News from the front line

Painting update:

Molik Base 1

Painting:- Skorne

I decided the Skorne bases would be a desert scheme some time ago and I added quite a lot of slate rocks and coarse grades to make the ‘stony desert’ effect I wanted.  I wasn’t sure initially how I would paint the bases, but the recent desert terrain board inspired my choices of colour.

 

Molik Base2

Brute Base 1

[Left] are some photos of the bases after painting, but before application of static grass/tufts.  I’ll add these after the models themselves have been painted as a mistake can more easily be rectified this way.

Brute Base

Colours/technique used:

Basecoat Citadel Desert Yellow*

Wash with thinned Citadel Brown Ink (Ratio of 1:6)

Drybrush Citadel Desert Yellow*

Drybrush P3 Menoth White Base

Drybrush P3 Menoth White Highlight

*I used the Desert Yellow coloured emulsion I got made up for the desert terrain and base boards as it seemed a good use of the spare paint,  effectively it was a bit better at covering the black undercoat I used than the Citadel pot paint.

It looks god-awful with just the gold done!

Painting:- Menoth

Not a massive amount of work done here, but as I’ve paid for the Grand Slam tournament, held on 31^st of this Month I felt the need to complete the Errants.  They’re not complete yet, not by a long shot, however I have completed their bases, bar the static grass/tufts/water effect.

After the initial base painting step I started with the gold armour as this would be a fairly messy technique to get a good solid coat.  I applied two layers of heavy brushed Citadel Shining Gold, followed by a thinned wash of Citadel Chestnut Ink.  The ink gives depth to the gold by shading the recessed areas.  I sometimes use the Badab Black Citadel Wash to shade gold, but I wanted to remain consistent with the existing Errant unit’s painting style.  Above is a snap of the completed gold.  More to follow…

Gaming update:

General

I’ve played a few games lately and have used the Skorne, again using Zaal, though I do have a yearning to try out Rasheth and have bought a few bits to try him out at Tier 4.  The fat man, as Rasheth is known, is a large based caster with abysmal defensive stats, though he does have a few special abilities and tricks to help keep him alive from assassination.  He is Fury 8, so can sling some spells out and isn’t short on CTRL area and game influence.  I plan on using him with some Gatormen and quite a few Titan warbeasts as his themed list focus here.  So it should be a bit interesting to see what happens there!

Tournament

The Grand Slam tournament series has been launched, something that Luke and myself have had some bearing on and the first tournament of the series is being held in York on 31^st March 2012 (details here).  Myself and a few others intend of supporting the event and it will be a great laugh as well as a challenging tournament.  With Grand Slam  rapidly approaching I have placed the Skorne on hold in favour of the tried and tested Menoth and have chosen my two casters: Severius1 and Kreoss1.  The former is probably my signature caster and I feel most competent with him.  Kreoss1 needs a bit more work to refine getting the most out of him, but the pop and drop technique is quite valid as a strategy in the current meta game.  The tournament will use 7 minute timed turns and as such the event will be very fast paced and I need to be competent with all of my choices, no time to keep checking spells and cards to see what the MAT, RAT and speed is etc during the game!!

Grand Slam has a second event, 15 points Mangled Metal and I have decided to bring along my Khador for that, most likely Sorscha2 and Karchev as the casters, each with a character jack and a second basic one.  More on this when I’ve decided on the lists!

Terrain update:

Battle Mechanics guard a straight section of fence

Battle Mechanics tell old war stories near a  broken section of fence

Battle Mechanics scratch ass near a corner section of fen

The desert terrain I built a few months back refreshed the games played round at my house with something a little different.  Generally we found that using one of the cactus base boards as a trees base board (thus creating three woods) worked best as LOS-blocking terrain is quite important in any strategic wargame.  The rock spires work well as obstacles, but what the terrain set was lacking was linear features.  As deserts tend to lack much terrain, other than lots of sand, I had to think of something fitting.  There was an article on Menoth wall building in an old No Quarter magazine, but this would be difficult to achieve given the complexity of the design and need for an expensive bitz order from the USA.  I ended up going for a simple wooden fence design using balsa and wooden hot drink stirrers.

I Simply cut the balsa into 25x7x7mm sections for the upright posts.  Then I cut base boards from a suitable material (card, hardboard etc) I used plasticard for this example to a size of 1”x4”, but whatever size/shape appeals to be honest.  To make the horizontal sections I used hobby clippers to remove the rounded end of the drink stirrer and used it to push an indent deep into the balsa where it would eventually sit permanently.  I decided to keep the horizontal sections full length and used a hobby knife to make a suitable slot right through the central post.

The next stage was assembly;I used construction adhesive (No Nails) to glue the posts into position and simply placed the horizontals into place in their slots (no glue at this point).  Next I mixed up modelling sand and PVA into a thick soup and applied this to the bases making sure to ‘cement’ the posts into place.  Once dry I used a hobby knife to carve the posts, giving them a more natural weathered look.  The whole thing was then coated in watered down PVA, I made doubly sure the joins where post met horizontal were covered so the whole fence was as sturdy as I could make it.  The watered down PVA seals the balsa (for painting) as well as adding some strength to what could be a weak structure.

The final step was painting, I used the same technique for the desert as previously used and the fence was a question of drybrushing from a basecoat of Scorched brown, through Bestial Brown and Snakebite Leather, then finally a very light dusting of Bleached Bone.  The drybrushing brought out the details of the carving I made on the posts.  Finally tufts and static grass were applied.

Fires of Communion – backfire!!!

 An odd post this one, basically I thought I’d elaborate on a disaster that occurred yesterday…

So the pic below is my painting station, it’s an old writing bureau that I picked up for about £35 a few years ago, they’re ideal because they can be folded away (hiding whatever crap you’ve got on the desk) and look quite tidy in a pinch, which goes down well with the other half.  They’ve got loads of storage space and places to put a war gamers modelling equipment - great stuff I hear you say!

My Command Centre (painting and modelling area)!

So in the spring cleaning spirit I cleaned this bad boy out, giving it a good old dust and polish, scoring some major brownie points and folded it up and away - nice and tidy.  This is where it all started…  You’ll notice a black flexible lamp which I use with a daylight bulb to paint with; well this got put under the bureau after said tidying.  What I didn’t realise was that my little nipper found it and played with the on/off switch and unbeknown to me left it ‘on’, though the main power switch at the socket was off…  Later in the day however I turned the main power switch on to use the computer (on the same extension socket), which unfortunately also turned the lamp on, I didn’t notice the lamp was on as it was face down on the carpet...

After a short while I could smell something burning and found the face down lamp had melted the carpet away and left a nice scorch mark in a roughly CD sized area directly under the bureau… OMG!!!!

Below are a couple of images of the damage:

The fires of Communion (GW paint pot for scale)

So the moral of the tale is don’t piss Sevvy off by playing away with shiny Skorne toys as he’ll feat and burn you!

Or just don’t tidy a lamp away and be messy!

Still it could have been a lot, lot worse (boosted Ashes to Ashes) and I’ve managed to place a new piece of carpet to hide the damage which looks OK.

The damage zoomed in

Souls for the win!

Sadly I’ve done no painting for a while, though I aim to complete the Errants and Holy Zealots in due course and will post some snaps when they’re done.

In the mean time I’ve had a slight distraction from my Menoth, shock horror!!

I made a daft New Year’s resolution to play some Hordes and get myself more accustomed to that gaming system rather than relying on my opponent’s knowledge – more from a tournament perspective to be honest.  I also purchased quite a large amount of Hordes models in the way of Skorne and Legion over twelve months ago and had barely used them! 

So last month I started playing some games with my Skorne; I tried out Makeda2, Xerxis and Zaal.  Each time I played I varied the units, warbeasts and solos in an effort to get to grips with how they function as a faction and start to work out how well these tend to synergise together.

Supreme Archdomina Makeda (source PP website)

I started out using Makeda2 as she has a powerful spell list, feat and an affinity with Molik Karn; I did enjoy using her as a warlock, though I felt like she was a Molik delivery system, not that it is a bad thing, I just wanted a bit more from my list than how long a threat range I could create with the character cyclops (which is ridiculously long by the way – LOL)!

Secondly I tried out Xerxis, again with some different units to the Makeda2 list; interestingly I used the Cataphract Cetratii – they are the heavy (shield wall) infantry and the Skorne elite.  The list worked like a brick, where there wasn’t a lot of speed, but rather a slow moving steamroller.  Xerxis feat is all about damage output as it gives friendly faction models and additional die of damage as well as a small ARM buff.  Xerxis was a bit of fun, though I found him a little one dimensional; again not a bad thing – just not quite what I was looking for.

Tyrant Xerxis (source PP website

The third warlock I tried was Zaal and Kovaas, now this is where it suddenly got interesting.  Zaal’s army works by collecting souls, given his passive abilities to direct souls and buff units who use them as well as his affinity to Ancestral Guardians.  The ‘soul token’ mechanic was something new to me, though it is quite simple in practice – Zaal just allows any eligible faction model to collect the Skorne soul rather than just the nearest model.  The Extoller solos and Ancestral Guardians can use soul tokens to buy and boost attacks, Zaal himself doesn’t actually collect souls however.  Zaal comes with a special solo called Kovaas, it is essentially the spirit of a destroyed Ancestral Guardian and comes into play when said destruction occurs.  The Kovaas is quite interesting as it is incorporeal and has a number of unpleasant (for the enemy) abilities.

Supreme Aptimus Zaal and Kovaas (source PP website)

Zaal’s feat is quite interesting also as it is directly proportional to the number of destroyed warrior friendly faction models since the start of the game, these basically equate to ‘Rage Tokens’, which on the feat turn can be spent by a faction model to boost an attack or damage roll; lots of dead means lots of boosts, but then again you’ve got less models to use the free boosts so like all feats must be timed correctly.

Zaal’s spell list is pretty decent with a couple of ranged attack spells and a couple of defensive/utility spells, but perhaps his signature spell Last Stand is his most interesting spell and a strong reason to take Zaal in the first place.  It really is a double edged sword this spell as once cast on a model/unit it is destroyed at the end of the turn if it makes an attack (be it hit or miss); the bonus is that any attacks made roll an additional die on attack and damage rolls, these can of course be boosted on top making damage output potentially colossal.

Molik Karn, the rudest cyclops in town! (source PP website)

So that is Zaal et al explained, I used a variety of units to complement the lists, but as you’ve guessed I concentrated on Zaal, I just liked his play style and found my games quite exciting as I learned how to time his feat and make best use of his spells.  I found that units which synergise well with Last Stand are good, i.e. have multiple attacks, Pretorian Swordsmen and Nihillators fit well here, also to power up the Ancestral Guardians and Extollers with souls cheap infantry used as fodder is paramount.  I also found that putting Last Stand on a hard model, such as Molik Karn, under the feat turn is absolutely devastating and perhaps overkill, though killing an enemy caster for the loss of a heavy warbeast etc is obviously well worth it.  If Dave is reading this he is probably still remembering Molik doing exactly this against Karchev, rolling MAT 7 + 4D6 to hit and 5D6 + 15 damage for up to six  attacks is just insanely good!  Though if I am honest Molik should have died the previous turn to an angry fully focused-up Spriggan under Unearthly Rage, which is a Khador spell that is just about as rude as Last Stand!!

I intend to keep practising with Zaal, trying out new units and models to hone a good list and perhaps start painting a new army later in the year.  Though I’m wavering from the Creator’s path with this new Skorne distraction  I’ll still be playing the Protectorate and painting up units for it.

Hope my ramblings have been of some interest :-)

Holy Zealots

As discussed previously I’ve not painted anything for a while, though I am keen on completing the list of jobs I constructed before Christmas, the last remaining item being a minimum unit of Exemplar Errants.  These will finish off my two 50 point Prime and Epic Severius tournament lists.

Since writing the two 50 point lists Steamroller 2012 (downloadable from here) has been released and as I discussed in the Maelstrom Doubles entries a new game-play dimension in the way of reinforcements has been added.  For 35 point games the Exemplar Vengers fit the bill, given they are exactly 7 points, however at 50 points I have 10 points available and aren’t sure what to add for this points level; I am contemplating an 8 point jack and min Choir, or just adding a 3point solo to the Vengers – eEiryss I hear you say!

I had a dabble with the Holy Zealots in place of the Temple Flameguard the other day in my pSevvy 50 point list and was really happy with the way they performed.  I am certainly going to get them painted after the Errants after seeing them in action.

Holy Zealots unit (taken from the PP website)

So what do I like about them?

Well they’re cheap for a start, being 4 points for a minimum unit and 6 points for a full, the UA being a standard 2 points.  They’ve got pretty mediocre stats, MAT and RAT being quite low and DEF/ARM nothing to shout about.  They’ve got a poor melee weapon and a very short ranged weapon which has an OK POW and a 3” AoE.  Besides the melee and ranged weapons the unit leader can recite one of two prayers which I will elaborate on below.

The key to this unit being elevated from the mediocre stats and abilities I described are in the command models.  The Monolith Bearer (UA) grants the unit fearless which is useful given their low CMD and lack of banner, but also grants the unit a +4 ARM bonus when one of the unit members is slain by an enemy attack increasing their survivability dramatically.  These abilities are granted, so savvy opponents will likely attempt to snipe the Monolith Bearer out and reduce the units defences.  The Monolith Bearer also has a very nice mini-feat which is half of the reason I like the unit as a whole; once per game the unit can become invulnerable to all damage except spells and feats and the former can be protected against with one of the units’ prayers.  This allows the unit to ‘jam up’ an enemy unit or two and be virtually immune to retaliation, possibly hold an objective or generally get into a particular place with invulnerability for a turn.  It could also be used as an extraction tool avoiding free strikes if they themselves end up getting locked up in melee for example.

Holy Zealots unit attachment: Monolith Bearer (taken from the PP website)

 Along with the UA’s unique abilities, raising this unit from the mediocre bench lines is the unit leaders prayers touched on above, the leader can recite one of two prayers Warding, where the unit becomes un-targetable by spells for a round or Fervor which gives the unit +2 on attack and damage rolls.  The former is obviously a defensive mechanism against spells and magic attacks; whereas the latter effectively raises their MAT and RAT to 6.  With increased RAT and POW on the fire bombs the Holy Zealots really start to shine, even the blast damage is modified by Fervor getting to a respectable POW 8.  Given the maximum scatter for these grenades is 3” (half of the maximum range of the weapon) the 3” AoE is likely to hit numerous infantry models.

This unit could specialise in killing high DEF, low ARM troops given the high blast damage potential or can reliably hit light warjacks and beasts which have a lowish DEF and ARM with a view to wrecking them with enough shots.  Against Shieldwall or high ARM troops, their DEF is probably low and hitting isn’t the problem, but rather the armour; the direct hit will probably cause a casualty, though the blast probably not do anything.  A lucky critical hit however will help as all models under the AoE will suffer the continuous fire effect and stand a good chance of dying to the POW 12 + 2D6 roll they’ll suffer without the Shieldwall bonus during their next Maintenance Phase.  Not a tactic to bank on, but certainly worth a pop if there aren’t any other viable targets.

Closing comments

So I’ve made my case for including them in any list, however the point of this discussion was to include them in my 50 point Prime Severius list, as a replacement for the Temple Flameguard.  The obvious reason is the Eye of Menoth spell which increases their RAT to 7, possibly 9 with an aiming bonus and POW of 15 on a direct hit, with POW 9 blasts, just the extra +1 on top of the +2 from the Fervor prayer just tips them to being deadly, well maybe!

I like the Temple Flameguard, but they’re really in there for late game mop up and to protect the weak support solos/units as well as protect my vulnerable pSevvy.  Every game is situational, but I’m keen on painting these guys and seeing how they fair up on future engagements – so watch out for more crazy religious nutters hurling fire bombs!!

Doubles write up Part III

As promised this post will be a series of photographs of the armies on display during the peer judging that took place on the Sunday lunch time.  A couple of players didn't leave their armies out and I missed the Khador/Cygnar army we played in game 4.

Winners of the Best Combined Army were Paul Mansfield and Gav Roath, who we played during the first game, with their stunning Gatormen and Skorne forces.

I really liked the two Circle armies we faced on games two and five, though most armies that were displayed were of very high standard in my opinion, enjoy!