Long Time No Post

Ouch....  My hand is cramping from having to paint all the tiny details on the newest model, despite frequent enough breaks.  I keep telling myself it's a labor of love and it'll all be worth it once it's finished...

However, the thought of ever painting another one of these models is out of the question. I can barely fathom the thought of someone being crazy enough to buy another one, let alone going through the effort of then painting it up as well.

Yes, cryptic, I know. Pics will be eventually forthcoming, I promise.

In the meantime, it's a tad frustrating to be following the painting guide to the letter, with the exact same paints, and having the base colors be nowhere near the pictures. Which can only lead me to believe that either the photos were doctored, or the painting instructions given were not the correct ones.

Paint Log - 9/22/11

So, again, it's been some time since the last post. I'm happy to say that while I haven't painted as much in the meantime, I've not been completely idle - I've done some substantial work on some figures.

The first one of note is Krueger, the Stormlord. It's take some time, but he's about 70% finished. The item of note with Krueger is the stylized lightning bolt I've made for him out of brass wire, arcing from his outstretched hand, around his spear, and into his base.  So far it looks pretty neat, even unpainted. I'm hoping it'll look even better once it's done.  I'm still debating whether or not to incorporate any OSL to a large degree... the tabletop part of me just wants to get it done well enough to get him on the table, while the display painter part wants to actually try and get the OSL done (and done right, at that). Tough call. For now, I'm thinking of sticking more with the tabletop part of me.  (I'm also very pleased to note that I managed to avoid giving Krueger the "Eek! A Mouse!" expression the studio model is well-known for. Mine actually looks kinda pissed off and ready to fry something... preferably, Menites).

Also finally finished working on the very first of the Warpborn Skinwalkers - the Unit Leader is now completely painted and ready to be used as a base template for the other two.

Paint Log - 7/17/2011

Long time, no post. Not because I haven't been painting (though that's been a large part of it, too...), but mostly because I've also been lazy. June was a pretty hectic month, and July has seen me plagued with recurring back problems from my old injury.  That said, painting and modelling has been getting done in the meantime!

As of today, I am the proud owner of a fully painted, based, and clear-coated unit of Reeves of Orboros! Not a big deal for some, but for me, this is the first, fully painted unit I've finished (I don't count the Shifting Stones, even though its construed as a 'unit.' They're too easy).  Since I started playing a about a year-and-a-half ago, I still didn't have any fully painted units, most just half-finished models. The Tharn Bloodtrackers I've owned for about a year now still aren't completely done, but as of this afternoon I can say that I've taken a huge step towards fixing that - as of now, I just have to finish the unit leader. She's finally fully assembled and halfway done. The rest of the unit is fully painted, based, and waiting now just for a matte coat and a few birch "leaves" on the bases. So, it'll be very, very soon before the Bloodtrackers are completely done.

I find it really amusing that the most recent models I've purchased are the ones I've finished compared to the first ones (hell, the Argii from the Battle Box still aren't finished...). But also I was starting to think I'd never be able to get a unit fully painted, and I never expected to get one done that quickly. Of the few tips I found, the one on the Privateer Press site by Matt Dipietro (their studio painter) was the most helpful - There's essentially two ways to paint: tabletop/gaming, and display. One will drive you insane, the other will not. Tabletop doesn't have to be display quality, it just has to look decent enough to be serviceable on the table top. For gaming, just do tabletop, otherwise you'll never be finished, which is exactly how he paints. Knowing that (from one of their best) seemed to somewhat free me up from my restrictive self-imposed standards, which meant I didn't bother (as much) with all the little details, and there's a slightly more sloppy quality (as opposed to trying to make the armor look perfect), but it works, and they still look great!

I also made sure to paint the figures in a more "assembly line" fashion, using the same color at a time on each figure. It seemed at first that it would still take forever, but I was honestly surprised at just how quickly the unit came together.

With that in mind, I'm looking forward to finishing up my Druids of Orboros unit soon, right after the Bloodtrackers are done. I'm still trying to think of a neat Sigil/Symbol to put on the druids' cloaks, but I'm not sure yet. The symbol of Orboros doesn't seem just right, and I don't want to use the same markings that my Reeves and Wolves of Orboros have on their cloaks. Some thought is still required. (Although, the thought of perhaps some small, glowing sigils on the hems of their cloaks seems like it might be a neat idea).

In other news, the Gnarlhorm Satyr has been finished for a little while now, and I'm quite proud at how he turned out.  The Megalith conversion I've been working on (he's about 75% done) looks phenomenal  - I love how his repose came out so much more than his stock pose. I had planned on doing a step-by-step picture guide, but I forgot about that halfway through... d'oh. Still, I'll try to get some pictures up of everything soon.

Finally... I also did work on Mohsar the Desertwalker, and so far, I'm not at all happy with how he looks. I'm seriously considering taking him and Nuala the Huntress, stripping both figures, and starting again with both of them from scratch.

Battle Report: Morvahna v. Kaelyssa

Kaelyssa lowered her runespear cannon and stood in disbelief, ignoring the clamor of the battle around her as the Tharn battle-shrieks and skinwalker howls mingled with the terse shouts of her Mage Hunter officers while they tried to restore order to their ranks.  Her target, the coppery-haired woman with the beautiful, twisted smile gave her a mocking quirk of her lips, unfazed from her attack, having transferred the injury to one of her warbeasts. Just in front of her, her Griffon strove to keep the frenzied white Warpwolf from tearing it to pieces, and the heavy thump of the Phoenix's tread behind her mixed with the whirr of its halo cannon recycling. 
   The druid woman chanted and green, circular, jagged runes revolved around her outstretched hand before the ground under Kaelyssa split open and erupted in a thick, wild tangle of vines and plant growth tipped with long, razor-sharp thorns. Without her power field to protect her, Kaelyssa leapt out of the way, but not before she found herself bleeding from over a dozen wounds. As her feet hit the ground and she staggered, the wood-and-stone form of the druid construct, ablaze from the flame of the Phoenix's cannon, rushed forward. The inscribed runes on its stone surfaces glowed with an arcane wash of green energy that it drew directly from a ley-line of Orboros before unleashing it in a blast of primal power. In its wake, plant life exploded in a rush of verdant growth. The elemental energy caught Kaelyssa with all the force of a giant's fist, and as she fell, the last thing she remembered was the sensation of being ensnared within a wild tangle of grasses and sharp-thorned vines...

The Lists (35 points):

Morvahna the Autumnblade Pureblood Warpwolf Gorax Woldwatcher Tharn Bloodtrackers Wolves of Orboros Wolf Pack Leader + Standard Bearer Wolf Lord Morraig Warpborn Skinwalkers Swamp Gobbers	Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper Phoenix Griffon Stormfall Archers Mage Hunter Strike Force Mage Hunter Commander Mage Hunter Assassin Ghost Sniper x2 Nayl Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Initial Thoughts:
Initially this was supposed to be a 50 pt. game against Tim, so I had made my list earlier in the day - a Baldur list I was looking forward to trying out.  Unfortunately, Tim was already engaged in what was meant to be a short 15-pt. game that ran much longer than anticipated by the time I arrived at the store. Since I still wanted to get a game in, we settled for a 35-pt game to see if we could get that done. This meant having to come up with a new list on the spot. Deciding that I wanted to run something different, and because I've only tried Morvahna a handful of times, I pulled her out as my caster of choice and opted to run a mostly infantry-heavy list with only a few warbeasts (1 heavy and 2 light... a definite change from my usual choices) to go for less fury management.

((Apologies - Sorry, again, had no camera with me to take pics))

Deployment:
Tim won the roll, then opted to give me the first setup. Terrain was sparse. A hill on the left of my deployment zone, some ruins between the hill and Tim's deployment zone, and a forest on the right side between the two deployment areas.
Morvahna went in the center, with the Pureblood on her left, the Gorax on the right. To the far right, I set up my Wolves in a tight "brick" formation, just behind the Swamp Gobbers who would cover them. Morraig set up on their right-hand flank. On my left, I set up my Skinwalkers in a line formation.
For my AD, the Bloodtrackers set up on my left, just next to the hill and within 6 inches of Morvahna and far enough away from the Skinwalkers. The Woldwatcher deployed to the center and a tad to my right, to provide some cover.

For Tim's set-up, he placed Kaelyssa slightly off-center to my left, between his Phoenix and Griffon. Nayl and Eiryss went just ahead of her. The Stormfall archers set up to the rear on my left, with the Mage Hunter Strike Force and Assassin in front of them, just within a couple inches of the ruins.  On my right, Narn and both Ghost Hunter Snipers set up just behind the woods.
-  I declared the Mage Hunter Strike Force as the Bloodtrackers' prey.

Round 1:
I started by activating Morvahna. She cast Restoration on the Skinwalkers to give them the armor buff, cast Regrowth on the Bloodtrackers, held onto her last fury and advanced. The Pureblood and Gorax each ran slightly forward ahead of her on either side and each riled for an additional fury point. The Woldwatcher advanced more towards Morvahna and slightly ahead, but staying within 2" of her, then activated its Earth Blessing animus on itself to stay rooted in place and taking on its Stone Form for 21 armor.
   The Swamp gobbers advanced on a diagonal towards the center of the board and laid down a 5" AOE cloud of swamp gas. The Wolves of Orboros ran up behind the cloud to use it for cover, while Morraig rushed up past them and into the forward edge of the cloud to gain Stealth, thanks to his and his wolf mount's Prowl ability.
   The Bloodtrackers ran forward to place the ruins as cover between themselves and the Mage Hunter Strike Force, while the Skinwalkers then rushed up alongside, but out of melee range (to avoid terrifying my own unit).

Tim went. The Mage Hunter Strike Force advanced, partially using the ruins to cover a third of his force. With the Mage Hunter Commander leading them, however, I'd forgotten the whole unit had Phantom Seeker, which meant the ruins covering my bloodtrackers effectively didn't exist as their crossbow bolts fired right through the walls. The majority targeted the bloodtrackers while three targeted the skinwalkers. Bolts flew... in the end, every shot missed my bloodtrackers except for one killing shot, while the three fired at the skinwalkers missed or couldn't penetrate their heavy armor. (Tim had some terrible rolls here).
   The Stormfall archers advanced, but kept back and didn't fire, likely because they either couldn't draw a bead on my forces or were out of range.  The Mage Hunter Assassin darted around the ruins to the far left, trying to come about in a flanking maneuver.
   Eiryss and Nayl advanced somewhat up the center of the board and towards my right in a cautious advance. Eiryss put a Phantom Bolt into the Pureblood Warpwolf for an automatic 3 pts. of damage, something which put him in a foul mood.
   Kaelyssa activated, casting Phantom Hunter on her Phoenix (to allow for more targeting without LOS shenanigans) and advancing slightly behind Nayl and Eiryss, holding onto her Focus to keep her Power Field running for the armor boost.  The Griffon and Phoenix advanced on a course towards my warbeasts, but couldn't get into range.
   On the far right, Narn and a Ghost Sniper took up positions in the forest, getting ready to target Morraig and the Wolves while the second Sniper managed a run and rushed Morraig to bog him down.

Round 2:
Morvahna leached fury, upkept her two spells and regrew the dead bloodtracker, bringing the unit back up to full strength.
    The Pureblood Warpwolf activated first. Realizing from our previous game that Tim was trying to get Nayl  into range of Morvahna, and that such a move would almost certainly kill me if she lost her fury, I was determined to stop that from happening. Nayl's stealth meant he was too far away to target with the Pureblood's death howl... but Eiryss wasn't, and Nayl was in a perfect diagonal line away from her. A quick check of Morvahna's control range indicated I could get within sight of Eiryss to target her... the Pureblood regenerated a point of damage and then loped forward before letting out a flesh rending howl. The spray caught both Eiryss and Nayl as intended, two boosts apiece meant both were hit, and the howl warped both to shreds. At that point, Tim realized my maneuver had crippled him far more than I'd initially intended... Kaelyssa was within 8" of Nayl, which meant that when the soulless elf died, he stripped her of all her focus, instead!
Now came the matter of how to free up Morraig. Thinking it over for a little bit, I charged the Gorax at the Sniper keeping Morraig tied up. The initial charge missed, but the follow up caught the elf and dashed him to pieces. With the enemy model no longer engaging the wolf lord, Morraig charged the Ghost Sniper and Narn. Morraig's blade killed the Sniper and then cleaved Narn in twain (whereupon I forgot that I could've moved Morraig another 5" afterwards thanks to his Light Calvary rules) leaving the Wolves free and clear to advance on that side of the table, which they promptly did, still under the cover of the swamp gobbers' gas bellows.
   Morvahna then activated and popped her feat, Seeds of Destruction, while moving up to place the bloodtrackers and several of the mage hunter strike force in range. She ditched two fury, leaving her at one, and stayed close to the woldwatcher. The watcher moved forward to close any charge lanes towards my caster, then used its animus and stone form yet again.
   Now the warpborn skinwalkers ran forward to put themselves into melee range of the Mage Hunter Strike Force (and to hopefully block the Griffon's advance by giving Tim a potential target) which had the advantage of striking terror into the unit as they failed their command check. With the Mage Hunter unit now fleeing in terror, the Bloodtrackers charged the targets they could see while one charged the Mage Hunter Assassin to stop (or at least bog down) her flank - she failed to connect. Two Mage Hunters died to the bloodtrackers, whereupon they each immediately exploded in a tangle of vicious vegetation that took out several more adjacent Mage Hunters, thanks to Morvahna's feat, and provided forests that now blocked a good number of my forces from the Stormfall Archers' LOS.

Tim then activated, still smarting from his loss of focus for the turn, which meant he had nothing to allocate to his warjacks and couldn't upkeep the phantom hunter spell. Deciding as he usually does in such situations to go for a make-it-or-break-it maneuver, he set to his activations. I had thankfully prepared myself for the possibility he would try something like that.
   His first action was to charge several of the Stormfall Archers at the Warpborn Skinwalkers. While they passed the command check to enter melee, they were unable to do any damage to the now Armor 20 heavy infantry. The rest moved up and positioned themselves to attack when they could once the forests disappeared next round. The Mage Hunters activated, but failed to rally.
   Tim advanced the Griffon up to engage the Pureblood Warpwolf and connected with its shield, doing minimal damage to the warbeast. The Phoenix then activated and advanced to the side to get LOS on Morvahna, then fired its Halo Cannon at her. The attack connected, whereupon the Woldwatcher used its Shield Guard ability to leap in front of her and take the shot, suffering only minimal damage but catching fire by the blast.  Not to be dissuaded Kaelyssa moved up slightly and fired her runespear cannon at Morvahna and connected, whereupon Morv transferred the damage to the Gorax in her stead and activating its Pain Response. With that, Tim's actions were over.

Round 3:
Morvahna again leached fury, but I had too much. Rather than leave one point on the woldwatcher, I left a point on the Pureblood, reasoning it was likely to pass the threshold check. That would go against me as the Pureblood frenzied, whereupon it launched itself against the Griffon and proceeded to batter against its shield for little effect. I upkept Morvahna's spells and considered what to do next.
With the Pureblood therefore "out of commission" this turn, I considered my options before activating.  See an opening for an assassination run, I took it since I wasn't likely to get a better shot at Kaelyssa with her power field down and in range before her 'jack came after me next turn.
Morvahna advanced to put Kaelyssa within range, then cast Eruption of Life at the elf. I boosted to hit (and good thing I did, too), then debated whether to boost the damage before doing so. It was a gambit, as it would leave Morvahna without fury. The damage did a fair amount to Kaelyssa, but the Elf was still standing, and now I was within a good charge lane for the Phoenix and Griffon. With nothing else to lose, the woldwatcher, still ablaze, advanced to close the charge lane, then targeted Kaelyssa with its Elemental Blast. Again I boosted to hit, just making the roll, before boosting the damage.
Kaelyssa went down.

Conclusion:
Something of a bitter irony for Tim, having fallen victim to the exact ploy he had meant to use against me - and not even something I had known would occur. I had thought his own models were immune to Nayl's Arcane Annihilation death throe, but evidently not according to the wording of the effect. I'll admit that between that and the poor die rolls he got, the game turned against him pretty quickly. It just wasn't his game this night. I'm pretty sure from now on I'll never see Nayl anywhere near his caster again.

On my end, I'm very happy with just about all the models I fielded, even if the Wolves of Orboros did nothing this game besides advance in ranks. I've finally seemed to get the hang of the Warpborn Skinwalker, having now learned the hard way how to use them as intended, to tarpit enemy models rather than to really destroy them. Getting to use their Terror ability was an unexpected treat, though.  The bloodtrackers are even more fun when I can run them with little fear, knowing I can usually regrow the unit, regardless of how many get shot down.
Looking back, I also realize the Swamp Gobbers probably weren't that great a choice for this game, since Retribution, like many Cygnar gun-line lists, can gleefully ignore concealment effects and go right for the covered units, anyways. But for one measly point, they didn't ruin my list, either.

This game marks the first time I actually remembered the woldwatcher's Shield Guard ability, and planned on using it from the get-go. However, I'm a bit annoyed with myself for somehow all this time having overlooked the fact that Morvahna has Sacrifical Pawn. D'oh! Next time, I plan on trying to get her into the thick of things and see if I can have her cut loose with her Harvest spell.

I think I may try running Morvahna a little more often to get a better hang of her, though I'm bound to come across an anti-upkeep list that'll make short work of my forces soon enough. Still, she makes for one nasty caster...

Battle Report: eKaya vs. Kara Sloan

 The Lists (30 pts.):

Kaya the Moonhunter Laris Feral Warpwolf Pureblood Warpwolf Warpwolf Stalker Tharn Bloodtrackers	Captain Kara Sloan Triumph Charger Hunter The Black 13th Strike Team Major Katherine Laddermore Stormguards

Initial Thoughts:
Having played Jeff's Cygnar once before (and having had Kaya's battlegroup blown to smithereens that last time), I had a rough idea of what I would be facing. That said, I opted to play a list I thought would be fun,  deliberately trying to make certain I did not build a list to specifically counter him (I gave him the option of facing Kaya or Baldur - he didn't care which). I remembered from last time that I would have to run my models more aggressively instead of trying to hang back and try my usual hit-and-run tactics if I was to avoid absolute defeat... it only got me killed in bits and chunks last time. I debated whether to use the Bloodtrackers or a Blackclad Wayfarer and Shifting Stones + Stone Keeper.  While the latter seemed better focused to do what I wanted, I really wanted to run an offensive unit since I hadn't for the last few games I'd played... I just wasn't sure the Tharn would last long enough to be of any use - lately they seemed to act mostly as cannon fodder. Throwing caution to the wind, I took the "Chicks With Sticks" anyways, figuring they had an above-average Defense that should mean roughly a 50/50 survival rate and besides... I just find them fun to use. So I set to overriding my usual mindset of semi-defensive play and prepared to adopt an offensive style that would mean charging Jeff's gunlines so he'd only be able to get off a single volley, maybe two... I reckoned the Warpwolves were resilient enough to be able to take it to the face and survive to dish it out in return.
The Stormguards and Katherine were a slight surprise to see in his list... I'd soon see how I did.

This was a completely casual game, so we took a long time debating our choices and actions, there were a few takebacks, and I asked another player who stopped to watch to please refrain from giving me his possible tactical advice. Overall, it made for a very interesting (and fun!) game, with the tide of battle shifting back-and-forth several times. By the game's end, I no longer cared if I won or lost - at least I'd had a good time! 


Deployment:
Jeff won the roll and opted to take first deployment. Arrayed on the field were a hill in the center, two forests on both my sides of the board, and some ruins on either side of the table, one near the middle, the other just within Jeff's deployment zone to my left.
Jeff deployed his stormguards to my left, Kara and her 'Jacks in the center, and Katherine and the Black 13th on my right.
I deployed Kaya and my beasts in my center: Pureblood,  then Kaya, the Feral and Laris B2B, then the Stalker a tad off to the side.

Jeff AD'ed his Hunter to my far right in support of the Black 13th, and I placed my Bloodtrackers to my left near the forest and declared his stormguards to be their prey.


Round 1:
Jeff ran the Stormguards forward, advanced his 'jacks, Katherine, the Black 13th (with the Hunter hanging back behind them), and ran Kara as far forward as possible, getting her to the top of the far side of the hill for an excellent vantage point of the battlefield.

In response my Bloodtrackers ran into the forest to come out on the edge of the far side, hanging back in concealment and out of the Stormguards' charge range. The Stalker warped for Prowl, then ran forward into the forest on the other side, coming out on the edge so he had LOS, but stealth thanks to the forest.
Laris ran to the same forest, taking cover within the forest edge and behind a boulder. Kaya cast Shadow Pack, then cast Forced Evolution on the Feral Warpwolf, and used the last of her fury to Spirit Shift herself next to Laris and behind the cover of the boulder.
The Pureblood warped for Spell Ward and the Feral warped for Armor Spikes, and together both rushed the hill at a run, getting just to the edge so they had some cover behind it. I planned on making the Feral a target since it would be hard to hit, while I hoped to get the Pureblood into a perfect death howl position on the Stormguards, and if I was lucky, Kara.

Round 2:
Kara cast Refuge on herself. Taking aim at the Pureblood, she fired her magelock rifle and scored a nasty hit on the warpwolf, whereupon refuge activated and she raced off the hill and behind Triumph. Triumph aimed, negated the Pureblood's stealth from Shadow Pack and opened fire with a boosted attack, also striking the unfortunate warbeast. Katherine then charged forward, up over the hill, and unleashed a voltaic blast from her lance's accelerator into the Pureblood before finishing him off with her assault with her voltaic lance. Scratch one Pureblood.
The Black 13th advanced again. Lynch fired his beacon flare at the Stalker, illuminating the beast and negating his stealth. Ryan and Watts opened fire with their weapons set for Brutal Damage. One shot hit the Stalker, doing decent damage to him. The Hunter then charged and engaged the Stalker, but failed to hit.
The Stormguards, realizing they were likely to be within range of a gang of angry warrior-women, skirted from the left side to the middle to act as a barrier between my forces and Kara.

Kaya activated, upkept her two spells, then cast Lightning Strike via Laris on both the Feral Warpwolf and the Stalker. The Stalker then activated and proceeded to tear the Hunter to pieces with its great sword and claws. The 'jack finished, the Stalker leaped forward straight into the midst of the Black 13th via sprint.
The Feral, meanwhile, looked to avenge its fallen packmate. Skirting to the left side of Katherine, making certain to leave a clear charge lane for the Bloodtrackers if necessary, the Feral maintained its armor spikes and proceeded to rip Laddermore's mount to bloody gobbets. Katherine dismounted just out of range of the Feral's claws and bite.  Laris took the advantage to charge forward and bring Katherine down to 1 health box... dammit, so close! He then Spirit Shifted back to Kaya.
With nothing left to do, the Bloodtrackers advanced. One attacked Katherine and finished the dragoon off. The others were just within range to lob several spears at the Stormguard. Two men fell to the Tharn javelins. So far, I felt the exchange had worked somewhat in my favor, despite the loss of my Pureblood. But now I was worried what would come next...

Round 3:
Kara upkept refuge and distributed focus. Then she activated her feat, Firing Squad, and attacked. Boosted ranged attack rolls all-around. Ouch. A well-aimed shot from her rifle, Spitfire, tagged the Feral up on the hill and did significant damage. Triumph took the granted attack from her hit, but automatically missed due to Shadow Pack. The Charger moved up onto the hill and opened fire on the Feral, also landing another hit and wiping out the Warpwolf's Spirit spiral. Uh-oh. Triumph missed on the second granted attack as well (thank you, Stealth). Then the warjack activated, aimed, and fired... and thankfully, missed.  The Stormguards charged up the hill and engaged the Bloodtrackers. The Bloodtracker leader died in the attack, as did a second. The Stormguard leader fired a voltaic blast from his sword that thankfully missed the grouping of bloodtrackers and deviated off to the side, missing completely.
The Black 13th maneuvered to place all of them within Kara's control range and opened fire on the Stalker... somehow, I'd forgotten all 3 members had gunfighter. D'oh... With all weapons set for Brutal Damage, Ryan's shot hit, Lynch's hit but failed to penetrate the armor, and Watts connected with only one of her two pistols. The damage was still pretty bad on the Stalker, with his Body Spiral gone and other damage scattered over him. But... he was still alive!

My turn now came, and now the issue of too much fury came into play. Kaya leached all the fury from the two warpwolves, but left 1 pt on Laris, figuring he was least likely to frenzy... whereupon the dice gods decided to go for a laugh and I blew the threshold check by one lousy point. Laris frenzied and rushed the Feral, taking a good-sized bite out of the warpwolf's haunches. Damn!
Kaya upkept her two spells, then had to consider how this was going to work...
The Stalker activated, regenerated his body spiral, warped for Berserk and attacked the Black 13th. The result was brutal. The initial strike killed Watts, then moved onto Lynch, killed him, then got a third attack that missed Ryan. The rest of the initial attacks missed the surviving member of the team, and I opted not to run the Stalker hot for fear of another frenzy the following turn.
Kaya activated, and proceeded to heal the Feral and the Stalker, 2 pts. apiece, restoring the Feral's Spirit spiral. The Feral activated, regenerated more of his own damage, and I took stock of the situation.... I wanted the Charger dead, but the Stormguards were an immediate threat to my Bloodtrackers. I went for broke, The Feral warped for Strength, then leapt at the Charger, seized the warjack in both hands, and flung it at the three nearest Stormguards. All three were crushed under several tons of metal, and the Charger fell to the ground. The Bloodtrackers activated, killed the remaining Stormguard, changed the prey to the fallen Charger and one charged it, ramming her spear into the innards and doing some minimal damage.  It was getting close, now.

Round 4:
Kara let go of refuge. After taking some time to determine his actions, Jeff activated his forces. The Charger climbed to its feet. Ryan attacked the Stalker and winged him with a Brutal Shot for two damage, reversing the healing Kaya had promoted. Then Kara activated, took aim, and with a single boosted shot of her magelock rifle, put a final boosted spell-scribed shell in the warpwolf stalker's head, killing him. Jeff debated whether to have Triumph slam the Feral or not, before finally firing again on the Feral and injured him instead, but not enough to down the wolf... just make him very close to dead, with ruined Body and Spirit spirals...
The Charger advanced and attacked the nearest Bloodtracker. A backhanded swipe of its hammer easily killed her.

Kaya upkept her two spells. The surviving Bloodtrackers then activated. Out of the Charger's reach, they advanced as far forward as they could, targeting Kara and throwing their javelins. One managed a lucky strike and struck home for seven points.

Laris ran forward, around the hill. Kaya activated, moved up and out into the open, in clear view of Ryan. She healed the Feral's damage Spirit spiral, then channeled a Dogpile on Triumph, but missed by one point. Knowing that if this failed I probably wouldn't get a second chance, Kaya still held onto her last fury point for a transfer that might save her life if she needed it, but I hoped I wouldn't. Measuring Kaya's control range indicated Triumph was just within reach of the Feral's charge range...
The Feral activated, regenerated his damaged body spiral so he was running 'at full capability,' and going for broke, kept his warp for Strength and declared a slam on Triumph. Rushing forward he boosted his slam, and rammed full-tilt into the warjack, sending it flying backwards and right into Kara...
...Doing EXACTLY enough damage to finish her off with the collateral damage.

Whew!

Conclusion:
It was a long game since we were taking our time, but damn, it was fun. Jeff played very well, and it got iffy as to who was gonna survive, especially as he started doing lots of damage to my warpwolves. The Bloodtrackers pleasantly surprised me, which they seem to do whenever I seem to think it's a mistake taking them.
Off-hand, I don't think either of us made any real mistakes. Shadow Pack saved my rear several times, despite Jeff's ability to counter it since he generally had to stand still to get the benefit, which allowed me to continue to advance. Forced Evolution, Armor Spikes, and the hill made my Feral Warpwolf one tough cookie, which saved him just long enough to get the finishing slam. Jeff managed to still do a lot of damage, and had a couple rolls shifted in his favor, I would've very likely lost.

I have to admit that I really enjoy games like these. The outcome is always in doubt, and it doesn't feel like you made some sort of rookie mistake that results in you getting wiped out on the second turn. If the new Unbound rules promote this sort of feeling even more, then I can't wait for a chance to eventually try it.
Next week, a 50 pt. game against Tim...

Paint Log - 4/18/11

Been working on some things off-and-on. Haven't had a lot of time to paint lately.

What I have been working on predominantly is my new Gnarlhorn Satyr. As of today he's probably about 50% through. Some earlier WIP pics below.

Completely finished Dannon Blythe for Tim a little earlier today. Very happy with how she came out. Posted her pics a little earlier.

Purchased Megalith for the tournament. I just have to make sure he's assembled in time to field him... unfortunately, I don't want to field him until I can repose him. I absolutely love his artwork, but his sculpted pose just drives me nuts.  I really want to repose him such that he conveys the sheer power he's supposed to have. I found a really good thread on the PP site today of someone who had done a really nice and fairy simple repose. I plan on stealing (ahem, borrowing, as my old art teacher used to put it) their idea wholesale... the only problem is that I don't have the proper tools to make the cuts I need - specifically, a jeweler's saw (and a vice probably wouldn't hurt, either). Hopefully I can find one this week.

That's all for the moment.

Gnarlhorn Satyr WIPs:

PICS: Dannon Blythe

This figure was the second figure I offered to paint for Tim as thanks for his pinning work.  When he first handed me Dannon Blythe, she was a mess of black and white... I really had no idea how she'd turn out. I also knew that the original artwork for Dannon (and her companion, Bull) was one of the inspirations that drew Tim into the game, so I wanted to make certain she came out looking as best as I could make her. Her colors are a blend between the studio colors and the original artwork, leaning more heavily towards the studio scheme. Tim requested that Dannon not have bright colors on her, so I tried to keep my palate in more muted tones as possible.

Dannon also presented me with my first chance to try out the new detail brush I purchased... I will honestl y say that without it, there's no way I could have done the detail on her face and gunbelt with out it.

Paint Log - 3/28/11

So... there's some painting I've meaning to add here but forgot to... whoops.

So, Laris - still not done. He's looking pretty great, but not quite there yet. I love how his cork "stone" base has come out - Tim's suggestion to use pliers to rip the pieces off came out great - much better than simply cutting them with an x-acto blade. The Druids of Orboros have come along, as has Morvahna and Morraig, but they're still in limbo.

I decided for a change to work on some of Julia's Khador over the weekend, so I pulled out her Devastator and got to work on it. Actually, I pretty much had to start the entire paint job over from scratch, since I wanted the red armor to now match the "official" color scheme I've created for her army. And speaking of scratches...

I found some tutorials online for painting battle-damage and decided this was the perfect 'jack to try them out on. I used the dipped piece of foam sponge method first, but the results were disappointing. Clearly, I'm doing something wrong with it. However, the "scratches" I painted on the armor came out fantastic - from the right angle, they really DO look like gouges and the like. Since the Behemoth isn't entirely finished, I'm thinking of adding a few more scratches and gouges to his paint job to "batter him up" a bit.

There was ONE small snafu during the whole process... somehow, and I have yet to still figure out how I did this... I managed to get a giant glob of silver paint on the finished right arm that then dried over a bunch of the details. I wasn't able to wash it off, but a toothpick allowed me to scrape it off enough so that it didn't obscure the details and I was able to paint back over it. Salvaged, but frustrating.

I also used the opportunity to break out the brand-new fine detail brush that Julia convinced me to buy and decided to use it to help paint her Winter Guard Officer. While not finished, much of the work is done, and dear god, what a difference that brush makes! I was able to paint the eyes, lips, eyebrows, medals, and wood grain on the rifle stock without any trouble.  In fact, I'm almost scared to use the brush, for fear of ruining it and having to find a replacement... I can't wait to post up some pictures of the Officer.

Last night I went ahead and did some more work, this time almost exclusively on Dannon Blythe. This figure is Tim's, the second of two I offered to paint as payment and thanks for the pinning work he did for me (the first was Gerlak Slaughterborn). Tim requested that the colors on Dannon not be bright, her hair be red, and that I could follow the studio scheme/artwork for Blythe if I wanted to. Taking a look at both, I decided I would. It looks like Tim had tried doing some very basic work on her already, and unfortunately the paint on her had obliterated some of the details in her hair and I worried that possibly her face, too. Thankfully the latter wasn't the case, and I was able to paint over the initial work that had already been done, such that it no longer looks like it was there.

Again the fine detail brush came into play, helping to pick out the details on Dannon's face, her eyes, lips, eyeshadow, hair and assorted buckles. I'm quite proud of her so far, overall. While I love the face, the colors still don't quite match the studio's scheme, and I'm trying to make myself ignore that. I almost ruined the face by going back in and reworking parts of it after I finished it. But so far, she's looking quite good. I'll have to take some snapshots of her. I'll be showing her to Tim tonight to get his opinion on her so far.

PICS: The Behemoth!

As promised, here he is, in all his massive glory!

In truth, he's not 100% finished - there are still a few very minor details to paint (rivets, and the like), and he still needs to be bullet-coated, but otherwise, he's pretty much finished.




So here's a nice head-on shot... probably a view no enemy wants to see!

I'm rather happy that I got the glow in the eyes to come out as I'd hoped, too.

I'm thrilled with how his custom base came out - a Large Cygnar wreck marker with modifications. The inside joke behind it is because one of our friends who got us into this game plays Cygnar... originally, the wrecked jack was to be painted in the colors of his army...

Also, a big thanks to Tim, the Press Ganger at my LFGS who was kind enough to offer his suggestions for how to pose this monster.

I'm proud of the fact that I was actually able to get the glow painted in his furnace, in addition to the boiler gauge painted properly.

The battle-damage came out looking much better than anticipated, as well. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I may just add a few more dents and dings to his paint, but I'll save the majority of it for Julia's Devastator.

Paint Log, 3/18/11

Currently working on the Druids of Orboros, Morvahna the Autumnblade, and Laris.

I'm currently at that stage where Laris is about 2/3rds finished, but I'm hesitant to keep working on him for fear of messing up what I've already done...
I'm also shamelessly stealing some ideas from this individual - I really like their bases.

Completely re-did Morvahna's face yesterday - it looks much, much better.  Softened up the shading on her face, it looks much smoother, now. Added some eyeshadow and redid her lips, too - even managed to give her green eyes.  She's getting there, slowly.

The druids look pretty nice, overall. While not up to top-notch standards, they still maintain enough detail to please me. I think the dark-green cloaks and their gold armor really makes them stand out nicely. I'm still rather happy to have used the muted dark green and black for their cloaks instead of a deep, dark blue. They still fit their "blackclad" moniker, but they blend into their forest surroundings better, I think...

Alright... back to Laris, see if I can't get him almost finished.

Druids of Orboros - Paint Scheme

Took me forever to remember where I saw this.  Back on the Privateer Press forums I found a really nice paint scheme for the Druids of Orboros that used green undertones instead of blue undertones for their blackclad robes. Only, I couldn't remember the colors used.  I finally found the guy's post, so here's how he painted their robes so I don't forget how to do it yet again...


Base Coat: Thamar Black
Highlight: Battledress Green
Trim (optional): Moldy Ochre

3/4/11 Work - Behold, the Big B!

I've actually been painting just about every night this week in preparation for the Highlander tournament tomorrow noon. Since Julia is going to be partaking, and she has chosen the Behemoth to be her "heavy warjack" (since it's about as heavy as Khador gets, really...) I've been working my ass off to get the thing assembled and painted.

And ho, it's finally done! Well, mostly - there are still a few very minor details to paint, like various rivets, touch-ups, etc. But I'll wait until after the tournament to do all that. I wish I had time to get the thing sealed before the tournament, but it's not to be, so it'll have to do for now. It still looks impressive, so I'll have to get some pictures of the thing when I get the chance.

About the only thing I'm not happy about with it is the pose - if I could, I'd redo his legs to pose him a little more upright instead of slightly crouched over. It would help give him a little bit of extra height that I think the model desperately needs, since this IS supposed to be the biggest warjack in the entire game. But given all the work and modifications that went into making the wreck marker base he's on work, I'll be happy with how he turned out and file it away for any future modifications I do for any other figure.

Finished Julia's Kodiak yesterday, so he's ready to join the Behemoth on the battlefield tomorrow.

Currently I'm also working on Krueger the Stormwrath, since he's been sitting around mostly painted for some time, but not finished. Time to rectify that, if I can for tomorrow's tournament. I'll see about also getting some dabs of paint on my unit of druids, too.

The wash on Krueger should be dry now, so back to the painting table...

Battle Report: Baldur vs. pSeverius

 The scream of the Deliverers' rockets had died down, replaced instead with the screams of the Deliverers themselves as the Pureblood's death howl tore through them, joined by the blast of stone shards from the hands of the blackclad, leaving only tattered cloth and flesh in their wake.  Thick, black smoke drifted across the battlefield, the burning remains of a Sunburst ballista, blasted to pieces by the woldwyrd's arcane energy.
Off to Baldur's distant left, he could see Morraig's flanking charge had failed... the druid could not tell if the Wolf Lord still yet lived. But Morraig's charge had distracted the enemy long enough to let Baldur advance his forces. The woldwatcher was in dire shape, having suffered the brunt of the Menite attacks. The tenacious wold still advanced alongside the ponderous steps of its larger cousin, the woldwarden whose footfalls shook the ground as it strode past Baldur, an extension of his will.
From somewhere ahead the Grand Scrutator still directed his forces, and Baldur frowned as the Menite warjacks reformed, massing for the charge as the wolds moved to meet them. From the hills the Avatar of Menoth strode, ready to engage in battle.  A long, tough fight still loomed as Baldur called upon the power of the earth, fracturing and splitting it before him, sending it shuddering in all directions...

My first 50-point game... it was impressive, to say the least. Unfortunately, there was nowhere near enough time to finish it. I'd say we got about halfway through.  While my opponent was of the firm belief that I "won" the match, I don't think so - I'd say that though I had made some impressive gains, the game was nowhere near finished at the point when we had to end for the night - I still firmly believe it could've still swung either way, especially with a powerhouse like the Avatar of Menoth still on the board and ready to fight.

The Lists:

Baldur the Stonecleaver Feral Warpwolf Pureblood Warpwolf Woldwarden Woldwatcher Woldwyrd Druids of Orboros + Druid Overseer Shifting Stones + Stone Keeper Blackclad Wayfarer Wolf Lord Morraig

Grand Scrutator Severius Avatar of Menoth Reckoner Blessing of Vengeance Redeemer Deliverers (full unit) Deliverer Sunburst Crew x2 Choir of Menoth Covenant of Menoth Vassal of Menoth Protectorate Vassal Mechanik Gorman di Wolfe The Wrack

Initial Thoughts:
So, it was Schno's suggestion that perhaps I field Baldur, since he knew Baldur would be the biggest counter to his forces with his Solid Ground spell and he wanted to see how well he coped against it. Initially I had thought I might field Krueger (since he does enjoy frying himself some Menites), but if Schno was willing to try taking on Baldur, then I was game. Schno's army was planned around AOEs... LOTS of them. Baldur's ability to negate blast damage would be a huge counter to that.
The druids and the overseer were a must-take as well: Since it was Menoth, I was expecting to see infantry - lots of them - and given Menoth's propensity for setting things alight (namely, heretics, i.e., everyone else in the world), so anything that could shield my troops, drop my own AOE in return, AND get immunity to fire was a must-have. I expected to see the Avatar, it was a no-brainer, so I was planning on having my druids once again see if they could push/pull targets into optimum positions to hamper it.
For the warbeasts, the constructs were a given with Baldur, and I was itching to try out my woldwatcher - this seemed like the place to do it. Woldwyrd would have the advantage against the upkeep spells the Protectorate so loves, and the warpwolves were there to wreck face and take names; Feral for the big targets, Pureblood more for infantry and his ghostly warp.
Shifting Stones were there to provide healing and mobility, the Blackclad was another anti-infantry/fire immune/and beast-helping solo, and Morraig is, well, Morraig. A fast, hard-hitting and 15 hit point solo is always worth it.
So the plan going in... wipe out the infantry and hit the support units. Without his support units, I should have a much simpler time (I hate the Menoth support units with a burning passion that rivals Krueger's).
...Easier said than done, right?

The Battle:
So, I've learned that it generally works better for Circle to go first, so I opted for that. Most of my forces were set up in the middle, with ruins for cover to the left and right.  Morraig was deployed to my far left for a flank. The rest waited for advance deployment.
Schno placed his army's jacks in the front and center, with the deliverer's off to my right, one sunburst almost dead ahead, the other to my left on the hilltop. The supporting units and warcaster were, once again, firmly behind everything where I couldn't easily get to them. Not surprising.
For the AD, the Druids were put forward to screen everyone, and on a whim, I placed the woldwatcher as far forward and angled towards the deliverers - I was going to try and see if I could distract Schno and keep his attentions focused on the light warbeast instead of my other forces.

Since I cannot remember the full sequence of events, I'll try and give the highlights for each round, as best I can recall.

Round 1:
Advance! Morraig ran forward, using the ruins for cover - his objective was to try and take out the left-hand Sunburst. The druids advanced and immediately threw up counter magic, elemental immunity, and cloud effects. Baldur cast Solid Ground and Rapid Growth for additional protection while placing a Stone Skin on the Woldwatcher for added durability. The warpwolves and wolds advanced under the cover of the clouds.  The woldwatcher put itself front and center and took on Stone Form - for ARM 23! Not bad for just a light! The Shifting Stones teleported the Woldwarden forward and the Blackclad shifted to the right for additional flanking.

Schno then went, throwing up his assorted benefits on his warjacks and advancing... Severius cast Vision on the Blessing of Vengeance and put up Eye of Menoth whereupon he took the bait and opened fire on the Woldwatcher, realizing he couldn't hit my other models. The Deliverers, Redeemer, Reckoner, and Sunburst crews all attacked... and when the smoke cleared, the little guy was beaten and battered and naturally, on fire... but still standing! Morraig took a five boxes of damage from a lucky pot-shot by the other Sunburst crew, but the Wolf Lord wasn't down yet. The Avatar advanced towards Morraig in case I opted to run him around the ruins and at his Choir and Covenant, but stayed at enough of an angle that I couldn't get a charge on him... not that I was going to try for that! The Avatar tried to hit Morraig with the Eye of Menoth, but was just a half-inch out of range, lucky for me.


Round 2: 
The woldwatcher continued to burn as the Stone Keeper moved forward and repaired some of the cracks and damage, restoring its damaged Mind spiral. The Woldwyrd advanced and fired on the Blessing of Vengeance, stripping away the Vision spell, but unable to damage the jack otherwise. However, the warpwolves went next, ghostly warped into the ruins and took cover, and the Pureblood got off a howl at the Blessing of Vengeance... wrecking its repulsor shield now that its defensive spell had been stripped away.  The woldwarden advanced and laid down a forest alongside the druids who advanced and did the same as they had the previous turn, shielding the majority of the forces. The Blackclad ran for a forest on the right, staying out of Deliverer range.
The woldwatcher, meanwhile, advanced and fired an elemental burst at the Deliverers, catching three of them, The lead deliverer died and burst into a forest, as did the second, providing my forces with yet more concealment before the wold again took on its Stone Form. Baldur maintained his upkeeps and advanced.  Morraig, however, broke for the hill at a run, skirting past the Avatar of Menoth and coming up behind the hill and right on top of the Sunburst crew, placing them into melee and preventing them from firing next turn.
On Schno's turn Gorman Di Wolfe rushed up to help the Deliverer crew and the Avatar stayed put, uncertain of where to go. The Deliverers had to advance past the forest that was once their companion and half fired once again on the woldwatcher, joined by the other Sunburst crew... and yet again, the little guy refused to fall despite the beating. The Blackclad ran for the forest, seeking cover behind a boulder as he prepared to get into range....

Rounds 3 & 4:
Memory's a little fuzzy here...
Morraig swung at the Sunburst crew, hoping to whittle them down, but no luck - he whiffed on the attack. Gorman Di Wulfe arrived moments later and blinded him with a Smoke Bomb. With his Defense reduced, the Wolf Lord was an easy target for the Avatar of Menoth as it charged up the hill to finish him off.
Half of the Deliverers fired on the Blackclad, who was saved by his cover while the rest fired, and missed, at their intended targets.

The Vassal Mechanik appeared to repair the damaged Blessing of Vengeance, getting its shield back up and active. The Covenant of Menoth along with the Choir meant my Druids of Orboros couldn't get close enough to use their Force bolts, since they prevented me from using my spells on much of his army.
Meanwhile, the Pureblood used its Ghostly warp to pop out from the ruins and issue a death howl at the unit of Deliverers, who fared very poorly against the attack. What was left was nearly mopped up to a man by the Blackclad who advanced and stone sprayed down the survivors.
The Shifting Stones healed the Woldwatcher again. Together, it and the Woldwarden advanced to shield the  and Baldur by placing themselves in the charge lanes of the Menite 'jacks. The druids parted to let the constructs through while placing themselves into position where they could hopefully be out of the Covenant's range next turn to be able to use their force bolt spells.
The Woldwyrd meanwhile opened fire on the Sunburst ballista dead ahead and scored with all three hits, eliminating the crew and the weapon. The Feral Warpwolf ghostly warped as well, placing itself in a counter-charge position to hammer any Menite 'jack that attempted to charge the Woldwarden the next round.

Finally, Baldur popped his feat to make things tougher for the Menites to handle by limiting their charge ranges and ability to launch ranged attacks...

At this point the store was closing, so the game had to end.

Final Thoughts:
This was a fun game, and I wish we could've seen it through to the end, but we didn't have the two hours we likely would've needed. I evidently demoralized Schno, who seemed pretty convinced that he couldn't penetrate the Baldur/Druids shield I had going and therefore wasn't going to win. To be honest, as I originally stated, I don't think that was the case. I may've crippled his AOE-producing capacity, but he was far from helpless, and I've had one too many games swing wildly in the end such that the "loser" suddenly pulled a win out of his hat... so I have no illusions; With the rest of his forces he could've still soundly beaten me, especially given that he still had all his jacks in almost perfect fighting condition and along with all his support units. For some reason, I still have trouble getting at Menite support units, which should make my job a lot easier.
I'd like to try out some more 50-pt games at some point. When we have enough time to finish them.

PICS: Stone Keeper

Circle Orboros Stone Keeper, Shifting Stones Unit Attachment.

This guy took a while until I finally deemed him "fully complete" the other night, adding the final touch with his glowing eyes.  I'm extremely pleased with how his base turned out, since I wanted to reference his "Stone Hammer" AOE ability. It took some doing and several attempts, but I think it really shows him off wonderfully.  That, and the gem in the center of his chest worked out great, by following the studio photographs.

PICS: Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Prince of Umbrey

Finished photos of Vlad.  He's one of Julia's warcasters, since she really likes the pairing of Vlad and Sorscha in the lore.  That, and she really likes Vlad's abilities in-game... Blood of Kings, anyone?

Khador Red Recipe

Paint Scheme: KHADOR RED
I think I've finally settled on what will be my "official" set of red colors for Julia's Khador forces. While the one detailed in her FoW: Khador book is nice, I think it's a little too bright (and very time consuming). Color scheme is as follows:

1) Base coat of GW Foundation: Mechrite Red.
2) Lighten with GW Red Gore + Mixing Medium.
3) Lighten further with PP Khador Red Base + Mixing Medium.
4) Highlight with PP Khador Red Base + Khador Red Highlight + Mixing Medium.
5) Extreme highlights should be done with Khador Red Highlight. Glaze with Red Ink if necessary.

An additional step using GW Blood Red + Mixing Medium can be used between steps 2 & 3, but likely isn't needed.

Multiple thin coats will be necessary with each step to blend properly. For deep shading, PP Sanguine Red should do nicely, possibly with a slight touch of PP Exile Blue or Umbral Umber, depending on look.

2/26/11 Work

Worked on the following last night:

• Wolf Lord Morraig
• Touched up cape, washed fur trim.
• Behemoth
• Upper chassis & head. Red all painted, some bronze base coat on smokestacks.
• Cygnar Wreck Marker (Behemoth's custom base)
• Blue & bronze base coats.
• Laris
• First of grey washes (Cryx Bane Highlight) used for fur shading.

2/23/11 Work

Tonight's work:

Kayazy Assassins
Kayazy Underboss
- Touched up faces, flesh. 
- Painted tunics
- Base coated cloak & pants on one grunt

Wolf Lord Morraig (mounted and dismounted versions)
- Finished hair
- Base coated armor

Battle Reports: eKaya vs. eMorghoul / pKrueger vs. Gorten

Battle Report 1: Kaya the Moonhunter vs. Lord Assassin Morghoul - 15 pts.

Morghoul hissed in fury as he swiped Mercy at the Argus, forcing the two-headed canine to abandon its twin bites to his leg and torso. He ignored his bleeding wounds and danced back from the quivering, eviscerated corpse of the Feral Warpwolf he had slain only moments earlier, then turned at the sound of a raw howl in time to see massive white wolf lope towards him, coming in low. A split-second later the wolf's howl was answered by a massive roar as the Bronzeback Titan charged forward with the mass of a steam-powered train to intercept the wolf in a bone-shattered blow that threw the beast to the ground, its howl turning to a high yelp of agony as bones broke under the impact. Morghoul flicked back Mercy in anticipation of delivering the finishing stroke when a female voice broke from behind him.
"NO ONE harms my companion!" The skorne assassin's head twisted in surprise - the young human female had not been there moments before, she had simply materialized. Caught off-guard, Morghoul attempted to parry, but the young woman's spear flashed quicker than expected to stab deep into his gut...

The Lists:

Kaya the Moonhunter Laris Feral Warpwolf Argus Tharn Bloodtrackers

Lord Assassin Morghoul Bronzeback Titan Cyclops Savage Cataphract Arcuarii

Initial Thoughts:
First time playing against Skorne. I had anticipated a much tougher victory, but some good tactics, backed up by some lucky rolls, swung things in my favor to give me the victory.  I also think my opponent was a tad overconfident (this same player was originally to be part of our current D&D group, but he was dropped partially on account of all the other players got sick and tired of him espousing all the other awesome things he had done in previous games...). He was playing with one of the heaviest non-character warbeasts in the game, and one hell of a nasty combat-caster, and he was counting on both to win him the game.  I had heard of how nasty Morghoul could be, but I had yet to experience it for myself - until he charged my undamaged Feral and proceeded to turn it into little bloody ribbons.  I also had some serious doubts about the Bloodtrackers' ability to deal with the Arcuarii, but they did surprisingly well. That said, my victory almost didn't make it, as the Bronzeback that almost ended my chances before I got there - countercharge placed Laris at exactly 1 remaining life box... but that was just enough to let me get Kaya into place.

Breakdown:
Kaya - Did decently well. Arced Muzzle through Laris to prevent the Bronzeback from moving up to engage my forces or use countercharge initially against the Feral. At game's end she used Laris' animus to teleport into flanking position behind Morghoul for the winning assassination run.

Laris - Mostly used as a "Bark node." Nearly died when setting up the assassination run due to being countercharged by the Bronzeback down to 1 hit point.

Feral Warpwolf - Ripped the Cyclops Savage to smithereens. Died to Morghoul.

Argus - Used the Doppler bark to paralyze several Arcuarii, but that didn't do much. However, scored a boosted Combo Bite on Morghoul just before Kaya went after him and finished him off.

Tharn Bloodtrackers - Tied up the Arcuarii. I didn't expect them to do well when he surprised me by running his Arcuarii up to engage them before I could use my javelins, since their clawed bucklers aren't too impressive. Instead, some really good rolls saw them take down the heavy infantry and suffer only modest losses in return.

Conclusion:
I definitely did not expect Morghoul to be THAT effective in combat. I now wonder if perhaps I should run Kaya a little more aggressively - having her and Laris flank a target should likely see that target destroyed. I think my opponent had a good idea to run very aggressively - I certainly didn't expect him to be engaging my troops that quickly, and I definitely did not expect to see his warlock charge (and kill!) my heavy. However, I had the right idea of how to initially deal with his Bronzeback... by NOT engaging something that big directly. Muzzle meant that for all its scary presence it couldn't do anything, which led him having to bringing Morghoul up to the front ranks and into range of my other beasts. So... maybe some more aggression from me, and maybe a little less from my opponent. ;)

Battle Report 2: Krueger the Stormwrath vs. Gorten Grundback

Krueger settled to the earth at the edge of the forest as he released the wind's hold keeping him aloft.  To the west, the Wolf Lord and his mount were busy finishing up the noisy gun 'jack while to the east the gorax fell upon the dwarven shield wall in a savage fury, tearing it to pieces and hurtling startled dwarves about in its mindless wrath. At his mental command, the feral warpwolf loped forward from the remains of the other 'jack, now a collection of scrap metal. Krueger scanned the area, looking for the enemy caster. Just as his eyes alighted on the dwarf, the ground suddenly gave a mighty heave, pitching and swelling as boulders and other rocks rolled and jumped along, carrying Krueger into the open. As he climbed back to his feet in surprise, he felt the fire of the first slug rip through his armor and into his side. Before he could transfer the injury, two more gunshots rang out, and Krueger slumped to the ground...

The Lists:

Krueger the Stormwrath Feral Warpwolf Gorax Druids of Orboros Druid Overseer Wolf Lord Morraig

Gorten Grundback Ghordson Basher Grundback Gunner Hammerfall High Shield Gun Corp Hammerfall High Shield Officer & Standard Bearer Thor Steinhammer

Initial Thoughts:
Quick friendly game with Tim, with both of us testing out lists for the Highlander Tournament on Mar. 5th. Mostly a test-bed to see if either of our ideas had any merit. While I did surprisingly well with my list, I ultimately lost due entirely to carelessness on my part. However, after gauging his performance, Tim has decided not to run this list at the tournament.

Breakdown:

Krueger - Did what he does best... fries infantry. His feat took out a fair number of High Shields. Between him, the Druids, and the Gorax, the dwarves' resolve broke and then went running. Krueger's Wind Wall helped shield my models, some. Died to a combination of Gorten's feat (which pulled him into the open) and gunfire (more on that below).

Feral Warpwolf - Took out the Ghordson Basher.

Gorax - Acted as fury battery and a dwarf-muncher. Used his Primal animus to make certain he broke through the High Shields' high armor and sent them running. Poised to go after Gorten next.

Druids of Orboros / Druid Overseer- First screened the advance with their vortexes, then used force bolts to pull the High Shields formation apart and twice drop the Devouring on them.

Wolf Lord Morraig - Came in on the flank at top speed. Killed Thor (who was 'jack marshaling the Gunner) and damaged the Grundback Gunner. Would likely have taken the 'jack out if Krueger hadn't died.

Conclusion:
While I'm impressed with how the list did, and even moreso that I seem to have finally found some reliable ways of peeling apart dwarven formations, I lost due to one careless mistake... I didn't pay attention to my stats. Specifically, I had initially left a point of Fury on Krueger for transfers, then realized my beasts were at full Fury so I wouldn't be able to transfer, anyways. So I ditched the fury.
...Only, I forgot the gorax can hold up to 4 Fury, and he was only at 3. So had I kept the Fury, I could've easily transferred the damage from Gorten's first shot to the gorax and survived the second, then wiped out his caster next turn.
Overall, though, I think the list is strong enough to work for the tournament, so it should be fun.

PICS: Kaya the Moonhunter

Circle Orboros Epic Warlock, Kaya the Moonhunter.

Still need to paint her wolf companion, Laris.
Kaya is probably my most favorite character in all of Hordes, thus far. The symbols on her base represent her front-arc - they're based off the artwork for the Circle Orboros arcane runes.

Julia's Khador - Ice Front Arc

Finally was able to get the front arcs on Julia's Khador models painted as I had initially envisioned.

Paint "recipe": 4 parts (Skull) White + 1 part Arcane Blue.  Add some water.

1. Take the watered down mixture as above, feather from the top of the base to the bottom to create the "icicles."
2. Take Skull White, water down. Feather from top to halfway down, blending as you go.
3. Continue step from above - till the top is white.

I'll have to post a picture of Vlad soon, as an example.
EDIT:  Vlad can be found here.

Painting Circle Runes/Glow

So here's a new trick I just figured out while currently working on my new Woldwatcher - how to get nearly perfect Circle Orboros runes.

1) Make the color to be used for the glow fairly watery.
2) With a "sharp" brush, dip the tip into some water, then use the water to "trace" the etched rune.  Make certain the water doesn't spill too much over the rune.
3) Load the watery paint onto the sharp brush - do not overload. Carefully touch the tip to the water in the rune - it will draw the paint into the rune and fill it. Touch where needed to draw the paint out and fill the rune.

Viola, a perfectly filled Circle rune. If the paint happens to spill out somewhat while drying, it turns out that it just helps to enhance the "glow" of the rune!

Greetings, Hail, & Well Met

So it turns out that just under a year ago (February 22, in fact) was the very first time I threw down my Circle Orboros army and played my first full game of Hordes.

Up until then, while I had been interested in the various tabletop miniatures games (specifically, the GW 40K and Fantasy ones), had read the rulebooks, bought a codex, etc., I had never actually purchased any forces. Too expensive, too many figures, too little time.

Thanks to the Brothers Mead, that changed when I was first introduced to what is my faction of choice: Circle Orboros.  It's got druids, it's got wolves - what's not to like???  I believe they're probably the most gorgeous faction in the entire setting of the Iron Kingdoms, and it doesn't hurt that their playstyle suits me.

Since starting off with the standard battlebox of Kaya the Wildborne, 2 Argus and a Feral Warpwolf, the army has grown considerably... but to my chagrin, I realize that I still have models unpainted and not fully assembled from a year ago *avoids looking at the two argus.*


Still, I have managed to complete a fair amount of figures for both myself and my fiancee's Khador army, and I'm amazed at the changes and improvements to my painting techniques. There's still a lot more improvement to go, so I'll be using this blog as a place to post about what I'm working on, post pictures, and write up various battle reports about Warmachine/Hordes. And hopefully keep myself from burning out. I may add some of my other hobbies to this blog in the future, but we'll see.


So that's it, welcome to the blog.  A few quick things about what I'm looking to improve as time goes on:
1) OSL Lighting. I really want to learn how to do this properly, especially after seeing some of the stunning work over on the Privateer Press forums.
2) Non-metal Metallics. Long-time goal of mine. Haven't made much progress on it.
3) Conversions. Need to get my hands on a jeweler's saw, some assorted drill bits of various sizes, some assorted brass rods of various sizes, plasticard, and some sculpting tools. 


I won't even glance in the direction of making my own terrain... yet.


Enjoy!