Getting back to painting

It's been quite a while since I posted my progress on painting. I was working on a present for Liable and didn't want to spoil it. Since then I've made decent progress on my Battle Standard Bearer. The Thane from the Battle for Skull Pass box set is looking pretty good. Plus, the five Hammerers for command unit are starting to come together.

My guys have been sitting around unpainted for a while and I'd really like to get them all done by October, so I'm making a bit of a dash to get through them. It'll likely mean I don't get nearly as much detail as I'd like to have but I figure I can come back and fill in the details later.

My battle standard bearer. I made the flag grey to represent the Grey Dwarfs who have simple tastes according to my army book.

The Dwarf Thane I got with my Battle for Skull Pass box set.

One of the two regular Hammerer models in the Hammerer Command set.

The veteran in the Hammerer Command set.

The musician in the Hammer Command set. 

The standard bearer in the Hammerer Command set.

The second of two regular models in the Hammerer Command set.

The Idol of Mork from the Battle for Skull Pass box set.

Dwarf v Lizardmen

I had a friendly match at Paradox last Sunday afternoon.  I can't say the battle went particularly well for me, even so it was still quite a bit of fun. We both played with 2500 point armies. He had his Lizardmen while I, of course, brought my Dwarfs.

Normally I bring a considerable amount of artillery and counter magic power. I've scaled both of these back quite a bit. At 2500 points I would often bring 3 or 4 war machines: a cannon, 2 grudge throwers and an organ or gyro-copter. As well as a Runelord and a Runesmith with the Master Rune of Balance, a Spell Eater Rune or two, and some Spell Breaking runes.

Once people realized I could shut down all of their magic they started scaling back considerably on it or just not taking it all. This meant the points I was spending to stop magic were way out of proportion to the points my opponents were spending on casting magic. In many cases they wouldn't spend any points on magic, which left me a bit in the lurch.

This being the situation and realizing the Lizardmen are pretty big on magic I scaled back considerably but still left a little bit of defense against magic. I only took one Runesmith, giving him the Master Rune of Balance and calling it good.

As for war machines I took only two: a cannon and a grudge thrower. The cannon is meant to take down any big monsters or other single model nastiness. On the other hand the grudge thrower can trim down the size of any large infantry blocks it can manage to drop a grudge on.

Nearly out of the starting gate the battle went badly. My cannon and grudge thrower each had little effect, mostly due to some bad rolls. Even with the Rune of Accuracy on the grudge-thrower I didn't hit anything, wait, I did get one hit but managed to biff the rolls to wound horribly.

My opponents luck with his ranged attacks was much better. His Salamanders took devastated my Rangers and took a big chunk out of my Ironbreakers. His Razordons weren't nearly as bad but they still caused some pain to my Hammerers.

For the most part I kept his magic to a minimum, other than a Dwellers Below that killed 20 of my Dwarf Warriors. I nearly dispelled it but nearly is quite good enough.

Once our troops finally meet my remaining dudes put up a valiant fight and held until the last turn but there wasn't much left at that point. Cleary, giving up my artillery is going to take some more thinking. Until I get it figured out though I think there are going to be more ugly games like this one.

- David

Cold Sunday

It looks like it's spring here in Fargo, though the warm whether keeps fluctuating. I'd planned to get some work done out doors today but since it's a little chilly outside I decided to use it as an excuse to stay in and get some work done on my Dwarfs.

I got two boxes of Hamerers in the other day. After snipping away all the extra bits left over from the molding, I gave them a quick scrub in some dish soap to get rid of any oils then glued them to their bases.

Also, after creating a test dude I changed all of my bases from green to grey. In the near future I plan to add snow to all the bases so they'll match the winter themed board I'm putting together.

Dwarfs vs Orcs

I had a match today over at Paradox against an Orc player. This is my first time going up against the Orcs with my Dwarf army. I finally got to use Ancestral Grudge and re-roll all of my hits against those damn green skins. Sadly, despite my best efforts I my brave Dwarfs were overrun by a formidable green tidal wive.

We lined up our main blocks. His Blacks, Orcs, Goblins, and River Trolls were very nearly directly across from my Warriors, Longbeards and Hammerers. With the exception of his Wolf Riders and Orc Boar Boyz who were placed solidly on my weaker left flank. I'd gambled with my Organ Gun and Long Beards and set them to the right flank for added protection.

Not to say my left flank was unprotected. My warriors and cannon put up a pretty decent fight, a volley of grapeshot and a bunch of little dudes with big axes isn't something to sneeze at. While the cannon crew was able to beat the last remaining Wolf Rider, the Warriors didn't fare as well against the Boar Boyz. Though if it had just been the Boar Boyz it may have gone better.

Orc Boar boyz and Wolf Riders attempt to ride down my left flank as a block of Block Orcs and Night Goblins advance down the middle.

The Black Orcs pulled off one hell of a charge and nailed my Warriors square in the flank. Even though they took 6 Boar Boys with them the Warriors routed and were overrun by the Boar Boys. Who then ran square into my waiting Hammerers.

I should mention while all this was happening I had the opportunity to learn about Goblin Fanatics. I'm not a fan. The little bastard one shoted my well protected Grudge Thrower. The one I loved the most because it had two Runes of Penetration. It was shattered to bits by a freaked out goblin, disappointing.

At this point the Boar Boyz didn't last long against my Hammerers. The Black Dorcas finished off the cannon then came for my Hammerers. They fought valiantly and got a bit lucky. A unit of Orcs that had gotten in their rear failed an animosity check and the remaining River Trolls failed their charge by an inch thanks to a Rune of Slowness.

Now it was turn 5. I only had the one unit of Hammerers left. I knew there was no way I could win the battle. I had a pretty good feeling I could take down those Black Orcs. I'd managed to thin them out with Grudge Throwers and Organ Gun. All the dice rolls up to this point seemed to suggest the battle was written in the stars. Plus, I was super pumped about it because I wanted to see how my new Dwarf Lord with Shield Bearers would fare against an Orc War Boss.

I issued a challenged straight away which was accepted. I was a bit intimated by the giant War Boss's fearsome presence and thought I might lose my general. Thankfully with the help of some runes and good dice rolls I managed to, not come out ahead, but stay alive and put wound on the War Boss as well.

While my general kept the War Boss occupied my Hammerers manages to route the Black Orcs and send them packing. Those Hammerers pack quite a wallop. Not having shields usually means they take quite a few casualties themselves.

That of course was the end of the match. My opponent managed to score a minor victory against me despite the courageous efforts of my Hammerers. Ah well, it was a good game, I can't wait to do it again.

David

P.S. No spells were successfully cast thanks to two Runesmiths and the Master Rune of Balance

Imperial Guard: Update

So I haven't posted in a while. Things have been hectic around here. I've been working a lot and haven't had time to sit down in front of my computer and really hammer out a good article. Anyways, I have some ideas, but they will have to wait until I can really sit down and figure them out. In the meantime I thought I'd update you on my progress on the Imperial Guard army I started.

Bad picture I know, I snapped it this morning before I had to run out the door. I'm still working on getting their weapons magnetized so I can swap out between loadouts. The plan right now is to roll with one Vendetta and two Valkyries in my army list.

As for WHFB, we have started a linked battles style campaign where everyone will get a chance to play each other at least once with a large final battle at the end. We had the first round of battles last Sunday with my match up being Dave and his Dwarfs. It was a bloody battle, and thanks to some unlucky rolling for deployment on the Dawn Engagement scenario, I was able to take a minor victory (his poor warmachines had to deploy without support on a flank). I'll probably put together another post with more details about the campaign later, until then, thanks for reading!

The Dreadfleet and Such

What it's February already?! Man I guess I made it out of the holidays alive. Looks like Valentine's day is just around the corner though so out of the frying pan into the fire I guess.

In last few weeks I've gotten a bunch of work done on my Dwarfs and put together the beginnings of a gaming board. Liable and I also got in a few games of The Dreadfleet. Plus, there's a tournament starting this weekend at Paradox. There's a good bit of excitement and assorted goings on.

I hope to catch some daylight soon and snap some pictures of the progress I've made on my dwarfs. With the  warriors I tried to highlight how they're all citizen soldiers without standard uniforms. This means the whole unit really pops with the variety of colors used.

I mentioned Liable and I have gotten a few matches of The Dreadfleet in. I've loved every game we've played so far. I really love stories about naval combat during the 19th century so the theme alone is a big seller for me. Add in the Warhammer universe and a Dwarf ship that can launch derigibles and it's pure gravy.

Despite my obvious bias I think a lot of people would still like this game. The rules are surprisingly simple without leaving gaping holes yet allowing for a lot of stratgecal depth and creativity. What really surprised is how they managed to engineer the fate cards in such a way as to really make the sea seem like an enemy in itself without it getting in the way of the flow of the game.

The Dreadfleet is fantastic game if you ever get a chance to try it be sure to give it a shot.

David

High Elves: Brief Overview

So a 40K player who games at our FLGS had some questions about starting up WHFB. Eventually their query boiled down into questions about High Elves and I think, by the way they spoke, and they are swinging toward playing that army. Anyways, as I am always looking for material to write about, I thought I’d do a write up on a brief introduction to HE (just my experience with HE and DE).

So why HE? Well, HE are probably one of the easiest armies to play, that is, I believe you can field a variety of units, in different compositions, and still be pretty effective. The army is very forgiving, to say the least, and despite the fact that a High Elf takes a hit like a wet paper towel they have the ability to quickly smash face and inflict major casualties on their enemy which makes up for this lack of constitutional fortitude. Straight forward murder, something the other elf races, while being combat effective, require more finesse to accomplish.

Fact!

So they are pretty forgiving and for the most part you can’t go wrong with many of their unit choices. Another element that I discussed with another player at our FLGS is that the HE can accommodate both a novice and expert tactical component. Basically, they are forgiving, easy to play and as you advance there is another level of tactical play that can potential make them very competitive in the right hands. I believe this, though my hands are not the right ones, there are individuals on the intertubes that have reached this level of competitiveness and I think this might add some longevity to your investment.

So to recap:
1. Forgiving… Check.
2. Novice and Expert tactical components… Check.
3. Straight forward face-smashing murder… CHECK!

All this is fine and dandy, but I would argue that you should probably pick an army that appeals to you in style, fluff, and then whether they will be fun for you to play. I mean if you like to shoot cannons and watching stuff blow up, or, if you are like Dave, and have some fetish for stunties, an aversion to magic, and just want to watch the world burn, then you probably don’t want to be rolling High Elves as your first investment. So what are some things that High Elves are good at and have fun with?

Hurray! Always Strike First Great Weapons!

First, they kill things in close combat, excuse me, I mean they MURDER FACE in close combat. The majority of their elite infantry (basically the pneumatic power hammer of hammers and anvils) are at least all strength 4, striking first and re-rolling hits (most of the time), so you are going to pummel most of the units you touch. The trade off, is you’re a wet paper towel, but we knew that already. If you squeal with glee at the thought of removing fists full of your opponents models in one round of close combat and don’t really care that your guys fall over on a breezy day, you may have fun playing HE.

Miscast. No problem!

Second, they have some kick ass magic, as well as, items that not only add to their potential magic, but give them some good magic defense options too. Now the Book of Hoeth might be cheesy (says the guy who likes to include Teclis in his lists, just for fun mind you, well for my fun, not sure about the other guy), but they have other options to make their magic potent and you should expect to add them to your army. High Magic is also a very, low cast value, useful magic lore. I will often take it on a level 2 mage just to spice things up (Shield of Saphery is a dispellable Cauldron of Blood blessing, but worth it on anything other than Phoenix Guard). While the HE do not have the ability to pull off an impressive recover from a bad winds of magic roll, like, say DE with a Sacrificial Dagger, they have items that can potentially make it less painful. If you like magic, defense and offense, you might have fun playing HE.

Third, their shooting is good enough. Now you won’t be making any HE gun-lines, but for the most part the HE archer is an effective tool to have in your tool box. Oddly enough, I run repeater bolt throwers in my DE list, but for some reason not in my HE list. I just can’t find room for them in my HE list with so many other goodies to take, whereas, the DE are much more cost effective, so I find taking two is worth it. Anyways, don’t get hooked on the bolt thrower, there are other things to take and your archers will do the shooty job just fine. So, if you think cannons are for cowards who don’t know how to fight you might have fun playing HE.

http://violinsane.deviantart.com/art/I-Love-Dragons-160281980

Finally, Beasts, Monsters, and Lions, oh my! HE have some pretty cool beasts/monsters (ummm Dragons, I rest my case) and they are all semi-useful. If chariots get your goat, you can’t go wrong with a White Lions Chariot, it’s at the very least comparable to any other armies chariot(s) and probably at the top tier of the list. Moving along, Eagles are a must for any list. Why you ask? Well, they are going to mess up those warmachines that you don’t have; and who are raining death on your troops; who apparently think light armor with toughness 3 is just fine. Now, there are other strategies for dealing with Warmachines, but I find the tried and true method (and one that gives you a great deal of flexibility) is to use Eagles. Next up, (and my favorite) Dragons come in different flavors, each with different point levels and stats. Pick one that fits your army, but you might as well pick one of the top two if you are sinking the points. Griffons and ridden Eagles are the poor man’s Dragon and serve a similar purpose, that is, get your character into combat or to harass something. Now the problem they are all going to have is they are all going to be a prime target for warmachines and most of the time you need to put a semi-expensive character on them which tends to make them less worth it in the end (i.e. multiple wound cannon shot + expensive mount and rider = infinite sadness, 4+ flat-out save anyone?). I’ll sometimes field a Dragon Rider or a Griffon Rider for fun, but my Bread-N-Butter HE list has neither (This also could be because my Meta is against Dwarfs). If you like the idea of Elves riding around on mythical monsters bringing pain and death to your enemy and don’t particularly care that most of them will die horrible deaths to lead poisoning (of the cannon-ball variety) then you might have fun playing HE.

High Elves are a ton of fun and I think my experience playing them has made me a better Dark Elf player. You will have to ultimately find the army that fits your style best, but if you are like me and crave close combat with an affinity for Dragons the HE are probably going to be hard to pass up. Just remember, don’t get discouraged when your troops start to die, it’s going to happen, you just need to remember to return the favor ten-fold when you get in close combat.

So there you go. Just a brief beginner’s introduction to HE. I didn’t get into specific units, you should be able to pick out the best ones and I find that most are acceptable if used properly, just don’t go crazy and get 5 units of 5 Ellyrian Reavers or anything. On a final note, I contemplated doing a DE beginner’s introduction as well, but realized it would be four sentences… War Hydra… Black Guard… Sacrificial Dagger… Cauldron of Blood… Ok, ok, it’s not that simple. I’ll maybe write something up later if I have time.