tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39714570965131941402024-03-19T08:19:27.974-04:00Khadoran Machine Never BreaksDemitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.comBlogger445125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-43415579849458816402014-04-28T15:50:00.002-04:002014-04-28T15:50:53.535-04:00Feat of Service: Spell Draft Trial Run<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1-X3_8olgY_DDJTqlsK8w6btTJ_XmSE44I141pqLhppYhTh9d2WUe-eBntiQa2h7ariuekx3Gn0ydrGZXojOMtGRgjFIpxECaT3QIAIMCp28keHBSpLnExvsb2JJC3nqFy6oyT93jkRCS/s1600/Feat+of+Service.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1-X3_8olgY_DDJTqlsK8w6btTJ_XmSE44I141pqLhppYhTh9d2WUe-eBntiQa2h7ariuekx3Gn0ydrGZXojOMtGRgjFIpxECaT3QIAIMCp28keHBSpLnExvsb2JJC3nqFy6oyT93jkRCS/s1600/Feat+of+Service.jpg" height="145" width="400" /></a></div>
A couple notes before I get into what I'm here to do. First, there will (eventually) be a Journeyman league wrap-up post. Second, this will be one of those posts where I assume whoever is reading it knows what I'm talking about. Normally I try to make posts as accessible as possible, for gamers and people who somehow stumble down this particular alley unaware of what they're getting into, but that's not feasible here. Finally, chances are good I'll be dropping links into this post later, so if you want more information...check back later? Apologies in advance if you have to break out your gold miner kit to sift for new things.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1KRSQFi2iV4vqF8i3XNntLzxusmXk4cByYvT8HZrkL8_01GKClggUBSRRIskVmZ5cCgiuN8K60wQna_ZcK9KFEl1TZSq_LqcmFAnR5MI-vfw3cs-iOFYh0Nrc1Z0xELLTMlWHKdxsW2i/s1600/who%2527s+the+boss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1KRSQFi2iV4vqF8i3XNntLzxusmXk4cByYvT8HZrkL8_01GKClggUBSRRIskVmZ5cCgiuN8K60wQna_ZcK9KFEl1TZSq_LqcmFAnR5MI-vfw3cs-iOFYh0Nrc1Z0xELLTMlWHKdxsW2i/s1600/who%2527s+the+boss.jpg" height="320" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nope, not even close.</td></tr>
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My local gaming group, the <a href="http://novanomads.com/">Nova Nomads</a>, is marching from semi-organized rabble to Legitimate Grouping of Peoples. Part of the reason for this is to help us do bigger and better things, the first of which is coming up soon and has a suitably imposing name: the First Annual Feat of Service to Benefit the <a href="http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/">Wounded Warrior Project</a>, Presented by the Nova Nomads. This is a book release style day of open gaming with wacky achievements for zany tabletop heroics, but with the twist of using a customized caster/lock. Without going into a ton of detail, which can be found <a href="http://novanomads.com/featofservice/">here</a> (to be updated soon), you pick a faction to play, select a caster/lock (independent of faction, so you can play a Circle warlock in Cryx) from a big list (this time around it's anything found in the free version of War Room), wipe out the spell list, build part of your list, pick a new list of spells via drafting, then finish your list off. If you're thinking it sounds like a Who's the Boss/Spell Draft mashup then you've got the idea.<br />
<br />
Since the fine details are still getting ironed out, we did a trial run last Wednesday. This is how it went <br />
down, plus my plans and thoughts going in. I picked Khador as my faction for a couple reasons. Foremost is my blog's name has Khador in the title, which is extra incentive to support the Motherland. I feel bad about not playing Khador more, so when the chance arises I try to jump on it. My Khador is mostly painted, and to a higher standard than my Legion. One of the common knocks on Khador is they don't have a lot of synergies. This is considered a Bad Thing, but in this case it's quite helpful. If all, or most of, my pieces are effective by themselves then they have the potential to be even more effective if I can get the right spells to help them out.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsptR3Kq1XXK0zao3WEwzwENVq9T3CwxQfF5vo784RXhdBMezTlUx34c5kAHmmapw9h-u_HBUQajLcHxTLFp36pG7-RqlWNnQquKT1PewbE0kzemb-7q0OnKACt-2S6OJ-PI2yv81-u5IA/s1600/chassis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsptR3Kq1XXK0zao3WEwzwENVq9T3CwxQfF5vo784RXhdBMezTlUx34c5kAHmmapw9h-u_HBUQajLcHxTLFp36pG7-RqlWNnQquKT1PewbE0kzemb-7q0OnKACt-2S6OJ-PI2yv81-u5IA/s1600/chassis.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dat chassis.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://novanomads.com/featofservice/rules/">Picking a caster "chassis"</a> was the hardest part of the process by far. My first move was towards a high Focus/Fury stat. In particular I liked the idea of pVayl because of her Fury 8, ability to make arc nodes (which I covet as a Khador player), existing wintry theme, suite of abilities (see: Dark Sentinel), and broadly useful if unspectacular feat. I wanted to really dig around for something good and not just settle on my first impulse, so I set pVayl aside and kept moving through the list. All the possibilities soon became overwhelming even when I limited the list to Focus 7 and 8 casters. I needed a different approach, which I found, but first some background.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bhzVCJVetsvcKiFHY9YQhu4XS2C63jNdZUfOI8CKe6gzFB0dnwT68FKSCYNL7_YijmhvQgwxmsFysM8QGYsKzp9minCjw6qSjV-swyDA9F9B15YPhKqAYKFCL3PgTLZpF4CHYHzuJvx2/s1600/kovnik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bhzVCJVetsvcKiFHY9YQhu4XS2C63jNdZUfOI8CKe6gzFB0dnwT68FKSCYNL7_YijmhvQgwxmsFysM8QGYsKzp9minCjw6qSjV-swyDA9F9B15YPhKqAYKFCL3PgTLZpF4CHYHzuJvx2/s1600/kovnik.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very nice, very not my work.</td></tr>
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A large part of this event is converting a model for your caster. My first purchase for Warmachine, even before the initial Khador bundle I got from <a href="http://wargamingchaos.blogspot.com/">EV</a>, was a MoW Kovnik. I'd found Battlecollege and done just enough reading to be dangerous to myself. The idea of MoWs appealed to me, the Kovnik sounded like a neat piece, and my FLGS had one on the shelf. When I got the Khador seed from EV it included a painted Kovnik. I wasn't comfortable with pinning metal models at the time, despite years and years in the hobby, so the Kovnik I bought got stuffed away in a box where it sits to this day, waiting for some love. What better time to love on the poor Kovnik than this event where I can polish it up real nice and use it as something else?<br />
<br />
Armed with this new criteria (medium base caster) the list was more manageable. Many of the options were appealing, especially pGaspy and pThags, but in the end I narrowed the field to two, pGrissel and Bloody Barnabas. Baranabas drew my eye because of his innate abilities: three initials (with Crit: Consume and Blood Boon no less), Unyielding, Counter-Charge(!), and a lesser version of pKreoss' feat. My idea for him was pretty simple and probably predictable. I've always loved Doom Reavers, and Barnabas is a pretty bad man/gator, so the two fit together with ease<br />
<br />
As I thought about it more I didn't think Barnabas would offer the sort of support I wanted to really make Khador infantry a nightmare, so I turned to pGrissel who had that support already baked in. With her Fell Calls she could speed up the slow Demo Corps I wanted to use or let Doom Reavers make an extra attack. Her feat is a couple other feats put together and looks to be brutal with Khadoran infantry. Her personal ass-kicking ability isn't as impressive, but her basic defensive stats are respectable and since the idea was to run her as a support caster they're not as important. Fury 6 is a little underwhelming but not a deal breaker. I also had a couple ideas for conversion themes (opera/black metal singer) that would work with her abilities and avoid the Blender of Death With Skulls and Spikes and Nastiness that I expect to see lots of.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
With a chassis selected I proceeded on to making part of my army list. The event is a 35 pointer but you build your list in two steps, 25 points before the draft and 10 after. I already had some pieces in mind, and 25 points doesn't go far, so it was pretty easy to come up with this:<br />
<br />
Spriggan<br />
Doom Reavers + UA<br />
Max Demo Corps<br />
Widowmakers<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fbuD5wOEbP_wS7c3j1f_pYQZOelrQ36CIo-doa4pu3JBoH06LC9okPQw6ZHU7JPAt1EoJlLiHE-gYPFMfVkQfRB2s1dSj9vHQHKaeCBSGNMrfXeGUBeaJlMYg7t1um5jiYXaY1lRpPtw/s1600/shame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fbuD5wOEbP_wS7c3j1f_pYQZOelrQ36CIo-doa4pu3JBoH06LC9okPQw6ZHU7JPAt1EoJlLiHE-gYPFMfVkQfRB2s1dSj9vHQHKaeCBSGNMrfXeGUBeaJlMYg7t1um5jiYXaY1lRpPtw/s1600/shame.jpg" /></a></div>
Doom Reavers are the ultimate self-contained package. Widowmakers also do their thing without support. I wanted some MoWs to screen my caster and echo the Kovnik starting point. Normally I'd pick Black Ivan for my jack since he's relatively versatile, but character jacks are banned so I went with the Spriggan as the all-rounder.<br />
<br />
All this was preparation for Wednesday's <a href="http://novanomads.com/featofservice/spelldraftrules/">spell draft</a>. The other draftees were Ron (<a href="http://miniarmyhugetimesink.wordpress.com/">volt_ron</a>), Brendon (<a href="http://plarzoid.com/">Plarzoid</a>), and Chris (no blog, feel shame). I would be passing my undrafted cards to Brendon, who was running pVlad with Legion, which meant I wanted to consider what I'd be giving him to pick from when making my own selection. What I was looking for in particular were broad buffs that would work on the Doomies (S&P, Eye of Menoth, Fog of War), a melee-specific buff (Fury, Battle Lust), and a debuff (Parasite, Crippling Grasp). Jack/battlegroup buffs weren't high on my list because Khador, and caster-only buffs were down on the list since I wanted to do the support thing. Keeping these parameters in mind, I got my first batch of spells:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZl-5AWW9llw-8CavhLgU_oCkeebOhjwe9018cZNxM6rJU4ROJDVoK8WEKPhGGzRv_JydiquXOQiraA7hUKYT5YqpYunHAROqbjB4kByXyy92bOO9YEkjn13ffXeS_h0vuwJGp7fX_ZuB/s1600/draft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZl-5AWW9llw-8CavhLgU_oCkeebOhjwe9018cZNxM6rJU4ROJDVoK8WEKPhGGzRv_JydiquXOQiraA7hUKYT5YqpYunHAROqbjB4kByXyy92bOO9YEkjn13ffXeS_h0vuwJGp7fX_ZuB/s1600/draft.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There will be a theme...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Abuse<br />
Malice<br />
Parasite<br />
Skyborne<br />
Snipe<br />
Sure Foot<br />
Warpath<br />
Wind Rush<br />
<br />
The number of orgasmic sounds I made while looking through the cards was probably a bit high, and in retrospect unwarranted, but it was hard to contain myself when confronted with all these signature spells. I discounted Abuse, Malice, and Snipe quickly since they didn't do what I wanted. Wind Rush is a familiar favorite that would boost Grissel's DEF to troublesome levels, and Skyborne would also do that with some different utility. Sure Foot almost got picked, but I decided the footprint would be too small to be effective for lots of infantry. In the end it came down to Parasite and War Path. You're probably thinking Parasite is the obvious choice since I listed it as a primary target, but I went with War Path because I couldn't let Brendon take it while playing pVlad in Legion. Thus my first choice wasn't even for me but instead against someone else. The round ended, cards were passed, and my second group was this:<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTZav_C3xJMUWcGv7BVEqsu1nvE7EMz34JyPNFTPH3t0y_971B4h9U-A4hlGuk982-TJIe_RHtqp0jIdAiraQ3PFBU-E9ZtaK9QW2vsfhf02GfqaC_CT3hl1ju6jzmZ63OqxC2TlJrECl/s1600/more+draft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTZav_C3xJMUWcGv7BVEqsu1nvE7EMz34JyPNFTPH3t0y_971B4h9U-A4hlGuk982-TJIe_RHtqp0jIdAiraQ3PFBU-E9ZtaK9QW2vsfhf02GfqaC_CT3hl1ju6jzmZ63OqxC2TlJrECl/s1600/more+draft.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many choices.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Banishing Ward<br />
Deadeye<br />
Flesh Eater<br />
Ghost Walk<br />
Psychic Vampire<br />
Razor Wind<br />
Ritual Sacrifice<br />
<br />
Lots of good stuff to pick from. I discounted Flesh Eater, Psychic Vampire, and Razor Wind quickly. Deadeye is super sexy for someone but not for what I wanted to run, and since I had already picked against someone in the first round I wanted to get something I'd use in the second. Banishing Ward would be nice but limited as the Doomies are already protected from spells. Ghost Walk would also be nice, especially for the Demo Corps. In the end I couldn't pass up Ritual Sacrifice. It would help mitigate Grissel's low(ish) Fury 6 and meh melee stats while also allowing me to (potentially) run multiple jacks or sling any juicy spells I came across. Round three brought:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20tFDkqwloN-OXMpyYeSG44qUxV2tvT7M-p1orAjTCZd7QjVGDE-6TFH9dnAPi8TpYhpOTocsBEZPFVM9o5x__Ob4EKje63WvquR5NcCvU367cs0mF1pDt1QfBxmgAHBc7PQXZhOfjwn3/s1600/draft+gone+wrong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20tFDkqwloN-OXMpyYeSG44qUxV2tvT7M-p1orAjTCZd7QjVGDE-6TFH9dnAPi8TpYhpOTocsBEZPFVM9o5x__Ob4EKje63WvquR5NcCvU367cs0mF1pDt1QfBxmgAHBc7PQXZhOfjwn3/s1600/draft+gone+wrong.jpg" height="176" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HURRRRR, we're gonna go fast and turn left!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Backlash<br />
Energizer<br />
Mobility<br />
Mutagenesis<br />
Obliteration<br />
Tornado<br />
<br />
Quality had already started to decline, but at least that made it easier to trim the choices. Backlash, Obliteration, and Tornado were out quick. Energizer and Mobility both give some welcome speed buffs, but since I already had Warpath I didn't want to double down on battlegroup spells I was unlikely to get much use out of. Mobility would have been nice for the Demo Corps, but the DEF boost would be mostly wasted as the bump from 11 to 13 isn't that significant. It was around here that I lost track of what my concept was (support caster), either willfully because I hadn't seen what I wanted and didn't think I would or unwittingly as I kept drawing stuff that would have been great for Barnabas. I ended up with Mutagenesis because it's fun and potentially very useful when combined with Ritual Sacrifice to load up on Focus before (hopefully) teleporting in for the kill. Moving on to round four:<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8gNPZbhuoUST0E1knXGNKSurxDU4mWIXgALJ2ksA678ciiguZv4iMlzqG23zzN7qX0r2opwGImJ7vNtTFhWf2dMUCnNbGOhDBqT4ItstuG4gC2NkokbD578GQzPKBaFYI5uN8F4FWMlL/s1600/drafty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8gNPZbhuoUST0E1knXGNKSurxDU4mWIXgALJ2ksA678ciiguZv4iMlzqG23zzN7qX0r2opwGImJ7vNtTFhWf2dMUCnNbGOhDBqT4ItstuG4gC2NkokbD578GQzPKBaFYI5uN8F4FWMlL/s1600/drafty.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your draft may vary.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Arcane Shield<br />
Boundless Charge<br />
Fail Safe<br />
Stoneskin<br />
Snipe<br />
<br />
More easy choices. Snipe was from the same mold as Deadeye, though it could have been dirty fun with Widowmakers. Fail Safe didn't appeal because it's just for jacks. Stoneskin was potentially neat but speed debuffs that you apply to your own troops are always a bitter pill. Boundless Charge is nice, but I get enough of it when I play Khadoran casters. Arcane Shield was the clear winner for me as I could put it on a jack, the Demo Corps, or my caster and get good use out of it.<br />
<br />
Round five we got back our initial group of cards, albeit picked over. Abuse and Malice were still there, along with Sure Foot and Skyborne. I took Skyborne because I wanted it the first time around. <br />
Round six brought Razor Wind, Flesh Eater, and Banishing Ward. I didn't want the first two when I saw them earlier, so Banishing Ward it was. Round seven was Backlash and Tornado, of which I took Backlash. Round eight I got Stoneskin. My final list, of which I would get to pick Focus/Fury-1 (which is five for the math challenged) was:<br />
<br />
Arcane Shield *<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyya6O0TCux-7hBe-TlMZ8wRFDRIwim6Crvnvtacmyjpa29ZElSpHOPLaeycSFLNV2s1Fl3G_s4Z5aVGk2VO-umPsK621yNh7b5s5ozA-AYj2O_azsh0U9UmG96JivgMT9jaPW4huO5-i/s1600/wtf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyya6O0TCux-7hBe-TlMZ8wRFDRIwim6Crvnvtacmyjpa29ZElSpHOPLaeycSFLNV2s1Fl3G_s4Z5aVGk2VO-umPsK621yNh7b5s5ozA-AYj2O_azsh0U9UmG96JivgMT9jaPW4huO5-i/s1600/wtf.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't know either. Needed filler.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Backlash<br />
Banishing Ward<br />
Mutagenesis *<br />
Ritual Sacrifice *<br />
Skyborne *<br />
Stoneskin<br />
Warpath *<br />
<br />
The ones I picked have the asterisks. I ended up with none of what I wanted going in (broad buff, melee buff, debuff), which was partially my own doing. Intentionally or not, I ended up with a list that would have suited Barnabas pretty well. The clear winners for me are Ritual Sacrifice and Arcane Shield. I could take a cheap unit like Mechanics or WGI strictly for bodies to sacrifice. Arcane Shield is a great buff that would work well on anything except maybe the Widowmakers. Skyborne gives some extra DEF even if I never use the MAT boost or Flying. Warpath could be useful at times, as could Mutagenesis. <br />
<br />
Things didn't turn out like I hoped they would, so I haven't fleshed out the list yet. One path I wanted to pursue before doing the draft was double Doomies, which is as viable now as it was then. To that I could add some Greylords or min WGI, but I don't know that I like double Doomies as much as I thought I might. I'd also look at WGI as an offensive unit, which means Joe, and Mechanics for sacrificing. Or I could add a Kodiak and Mechanics to make better use of Warpath. There's also the option of redrafting, either this coming Wednesday when the general draft happens or the morning of the event, June 7th at Huzzah Hobbies.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qHgGtucULnZZ9j2FgWqltO3fRvkGdZj8n2V-vVNFUs50qEaub_8FzhbQKYu4BpfhAC-S71DxogpOvbj6hIc-K3tCMarVHqjEv7gs66z1wbOsiQbdFF3_tlIvSKURfrE9x51zhC43CPeU/s1600/gator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qHgGtucULnZZ9j2FgWqltO3fRvkGdZj8n2V-vVNFUs50qEaub_8FzhbQKYu4BpfhAC-S71DxogpOvbj6hIc-K3tCMarVHqjEv7gs66z1wbOsiQbdFF3_tlIvSKURfrE9x51zhC43CPeU/s1600/gator.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soon?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Looking back on the process now it's tempting to scrap Grissel and go with Barnabas instead. Hoping for Eye of Menoth or S&P is a bad plan as I'd have to get them in the first round to come away with one. I haven't dug deep into the list of available spells to see how likely getting a melee buff is, but I'm guessing it's not much better than S&P, though the chances of having it passed along to you are much higher. It seems like there are a lot of things that would benefit a super solo caster, either as caster-only buffs or things that work well for anyone. I'm trying to avoid over-"correcting" (unlike some hockey teams I could name following the 2010 playoffs...) based on what I got in this draft, so I'm skeptical of my own line of reasoning here. That said, Barnabas has a lot going for him and would require less sculpting than trying to put a tuxedo around a MoW like I'd want to do for an opera singer. Counter-Charge on a warcaster seems like a thing that would be fun. I could also take another, closer look at the small based casters, though that would mean far more work to figure out bits for a model. I have until this Wednesday at the very least to decide.<br />
<br />
Regardless of the outcome the draft was a good time. Holding so many possibilities in your hand is dizzying, and trying to balance taking things for yourself against denying things to your future opponents makes for some tough choices. I don't do a whole lot of conversion, especially in metal and outside of GW games, so that aspect of the event will be something different and a good chance to learn some new modelling techniques. Best of all is the opportunity to support a good cause by gaming, which is a win for everyone involved. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLyy_r7PzyyOk_NZmepIyDseO7UMgUzXAqXI0bjlTek37EZdc4TkfQxGgNKoC_63himSuQ_1jO7pQJkFgUdjZ_qIFvOMWogxNKR0ZzAf0x7JWHsO2tZEzQGrpcdeZv2IUl1xhMUVI03Fj/s1600/want+it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLyy_r7PzyyOk_NZmepIyDseO7UMgUzXAqXI0bjlTek37EZdc4TkfQxGgNKoC_63himSuQ_1jO7pQJkFgUdjZ_qIFvOMWogxNKR0ZzAf0x7JWHsO2tZEzQGrpcdeZv2IUl1xhMUVI03Fj/s1600/want+it.jpg" height="260" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disclaimer: we are not this attractive.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Speaking for the group, we encourage everyone that can come to come. There is a substantial time investment in getting a converted model together, so don't be fooled by the event still being over a month away. I've scattered links to the event pages on the <a href="http://novanomads.com/">Nomads site</a>, but I'll do so again here to keep them all together (<a href="http://novanomads.com/featofservice/rules/">caster rules</a>, <a href="http://novanomads.com/featofservice/spelldraftrules/">spell draft rules</a>). Please note that at the time of posting these are still in minor flux and likely to change, mostly in style and presentation but there could be minor tweaks in more substantial areas. If you and/or your group are interested but think this isn't for you let me assure you that it is for you (and everyone). You can bug me about details (I think I have contact info somewhere around here), or do the same to any of the people I've linked to, or on the Nomads site.<br />
<br />Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-8119176652289310502014-03-08T23:19:00.001-05:002014-03-08T23:22:33.066-05:00Errants Are "Done"<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4hA7nKBoQ8pqJ6B1dP3YpC4xz3uryda3NmMYXkjuDGUSfShLgK-PsC8fK1dj5wd0JToLTw4sU7Lxv31SSpvv1jw16VEjto0XXi_wBXgdgeIVhFliJ8BSmYZwdhnPqlUfpId0UvrMwT6q/s1600/George-W.-Bush-Mission-Accomplished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4hA7nKBoQ8pqJ6B1dP3YpC4xz3uryda3NmMYXkjuDGUSfShLgK-PsC8fK1dj5wd0JToLTw4sU7Lxv31SSpvv1jw16VEjto0XXi_wBXgdgeIVhFliJ8BSmYZwdhnPqlUfpId0UvrMwT6q/s1600/George-W.-Bush-Mission-Accomplished.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remember this guy? </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A tasty bit of apocrypha tells us that a young Colonel Sanders once dropped a profound couplet on the world at large: know when to hold 'em/know when to fold 'em. (Suspect pundits, quoting unvalidated sources, attribute this differently. They're wrong.) <br />
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While napping through the Come to Jebus meeting at my local Waffle Barn I made a hard choice: put in some work making them look nice, then declare victory on the Errant front. I've put plenty of time and effort into them, and I'm telling myself I'll go back and finish them properly later, but if I want to get my army even close to painted for the Journeyman league (and I do) then it's time for some triage. The time-hemorrhage that is that unit had to stop, so I got my kit out today and made it so. <br />
<br />
Turns out that Bush pic is really long, so I need a text buffer to make things look less like a puddle of vomit. Hopefully this gets the job done.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVRb2z7AXgA0ddhI43R1hBJ8zy8qnxft9VUdV1mmVegMzCjDXkXrMSGV9A5cucPnmo67a8Q1lzmP1UbtxEG-g0HD34mVtDEwURW4bPz_SMafsZEutnw9suGMryvAE7ZEFNruzzzzY7RuIR/s1600/errants.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVRb2z7AXgA0ddhI43R1hBJ8zy8qnxft9VUdV1mmVegMzCjDXkXrMSGV9A5cucPnmo67a8Q1lzmP1UbtxEG-g0HD34mVtDEwURW4bPz_SMafsZEutnw9suGMryvAE7ZEFNruzzzzY7RuIR/s1600/errants.JPG" height="176" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screw these guys. I'm super seriously.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I felt like a heel while doing this since there wasn't a whole lot left to do. It didn't take too long to get the black down (not highlighting saves a lot of time), which led nicely into finishing the bases. All that was left after was a bit of silver here and there and then "victory." To be fair to myself they look fine, especially on the table.<br />
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The big win here is that I can now plow ahead into the mountain of other models waiting for love. Keeping with the triage theme the plan now is to base coat the lot so everything has the (beginnings of the) right color in the right place. Then I can pull out whatever and finish it properly. Will I get approximately 20 infantry and 4 jacks done in the next 2.5 weeks? Doubtful. Can I get base coats on that same group in that time? Sure can.<br />
<br />
Why stop there though? Let's shoot for the moon. I'm gonna base coat <i>and wash </i>those models.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-87840214897844343732014-02-28T19:01:00.003-05:002014-02-28T19:01:44.179-05:00Journeyman Update 2<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6niHBKvtYb4ABfHUpMpMcDtr_GM2s6mjasx8K869vNJyDXY7uq4Otq-pi-JdbRVqbApNncwnQuLjW5jqY_jfty_UuvxqruIFVw98zk43tl1UeUNHglkV4WA_HL24l9V9nZKaM8M9Zjhr/s1600/errant+almost+done.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6niHBKvtYb4ABfHUpMpMcDtr_GM2s6mjasx8K869vNJyDXY7uq4Otq-pi-JdbRVqbApNncwnQuLjW5jqY_jfty_UuvxqruIFVw98zk43tl1UeUNHglkV4WA_HL24l9V9nZKaM8M9Zjhr/s1600/errant+almost+done.JPG" height="320" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks nice, takes years. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To borrow a phrase from one of my favorites, we've always been painting Errants. These little bastards are the gifts that keep on giving...an unending list of things to paint. After a decent Tuesday of painting I thought I was on the last leg. The whites and reds were done, leaving only the golds and blacks (and yes, also the inevitable overlooked bits and basing). I rolled into Thursday feeling good about my chances of finishing the unit in advance of today's <a href="http://miniarmyhugetimesink.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/paint-the-target-january-2014-results/">Paint the Target</a> due date. This confidence was misplaced. Much suffering ensued.<br />
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Full disclosure: I was trying something new. More fuller disclosure: the new thing was a different shade of brown. I've been using the brown undercoat for bronze/gold approach for a while, but until yesterday the brown has been the VGC equivalent of Snakebite Leather. This has served me well, but I wondered if a darker (some might say Beastial) brown would look better. Fast forward some four hours of laying down brown so I could paint over it with bronze (and then highlight...) and something had to give. I had an emergency backup plan in my pocket in case I ran into this very scenario consisting of one step: abandon the group and finish a single model. Somehow the bronze and gold went on quicker than the brown, there wasn't much black to do, the base went as bases do, and I was able to get a model close enough to call it finished without any major psychotic episodes.<br />
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The bad news, of course, is there are nine more of these guys to do. Plus the UA. And a solo. Ugh.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-2922491448315956522014-02-24T19:48:00.000-05:002014-02-24T19:48:40.045-05:00Journeyman Update 1<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5mfB2kh7BbOQMXvYqYp4WeB-gw3zoKceBbVciKoW9KxqpSogNqT7panN598JLoBEdUkYrPDb8T2d13tO0dL_DqLu5tniFNgjUxNE-E4XROcjZzNFNfJXO5HhZvFQwb7YnYjkQO9tvFog/s640/blogger-image-1608026267.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5mfB2kh7BbOQMXvYqYp4WeB-gw3zoKceBbVciKoW9KxqpSogNqT7panN598JLoBEdUkYrPDb8T2d13tO0dL_DqLu5tniFNgjUxNE-E4XROcjZzNFNfJXO5HhZvFQwb7YnYjkQO9tvFog/s400/blogger-image-1608026267.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They paint soooo sloooooooooooooooooooooow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The journeyman league started up this week and I'm already behind. Not in the league standings, where I'm doing well, but on the painting table. You might recall my grand ambition to have the Errants (perhaps the UA and solo as well) finished before the league began. That hasn't quite worked out (thanks Olympics!) and now here we are in week two and I've just had my first good, meaty session with them. Things are going, if slower than hoped for, but I have managed to learn one vital lesson: painting Errants sucks. All the detail, all the cross-body arms, all the mans, everything is bad bad bad. Things are surely exaggerated by the relative lateness of the takeoff and that I'm in the part of the process that takes the most time while yielding little visible progress (love basecoats and layering up), but it's still painful. The good news is that I'm doing my penance now for running the Errant boat, so when my opponent's tears inevitably begin to flow I can say "Hey man, it could be worse. I had to paint these bastards." There's only (only!) another two or three layers for the armor, so hopefully things speed up soon, though I know all the gold will be a slog. My only solace in these troubling times is that each layer I do is one less to do in the future. The plan now is to finish the Errants this week.<br />
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On the gaming front the picture is much rosier. Thanks to a case of mistaken identity and some poor dice I went 3-0 in the first week. The list worked more or less as expected, and I even managed my first scenario win in forever. I ran Reckoner/Vanquisher last week and now I'm not sure about making the move to double Reckoner. The 4" of auto-fire is real nice, even if it is shorter ranged on a slower chassis. I might press my luck this week and stick with the list as is. Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-61591546678413500902014-02-10T11:51:00.001-05:002014-02-10T21:39:37.272-05:00Journeyman Photo Hoster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4d7fp_lVBgdvFFHuzmoPMP5_XJIe3ckM4XVQXrST1N91kU3Iq90p6EOiaWDN-TLTlTNFS1DYL5lXbPvlxNouoIHiJAma3crWb81-FCyehmkyJqYftMnVLXd43jqgaRPJlkftF0m5IPRXf/s1600/blogger-image-261079183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4d7fp_lVBgdvFFHuzmoPMP5_XJIe3ckM4XVQXrST1N91kU3Iq90p6EOiaWDN-TLTlTNFS1DYL5lXbPvlxNouoIHiJAma3crWb81-FCyehmkyJqYftMnVLXd43jqgaRPJlkftF0m5IPRXf/s1600/blogger-image-261079183.jpg" height="136" width="320" /></a></div>
Really just need a place to put a picture, but we'll do a tiny post at the same time. The Journeyman league starts in a week, which means it's past time to get everything put together. I'm close with just the Errant UA, Repenter, and Wracks left to assemble. I've even got a start on the Wracks. There's also a second Reckoner, but that can and probably will wait until the rest is together. The Errants are about to hit the painting table, a bit behind schedule but still on pace. Still waiting and hoping for spraying weather.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-67732096662341328932014-01-31T13:00:00.004-05:002014-02-10T11:52:25.916-05:00Finished Models, New Adventures<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-VmeIDydvaQ7DF6683NNN2gclsA-u4A0S-vU4SYj4axbOZL4wLYavjtvmisnHjucNzG5YvOWkKV9WcIVgbsr7nTMkqZlcz8yfTYArcGPZdjvHGd7jUofem57-aweEGKtKpON9PvcNnQy/s1600/vassal1+++vigilant.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-VmeIDydvaQ7DF6683NNN2gclsA-u4A0S-vU4SYj4axbOZL4wLYavjtvmisnHjucNzG5YvOWkKV9WcIVgbsr7nTMkqZlcz8yfTYArcGPZdjvHGd7jUofem57-aweEGKtKpON9PvcNnQy/s1600/vassal1+++vigilant.JPG" height="177" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behold my mighty works and despair! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first two members of the newly formed Northern Crusade are finished. At least I think they're mostly finished. I'm in the midst of a fierce internal debate over whether to add some static grass to the bases. The grey cobblestones are the victory I hoped they would be, and the bases are pleasing overall, but I think a little something extra (like static grass) would really kick them over the line I was shooting for. Are they worth the extra steps, and vast amount of drying time, for the results? I'm not convinced just yet, but they do look nice. Granted they're going quicker as I do more and get to know the process better, but it's still a couple extra hurdles to getting models assembled, let alone painted. I'm already invested for this army, and they'll be a nice touch for character/showcase models, but I don't know that I'll want to do another whole army this way.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29eCYyucBCvg_pAWjT6aEg480yfTwtjWiqMmwIim5dzZy4-N1vng7qcHFTShm2gJ1-sAzI8DWFH_JWmxqKPubzM5DOr5NDyYkSjq0TlKnQFFA_HPQQhDyU0uqo8and35LAU_R6vrZxEbn/s1600/vigilant.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29eCYyucBCvg_pAWjT6aEg480yfTwtjWiqMmwIim5dzZy4-N1vng7qcHFTShm2gJ1-sAzI8DWFH_JWmxqKPubzM5DOr5NDyYkSjq0TlKnQFFA_HPQQhDyU0uqo8and35LAU_R6vrZxEbn/s1600/vigilant.JPG" height="245" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big, meaty shield fists.</td></tr>
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As for painting the models, as opposed to the bases, there's not much to add since I covered most of the process <a href="http://khadoranmachineneverbreaks.blogspot.com/2014/01/painting-with-actual-colors.html">last time</a>. The only real addition was finishing up the blacks. This was my first time using the oft-touted P3 Coal Black. It looked a little green, but other than that it was comparable with the usual VGC Shadow Grey. While I'm pleased with how the blacks turned out here, especially on the Vigilant, I think that's due mostly to the sculpting, namely the sharp ridges that made highlighting a breeze. The menofixes on the Vassal's shoulders didn't go nearly as well, but they're also much smaller. We'll see how things turn out on other infantry, of which there is still plenty to go.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHxJQnOHHBd8NOdmrZoyPQqof4bGZNZO3HispaZzdc6ntpfKiY4zyCXTcJxrntCMIwlkNjLjBT-fPdNIIVLG2hqoQaywS0Qv1XSpXCfKRqWZdECjWUYG7RrsVM8vWgLINdfrFXYwaQo9H/s1600/vassal1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHxJQnOHHBd8NOdmrZoyPQqof4bGZNZO3HispaZzdc6ntpfKiY4zyCXTcJxrntCMIwlkNjLjBT-fPdNIIVLG2hqoQaywS0Qv1XSpXCfKRqWZdECjWUYG7RrsVM8vWgLINdfrFXYwaQo9H/s1600/vassal1.JPG" height="320" width="218" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Showing off the base.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Speaking of painting infantry, I have a painting schedule in mind. While my Journeyman list isn't quite set in stone yet, though it's getting close, it's a pretty safe bet that Errants will factor in. They have a fierce reputation for being made of many bits and having tons of detail. After assembling the unit, if not yet the UA and solo, I can confidently add my voice to the chorus. If I want to do a decent job on them, and I do, trying to cram the unit in between Journeyman games is not going to work. Fortunately there's quite a bit of wiggle room this year which will let me get them finished before the league officially begins. Thus the plan is to get at least the unit, and hopefully UA and solo, done in roughly the next two weeks. The stars aligned properly to make this a viable entry for the revived <a href="http://miniarmyhugetimesink.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/paint-the-target-january-2014-results/">Paint the Target</a> and the year long <a href="http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?186266-A-Tale-of-WMH-2014-Directory">painting challenge</a> on the big boards, so I'll be merrily triple-dipping. If I can manage this, which really shouldn't be too hard, I'll have (roughly) the following to tackle during the league:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Zealots</li>
<li>Choir</li>
<li>Caster and a handful of solos</li>
<li>3-5 jacks</li>
</ul>
<div>
The Zealots and Choir should go quick enough since they're mostly robes. If I take a bit of time on the jacks and caster, which I plan to, I should still get done with time to spare. I just need to get on the Errant horse as soon as possible and make sure I get all the remaining construction and priming done in the next week or so. Easy peasy.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxx_XwMKQakGzihs44XKRa3i74gh0MaHosWzlazkjlzKKMCVyF4sVuA2nDfFBiTLepfSFgNRk9n7ACT_aN5dTUFDjts0ku4eln6tS2JzOwky6qJbib6DuiQcO3Sup7SV5mYuymYKgB9vX0/s1600/dreadball.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxx_XwMKQakGzihs44XKRa3i74gh0MaHosWzlazkjlzKKMCVyF4sVuA2nDfFBiTLepfSFgNRk9n7ACT_aN5dTUFDjts0ku4eln6tS2JzOwky6qJbib6DuiQcO3Sup7SV5mYuymYKgB9vX0/s1600/dreadball.JPG" height="280" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now with bases for the players.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
As for the new adventure, last night I got in my first real games of Dreadball. While I regret jumping in on the Kickstarter as much as I did, sunk costs can't be recouped, but the fruits of them can be enjoyed. Dreadball rolls along quickly once you get a good feel for how things work, and it's certainly a brutal game that reminds me of a mix of rugby and hockey, which is a very good mix in my book. The Orx (I hate that X so much) performed more or less as expected: great big stompy bastards that are prone to getting so distracted by stomping that they forget to do much scoring. Despite rarely facing a full team, thanks to all the stomping, I still had to work to pull out a win the first time and narrowly lost a second contest. I'm not entirely convinced we were playing 100% correctly, and there's plenty of strategy that we barely brushed up against, but it was entertaining and good to finally get some use out of all my future psuedo-football mans. I hear there's rumblings about the game at Huzzah, and there's an interested party or three in my usual Wednesday night group, so hopefully things will congeal enough to try out the league part of the system where I assume the bulk of the fun is. The biggest problem is that my desire to paint up the Orc smashers, and their little goblin buddies, has reappeared. Normally this would be a good thing, but I'm not normally staring down a pile of Menites with a ticking deadline. At least I'm back to painting after a far too long layoff.</div>
Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-17746778714764804302014-01-27T20:36:00.002-05:002014-01-31T13:03:11.919-05:00Painting With Actual Colors<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAlXZEsr9_5mmr3SdD0X5QukISwo34FLE97LCicZXbaI84sd0WmDE1geEldiZTHn1iRc5kcIbeC_DTB_8lhHO6tcwgypOCLmwotEtPr2Tx6igsdbuDgDdsRdv5Nf70bubgMlGy4lqTJYMv/s1600/vassal+++vigilant+wip+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAlXZEsr9_5mmr3SdD0X5QukISwo34FLE97LCicZXbaI84sd0WmDE1geEldiZTHn1iRc5kcIbeC_DTB_8lhHO6tcwgypOCLmwotEtPr2Tx6igsdbuDgDdsRdv5Nf70bubgMlGy4lqTJYMv/s1600/vassal+++vigilant+wip+1.JPG" height="165" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The end of session one. </td></tr>
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With a couple <a href="http://miniarmyhugetimesink.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/introducing-paint-the-target-in-2014/">painting</a> <a href="http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?186266-A-Tale-of-WMH-2014-Directory">deadlines</a> just over the horizon, and with my the plague that knocked me on my ass for a week or so finally (hopefully) behind me, it's time to get the painting machine going. This process has been underway for a couple days, so there will be more pictures than usual. I'm sure you'll find a way to push through.<br />
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I've talked a couple times about how I want to push my limits a bit with this new project. Some chances have already fallen short, notably jack construction, while others have yet to be given the chance to be pushed aside. Of particular note for this post is painting approach. I'm trying out a few things: following a studio scheme (more or less), painting with a reference, and trying out the PP style of shading and highlighting. Basics remain unchanged, so my first session was still blocking in colors and applying a wash (even if the wash didn't go down until session two). <br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeIrZx2JbTkOBYURrq3y_THFr3DiyPJWLQAlEuZcgIWWEtAN9NCszZwJIFM1EgzcXqgR7bOnrYwX3brTIhMiyFyRGSeX4rBiBxXNy4flw4x5sbWKBa3VRR_zwV6kncVfyU048vSg8CbBDE/s1600/vigilant+wip+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeIrZx2JbTkOBYURrq3y_THFr3DiyPJWLQAlEuZcgIWWEtAN9NCszZwJIFM1EgzcXqgR7bOnrYwX3brTIhMiyFyRGSeX4rBiBxXNy4flw4x5sbWKBa3VRR_zwV6kncVfyU048vSg8CbBDE/s1600/vigilant+wip+1.JPG" height="245" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About halfway through session two. Whites are done.</td></tr>
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Despite this regular approach, I was still incorporating a new element. Continuing my sweaty bear hug of new, mobile tech, this time I was painting with an open iPad. Since I'm following the studio scheme I don't have to worry so much about figuring out what color goes where, provided I have a reference handy. In the past this would have involved having the Forces book on hand, lots of flipping and propping, and likely deviations when I don't want to wrestle brush and book and model simultaneously. Fortunately the PP gallery has <a href="http://privateerpress.com/warmachine/gallery/the-protectorate-of-menoth/warjacks/vigilant">examples</a> of everything I'm likely to need (even if the 360 views don't work on the iPad). While handy, this method also causes a slight existential painting style crisis.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T_Njq2DHE_5L-GxkZFfraS83PgSsBgo2JRcCRcXJR8Z5toma84JQGIheW7zTuXgh4bblFGCIDOk3EqD4wzItHRdk3N9ObIjVEyyJgPRRBZGjNbJA8s-POfNgpZnptIF0Hv1rm7mrtpxi/s1600/vassal+++vigilant+wip+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T_Njq2DHE_5L-GxkZFfraS83PgSsBgo2JRcCRcXJR8Z5toma84JQGIheW7zTuXgh4bblFGCIDOk3EqD4wzItHRdk3N9ObIjVEyyJgPRRBZGjNbJA8s-POfNgpZnptIF0Hv1rm7mrtpxi/s1600/vassal+++vigilant+wip+2.JPG" height="182" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End of session two.</td></tr>
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I like to do things my own way. If this means I reinvent the wheel on occasion, then that's the price I have to pay. This also means I rarely, if ever, follow a studio scheme step for step. My Blood Angels are pretty close, and what Empire I have done follows the scheme suggestions despite there being few examples of that scheme. Technically my Khador is <i>a</i> studio scheme, just not <i>the</i> studio scheme, and it has enough variations by now that it's at least as much my own work as any variation on a classical composer. I've talked at length about how much I like the studio Menoth scheme so I won't do it again, except to say that I'm not confident that any changes I make would be for the best. (Side note: that's not entirely true. I don't really like the mostly purple "red" of the studio scheme, so I'm doing a standard dark red instead.) <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkE4urcaJZ7GEp0AByOCAcxayVhW_ilqlEzZTeiNyTl00ZhIUAAe1toA40JhSLcBiDgbXQ32hst-nfW5kWTOb8m0CDY6Le8Xs7eSvSFjZ49tWiijdP-mAcxS_Vx34M8Tt-w6YBjSSYu6o/s1600/vigilant+wip+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkE4urcaJZ7GEp0AByOCAcxayVhW_ilqlEzZTeiNyTl00ZhIUAAe1toA40JhSLcBiDgbXQ32hst-nfW5kWTOb8m0CDY6Le8Xs7eSvSFjZ49tWiijdP-mAcxS_Vx34M8Tt-w6YBjSSYu6o/s1600/vigilant+wip+2.JPG" height="250" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My take on PP-style shading, end of session two.</td></tr>
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The most striking part of any PP paint job is the shading, which I think of as <i>creative shading.</i> To me, this means their approach to shading is less about realism and more about using contrast to emphasis details. My normal approach is what I'd call <i>logical shading</i>, meaning that things are brighter if there's light and darker if not. You can imagine how odd is trying to employ the PP style and how handy it is to have the iPad reference right in front of me. I'm fairly pleased with the results so far, despite what the pictures show. This is the rarest of birds where the actual models look better than their photographic counterparts. Trying to shade/highlight metallics has been the same fruitless endeavor that I keep plugging away at anyway. This pair of models is almost complete and would be done now if not for my old nemesis, the full palette. Still outstanding are blacks, hair, touch ups, cobblestones (the original plan was for red bricks, but it was soon clear that was a poor choice, so they'll be standard blue/grey/black), and arc markings. Not much at all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEDAV-ItiWo1x-KGe0HJZPvg7PglmMMdxt36mW1VJ0IgnGZQeyDA8fT5LKwIBtINhOnef56e6EQk1vjR-9UexGClkDmc4mjt46OrBEJSbTIvkwJqpyOl90RqEw_j8upZInQrSAzMT4K6l/s1600/vassal+wip+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEDAV-ItiWo1x-KGe0HJZPvg7PglmMMdxt36mW1VJ0IgnGZQeyDA8fT5LKwIBtINhOnef56e6EQk1vjR-9UexGClkDmc4mjt46OrBEJSbTIvkwJqpyOl90RqEw_j8upZInQrSAzMT4K6l/s1600/vassal+wip+2.JPG" height="320" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little more red on the wrists.</td></tr>
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In other news, and to fill some space for this last picture, I'm at work trying to get a list together for the rapidly approaching Journeyman league. This year is a bit different than the last few in that the focus is on getting to know all the nooks and crannies of a single list instead of trying to tackle an entire faction. I've been preparing for the Journeyman, but in line with the older model, which means I'm now looking at trimming 3-5 lists down to a single one. On the one hand this is a boon as it cuts my painting queue down to a very manageable size. On the other hand I'll be more or less locked into a single list with a faction I've barely dipped a toe into. Odds are I'll be running pKreoss or perhaps pSevy, though the possibility of eFeora or Vindictus still exists. The big problem here is that I want to run everything and obviously can't. The biggest draw of Menoth for me is jacks, so I want to have a solid wall of iron, but I also want to try out all the fancy new (to me) infantry as well. I lack the experience with the faction to determine what to keep and what to cut, who can handle all the jacks and who wants more mans, all the list building nuances. The festivities kick off three weeks from now, so I'll have a bit of time to learn and will hopefully be able to make a more informed decision between Zealots, Errants, or both, and the jacks that will ultimately do the work.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-81249588988097258212014-01-14T15:54:00.000-05:002014-01-14T15:54:24.261-05:00More Prime Puns<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT8wxpbwnS5FTz0zmTmJ0K6hs9j0cqXgbrFfiC1iuWh4Syhe72J0DV4_GYetMoYmgNPiceYFMyHupLKkCTM2Vq5rwB3LcoGlJ31n_O-WFIPgqtCvG0I0hrPWV_Bj_yru-D3xAxyFhdGEqE/s1600/more+to+prime.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT8wxpbwnS5FTz0zmTmJ0K6hs9j0cqXgbrFfiC1iuWh4Syhe72J0DV4_GYetMoYmgNPiceYFMyHupLKkCTM2Vq5rwB3LcoGlJ31n_O-WFIPgqtCvG0I0hrPWV_Bj_yru-D3xAxyFhdGEqE/s320/more+to+prime.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old shot, now they're primed. </td></tr>
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Now I'm going meta with titles. Look upon my works and despair.<br />
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That whole tournament thing I was going on about? Didn't happen for me. Illness stepped in and said "No, you will not be playing games this weekend." Fortunately I was still able to make good use of my time by assembling a unit of Errants and a Vigilant. The Vigiliant went together quick and easy. The Errants, not so much. Each model was at least 8 pieces, not counting the base, which takes some time even in plastic. The metal models must have been a nightmare, one I'll get a taste of when I do the UA and solo. Now I have a reasonable collection assembled and the biggest remaining hurdles from my initial batch are the TFG and Cinerators. Everything else is single models or small groups. Granted some of those are Wracks, which look frustrating, and most are metal, but it's easier to get an Errant solo and UA together than those plus the unit.<br />
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All this force congealing is coming at a good time, more or less as planned, because there's now a lot of Journeyman chatter going on the local email group. The plan all along has been to gather Menites, assemble and prime them, then initiate a painting orgy when the league starts. While I'm on the hook to paint a couple before the league starts (thanks in large part to <a href="http://miniarmyhugetimesink.wordpress.com/">local Ron</a>'s attempt to reboot <a href="http://miniarmyhugetimesink.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/introducing-paint-the-target-in-2014/">Paint the Target</a>) I'll still be in a good place.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-78994104681239455692014-01-09T19:13:00.001-05:002014-01-09T19:15:05.331-05:00Stumbling Out Of the Gate<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsldjRMweHtVtN6tIElvj_Jv6-hjQpNHnqgrrqihLz6_xp3mibfrGyAh82eZJ_y5QP6aO55cVMdr6rJx5kB42f0ubqvqyokyeOhjn3oLGmOnaKHd4xtz5057R83dMh70IyYrU0MB02lJ1/s1600/stumble.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsldjRMweHtVtN6tIElvj_Jv6-hjQpNHnqgrrqihLz6_xp3mibfrGyAh82eZJ_y5QP6aO55cVMdr6rJx5kB42f0ubqvqyokyeOhjn3oLGmOnaKHd4xtz5057R83dMh70IyYrU0MB02lJ1/s1600/stumble.gif" height="275" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who leaves a triangle out where someone can trip on it? </td></tr>
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After my (minor) Herculean effort to get models together and primed I got to put them on the table last night. My opponent was Justin, a buddy of <a href="http://wargamingchaos.blogspot.com/">EV</a>'s who is fairly new to our local Warmahordes group and the game in general. Normally I'd pull out Zerkova or Rhyas for a relative newcomer, but having brought just the one list I didn't have any options. When models started coming out this lack of diversity bit me square on the ass. As you may have gathered from previous posts I was playing pKreoss. Across the table was his natural predator: Ravyn with MHSF. There wasn't a whole lot to do, and in retrospect I'm not sure I had any play other than running off into a corner and praying, but at least it was over quick.<br />
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As the night was wrapping up I heard that the Game Vault tournament I've been getting ready for was full, which was unfortunate as I hadn't claimed a spot since I wanted to make sure I had enough Menoth together to make a 35 point list. There may also have been a bit of procrastination involved. Regardless of who made what mistakes based on which shortcomings, I figured it wasn't meant to be. Then I got a highlighted email today pointing out that someone had already signed me up, so the trip is back on. I'm a little concerned about running into poor match-ups while bringing just one list, but this trip will be more about getting some reps in with a new faction and seeing if Game Vault has some of the bits I'm still looking for on the shelf. Of course there's also a little place called Sonic, but that's a bonus.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-37862807079348018302014-01-06T17:03:00.000-05:002014-01-06T17:03:37.268-05:00Ready For Prime Time<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCO0VQychHvWSXpSU9LmZbFK4CXn5cflvVQnj-Y95nQm6k1Ne9SzxdyS6E-Wnjm3Lq2OPYfFsMbcScPjdQEbnIh-EoTfBUcz3JPmCuUTbNaKrrFA_MMyYoOfQ6XHMnWiCuQf1uqwvujetB/s1600/ready+for+prime+time.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCO0VQychHvWSXpSU9LmZbFK4CXn5cflvVQnj-Y95nQm6k1Ne9SzxdyS6E-Wnjm3Lq2OPYfFsMbcScPjdQEbnIh-EoTfBUcz3JPmCuUTbNaKrrFA_MMyYoOfQ6XHMnWiCuQf1uqwvujetB/s1600/ready+for+prime+time.JPG" height="185" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fruits of my labors. </td></tr>
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The title of this post is a little misleading, which I'll cover in a minute, but it was too good to not use. With the "polar vortex" poised to freeze all of reality solid sometime today (Monday) I took a look at forecasts for today while watching the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQiiKb_lLa0">foosball</a> yesterday to see if I'd be able to squeeze in some priming before the 9th circle of hell (which your classical education taught you was frozen) descends upon us all. Turned out there was a window this afternoon, so last night I got to work building a Reckoner and pinning two heavies to bases, the final items on my pre-priming list. As the picture above shows the work went well, and now I have a fully assembled and primed 35 point pKreoss army ready for a test run on Wednesday before their maiden competitive voyage this weekend.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-42023782752694015472014-01-03T18:38:00.001-05:002014-01-06T17:03:50.004-05:00Crusade Gains Ground<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosXTdk-HZ2WYGk0vb47Rq5Qc0GOvEOiw31CIjDUZRdVsLvWkAimkylaFmXLOZWxu6m8GAEMo5maLo-3-PXMRq5t3RZ5QuTehnegiZfPrHGoVGExkcpsczfGdeI55LJTQaozK1003zovvl/s1600/wonderland.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosXTdk-HZ2WYGk0vb47Rq5Qc0GOvEOiw31CIjDUZRdVsLvWkAimkylaFmXLOZWxu6m8GAEMo5maLo-3-PXMRq5t3RZ5QuTehnegiZfPrHGoVGExkcpsczfGdeI55LJTQaozK1003zovvl/s320/wonderland.JPG" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From last night. Not exactly frightful, but nice anyway. </td></tr>
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Amidst a flurry of snow there's also been a flurry of hobby progress. I got a bit handsy with the bases last night and gave them a good ballasting ahead of schedule, which paved the way to get the Zealots assembled today. I stuck with the smaller pinning option, piano wire, and things went much easier. I learned some good lessons while doing the unit, to the point that I'm a little concerned about the first couple. Not that I expect them to come flying off their bases, but they're not as solid as the later ones. High on the fumes of victory, I plunged ahead by greenstuffing three large bases and (finally, years later) putting together a Vanquisher (full glue, I skipped the magnets this time). I'll ballast the bases either later tonight or sometime over the weekend. Pinning the Vanquisher should be far easier than the Zealots because plastic/resin is a thing that's great.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tVsMvGZKJqijuplkyF2AB7CVXAdTimT770bfr6Piyxf79sf39y_u8U2EX0Nm22Q1u4XHynw6SoR6uMF6NmLbcNWI9dXGwEqMnRVkHUW2JTELPmdVTFNdKrfs_bktfbk4Xwx6OQLdJERR/s1600/zealots+++vanquisher.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tVsMvGZKJqijuplkyF2AB7CVXAdTimT770bfr6Piyxf79sf39y_u8U2EX0Nm22Q1u4XHynw6SoR6uMF6NmLbcNWI9dXGwEqMnRVkHUW2JTELPmdVTFNdKrfs_bktfbk4Xwx6OQLdJERR/s320/zealots+++vanquisher.JPG" height="176" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More righteous soldiers.</td></tr>
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After kicking my list disputes from <a href="http://khadoranmachineneverbreaks.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-crusade-takes-shape.html">last time</a> around on the local email group, and finding out that <a href="http://wargamingchaos.blogspot.com/">EV</a> had already parted with pEiryss, I've more or less settled on an idea. It's the same as last time (pKreoss, Redeemer, Reckoner, Vanquisher, Zealots + UA, min Choir, 2 Vassals, Aiyana & Holt) with the elf vs elf+man debate settled. Two Vassals is probably overkill, and I might still swap the Vanquisher for a second Reckoner, but there's a coherent shape. Or at least a vague shape. The important thing to note is that as things stand I only need to assemble a Reckoner to have the list ready to prime. Then I can mark some arcs, hit the table, and figure out if I have something viable. With a modest portion of luck I'll be able to prime on Monday or Tuesday so I can finally put things in my KR case and take them out to conquer on Wednesday.</div>
Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-61532440554183876682014-01-02T15:29:00.002-05:002014-01-03T18:38:43.134-05:00The Crusade Takes Shape<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Still working on that whole "regular update" thing. The silver lining is that when I get around to posting I have a decent bit of progress to report. I've made a reasonable dent in the pile, as you can see on the right, and there's even a bit more unshown progress in the form of a cleaned, ready for bases unit of Zealots. The bases for the Zealots are in progress with the largest hurdle (greenstuff) done and curing at this moment. I'll do ballast tomorrow and hopefully get the models on the (dry and finished) bases over the weekend. <br />
Turning to the completed construction, the jack support is ready to go with the Choir and a pair of Vassals waiting for primer. The Choir was more of a pain than anticipated. The tabs and robes were all one big piece, so clipping and filing took a while. Pinning was a pain as well, but for the Vassals I tried swapping my standard paper clips for the (relatively) new piano wire with pleasant results. The drilling went much faster, with less worries about potentially drilling through a leg or ankle. I didn't try bending the piano wire and greenstuffing it to the base like I do with the paper clips. We'll see if this causes problems down the road, but the Vassals felt plenty secure even without dry glue. As a bonus I did a bit of greenstuff on Kreoss' base to blend him in with the rest.<br />
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There's a plan behind this recent push beyond just trying to get the metal stuff done so I can move on to the easier to work plastics. Next Saturday (the 11th) there's a 35 point tournament down at Game Vault that I'd like to hit. When the announcement made the rounds of the local Warmahordes mailing list a week or two ago I said maybe I'd have some Menites ready for action. This didn't seem too plausible at the time, but now it's more reasonable. In addition to the in-progress Zealots I'll need to put together a pair of heavies (ideally two Reckoners if I can get a second, more likely a Reckoner and a Vanquisher) and maybe a pEiryss (if I decide I want her instead of a min Choir and Aiyana & Holt, and if I can't/don't borrow one from <a href="http://wargamingchaos.blogspot.com/">EV</a>). Despite my plans to make my jacks more interesting than usual via conversions and reposing, I think this is a very reasonable goal. With a bit of planning, to get the bases done, and effort I might even get the army together in time to give it a twirl on Wednesday so I'm not going into a tournament playing a new list, not to mention faction, for the first time. Nothing will be painted beyond primer which is unfortunate but not a deal breaker. More importantly it'll be a fully assembled, proxy-free army halfway through January, which would be a fantastic start. Still plenty to do, but a solid foundation to build on.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-37460701683009513782013-12-21T15:26:00.000-05:002013-12-21T15:50:02.202-05:00The First Step<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvR_-XqjKkplq7G7iU9yUg4jUmcvthYfmc-ktUqzWDJWPID0sXlSYciW_F6vgIwOw7tXQnPA0D7g86pKmve-wjXTZ7cMM8acyCExU1Z0Mlu-SmJfaOE_MZMZibNdvbagJihog2etvuD3EC/s1600/redeemer+wip+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvR_-XqjKkplq7G7iU9yUg4jUmcvthYfmc-ktUqzWDJWPID0sXlSYciW_F6vgIwOw7tXQnPA0D7g86pKmve-wjXTZ7cMM8acyCExU1Z0Mlu-SmJfaOE_MZMZibNdvbagJihog2etvuD3EC/s320/redeemer+wip+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now in a darker grey. </td></tr>
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The pile of boxes lost a member a few days ago when a Redeemer took form. Building a whole mini without a base was as odd as expected and pinning the model to the base caused some collateral damage (the gun popped off), but aside from seeming to take longer the process went off without a hitch. The weather broke after everything was glued together and dry, a clear sign that I'm on the right path, so I even got to prime the little bugger. It's incredibly top heavy even discarding the Vlad-esque shoulders, so I have a few concerns about the load-bearing chicken legs, but it's a finished model which is what counts at this point. I've been planning to do TFG or Errants next, but now I'm thinking about doing the Choir. They're single part sculpts for the most part, will feature in every list I'm likely to field, there's only six of them, and it'd scratch one of the metal units off the list. We'll see how it turns out.<br />
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In keeping with tradition, I added another model as soon as I finished the Redeemer. In my defense I didn't exactly go and get it for myself. We had a white elephant/yankee swap/whatever holiday free play event on Wednesday, so I had to walk away with something. I've never done one of these events before, but my initial impression was a good one. Everyone seemed to have a good time and the amount of Menoth in the swap was nice as I had plenty of options but also a bit daunting as I'm now wary of faction overload. I finished towards the sharp end, which meant I could almost take my pick of the litter. There was a Devout floating around that tempted me greatly, but ultimately I went with a Vigilant because it's plastic. I brought a Nephilim Soldier (it seemed prudent to bring something I'd like), so I think I made out fine.</div>
Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-38366579824054694152013-12-16T21:52:00.001-05:002014-01-09T19:14:35.291-05:00Now With Title!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My latest endeavor. </td></tr>
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Fun fact: this is version three of this post. The previous two were lost while trying to get the phone and tablet, and multiple apps on both, to play nice. The future, it is not yet here. This third iteration brought to you the old fashioned way, with a keyboard and mouse. I had missed natural, effortless typing. But I digress...<br />
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My lack of hobby progress over the past month or two has been unsettling. Things are fine on the gaming side, but modelling and painting has slowed as much as possible without hitting a full stop. The only sensible thing to do in this sort of situation is to add more models to the queue, which is exactly what I did thanks to Black Friday sales. It took a while, but I finally pulled the trigger on Menoth. I settled on a list of (what I consider) core choices, ran it past my locals, and finally gave Spikey Bits a shot. Now I have many more mans waiting (and waiting) for some TLC.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not so sure about the masking tape.</td></tr>
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Like every other army I've ever started (except for the Axis), I want to do something special with this new force. Mostly this means freehand on all those large, flat jack surfaces, but there's also the small matter of basing. Considering how long I've been painting army mans I'm still relatively new to the simple glue and sand technique, but I want to step it up anyway. When I got the two player starter box the plan was to do a street/sand mashup, with broken cobbles/bricks giving way to sand. Now I'm considering doing a Northern Crusade thing to tie all my (current) armies together in one place (Llael). If that also paves the way for an Ashlynn Llaelese resistance army, packed to the gills with gun mages, then that's just an extra bonus. To do this I'd like to add bits of walls, columns, various city things, which may be reaching too far. For now I'm starting with the TFG bases because there were a lot of them and I didn't have to open any bags to get to them (unlike the Errants, Cinerators, or jacks) and I'm keeping them to just street and sand (sand not yet added.) After picking local brains I'm making the bases before pinning the minis to them, which is the exact opposite of my usual approach.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKFoWrTKxYfNxuKobbxTEWNcbv4q18KT5V1YdYLW8cauB_ZxDQM5-C5QtoPlzxJ-KkUbOIuw_5-xEthV302_TGTHj3felzxWZDvh-hSklKWgrtnfEhla7qmTqPhDFuQLO42ii7kbSiYOq/s640/blogger-image-732469814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKFoWrTKxYfNxuKobbxTEWNcbv4q18KT5V1YdYLW8cauB_ZxDQM5-C5QtoPlzxJ-KkUbOIuw_5-xEthV302_TGTHj3felzxWZDvh-hSklKWgrtnfEhla7qmTqPhDFuQLO42ii7kbSiYOq/s400/blogger-image-732469814.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love the packing material. It must be used for something.</td></tr>
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To make this new army experience even more surreal, I also took KR up on their Black Friday special. After consulting more locals, doing arcane calculations, studying star charts, and a number of animal sacrifices, I came up with an assortment of trays that should accommodate what I have now and also what I expect to add in the future. I've been pondering a swap to KR for a while. Now that I've at least dipped a toe in, I'm in serious physical and emotional distress because I don't have anything to put in the new foam. (Not 100% true, I do have a pKreoss, but a single mini won't satisfy the itch.) This is the tail end of a horrible hobby traffic jam that starts with the basing, which will take a while thanks to all the drying times required, through assembly of the models, then into priming before I can finally stick things in the new bag. (Priming is required so the ballast doesn't just rub off.) I want nothing more than to glue some Errants and Cinerators together so I can stick something into the new soft foam, but that will have to wait a bit longer.<br />
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Speaking of waiting longer, there's the troubling case of the last army I bought in a single swoop: Empire. I'm approximately a month and a half past when I wanted to have my 800 points of learning painted and ready. With Jan 1 already circled with a Menofix on my mental calendar, things are looking grim for the psuedo-Germans. The plan now is to finish up whatever is partially finished, up to and including basing, and then roll with that. It's been long enough since I last took stock of where the project stood that I don't have a firm handle on what kind of task I'm setting myself, but I'm confident that the bulk of it is just basing and that it will go quickly. With a smidge of luck, plus a little determination, I'll be able to limp to this new finish line before the calendar flips over. Then it's just a matter of getting in some games so I can learn the system before it's time for a new edition...Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-88344760852715909022013-11-20T14:25:00.003-05:002013-11-20T14:25:34.675-05:00Insert Knight Pun Here<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nearly there. </td></tr>
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My slowly growing Empire army is now on the cusp of having two units ready for action, the cannon from a while back and now a modest group of knights. Both still require some final gluing and varnish, but all the painting is done. The drive to look back at my work to find problems is irresistible, so it's no surprise that even as I was putting the finishing touches on I was regretting decisions I had made. I tried to stick to the studio Reiksguard scheme, which meant red and/or white feathers. I blocked these in with little forethought, and as things turned out every helm with a ribbon had a red feather on top of said ribbon, which meant those ribbons had to be white. Since there's a ribbon on the banner pole, the banner had to be red. In vacuum this wouldn't be a problem, but when the color of the lances (red) are factored in then you can see the issue. A red banner precludes a red banner pole (it ended up black), which is a very small inconsistency that is unlikely to ever be noticed, but it'll rub a me for as long as I field the model. There's also more red than white in the unit, but that will be addressed when the ranks swell. Those small grumbles aside, I'm pleased with how the unit turned out. Despite doing horse and rider armor in different ways, the results match up just fine. I tried out using a wash to do some black lining between the helmet plumes with good results. The champion's face came out particularly well, and the unit didn't spend an excessive amount of (work) time on the table despite being ~2.5 times larger than a standard halberdier.</div>
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Now I have a final hurdle to clear, and it's one I have no experience with. The picture in this post makes the unit look basically finished, but it's still a collection of mounts, riders, and shields (where appropriate). It's been so long since I've painted something before it was fully assembled that I might as well be doing it for the first time. Ideally I'd like to put a coat of varnish on the riders and shields before assembling the whole model and applying the rest if the varnish. I don't have a good idea for how to let the pieces dry without sticking it whatever they dry on and potentially leaving paint behind when I peel them off that surface. I'll probably end up assembling the models before varnishing as it's the easiest way. I'm also considering magnetizing horse and rider for potentially easier transport. That may not be an issue though, and I'd very much like to have a unit well and truly finished.</div>
Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-66134388662593039332013-11-17T15:33:00.000-05:002013-11-20T14:26:48.386-05:00Baby Stepping<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incremental advancement.</td></tr>
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My grand plans for weekend painting pulled their usual disappearing act, but I did manage to get a little work in. Considering how little painting I've done over the past couple weeks I'll take whatever I can get. Last time I didn't quite finish the first layer of red so I remedied that first thing. Next I did all the non-feather whites, then I finished up by putting down a green foundation on the laurels. Not much overall, but every little bit. Still outstanding are the feathers, standard, horn banner, green bits, and any forgotten details or cleanup. The finish line is in sight. Best of all, I stuck a rider on a horse to compare armor and found they match up just fine.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fine match.</td></tr>
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Foodmachine was yesterday and a good time despite the small turnout. We had four players (including the PG running the event), which is a shame as it's an entertaing event that doubles as a good cause. The silver lining is that the epic prize support ($200+) didn't get split many ways and everyone that came to play, or just to donate, got something for their efforts.</div>
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Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-64445980991367952772013-11-15T23:40:00.001-05:002013-11-15T23:53:47.672-05:00Trying New Things<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now with captions. </td></tr>
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Today's post is being produced entirely on my fancy new iPad. We'll see how it works out. <strike>So far no photo captioning or placement. Not a great first impression</strike>. Update: a few more steps, but looks workable.<br />
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After a longer than expected hiatus I again sat down at the painting table. My ambition was only to knock the rust off, but I got some decent work in anyway. Now I have a batch of Reiksguard with finished skin and armor, plus a start on red and white details. There are some green details to be done and mouths to be finished, but that shouldn't take long. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Along the way I did a bad thing by changing how I did armor, so now I wonder if the knights and horses will match up. Worst case scenario I redo the horse armor, which wouldn't be horrible, but I hope to not have to make that call. With some luck I'll have the riders finished this weekend and shields soon after. If the armor matches up then I'll just have to glue and varnish to have a painted, fieldable, and finished unit, which will be a nice little milestone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Tomorrow is Foodmachine, my first "tournament" in a couple months. It's a one or two list event, so I can pick a partner for the eVayl list I've been playing over the past few months. Foodmachine isn't the best testing environment with the rampant and encouraged cheating, but it'll still be timed turns which will be a good exercise in speedier decision making. I'm leaning towards Aby as a partner since her tier is like a well-worn jacket for me, but I love the idea of pairing prime and epic Vayl. Also under consideration is eLylyth so I can east into running her in a "competitive" environment. I have almost no practice with her though, maybe a half dozen games at most, and I don't really want to be the guy who brings a pair of big time tournament lists to a lighthearted charity event. I don't have to decide for 12.5 hours or so, which is plenty of time to change and make up my mind a few times over.</span></div>
Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-5998385519355050842013-11-02T15:57:00.001-04:002013-11-02T15:57:58.031-04:00One Foot at a Time<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xrs2dKFbLDf_sN7RJj7MlL7QdV7UnLCUGkpXr2iJoOs6Z8UUbeyKkRhO5hl4rFXdG9ssywWSGNYYwI4GjTvmeLBMFA04SpeohSeIn-ApJJNujW2mgnNNkCqUADpZBsTL5lrKtlqC4jst/s1600/eThags.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xrs2dKFbLDf_sN7RJj7MlL7QdV7UnLCUGkpXr2iJoOs6Z8UUbeyKkRhO5hl4rFXdG9ssywWSGNYYwI4GjTvmeLBMFA04SpeohSeIn-ApJJNujW2mgnNNkCqUADpZBsTL5lrKtlqC4jst/s320/eThags.JPG" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My most recent construction project. </td></tr>
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Been a while, eh? You may have noticed that I tend to post when I've painted something. Since I haven't sat down to paint in far too long, I also haven't sat down to blog in a while either. That doesn't mean I've been idle, just occupied with things that aren't painting. There's plenty of non-wargaming things that have taken up my attention (<a href="http://wargamingchaos.blogspot.com/">EV</a> got married for one, hockey season for two, NHL14 for three), and there's been plenty of boxes being opened and models assembled as well. <br />
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I'm still working on eVayl and getting more comfortable with her and her tier list. After 8-10 games played, a couple videos watched, and the much debated decision to kill my own mans for a turn one Shredder, things are starting to come together. The Legionnaires are putting in more work (outside of simply feeding the pot) and I'm getting more lessers on the table in general, though people are starting to target the pot sooner as a result. In recent games I've sent the Angels further up the table on turn one to make use of the tier SPD boost. While this has cost me an Angel early on, which isn't so good, it also gets the Angels involved much earlier and puts some heat on my opponent from the very beginning. This is true of the list in general as I've been running the Ravagores in turn one as well, plus trying to charge Vayl for the extra movement, all with an eye towards dictating the line of engagement instead of getting bottled up on my half of the table. Vayl doesn't feel nearly as survivable in her epic form so it's been a learning process, but I hope I'm turning the corner on it. <br />
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Finally, there's the outstanding matter of the Empire. The train has ground completely to a halt after a hard opening charge. With EV due back from his honeymoon sometime soon, and our usual Tuesday game to resume after that, it looks like my grand plan to have a painted (starter) force ready to go is going to come up short. I've been sniffing around it of late, notably to finally get a handle on Reiksguard schemes, so hopefully I get back on the horse soon. Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-78121318317035594292013-10-04T17:30:00.002-04:002013-11-02T15:58:18.480-04:00More Randomness<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirWQ1a3K5sLPVuUxzf2cZ4ul617bRujoWO3FXzBwhubsV_qoQ73tJJu6rx4GZw5S94bxbcx0w6maoZ9awSSRwS5bVupHxHse-ZSEiGkk4F9uF6si3jry6OUlxwWStlGBJhRmRi8v_TbCt0/s1600/gators.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirWQ1a3K5sLPVuUxzf2cZ4ul617bRujoWO3FXzBwhubsV_qoQ73tJJu6rx4GZw5S94bxbcx0w6maoZ9awSSRwS5bVupHxHse-ZSEiGkk4F9uF6si3jry6OUlxwWStlGBJhRmRi8v_TbCt0/s320/gators.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A whole posse of gatormans. </td></tr>
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If I've learned just one thing about creating things it's to go with what feels right. While I <i>should</i> be working on Empire or Infinity I felt like putting together gators today. By going with what felt right I got a unit (plus a solo) assembled that had been sitting in a box for far too long. The alternative was to tell myself I should be doing something else, dicker around with the phone/tv/whatever, and make little to no hobby progress on anything. I think I made the right call. Now if I can roll into assembling the lingering Hex Hunters I can try out the Bethayne ideas that made me order these things in the first place.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgN_he6FeonBA1bsfB2pX8DSfkXt2br3yrxYGmbVczpWrHSpvS_-Sr_5sionfPPCjkpX1LNS_3HsQPpxG-5Sdr91cUdelVAxv8-R6Ldpy1xACRGy8fYEUBYuO4uzBP_tbYQcGfCQBo47Ew/s1600/thinker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgN_he6FeonBA1bsfB2pX8DSfkXt2br3yrxYGmbVczpWrHSpvS_-Sr_5sionfPPCjkpX1LNS_3HsQPpxG-5Sdr91cUdelVAxv8-R6Ldpy1xACRGy8fYEUBYuO4uzBP_tbYQcGfCQBo47Ew/s1600/thinker.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep, naked thoughts.</td></tr>
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Following up on eVayl, I played a second game with her on Wednesday. This one went better for me, though it was as much due to my opponent (plus dice) as much as my own play. I'm noticing a couple things with her thus far. First is that the triple Obliteration feat turn isn't as effective as you might think. Three POW 15s looks great on paper, but the reality is less impressive. I've also tried boosting the preceding Icy Grip to make sure it lands which takes the triple Oblit off the table, but it does replace it with two boosted Oblits, plus a potential transfer if things go horribly awry. Second, I'm not using Refuge as well as I could. It's a potent tool that I haven't found a good situation for yet, but whether that is simple game situations or me not forcing those situations is unclear. Not having a Shredder in the list means I don't have the fuzzy safety blanket that is Tenacity, at least to start the game, so I'm reluctant to throw my Angels way out front where they could get the most use out of Refuge. I imagine this will get better with more practice. The final area of concern is how to best use the Legionnaires. They die quickly, which I expect, but they don't do much work before dying beyond just catching bullets. I think much of the problem is not playing conservatively enough, which is part of the Refuge problem, but in my defense it's not like I'm running the Legionnaires way out in front of the rest of my army. At SPD 5 it's not like they can outpace anything anyway. They have generated at least one lesser from the pot, so they're doing at least that much, but I feel like they could do a lot more. I can find an answer to all of these issues is easily enough by watching some JVM games, but where's the fun in that? I'll flounder around for a bit and see what I come up with on my own. For next time I may let the Angels range a bit further ahead as I'm not really using the extra SPD from the tier list for anything while having the Legionnaires screen the pot, Ravagores, and Vayl instead of trying to cover the whole army. I'll potentially have the problem of the Angels being too far away to hit with Refuge/Admonition, but I could keep the Harrier in a central position so it can deploy as an arc node when needed. Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-34647163609600066472013-10-03T15:42:00.000-04:002013-10-03T15:42:01.697-04:00Magnets Are Tough<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrL6rV0Go54Bf0v4Vdx2kprtvfcoBabK-4SpNuxgp1cfJ8SddcIDMApoo7AWQsosMJVoIkqt_Hp6y1aecsEg-NbIt1DYKRy8_4bnAI-FRp2P2oz3WxZwTsmWGHfq9tYLD54G49BW64Ty1H/s1600/new+torso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrL6rV0Go54Bf0v4Vdx2kprtvfcoBabK-4SpNuxgp1cfJ8SddcIDMApoo7AWQsosMJVoIkqt_Hp6y1aecsEg-NbIt1DYKRy8_4bnAI-FRp2P2oz3WxZwTsmWGHfq9tYLD54G49BW64Ty1H/s320/new+torso.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Witness my amazing conversion skills. </td></tr>
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Continuing my recent trend of thrashing around between projects, this morning I dug out and assembled that lingering third Legion heavy kit. To be fair I only did the torso, but that's all that I need for the moment as I have a number of limbs and heads ready to go. It wasn't all step by step assembly though. I made two vital modifications to this latest chassis.<br />
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Foremost is the epic conversion work I did to make this torso stand out from the others. The first two I've affectionately dubbed Lefty and Righty, thanks to the choice between left- or right-pointing tails that come in the box. What to do for the third? I'd already exhausted the tail possibilities, at least the ones that are easy to execute. I suppose I could have made a straight tail or an upward-pointing tail, but those would have required a lot of work. Instead I decided to mess with the only permanent (meaning non-magnetized) limb that doesn't connect to the base. I thought this would be as easy as shaving down the peg so the arm could turn into a different position, but I soon found this was to be a more involved project. The shaved peg had no real contact with its hole, so I pinned the arm and stuffed the hole with greenstuff to keep it from spinning. I also had to cut down the meat on the shoulder to have the arm stick closer to the body. PP did a nice job of making all the bits fit together well, so it shouldn't have been surprising that I'd have to fill gaps when I moved a piece around. All my effort turned out decent even if the results came nowhere near justifying the time invested. Worse still is that the new pose doesn't really inspire. It's a bit limp wristed, which doesn't suit the heavy chassis at all. It is different from the others, so I guess I'll call it mission accomplished.<br />
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The other modification isn't as obvious visually (which is saying something considering how little the limp wrist stands out) but is vital for usability. It is, of course, magnetization. I took my sweet time coming around on magnets, but now I'm fully on board. With this third kit I can now field a pair of Ravagores and a Scythean, or a pair of Scytheans and a Ravagore, or (provided I put the bits together and suffer enough head trauma to make this seem appealing) five Carniveans. My <a href="http://khadoranmachineneverbreaks.blogspot.com/2012/03/recent-adventures-in-hobbying.html">first excursion into using magnets</a> wasn't the smoothest ever, but since then I've had a few more reps and feel confident that I can do the job right the first time. That said, you've probably already guessed that I screwed everything up and had to take all the magnets out. I thought that both arms had the same polarity, so I wasn't too particular about which one I used to make sure I put the magnets in the right way. This was a large mistake as it turns out that the arms aren't the same. I also had to swap out the magnet in the neck for a larger size thanks to putting it far enough off-center that the smaller one wouldn't hold enough to stay in place while moving the model around. At least my prior practice digging out magnets came in handy. Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-27824684350041156972013-09-29T21:41:00.000-04:002013-09-29T21:41:43.554-04:00Things Still Happen Here<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv67WdA1kPwB4t0SAgV8nXY-YS1twtuGm1FtmLzOrCEi4wl0aIzEPeLphegIXou3QQxfdIqGAZ137ileC2YuKbmgCGdBSr-g1V2R51-Dv7CkrskgrD7Dpgp65eEQERbm8tuJs-MGqStXw_/s1600/matty+p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv67WdA1kPwB4t0SAgV8nXY-YS1twtuGm1FtmLzOrCEi4wl0aIzEPeLphegIXou3QQxfdIqGAZ137ileC2YuKbmgCGdBSr-g1V2R51-Dv7CkrskgrD7Dpgp65eEQERbm8tuJs-MGqStXw_/s320/matty+p.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Au revoir MP85. </td></tr>
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I wanted to start this post with hobby news, but that just isn't working. Today I blog with a heavy heart because a tiny ball of French-Canadian exuberance is moving from swampy DC to sunny CA. Sports games are also numbers games sometimes, and the crunch is rarely harsher than when the season is about to begin. I could go on for quite a while, but ultimately this is a hobby blog and I probably shouldn't indulge in hockey talk when I haven't had hobby talk in quite a while. I has a hockey sad, but the show must go on.</div>
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Judging by the lack of posting for the last two weeks, you might think there hasn't been much happening. You'd be right for the most part, but there has been some action going on. Unfortunately there are no pictures of said action because pictures aren't appropriate. There was a lot of reading, be it forums or rules, leading up to jumping in on Infinity. After far too much effort I laid hands on a <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/military-orders/">Military Orders starter</a> box, a <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/order-sergeants-2/">grunt</a>, and a <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/knights-of-montesa/">handful</a> <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/knights-of-santiago/">of</a> <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2012/miniatures/hospitaller-knight-father-officer-gabriele-de-fersen/">Knights</a>. I've done a modest amount of modelling with much more on deck for tomorrow so I can have a squad more or less ready for Tuesday. Lack of fluff is starting to become an issue now as I start considering schemes. I'd like to read more than just the blurbs on the Infinity site, and play a couple games as well, before I commit to a particular Knightly Order (and therefore paint scheme). Painting issues aside, I'm looking forward to getting some reps in with my chosen faction. In Empire news I built some Archers and got basing underway on painted and unpainted Spearmen. The painting muse has been on vacation lately, and since Empire is mostly a painting project at this point that means there hasn't been much progress there. Still need to finish reading the WFB rules as well.<div>
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There's less smoke but more fire on the Warmahordes front. After girding my loins for competitive Khador play <a href="http://khadoranmachineneverbreaks.blogspot.com/2013/09/mostly-empire-but-i-still-play.html">previously</a>, I got to thinking about the best way to help my fellow gamers prepare for tournament play. The Motherland hasn't had the best showing on the big stages over the past year or two for whatever reason. One possible reason: Legion takes all their places. It turns out I have a bag full of Legion, stocked with the vast majority of what the Internet tells me are the best choices. [The only big hole I have are Raptors which I can probably borrow from a local (or build my Uhlans and use them as proxies)]. With this in mind I started assembling eVayl and the non-Shredder lessers so I could run the now-standard tier 4 list. My first time out with it didn't go so well, but I did learn the pMadrak can be tough to kill. I learned a lot from the game, which felt like it hadn't happened in forever, and I have some ideas for next time. Once I get the Knights together I'll be looking to the lingering Gatormen and Hex Hunters, plus digging around while hoping that I have another Legion heavy kit hiding somewhere. </div>
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Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-41675860277056438882013-09-15T22:00:00.000-04:002013-09-29T21:42:25.505-04:00Stay on Target<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMu4j63Mg3uSXDlIEYFGigu4qcTco_BWta8bDcL-Q3nxhrGT1pQRQk1tBMLsBpzZMxIgD7p2YhSKPmlrBFBqcK3Tf7pE80As20mkLzuQsHNalLkqGcCMxQzO2YVD2h1Iydcr2bikc6LlK/s1600/combined+painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMu4j63Mg3uSXDlIEYFGigu4qcTco_BWta8bDcL-Q3nxhrGT1pQRQk1tBMLsBpzZMxIgD7p2YhSKPmlrBFBqcK3Tf7pE80As20mkLzuQsHNalLkqGcCMxQzO2YVD2h1Iydcr2bikc6LlK/s400/combined+painting.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ranks continue to swell. </td></tr>
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We'll get to the title in a bit. First up is painting, which right now means Empire. I've had a productive couple days at the painting table, pushing ever further down the road to a fieldable, and painted, Empire army. The picture to the left is the combined result of two sessions, hence the two obvious halves. The total haul is thus: six based Spearmen, ten unbased Spearmen, five based horses, one based Warrior Priest, one based Halberdier, and three based cannon crew. I'm drawing ever closer to the (800 point) finish line and it's very tempting to put basing on hold to push through on the remaining ranks of unpainted Spearmen (and quintet of Knights), but if I'm making the effort to get everything painted before taking the army to battle then I'm not going to cheat on the basing. It slots in well enough while painting and the brown bases look a lot better than the sloppy black/red/white/blue ones. I told <a href="http://wargamingchaos.blogspot.com/">EV</a> that he could expect a game of WFB when he sees a finished unit of Spearmen appear, so the plan now is to get bases done while finishing the unit. I've set an internal target of EV's impending wedding about a month and a half from now, which is far enough out to be realistic but close enough to stave off complacency and wandering eye. More on that later.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8zS1yQIumQa9X2hepfKbYDMfK8TitUa6u8Je10SzDvib8zwJX_0rIo-sy0s2xBmS4ZS9BBGqlKWX6LiE7FxmF93IEAi1Z2seXphQHoFtjUjGVDHCddAtfkSBtp4ZQthYriuX8dD1bpPu/s1600/painting+09-13-13+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8zS1yQIumQa9X2hepfKbYDMfK8TitUa6u8Je10SzDvib8zwJX_0rIo-sy0s2xBmS4ZS9BBGqlKWX6LiE7FxmF93IEAi1Z2seXphQHoFtjUjGVDHCddAtfkSBtp4ZQthYriuX8dD1bpPu/s320/painting+09-13-13+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only missing static grass now.</td></tr>
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Most of what I'm doing now is converting the <a href="http://khadoranmachineneverbreaks.blogspot.com/2013/08/assemble-empire.html">old Middenheim scheme</a> into the new Altdorf one which (in theory) saves some time since (in theory) I'm just painting the white bits red. I'm adding in extra, arguably unnecessary, work on the minis, but one area where I'm not making it harder is the bases. The Middenheim scheme predates my current "base it before priming" approach, so part of the Middenheim to Altdorf conversion involves ballasting after finishing the painting but before varnishing (so the varnish gives the extra hold the primer normally would). This means that models now make two trips to the painting table before being fully painted. While this flies in the face of my desire for efficient painting, it does build in time to fix the damage that post-painting basing inevitably causes. I've started painting the bases first so I don't slop onto finished feet, but this is impossible with the previously assembled (and often painted) minis I'm working through. I'll be modifying the <a href="http://khadoranmachineneverbreaks.blogspot.com/2013/08/building-blocks.html">two group approach</a> to incorporate one basing group and one painting group so I can have the red and blue cleanups pull double duty. While the rate of painted models will slow the total number of models, painted plus based, should remain about the same, if not pick up a bit due to less area being covered with each group. I haven't crunched the numbers to see if this new approach will work out or if I'll end up with more of one group than the other, but I think it should come out close enough since I'll be basing two models for every one painted.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCeaai6jHP30Vz0NygxDBi8z5EM9bQ2uG-EELNBSeWzfen4hlLSUmD9u897kS54_aQNVpTK__rNbvgFBmnh63Toa3l-tID1PeFLiOJxV9W_r5xwDyD61qyfkzotXR7tGH33w-y-LaLdM72/s1600/tempting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCeaai6jHP30Vz0NygxDBi8z5EM9bQ2uG-EELNBSeWzfen4hlLSUmD9u897kS54_aQNVpTK__rNbvgFBmnh63Toa3l-tID1PeFLiOJxV9W_r5xwDyD61qyfkzotXR7tGH33w-y-LaLdM72/s320/tempting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Appealing on multiple levels.</td></tr>
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Now for the title. There's been a lot of chatter about Infinity at the various FLGSs lately and games are starting to break out. EV has a couple factions and has extolled its virtues before, but that's kinda his thing (trying on as many different games as possible). I'm close to the other extreme (digging deep into a small number of games) so I've put Infinity in the same bin as Malifaux, Song of Blades and Heroes, Hordes of the Things, and all the other games that EV dabbles while I'm slogging through my painting backlog. We have an understanding that it takes a special something for me to buy in on a new system as I'm very wary of investing in a game only to have it follow in the footsteps of Uncharted Seas and Dust Warfare, both of which I enjoy but have fallen out of favor locally. The heavy anime styling doesn't help Infinity stand out from the pack as I ODed on anime years ago. Every now and again I'd look through the models, all of which are very nice models that just don't appeal much to me, to see if anything struck a chord. There <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/knights-of-santiago/">are</a> <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2012/miniatures/equestrian-order-of-the-holy-sepulchre/">some</a> <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/teutonic-knights/">knights</a> that would <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/knights-of-montesa/">catch</a> <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2012/miniatures/knights-hospitallers-2/">my</a> <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2012/miniatures/hospitaller-knight-father-officer-gabriele-de-fersen/">eye</a> (plus <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/joan-of-arc/">two</a> <a href="http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/2011/miniatures/jeanne-d%E2%80%99arc-2-0-mobility-armour/">versions</a> of Joan of Arc) and tickle my previously discussed <a href="http://khadoranmachineneverbreaks.blogspot.com/2011/07/pulling-back-curtain.html">Thing for Paladins</a>. In the end I'd cover too much ground, get sick of the anime aesthetic, and head back to my usual corners of the internet. </div>
<div>
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All that said, I'm giving Infinity another look for a couple of reasons, foremost being low model count. I got into Warmahordes in part because I thought it was a small-scale game. Since then I've found out that while a Warmahordes army has less models than a comparable 40k army (to say nothing of WFB army that has more models in a single unit than in an entire Warmahordes force) it isn't really a skirmish game. It looks like Infinity is actually a skirmish game with about a dozen models per side in a tournament-sized force (judging by Nova Open standards). Less models means less investment, both in time and money. I'm hesitant to get into new games because I can't justify spending (typically) hundreds of dollars on a game I may only play a couple times. Equally as galling as (in my admittedly tight-fisted view) wasted money is wasted time. Approximately all my armies are not completely painted, so picking up another project just pushes completion of the other existing projects further down the road. If a typical game of Infinity has about a dozen models then I'd probably end up with about 25 to allow for variety and impulse buys. That's not an intimidating number, being around the size of a Warmahordes force, and with reasonable prices ($10-15 for a very nice model) the initial investment of time and money is reasonable. I could really take my time with each model and still get a painted force together in a reasonable time frame. Of course time painting Infinity would be time not painting Empire. Or Khador. Or Legion, Deathwing, Blood Angels, Axis, Iron Dwarves...</div>
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So now I'm contemplating a new diversion before finishing the one I'm in the middle of. This is a recipe for disaster, but it does look tasty. I'll play the waiting game for a while, see how it fares with my locals, push on towards 800 points of Empire glory, and reassess when I hit that particular finish line.</div>
Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-58877111663866843172013-09-08T22:16:00.002-04:002013-09-15T22:00:25.889-04:00Mostly Empire, But I Still Play Warmahordes<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF-PDbkUMh0JXiJkZKzv8Qg1-jYxpZ8NvgJJYS4VTUO_WGeU5z_CMBA1N8cWCJ_W1hx_Hb0zc_Pjo-JEKsDwkzPnT_okBotAesfTjy2nmmF47Td670MqEW0Z5sidtiwYv3c89sLLCNHRNm/s1600/painting+9-8-13+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF-PDbkUMh0JXiJkZKzv8Qg1-jYxpZ8NvgJJYS4VTUO_WGeU5z_CMBA1N8cWCJ_W1hx_Hb0zc_Pjo-JEKsDwkzPnT_okBotAesfTjy2nmmF47Td670MqEW0Z5sidtiwYv3c89sLLCNHRNm/s320/painting+9-8-13+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Done. For now. </td></tr>
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After a long(ish) break I got back to painting today. More Empire, but some new models at least. Before getting to the new, let's cover the old. The horses got their finishing touches today, not that it really shows. I did a search for horse hooves, which turned up no porn or other questionable material for a change, and found that they're black. Unfortunately the hair is also black, so the hooves and forelocks blend into each other. When it's time for the inevitable post-basing touch ups I'll see what I can do about the hooves, but ultimately they're so small I may just let it slide. In the meantime I'll check out some examples for around the internets and see how others handle it. In other horse news I went ahead with highlighting the barding, which produced no visible results as anticipated. If anyone can pick out which one is the one with the highlights I'll go back and do the others, but since I know which one it is and can't tell any difference I don't think I'll be doing any more pointless silver highlights.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvReGXvtJF7cngRVAbXJgLe6nx-YjAUbi6cdBwilQcrvSopoagWCaxfjYubWrqcUSwef0Jb9OoNrjpvwPEfHGea3Pyux5fiSTNYGswjTm2y0h-torJVmmuyTvn98cW47g88TC53PC1Nxp8/s1600/painting+9-8-13+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvReGXvtJF7cngRVAbXJgLe6nx-YjAUbi6cdBwilQcrvSopoagWCaxfjYubWrqcUSwef0Jb9OoNrjpvwPEfHGea3Pyux5fiSTNYGswjTm2y0h-torJVmmuyTvn98cW47g88TC53PC1Nxp8/s320/painting+9-8-13+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you have enough infantry? I'm not sure you can.</td></tr>
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While I was getting nowhere with the horses I started up on infantry again. The main reason was to paint up my Halberdier basing tester, but it would have been silly to not get another batch of Spearmen going at the same time. Turns out my regular ballast works fine with the extra short Empire shoes, so I'll be able to get going on sanding and varnishing the models I've painted thus far, plus I can do the same (minus the varnish of course) for all the models I've assembled but haven't primed yet. I finally used the P3 mixing medium I've had for years to try thinning my reds, which tend to break up quickly when I thin with water. The results were as welcome as they were unexpected. When I thin my paints (with water) the change over from Way Too Thick to Runs Around Uncontrollably is thin and often impossible to find. With the mixing medium the paint thinned out and coated evenly, and thinner than ever, without going straight to a watery mess that filled in any cracks it could reach. I always wondered how the painters better than I (read: most painters) got their super thin paints to follow orders. Turns out the answer was in my paint bucket the whole time. This is something I'll look to play around with in the future when I'm not churning out rank and file Empire mans.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYH21Qu1ZKp6ZcMFtVn18JI6CvBOm0e8nDs4q2ZI4TfJItL9iQEWaDVowYeZ_5Fxbnt9KuTU4xHbPb0rCV62ooagP1a9wbt5zJVhNXgj_GR61h0RUfD8TmkFfAViHuWmzeS1lSi-suP_1/s1600/Emma_Watson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYH21Qu1ZKp6ZcMFtVn18JI6CvBOm0e8nDs4q2ZI4TfJItL9iQEWaDVowYeZ_5Fxbnt9KuTU4xHbPb0rCV62ooagP1a9wbt5zJVhNXgj_GR61h0RUfD8TmkFfAViHuWmzeS1lSi-suP_1/s320/Emma_Watson.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hitting the gym like Hermoine.<br />
Minus the Chicken Soup book of course.</td></tr>
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Stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere time. In the wake of this year's Nova Open there's been some soul searching among my Warmahordes group (the NoVa Nomads). As a group our showing at our local "big" con was worse than last year and there's been plenty of discussion about why that is and what to do about it. While I'd like to be a traveling tournamenteer it's not in the cards for the foreseeable future, so my role in all this is on the practice squad/scout team. To that end I'm going to try and sharpen my game, and lists, for and during next year. I won't be chasing the latest con winning list (in large part because Khador doesn't seem to win tournaments in the current meta), but I will try and focus more on casters and lists that are likely to show up on the big stages. The plan now is to come up with three or four lists and stick with them, as much as possible, so that my locals can get reps in against the "top tier" Khador choices. As an added benefit I should get better with whatever I settle on as well. This means some deep cuts. I won't be fooling around with Zerkova (unless I'm coddling a noob), won't be coming to grips with eButcher (despite the recent popularity of his Doomie spam tier list), and will probably be putting a halt to my newly rediscovered infatuation with the Ice Princess, pSorscha. The short list so far is: eSorscha, pIrusk, Old Witch, pButcher, some flavor of Vlad. While this list is 80% Iron Flesh casters, that's not by design, nor is it the primary reason any of them are on the list. Both eSorscha and pButcher can put out a ton of damage on their feat turn (all the time in the case of Orsus), Old Witch is as good of a control caster as Khador has, pIrusk is an all-rounder with a special love for infantry (wonder if that works in Khador?), and Vlad needs no introduction. Strakhov might be a dark horse as I think he has potential (which I may or may not be able to use effectively), but he's not a common player in the big leagues so he doesn't fit in with the plan so much. I don't plan on making any special buys for this program, though anything I already plan on getting may show up, but at this point I have the bulk of the usual Khador choices (with the notable exceptions of Behemoth, Nyss Hunters, Fenris, and the Iron Fang Kovnik [who will be mine when I can lay hands on one/put in an online order]) so I don't think it will be an issue. I have all the tools (read: models), now I'll have to figure out how to get the best use possible out of them. The plan is to hammer out some lists, test them out in the remainder of 2013, then find a big rock to carve them in when the calendar flips. Future releases (hello Butcher3!) may throw some unexpected ingredients into the mix, but I'll look to minimize their impact as much as possible.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-53882924098846248182013-09-04T17:20:00.003-04:002013-09-08T22:17:00.417-04:00More of You Know What<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXvK36MwY1g0iEAG1F5Vvkecilb8arT155f2uXxQqBYrvUQ9P0LDPjif9fATq-7-8TxiGRDpXS0BFdTSGCArmtv9HqvB7zi1IcyT3Xv2y3FIRIGmRDUZOGhUKRM4JPU0CYz2K_03ijgZ1/s1600/painting+9-2-13+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXvK36MwY1g0iEAG1F5Vvkecilb8arT155f2uXxQqBYrvUQ9P0LDPjif9fATq-7-8TxiGRDpXS0BFdTSGCArmtv9HqvB7zi1IcyT3Xv2y3FIRIGmRDUZOGhUKRM4JPU0CYz2K_03ijgZ1/s320/painting+9-2-13+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuff that got painted. </td></tr>
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I find it amusing that I'm now writing my seventh consecutive post for a game I have yet to play. It's what passes for news around here though so I'm gonna stick with it. I had a very nice and relaxing Labor Day loooooong weekend which contained a bit of painting but not too much. Still haven't made my way back to the idealized painting production line, but at least I'm crossing things off. Once I get into the Spearmen in earnest the wheels should roll along with nary a bump.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrbfEWneaLbJWo-4IjvlPGX6f3-CxWCQY-HxJcLy5Ifkxsc48SEiahA0qZWenaa2Zkr6C6z_wkiB1iyyaK7Y9LVHGpxdZKkEBtsrHFwAYAvDEm_dIyx_uO2t4PCu3WsAf5AJGWK8W1QaT/s1600/painting+9-2-13+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrbfEWneaLbJWo-4IjvlPGX6f3-CxWCQY-HxJcLy5Ifkxsc48SEiahA0qZWenaa2Zkr6C6z_wkiB1iyyaK7Y9LVHGpxdZKkEBtsrHFwAYAvDEm_dIyx_uO2t4PCu3WsAf5AJGWK8W1QaT/s320/painting+9-2-13+2.JPG" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Has a bit of fervor in the face.</td></tr>
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Part of the reason for not painting this weekend was to finish reading the WFB rules and to work up some army lists. It's good to know the rules, but mostly I wanted to be able to (finally) make informed list building decisions so I could start working towards concrete goals instead of guessing at what I'll be fielding. To that end I put the wizard aside, for now, to focus on things that will appear in my (current) 800 point list. Putting that list together was more challenging than I anticipated as I was trying to make a list that would be good experience for later, larger armies, which meant trying to balance unit diversity and staying power. It's possible that I'll change things between now and whenever the action commences, but there's a 100% chance that any army is going to feature at least one Warrior Priest, so I turned my attention to that model. There wasn't much to do as the model was mostly painted when I picked it back up, but I did spend some extra time on the face and indulging in highlighting a model for the first time in forever. Armament has been a big question mark every time I look at WFB, and will only be resolved when I get a couple games in, but for now it's not really a priority as the model I have is armed the way it is and there's no changing it. Considering how many Warrior Priests are armed with Great Weapons I assume it's a decent choice. Or else it's the worst possible choice. Time will tell.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGa-ULMuCZ38QS7jhFFQFgxxcsibOTj_ee1w4SKbqCDMBoAv50sykXsqq0tck2umumLsapZAdTnTxho8c-QzKoeeCNZVx-eY437_rZpT_FDqHuGE3SdTQ-KiMMoHpHURdGxcfapIYlkMcL/s1600/painting+9-2-13+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGa-ULMuCZ38QS7jhFFQFgxxcsibOTj_ee1w4SKbqCDMBoAv50sykXsqq0tck2umumLsapZAdTnTxho8c-QzKoeeCNZVx-eY437_rZpT_FDqHuGE3SdTQ-KiMMoHpHURdGxcfapIYlkMcL/s200/painting+9-2-13+3.JPG" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close to the finish line.</td></tr>
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Knights are a 99% choice (I can conceive of an entirely infantry army, even if it's unlikely), so they moved up the queue as well. Since Reiksguard are mostly silver (with red and white accents) I thought this would be a good time to work on shading and highlighting metals, which has never yielded the results I wanted. I'm pressing on though, determined to figure it out. The horses are finished except for a final armor highlight, hoof hair (forelocks?), and hooves. I did the eyes black because I thought horse eyes were entirely black, but they look creepy now so I'll have to do some research. I can figure out what a hoof looks like at the same time as I have no good idea currently. I'd paint them in the same manner as all other claws/teeth, but that doesn't feel right. Then again I went with black eyes so my knowledge of horses isn't foolproof.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRINPXg0mGaKLVrsQQo4F_k_6kAOA-E6PgYcwsVccWuaDA3kP8KcPagA0WZWu-OkTrZW6hyphenhyphenb9vO2KpDXZmEW2be0Ph8njq6PpQP5Gv9C_HFe60va0nu2QaPJZ3Uu8aXrhhL4pCsoZpwF7V/s1600/what+a+find.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRINPXg0mGaKLVrsQQo4F_k_6kAOA-E6PgYcwsVccWuaDA3kP8KcPagA0WZWu-OkTrZW6hyphenhyphenb9vO2KpDXZmEW2be0Ph8njq6PpQP5Gv9C_HFe60va0nu2QaPJZ3Uu8aXrhhL4pCsoZpwF7V/s320/what+a+find.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quite the find.</td></tr>
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As a final tidbit, while I was flush with birthday cash over the weekend I decided to make some impulsive and foolish purchase. I can't just go to the local GW for that, mostly because I could take the 20 minute drive out to Huzzah and get my "impulsive" buy at 10% off. I didn't have any one thing in particular in mind, but I did have a general idea of things I would like. A big ol' wizard wagon, or a priest wagon, or a steam tank, or even some chicken knights. When I got to Huzzah I found nothing for Empire. Nothing at all, not just nothing I had in mind. I was surprised by this, but not as surprised as when I pulled out a sealed Marauder(!) Imperial Pegasus. There were small concerns that this was a cunningly disguised used model, but when I opened up the box I found it was pristine. How I found a 20 year old, never before opened model on the shelf of a store that has a relatively small and frequently rotated stock I'll never figure out. I'm not going to worry about how it happened, I'll be content with this crazy find and glad that I don't have to kitbash a pegasus rider (assuming it turns out I want to run one).<br />
<br />
In non-picture news I also got a pot of P3 Coal Black despite having sworn off paint pots a while ago. I also prepped a test Halberdier with my normal basing approach to see if it will work instead of just assuming it won't.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971457096513194140.post-24217616749310242892013-09-01T09:47:00.002-04:002013-09-04T17:00:38.249-04:00Yep, More Empire<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXir8_-05l2WXFZf__q86_mwt8DiNLvhMSRmQvtIoANkz5IffAQF06ZR_U93b9CId4qhJSzgA2Qd2UHXW9OXXOhRvQ4F9y8m0QWi3vcpAhGmdI6qJLS7O8TE7Q6qn29bPtTctRBn8WoGpj/s1600/painting+8-31-13+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXir8_-05l2WXFZf__q86_mwt8DiNLvhMSRmQvtIoANkz5IffAQF06ZR_U93b9CId4qhJSzgA2Qd2UHXW9OXXOhRvQ4F9y8m0QWi3vcpAhGmdI6qJLS7O8TE7Q6qn29bPtTctRBn8WoGpj/s320/painting+8-31-13+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The box of finished minis. </td></tr>
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Trucking right along with this new venture. It's a nice change of pace to see finished models (except for the bases, but more on that later) pile up with relative quickness. I didn't quite hit the goal I set last time as the wizard isn't finished (I barely touched him in fact), but the Spearmen and cannon are all done so I'll call that close enough for victory. The Spearmen have yellow tassels on their spears which doesn't show up too well in the picture. They did come out a bit dark as individuals, but I'm hoping that when I get a couple ranks together they'll have more pop. I'm also not sold on the feathers. Most of the studio models I've been looking at have a second color at the end, either red or black. You can see that I skipped this step, but now the feathers look bland and I'm considering going back to give them some zazz. Hopefully they'll get the same rank bonus that the tassels get, but if not adding that extra accent should be quick and painless.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVcbQaWKr0ciBpvnCFv_yESC4G2hKeZuTo5im7OfvXaGEWBhu5iQxcegqdX8qS91azR6x79WRstr8xK9MBacZt08B2aZ-08656-Xusr3JVvvfIspAEw_06ucWJj3gW4DMrh6JYkxU6lRN/s1600/painting+8-31-13+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVcbQaWKr0ciBpvnCFv_yESC4G2hKeZuTo5im7OfvXaGEWBhu5iQxcegqdX8qS91azR6x79WRstr8xK9MBacZt08B2aZ-08656-Xusr3JVvvfIspAEw_06ucWJj3gW4DMrh6JYkxU6lRN/s320/painting+8-31-13+3.JPG" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wanted to write on the scroll, but it's too small.</td></tr>
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The big holdup in this past group was the cannon. Not the carriage, which was just unusual, but the cannon itself. Specifically the way the cannon (wasn't) constructed. Evidence is building towards a particular conclusion: this Empire army may have been the first attempt at a showcase army. For example, the cannon is obviously not glued to the carriage, which is a departure from my usual approach of complete assembly before painting. But there's more illuminating evidence as well: the carriage wheels weren't glued on either. There are also no shields on the infantry, though this could have easily been a game decision, and the knights aren't glued to their mounts. My best guess is that I did this for ease of painting access. Considering the standard of the previously finished models, not so impressive by my current expectations but a lot better than what I was doing 10 years ago, it's pretty clear to me that I meant to take my time and paint these guys right back when I initially started the army. Coming back to the cannon, because it was separate from the carriage I didn't have a convenient base to hold (which also applies to the carriage itself), which made it challenging to not rub off the work I had just done. To combat this I went back to an old technique that's bitten me before. I painted the cannon brass, varnished it, then went back to do the details. This time the tactic worked and I was able to paint the cannon without having to constantly repaint it. The process was time consuming though, which is why it took so long to finish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbINVuOBM5DBc5v5evvmEWr_As-s8wYAtdcB-BK2HAi20vBSjAuk_EG-blHjT5zJBu6ZL5ZTCSkoPGxoFNhiJcXhxusTsEJRMnGAxJAYUMLSRta7z1Em1O1AHmj7WDMDMq2C-DKG7ClaGw/s1600/painting+8-31-13+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbINVuOBM5DBc5v5evvmEWr_As-s8wYAtdcB-BK2HAi20vBSjAuk_EG-blHjT5zJBu6ZL5ZTCSkoPGxoFNhiJcXhxusTsEJRMnGAxJAYUMLSRta7z1Em1O1AHmj7WDMDMq2C-DKG7ClaGw/s320/painting+8-31-13+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now in progress.</td></tr>
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There were beginnings to go with the endings. I got started on a batch of horses and plucked a nearly finished Warrior Priest from the pile as well. The WP might be the best painted of the initial batch and could have passed for complete, but I can take a little time with him and make him worthwhile instead of satisfactory. The horses surprised me like horses always do, but they shouldn't put up too much of a fight. The big problem I'm facing now is basing. You may have noticed none of the models are based and lack even basic sand. They're just flat plastic. My normal basing routine tends to swallow feet, and the Halberdier feet are slimmer than most, so I'm considering alternatives. I'd like some sort of sand/flock/static grass combo that won't compromise the feet, which is a tall order. The real problem here is that I don't want to varnish before basing so I can exploit the extra grip of the layer of varnish. Normally I have primer to help out, but not this time. No numbers have been crunched yet, but I feel like I'm getting close to striking distance on 800 points worth of troops for the <a href="http://wargamingchaos.blogspot.com/2013/08/school-daze-tiny-warhammer-fantasy-games.html">school league EV has been talking</a> about. Playing a 100% painted army is an unusual treat for me. Playing a fully painted army in my first game of a given system is unheard of, so I want to take advantage of the opportunity since I'm so close to it. I already have a block of infantry and a cannon, plus a nearly finished WP, and I don't anticipate the knights taking too long to do. That may or may not be 800 points of troops, but even if it's not it can't be too far away. One of these days I'll stay away from the painting table long enough to crunch numbers and write a few lists to see where I'm at, but right now I'm just hoping to come up for air and find I passed the finish line a while ago.Demitrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17364098865244177181noreply@blogger.com2