Ogre Volley Gun finished

The push toward Convic continues, and I'm doing my best to get on top of the painting situation. I have 2 more evenings in which to prepare, so obviously I'm running out of time. On the bright side though, the Ogre carrying the Helblaster Volley Gun is finished!

My Ogre Volley Gun, ready to go!

It may be heavy, but it's worth the back pain for all the fun you can have with it...

Lores of Magic: The Daemon Lore of Slaanesh

Continuing our review of the Lores of Magic in the Daemons of Chaos book, today we're looking at the Lore of Slaanesh.

What does it do?

As with all older Lores, the Lore of Slaanesh does not possess a Lore Attribute. I'm sure that's an advantage in some ways. Less for you to forget, right? Anyway, onto the spells...

Acquiescence is the Signature Spell of the Lore. It has an 18" range, and makes the target subject to Stupidity for the rest of the game. The best targets for the spell obviously have low leadership, and are out of range of the influence of the general and BSB. Some players employ flanking units that fit these criteria perfectly. For example, did you know Varghulfs have a leadership of 4? You might not, given that the value is not often used. What about Furies, with leadership 2?

To be honest, these are extreme examples. More often you will find yourself presented with targets around leadership 7 or 8, floating around the flanks or sitting back with the missile troops. The key to this spell is its casting value is only 5+. This means you can just throw the odd dice at it whilst saving most of the pool up for more important tasks. If you've found a really good target, your opponent will definitely try to dispel it. Otherwise he might decide to take his chances, and may find his plans unravelling thanks to a bad leadership test later in the game.

Lores of Magic: The Daemon Lore of Tzeentch

It's been quite a while since I reviewed a Lore of Magic, but there are plenty that we have not yet looked at. Today we will start looking at those found in the Daemons of Chaos book, starting with the Tzeentch.

What does it do?

Being an older Lore from a 7th edition army book, the Lore of Tzeentch does not possess a Lore Attribute. Therefore we can move straight onto the spells themselves. Again because the spells are pre-8th edition, none of them have boosted casting values. Keeps things simple, right?

Flickering Fire of Tzeentch is what serves as the Signature Spell in this Lore. It's a magic missile with an 18" range - not a great range, but adequate. As with many old spells, the casting value is very cheap - it requires a 4+. The damage from Flickering Fire is highly variable, however. It generates D6+1 hits, with a strength of D6+1 (the hits are flaming, as per the FAQ for the Daemon book). This means it has the potential to deliver a pitiful 2 strength 2 hits, or 7 hits at a frightening strength of 7.

In other words, it could do nothing, or bring down a large target with a single blast. This sort of unpredictability tends to make the spell a nightmare for opponents when it comes to dispelling. Do you rely upon the player rolling poorly on at least one of the dice, or do you stop it on the off chance that the spell is going to hit with brutal force? The decision gets harder when the target is something relatively vulnerable, like a chariot - where you only need a decent roll on each dice to threaten it. A light chariot, Eagle or fast cavalry unit won't appreciate an average roll of 4-5 hits at strength 4-5.

The low casting value, coupled with the ability to get multiple copies (thanks to its being the Signature Spell and the first spell each unit of Horrors receives) means it's quite possible to throw several attempts of Flickering Fire each turn - further compounding the misery of your opponent as he tries to decide what to dispel.

In short, Flickering Fire is a decent spell which is well worth the casting cost. It's not a reliable way to do damage, but it has great potential if the dice are on your side.

A Volley Gun with legs?

My preparations for Convic continue. This is probably a good thing, given it's now the week of the tournament. I have not yet undercoated the 2 remaining Wolfygryphs, but they are now ready for painting - I think I've managed to give them cloaks that look OK and don't interfere with their magnetised left arms. But they're not what this update is about.

The list I'm taking to Convic contains 2 Helblaster Volley Guns. However, despite the ridiculous number of Empire models I possess, I didn't actually have 2 Volley Guns. Poor planning, right? Well, I did have one and a half. The one is an old, original model from 4th edition which is all painted up and ready to go. The half... well, it was just the gun component from the current plastic set. The chassis, wheels and various accessories were used up by my Helstorm Rocket Battery, which is the other option for what you can build with the set. I'm sure plenty of Empire players are familiar with this approach by GW - they give you the bits to make 2 distinct war machines in the box, but they only give you one set of wheels, one chassis and one set of crewmen. It's these components that stop you getting a 2 for 1 deal when you buy the set.

I had planned to scrounge a set of wheels from somewhere, and scratch build the missing chassis part, with help from the leftover parts from Cannon and Mortar kit. However, when I sat down to look at it on painting night, I was completely uninspired. Whatever I came up with was going to look a bit dodgy, and wasn't going to match my other Volley Gun at all. I jokingly declared I should just give the gun to an Ogre and let him wander about with it, Arnie-style. Of course, the people I had around me are almost as crazy as I am, so they decided this was in fact a good idea, rather than a silly one. They were meant to talk me out of it. Hard to get good help these days.

So I raided my Empire Ogre bits jar for the components I needed, and set about assembling the thing with little regard for planning. Here is what I came up with:

An Ogre with a Helblaster. Obviously a ridiculous idea. Like Ogres carrying Cannons... Oh, right. They do that already.

Magnets and iPads

With my army list submitted for Convic, I have once again locked myself into using a number of models that are not yet ready for the table. As usual, I find myself using a tournament as motivation to get some more stuff painted. However, this time it feels like I'm cleaning up odds and ends rather than trying to get a whole regiment ready for the event.

My army list contains 8 Demigryph Knights, which happens to be exactly how many I already have painted. Unfortunately, my list contains a musician and no other command models - which means my standard bearer is in the way. The champion can easily pass as just another knight, but the standard is a bit hard to ignore. Something must be done.

I had always planned to paint 10 Wolfygryphs, and to use them in 2 units of 5 (when the points allow). I fell short of this in my initial wave of productivity, largely because I was keen to get them done, but also because I figured the final 2 models were surplus to requirements for most occasions. These last 2 models were to be the standard bearer and musician for the second unit of 5. However, if I assemble them like this now, I still won't have the number of regular guys I need for my Convic list. Good planning, huh?

Enter the magnets.

You see a lot of people using magnets on their models online, in particular where things have different weapon options - so 40K vehicles and dreadnoughts are common targets. Using the magnets allows the player to have the choice of different configurations without having to proxy, and without having to buy and paint up multiple versions of the same thing. It's a very efficient strategy, but one I've never really employed before. I generally just double up on the models, figuring I will hopefully get to use them at the same time at some point. However, the Wolfygryphs are a bit different. I don't need more than 10 of them, so I really just need to make sure that I cover my needs with the models I have already. Time to try my hand at magnetising some models.

My plans are simple - the final 2 Wolfygryphs will be able to be either a standard bearer and musician, or regular knights. I decided the best approach was to make their shield arms interchangeable, so that they would have a weapon regardless of which magnetised arm I was using. It did mean making a left-handed standard, but I can live with that.

My second Wolfygryph standard bearer. His banner is less impressive than the first one, but I'm fine with having a main banner and a secondary one.

Demoted! The same guy, this time with his shield.

My second musician.

And the same guy, having dropped the horn and picked up a shield.

Time to harden up

It's been a long time since I entered a tournament with a serious intention of doing well. When I first discovered tournaments (probably something like 13 years ago now), the natural approach was to enter the thing intending to try to win every game and finish on the top of the pile. After all, it was a competitive environment and everyone else was there for the same reason, right?

Over time I gradually shifted away from this mentality, and found I enjoyed events more when I didn't have high expectations. I fielded armies that conformed to this new approach - ones that really didn't have the tools to win every game. This meant I could still play properly, but know that the forces at my disposal were not going to see me playing on the top tables every round. It was a good compromise, even if at times I overdid things and fielded something so spineless that it was nothing short of frustrating to try to use it (I talked about this here).

As a general rule, using relatively tame army lists has served me well. The comp systems favoured in our part of the world helps this, and often sees me finish quite high up in the standings, despite being unable to win all my games. It's an approach I fully intend to continue with, but for the next couple of months I will have to put it on hold.

Future of an Empire

In my last post I was asked how far I plan to take the expansion of my Empire army. I didn't have an immediate answer, because I don't tend to plot out an army and set a definite limit on how large it's going to get.

I have written before about my love of big games of Warhammer. I have also talked in particular about my plans to recreate certain "legendary battles" in the Warhammer world, most notably the Battle at the Gates of Kislev. These ambitions have been pivotal in my drive to paint a really huge Empire army - the Empire are involved in a large number of the greatest battles the Old World has ever seen, and the lack of other large Empire armies kicking about the club means that if I want it to happen, it will be my problem.

Kislev Cavalry
I posted a picture of my whole army in my previous post. As you can see in that picture, the army is getting pretty big. But it has a disproportionate number of Knights compared to everything else. Below is how the cavalry look when you split them out from the rest of the army.
The large number of cavalry is a direct result of my Kislev ambitions, and needing an entire army of Empire cavalry for the battle. 120 Knights weigh in at about 3000 points, which is a good solid basis for the army. Add in the Wolfygryphs, Steam Tank, Outriders and Pistoliers, and you're looking at 4000 points, plus characters. It's not yet where I'd like it to be, but it's in the right ballpark. Painting the Kislevite cavalry I have managed to acquire and pulling in the odd unit from friends should probably be enough for the effect I'm after.

A very large Empire cavalry army - really where all my army's points come from

Current cavalry (my forces only):
40 Knights Snow Leopard
40 Knights of the White Wolf
40 Venators/Knightly Orders
8 Doggies/Demigryph Knights
5 Outriders
5 Pistoliers
Steam Tank