The State of the Nation 2014

I realised a few days ago that I set up this blog four years ago today, and wow, I've dodged a lot of painting since then! A canny reader will see that I've got older posts than that, but they were added retrospectively from my old forum posts so that I still had them after the forum shut down. The very first post concerned itself with my plans to assemble a pre-bought Adeptus Mechanicus Battlefleet Gothic fleet. In the end, it never came to fruition as we never really got stuck in to that game. Instead it went a long way to financing my early Trollbloods. 

I've done a lot since then, and many plans have been devised and sidelined in that time, but I think that it has been for the better.

I wrote a similar post to this last year, albeit a little earlier in the year than this. In it I outlined my plans going forward. I shall do this here this year, but first I intend to reflect on that post a little and provide an update on some of the systems.

I spoke about sticking with one list for each system, namely the chaos army for each but with the addition of a Daemon Army that was in the pipeline. This has stalled. 

I've felt very let down by GW over the last couple of years. I feel that they are stretching the customer's finances more and more with each release and yet are not actually adding much of value for it. I understand that this is just my point of view, however this is sadly how I feel. The only thing keeping my from shedding my collection wholesale is that they are stored for the move that never seems to get nearer. However there is a strong possibility that I shall be unboxing them to go on eBay. 

I plan to keep a couple of armies, and at least one for each system, but this is more in hope than expectation that things will improve. Frankly I'm having more fun with other systems, and the best way for me to finance these is to use money from sales of unwanted armies.

No real change here. I didn't have time last year, and that hasn't changed. A new edition has been, or is soon to be released, I'm a bit out of touch, and yet still as much fun as it was, it took too long to play a game at a worthwhile size; and the amount of clutter from tokens, markers and dice to indicate hit points etc was far too fussy. At some point I intend to re-look at this, but it won't be for some time and will probably be with the Russians. 

This has developed in to my main game over the last year. I'm very much enjoying the game and am really beginning to get the hang of my Trolls. I actually even have some of them painted now. This was so that I went to my first tournament with at least some models were painted.

Last year I spoke of sticking with Jarl and the Hunters Grim, however in a twist of fate, Grissel2 is now my strongest caster. She is the new thing now albeit with a different list to mine), but at the time many didn't rate her too highly. I found that for infantry spam she does enough to help out without having too many options to choose from. She's also got herself a reasonable kill tally in the 'Caster Kill Challenge. At present I don't really have a strong secondary caster, but as Borka2 is out later this year, I may well focus on him being my go to heavy hitter list. 

I've also now delved in to another faction. With the sales of some of my GW armies, I've been investing in Thornfall Alliance Minions, Circle Orboros and Convergence of Cyriss and it is the latter I've recently started. It is early days still, but I'm enjoying them. Having started with Axis, I'm not using too subtle a list, but whilst I'm keeping with him at the moment, I'm looking to the other casters to find something a bit different. However much I try to avoid it I keep heading back to the Prime Axiom for my lists, which means that sooner or later, so heavy duty assembly and painting is going to be required. 

A month or two after last year's article I went by train with Sam into Leeds. On that fateful journey, we bumped in to an acquaintance of Sam's that played Malifaux. He was an odd fish, but he did assuage a lot of my misgivings over Malifaux and as such I began to look further in to the game. I joined as Wyrd were finalising their playtesting for the second edition of the game (M2e) and so things were a little all over the place, however I saw the promise and began to play, and moreover, buy lots of models. 

It was a rough start, and there are still teething problems it seems, however I've played seven games now and I am in love. Initially I have been playing Seamus who is one of the Resurrection's masters. I do intend to branch out from him, but I shall discuss that later. 

I've recently been to a Malifaux tournament hosted by The Outpost and whilst I came 29/30 I had a great day, and did reasonably well on VPs if not wins. I shall write a bit more on this in another post.

I'd resisted it for ages, but as we all know, (wait for it) resistance is futile (boom boom!). Speaking of the Borg, that's one of the fleets I'm collecting. That and the Romulans. I don't mind having a few Federation ships but I much prefer playing the opposition. 

This is going to stay an occasional game and I...will...not...buy...X-Wing!

The plan for the year ahead

This is usually the bit where I get things wrong. 

Neither Warhammer nor 40k are likely to get a look in over the next year. I see things getting worse with those systems, not better and as sad as it is, I think that the sun has set on those games. Yet as I said I shall keep a few options for them in case I'm wrong. 

Dystopian Wars may get a look in, but not for a while. That's about that for that. 

Star Trek Attack Wing is an occasional game for me, so whilst I shall keep my hand in its not something I'm going to go crazy on.

Guild Ball. This is a new one for me. I pledged on the Kickstarter and I'm looking forward to the release in December. Hopefully it will arrive before Christmas as that is my present. I've opted for the Butchers, the Masons and the Alchemists guilds. I'm not too sure how each of those teams play, aside from the Butchers apparently being a bit of a blunt instrument, but I went for the teams that I liked the look of the most, and it was a hard task to be honest. We shall see how it plays out. Since this will be my Christmas present, I'm hoping it will be sent out before the expected release date of December 29th. 

Warmachine and Hordes will continue to be my first game. Not least as it's the most accessible game for opposition. I'm enjoying the Convergence at the moment and will continue to tinker with them including taking part in a modified Journeyman League at the club. The Trollbloods aren't being sidelined. I've got some lists planned which will need testing at some point. Grissel2 remains my main caster, though I'm not really sure whether I'm going to give in to the Meat Mountain list much time. I'm liking the look of a Borka2 list I've come up with, but it will need some playing as I'm not sure whether my theory machine is that strong. 

My plans for Malifaux are to continue with the Ressers. I'm waiting for Molly to come out so I can play about with a summoner. In the meantime I shall develop Seamus and play about with McMourning.

I've also signed up to another tournament in November, is time at Stockport at the NWGC. I think it would be wise to stick with Ressers for this, but I shall be looking at the Outcasts at some point too. I've got the Viks to look at as well as Misaki, and as soon as I can get my hands on Jack Daw, I shall be getting him too. So many choices!

So that's it really, another year on and another set of plans. Maybe the next time I write this type of article, I will actually have moved!

Packing away the GW

Ok guys, just thought I would let you know that I have now packed away all the GW armies I own that I don't intend to sell with two exceptions: Dark Eldar and Empire.

Please note however that neither of those two armies are in a playable state.

I don't intend to unpack anything until after I move, so I won't be playing 40k or WFB for some time, if ever again at the rate the 'move' is progressing.

The only exception to this may be the Sisters of Battle, depending on their forthcoming Codex.

Thanks,

Mark

The State of the Nation 2013

I've not been too frequent with my blog posts lately, but as that is well documented already I won't go in to that too much other than to say that as much as I love writing, I miss wargaming as much as I used to be able to. 

Focus
One of the decisions I made earlier this year, which is again well documented, was that I would focus on GW games with a view to maintaining a consistent approach as well as to improve my knowledge. As such I have stuck closely to single armies for both Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.

Warhammer 40,000
The army I have played the longest for 40k is Chaos Space Marines. I've tried a few different styles over the years be they Night Lords, a mixture of the cults and none cults, but when GW started to focus more on the Red Corsairs more as a unified force rather than a rag tag band that is mentioned from time to time in the fluff, I really started to like them. The Huron model is superb, and as such with the new book I wrote a Red Corsair themed list. The list itself isn't a tournament list by any stretch, nor however is it too weak and as such I have enjoyed using it greatly. As I've tweaked it and become familiar with it, I have looked towards developing a second force, which whilst remaining a Chaos Space Marine force does perform in a different manner. The Red Corsairs were more of a fire base army with a few mobile elements with which to close up to the enemy. However, I have developed a purely Tzeentch army whilst is quite the reverse. It is much smaller even than it's Red Corsair counterpart, and is in truth a bit of a glass hammer, but although I shall need to test and tweak it further, I think it should perform strongly.

Warhammer

For Warhammer Fantasy Battles, I have again developed one army before working on a second. The first being a Daemon Prince led Tzeentch army with a few monsters in it, albeit that I have mixed marks in this army a bit. I liked the idea of men of the North worshipping all the deities, but perhaps some being favoured more and so the bulk is Tzeentch but some of the army is dedicated to Nurgle. Afterall, they are men even if they are servants of the gods, and men follow a strong leader even if he does speak of a different god. This army has done reasonably well. Again possibly not a tournament army, but solid nonetheless. The second army is a much newer beast. All units in this second warband are marked Nurgle, or cannot be marked. It is still early days, but is enjoyable enough to play with.

Children of the Empyrean
I have however begun building my dual system Daemon army. Very early days as yet, but initially I plan to use them as allies in 40k, then develop them as a force in their own right.

Privateer Press

Now, having spent the first half of the year keeping my promise to stick to GW, I find myself yearning to get back to Privateer Press. At the end of last year I felt I was finally starting to get somewhere with Hordes and Warmachine, something which I think I shll have to develop once more due to the break in play. I am still very much in love with my Trollbloods and have spent a lot of time recently thinking about lists. Jarl Skuld is still my favoured Warlock and so he is still going to be the crux of my main list, but I have found myself looking at the new Hunters Grim Warlock unit from the Gargantuans book.

Having played about with some list options, I am happy with the theory of how the units will play, and as such he is now on his way.

Aside from the War Wagon (which I think will have to be a Christmas present) and any of the currently unreleased models, I'm now at full faction and as such I have plenty of options and so I'm trying to vary the lists as much as possible at least up to and including 35 points. Inevitably the Fennblades are a popular option in most lists as are the Scattergunners, but I've resisted putting them both in all lists. I've also varied the Warbeasts as much as I can, though the Impaler, because of his animus and my seeming preference for ranged lists, makes it in to more than one force. Initially I shall concentrate on the two Warlocks mentioned above, though eventually the aim is to get back to developing the Borka list and some of the other Warlocks that I've not used before.

Convergence of Cyriss

Keeping with Privateer Press, I have wanted to have a go at the Warmachine side of the coin for some time, though as they did before I first bought the Hordes Trollblood starter pack when Mk1 was around, none of the factions really captured my imagination. Even the newer Scyrah didn't really hit the spot, and to be honest I had decided to forego that side of the game entirely. However, with the announcement of the Convergence of Cyriss as a playable faction, I decided to wait out the details and see how I liked them, and I must say, I really like them! The idea of them being clockwork beings that have foregone their flesh is a very good one to me, and I like the idea of the Vectors rules. As such, I have ordered the starter set for them and who knows, maybe I can cope with painting silver?

Dystopian Wars
To be frank, this has taken a back seat for now. I still have much less time than I would like to wargame, and either 40k or fantasy will suffer to fit in Warmachine/Hordes. But it is not forgotten, and I shall get back round to it at some point.

The Future
Some of you may know already, however The Whyf has been given a store manager position in Ilkley, and as such at some point the intention is for us to move to West Yorkshire. Their are pros and cons for us that we have carefully considered, but both think it will be beneficial in the long run. It may be in a few weeks that we go, or in a few months. That is the best information we have at the moment, but we are looking forward nonetheless.

In the meantime, thanks for reading.

Intermission

So guys, I've been making a lot of changes this year and in order to continue to do so next year then something has got to give.

I've pretty much had a hand in the hobby since I was thirteen and I am now thirty one. More than ever this year I have written at an increasing rate and next year I wish to do so even more. In order to do that I need to allow more time to concentrate on it and as such the obvious element that needs to go is the gaming.

Now, I'm not going all 1 Corinthians 13:11 (go on, look it up) on you all. I've written a 1800 point 40k list, a 2,400 point fantasy list and as for the Kingdom of Britannia and Russian Coalition for Dystopian Wars and Trollbloods for Hordes/Warmachine, I still have plenty of lists for those. But the difference now will mean that it will be much more sporadic. I won't have time to interact with people's blogs, forums, Facebook groups etc. To that end I've changed certain preferences on Facebook to filter out the gaming elements, so if you want me to pay attention to any of it, tag me in a post.

I also intend to radically downsize my collections to just two or three armies for Fantasy and 40k and shall be considering carefully those that are headed for the chop over the next month or so. It is my preference that the armies I do eventually sell go to friends locally rather than eBay, even at the expense of a better price (though I do wish to make enough money to fund a couple of projects that will improve my craft) so please keep your eyes peeled.

Despite this, as you know, I'm a sucker for a bargain and a nice book especially, so if any limited edition items appear for any of the above mentioned systems, please let me know.

As many of you are aware, I've got many alter egos. Some I make known to the masses, some I keep to myself. One of them, the writer, is the Shadow Scribe. Please feel free to pop over there, read and comment as the intention of that blog isn't just for me to show off my work, but to receive C&C. Another thing I wanted to mention about that site is that the original intention for it was for me to use as a means to write up my Army Background for my forces. To that end, I shall actually do some writing for them and place it on there. Should you see anything you like and would like any help writing something for your own army, please let me know. I will need a few details and such about your forces and unless you are one of the early ones that I use for showcasing, then I may well start making a small charge!

I'm nearly finished now, but before I do go, I'd like to state categorically to you Shane that I've not given up yet, I'm still in the painting challenge.

Well then friends, I shall see you on the other side, if not before, but until then, enjoy yourselves in the last hours of 2012 and the first days of  2013!

Love you all,

Mark/Drax/Vanguard/Shadow Scribe/Tzeentch/Forlorn/Jinx/Kalaghar/many, many more

Adaptation

Well, I've not posted in a while for various reasons, but with the impending release of 6th edition Warhammer 40,000 at the end of the month, I have to say that I am looking forward to it.

There seems to have been a degree of disillusion about the new edition. I must admit, I felt the same way when 8th edition fantasy was released, and if I recall correctly, 3rd, 4th and 5th edition 40k. So whats changed with my mindset? I'm a pretty stubborn sod, and I don't react well to change, so why am I so relaxed now when I haven't been at every turn before? I think that the answer must partially lie with 8th ed fantasy.

As it approached I dutifully did what many gamers are now doing: trawling the internet for scraps of information regardless of source as to what I could expect. Looking back now, I think that I had 'given up' on fantasy about a month before it was released and the reason was that I had read abstract information presented in a format that denied the reader the ability to see the 'bigger picture'. A cliche I know, but for a reason. By reading such information on a rumour mill rather than as part of the updated rules it meant that I couldn't understand the context of the new rules set. Sure it may seem odd that fear and terror aren't as powerful now as they were, but does that mean that they are under powered now, or over powered then? Sure a Daemon or a Zombie are scary, but so too is another human running at you with a sharp sword and a determination to survive. The difference is that a soldier is trained to overcome these horrors, and when his own courage fails him, his officers and the standard are there to inspire him to conquer that fear and stand firm against his better judgement.

Another common complaint with 8th edition that unit sizes, in the main, were forced to increase in order to keep up with the changes to the combat rules. People felt that it was unfair how their well honed forces that had done them proud over at least the last two editions with the minimum of fuss between the changes were now required to undergo serious alterations. Yes this can be frustrating, and yes you probably spent hours getting your force just how you wanted it and to have it perform at it's peak efficiency, but what's fun about having all the answers? Sure it means expenditure, and sure Games Workshop are increasing prices, but I've been wargaming nearly 20 years now, as have many of my fellow regular gamers and price rises aren't a new phenomenon and if there is one thing a gamer likes at least as much as a win or achieving a good paint job on a model(s), it is buying something new.

You can't tell me that all the gamers that became despondent at news of bigger sized units and games hadn't previously moaned that they couldn't fit in a particular unit or a few more models within an existing unit.

But I digress. In truth, much of what I have said can be applied to the fears of 6th edition, though I suspect my own reasoning for looking forward to seeing what changes are ahead of us lay away from Games Workshop. Over the last year or two I have for the first time in my gaming career played none GW wargames, namely Hordes/Wamachine by Privateer Press and Dystopian Wars by Spartan Games. Both are very different to 40k and Fantasy, but both are very enjoyable. Essentially both these new systems have forced me to learn an entirely new rules set and in many ways forget how GW has taught me to wargame. Now I won't profess to be a better wargamer for this, indeed I suspect that I now fall under the 'master of none' category as I've not had the opportunity to dedicate myself to one system, however I think what it has taught me is to tolerate a different way of looking at the games I play. For example, for the first time in nearly two decades I am having to really adjust to new and unfamiliar rules sets.

I see no reason why one cannot adopt this approach with new editions of 40k or fantasy. Change can be good as it progresses the game as much as it streamlines it. Yes there will be elements that are unpopular I have no doubt. Experience tells me that I won't realise how unpopular they are with me until an opponent, probably at a tournament, points out that I am trying to play the old rule, not the new one, however with the negatives, there will be positives; not least that the models we use are better than ever and that the community is ever more widespread and supportive. All in all, I think 6th edition Warhammer 40,000 will be one to look forward to.

Oh Games Workshop, how I hate thee!

Sounds like I'm about to rant about their negatives, doesn't it?

Quite the contrary actually. What I really want is for them to give me a bit more time between releasing the armies I use.

I was going well until the released the Beastmen book at the end of last edition, but as soon as I had completed my new units, the Ogre book was released so I began work on that. Then the Vampire Counts were released so I scambled to get them risen. I'm still awaiting the arrival of some of the units I ordered last month to complete my Kemmler army and now I hear that the Empire are getting re-done, which is awesome, especially seeing some of the new models, but the problem is I keep running just to keep up with army development.

Seriously GW, I've already heard that the Dark Angels are on the way, so if you DARE release Daemons, Wood Elves, Warriors of Chaos or Dwarfs this year, we are going to seriously fall out!!!!

The freshly risen

Well, its been a long weekend but I've finally managed to complete the 50 strong Skeleton unit.

Whether I'll ever field a full 50 unit remains to be seen, but it never hurts to be optimistic about Invocation rolls. Other than that I've also recently built a Terrorgheist and Kemmler and Krell.

Although recently assembled, I have used Krell and Kemmler in an intro game I had with Mart and whilst I kept things basic so the intro game flowed, I was happy with how Krell in particular worked. His Heroic Killing blow is going to be useful against Ogres and other Monstrous Infantry Characters and Champions, however the fact that it is restricted to challenges seems somewhat rubbish.

I've just received Vlad and Isabella as late birthday presents but other than those two, there are only 20 Zombies left to assemble of the Vampire Counts models I already own, which is just as well as May isn't that far off and I have a lot of Blood Angels models to assemble for Chris' Spring wargaming weekend.

I just can't get away from those blood suckers!

Darklands Campaign, Turn 1

I am currently taking part in a campaign based in the Dark Lands with Ben, Sam and Chris and we have just completed the first turn. The campaign is being played using the Blood in the Badlands supplement with a few adjustments.

I am using Vampire Counts and have two armies: One led by the not so magical Abdemanechus, a Vampire Lord, the other led by the Lichmaster himself: Heinrich Kemmler.

My first battle saw Abdemanechus face Ben's 'Archlector' let Empire (I'll provide a bit more info on these at a later date). It wasn't going too badly until the latter stages, but sadly the Flagellents wore down my Ghoul unit and that really swung the battle.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to field the army I really wanted to as I am still waiting for parts of it to arrive, though i think that Ben was in a similar position so i cannot complain too much. Especially since I deployed and used a unit of Hex Wraiths for two turns before realising they weren't in the revised list I'd written!

Because of this I'm quite glad Ben won the battle as I think that their presence changed how he had wanted to deploy and for them to be simply removed meant that part of his army had to readjust its position to be of benefit, so the fact that it didn't stop him winning means he may eventually forgive me. Eventually.

So I'm in need of a win and sharpish! all the others seem to be getting interesting bits and bobs and I want me some of that!

So, I'm behind on the tile claiming and the relics

In absentia mea, ego vigilate te

Well, since my change around on this blog three weeks ago, I've been rather quiet. The reasons for this, simply, are that I don't have enough time! Between work and University, real life and trying to squeeze in some games now and then, I've not had much time left for recreational writing.

That isn't to say that I've not been busy as I have been working on army development! Although it is old news now, the Vampire Counts have had a new book and lots of new miniatures, and as such I have been busy assembling my forces.

It always strikes me as odd that I seem to have sufficient models for a reasonable sized army until the new book arrives, at which point I seem to need to spend weeks assembling basic units all over again, let alone all the new units that get released. However, I am now on my way to a viable force. The goal is to have a Kemmlar army, but to do so shall require a lot of Skeletons, as well as time and funds. Sadly, the Winds of Magic aren't real, and even if they were, I suspect that the Invocation of Nehek wouldn't work on plastic skeletons. So in the meantime the intention is to run a Vampire list including a large unit of Crypt Ghouls to get me used to the army once more and slowly turn it towards the Necromancer list. I have only used the force once since the book came out, and frankly it didn't fare well, though admittedly this was against Ben's own Vampire Counts army. Essentially I lost through a mixture of attrition, terrible luck with magic and a lack of experience, the latter being something that despite it being a force from a new book, I could have mitigated by spending more time using the army when the previous book was in use. Instead I darted from army to army never really giving myself time to become use to it.

So now I have a lot of work ahead to get the army I want assembled, but am eager to get going. In the meantime, however, I shall likely be an irregular poster and may or may not get time to look over your own blogs, but I shall do so eventually!


Take care all.

Brax

Weekend of War

I went over the Pennines this weekend, or on to them - unsure to be honest, but regardless, I had a great time at My Friend Sam's house where he hosted our first seasonal event.

On the Saturday we had a Warhammer siege game whereby Chris, Ben and I each used our Ogre Kingdoms armies to take on Sam's Dwarfs. It turned out that Chris had been paid off to betray the other tribes; Something that Ben and I gave Chris plenty of flack over (you were a good sport on that one Chris). As such Ben and I decided to hold our alliance and take on the other two whom aside from being against us, didn't last long as allies. In the end, the record showed a joint victory for Chris and me, however Ben had borne the brunt of Chris' treachery and Sam really did face an uphill struggle to fend off three armies.

We used the Siege rules from the Blood in the Badlands book (which I shall discuss a bit more in depth in a future post) with a few tweaks that Sam tailored to suit (at least Ben and my) armies backgrounds. I really enjoyed the game as it was the first siege I have played and was great fun to take part in!

Today we had a game of Dystopian wars. We once more fought over somewhere hot outside Yorkshire which I'd already suffered a defeat at so wasn't too fussed about especially since the locals couldn't make a proper cup of tea!

Who am I kidding? I fought tooth and nail for this one! I felt that my fleet was a lot stronger than it had been in the last battle - I substituted the cruisers for another unit of Destroyers and took three Doncasters in addition to the scout rotors. In essence I think that the main downside came with the fact that I was forced to face two threats which although I had weakened (and had done so to eachother) at range, once up close I lost the edge against their superior boarding actions, tesla weapons, rockets and above all tactical skill (very unsporting chaps!).

I think that more adjustments are needed to try and find the most effective combinations, but once I feel I have done so, the plan is to assemble a more typical battle fleet.

So all in all, very tiring, but very worthwhile weekend of gaming!

Army background development

I've spoken a lot recently about what armies I am and am not planning to use this year, but I've not really spoken much about the background of the armies I have. In this post I plan to discuss the background of my WFB armies, or some of them at least, and the decisions made in creating them.

For me, having a generic theme typical of the race isn't something to be avoided, but rather to be embraced. Obviously if you have something left field that works, then fair enough, but the Warhammer World works because a lot of effort has gone into making a system filled with goblins, daemons and elves as realistic and coherent as possible, so to have an army that sits well within that is something that to me at least is important. The way i see it, my army is to be a supporting player, not trying to outshine. It is it's deeds that define it, not how outstanding i can make it from the others.

So then, on to a bit about some of my armies!

Warriors of Chaos

Their background is probably the most developed. The tribe was a mixed Norse and Kurgan one led by a follower of Tzeentch, though his tribe containers followers of all the powers. His main rival however is another Tzeentchian Sorcerer lord, Ch'Zeth Cloudstalker, who is currently pursuing his own agenda in the border princes having been cast out of the tribe following the death of  Kalaghar's father as a result of his cowardice, however Ch'Zeth isn't one to write off yet, as his plans are intricate and extensive. the army itself is intended to be inclusive to account for the way a regular tribe may be like - to the Norse and the Kurgan, the gods appeal in equal measure and should be honoured as such. as such although the army is heavily Tzeentch themed, to reflect the influence of the tribal leader, other aspects of the army

Empire

Although the army is yet o be assembled, I've decided to base them in Nordland. The reasons being that I loved the idea of the early stages of Warhammer Age of Reckoning and the idea that the army is constantly under threat of invasion from both sea and their own forests. In keeping with the AoR theme I've decided upon taking a reasonable sized unit of Knights of the Blazing Sun. The idea of them however is to be an inland force, the second wave of defence, meaning that there are fewer sea themed references, but still distinctly Nordland. I liked the idea of them being on a major trade route and being a way point force responsible for being a safe overnight spot for trade caravans as well as being a muster point for any required counter attacks. for that reason, the force is comprised of career soldiers rather than local nobility and their levies.

Ogres

Now I'm struggling with these boys. I don't really want them to be wandering, but i want something other than other Ogres to be their main opponent (whats the point in stomp if you can't use it?) for now I'm still working on this, and shall have to leave this one at the minute.

Beastmen

Another one I'm struggling with - I was planning to place them in Averland to go against Ben's Empire, but i do like Malagor who is a Drakwold character. i had considered, since i don't use Malagor all the time, that he may travel from time to time to further his plans, but I'm unsure. Its a fair trek from the Drakwold to Averland, even with wings! but at the moment, if i place my Beastmen in the Drakwold, unless a Middenland force rocks up, the best suited enemy for my Beastmen are my own empire!

Dwarfs

another reasonably well developed army here. My army hail from Khazid Rhynn, which is not a fully fledged hold. their main source of income is from the rich iron ore veins in the area, which have largely been ignored as they are both on a limb for the Dwarfs and also because Iron doesn't have quite the kudos that Gromril has. links have been well established with both the O'Dubhda clan and the Brunnisson clan, and whilst there are no specific enemies yet, they are ideally placed to be under threat by many of the forces of destruction

Vampire Counts

these guys have proven difficult to pin down for me. All things considered, they are a relatively new army in their own right and as such have undergone some significant revisions to their fluff over the last couple of books. sure they still come from Nagash, and the von Carsteins are still and always have been the poster boys, but GW have altered the bloodlines subtely but importantly a few times, and it seems to be that the new book will do so again. I've always loved the von Carsteins, and i have developed a story for one particular vampire: Klaus von Carstein. Nobody seems to know where Klaus came from as he has no clear sire. It is suggested that he is one of Vlad's first gets that somehow kept, or was kept out of the light (so to speak). He has emerged now however, and at least for now has pledged allegiance to a suspicious Mannfred.

I have also developed some background for a Necrarch vampire named Abdemanechus who is rising in power in recent years. He has sent out his agents to seek artifacts of power which he intends to use to bring the mortal realm to it's destruction, a feat that would make him a god. Clearly this vampire lacks lucidity!

So that's the majority of my armies! i do have others, but since none are on the radar at the moment, I've not really given much thought to them. Please let me know what you think and if you have any ideas, let me know!

I have been somewhat distracted of late...

I have seriously been considering re-naming this blog "The Nation of Procrasti"

Let me know what you think.

Anyway, just a quick one to show you what I've been doing rather than start painting the Dark Eldar for doubles:

Also, whose cat?

Had two very enjoyable games against Ben today with the Ogres. The first game was against Ben's own Ogre army which I thought may well be an uphill struggle. The list i used for both games was as follows:

1 Tyrant w/ Ironfist, Ironcurse icon, Armour of Destiny, Ogre blade, Luckstone 315
1 Butcher w/ Ironfist, extra level, hell heart 188
6 Bulls w/ fc, Ironfists, look out gnoblar 227
6 Bulls w/ fc, IronfistsI look out gnoblar 227
7 Ironguts w/ fc, look out gnoblar, Dragonhide banner 386
4 Leadbelchers w/ bellower 182
4 Mournfangs w/ bellower, standard, Ranger's Standard 350
1 giant 200
1 Ironblaster 170
10 Gnoblars w/ trappers 50
10 Gnoblars w/ trappers 50
10 Gnoblars w/ trappers 50


Both games didn't start well to be honest but in the end swung back a bit. The Ironblaster was so-so for me, and the giant, as much as I loved it didn't really do much in game one, and game two, although he 'killed' a unit of Cairn Wraiths and a Vampire, we aren't entirely sure whether he could really have done this against ethereal models. Most of his results were yell and ball which is fair enough, but the vampire was picked up and thrown back in to combat.

The Mournfangs were immense, and even when they rolled badly they still managed to do well! I'm glad that I chose to give them the Ranger's Standard which certainly made them more versatile! The Gnoblars were a mixed bag: in both games two units did next to if not nothing of use, but the 3rd unit did spectacularly earning their points back and then some! i think they chipped a couple of ogres (though one i think was badly wounded) with traps and thrown weapons and combat hits, and they took out quite a few zombies chipping them down enough to make a difference in the long term!

The butcher died in both games, but in the game vs the Vampire Counts i predicted the imminent death of the unit he was in, so i managed to achieve a magnificent set of miscasts with the Hellheart! I reduced the ethereal vamp and a necromancer on a corpse cart to wizard level 0, caused a few deaths to some ghouls through magical feedback and a wound to the other necromancer and the standard bearer.

Other than that, the bulk of the army did ok, but I think i just need to get used to them a bit more, so all in all a good start!

From the mountains they came

So this is what I've been up to for the past few weeks: Slowly building up my Ogre Kingdoms army which I bought the majority of years ago!

I'd picked up the new book a week or so after release and I loved the new mournfangs and the ironblaster models so I could resist the chance to finally set about building the army up!

Hopefully this will kickstart the love for fantasy again as I've barely played it this edition and as I've said several times I'm not that enthusiastic about the Warriors of Chaos, but when I do play fantasy I feel stuck with them as they are a) the nearest to painted I have and b) the army I've learned to use the best (I struggled with the Beastmen), yet somehow they don't excite me!

I'll be taking them for a spin at the weekend against Ben's own Ogre army and a more regular sized army (basically so that I can stomp/thunderstomp them and see how that fares)

On another note, it may be a while before I get down to the club again. For a few reasons things have changed and I now don't have the time that I used to. I'm not taking a break from the hobby or anything, but getting the time to get in to Hull is, at least for now, a thing of the past. Watch this space.

Big Changes afoot!

I've been getting back in to the fantasy love affair once again so have been assembling one or two models over the last week. My favourite of the models built was the giant.

I'm sure that you can already guess which army he shall be for, but if not i shalt spoil the surprise! and if you know don't say! (this all really boils down to me wanting to think i'm all mysterious and stuff, even though i'm not).

so whilst this new endeavor is underway, I've once more been using the Stormkrow Tribe. Faced Ben's Ogre list earlier in the week and i must say, it gave my  well honed list a run for its money. It didn't help that i couldn't remember how my lord was supposed to be kitted out, but he was 90% how i used to field him, so there is now real excuses there. Seems that the new book isn't as bad as feared!

Tales of Grandeur and Woe - Butchered!

Since Ancient seems reluctant to tell this tale, i shall tell it - since this is my first entry on this board, i may as well make it one of the worst luck possible!

My Beastmen were facing Ancient's freshly completed Ogre Kingdoms army - as agreed we had used the House Ruling for this battle.

despite getting the plus 1 for first turn, Ancient won the dice roll and elected to go first!

come his first magic phase, he cast Braingobbler on my Minotaurs! being unsure what else to expect from a maxed out Butcher army i choose to risk the ensuing Panic test, especially as the casting was on an 11!

no worries, the minos were next to my general, Malagor, so surely I could manage an 8? wrong! 9! off they ran, back off the end of the table like prissy little girls! this was going to end badly!

next up, Ancient's second Butcher went to cast Braingobbler on another unit - i already had 3 dispel dice in hand, but no need! Ancient rolled a double one! on the miscast table he then rolls a 3, meaning the Butcher suffered d3 wounds, which of course then rolled a 6 meaning 3 wounds were taken and the Butcher was dead!

oh well, no worries, the butcher balances up the Minotaur I suppose, mused Ancient.

the next roll by his Slaughter master also incredibly rolled another double one! this time, a 1 is rolled on the miscast killing the Slaughtermaster outright , causing 3 wounds to his unit, and d3 wounds to all remaining butchers, all of which, unbeleivably rolled a 5 or 6 killing them!

never mind Ancient, after that, [i]I[/i] was in total shock!

Old Battle reports - Gaming day 27th March 2010

For those that don't know, I used to run a small forum for a few friends. I've recently taken the decision to close the forum down but didn't wish to lose all my old info. As such some of it will be posted on this blog.

The 27th March saw the first day of what is becoming an annual gaming event.
On the Saturday, four armies of Chaos clashed to determine who would be the Chaos Gods' champion and lead their armies to take on the valiant Dwarf alliance.

because they were ready first, Ancient and Snorri had a warm up battle between Snorri's mounted Warriors and Ancient's Beastmen

Once the armies were ready, the Combatants lined up their forces for team photos!

Unfortunately Greg the Giant didn't bother to turn up for the team photo, and he was the one with the kit, hence the unpainted army! ;)
Drax's Beastmen:

Ancient's Nurgle Warriors:

Snorri's mounted Warriors:

lucifer's Warriors:

The first battle saw lucifer's Warriors face off against Ancient's Nurgle warband.

the result was a resounding win for lucifer who along with a fair amount of luck (including most of that of Ancient's!) displayed a great amount of skill, especially considering that this was his first bout with the army!

on the other table, my Beastmen faced Snorri's Mounted Warriors.

i hadn't expected much out of this game to be perfectly honest, not least as this too was my first time with the force, however despite a well deserved victory for Snorri, i felt confident i knew what needed amending and was ready for my next match.

and this is where it all fell apart. the beers were out and so the photography came a second place - well, 5th actually: gaming, beer, toilet breaks, food, photography. and in practice, we could only really cope with remembering the first four!

the results of the next game were that Snorri faced lucifer with lucifer winning whilst i faced Ancient and Ancient won. my tweaking obviously hadn't been perfect, but more went my way, so i was on the right path. the battle was a bloody one!

in the third and final game of the day, Snorri and Ancient faced off with Snorri winning.

that result meant that if lucifer beat me, we would have a neat and easy hierarchy.

however, i wasn't going easy. i was after first blood and had spent two games intentionally losing so that i could pounce on which ever fool i faced last and as such i managed to gain my first victory.

this meant that Snorri and lucifer were drawing for first place with Ancient and i were left in joint last. in order to break the hierarchy, we had a wizards duel with ancient and i facing off each other and snorri and lucifer against each other