Vanquisher complete

I've spent the last few free evenings productively and finished the Vanquisher.  The Crusader components that fit with this magnetised kit are not done however, but will be done at some point no doubt.  As the kit was magnetised I found it quite easy to get into all of the nooks and crannies of the model, some of which can get missed when  fully assembled miniatures are painted.

Vanquisher legs and base

Continuing on from the last blog entry, the photo to the left shows the finished legs and base.  I used quite a bit of water effect on this base with a small stream or puddle running through the base.  I mounted the Vanquisher on the rocks flanking the water to add to the dynamics.  I found that the Army Painter tufts work nicely with watery bases, enhancing the diorama.







 The following photos show the Vanquisher through 360 degrees, click for larger image:

Vanquisher front-right

Vanquisher front

Vanquisher left

Vanquisher rear

Finishing the Vanquisher was the final step for the Golden Troll event, so the next thing will be to finish part two of the desert terrain project.  Following that I'm unsure what to paint next, I am considering the Holy Zealots or more Exemplar Errants for units, maybe the Harbinger or eFeora for casters, possibly the second Vassal or eEiryss for solos.  It might be an idea to upgrade my Sevvy lists to 50 points and paint those bits - who knows!

Gaming and painting update

Vanquisher painting update

I’ve started the Vanquisher now and decided to match the purple/cream/gold panels to the existing Crusader jack for continuity.  The painted Crusader is the battlebox jack and was glued as a Crusader.  I purchased two plastic Menoth jacks later and magnetised them so I can make several variants, the Vanquisher being used this instance.

Vanquisher legs WIP

I paint the bases of my models first these days, I used to do the base last but find a better result when I can drybrush the base without the worry of ruining the paint job on the actual model.  I also put a lot more effort into my bases these days and find they look better when painted first!  One thing I do however is apply the static grass and tufts after the model is finished so if by chance I did allow the base to get some unwanted paint on it the grass/tufts could be placed strategically to hide this!!

Vanquisher legs WIP

Work in progress shot of the Vanquisher’s legs below shows the main base coats applied, followed by the first shading layer.  The next step is to re-apply the base coat, this will effectively give the model its first highlight and stop it looking totally flat.  After that I’ll apply proper highlights and in some instances deepen the shades creating the usual transition.  I’ll paint the legs in one stage, the body and head in another, followed by the weapons.

 Gaming update

Well I’ve discussed a lot about the painting of my Meonth in preparation for Golden Troll in a couple of weeks, but less on the gaming side of it.  I’ve primarily been using the Prime Severius list as this one has changed the most, the Epic Severius one being tournament tested needed less practice I felt.  For reference the list is:

pSeverius

*Blessing of Vengeance

*Vanquisher

Avatar of Menoth

Choir of Menoth (min)

Temple Flame Guard (min)

Exemplar Errants (min)

Exemplar Errants UA

Vassal of Menoth

The big change, previously mentioned, for play testing was dropping the TFG to a minimum unit and upgrading the Crusader to the Vanquisher.  In essence this change was for the better.  My play testing of late has allowed me to get the Vanquisher working well and its continuous fire 4”AOE just works a treat, I've incinerated infantry as well as caught a few unwary Warcasters with the fire - it also serves well to make opponents react to it.

I’ve found that the minimum TFG feels a lot slimmer than its full size, that sounds obvious, but when the unit is designed to form a defensive cordon for Sevvy or as a tar pit unit, loosing 40% makes it much less effective.  Through my play testing I found another use for the TFG, I’ve been cheekily slinging one of them forwards into a position where I can blast it with Ashes to Ashes through the Blessing of Vengeance, the spell hits the D6 nearest enemy, so although I’ll loose my TFG I can potentially kill 1-6 high defence low armour enemies in combat with my troops, stealthed or hiding behind cover etc, effectively needing a 3 to hit.  For larger games I'd definitely upgrade them back to a full size unit for two points.

Gaming has gone fairly well and I’ve won more practice games than I have lost, a good thing for me – LOL!  I think I’ll probably use the prime list more than the epic, though at the tournament you must use each list at least once, either way I’ll have some fun which is why I’m going after all!

I’ll post some more pics as the Vanquisher gets its paint job, then I’ll concentrate on the second phase of the desert terrain, so watch this space!

Golden Troll

What two posts in a day I hear you say ;-)

Myself , Luke Foster et al have decided to go to Golden Troll for the Saturday Open, a 35 point tournament held in Chorley, Lancs, at the end of October 2011. The UK Hardcore Series Final is being held on the Sunday, which is the main event, though there are numerous other activates such as the Saturday Open that Luke and I are attending as well as a couple of Mangled Metal events, see the link here for more details.

Golden Troll is a dual list affair so I firstly I decided to take the same epic Severius list I took to York as it performed well and I liked using it.  I’d probably drop the Daughters of the Flame unit for something better if I’m honest, but they’re painted and I’m not that fussed on getting the list that much more optimal.  For the second list I decided to take prime Severius, mainly because he is my favourite warcaster in the Protectorate faction and I’d have a fairly relaxed painting schedule to complete for the event ;-)

The lists:

eSeverius

*Blessing of Vengeance

*Reckoner

*Reckoner

Choir of Menoth (min)

Exemplar Errants (min)

Exemplar Errants UA

Daughters of the Flame

Covenant of Menoth

Vassal of Menoth

pSeverius

*Blessing of Vengeance

*Vanquisher

Avatar of Menoth

Choir of Menoth (min)

Exemplar Errants (min)

Exemplar Errants UA

Temple Flame Guard (min)

Vassal of Menoth

Both lists are actually very similar, sharing a lot of units and both warcasters are fairly similar in play style.  This is something that will disadvantage me as far as in a competitive sense as the word is to ideally create two very different lists, making it harder for your opponent to choose which to play against you with, e.g. one list jack heavy and the other infantry heavy etc.  To be honest I don’t really care as I’m not expecting to be up there with the best and I’m taking what I’ve got painted and what I like to use!  I’ll probably learn from this experience and perhaps try out some other casters, units etc who will give that diversity and tactical flexibility.

I’ll write a few lines on the pSevvy list as discussion on the epic list can be found in previous blog entries.  This list as noted above shares quite a few units with the epic list, I included Errants again as they are probably one of the best units in the game and pSevvy’s spell list augments them to frightening stat lines with Eye of Menoth and Defenders Ward spells I so often combine, MAT 8 – P&S10 weapon masters is rude, even their crossbows become deadly under EoM.  With Defenders Ward these guys become DEF14 and ARM18, add in some cover and they’re very hard to eradicate.

I chose the Avatar for this list as pSevvy doesn’t have any battlegroup spells and EoM plus the Choir make this jack hit incredibly accurate and hard hitting, +3 to MAT and his weapons P&S.  The Blessing of Vengeance is a must with pSevvy as his Ashes to Ashes spell becomes very powerful indeed with his character jack.

I chose the Temple Flame Guard to accompany this list as they are a decent tar-pit and perform a little better with EoM.  They never really do a great deal in games and just die horribly – a bit like Meatloaf in all of his films – LOL!  The unit was originally ten strong and the list had a Crusader jack instead of the Vanquisher, but reducing them down to a minimum sized unit allowed the Vanquisher to sneak in!

The Vanquisher is the last element of this list to be painted and I decided to replace the Crusader because the Avatar does that job so well I didn’t need a second melee jack.  The 4” AOE of continuous fire is frightening to many opponents and similarly to the Avatar it ends up getting +3 to its attack and damage rolls (Choir and EoM), its blast damage can be deceptively high and can obviously be boosted as well as setting the target on fire.

Vanquisher work in progress, its all magnetised!

I have play tested this list a few times and am happy with how it plays.  I feel that the TFG are a bit slim at 6 models and they basically stand in front of pSevvy as a meat shield, maybe I’d be better spending the points elsewhere, say another Vassal and Gorman Di Wulfe for example, but I spent ages painting them and they’re in the list now!