Stuck Between Stations

Saxon and eEiryss

2012-01-13T11:55:00.001-05:00

Things have been painted!

I've been trying to paint for an hour a day. Sometimes I actually do it and other times I haven't been so successful, but I have been able to paint two solos for my Hardcore army. Neither is based, obviously, but the hard part is done and they'll get based as a group with my next two models, Aiyana and Holt.

I've got a 3 day weekend and I'm hopeful that I can finish Aiyana and Holt and then base everyone. If I'm successful I'll have about two and a half weeks to take care of Boomhowler and be all set for Templecon.

December Summary and 2011 Year in Review

2012-01-05T10:00:00.001-05:00

The last month of 2011 was another disappointment for me hobby wise. I explained in the previous post about how I was distracted and lacked the motivation o do much of anything.

Painting for Points
Nothing painted in December.

In 2010 I painted 118 points and in 2011 I painted 105. My goal for 2011 was to paint 100 points so I was successful in that regard but I could have done more if I hadn't stopped doing anything hobby related for three months.

New Model Fund
Nothing purchased in December. I have $80 available in January but I don't see myself buying anything.

I wanted to focus more on painting models I had in 2011 rather than buying new ones. I was sort of successful here - the Slow Grow League required some purchases and I traded some 40k models for more Warmachine models. I think I was more successful than not though, since I see quite a bit less bare metal on my shelves.

2011 Goals in Review
Go to Templecon fully painted. Success!

Finish all of my Troll and Khador models. Sort of success? I have half of one Khador model left (MoW Drakhun rider) and maybe a dozen Trolls left.

Participate in some kind of slow grow league at my LGS. Success!

Purchase fewer models and paint more models. Success!

Sell off my Tau and give some serious thought to selling the Wood Elves. Sort of success - Tau and Marines are gone but I still have the Wood Elves.

Make a conscious effort to improve myself as a player. I certainly tried, but I don't know if I succeeded. I think, if anything, I just learned more about what being a better player means.

2012 Goals
Be fully painted. Ambitious, but I think I can do it if I stop buying models for a bit.

Sell my Wood Elves. It is time, I just need to figure out the logistics of shipping a fully painted army.

Pace myself. I was either on fire or burned out with the hobby during 2011. Let's see what moderation gets us in 2012.

Paint better. In 2011 I learned that I could paint to a good standard quickly but in 2012 I'd like to re-learn how to paint to a high standard slowly.

Steelhead Riflemen

2012-01-03T08:40:00.000-05:00

I finally painted something.

It has been about a month and a half since anything got done on my painting desk. I was distracted with the holidays, travel, marathon training, and League of Legends, but mostly I just wasn't interested in toy soldiers.

Spoony and I played a few games over the holiday time that lit a little fire under me but it was the realization that Templecon is in 4 weeks and I have a ton to paint for Hardcore that really got my butt in gear.

I sat down and got the last four Steelheads done for my full unit. Not really much to be proud of but I'm happy I got started.

Now I have 10 Boomhowlers, Aiyana and Holt, Saxon, and eEiryss to paint before February - better get going.

November Summary

2011-12-01T08:55:00.000-05:00

Another not great month for me in the hobby department. I've been feeling a lot more motivated in the past week and a half (I've got a bunch of models assembled and primed!) but for most of the month I was still feeling pretty listless.

Painting for Points
Only one model painted this month, my second Renegade. Not great but I'm about 50% done with the last four Steelheads and I've got some solos primed and ready to go. 105 points total for the year.

I've already reached the goal I set myself in January of 100 points for the year, but I'm currently 13 points shy of matching what I painted last year. We'll see what December can produce.

New Model Fund
I had $70 dollars to spend this month and I made good use of it. My LGS was having a 20% off sale right before Thanksgiving so I took advantage and picked up Saxon, Skaldi, Wishnailer, and eEiryss for $50. I'll have $60 for December but I imagine that I'll save that money for Christmas presents while I try to get some of my Magnus Hardcore list painted.

I'll have to make a few purchases for Templecon (Rover, Shock Troopers, and a solo or two) but otherwise I don't see too many model purchases in my future.

Templecon 2012 - Hardcore

2011-11-29T08:21:00.000-05:00

I want to play Hardcore at Templecon this year. I fully expect to be beaten soundly but the format seems exciting and I like the idea of playing against fully painted armies.

The 2012 format hasn't been officially announced yet but rumors on the tubes say that Killbox is still in effect, along with some kind of control zones. That means that most likely there will be two win conditions now - 'caster kill and scenario.

I'm about 95% sure my list is ready to go. I have plenty of time to playtest and tweak it but I imagine that there won't be too many changes.

pMagnus
+Renegade
+Renegade
+Mangler
+Rover
10 Boomhowler
10 Steelhead Riflemen
Aiyana and Holt
eEiryss
Saxon

The Battlegroup
pMagnus loves to run 'jack heavy which is perfect for the 7 minute turns in Hardcore - more 'jacks means less infantry to get stuck activating. He also gets free upkeeps on his battlegroup so he has the focus to fuel more 'jacks than normal.

I started with the standard double Renegade. These guys are Magnus's unofficial feat and can put a ton of damage (and knockdown!) on just about anything from most anywhere. They've obviously got great potential as assassins but a friend recently suggested that I use them as alpha strikers - two boosted POW 16's will take out two columns on a Khador heavy with average rolls, for example. It might be worth it to neuter Beast-09 on my first turn and snowball from there rather than wait for the perfect assassination shot.

The Mangler is my primary beatstick. He'll get Iron Aggression all game and do his best to eat another heavy or wreck some infantry with Thresher. The Rover is a bit of a question mark, obviously, since I haven't used him. I picked him over a Nomad because he can get ARM 22 under Temper Metal and has the added versatility of a gun and melee weapon plus three base attacks in melee. Time will tell if he makes the final cut.

The Units
Boomhowler is one of the best tarpits in the game and instantly gives me credibility in the scenario aspect of the game. They're going to be very hard to peel off an objective with Super Tough and Blur. I don't expect that they'll do any damage all game but I do expect that they'll tie up enemy stuff, zone out parts of the board, lock down any objectives, and generally be a nuisance.

The Steelheads are a flexible ranged unit that I'm still trying to figure out. They hit pretty reliably between CRA and the reroll on misses, and the 2-man-CRA has a POW of 13, enough to beat most infantry ARM. They can also do two MAT 10, POW 16's for 'casters, light 'jacks, and big infantry. With Snipe they have a respectable 14" range standing still and 20" on the move. I do have trouble keeping them alive though, so I'm going to need to learn positioning with them.

The Support
Aiyana and Holt give me the ability to throw around Magical Weapons or +2 damage while Eiryss gives me some control over enemy upkeeps and the ability to shut down an enemy 'jack. They're also both very good ranged support pieces. Together they help cover a ton of bases and allow the list do deal with most anything.

Saxon is in the list for Pathfinder. In the one game I've played with this list he already demonstrated the immense value of granting Pathfinder to an entire unit and I don't see that changing. The tables at Templecon last year had a good amount of terrain on them

Possible Changes
The most obvious change I'd make here is to drop the Rover for the cheaper Nomad and add in a solo. The Nomad is still a respectable tank under Temper Metal (ARM 21 vs. the ARM 22 of the Rover) and it has the benefit of Reach to tie up more stuff.

Additionally, it opens up the possibility for another 2 point solo. Right now the leading candidate is Wishnailer for the free upkeep on Snipe or Blur since they probably won't be on my battlegroup. Another good pick is Kell for some more good ranged punch. Another thought would be Gorman for Black Oil nonsense - there are many choices.

Renegade 2

2011-11-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

I painted a thing! It has been a month and a half since I last finished a model, which is a lot longer than I thought it was when I started this post.

I started this second Renegade (Thing 2) right after finishing the Mangler but almost right away I lost my hobby mojo and he sat on my table, unloved, for about 6 weeks. This weekend though I was watching MLG Providence on my computer and I started painting him during the breaks between games. Without even realizing it I had the model 90% done on Sunday afternoon and I did some detail work and basing to finish it off on Sunday night.

Now I've got a solid battlegroup for Magnus and can get stuck into some of my Merc infantry.

Magnus the Traitor on the Table

2011-11-16T11:16:00.001-05:00

After weeks of being busy on Saturdays I was able to get down to my LGS this past weekend and play 3 games with pMagnus.

My first one was against a pVlad list that my buddy is fine tuning for Templecon Hardcore. I've been giving some serious thought to taking pMagnus to Hardcore and the list I brought was close to what I'm thinking of using.

pMagnus
+Renegade
+Renegade
+Nomad
+Mangler
10 Boomhowler
10 Steelhead Riflemen
Aiyana and Holt
eEiryss
Saxon
Kell

I started the game playing very well. I used some clever positioning and Saxon's Pathfinder ability to allow my Steelheads to get the jump on Vlad's Winter Guard Riflemen, killing 6 and knocking a 7th down before the Winter Guard even got a shot off. I also jammed up his Kayazy and was generally feeling good at the end of my second turn.

Then I forgot about the Kayazy's mini-feat and lost the game. I'm particularly annoyed at myself about this because I LOVE to do this exact same thing with my Kayazy and I should have known better. I was in a position to defend against this without any trouble and just didn't think about it.

Overall I felt good about my list. It was performing very well against a strong player using a strong list and it was my fault that I lost.

My changes for the final list are small - drop Kell and replace the Nomad with a Rover. I'm losing a Reach heavy and Kell's gun but I'm picking up a slightly better Temper Metal target and a strong ranged attack. My plan with the Nomad was always to throw it out front to blunt any alpha strike since it is ARM 21 with Temper Metal. I think the Rover, who is ARM 22 with Temper Metal, will take more punishment while also being able to fire off a few rounds before dying.

The last two games were with a very badly built tier 4 pMagnus list. I learned that the list was every bit as bad as I thought it would be (my list, not the tier in general) but that I really enjoy playing Magnus.

October Summary

2011-11-01T08:46:00.000-04:00

This was a bad month for my toy soldiers. I'd been feeling burned out on the hobby for a while and it kind of came to a head at the end of last month. Some friends got me playing League of Legends and I didn't look back.

The break was good for me though. I've started thinking about my Hardcore list for Templecon, I put some new Trolls together, and last night I picked up a brush and started working on my second Renegade. I'm going to take it a little slow for a while and try to keep doing other things along with hobby stuff.

Painting for Points
No painted models this month - sadface. I'm still at 103 for the year.

New Model Fund
Despite not doing anything with my models I did spend some money this month. Before I spend any more though, I made some money! I sold my 10 Scattergunners to another player at my LGS for 35 dollars. I then bought Janissa, Calandra, and the Fennblade UA. With the $35 in sales offsetting my purchases I had 40 dollars left for the month, so I'll have $70 for November.

The Rover Appears!

2011-10-19T13:51:00.001-04:00

I know the internet wasn't terribly impressed with the Nomad when Wrath was released but I've been thinking he'd be a lot of fun in some Merc lists. Yesterday Privateer released a photo of the Rover.

image from Privateer Press

Right away I'm a little apprehensive about the model. The shoulders are huge, the shield looks weird, and the overall chassis design just doesn't do much for me. I do think that the color scheme lets it down a little and after spinning the 360 shots I'm a little more OK with the shield, but overall I'm still a little disappointed since the artwork in Wrath is very cool.

I will be picking one of these up, however, because it is plastic and because it comes with parts for a Nomad and a Mule! I already have a Nomad and Mule (converted from Cygnar plastics) but I'm excited to magnetize this kit and be able to use all three 'jacks.

image from Privateer Press

Neither of these poses really strikes me much either, but the staffer who built and painted the 'jacks said that she magnetized them which is why they all look the same and that she didn't pick the paint scheme. I'm hopeful that with a little more dynamic posing and a better color scheme the model will come together.

Epic Grissel Previewed

2011-10-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

Privateer has put up photos of all the new epic warlocks from Domination, including epic Grissel.

image from Privateer Press

I really liked Jarl's sculpt but I'm not blown away by this one. I think she looks a little too much like Horthol. Granted, most anything would be an improvement over her original sculpt but I'm just now wowed by the epic version.

lady Horthol?

The text that accompanies these previews usually gives some inkling into the model's rules but in this case I'm struggling to make good guesses.

"Grissel Bloodsong stands as a bastion amid the storm devastating the lives of her people. Assuming leadership was never her goal, but she has proven worthy of shouldering the burden of Marshal of the Kriels in Ironhide’s absence. She gladly fights alongside her warriors and asks nothing of them she would not risk herself. They trust her to save them whether by shrewd words or the booming of her explosive voice and hammer on the battlefield."

I imagine she'll have a lot of infantry support and it sounds like she'll still have a spray but otherwise I don't have a clue. Hopefully her rules are more interesting than her model!

September Summary

2011-10-04T08:23:00.000-04:00

Painting for Points
I had hoped to break 100 points this month and I was successful! I finished Jarl, Magnus, and a Mangler to get me up and over 100 points to 103. I've now got 3 months to pass my previous year's total of 118 - that's 5 points a month.

New Model Fund
I've been very well behaved in recent months regarding my spending and Spetember was no exception. I bought Jarl (or paid for him, a friend bought the model for me at Gencon) for $18 but managed to resist the temptation of other models. I'll have $62.35 for October and I expect to use some of it as I get my Templecon prep in full gear.

Mangler

2011-09-29T09:43:00.000-04:00

This 'jack has been half finished on my painting table for a while now. For some reason I just wasn't enjoying putting paint on him and progress was painfully slow. Even once I got rolling on him this week and he was almost done I was still looking past him to other projects.

The model was originally all green but when I had finished I didn't like how he looked. I went back in with some blacks and grays to break up the green and I'm much happier with how it looks now.

I haven't given too much thought to how this guy will run in a Magnus list. Clearly he's an infantry death machine with Reach, Thresher, and Chain Weapon on his right arm. POW 17 is reasonable against heavies too, although it could be better. He'll probably get Iron Aggression for boosted attack rolls while a Nomad picks up Temper Metal and tanks damage.

First Games With Jarl

2011-09-27T16:09:00.001-04:00

I missed my chance to take Jarl to the tournament at my LGS but this past weekend I was able to play my first two games with him.

The first was a 35 point affair against a Grim list. I brought some Champs to put Tactical Supremacy on and some Long Riders with Horthol for Quicken. I took an early lead with my speed, killing Blythe and Bull and avoiding his Burrowers with good positioning. Grim was able to swing it back into his favor mid game by jamming me up in the middle of the board.

By the end of the game I was in a good spot, having Jarl, a single Champ, and my Fell Caller facing off against just Grim. I used Magic Bullet to good effect, shooting my two models in the back to get around the forest Grim was hiding in, but my damage rolls weren't up to snuff and Grim was able to use Cross Country to shoot me through the forest and grab the win.

The second game was at 50 points. I was playing against a pVlad list my opponent was running to practice for Hardcore at Templecon. I brought Fenns + UA, Champs, an Earthborn, Bomber, Impaler, and some support. Again, I had a strong early game - my upkeeps gave me the ability to be where I needed to be and Jarl's feat kept me safe from from his Winter Guard Rifle Corps + Joe. I did make one mistake in leaving my Earthborn too far forward but it turned out in my favor when his Spriggan couldn't roll damage at all - the Earthborn trashed is for free on my next turn.

Things went downhill for me from there. My champs and Fell Caller dealth with his Doom Reavers pretty easily on my left flank but were then very much out of position. They struggled to make it back into the main fight to help the Fennblades. Vlad put up Signs and Portents and then his two units of Greylords used their sprays to demolish my front rank of Fenns. The Rifle Corps + Joe were more than capable of cleaning up the rest and suddenly I was very short on models. A turn or two of clean up later and Jarl ate a few Rifle Corps bullets to the face and died.

Overall I think Jarl has a ton of potential. I'm just starting to figure him out and I think he could be very powerful once I know what I'm doing. He's also a ton of fun - both games were very enjoyable from my perspective and I'm excited to get him back on the table.

Magnus the Traitor

2011-09-22T08:37:00.000-04:00

Magnus is another beneficiary of my sickness this past weekend. Right before I started Trolls I gave some serious consideration to a Magnus army and I'm happy he's found his way into my collection.

I've been painting a lot of miscellaneous Mercs lately because I'm thinking that, with the possible exception of Hardcore, I'll be playing them at Templecon 2012. That's right, Templecon is sort of around the corner and I'm determined not to be forced into an epic, month long painting extravaganza like last year. Nothing's confirmed yet but I'm thinking that pMagnus, Ashlynn, Damiano, and maybe Gorten will find themselves with painted armies by February!

Jarl Skuld

2011-09-20T08:29:00.000-04:00

I wasn't able to make the tournament this weekend due to sickness (again) but, since I was stuck at home, I took the opportunity to get some paint on Mr. Skuld.

He was a fun, quick paint job and I'm pleased with the results. I really like the little bit of red - I did it for Grim and he's still one of my favorite Trolls to see on the table.

Jarl wasn't the only model to see some paint this weekend, just the only one to get done. I'm in various stages of completion on Magnus the Traitor and a Mangler - look for some photos of them in the next few days.

Taking Jarl For A Spin

2011-09-15T12:45:00.000-04:00

I read a cool article this week on Lost Hemisphere about list building in a two (or three) list format. The basic idea was that between both of your lists you should be able to handle the following:

High DEF infantry (the article used Iron Fleshed Kayazy as an example - my favorite!)
Multiple high ARM 'jacks / beasts
Assassination attempts on your 'caster / warlock
Capturing (or at least contesting) control points in scenario play

This all seems pretty intuitive but it was very helpful to have it all laid out in the article and it got me thinking about what I'd like to bring to a tournament I'm attending this weekend. Here are my two lists.

Jarl Skuld
+Impaler
+Earthborn
5 Champions
3 Long Riders
Fell Caller
Horthol

I'm going to use Quicken on the Long Riders to make them SPD 9 and Tactical Supremacy on the Champs. The list is compact, durable, hits hard, and is super fast.

Borka Kegslayer
+Earthborn
+Mauler
10 Kriel Warriors
4 Krielstone Bearers
Scouts
Janissa
Fell Caller

Kriel Warriors take Iron Flesh and run forward to tarpit. The heavies and Borka follow as the second wave. They get a huge defensive benefit from the Krielstone, Janissa's wall, and the Earthborn's animus and should arrive pretty much unscathed to beat some face.

I've never played either of these warlocks but both lists look like a lot of fun so I'm excited to use them. How do they stack up to the 4 points above?

Neither list handles high DEF infantry terribly well but I think the Jarl list COULD handle it in a pinch. The Long Rider slams will ignore the DEF along with Magic Bullet. Also, Champions with the Fell Caller buff are MAT 9 and have two attacks each which should be fine against anything up to DEF 16. This is the biggest weakness of my two lists.
Borka has this covered. Two very powerful heavies PLUS the +3 STR buff from the Mauler will handle anything that shows up. Add in Borka himself and Janissa's Armor Piercing attack and I think we're good to go.
Jarl is pretty squishy but with Iron Flesh and in combat Borka is DEF 17 and ARM 19. He also has Stumbling Drunk to get him out of combat for free, Janissa's wall, and transfers when everything else fails. He's one of the toughest (see what I did there?) warlocks to take down.
I'm comfortable with both lists in scenario play. Jarl's list in very mobile and his feat can zone out parts of the board. Borka's has an obnoxious tarpit with the Kriel Warriors plus the fast moving Scouts to contest on the other side.

Knowing my meta, I'm the only jerk who brings Kayzay with Iron Flesh to tournaments. Since I'm playing Trolls this time I don't expect to see them on the table. Knowing that, I feel comfortable punting a little bit on #1 and overall, I feel good about my two lists. They were both designed to be fun lists first but I think they'll hold up.

Ghordson Driller

2011-09-08T08:13:00.000-04:00

Looks like Blogger has a brand new interface - bear with me a little while I figure this out!

My big Merc trade a month ago had some models to start a Gorten army. I've had my eye on the Driller for a while because of its clean lines and simple design.

Once he was all painted up I remembered that somewhere on the PP forums I had seen someone paint a big mouth with pointy teeth on the chest of a Driller (like the nose art on WWII bombers). I gave it a go and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

Not sure when this guy will see any table time though. Gorten is at the bottom of a long list of 'casters I want to try out - pMagnus, Zerkova, and Jarl being the top 3.

August Summary

2011-09-06T05:56:00.000-04:00

August was very busy in almost every facet of my life except hobby time. Vacations, sickness, and work all took up way more time than I wanted.

Painting for Points
I painted my Drakhun's horse (only the rider left until all my Khador models are painted!), one of my two Renegades, and a Driller (more on him later this week). I'm now only 4 points shy of 100 for the year so September should see me into triple digits.

New Model Fund
I started with -$7.29 and after 3 hard months of work I've finally managed to get myself into positive funds! I didn't by anything for a third straight month so I'm looking at $42.71 for the month of September. I know I'll be buying Jarl and Wyshnalyrr but don't plan to get anything else.

Tournament Recap

2011-09-02T11:39:00.002-04:00

Last weekend I played in my first tournament in a long time. I brought pButcher and a Tier 4 Zerkova list.

My first game was against Garryth running Mage Hunters, Sentinels, and a bunch of solos. I took Butcher because I don't know Ret well at all. My opponent played very conservatively with Garryth and he never really threatened me. I used my Kayazy to take out his Mage Hunters before ganging up on his Sentinels with my entire army. I won by assassination.

The second game was against Rasheth with three heavies, some Garotmen, and solos. I again chose Butcher to deal with the high ARM Gatormen and the three heavies. I ended up losing this game by assassination after we both killed almost everything on the table.

I'm confident that I could have won this game but I made a huge blunder that cost me the win. I was in a good position to take out two of his heavies in a single turn with Butcher's feat but forgot to declare that I was using it. I realized it right when I was done activating Butcher and then it was too late to take it back.

After that loss I wasn't able to take third so I decided to take Zerkova in my last game just to see what happened. My opponent was playing an infantry heavy Scaverous list. I have a single game with Zerkova under my belt so this game went terribly for me. Looking back on it I know I could have done better but everything was so new and I made some poor decisions with my positioning. Still fun though and I'm sure I'll give her some more table time soon.

Tournament this Weekend!

2011-08-25T11:59:00.003-04:00

August has been rather sparse on the hobby front for me. It is a very busy month at work, my fiancee and I took some final weekend trips before summer is over, and I spent a week quite sick and unable to do much of anything.

Hopefully that's all out of the way now though and I can get back into a better hobby groove. This weekend I'll be attending a 35 point Steamroller tournament. I've decided to break out my Khador because I haven't played them in FOREVER and there are a few things I want to try out.

pButcher
+Kodiak
+Kodiak
+Wardog
10 Kayazy + UA
5 MOW Demo Corps
Gorman
Kell

This is my killy list and it is based off my 25 point Death Race list from Templecon. The Kayazy with Iron Flesh are the stars of this list - I can use them to put enormous pressure on the enemy 'caster (and probably kill him) or send them to contest an objective on their own. The Demo Corps are there as a second wave clean-up crew. For scenario play I'll probably let the Kayazy handle themselves on one side while everything else takes down the other. I think this list will be a lot of fun to play.

Zerkova (Tier 4 Hunting Wolves)
+Spriggan
+Destroyer
+Vanguard
10 Kayazy + UA
Widowmakers
Greylord Ternion
Gorman

I've been interested in this theme list since it was published in NQ. I see a lot of potential for board control with this list. Ternions and Zerkova have SPD and DEF debuffs, Kayazy are a super pain to handle, even without Iron Flesh, and Widowmakers give great spot removal. Oh, and Zerkova's feat.

Where I'm concerned with this list is hitting power. I have no high POW infantry so I'll be relying on the Spriggan to do most of the heavy lifting (the Destroyer is more for Watcher Bombard shots and babysitting). The list has a ton of infantry clearing ability but not much ARM cracking. Also, I have almost zero experience with Zerkova.

Renegade (Thing 1)

2011-08-11T08:11:00.001-04:00

I'm really enjoying painting lately. I was stuck inside this past weekend due to non-stop rain and painted up a Renegade during breaks from the Drakhun's horse. I was surprised how quickly it went and I'm quite pleased with how he turned out.

The green is the same color I did the 'jacks for Ashlynn. It starts with a GW Foundation green and I mix in yellow to build up the highlights - fast and produces good results. The '1' on his shoulder was stenciled on using a very tiny stencil I printed. The results aren't fantastic but it was a fun experiment and I'm going to do a '2' on the other Renegade I have.

I'm very excited to get this guy (and his twin Thing 2) on the table. I've never used an arc node before and Obliterator Rockets are just nasty. Magnus1 also runs 'jack heavy, something I love.

Man-O-War Drakhun

2011-08-09T08:32:00.001-04:00

Well, just the horse really.

I've been on a roll lately painting fun models and this was no exception, but by the end I was very happy to see this fellow off my table. The model doesn't have many extra doodads cluttering him up he just has a ton of fine details on the armour plates.

I've been trying a new tactic with the bronze color after reading a cool article on Bell of Lost Souls about painting gold. GentleBen, a very talented painter, mentioned that he undercoats his gold with Snakebite Leather. I thought that was too light for bronze so I tried Dark Flesh for my undercoat. I've always had trouble getting the bronze to cover well over black but I love how it looks over the Dark Flesh - victory!

The Drakhun himself is still up for painting but after all that lining with bronze I'm going to come back to him.

Mercenary Reinforcements!

2011-08-05T12:53:00.004-04:00

A few posts back I mentioned that I was in the process of selling off my Tau and Space Marines. I've successfully sold them to a guy at my LGS - not for money (although there was a little cash involved) but for new Merc models!

I've turned my much neglected 40k models into a full 10 man unit of Boomhowlers, pMagnus, Gorten, a Mangler, a Driller, 2 Blasters, 2 Renegades, and 3 Steel Head Cavalry. That's a lot of new Mercs and a very good start to some Magnus and Gorten lists.

I was also able to sneak a unit of Troll Champions into the deal so now I've got two full units of them. I'm not sure what I need 10 Champs for but the deal was just too good to pass up.

Look for these guys to get some painting love in the coming weeks.

July Summary

2011-08-02T09:40:00.000-04:00

Painting for Points
I had high hopes for this month and started strong by getting 6 Forge Guard and Mulg painted, but fell off the bus later in the month as non-hobby stuff stole my time. I'm up to 88 points for the year.

New Model Fund
Another excellent month for me spending wise! I didn't buy any models again this month and have my fund nearing positive numbers! I'll be at -$7.29 for August.

Additionally, I made some serious inroads clearing out models I don't use. I sold my Malifaux army on ebay, traded my Crimson Fists for a big chunk of Merc models, and sold the Tau to a guy at my LGS. The only loose end left is for me to sell my Wood Elves. Does anyone have any advice for packing and shipping a fully painted army? I'm hesitant to put the army on ebay or Bartertown because I don't know how I'd get it to my buyer in good condition.

If anyone has any experience I'd love to hear it.

Jarl Skuld Spolied at Comicon!

2011-07-26T08:43:00.002-04:00

Rumors were flying this past weekend because Jarl Skuld, the new Troll warlock, was on sale at Comiccon!

image from Privateer Press

Stats
Nothing special here. Fury 6 is average and RAT 7 is solid for his guns.

Abilities
Black Penny is a pretty cool thing to have for a guy packing two magical hand cannons and access to Snipe. Evasive, Swift Hunter, and Pathfinder will allow him to be all over the board to make his shots count. Gunfighter means he won't be totally shut down by being engaged.

Spells
This is where the fun is.

Quicken! SPD 8 Fennblades? SPD 9 Long Riders? Heck, even SPD 7 Champions! Or, what about SPD 6 Mulg?!

As if two hand cannons with Black Penny weren't good enough for spot removal, enter Magic Bullet. Now not even Stealth can keep those pesky solos safe!

As if Quicken weren't enough to get Jarl's army moving, enter Tactical Supremacy. I'm thinking that Champs with Skaldi can charge forward, use Follow Up to kill more stuff, and then consolidate using this spell to get their defensive bonuses.

Weald Secrets is another movement buff for Jarl's infantry and saves the Fellcaller from having to give a unit Pathfinder.

Three of these spells are upkeeps and Jarl is going to want Far Strike most turns so I'm thinking he'll be a little short on Fury for transfers.

Feat
The spoilers are a little unclear about this but it sounds like he'll get to place at least four 4" AOE cloud effects in his control area. They don't block friendly LOS and friendly models get Pathfinder and can move through things while they're in the clouds. There is also some rumored penalty to enemy models that move through them.

It sounds like a cool board control feat to me that can help zone off sections of the table or allow a free-ish turn of movement.

Overall
Jarl sounds like a very good infantry support warlock, especially in the movement phase. His guns are nasty against infantry and solos but he won't be able to seal the deal against enemy 'casters alone. Mostly he looks like a lot of fun (and what a model!).

Painted Mulg

2011-07-21T08:33:00.000-04:00

I'm glad this guy is done. He's a fantastic model with just the right amount of details to be interesting without being a chore to paint, but he's do big and heavy and awkward!

I haven't based him yet because I don't know how PG_Snakeman bases his Trolls (I've never actually seen them).

I am rather sad to have to give Mulg up. I put a lot of time into him (again, so big!) and I'm really happy with how he turned out.

NETT Prep

2011-07-19T08:06:00.001-04:00

This coming weekend is the New England Team Tournament and we had 11 guys at the store this weekend helping our team get ready. Our team asked me to bring a beast heavy eDoomshaper list and an eMadrak list with Burrowers so that was what I was playing.

Game 1 - Scaverous

This was a combined arms list with two arc nodes, a Harrower, Bane Knights, Black Ogrun, and some support solos. I was running a Tier 4 eDoomshaper list with Mulg, Earthborn, Mauler, and 2 units of Champs.

My opponent hadn't seen an eDoomie feat turn before so I was able to get Mulg into his face on turn 2. You can see above that it took a charge and 3 goads to get him there. I had enough Fury to buy one attack and then used the free attack from Doomshaper being on the table to kill Scaverous.

We were both curious about Scaverous and his feat turn, so after the game we played it out assuming Scaverous hadn't died. He was able to quite easily assassinate Doomie with his feat and some nasty spell casting - another Cryx 'caster to watch out for.

Game 2 - Cassius

My opponent was trying Cassius out for the first time and I decided to try eMadrak at 35 points. Cassius was super aggressive and got right in my face in turn 2 and feated. I think he was relying on my lack of pathfinder (my Fellcaller got sniped) and the sight restrictions of the forest to keep him safe but my Burrowers were able to pop up around the tree and Cassius.

With Madrak making them weapon masters and his feat giving them each 3 attacks it didn't take long for the tree to go down.

Game 3 - Vayl

I was not prepared for the beatdown I got in this game. He was running 4 heavies, Hex Hunters, and some solos. I was using eMadrak with a Bomber, Earthborn, Burrowers, Kriel Warriors, and some other light beasts and solos. My plan was to hit him with waves of weapon masters (Burrowers first, then Kriel Warriors) before finishing with Madrak and the beasts.

Everything went terribly wrong on his second turn when he used sprays and the Hex Hunters' magic to kill nearly all of my Burrowers and Kriel Warriors. Suddenly I was looking at his 4 heavy beasts against my 2 + Madrak. I tried to bait one of his heavies out while also maneuvering for a Bomber assassination but my opponent was too smart to fall for either.

He picked the rest of my army apart over a few turns and took a very comfortable win.

Mulg the Ancient WIP

2011-07-15T08:57:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a brief break from painting my own stuff to paint someone else's stuff!

A few weeks ago I was prepping for the New England Team Tournament and I wanted to run an epic Doomshaper list that included Mulg. I'm not able to afford Mulg right now so I asked my local Press Ganger PG_Snakeman if I could borrow his for the tournament. He very generously agreed and I offered to paint Mulg to say thanks.

I'm no longer able to attend the NETT but I had already started Mulg when my plans changed.

I've got some good work on the blue skin and the rocks done. I'm going to try to do glowing green / yellow runes as well. Mulg's face looks a little rough right now and I'm hoping that some paint on his tusks and mouth will help bring it together.

I'd really like to get this model done over the weekend but I'm not sure I'll be able to swing that much time at my painting desk.

Half Year Checkup

2011-07-12T08:24:00.001-04:00

Every January I take a look back at the previous year's hobby achievements and look ahead to some things I'd like to accomplish in the coming year. Usually I forget all about these resolutions until the following January, but not this year! It has been 6 full months since I made my resolutions for 2011 and I wanted to take a look at how I'm doing:

Go to Templecon fully painted.
Done!

Finish all of my Troll and Khador models.
Templecon put a big dent in my Troll models and I've kept working on them since. There are 10 Trolls left to be painted and a single Khador model left. This should be very doable.

Paint 100 points of models.
I'm up to 77 points done at the 6 month mark and have a ton of painting that I want to do. Easy.

Participate in some kind of slow grow league at my LGS.
Done and it was awesome! I was really bummed I didn't get to play as many games as I wanted in this league but it was a blast.

Purchase fewer models and paint more models.
The slow grow league and Templecon caused my to buy a bunch of models so I've failed a bit there but I have been painting up a storm this year.

Sell off my Tau and give some serious thought to selling the Wood Elves.
I'm in the process of selling my Tau right now (and my Space Marines!) and I've decided to sell the Wood Elves as well. I'm still deciding the best way to sell the Elves but I expect them to be done by the end of the year.

Make a conscious effort to improve myself as a player.
This is a little harder to quantify. I still lose a ton but I believe that I'm thinking better about the game and making smarter decisions. I also think I'm a smarter list builder now than I was last year. I'm trying to build lists where every model has a purpose and I try to start each game with a plan of attack.

Forge Guard

2011-07-07T08:10:00.001-04:00

I've been super busy lately with stuff non-hobby related but I did complete these guys last night.

Forge Guard have been a mixed bag for me. I was really excited to use them with Ashlynn because she makes them SPD 6 weapon masters with reach - what's not to love? I was thinking that their ARM 18 would keep them safe while they got into position but it turned out not to be and early on they just died a lot.

I switched my thinking to having them tarpit and they were a lot better at that. Since they have reach I can engage a lot of enemy models with just a few of mine meaning they can tarpit in waves. Also, as the waves charge in they kill a ton of stuff since they're weapon masters and sometimes I'd get lucky and they would crit slam stuff.

I've got another four to paint but I'm probably going to move on to something else first.

June Summary

2011-07-05T08:38:00.000-04:00

Painting for Points
Another good month for me, buoyed by the One Thing A Week Painting Challenge on the PP forums. I started strong but lately I've been unable to paint and didn't get as much done this month as I initially thought I could. I'm up to 77 points this year after finishing 6 Steelhead Riflemen, pEiryss, Borka and Keg Carrier, and a Stone Scribe Chronicler.

New Model Fund
Finally, a month that I behaved in. I started June with -$107.29 and didn't buy any models! I'm still not in a great place with my fund but I'm getting back on track and will have -$57.29 in July.

Captain Damiano - First Impressions

2011-06-30T08:23:00.001-04:00

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to fleshing out my Mercs force with some more 'casters. I'm in the process of trading some 40k models for some more Merc models (hooray!) but today I want to take a look at the new Merc hotness, Captain Damiano.

image from Privateer Press

Stats
Damiano has pretty basic stats for a 'caster. His MAT 7 and CMD 9 are good looking but everything else is average.

Weapons
Damiano sports a magical Hand Cannon that can get a 3" AOE for one focus and P+S 12 magical sword. Nothing really special on either of these weapons although the magical pistol could be useful for knocking out Incorporeal solos.

Abilities
Paymaster allows Damiano to give out one of two buffs to friendly Steelhead units. Damiano has 5 coins to spend on these buffs. One buff allows a free 3" move at the end of the unit's activation and the other gives +2 to ranged attack and damage rolls.

With all of the clever movement tricks that Steelheads + Stannis can do the reform moves will have a ton of uses and the buff to ranged attacks will be a big boon to both the Steelhead Cav and Riflemen.

Feat
The Feat gives friendly models +3 ARM and STR for a turn and also prevents them from being moved during your opponent's turn. This takes normal Steelheads to P+S 14 with 3d6 on the charge which is not shabby at all. The ARM boost probably won't save them from any reprisals but it does take Merc 'jacks up to Khador levels of durability and Damiano himself can sit comfortably at ARM 19 for a turn.

Additionally, with a little extra on your turn a lot of potential assassinations that rely on moving your models out of position will be significantly tougher to pull off.

Spells
Damiano has a great spell list to support his army. I'm very familiar with Surefoot and the bricking potential it brings to an army, plus it pushes Damiano up to DEF 17. Combined with Rociante and his feat you're looking at DEF 19 ARM 19 - a very tough nut to crack.

Death March looks perfect for Halberdiers, Forge Guard, or Boomhowler. They all benefit from the MAT boost and Vengeance will get them up the field very quickly.

Deadeye and Warpath seem a little more situational but still very useful while Convection probably won't see too much use. Focus looks like a problem for Damiano since he has 3 good upkeep spells.

Final Thoughts
Damiano looks to be a great tool box / support 'caster with a focus on infantry. At 35 points I'd be surprised to see him with more than one 'jack, and further surprised if that 'jack wasn't Rociante. Here's what I'm thinking as a starting point for a 35 point list:

Damiano
+Rociante
10 Steelhead Halberdiers
3 Steelhead Cavalry
Stannis Brocker
Rhupert

This is 21 points and leaves a lot of space for more infantry, solo support, and maybe another 'jack. Right now I'm thinking about a combined arms force with Gunmages and Aiyana & Holt added in. Wyshnalyrr may also make an appearance to help manage all of those upkeep spells.

Also, I love that this guy is the IK version of Don Quixote. I like his Spanish vibe a lot and I'm thinking about buying some of these resin heads for my Halberdiers.

image from maxmini

Khador and Wrath - First Impressions

2011-06-28T08:25:00.001-04:00

I ran through Harkevich last week - here are a few quick impressions about the rest of the Khador entries in Wrath.

Demolisher
I've never had a chance to play with a Devastator but this guy looks to function in a similar way. He isn't doing auto-hitting damage to models directly around him, he's putting out two 4" AOEs. It might be a little less damage but it greatly increases flexibility in target selection. Plus, with Bulldoze and Gunfighter he can plow his way through screening models to make his shots at squishy stuff in your opponent's back field.

Black Ivan

image from Privateer Press

I'm not sold on the model yet but since I do plan to play Harkevich I will be playing this 'jack too. A small RAT increase plus free boosted ranged attack rolls with Harkevich means Ivan's bombards will be hitting what they shoot at. Dodge is a little weird on a Khador 'jack, even one with DEF 12, but I'm not complaining. He's also got a few melee tricks and enhancements that are nice, but I would have happily traded them for a lower point cost. I probably won't take him outside a Harkevich list.

Torch

image from Privateer Press

Now we're talking. Being able to give 4 focus to a 'jack with a Sustained Attack weapon at POW 18 is just crazy! Throw in Gunfighter and Virtuoso to give him 3 initial attacks and you're looking at a nasty little piece of work in a Strakhov list. Imagine the fun you can have with this guy under Strakhov's feat and Overrun!

Battle Mechanic Officer
This is an interesting way to offer a buff to all of the Man-O-War players out there. I don't often find myself with half dead MoW's so I'm kind of indifferent about this guy. I can see him having more use with Shocktroopers and their Shield Wall but since I don't own them I don't see myself getting this guy (or the mechanics I'd need to run him with).

Kayazy Eliminators
Yes. These two ladies will 100% be making an appearance on my shelf when they're released. The have Acrobatics all the time (not just on mini-feat turn) and they can move around even more with Side Step. Also, they're SPD 7 - nothing will hide from these women. Suddenly I want an eVlad list.

Koldun Kapitan Valachev

image from Privateer Press

This guy has a two big things going for him. First, he's a Greylord. I'm interested in anything Greylord. Second, I just started Mercs as a faction. I've got a bunch of Merc units painted and dying for more table time - Valachev loves Merc units!

Special Bonus Merc Entry- Sylas Wyshnalyrr

image from Privateer Press

What's not to love about one free upkeep per turn, +2" range on spells, and extra dice on offensive spells? I'll tell you what - no Wardog. Suddenly there are two fantastic options for warcaster attachments in the motherland.

Kommander Harkevich - First Impressions

2011-06-23T08:13:00.000-04:00

Wrath is finally in my hands and I'm super excited because it is the first PP expansion to come out since I started playing. Here are my early impressions on the new Khador 'caster, Kommander Harkevich.

image from Privateer Press

Stats
Nothing seriously impressive or outstanding here. MAT 7 is kind of cool and DEF 15 is pretty good but not terribly special.

Weapons
Hand Cannons come standard on Khadoran Warcasters and this one will probably see good use under Harkevich's feat and his spell Broadside (more on that later). His mace has a solid POW 14 and is magical. It also has Beat Back, allowing for some interesting possibilities with movement shenanigans.

Abilities
He grants all models in his battlegroup Pathfinder, including himself. This is pretty sweet. His feat and spells look to synergize well with ranged 'jacks but this little nugget also gives a huge boost to 'jacks looking to get stuck in after they've shot.

Feat
Now we're getting interesting. The feat gives a significant ARM boost to battlegroup models, lets them charge or slam for free (with Pathfinder!), and allows them to make a normal ranged attack before that free charge or slam. This shot doesn't ignore ROF restrictions but it allows 'jacks to shoot, charge, and then make their normal melee attacks, something they're not normally allowed to do.

Spells
Three spells on Harkevich's list stand out to me. The first is Broadside, which allows battlegroup models to make a shot that ignores ROF. This is awesome. On feat turn with this spell, Harkevich's 'jacks get to make two shots for free, then charge for free with Pathfinder, and then make their attacks in melee.

Escort is an upkeep that gives his battlegroup a speed boost and gives Harkevich an ARM boost. Fortune is another upkeep allowing a model/unit rerolls on missed to hit rolls.

Right away I'm noticing that with these two great upkeeps and Broadside Harkevich is left with just one focus a turn to allocate. A Koldun Lord might help here and so can the new Merc attachment Wyshnalyrr but I see Harkevich being rather starved for focus all game long.

The other two spells are interesting but not as obviously applicable at the above three.

Final Thoughts
Harkevich certainly looks interesting. He has some very good battlegroup spells that point strongly to him being a 'jack heavy 'caster focusing on ranged attacks. He also has a few tricks up his sleeve that allow his 'jacks to have 9" charges with Pathfinder, something you won't see too often from a Khador army.

I'm not sure yet if I think he'll be a super powered tournament level 'caster but I am sure that he looks like a lot of fun.

A Bunch of Painted Models

2011-06-21T08:37:00.000-04:00

I haven't shown a painted model in a few weeks but I have been painting at a pretty good pace lately. Here's what I've been working on.

pEiryss - painted for the Slow Grow League. I wanted to have her epic version in my list but wasn't able to locate the model in time. This was a great model to paint and didn't show its age at all (unlike some other original Warmachine models).

Steelhead Riflemen - also painted for the Slow Grow League. I haven't had much table-top success with these guys yet but they were fun to paint. I'm especially happy with how their hair came out because that's something I can struggle with.

Borka Kegslayer and the Keg Carrier. I was thinking about running a Borka list for the New England Team Tournament so he got painted up. After some more thought I don't think I'll be using him as one of my lists but he'll probably see some table time after the tournament.

Stone Scribe Chronicler. This solo appears in two of my lists for the New England Team Tournament as support for Burrowers. He's one of the few models I have left from my big Troll purchase from a year ago and I'm glad he's finally painted.

I've got a few more Troll models to paint up for the tournament in July and then I'll be back painting up Mercs!

Paint My Stuff

2011-06-16T07:50:00.000-04:00

With the league done I've been giving some thought to what my next project would me. I've got lots of ideas - expand the Mercs with pMagnus and Gorten, take a look at the new Khador 'caster and / or the Old Witch, maybe see how Calandra and Borka run... options and ideas abound.

Then I looked around my room and realized that I want to be fully painted (or near fully painted). I've got 3 factions (2.5 factions?) and a host of unpainted models for each one and frankly, I want them painted before I start something new. So that's what my next project will be - finish all my other projects!

Here's the list of stuff I want to get painted before starting something new:

Trolls
6 Scattergunners
Stone Scribe Chronicler
2 Stone Scribes
Troll Impaler
Borka and Keg Carrier
pDoomshaper

Khador
Man-O-War Drakhun

Mercs
10 Forge Guard
Rhupert
Aiyana and Holt
Taryn

That's 28 models to work my way through. It seems like a lot, but over half of it is tied up in the Forge Guard and Scattergunners so once I knock those two units off the list I think I'll be home free. I've been participating in the One Thing A Week painting thread on the PP forums which has been great fun and a good motivator on this project.

Slow Grow League - After Action Report

2011-06-14T08:36:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was the 50 point tournament that capped off the slow grow league at my LGS. There were 10 players (nine and one TO playing the bye position) and a good spread of factions. I went 0-3 on the weekend. I had hoped to play better but there were a number of very talented players using strong lists and I haven't played in a while.

Game 1 - Carver

This game was a mess from the start for me. I wasn't thinking at all and just started moving models around and rolling dice with no plan.

dead all over

After a while a Farrow Brigand with Quagmire ran behind Ashlynn and gave her -2 DEF. She then got demolished by a Slaughterhouser, Carver, and a War Hog.

Game 2 - Barnabas

This is a terrible match up for my shooty Ashlynn army. Swamp Pits negate all of my shooting and Barnabas's feat cancels out all of the defensive capabilities of Ashylnn's feat. Add in the high ARM of Gatormen and the Gator beasts and I was in for a rough game.

failing important Fear checks

I had a pretty good idea early on to split my Forge Guard to engage both Gatorman units. I wanted to kill 2 Gators from each unit, jam up the chokes on each side, and snag an early control point. Because of the swamp pits on the board I chose to have Rhupert give the Forge Guard Pathfinder instead of making them Fearless - they passed the first Fear check but failed the second and at that point the game was mostly over for me.

I managed a clever assassination run late in the game but didn't have enough to see it all the way through.

Game 3 - Barnabas

Same thing, new player. This time around I used the Forge Guard (now with Fearless) to jam up the choke on the left side while I cleared out the right hand side and scored an early control point.

early plan success

There was a lot of killing on the left side of the board and I started to lose control of it while the Gators slowly forced me back from the right side as well. Barnabas's feat put me in a bad position and, faced with losing the game to control points, I tried and failed to kill Barnabas.

Overall a fun tournament but I was hampered by some bad match-ups and my own rustiness. I'll be putting down the Mercs for little while and getting in some games with my Trolls in preparation for the NE Team Tournament in July.

Slow Grow League - Final Tournament Prep

2011-06-09T08:28:00.003-04:00

This coming weekend is the final day of the league and will be a 50 point, single list tournament. It will also be the last chance to gain points in our ladder and the top three players will form our team for the New England Team Tournament. I'd like to attend so I'm looking for a good showing on Saturday.

Here's the list I'm running:

Ashlynn
+Vanguard
+Nomad
Gun Mages + UA
+Mule
10 Forgeguard
6 Steelhead Riflemen
Aiyana and Holt
pEiryss
Gorman
Reinholdt
Rhupert
Taryn
Ragman

not as much painted as I wanted but not bad

It is quite shooty which is where I've found the most success. I'm looking to hold the middle of my lines using the Forgeguard and Rhupert with the Nomad, Vanguard, and Ashlynn as a second line. The Gun Mages and Riflemen will be on the flanks supported by Eiryss, Taryn, and Gorman. I'd still like to get a combination of Ragman and Aiyana's Harm on something but I think more likely I'll be using them to target two different things.

If I can get some wins I imagine they'll come from a shooting assassination. In a perfect world I'll get a Gorman Blind Bomb + Harm + Ragman on the enemy 'caster, Taryn will remove any LOS blockers, and Eiryss will either remove focus or deal 3 damage right off the bat. Once all that is set up I'll be free to throw 4 Hand Cannon shots, 3 two-man CRAs, 7 Gun Mage pistol shots, and a Mule cannon at the 'caster.

Obviously that won't happen but there is sufficient support and firepower to make it work even without all of the pieces.

May Summary

2011-06-07T08:25:00.001-04:00

Finally, a good month hobby wise. I painted a ton of models and even managed to get my first league win!

Painting for Points
A really great month painting wise for me. I painted a Vanguard and Mule, getting all of the 'jacks done for my league army done. I also made a start on my infantry, painting the Gun Mages and UA and finishing it off with Ragman. I'm now up to 67 points for 2011.

Battlegroup!

New Model Fund
Another bad month money wise but I've got all the models for this army and no plans to purchase anything new for the next few months (yeah, right). I bought Ragman, Steelhead Riflemen, some Forge Guard, Taryn, Eiryss, and Aiyana and Holt. I'm going to be at -$107.29 (yikes!) for June.

Mule

2011-06-02T09:50:00.001-04:00

I had a lot of fun converting and painting up my plastic Nomad so when I decided to add a Mule to the army it made sense to try another plastic conversion. I didn't get any photos of the Nomad in his unpainted state but I remembered this time around.

This conversion was a little trickier. I wanted to give the Mule a slightly different profile so I bought the metal boiler and removed the two plastic smoke stacks from the chassis. That was a big pain to do but I'm glad I took the time. The other sticking point was mounting the flat contact point of the gun arm to the round shoulder socket.

Painting this guy was a lot more fun than building him. I'm really enjoying the green that I'm working on here and I think he has a good balance of colors all around. My only gripe is the big mace looks too mono-chromatic.

All of the 'jacks for Ashlynn's army have some yellow stars on them somewhere and with the smoke stacks removed the boiler on top of the Mule looked like it needed some love. I also added a few red Khador anvil kill markers to the cannon (but don't tell my Khador army).

I haven't been able to play too many games lately so this guy hasn't seen much table time yet but I'm hoping that with a shiny new paint job he'll be ready to kick some butt.

Amethyst Rose Gun Mages

2011-05-24T08:40:00.000-04:00

I had hoped to get this unit done last week but work got crazy and suddenly the week was gone and I hadn't done as much as I wanted.

Overall I'm happy with how they turned out. The purple was fun to do I like the combination of the white, black, and purple. Their faces didn't turn out very well and the black was tough to get right but I like the unit and I'm happy to have them done.

Next up, the Mule that hangs out with them.

Ragman and a Gun Mage

2011-05-17T08:24:00.000-04:00

I worked on these guys over the weekend and am quite pleased with both of them.

Ragman was just fun to paint. He has almost no extra details to worry about, but his clothes have this great texture that I enjoyed working with a lot. Most of the major colors are layered up from black, instead of my normal technique of basing, washing to darken, and highlighting. I did a similar thing with Gorman but had more fun here.

The Gun Mage is actually the UA model for the unit. I don't have the unit fully assembled yet and wanted to get started figuring out their color scheme. I spent some time on the PP forums trying to figure out what Amethyst Rose Gun Mages look like and this is a fusion of several things I liked. I enjoyed this guy as well but I'm not excited to do the black robes on six more models.

Some WIPS and a Pledge

2011-05-13T14:35:00.000-04:00

The Great Blogger Blackout of 2011 seems to be over!

I've been falling way behind on my painting for the Slow Grow League at my LGS. Normally I'm one of the few players at my store who can routinely field a fully painted army but lately I've had the fewest painted models on the table. I don't think I can actually be fully painted with this list but I know I can do a lot better.

Here's a few shos of Ragman and the UA for my Gun Mages.

Ragman is mostly done, the Gun Mage is mostly not.

Now for the pledge. There's a bit of a break coming up in the league and the next official games aren't until Saturday the 4th of June. Today is the 13th of May. That's 21 days that I can be painting and I'm going to make the most of it. My goal is to finish these two models plus all six of my Gun Mages and my Mule.

That would make my 50 point list look like this (red things are unpainted)

Ashlynn
+Nomad
+Vanguard
6 Gun Mages
+UA and Mule
6 Steelhead Riflemen
10 Forgeguard
Aiyana and Holt
Gorman
Ragman
Rhupert
Reinholdt

There are 5 points left and I'm thinking about a few different shooty solos. My current thinking is Taryn di la Rovissi and epic Eiryss but I'm also looking at Anastasia di Bray for fluff considerations and may have to use prime Eiryss due to stocking issues.

I suspect that I can get more painted in that time but if I can get that much done I'll be happy.

Slow Grow League - Week 4

2011-05-10T08:21:00.000-04:00

This week we moved up to 35 points. Here's the list I ran:

Ashlynn
+Nomad
+Vanguard
Gun Mages + UA
+Mule
6 Forge Guard
Aiyanna and Holt
Reinholt
Gorman
Ragman

My first game wasn't a league game. I played PG_Hacksaw running Grissel, Champions, and Burrowers. I didn't have much of a plan this game but it didn't matter because my dice were terrible. We both had a good laugh about it but this game was never close.

After that debacle I played a Cryx list running pAsphyxious, some Bane Thralls, Bloodgorgers, and Slaughterborn. The early game went reasonably well for me and I think I had some good things going but my dice went cold again and he could not fail a Tough check on the Bloodgorgers. I poured a ton of resources into them trying to set something up and couldn't get it to work. I probably could have saved the game by trying something else but I got too focused.

My last game was against a Legion player running Absylonia, three heavies, several lessers, and some Forsaken. I got a good start to this game by taking out his Carnivean early but he got back into it by clogging up the middle of my lines and pressuring my Gun Mages on the left. I was able to get a solid win because he forgot about my Mule and didn't budget enough Fury for transfers.

Finally - a win! I'm really loving this army but I'll admit it was starting to be a bummer that I hadn't won a game yet. I'm still not really sure what this army's win condition is but I'm going to start looking for ranged wins in the future. I've also noticed that a lot of my support either gets killed early or never gets involved, usually due to poor deployment and movement on my part.

Reinholdt and Vanguard

2011-05-05T08:09:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I've posted anything painted. I have been painting but just haven't taken any photos.

This first fellow is Reinholdt, the Gobber Speculator. He hangs out with Ashlynn and gives her a free hand cannon shot - she loves that. I'm not sure why he looks so shiny in the photos.

This is Ashlynn's Vanguard. He comes along to take shots meant for her and sometimes he gets to beat up on infantry or solos.

I've been trying to incorporate some kind of Llaelese freehand onto the 'jacks in this army. Here I went with a few gold stars.

After the mess that was my sponge weathering on the Nomad I decided that the Vanguard would get some hand painted battle damage so I could control it better. You can see a few bullet hole chips on the shield. I also used some Gryphonne Sepia to give the impression that the holes had rusted out a little.

April Summary

2011-05-03T07:57:00.000-04:00

This wasn't the best hobby month for me. There has been a lot going on, not the least of which has been the gorgeous weather getting me outside running and away from my models.

New Model Fund
I was terrible this month. I spent $111.52 on the new Gun Mages, the Gun Mage UA, another plastic Cygnar heavy, and some bits to convert it into a Mule. I'm now sitting at -$43.36 for this month.

I will have to buy a few models for the next point level of the league but I'm hoping to offset it by selling off some of my GW models.

Painting for Points
I painted up a Nomad and Reinholdt (no photos yet) this month so I'm up to 52 painted points for the year. I'm planning to finish a Vanguard and a Mule this month to keep me on track, although I'm falling way behind on my painting for the league.

Slow Grow League - Week 3

2011-04-25T08:20:00.000-04:00

I've had to miss out on a few weeks of the league but I did get down to the LGS this past weekend for my first and only game at the 25 point level.

Ashlynn
+Nomad
+Vanguard
Gun Mages + UA + Mule
Gorman
Reinholdt

I played a game against an Absylonia list with a Sythean, Carnivean, some lesser beasts, and some solos. I did not know her abilities at all and mis-read her feat when I looked at the card. My Nomad and Gun Mages tried to take down that Carnivean but were a few boxes short. That's a big mistake against Absylonia and my opponent made the best of it.

Legion heavies hit my lines

Ashlynn was able to do some big chunks of damage to Absylonia with hand cannon shots but it was a last ditch effort and couldn't finish the job.

Even though I lost I love the additions of the Gun Mages and Mule. They made the army even more fun to use (and it was already super fun) and were loads more effective than the Forgeguard. The models were absolutely worth waiting for as well.

Slow Grow League - 25 Points

2011-04-22T09:36:00.000-04:00

I haven't had much time lately for toy soldiers but this weekend I'm hoping to get in some games at the 25 point level. Here's the list I'm thinking about bringing:

Ashlynn
+Nomad
+Vanguard
Gun Mages + UA + Mule
Gorman
Reinholtd

This list looks a lot like my original plan for this leage, before my plans got derailed by those awesome looking new Gun Mages. My original list called for Aiyana and Holt in place of Gorman and Reinholdt but since those last two are painted and I don't even own Aiyana and Holt the decision to swap them out was pretty simple.

The plan here is for an assassination on feat turn with the Gun Mages using crit Brutal Damage, the Mule using crit Devastation, and Ashlynn pumping two Hand Cannon Shots, all with Gorman's black oil helping out. Those are a lot of moving pieces but it will be fantastic if I can pull it off.

Nomad

2011-04-13T08:49:00.000-04:00

Here's the first 'jack I've painted for my Merc army, a Nomad.

This is not the original model. I've wanted to get my hands on one of the new PP plastic 'jacks since they came out but didn't have a need for another Khador heavy. I saw this article on Bell of Lost Souls about converting a plastic Nomad and I jumped at it.

Once he was painted up I decided to try some weathering on him. I modeled it after an article on the Painting Corps. I'm always afraid to weather a model because I'm worried about ruining it and that's what happened here. The sponge weathering turned out very badly and while I was able to salvage it a little while my brush I am not at all happy with the final product.

I also tried to work on my freehand with this guy. The top of his boiler has a crown and his shield has a star. Both of these icons appear prominently in Ashlynn's fluff so I figured they'd work well on her 'jack.

I tried a lot of new things on this guy and, for the most part, I'm pleased. The plastic conversion and freehand experiments were a huge success but I wish the weathering had turned out better.

Slow Grow League - Week 2

2011-04-11T09:55:00.000-04:00

I'm a little late on this week 2 report - this game was played two weekends ago. I used the same 15 point list from the previous week:

Ashlynn
+Nomad
+Vanguard
6 Forge Guard
Rhupert
Gorman
Reinholdt

I played against a Strakhov list running Torch, some Assault Commandos, two Manhunters, and the Wardog.

The game was a huge slugfest and after a few turns all that was left on the board was Strakhov, Torch, Ashlynn, and Reinholdt. Ashlynn is fast but Strakhov is no slouch and with Torch on the field he had a huge advantage. I was able to dance around for a little while taking a few health boxes per turn from Strakhov but eventually I got cornered (we were playing Killbox) and ended up losing.

March Summary

2011-04-05T09:53:00.000-04:00

This was a slow month for me my vacation (and vacation prep) taking up a good chunk of my time.

Painting for Points
I only painted one model this month, Gorman di Wulfe. I'm up to 46 points for the year. I did get a significant chunk of work done on my Nomad but not enough to count him.

New Model Fund
I had to spend a fair bit of money to get my Marc army rolling this month. I bought Forgeguard, the new No Quarter, Rhupert, and the Merc deck for $82.84. Clearly that's over $50, so I'll have $18.16 for April.

Gorman di Wulfe

2011-04-01T09:36:00.000-04:00

The second model I've finished for my 15 point slow grow list is Gorman di Wulfe, Rouge Alchemist.

This guy is tricky to use well but in the right circumstances his Black Oil can be incredibly devastating. He was fun to paint but it was challenging to find different ways to paint dark colors over and over again.

I've been slowly working on my Nomad over the past few days as well. He's about 30% done right now but I'm hoping to get most of him done this weekend.

Slow Grow League - Week 1

2011-03-29T09:55:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I finally had my 15 point list together and brought it down to the LGS for some league games. Here's what I was using:

Ashlynn
+Nomad
+Vanguard
6 Forge Guard
Rhupert
Gorman
Reinholt

My first game was against a Witch Coven list.

Witch Coven
+Ripjaw
6 Bloodgorgers
Slaughterborn
Withershadow Combine
Gorman

I'd never played against any of these models (except Gorman), nor had I ever played with any of my own models, so this was going to be an interesting game. His arc node made me nervous so I took it out on my second turn. That was about all I accomplished though because he got me in his feat and I was pretty neutered.

The feat threw me off and I made a bad decision with positioning that allowed Slaughterborn to kill my entire unit of Forge Guard. Things went downhill from there quickly.

My second game was against some Gators.

Barnabas
+Bull Snapper
+Wrastler
5 Gatormen

This game was going pretty well for me early on. I sniped a few Gatormen early and then caught Barnabas with Gorman's Blind bomb. I was playing fast and loose with Ashlynn, relying on her high DEF to keep her safe, but I got too close to Barnabas and his feat knocked me down. Oops.

This army is tricky to play. The Forge Guard have, thus far, functioned more as a tar pit than beatsticks, which isn't what I'm looking for them to do. They're also not as survivable as I thought they'd be, since Quicken only gives them +2 DEF against ranged attacks.

My Nomad was also not as effective as I had hoped. The Witch Coven kept him out of action the whole game and Barnabas just ignored him and then knocked him down. I didn't get to do many shenanigans with Admonition and I think I only killed one Gator over the two games.

I had a little more luck with Gorman, getting Blind Bombs off in both games. Neither of them resulted in an assassination though, so I'm going to have to get better with my timing. Rhupert was pretty straightforward to use but I discovered that his songs only affect units (and not solos, 'casters, or 'jacks) so he only has one target in the army. Reinholt is a free shot every turn and was phenomenally useful.

Slow Grow League - 15 Points

2011-03-23T09:10:00.001-04:00

While I was away on vacation the slow-grow league at my LGS kicked off with a 15 point tournament. Even though I missed the tournament I'm still able to buy into the league at the 15 point level. Here's the list I'm thinking about bringing:

Ashylnn
+Nomad
+Vanguard
6 Forge Guard
Gorman di Wolfe
Rhupert Carvolo

This is not the list I had originally planned to use, but when PP previewed the new Gun Mage sculpts coming out next month I knew I had to wait on them.

image from PP - these guys are awesome!

The general plan with this list is to put Quicken on the Forge Guard, turning them into SPD 6 Weapon Masters with Reach. Rhupert's Dirge of Mists can get them up to DEF 13 (not bad!) or he can give them Pathfinder.

The Nomad is going to take some getting used to for me. Coming from Khador and Trolls I'm used to super heavies trashing everything they see and the Nomad just isn't that sort of 'jack. I'm thinking about putting Admonition on him and throwing him way forward, daring my opponent to make a move and capitalizing on what happens.

Gorman wasn't in my original plans either but I have the model currently so I'm going to give him a try. He can help keep Ashylnn safe in the early turns from shooting and then help out on my assassination runs during the later turns.

Going on Vacation

2011-03-10T14:36:00.000-05:00

I had a cool post planned where I showed some teaser photos of models I'm building for the Ashlynn army but I found out last night that they had been lost in the mail and wouldn't be arriving anytime soon. I've re-ordered them from a new vendor but don't expect them anytime soon.

I'm heading out on a 2ish week vacation and won't be updating until I get back. See everyone then!

February Summary

2011-03-07T08:25:00.002-05:00

After the epic that was my Templecon prep I assumed this month would be a bit light on hobby stuff while I took a break.

Painting for Points
I painted 41 points last month and this month I only managed 4; Zerkova, a Greylord Escort, Ashlynn, and Epic Madrak.

New Model Fund
I spent $13.09 this month on the bits for my Ashlynn conversion and another $28.44 on some other models for my Merc army. That's under my $50 limit and I'm pretty sure I can stay under for next month as well.

Old Stuff Day!

2011-03-02T11:31:00.000-05:00

Warhammer 39,999 decided that today was Old Stuff Day and encouraged people to take a look through some of their older posts and spotlight them. Here are a few that I remember being quite happy with:

1,000 Points of Crimson Fists

I really enjoyed painting this army, both visually and thematically. I was thrilled when I got it to this point and even though I don't play much 40k anymore I'm always considering doing a few more models for it.

Finished Red Marine

At the time (and possibly even now) this was the best model I had ever painted. I invested a huge amount of time into him and was immensely proud of the finished product. I learned a lot of new techniques painting him and refined several others, all of which helped make me a better painter.

Tutorial: Painting Red

This has easily been my most successful post, with nearly 4,100 hits as of this posting. I didn't expect it to be so successful, but I guess since red is a tricky color and this gives good results quickly people really like it.

Epic Madrak

2011-03-01T09:31:00.000-05:00

I'm sort of in between larger projects right now. I have some models for my Ashylnn army in the mail and at my LGS but otherwise I was sort of out of things to paint. I had yesterday off from work and wanted to paint something so I took eMadrak off my shelf and got to it.

He only took about two hours, including drying time, and I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out. There is a 20 point tournament this upcoming weekend that I'm thinking about attending, so maybe eMadrak and his new paint will get a spin.

Hopefully my first Vanguard and Gorman di Wolfe will arrive this week so I can get them painted up as well.

Painted Ashlynn

2011-02-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

Three day weekends are great for painting and I was able to get my Ashlynn conversion done over this past one.

There are a few things I'm not thrilled with. The face in particular didn't come out as well as I had hoped, mostly because I painted eyes and I'm not happy with them. I'm also not convinced with the little freehand icons on the coat or the gray gloves, but they're not too bad.

I am actually quite happy with how she turned out, despite my grumbling. I don't have any more Merc models for this army yet so I'm not sure what I'll be painting in the mean time.

Converting Ashlynn

2011-02-17T08:22:00.000-05:00

The stock model for Ashlynn is pretty much the worst Privateer Press model around. That's a shame because Ashlynn is one of the more interesting and dynamic characters in the Warmachine world and she deserves a better model.

One of the biggest sources of inspiration for this army came from a thread I saw on the Privateer forums where a guy named MOZZ converted and painted Ashlynn as part of a Tale of Painters. His conversion was so good I bookmarked the thread to refer to later.

This is the un-assembled conversion. It uses an Iron Kingdoms Alexia Ciannor body for most of it, the sword hand from another IK model, and a Journeyman Warcaster generator backpack. Pretty simple. The hardest thing to do was pin the hand to the body - everything else went together just fine.

Here's my assembled Ashlynn. MOZZ used putty to fill in a lot of the holes and tears on her coat but I decided not to. My green stuff skills are poor at best and I figure since she's a fugitive and on the run she's bound to be a little worn.

photo by MOZZ

Here's what MOZZ's Ashlynn looks like with paint - I think he did a fantastic job. I haven't decided on my color scheme yet but I'm hoping to have a little more purple than he does. Once she's based and primed I'll be getting right to painting her.

Zerkova and Greylord Escort

2011-02-15T08:41:00.000-05:00

I'm still quite burned out from Templecon but I wanted to get back on the painting horse and work through some of my model backlog before starting an Ashlynn army.

Greylords are my one of my favorite parts of Khador, and Zerkova (the lady on the right) has been one of my favorite characters in the Warmachine setting since I started reading the fluff. I've only ever gotten one game in with her but I'm hoping to remedy that now that she's painted.

The other Greylord is the Escort, a UA for Doom Reavers who makes them kill each other less and be just a little more survivable. I've used him a little more as part of Strakhov lists.

Both models were fun to paint and a good warm up exercise. I'm so used to the basecoat wash method of the Trolls that doing multiple layers of highlights seems weird.

Templecon 2011 - Recap Part 2

2011-02-10T08:20:00.000-05:00

Blood, Sweat, and Tiers ended at 7:30am and I got to bed at 8:00am, so Saturday didn't start for me until 2:00pm. I wanted to try to get a few Iron Arena games in before Death Race that night so I started looking for opponents.

The first player I found was running a very 'jack heavy eNemo list. I brought out the Grim list I didn't get to play the previous night.

I used the Burrowers and Grim's feat on turn 2 to pin all of his 'jacks in place while the two units of Scouts ran around them. On my turn 3 I was able to get the Bomber, Impaler, and some Scouts to shoot Nemo to death - my first win of Templecon!

I was feeling pretty good (that was the first time I really felt the Grim list worked well) and found a Skorne opponent playing Mordikaar and a scenario table to play on next. The table had four blue crystals in the middle that were objectives, first to 2 won.

His list had two Incorporeal solos and Mordikaar could make a unit Incorporeal, so he won this on turn two pretty easily because he could ignore the terrain and I couldn't. Neither of us realized this game would go like this when we started and by the time we figured it out it was too late.

After those two games I had dinner and a nap to prepare for the tournament I was most excited about - Death Race!

Game 1
If there's one game I was upset about losing over the whole weekend it would be this one. My opponent was running eMorghoul with Molik Karn, a Gladiator, Cyclops Brute, and some skirmishing infantry. Karn terrifies me and my plan if I was going to face him was to feed him a Kodiak, counter with Butcher and the second Kodiak, while hoping that my Kayazy could take down the other 'caster.

He threw Karn and the Gladiator forward and on my second turn I was able to charge both with Kayazy. Between Fury and Butcher's feat I was able to blow Karn up and leave the Gladiator with two boxes left and I was feeling on top of the world. I used my Kodiaks to kill some infantry with Vent Steam because I got greedy and it cost me the game. Morghoul charged in and took Butcher apart.

I really should have seen what was going to happen because I knew Morghoul was more than capable of killing me but I was so amped up on killing Karn that I stopped thinking.

Game 2
I was paired up against a guy from my store running a Strakhov list. We practiced these lists against each other a lot leading up to Templecon so we both knew what to expect. I was able to get the drop on Strakhov first but seriously bombed my dice rolls.

Kayazy get to Strakhov but I can't roll dice to save my life

In the ensuing few turns we both had epic dice failure until Beast 09 and Fenris eventually got themselves back on the dice bell curve and killed Butcher.
Game 3
My third game was against Reznik running five light 'jacks and a Choir. This was my first game against Menoth ever and I didn't know what to expect.

I was able to engage his lines on my second turn (the photo above) and got in a charge on my third turn. My dice took a 180 from last game and a single Kayazy took Reznik from full health to zero in one shot - awesome!

Game 4
The last game of the tournament was against a young player running Saeryn. I have very little experience against Legion so I did my tried and true strategy of Kayazy + Iron Flesh + running forward. He jumped Saeryn in the middle of my army, did a few points of damage to Butcher, and feated. My turn was a total wash because I had no guns able to shoot (Butcher was engaged and Kell was dead) so I camped all 6 Focus and hoped for the best.

My opponent's dice failed him big time on his turn so Butcher feated and clobbered Saeryn on my next turn. Hooray 2-2!

Saturday night ended a lot earlier than Friday night did so I was able to get another game in on Sunday morning against a Zaal list. This was my only 50 point game of the weekend so I added tweaked my normal 35 point Grim list to include an Earthborn and Blitzer.

I made a terrible distance judgment in the second turn that resulted in my Bomber and Blitzer being half an inch too short to make their shots and it cost me the game. His army started winning an attrition game and I couldn't swing the momentum back in my favor.

A very fun game against a very nice opponent and a fantastic way to end my Templecon experience. I cashed in my Iron Arena points for the black dice back and red Templecon dice in the last photo of the previous post, packed up my Trolls, and headed back to Boston for a serious nap. I'll absolutely be back to Templecon next year if I'm still in the New England area.

Templecon 2011 - Recap Part 1

2011-02-07T14:20:00.000-05:00

Templecon 2011 is over and was an excellent end to an intense month of painting and practice games. I slept very little, played over a dozen games in two tournaments and Iron Arena, won some cool prizes, met and hung out with a ton of cool people, and overall had a blast.

After hitting a ton of traffic on the ride down we arrived on Friday afternoon. I jumped right into Iron Arena and played a game on one of the scenario tables. I had 35 points of Trolls on my side against 50 points of Khador on the other side. The table was set up wide open on my side with a huge piece of impassable terrain choking the board into two tiny passes on the edges. The idea was that I had to defend the passes against the superior forces of the enemy.

The Khador army was armour heavy (4 'jacks and 2 units of Man-O-Wars), something my Grim list isn't equipped to handle. It was also super slow, so I got bored and took the fight to him in the pass on the left, which was a terrible idea. I lost rather badly.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening wandering around checking out games, painted armies, and saying hello.

That night (or the next morning) was Blood, Sweat, and Tiers. We ended up playing until 7:30am.

Game 1
My first pairing was CaptainSpud of Lost Hemisphere fame running a very nicely painted pCaine list that had two units of Gun Mages. I ran eDoomshaper, figuring he'd have a lot of trouble with two heavy beasts and ARM 18 Champions. He did, but a collection of errors on my part saw my beast sling-shot fall short of Caine and put Doomie in a bad spot. It took his whole army, down to literally the last shot, but Doomie died.

Game 2
I got sleepy at this point and forgot to get my phone out for any more pictures. My opponent was running Rasheth, the new Skorne warlock, with three Titans. Grim can't handle that much armour so Doomshaper came out again. He charged my Mauler with a Bronzeback on turn 2 but missed by about half an inch. I figured I'd kill the Bronzeback with my Mauler (the Earthborn was tied down by some Gatormen), tie up his other two heavies with my Champs and Scouts, and deal with them one by one with my pair of heavies.

My Mauler's damage rolls had some of the worst dice-hate I've ever seen and I barely scratched the Bronzeback. On his turn he nuked the Mauler while the Gladiator and Cannoneer worked their way through the models I had tying them up, leaving my Earthborn to deal with 3 heavies all on his own - no surprise that it didn't work.

Game 3
I was paired up against a very skilled player that I've played before running an Ashlynn list with two Gun Mage units. This seemed like another good match up for Doomshaper. Details start to get fuzzy as this was around 4am but I remember getting jammed up with my heavies and Ashlynn taking the final points off Doomie with boosted Twisters.

Game 4
My last game, around 6am, was against Epic Vlad, 6 Ulhans, and Markov. I was too tired to think about how to play Grim so Doomie came out for a 4th time. He made a big mistake in letting his Ulhans get too far forward and my two Dires ate them without much retaliation. I was feeling good about this game but he snuck the last Ulhan around to Doomie while tying up my Dires with a Berzerker and Drago and that Ulhan and some Widowmakers popped Doomie.

more on the other two prizes pictured here in the next post

Even though I went 0-4 I consider this evening a success because I won two prize drawings! During the third round I won a Sorcha 2010 resculpt because I was playing a tier 3 list and at the end of the tournament I won 20 dollars to the PP store in the fully painted army drawing. - pretty awesome.

January Summary

2011-02-04T08:40:00.001-05:00

Painting for Points
What a month for painting. I got through 36 models in less than a month as I prepped for Templecon 2011 (which I'm currently attending!). Here's what I finished:

Epic Doomshaper
10 Whelps
12 Scouts
Dire Troll Bomber
Swamp Troll
Runebearer
Blythe and Bull
Alten Ashley
4 Kayazy + UA
Widowmaker Marskman
War Dog

That's 41 points done in a single month! I wore out two brushes and several pots of paint but put a HUGE dent in my unpainted model pile.

New Model Fund
I bought a lot of models for Templecon. A lot of it was using Christmas money but just to be safe I'm going to say I spent all 50 bucks for the month and call it even. I'll have a new $50 to spend for February and I'm looking at getting two Vanguards and Gorman so I have that Zerkova list ready to run.

Post Templcon Projects

2011-02-02T08:30:00.000-05:00

Templecon hasn't even happened yet and I'm already looking ahead to some projects I'd like to start when it is all over.

Finish my Khador
Getting the small chunk of Khador models done for Templecon left me with only 3 unpainted Khador models in my collection. I'd like to get those models done and dusted so I can start new projects with at least one old project fully completed. I have Zerkova, a Greylord Escort, and a mounted Drakhun to paint.

Paint Jeremiah Kraye
Spoony bought me Kraye for Christmas last year and he's sat on my shelf ever since. Kraye is my favorite PP model and I want to do a good job painting him so I've been putting it off for a while. This isn't a project I necessarily want to finish before doing anything else but I do want to start putting paint to metal in the weeks following Templecon.

Play the new Zerkova Tier Army
I talked about this in my last post. It looks fun and will be a good break from all the Trolls I've been playing recently.

Start a Mercenary Army
There have been some rumblings at my LGS about doing a slow grow league following Templecon and I'd like to start a Merc army if we do. I'm currently looking at a Highborn Ashlynn list or a pMagnus tier list, and I'm leaning more toward Ashlynn. Here's a list I've been toying around with:

Ashlynn
+Nomad
+Vanguard
Gun Mages + UA
+Mule
6 Forge Guard
Aiyana and Holt
Rupert Carvolo
Taryn di la Rovissi
Reinholdt

Two days 'til Templecon!

New Zerkova Theme List

2011-01-31T08:29:00.000-05:00

I don't have much experience (read: 1 game) with Zerkova but she is one of my favorite characters in the Warmachine world and I've always wanted to play her. The internet doesn't much like her and my own musings on her sort of agree. She wants to be up close to use her spells (because there are no arc nodes in Khador) but has terrible defensive stats. She needs several babysitting models to keep her safe which limits what she can take in her army, and she offers zero buffs to help out that limited army.

The newest NQ has a brand new theme force for her and I thought this would be an excellent time to give her a whirl.

Death by ice cream cone! - image from Privateer Press

Restrictions
The theme list limits Zerkova to 'jacks with ranged weapons and Marauders; Widowmaker, Kayazy, and Greylord units; and Gorman, Widowmaker, Kayazy, and Greylord solos.

Benefits
The two best benefits are at tier 1 - can take Vanguard lights as friendly Khador models in her battlegroup - and tier 4 - point costs of 'jacks are reduced by 1. The tier 4 benefit is absolutely worth going all the way for. On the way to tier 4 you also get 2 extra inches on your deployment zone and a 3" cloud AOE for each Greylord unit you bring. Pretty cool stuff.

Thoughts

Any list here is going to struggle to crack high armour. Kayazy bring POW 13's with Gang and that's about as high as it goes outside of the 'jacks. Widowmakers could help against high ARM single wound infantry and on a charge the Kayazy can throw out POW 23's on average rolls, but against a whole army of beefy stuff there could be problems.
My experience with Zerkova is limited, but I feel like there could be some focus issues in this list. Getting to tier 4 requires 3 'jacks in her battlegroup and that gets expensive. A Koldun Lord can help but he's only one man (and one focus).
Vanguards really help out in the babysitting department.
The infantry and solos are all pretty quick for Khador and the army contains a lot of denial and spot removal. I think the army will run more as a precision instrument than a brutal in your face killing machine, looking to deny enemy opportunities while it focuses efforts on select areas.

Some Lists
This first list was made with the idea of getting two heavies in to help with high armour and to give a lot of good targets for Watcher. There wasn't space for a Koldun Lord so I'm concerned about Focus.

Zerkova
+Spriggan
+Decimator
+Vanguard
10 Kayazy + UA
Greylords
Widowmakers
Gorman

The second list swaps a heavy for a second Vanguard, allowing me to sneak in a Koldun Lord. It suffers from only one heavy and is going to be weaker against high ARM.

Zerkova
+Spriggan
+Vanguard
+Vanguard
10 Kayazy + UA
Greylords
Widowmakers
Gorman
Koldun Lord
Widowmaker Marksman

Of the two, I think I prefer the second list. I'm a little nervous about running just one heavy 'jack and not having Iron Flesh for the Kayazy, but I think charging Kayazy will be OK for most situations. I also like the Koldun Lord for extra Focus and the double Vanguards to protect Zerkova.

Templecon 2011 - Painting Round 6 - DONE!

2011-01-28T08:51:00.000-05:00

Alten Ashley got himself painted over the past two nights.

He was the last model I needed to finish off the Grim army list...

... and the last model I needed to finish EVERYTHING for Templecon!

All 36 models are done a week before Templecon and it feels fantastic to be finished. The whole project was starting to drag out and I'm looking forward to some new things.

Templecon 2011 - Painting Round 5

2011-01-26T08:28:00.000-05:00

With this second unit of Scouts done there is only Alten Ashley standing between me and three fully painted armies for Templecon!

I tried a doing a white-ish pig with black spots in this unit and I'm pretty pleased with him. I don't think this unit came out as well as the first one but I'm starting to feel a little burnt out on this project and I'm happy it is almost over.

Templecon 2011 - Practice Games Round 4

2011-01-24T08:22:00.002-05:00

There were a lot of players at the LGS this weekend so a lot of us were playing 25 points to make sure we all got some games in. I played two games with my Death Race list.

Game 12 - pButcher - Death Race - Win by assassination

Opponent - pThagrosh, Swordsmen + UA, Carnivean, some lesser beasts

I lost this game super bad. He was able to trounce most of my Kayazy and the Underboss, even with Iron Flesh, in one turn. They failed their morale check and things went downhill from there. I won because Thagrosh got greedy and wanted to kill the second Kodiak himself instead of leaving it alone - he walked too close and I got him with Butcher.

Game 13 - pButcher - Death Race - Loss by assassination

Opponent - a standard eCaine list

I asked for this game because I figured eCaine would be a popular choice in Death Race. This is going to be a tough match-up for me because Caine can ignore the wall of bodies in the middle of the board and because he and his Gun Mages ignore Stealth and have great RATs with the Ranger bonus. I lost because I was out of range to put Iron Flesh back on the Kayazy after I let them charge some Rangers.

I'm expecting to get one final group of practice games in this Thursday before I stop worrying about it. I'm also expecting to finish my painting for Templecon this week!

Stuff I Painted in 2010

2011-01-21T08:01:00.001-05:00

The other day there was a fantastic article on Bell of Lost Souls written by GentleBen called 'Stuff I Painted in 2010.' He had photos of the massive amount of things he painted over the course of the year and it was very inspiring. So inspiring, in fact, that I decided to see what my collection of painted models in 2010 looked like.

Khador
I started the year still working on my first Warmachine army, Khador. I added a few new 'casters and infantry units to the army, which was lacking in both categories. I also added a few 'jacks and solos to round things out.

Trolls
The second half of the year was taken over by my yellow Trolls. Armed with a quick and effective painting method I was able to really crank out these models and got an impressive amount done in the last 7 months of the year.

Other Stuff
Right at the beginning of the year I finished some Crimson Fist Sternguard, finally putting that army (and GW games) to bed. I picked up a small Malifaux crew and painted a few models there, and painted a unit of Cygnar Gun Mages for Spoony. I also just recently painted up an Orc Shaman for a Christmas mini exchange.

All told I managed to paint 90 models in 2010, an average of about one model every 4 days.

Templecon 2011 - Painting Round 4

2011-01-19T11:05:00.000-05:00

I'm getting very close to the end of this massive painting adventure. Here is the first unit of Scouts that I finished this weekend.

They were the last unit I had to paint for the tier 3 epic Doomshaper list, so here's a shot of that fully painted army.

All that's left now is the second unit of Scouts and Alten Ashley. I've got a little over 2 weeks left before Templecon and I know I can get everything done.

Templecon 2011 - Practice Games Round 3

2011-01-17T13:10:00.000-05:00

Game 9 - Grim Angus - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers - Win by assassination

Opponent - Lord Carver, 2 War Hogs, 2 Gun Boars, full Brigands, some solos

What I learned - Pigs are slow and tough like Khador. The game ended on my second turn when Carver got himself left alone too close and my Bomber took him out.

Game 10 - Grim Angus - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers - Win by assassination

Opponent - epic Vladimir, Drago, 6 Ulhans, Iron Fangs + UA

What I learned - My plan was to keep the Uhlans busy on each flank with Scouts and some poor rolls on my opponent's part helped me out. The Burrowers handled the Iron Fangs and eventually Grim and the Bomber took Vlad down. My opponent forgot some of Vlad's rules that would have helped him out but we both agreed that we'd rather learn our models now than at Templecon.

Game 11 - Grim Angus - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers - Loss by assassination

Opponent - epic Kaya (Tier 4), Warpwolf, Pureblood, Skinwalkers, Druids + UA

What I learned - Druids drive me crazy and I focused too much attention on them. I got my army engaged in an attrition war that I shouldn't have and eventually got worn down and overwhelmed.

These three games were good for me to get a lot of practice with the Grim list. Despite having 22 infantry models it doesn't do attrition very well unless I can get a very good alpha strike with the Burrowers. The Bomber is a good assassination vector but not a game changer because he doesn't have arcing fire and only has a 12" range with Snipe. I'm not complaining about him, but he isn't as capable as I'd like my biggest assassination threat to be.

Templecon 2011 - Painting Round 3

2011-01-14T08:05:00.000-05:00

I had hoped to be a little more productive on the painting table these past few days but there have been many distractions keeping me from my brushes.

Widowmaker Marksman

I painted the Marksman over 2 days because I liked the model and wanted to give him a little more attention than I've been giving some of then other models. I'm pleased with how he turned out, although I wish I had added a little more depth to some parts of his coat.

He's the last model to be done for the Khador list, so here's a group shot of that army:

And here's last nights work, some WIPs of the first Scout unit. They're maybe 60% done and I hope that they'll get finished tomorrow night in time for some games on Saturday.

Templecon 2011 - Practice Games Round 2

2011-01-12T08:03:00.003-05:00

Practice games continue.

Game 4 - eDoomshaper - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers - Loss by assassination (and bad dice rolls)

Opponent - eMakeda Molik Karn missile with all the bells and whistles. I asked my opponent to play this list so I could see Karn in action.

What I learned - Molik Karn will do what he wants up to about 20", including nuking my Earthborn on the first turn. I was able to get my Mauler on a solid assassination run on eMakeda but missed two attacks needing 9's on 3 dice. Apparently my dice hate it when I try to kill the enemy 'caster.

my Mauler fails to kill Makeda

Game 5 - pButcher - Death Race - Win by forfeit

Opponent - eVladimir with Drago, 6 Ulhans, Markov

What I learned - Not a whole lot. I didn't know how to play against this list and was in a bad position until Markhov missed a lance attack that would have killed 5 Kayazy in the AOE. His plan fell apart after that and I was able to decimate his army on my next turn under Butcher's feat.

Game 6 - eDoomshaper - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers - Win by assassination

Opponent - Strakhov, Torch, two units of Assault Kommandos + Flamer Throwers, two units of Kossites

What I learned - Sometimes the Earthborn missile is a bad idea, like when Strakhov is DEF 17 near the Wardog. I left Strakhov on 2 health on my second turn but got a second try with the Earthborn on my turn 3. It was still a bad idea to try to hit DEF 17 Strakhov, so Doomie had to use Primal Shock to finish Strakhov off. Also, Torch is a monster when he is bonded to Strakhov.

Templecon 2011 - Painting Round 1 and 2

2011-01-10T08:09:00.002-05:00

I've been painting pretty steadily for the past 10 or so days but haven't been able to fit in a post with photos of what I've been doing. Here are the first two batches of painted models I've done (many photos incoming):

Batch 1, painted over last weekend and Monday

the first 5 Whelps

Runebearer, aka Troll Moses

Dannon Blythe (the red head) and Bull

Swamp Troll

my favorite thus far, a Dire Troll Bomber

Batch 2, painted over the end of last week and this weekend

4 Kayazy and the Underboss

Buckley the War Dog

Epic Doomshaper

the last 5 Whelps

A lot of these models have seen time on the table since receiving paint and most have performed well. Templecon is a little over 3 weeks away and I've already completed 22 of my 36 models. The biggest hurdle left is the 12 Scouts but I'm very confident I can get everything done.

Templecon 2011 - Practice Games Round 1

2011-01-07T09:16:00.001-05:00

Practice for Templecon has begun!

Game 1 - pButcher - Death Race - Loss by rules mistake (and assassination)

Opponent - Cruise missile heavy Strakhov list - Manhunters, Drakhun, Fenris, Beast 09, Manhunters.

What I learned - At first blush, the list works well. Everything I planned worked well and I got models into combat with Strakhov on turn 3. I would have won if I remembered that you can't charge over walls. As it was, the single Kayazy who made it into combat with Strakhov did 10+ points of damage.

Game 2 - eDoomshaper - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers - Loss by terrible dice (and assassination)

Opponent - Siege list with a ton of guns designed to maximize damage on feat turn.

What I learned - The Earthborn missile works! I got a turn 2 hit on Siege with a 13" charge on a Ranger and 2 Goad moves. Sometimes your dice just aren't working - I wasn't able to roll an 8 on three dice TWICE and only had one Fury to buy attacks on Siege when I got there. Positioning is going to be tough with this list. The beasts outpace everything in the list so I'll need to figure out how to keep Doomie and the Runebearer up with them. Also, there is no way the Whelps will tie stuff up since they're only SPD 5. They may get relegated to being screens for Doomie.

Game 3 - Grim Angus - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers - Loss by assassination

Opponent - pSorcha, Winterguard Deathstar and Mortars, Beast 09, Destroyer, Widowmakers

Sorcha in the top right - just outside of Grim's feat is close enough for her to kill me

What I learned - This list wasn't build for Killbox and didn't perform well in that scenario. I was doing pretty well in attrition, trading 2/3 of the Scouts for most of the Winterguard, Joe, and the Widowmakers. I lost to Sorcha 101, a Wind Rush + charge + feat assassination run that I absolutely should have seen coming. I only left myself 2 Fury for transfers because I had Grim cast the Swamp Troll's animus, thinking it would up my DEF and help me stay alive. DEF doesn't matter when you're stationary and I would have survived with the extra transfers.

Templecon 2011 - Fully Painted

2011-01-05T08:43:00.002-05:00

When I decided to go to Templecon this year I also decided that I would bring fully painted armies to all of the tournaments. Most of my stuff is painted already so this didn't seem like a huge commitment, but now that I have some list ideas my to-paint list is looking very daunting. Here's what I have to paint in a month:

Khador -
4 Kayazy and the Underboss
Widowmaker Marksman
Wardog

Trolls -
Epic Doomshaper
Runebearer
10 Whelps
12 Scouts
Dire Troll Bomber
Swamp Troll

Minions -
Alten Ashley
Blythe and Bull

By my count that's 1 large base, 16 medium bases, and 19 small bases - 36 models in total. I've got a busy month ahead!

December and 2010 Summary

2011-01-03T09:50:00.001-05:00

The year is over and this is the last month's summary of 2010 (and the first post of 2011).

New Model Fund
I wanted to close out the year without buying any new models but wasn't able to do it this month. I had to purchase a model for the Secret Santa model exchange I participated it, and also some Troll Whelps for a tournament. I ended up spending $28.11 in total, well under the $50 I started with. Usually I'd turn half of that money over into next month but I'm going to let it go. Once I start prepping for Templecon I'll need to buy some models for my tournament lists so hopefully I'll get some money for Christmas.

For 2011 I've been thinking about cutting my hobby fund a little in an attempt to save some cash, but I think I'll hold off on that plan for right now. I have had to buy a lot of models for Templecon but after that I'd like to take a break and paint up some of the models in boxes that I have instead of buying new ones.

Painting for Points
I was already way over my total from last year and the two tournaments this month helped push me even further. I ended up painting 14 points this month, including Grim Angus, 10 Bushwhackers, a Troll Impaler, and the Orc Shaman.

I'm finishing 2010 with 118 points - 40 more points than last year. That's due mostly to my break-neck pace with the Trolls in the past few months. My goal for 2010 was 75 points and I think I'll up the ante for 2011 and set my goal at 100 points. This Templecon painting frenzy will get me off to a good start.

2011 Goals:

Go to Templecon fully painted. I'll post more about this in a few days, but I have one month to paint a ton of models.

Finish all of my Troll and Khador models.

Participate in some kind of slow grow league at my LGS.

Purchase fewer models and paint more models.

Sell off my Tau and give some serious thought to selling the Wood Elves.

Make a conscious effort to improve myself as a player.

Templecon 2011 - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers List 2

2010-12-31T08:43:00.001-05:00

The first list had a low model count and was geared for assassination, so I wanted my second list to have the bodies to hold control points while still offering a valid assassination threat. I had fun using Grim lately so I went for a tier 4 Grim list.

Grim
- Dire Troll Bomber
- Troll Impaler
- Swamp Troll
10 Burrowers
Scouts
Scouts
Dannon Blythe and Bull
Alten Ashley

Grim's feat offers a lot of control with its -3 SPD debuff. Combined with the nerves that Burrowers give people and my ability to Advance Deploy every unit in the army I should be able to create favorable deployment match ups to get me good positioning to take control points.

I imagine my Burrowers popping up near a control point with Grim coming up behind them and popping his feat. The Burrowers benefit from the -3 DEF and clobber something while also setting themselves up to block incoming units. One unit of Scouts move in to each control point to claim the one screened by the Burrowers and to contest or possibly claim the other one. The SPD debuff should do a good job protecting the control point I claimed, hopefully allowing me to score a point on my opponent's turn as well.

The list has a good assassination option as well. Between Marked for Death and his feat, Grim can give the enemy 'caster -5 DEF. A shot from Grim, a shot from Alten, and two boosted shots from the Bomber present a serious threat to any 'caster.

I'm not sure how Blythe and Bull will perform. They're required for tier 2 and have excellent models though, so I'm happy to give them a run.

Templecon 2011 - Blood, Sweat, and Tiers List 1

2010-12-29T08:51:00.003-05:00

Blood, Sweat, and Tiers is a two list, 35 point Steamroller tournament that requires all lists to be at least tier 1. I decided to really get into the spirit and only bring lists that were tier 3 or higher. Here's the first of my two lists, a tier 3 epic Doomshaper list.

eDoomie
-Dire Troll Mauler
-Earthborn Dire Troll
-Runebearer
5 Champions
Scouts
Whelps
Whelps

This list is very assassination oriented and is looking to send a souped up Earthborn right into the enemy caster's face. In an ideal world the Earthborn will start his activation near some rough terrain (+2 SPD), under Doomie's feat (+3 SPD), with Wild Aggression (boosted attack rolls and free charge), and Rage (+4 STR). He is a Fury 5 beast so even if that 13" charge isn't enough to get there I can goad him once or twice to get into range.

Most everything else is geared towards making that happen. The Runebearer is there to cast Wild Aggression on the the Earthborn (it should be on the Mauler up until then as he leads the charge) and take a little Fury load off Doomshaper. The 10 Whelps are there more to block charge lanes and be a nuisance than anything else, although one or two might be eaten as a snack.

The Champions are mostly babysitters for Doomie but may also find themselves pressed into second wave duty if the initial charge doesn't pan out. I'm not positive what the Scouts will be doing yet (I've never used them) but I'm hoping they can hold a flank to protect Doomshaper and either attract a lot of attention or herd the enemy 'caster to the other side of the map.

I'm hoping that the Mauler can lead the way for the Earthborn by taking a lot of fire and trashing or throwing any pesky models blocking charge lanes out of the way.

The list will probably need to be played very aggressively and I'll need to keep an eye out for charge lanes - two things I'm terrible at. Hopefully forcing myself to use this list will get me better able to do those two things.

Templecon 2011 - Death Race List

2010-12-27T14:40:00.004-05:00

Templecon is about one month away and I've started my preparations. I am registered for both Midnight Madness tournaments and I'm going to talk about the second tournament in this post - Death Race.

Death Race is a single list, 25 point, 4 round tournament using only the Killbox scenario. I'm not positive on the specific format but it seems pretty clear that the goal is to kill your opponent's caster as quickly as possible. Here's the list I've come up with:

pButcher
-Kodiak
-Kodiak
-Wardog
10 Kayazy + UA
Widowmaker Marksman
Kell Bailoch

I tired to keep the model count low so there wouldn't be too much stuff to activate on my turn.

What I'm primarily looking to do is run the Kayazy forward for two turns while they have Iron Flesh on them. They should meet up with my opponent's stuff on turn two. On turn 3 I'll drop Iron Flesh, pop Butcher's feat and the Kayazy mini-feat, and kill the enemy 'caster. Because of the requirement that 'casters be 12" from all table edges I shouldn't have any trouble cornering the enemy.

8" deployment, 12" first turn run, 10" second run, 9" charge = 39" over 3 turns. The enemy 'caster can be a max of 36" away from my back edge by then so I like my odds. If they Kayazy can't reach the 'caster on turn 3 they'll just attack whatever is in their way with the Kodiaks and snipers - under Butcher's feat and Full Throttle there isn't much that will stand up to all of that.

I brought the two snipers to help clear out charge lanes over for the Kayazy - they both have Snipe, Kell has a magical gun, and the Marksman has a POW 12 gun so they can handle a variety of threats.

Kodiaks are great little 'jacks. They run for free and have Pathfinder so they're focus light and efficient. They also have a great *attack for clearing infantry and their chain attack really shines under Full Throttle. They'll be dealing with 'jacks for me, either by destroying them outright or throwing them around.

If they Kayazy fail as my primary assassins my plan is to follow up with the two Kodiaks to clean out infantry and 'jacks and then have the Butcher kill the 'caster himself.

Holiday Cheer

2010-12-23T08:35:00.002-05:00

For the past two years I've participated in a holiday model exchange on Librium Online. Last year I sent out a Journeyman Warcaster and received a cool Crimson Fists Terminator. This year I went with something a little more festive.

I resisted the urge to add some white freehand to the red cloak and put snow on the base - the model currently has plausible Christmas deniability but those touches would have made it 100% a Christmas model.

This little guy was a lot of fun to paint. He is my first Ork ever and the first model I've painted in a few months that I put any real amount of effort into. I hope he's off to a good home, and I hope everyone out in the blog-o-sphere has a very merry holiday season!

Escalation Tournament Report

2010-12-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the last tournament of 2010 at my LGS and it was at 25, 35, 50 point escalation tournament. I brought eMadrak and built a list around Burrowers, Kriel Warriors, and Champions with a Mauler, Axer, solo support, and a Blitzer at 50 points.

I played very poorly. In all three games I made questionable decisions about where or when to pop my Burrowers up. They were always effective, but not as effective as I needed them to be - they'd die on my second turn without having done enough damage to be worth it. I did learn a lot about how to work with them but I'm going to need some more practice with them.

Madrak is also a little tricky to use properly. I didn't get very good use out of his feat or his axe, so I'll need a few more games with him as well.

this is what two 50 point armies look like

Game 1 was against a tier 3 eButcher list running 3 units of Doom Reavers. He had first turn and my plan was to use the Borrowers + Madrak's feat to nuke 2 units of Doom Reavers on my second turn, then see what happened. He put Butcher in the middle of the board camping 3 focus on his second turn so I went for broke, surrounded him with 8 Burrowers, and went for broke. His Wardog put him at DEF 16, and with the Fellcaller my Burrowers were MAT 6. I forgot to kill the dog first so 24 attacks later I had 2 hits and zero damage. Game over.

Game 2 was a pVlad list running Beast 09, the Behemoth, and a Winterguard Deathstar. I thought I could get both 'jacks with the Burrowers and did manage to get 4 on Beast and 3 on the Behemoth. Poor planning on my part meant that the 4 on Beast didn't get the 3" charge bonus - they were able to take out 2/3 of his boxes. The 3 on the Behemoth did some damage but not enough for it to matter. His Deathstar rocked my infantry next turn and I failed on a bad assassination attempt on my third turn. Game over.

I didn't actually get to finish the 3rd game at 50 points. It was against a Terminus list running heavy infantry (Bane Knights, Bane Thralls, Mechani-thralls) and the Deathjack. Despite bad Burrower and Champion usage I was doing pretty well when we had to stop. One of the biggest problems I had here was that at 50 points I had nearly 20 medium bases, 15 small bases, and two heavy beasts clogging up my half of the board. You can see turn 2 above.

I'm not thrilled with how I played but I did enjoy the tournament and got to play some fun games. Now I'm off to visit my folks for a few days and when I come back it is time for Templecon prep!

Weekend Tournament Report

2010-12-14T09:27:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I took a trip to a different LGS to play in a 25 point tournament. I brought along the Grim list I took out last weekend.

My first game was against a new Circle player running Baldur, a Druid Wilder, and a bunch of beasts. He ran them forward in waves and I was able to pick them off pretty easily with my ranged stuff. I didn't kill Baldur but eventually won on tie breaker because most of my army was alive and most of his wasn't.

The second game was against a tier 3 Kraye list that was more maneuverable and shootier than my list. Since those were my list's strong points I was in some trouble. Due to some early bad rolling on my opponent's part I was able to keep him off his control point early but eventually he wore me down and took the scenario win.

My last game was against a Gorten list. My list was built to counter this list but I played very passively and poorly while my opponent played well. The game ended in a tie (I kept him off his flag but wasn't aggressive enough in taking my own) but he would have won had we not run out of time.

All in all I don't think I played well during this tournament. I was too passive - I didn't scoring a single control point and didn't making a single charge over three games. I also think the list is lacking in high POW attacks, instead relying on volume of medium POW attacks. If I were to build this list again I would probably swap out the Bushwhackers for some Burrowers.

This weekend is an escalation tournament. I'm thinking about bringing eMadrak but haven't thought much about the lists I'd bring.

Pyg Bushwhackers

2010-12-10T08:48:00.000-05:00

These little guys were very useful in one of my practice games last weekend killing infantry (the other game was over before they got to shoot) and I'm hoping for similar results this weekend.

I've had a hugely busy week and initially wasn't going to paint the unit for my tournament, but I made a last minute decision to try and get them done. I had to cut a lot of corners (a lot more than usual for the Trolls) so they didn't turn out as well as the Burrowers.

I'll have a tournament report next week!

25 Point Tournament Practice

2010-12-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

This coming weekend I am playing in a 25 point tournament so this past weekend I brought a 25 point Grim list to practice with. Here's what I had:

Grim Angus
+Dire Troll Blizter
+Troll Axer
+Troll Impaler
10 Pyg Bushwhackers
Fell Caller

I got in two games, one against Circle and one against Khador.

The Circle list had Kromac, a Warpwolf Stalker, a unit of Woldstalkers, and some more stuff that I don't remember. We were playing Killbox and I seriously underestimated the threat range on the Warpwolf while Kromac had Warpath up. The wolf got a charge on Grim in turn 2 and, with Wild Aggression giving it boosted hit rolls, cracked Grim's DEF 16.

Khador was an eVlad list with some Kayazy + UA, Doom Reavers +UA , 2 Manhuneters, and a Berserker. I was able to pick off most of the infantry by turn 2 and was in a great position hiding behind Grim's feat. I again underestimated some threat ranges and he managed to get a few Kayazy under Vlad's feat into combat with Grim. Between Transference and Hand of Fate they too were able to crack DEF 16 and put Grim down.

I did lost both games but I'm still feeling good about the list. Both times I was feeling comfortable and didn't have models between Grim and the enemy - clearly I'll need to be more careful. The Bushwhackers are a fun unit to use and are very versatile, as is Grim's battlegroup. I'm furiously painting Bushwhackers this week to hopefully get them done for the tournament.

Grim Angus

2010-12-02T08:30:00.000-05:00

I have a few games with Grissel under my belt so I'm going to try a new warlock, Grim Angus. He's the first ranged focused warlock or 'caster I've used. Here's a little rundown on him.

Stats

Grim is speedy for a Troll at SPD 6, has a good RAT of 7, and is tough to hit with DEF 16. His STR and MAT are decent but I'm hoping they won't see much use, and he has pretty typical Troll armour at 15. He is a Fury 6 warlock.

Abilities

Pathfinder and True Sight mean Grim's movement and shooting aren't affected a whole lot by terrain. Grim is Tough because he's a Troll. He also has Take Down on his melee weapon but again, I'm hoping to not have that come up.

Weapons

Headhunter is a RNG 13, POW 13 gun that is Magical and can give beasts a speed boost if they charge a model damaged by it. 13" is longer than Grim's control range, so there shouldn't be too many questions about what he can be shooting at. With Farstrike pumping that up to 17" there isn't much on the table Grim won't be able to reach.

Grim also has an 8" Snare Gun (12" with Farstrike) that knocks down whatever it hits. He can't shoot with his other gun after that, but Knock Down is pretty powerful.

Headhunter has a blade on the back end that is POW 12 with Take Down so Grim isn't a melee slouch by any means, but I'd rather he was shooting stuff.

Feat

Spread The Net is a very good feat. It gives all enemy models in Grim's control area -3 DEF and any models beginning their activations in his control area have -3 SPD. Models with the SPD debuff won't be able to charge but the DEF debuff means that they're probably going to be dead before it matters.

I can see this feat being great for a lot of things, but I see it shining in scenario play with control zones. On my turn the feat will allow me to kill anything in the control zone and get one point. On my opponent's turn the -3 SPD will mean they can't get any new models in to contest and I'll get a second point.

Spells

Cross Country - An upkeep spell that gives a model / unit Pathfinder and Hunter, essentially allowing it to ignore terrain for moving and attacking.

Lock the Target - A 10" spell that prevents the target from running, charging, or being placed if it takes damage. The POW is only 10 so this spell is going to be hard to pull off on heavy 'jacks or beasts. This is a tough sell for 2 Fury but I'm sure there are good uses.

Marked for Death - Another upkeep spell that gives the target model / unit -2 DEF and removes Incorporeal and Stealth. Combined with Grim's feat this will bring a model / unit to a total of -5 DEF

Return Fire - For 1 Fury, if a target friendly model is shot at, it can shoot (or hit) back. Probably pretty cool on a Bomber or Grim, either as a good way to get an extra attack or as a deterrent for my opponent to shoot.

Final Thoughts

I'm going to try using some Pyg Burrowers and Bushwhackers with Grim, as well as the Blitzer I just painted. I'd also really like to try a Bomber and some Scouts, but I'm going to need to wait until at least January before I buy them.

November Summary

2010-11-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

This was a great month for me hobby wise. I managed to get to the store three times and play a lot of games with my Grissel list. I didn't win many of them, but it was fun to put some models on the table after not being able to for a while.

New Model Fund
I decided not to buy any new models for the rest of the year. I have a bunch of Trolls still to paint, a few more Khador models left over, plus some Malifaux and Cygnar models on my shelf. I will have to buy a single model for the Secret Santa model exchange on Librarium Online next month.

I started November with $50.66 and bought a foam tray for my model bag that cost 10 bucks. I an effort to save money I'm not going to keep any of the extra, so I'll have $50 for December.

Painting for Points
November was a great month for me painting wise. I managed to get 24 points painted between three Long Riders, Horthol, 10 Burrowers, and a Dire Troll Blitzer. I'm now up over 100 points for the year (104 total) and I'm hoping to get another big batch of Trolls done this month.

Dire Troll Blitzer

2010-11-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

I was feeling really good after finishing the Burrowers so I started on this guy right away. Apparently I was pretty burned out though, and he just kind of sat on my desk in various stages of progress.

I'm going to visit my parents for Thanksgiving after work today so last night I sat down and put in a good shift of painting to finish this model. I don't like leaving things unfinished if I can help it so the holiday was good motivation for me.

He didn't turn out as well as the other two heavies I've done but I'm happy he's finished and I'm interested to use him in a Grim list. I've never used a model with Virtuoso before and I think it will be fun hit something a few times with the Blitzer's claws and then shoot it in the face.

I have two train rides ahead of me and I'm going to give a good second read to my Trolls book.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Gators!

2010-11-18T08:22:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I played a game with our local Press Ganger using his new Gator army with Bloody Barnabas. The table was terrain heavy with a big swamp in the middle (we figured, why not go all out for the first game) and I got demolished.

In the photo you can see two circles (one labeled smoke, the other is light blue) that were swamps Barnabas gets to place at the beginning of the game. The two giant templates near the top of the photo are Swamp Pits - a 2 fury spell Barnabas can cast. All of that, combined with the heavy terrain, was a huge problem for my list. I had zero models with Pathfinder in the army and Barnabas was able to get me stuck in difficult terrain for the entire game.

so many swamps

I sent most of my army up the middle of the board and the Long Riders along my right flank. The Gators were spread pretty evenly across the board, so I used Hoof It and the Long Riders' SPD 7 to shift everything to my right side, hoping to isolate half of his army. I think it was a good plan, and I know my opponent was nervous about it, but between his models being Amphibious (stupid me agreeing to put a big swamp in the middle of the board) and Barnabas throwing Swamp Pits and his feat around, it didn't matter.

He had some Iron Fleshed gators tarpit my tarpit, Swamp Pits and a Wrasler slow down and eat my Long Riders, and just generally ground my army into the ground.

Even though I lost, the game was one of the more fun ones I've played recently. I knew I was losing the middle (and most of my army) but I thought I could pull of a sneaky assassination with the Long Riders running around back of his army. It might have worked but the middle collapsed a little too early and Barnabas was able to move some of his army to stop my plan.

Pyg Burrowers and Their Uses

2010-11-16T08:30:00.000-05:00

Normally infantry units make my soul sad, but these little guys painted up in no time and I had a lot of fun with them. I even did the whole unit in one go instead of breaking them up 5 and 5. The yellow doesn't have as much depth as I'd like but I'm worried that another wash will be too dark. I may just leave them as is and move on to other models - these guys just tipped the Trolls over into 50% painted.

The internet is all up in arms about these guys. A lot of people think they're incredibly powerful and undercosted - there are a number of very long threads on the PP boards about them and how best to use them.

Here's the gist of what they can do:

They deploy 16" forward with Advance Deploy. Turn 1 they burrow and move 5" forward. Turn 2 they pop up (after being totally immune to any attacks) and are sitting at 26" forward, over half way across the board. They can charge 9", meaning they have a threat range of 35". Your enemy deployment zone is 38" away from your board edge, so these guys can realistically attack anything that moved more than 3" out of the enemy deployment zone on turn 2.

Not only that, but with a Fell Caller on hand to give them a MAT buff, each Burrower can attack with a boosted POW 8 and an unboosted POW 14 at MAT 6. Assuming average rolls those turn into POW 18 and POW 21 respectively. That's a ton of high POW attacks at a reasonable MAT that can't be attacked before they get the charge off. Oh, and they're only 6 points.

I tend to take the internet with a grain of salt (although I didn't see any ridiculous claims being made) but this past weekend at the tournament a player I have a lot of respect for gave them a try and came away very impressed. Once they're painted I'll take them for a spin and see if I can't make the little unit of doom work for me.

Breast Cancer Brawl Tournament Report

2010-11-11T08:40:00.000-05:00

After weeks of painting Trolls to get ready for this tournament I headed down to my LGS this past weekend for some games. I brought my 35 point Grissel list. The tournament was a fund raiser for a local breast cancer charity so we could buy tickets for re-rolls and tournament specific shenanigans.

My first game was against a newer player who had a fantastically converted Cryx army. He was running pAsphyxious, a bunch of Satyxis Raiders and solos, full Soul Hunters and Darragh Wrathe, and some other things.

We traded Kriel Warriors for Radiers in the middle of the map while trying to control two control points. I was about 60 seconds away from claiming the only control point of the game when dice down was called, and he won on the 4th tie-breaker because he had more models in his control zone.

Sort of a heart breaking way to lose the first game of the day but it was a fun game and I should have been more aggressive.

Horthol (cavalry rider on the left) about to take the control point at the end of the hill

Game 2 was against a Cygnar player running Siege, Stormblades, Gun Mages, the Black 13th, a Defender, Stormclad, and Squire.

I used Hoof It to get my Kriel Warriors 17" forward on the second turn into the face of his Gun Mages on my left side. They were able to tie down that side AND score a control point before dying, and my Long Riders were able to get another one on the right side to send me up 2-0 (game to 3).

He killed the Kriels, picked up a point on that side, and by the end of the turn I was left with only Grissel and a Pyre Troll. There was no way to kill Siege and I'd be dead if he got another turn so I knew I had to pick up the third control point. The board looked like the photo below without the Bouncer and cavalry - my Pyre and his Squire and Stormclad were all contesting the control point at the beginning of my turn.

Since Grissel and the Pyre wouldn't be able to scrap the Stormclad my only option was to slam it out of the control zone. Because my Pyre was a medium base I needed to roll a 5 or 6 to get the required 3 inches - after a lot of tickets spent on re-rolls I got what I needed and slammed the 'jack into the water! Grissel mopped up the Squire and I picked up my 3rd control point for the win.

situation not looking good

The third game was against an infantry heavy eGoreshade list. There were two units of Bane Thralls, a unit of Bane Knights, Tartarus, and some arc nodes. I wasn't prepared to deal with this list at all, and since the scenario was Kill Box I had to run forward. My army got picked apart pretty easily and I conceded after a few turns when my army was gone.

so many Banes

All in all is was a great time and between all of the players, LGS owners, and some other generous people we raised 700 dollars for breast cancer research. I didn't play as well as I would have liked but it is hard to feel bad about a tournament where you can do something good like that.

Horthol, Long Rider Champion

2010-11-09T08:28:00.001-05:00

It was close, but I managed to get my entire 35 point army completed in time for this past weekend's Breast Cancer Brawl. Horthol and his dismount were the last two models I needed to finish.

He was a lot more fun to paint than the unit of Long Riders were, and I managed to do most of the painting on both models in a single evening.

I'm still getting the hang of cavalry and all of their tricks, so hopefully he'll perform better for me in the future.

Expect a full tournament report on Thursday or Friday.

Long Riders

2010-11-05T08:29:00.001-04:00

These guys weren't as much fun as the single models I've been doing recently, but didn't break my spirit nearly as much as the Kriel Warriors did.

I remember having some trouble with Wood Elf cavalry as well a few years ago. Something about having to paint a model, and then a horse for it to ride on, starts to drag after a while. It was a lot of fun to drybursh the ox's shaggy manes though.

They're done though, and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. Only two more models left to finish the army, and I've got until tonight to get it all done.

Halloween Deadly Duos Non-Tournament Report

2010-11-03T08:31:00.001-04:00

Only four players showed up to the tournament this weekend (including the Press Ganger and one late player) so we scrapped it and just played some games under the strange format.

I played a game against a Cygnar player running this list:

pStryker
+Rowdy
+Defender
+Lancer

eHaley
+Stormclad
+Defender
+Hammersmith
+Thorn

end of turn 2, not much happening yet

As expected, this was a weird game. He was able to really stall my advance for two turns, first with Haley's feat and then Stryker's feat. During those two turns Thorn and the Lancer were able to remove the cortex from both of my Juggernauts, the Defenders were able to nearly put down one of my Kodiaks, Rowdy took out the other Kodiak, and some good Telekinesis and Earthquake play caused my Spriggan to be knocked down in the lake. Not good.

I was able to make a late game rally with the Butcher and the Juggernauts, killing the Defender and Rowdy on my left hand side with Butcher and the Lancer and Thorn with the Juggernauts. However, I made a poor choice with Butcher when I charged Rowdy (should have charged the Defender) and he caught a Defender charge in the back and died.

After that it was just some mopping up and Sorcha went down. Her and the Destroyers attached to her were pretty useless the whole game, doing almost no damage even with boosted shots.

Even though I lost this was a very fun format. I'm looking forward to the Breast Cancer Brawl this weekend to see if I can do a better job with the Trolls.

October Summary

2010-11-01T08:20:00.001-04:00

October was a pretty good month for me hobby wise. I managed to get to the LGS twice for some games (something I haven't been able to do much recently), paint a bunch, and stay on budget again!

New Model Fund
I started with $71.25 in October. I spent $33.99 on the new Trolls book and $35.94 on Horthol for my Breast Cancer Brawl list leaving me with $1.32 left in the bank. I'll start November with $50.66.

Painting for Points
Going into this month I was at 72 points - only 6 points shy of my total points from 2009. I painted an Earthborn Dire Troll, Troll Bouncer, and Grissel Bloodsong for 8 points total and a 80 for 2010. I've got a head start on 3 Long Riders and Horthol because they need to be done for next weekend, and that's another 9 points right there - maybe I can get 100 points by the end of December?

Deadly Duos Halloween Tournament

2010-10-29T08:32:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow I'm heading down to my LGS for a Halloween tournament. The format is a little strange but seems like it will be a good time. One 50 point list with two 'casters and only 'jacks. Huh?

It was a pretty easy choice for me to go with the Khador to this tournament, mostly because I'd have to bring a ton of light 'beasts if I went with Trolls and I can't think of any way they'd be able to contribute. They could take out other lights, but my Khador heavies can do everything!

Once I picked out my faction I had to think about which 'casters to bring. pButcher was a no brainer - Full Throttle is a great way to get a lot of use out of a little bit of Focus and his feat means that my army of 'jacks will be even scarier.

pIrusk and Zerkova just don't do much for 'jacks, so I was left looking at pSorcha and Strakhov as my second. Initially I wanted to bring Strakhov for the alpha strike potential of his feat and Superiority, but he's a bit of a one trick pony and didn't offer a whole lot of 'jack support outside of his feat.

I picked pSorcha because her feat means all of my 'jacks can auto-hit in melee (so I can spend focus on extra attacks) and I had a nasty idea to give her two Destroyers so that I could drop POW 14 bombards all over the map.

my two Troll heavies pretending to be 'jacks

Here's my list:

pSorscha
+Destroyer
+Destroyer

pButcher
+Kodiak
+Kodiak
+Juggernaut
+Spriggan
+Devastator

My plan is pretty simple. Butcher and his 5 friends will advance up the middle and play attrition games against the other 'jacks. A combination of his feat, Full Throttle, and any of Sorcha's knock down vectors should mean I can knock out a few pieces of the other army quickly.

Sorcha is my 'caster killer. If I can sneak two boosted bombards onto an enemy 'caster I can deal a big blow to the other army, and I'm confident I can keep her safe. With Wind Rush and Iron Flesh she'll be running around comfortably at DEF 21 and against a bunch of MAT 6 ish 'jacks I like her chances.

I had to borrow a second Destroyer and Devastator from the local Press Ganger (I only own 5 'jacks!) - the two Troll heavies in the photo are my stand-ins until I can pick up the models.

Thoughts on the Dire Troll Bomber

2010-10-27T08:36:00.000-04:00

First off, what a sweet model.

image from Privateer Press

That alone would probably be enough to convince me to field this guy, but his rules are awesome too!

His Powder Bombs are POW 16, AOE 4. My Kodiaks have POW 16 fists, but they aren't AOE 4 and don't have and 8" range (12" with Snipe, and up to 17" if I walk him forward)! These things will put big holes in 'jacks and even bigger holes in infantry units. He's also no slouch in melee either, packing a pair of POW 15 claws.

His MAT and RAT aren't anything to write home about but they'll get the job done with a boost. He has 4 Fury to throw around so I can boost the hit rolls on high DEF infantry, or the damage rolls on high ARM 'jacks to make sure he gets the job done.

I'm not blown away by his animus, which gives a friendly unit immunity to blast damage. The only use I can think of is to put it on one of my low DEF models, run that model near something with high DEF, and then start throwing bombs at it.

Thoughts on Troll Scouts

2010-10-22T08:31:00.000-04:00

I've been making my way slowly through the new Trolls book and thought I'd give my thoughts on some of the new models / units that I'm finding interesting. Up first are the Scouts.

image from Privateer Press

SPD 6 is nice, and pairs well with Pathfinder and Advance Deploy to really get them moving. They can also charge clear through forests to get to enemy units on the other side thanks to Hunter.

MAT 6 isn't anything amazing on its own, but combined with Gang and any of the MAT buffs available to Trolls these guys are going to reliably hit DEF 15 in melee. RAT 5 is less impressive (and there aren't nearly as many RAT buffs available) but Hunter does mean that enemies aren't getting any defensive shooting buffs.

DEF 13 is on the higher end for Trolls and should probably be buffed by whatever piece of terrain they're sitting in. ARM 13 is not great, but hopefully the high DEF will keep them safe.

Assault and Gang are where these guys really shine. On an Assault charge the unit is going to throw out 6 axes at RAT 5 POW 11 coming into melee. If the thrown axe kills something, they're get to make another RAT 8, POW 13+2D6 attack on something else, and if it didn't kill they'll be making a RAT 8, POW 13+3D6 follow up attack - that all assumes that Gang is in effect. And that's just their own stats, imagine what some Troll buffs could do!

The models look a bit weird, but the pig, jug of moon-shine, and whelp playing a guitar are selling me on them.

I envision these guys being deployed on a flank in some cover and just waiting around for something juicy to appear. They'll be tough to dig out of a forest and can threaten a big area of the field with their 9" threat range. They'll be able to reliably do damage to other AD units and flankers or help scrape off units from a Kriel Warrior tar pit.

Grissel Bloodsong

2010-10-20T09:33:00.000-04:00

I've been on a bit of a painting roll lately and this was my project for this past weekend.

The tournament I'm painting this army for is the Breast Cancer Brawl so I thought it would be fun to add a little pink to the army. Grissel's scarf was a pretty obvious choice for the pink because it is shaped like a breast cancer ribbon.

I have 4 cavalry models and one more infantry model left for this army and two weeks left to get it done.