A Week in Winions -2-

Another week and another week of building and refining my Minions lists for the upcoming Summer Series of Steamrollers.  The lists remain unchanged in general and this week had some tough opponents!


Game 1: Maelok vs Skarre3 (Banes Banes more Banes) : Scenario Win

Turn 1 on both sides was pretty standard with running into position.  Maelok won the roll to go first which is a massive advantage against a Bane list where we both share the same threat ranges.

Going into turn 2, the Husks who had taken up residence behind the central forest ran to engage the front line.  On the left, and middle, they ran hand in hand with Croak Raiders to stop the Banes from just charging/advancing past the Husks since they have Ghostly.  The idea here is to pen in the Banes near their flag and stop them getting into the zone as much as possible, and also, to allow the Posse the turn after to surround the flag to stop Skarre from scoring.  A Boneswarm with Swarm charged in too.  Reason being, if Skarre wanted to come forward to try shoot the models behind the frontline, she'll be in Swarm range with an effective -2 to Hit and with the Posse under Dirge of Mists, making them Def16.   On the right, a single Husk who had been camped out behind the wall ran to a position where if he died, the resulting AoE hazard would scupper a lot of Bane movement.  On the right, i knew i had to sacrifice Posse as i didn't have the same resources as the left.  The first row were established to again try crowd out the zone, with the back rank set up behind the wall for protection and in range to just be able to walk over and hit Banes without the need to charge.

A Week in Winions -1-

So while the title says a week, i've actually had multiple games since my last blog post.  A lot of the games are with people who were practising for certain tournaments like the Welsh Nationals and decided not to blog a lot of the games to protect certain list secret tech etc.  Or so I use the excuse, truth be told, I've just been way too busy.  Anyway, to the games I've had most recently.

Warmachine and Hordes: Brighton Steamroller Part 2

Okay so buckle in people, because part two is where the Posse train starts to speed up!

Game 3 - Maelok vs Siege2 (Silverline Stormguard and Storm Lances in Storm Division)

Going into game three against Cygnar,  the pairing was the dreaded Hayley3 Trenchers and Siege2.  My Rask list was pretty heavily tech'd for Hayley3 and i've previously played Maelok into Hayley3 before so i'm confident in my ability to out attrition her.  Having seen the amount of infantry in his second list, and the absence of Nemo3, i'm more confident in Maelok and let's just play this out.  To my surprise, he dropped Siege2... and in came a whole new problem I haven't faced before.

Having lost the roll to go first, i decided I was not going to have anything to do with that huge ass forest in the middle of the deployment zone so chose the cover of a trench and clouds instead.  He deployed symmetrically at first, which forced me to pretty much do the same, if anything, i had to slightly skew to the right hand side due to the house in the way.  I was banking on the StormLances going towards my right to make a bigger push towards my flag.  The general game plan was to identify which zone was the easiest to overwhelm, take it, and grind out a scenario win.  Red arrows showing the Husks running route, blue arrow showing the Storm Lances redeployment route turn 1 (against what i hoped) and the Green Arrows showing my armies general movement.

Warmachine and Hordes: Brighton Steamroller Part 1

Another week and another Steamroller!

Brighton is a great place to play a Steamroller tournament, the community is great, the venue is great and the games are always fun!  So, if anyone from Brighton is reading this, big shout out to you guys!

WarmaHordes: Milton Keynes Steamroller

With Warmachine and Hordes seeing a resurgence in competitive play here in the UK, more and more tournaments are being announced and run across the country.  In the South of England, i'm lucky to have 3/4 metas within 1 or 2 hours travelling times so i'm really spoilt for choice for tournaments!

Any for the lists!  Maelok is a caster i've been working with for the last couple of months since the Blindwater update came out.  It has gone through various iterations including, Bone Shrines, Blind Walkers and the works, but once the Gatorman Husks became available,  oh boy, they REALLY ramp up Maelok's game.  Arkadius is my classic "pop my load turn 2" then i've either won, or shake hands because i'm not winning!  In all honesty, Arkadius is just a comfort Warlock that i've had the most experience with over the 3 years i've been playing Minions.  Also, excuse the ratchet SR sheet.  My parents recently moved to Milton Keyes so this was an opportunity to visit my 3,5 and 7 year old siblings who subsequently though my SR sheets was spare paper!

Warhammer Fantasy: Start of the Summer Offensive

Here we are! We are back, new year, new campaign.  My original plan was to play a Vampire Counts army as it was my first choice army when i started my Warhammer Fantasy adventures years ago.  However i was persuaded to not start them as they were not an army for beginners.  They ignore a lot of the rules of the game and was told you won't be able to understand the game fully doing so.

Fast forwards 3 years, and a new comer to our campaigns has only decided to start the game with Vampire Counts.  God damn it, i guess he'll be using the Vampires I have and I'll be using my new love.  Step forward....

WOOD ELVES!

I was lucky to acquire some pre-painted Wood Elves for helping a friend out, so have the basics of a Wood Elf army.  Having played High Elves in the previous campaign, i thought Wood Elves would be a natural progression.  Having played Riotville and a few pic up games with them, i found they are a lot harder to use.  The use of skirmishers and fast moving units are used to help mitigate the lack of armour, meaning you have to pick your fights carefully and scalpel off important units with precision.  I'm finding Wood Elves an army difficult to play, people have said they are an army not for beginners and require a high skill level to really get the army benefits to shine through.  However, a challenge like so i'm enjoying.   Hopefully i won't put off the others in the campaign as Wood Elves seems to be an army of i either survive with 90% of my army intact or i lose everything.

One thing i do want to explore, is the idea of a full Tree based Wood Elf army.  And, since i had a good month at work... this came through the post recently...

New project to begin...

New Job, New Laptop, New Toys!

So... in the space of the last two years,

Graduated, started life as an adult, worked out quickly that it SUCKS, but good news is, i finally bought a laptop!

Haven't really been able to blog since Blog Spot stopped it mobile app support.  A big part of of it was me being able to blog between travelling to uni and back, and not to mention being able to blog during classes was a big benefit too!

Anyway keep tuned, Warhammer Fantasy summer league is back, Warmachine and Hordes competitive play coming, and general painting and hobby shenanigans!

Lano

Warhammer Quest: A new hero joins the fight!

Orcs orcs orcs orcs, orcs orcs orcs... Yup you guess it, here is my Warhammer quest "orruk savage Warboss" he's my dedicated offensive character when it comes to Warhammer quest. Recently I've been shading greens with a dark red wash and I think it seems to have come out very well!

This miniature was picked up years again while I was working at the Miniature Empire as I loved the model and it's a shame that only till now I have had the chance to give him some paint. 

Stat wise, he really lays on the hurt! 

I have to be vague about the stats and so he has as I don't want the GW lawsuit up my arse, but his shoulder charge ability is very brutal! But it shows since he has like no armour save and low agility. But his weapons REALLY hit hard!

Now I hinted at my next character in a previous post, having his stat card been included in the box already and being of my favoured khorne deity, I went with the Slaughter Priest as my support character! 

I loved the idea of having to kill something first in order to heal team mates and really suits my gung-ho attitude towards gaming! Hit shit with my axe then ask questions later!  I do like how GW kept the fluff of him having to kill someone and use blood sacrifices as a method to heal! I'm looking forward to using him in future games. 

Stat wise he is a little on the chancey side. Like my Orc Warboss, if he hits, he's nasty, and that's a big IF. 

Although it seems like I'll only get to play this once a month, having these miniatures painted is reward enough and one day, I hope for these to be placed in a display cabinet of some sorts. 

On a side note, I have these mounted on 40mm lipped bases instead of 40mm round. I find the lipped base look a lot more complete in comparison, specially when it comes to individual characters. I'm not sure if the other feel the same way but I like the added extra touch I believe. So let me know how you feel on the round vs lipped bases debate!

Scibor Dwarf Sniper

After I had some recover time of the manual slave labour Riot had exposed me too, I turned towards his latest commission work. 

This Scibor dwarf sculpt was a real treat to work with, even with the silly amounts of flash around the model! It took me an entire night to just clear all the mold lines!  Since I knew this was going towards a birthday present, I thought some extra special attention should be brought to this miniature! 

The first process was the assembly, I pinned both miniatures to cork bases first so it'll be easier to work with at the beginning, nothing worse than having to paint around and subsequently ruining your paint quality! I knew all these champagne and wine corks would come in handy one day!  I used zenithal highlighting (black spray base coat with a light white spray on top) to really pick out the details and ridges along the miniature. Lastly, the flesh was painted in a pale stone colour and a warm flesh wash used to give it some life. Subsequent highlights helped bring out the muscle(?!) by using a 5 stage flesh highlight. 

The next morning I set about doing the cloak and leather pants around the miniature. I did end up spending a lot more time on these as I do normally, as I wanted these colours to look natural instead of the usual high contrast look I paint with. With my other job calling me, a good 3 hour break away fro painting really allowed me to come back to the miniature refreshed! So after a light dinner, and a cider, the painting resumed! First off was to finish the leathers, bag and holsters, and then complete his facial hair! To be honest it was long till everything was completed, and it was a real joy in blend highlighting on a fine piece. When you paint something you really enjoy, it's very easy to forget you've been painting for 20+ hours! 

The base itself was fair simple, but hard to really stand out. After another zenithal spray, good old thinned Agrax EarthShade gave the stone rocks the dirty look. A covering of Athonian Camoshade over in select recesses made sure to age the base with out hampering the identity. 

All that remained was to highlight the rock in a pale bone colour, paint the greenery and paint the rim. 

And there you have it, it's 3am, I've finished up this miniature and glued him onto the base. In the morning light I'll give him another highlight all round, satin then Matt varnish; but for now, I believe him to already have bags of personality and hopefully Riot and his brother will be happy the work 

Running with it: One man's inability to escape the clutches of Games Workshop: Warhammer Quest App

Ok they got me, I admit it, after the shambles of being force fed Age of Sogmar, and my denouncing of Warhammer 40k, Games Workshop have pulled me right back in with Warhammer Quest!

If you haven't seen our 24 hour painting endeavours, please check them here,

http://riotvilleonfire.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Well I wasn't too sure at the time, if it was the third can of Relentless or the 8th Spider Goblin I had to paint, but Riot and I came up with the idea of buying into Age of Sigmar and keeping a strict Khorne vs Tzeentch flavour going... 

If people know me at all, they know I have a complete distaste for AoS. It isn't the rule set, it was the destruction of one of the most beautifully crafted games and being forced fed "checkers for grown up" afterwards. People also know, I have a fondness for anything Khornate and red... So I have been looking at theKhorne  Bloodbound over the last few months and I can't deny the miniatures are beautiful. 

Anyway, as we came to grips with Warhammer Quest, my gamer nerd inside of me really wanted to invest SOMETHING into this game and saw you could play a Khornate Slaughterpriest! I thought at the time, that was an amazing concept, who better than an ace wielding maniac to rampage through a tower of scummy sorcerers! 

Which led me to the main point of this blog, the discovery of the Warhammer Quest App!

Games workshop are innovating! It's an amazing small app which helps track your characters progress and gives you access to more options. Meaning, that Savage Orc Warboss I bought last year will now have a place!

Of course, nothing comes free, including GamesWorkshop stuff! So while the main box contents are free, you do have to pay for each aditional hero you want to unlock. There is 37 more available Herod with 9 more Skill and Treasure cards. If bought separately, it's comes up to around £38 so the mega bundle for £19.99 is a no brainier. 

Unfortunately, I don't have £20 spare so I only bought another hero for now, but I'll hopefully have him ready for the next adventure in the Silver Tower!

I'll leave you with a taster of what's to come. 

*intentionally blurry*

Warhammer Quest Silver Tower

Here are the progress pictures of my last 24 hours in painting hell!

I joke, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I'd do it again for a game like Warhammer Quest. 

Apart from painting bases properly, we managed to get a lot done! And even squeezed a few small games in.

The game plays very simply, for those who are familiar to the Dead of Winter board game, it will come very easily to you. 

For a more up to date account of our painting exploits, please find the full report here. 

http://riotvilleonfire.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Warhammer Quest!

Look what we have early! 

Our madness of a 24hour painting binge begins!

Check it the progress here!

http://riotvilleonfire.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/look-what-ive-got-warhammer-quest.html?m=1

Warhammer Fantasy January Update

If some people remember, this time last year I was gearing up for the new WarmaHorde competitive year, and what a year it was! Managed to get some top 10 places and I felt like I had a strong Everblight game along with some decent Thornfall experience. 

Fast forward to 2016, and I'm looking at more of a Warhammer Fantasy feel, and within a month, I think I've had more games of Fantasy than the last 3 years combined!

We started out with a brand new Fantasy Campaign. Having got a few people newly into the game, we felt that a campaign narrative would be best to help the game flow and for people to learn the rules!  It's a great hit, and RiotvilleonFire has a more comprehensive overview of the events!

True to Wargaming JuJu, my newly painted Skink Chief hero, Ixhua-Ekko, gets absolutely destroyed in every game... And has yet to finish a game still alive! 

With the addition of a new housemate to the household, we crack out Triumph and Treachery. This multiplayer format of fantasy has JUST the right mix of dickery and fuckery to keep Warhammer Fantasy gentlemanly! But the addition of the treachery cards really makes the game of alliances important! Luckily I had home advantage and I managed to keep bringing cups of tea to help "butter up" my "allies"!

January also saw myself really get back into painting. The Flamespyre Phoenix is the first miniature I bought after a 6 year break from gaming 3 years ago. Since then, it's been sitting patiently in the garage for a chance to be played. Triumph and Treachery allows me to take it as a mercenary for my Lizardman! My beautiful Phoenix finally gets an opportunity to take flight! The first photo above is how he looked after coming out of a dust covered hiatus, and the immediate above is the newer touch up paint job I've given him! He still needs a little more work, but I'm very please in how he's turning out.  I've decided that he needs a high elf army to accompany him, and so 2016 will be the year I enter a High Elf army into Armies on Parade!

I've decided to take a real amount of care into my High Elf army, I've even given the Phoenix a Koi Fish buddy! But I'm really enjoying spending my time painting some miniatures and spending time in given them the proper detail that lets the minaitures really stand out. 

Starting As I Mean to Continue! DINOSAWWWWS

So, as my resurgence into Warhammer Fantasy continues, I'm tasked with teaching others the art of the Gentleman's Game. Having seen my  Lizardmen army grow, Neil from @EssexLegion borrows an army and is eager to learn the rules! Following suit, is a whole line of people waiting to get their plastic Fantasy crack fix! I think we may have kick started a renaissance into Warhammer Fantasy, and I'm going to have to teach them.... After I remember half the rules myself!

Belated Christmas!

Typical Lano to leave everything till the last 4 weeks of university. I had 12 weeks to prepare, revise, write and produce... Yet... The notion of doing things in advance eludes me, except Advanced Deployment and Movement, I never forget that shit!

Anyway, I did manage a few games in the meantime while helping running the Essex Legion gaming club, and of most notable mention is Warhammer Fantasy. And we all know what means, Dino-Fucking-Sawwwwwws!!!

Anyway, my first game back was a harrowing experience, as I let a Mangler Squig tear through my army... Saurus' aren't that hard in the face of Fanatics and Mangler Squigs!

Essex Legion goes Orktober!

So, what do you get if you mix Orks, Warhammer 40k, Mad Max and a lot of Dakka? Deathrace40k of course!!

New Additions to the Essex Legion Bestiary! And a Gorka Morka update

Another night, more miniatures painted for  the lead pile... this time, it's a few more beasts for the FrostGrave campaign/demo games.  

Even though we have loads going on at the Legion in the coming months, and I don't think a FrostGrave campaign will be coming any time soon, I think it's necessary to have a stock of random monster miniatures that can be used in various games, so it doesn't help to get these done!

I've also started to make progress on my vehicle for the Gorka Morka race this coming Sunday... to signify the importance of ORKTOBER!

FrostGrave: The Bestiary expands

So having run a few demos of FrostGrave, I've managed to gain some support from local gaming clubs to help build a suitable bestiary for an upcoming campaign.

And after digging around for ages trying to find suitable miniatures for the plethora of animals needed, I came to the conclusion, I'm going to have to get some from Carlos...

And for those of you who've followed from the beginning, Carlos is the ex boss of a gaming store I helped run... Let's leave that at that!

To my surprise, the miniatures came on time! And having decided to take a break from the amount of commission work I have, I thought I'd paint something fresh and new!

University Lectures... Perfect time to Blog!! (Or was at the time!)

Nothing much blogged, to be honest, realised that my 3 hour lectures are perfect for blogging!! (I actually did write this in my lecture hall but it didn't upload till I got home) *sad face*

Unfortunately, I don't have many photo on my phone. 

The only thing I have to write about is the FrostGrave demo I ran last weekend! And a chance to show off my newly painted Weeping Angels from Reaper Miniature!

"Easy enough game, it's quick, fast paced, and a nice alternative to Mordheim. "

One of the opinions I got from a new face at Essex Legion last weekend.

It was quite refreshing to get an alternative view of the game!  It's remarkable how many people likened it to Mordheim!

I apologise for the lack of photos. But now I know, I'll prepare some blogging material for my useless lectures!

Essex Legion Opening Night! WarmaPorn 50pts

So after a month of planning, and loads of last minute action, EssexLegion gaming club is open! 

You can find the link here to the website,

http://essexlegion.wix.com/home

And our forum is here

http://essexlegiongaming.freeforums.net

Anyway, to the matter at hand. Being a new club, I was introduced to a new WarmaHorde player by the name of Ian.

And as always, I was keen to get my claws into some action. 

Unfortunately for me, he plays Cryx...

Double unfortunately, he plays Incorporeal Cryx...

Sigh... My Farrow Army are not going to enjoy this day.