Secondly, he's not too shabby in combat, compared to your typical wizard (those Chaos sorcerer jerks aside). With a few very cheap magic items, he can become a true beast in combat, which in my mind goes a small way towards compensating for his very high points cost! 

Thirdly, and what sold me on the Loremaster was the fact that the background behind him. As a knowledgable wizard, a masterful warrior, and a learned academic, he fits perfectly into the role of Admiral, a well travelled hero who has taken my Mage, Caelithir, under his tutelage to impart his extensive wisdom upon the young (for an elf) Mage. 

He is not my only finished unit either! I filled out the Swordmasters to ten with full command. I also focused some attention on two of the old metal Eagles, that I acquired from a friend. I've chosen to paint these with the markings of a Pale Sea Hawk, getting far too invested in the little details! But the end result will be worth it!

In other news, I'd love to share with you a big decision that I've made. I've decided to expand the games content of the blog into 40k. It won't be any kind of shift away from Fantasy by any means, instead broadening horizons into another great game, complete with its own background, lore and an incredibly huge model range, far surpassing the fantasy range. 

Generally, the plan is to alternate between Fantasy and 40k each week, and I would love to expand the blog in both directions! 

I think this will be a positive decision, and am really excited to showcase more and more hobby, both of mine and of you, the reader!

I'd love to hear any feedback you might have, and as always, thanks for reading.

Gabriel 

#15: Chaos and all its friends...

When the End Times began, Undead legions was the first to roll two army lists into one and it was not long before people began to earnestly wait to see which alliance would be next. There was certainly plenty of speculation to that end, and three distinct alliances circulated the rumour mill as obvious choices. The first was the Elves, rolling their three books into one. The second was the forces of Chaos, again containing three books. And the third was an alliance between the Empire, Brettonia and Dwarves. With the conclusion of the end times series we now know that this third alliance never occurred in the game (could have something to do with the fact that everyone from those three races got killed long before the climactic battle, bar a few individuals of note...) which is a damn shame, because a list containing all three of those kingdoms would have been a true force to be reckoned with. 

But it was not to be. As promo, posters and advertisements emerged from the vaults of Games Worlshop, displaying a hideous monstrosity ridden by two unsavoury looking characters, it was clear that Chaos had ascended to height of its power having received the "End Tiems treatment". 

The combinations of this book was no surprise to anyone, and the abuse of power was all but unchecked. Warriors of Chaos, previously bereft of any significant firepower (Hell cannon and throwing axes aside) now had the luxury of advancing across the battlefield beneath the covering fire of Flamers of Tzeentch, burning chariots, and the disgustingly underpriced Skull Cannon. Beasts of Nurgle, Screamers and Fiends joined the fray of shock assault units, while rank upon rank of Plaguebearers and Bloodletters joined the swelling ranks of Chaos Warriors. Reign of Chaos was empowered further, and shared to all followers of Chaos, and the Ascendancy mechanic made Chaos Legions the unquestionable top dogs in the Warhammer World. Thankfully, whoever penned Glottkin made the wise decision to ban Demon characters from joining mortal units and vice versa, protecting those non-chaos players among us from the brutality of Locus' being conveyed upon units of warriors, Knights and all manner of units in between. 

Beastmen probably got the biggest buff from this expansion with the addition of Marks of Chaos available to all Beastmen units for very reasonable points costs as well as Reign of Chaos and some rather powerful allies. It's not to say they are now a top tier army, but it gave a boost to the already sub-par army that needed a boost so desperately. 

And while Beastmen is by far the weakest standalone book of the three, it should not be ignored as having nothing to offer. Besides cheap chaff and very reasonable infantry, which offer chaos players an attractive alternative to Marauders, it's characters are where Beastmen shine in Legions of Chaos. Buy forty Gors with additional hand weapons and park Dr. Festus in their ranks and you suddenly have a combination much stronger than the sum of its parts.  

The Boombull, a doombull with almost uncapped damage potential, is high on the list of popular characters. Slugtongue is ever a common sight now. But where the beauty of Beastmen lies in their unnamed characters. Wargors, while lacking the elitism of an exalted hero, is also significantly cheaper and fills the role of Battle Standard Bearer particularly well, weighing in at toughness 5, having Primal Fury and gaining access to an incredibly cheap 1+ armour save, he is definitely worth considering. Not to mention the power output of the Shard of the Herdstone in the context of a Chaos Legions army. Imagine the damage output of two units of Pink Horrors standing within the shadow of the Herdstone, accompanied by a Tzeentch herald or three, guaranteeing you a devastating magic phase every turn without fail! 

Or our good friend Throgg, with his merry band of trolls being accompanied by a Gorebull wearing the Blackened Plate. Research it. I could babble on about combinations endlessly, but I'll let you discover some of them on your own. Wouldn't want to spoil all the surprises for you...

Besides the endless possibilities, we were handed several new characters to join the already infamous band of overlords already present in Chaos' forces. The first and most prominent was Glottkin themselves, three brothers blessed by Nurgle; one with great martial prowess, one with arcane mastery and one with, well.... Obesity. 

The model itself is majestic and powerful, looming over the battlefield like a big, fat man with two smaller fat men. So how does it convey into game terms? Well, like any model that big, you are sinking some serious points into one model. And while it does everything, from bulldozing regiments of infantry, splatting monsters or casting magic, it is by no means invincible. Sure it has a lot of wounds, but apply the right amount of pressure with a blunt instrument (the right amount being as much as humanly possible) to its face, and it will topple like any other beast. But don't take my word for it...

The second significant release was three generals of Glottkin's campaign, the Maggoth Lords. These multi wound wrecking machines proved popular due to their survivablitly and their reasonable points cost (ranging around the 400pt mark). My pick of the three would definitely be the Wizard Maggoth lord whose name escapes me, who provides an alternative general for my Nurgle horde, being both more durable, more flexible and significantly cheaper than a Great Unclean One upgraded for a similar purpose. 

The last release was Gutrot Spume and his band of Blight Kings, essentially representing Nurgle Pirate Champions, and filling the role of a very tenacious tanking unit, capable of brushing off horrific amounts of damage, and still dishing some back in healthy doses. While being on 40mm bases, it at first seemed odd that they only were classified as infantry, but after seeing their stat line and their points cost (only 40pts a head), this decision only seemed fair. 

So how does one keep friends and still use this Legion List? Simple. The easiest and most black and white way to self-comp your army is to pick one of the four chaos factions and stick to it. While no one enjoys facing down against a legion of Nurgle, it is much better than a legion of Nurgle with Skull Crushers and Skull Cannons. Taking only one faction almost curbs the pain for your opponents as well as shifting your army towards one of four specific play styles. And while there will always be some ass hat who has to take the best of everything in order to obliterate his mates' lovingly painted armies the quickest, there is a simple solution to the games you have with that person. Quite simply, don't. This is a game after all, and we play it to have fun. So if you are a Chaos player like myself and many others, remind yourself to make sure that your opponent isn't going to go sob into his pillow after the game because you brought your Khorne/Nurgle  crusade of Tzeentchian Slanneshery. To a "friendly" game. 

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Thanks for reading and apologies for the articles lateness. Good old technology. 

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel