Getting back on track

The last few months have seen a distinct lack of modelling productivity on my part, and I've finally gotten to the point where I'm ready to do something about it. Last time I gave an update, I was bravely preparing to paint 16 Reiksguard Knights to fill one of the remaining gaps in my Empire army. I figured I could knock them over relatively quickly. After all, I had painted zillions of knights in the past. This batch should be easy, right? Well, apparently that was optimistic.

The Reiksguard as they looked about 6 weeks ago.

It didn't take all that long for me to lose enthusiasm for the project. I started out with 16 models, however by the time I had painted armour and bases, some of the unit (half, in fact) had fallen by the wayside...

Half of the unit lies abandoned on the painting table. Hey, at least they didn't get properly put away somewhere - that would have been a really bad sign...

The trouble with stunties

Things continue to be a bit busy for me at the moment, and unfortunately the blog continues to suffer as a result. However, I thought I might share something that has been annoying me recently – Dwarfs.

Dwarf haters around the world probably cheer at statements like that, but it's not what you think. I am not complaining about playing against Dwarfs, and how they sit in a corner, don't move, negate all your magic and shoot all your stuff off the table (the usual complaints tend to be something along those lines). Instead, my complaints centre more around using them. Or rather, around wanting to want to use them.

I have always felt that Dwarfs are one of the most characterful races in the Warhammer world. They are short, broad and hairy. They are tough, tenacious, skilful and decidedly grumpy. It's a strong stereotype – one that I find very easy to hold onto, and that I find rather appealing. Well, to a certain extent I like their character. The other thing I like about them is their history – a fallen empire with its ruins scattered across the Old World and beyond. As their race declines, it leaves in its wake grand forgotten underground halls, endless labyrinths of mines, and seemingly limitless opportunities for adventurous role-players to explore hidden wonders and battle the denizens who helped the Dwarfs pack on their way out (well, maybe they were not quite that helpful. But they definitely helped them make the big decision to move).

The ancient, the old and the almost-as-old.

The Great Green Rout

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. I've been busier than normal, but hopefully I'll get back into a rhythm soon.

A bit over a week ago, a friend (Benji) and I decided to play a slightly larger game at the club than usual. A couple of SMS messages shot back and forth, and we came to the conclusion that 6,000 points could be done comfortably in an afternoon, so we settled on that. This was all decided the day before the game, and he then had to hurry out and buy the new Warriors of Chaos book so that he would have a current army list with which to play. Apparently he finished making his army list at about 4am on the day, before going to bed for a token amount of sleep. We are all about the organisation, here.

Having used the Empire so much recently, I decided to do something different and fielded an army of Orcs and Goblins. My Orcs are hamstrung by a lack of painted fancy toys like Mangler Squigs and Arachnaroks, but with 6,000 points you still get to field a lot of greenskins, so I was happy enough. Below is the list that I used.

• Grimgor Ironhide
• 60 Immortulz with full command, Razor Standard
• Savage Orc Great Shaman (Level 4) with Lucky Shrunken Head, Fencer's Blades, Obsidian Trinket
• Savage Orc Warboss on Wyvern with Great Weapon, Shield, Armour of Gork
• Black Orc Warboss on Wyvern with Spear, Heavy Armour, Shield, Trickster's Helm, Talisman of Endurance, The Other Tricksters Shard
• Savage Orc Big Boss (BSB) with Great Weapon, Armour of Silvered Steel, Luckstone
• Night Goblin Shaman (L2) with Feedback Scroll
• Goblin Shaman (L2) with Dispel Scroll
• 60 Orc Boyz with Light Armour, Shield, full command
• 60 Orc Boyz with Light Armour, Shield, full command
• 34 Savage Orc Big'Uns with 2 Choppas, full command
• 8 Trolls
• 40 Night Goblins with Shields, full command, Netters, 2 Fanatics
• 39 Night Goblins with Shields, full command, Netters, 2 Fanatics
• 10 Goblin Wolf Riders with Spears, Light Armour, Shields, full command
• 5 Forest Goblin Spider Riders with Spears, Shields, Musician
• Orc Boar Chariot
• Orc Boar Chariot
• Orc Boar Chariot
• Rock Lobber
• Rock Lobber
• Doom Diver
• Doom Diver
• Giant
• Giant

I don't have a copy of Benji's list on hand, and if I did it would be in his usual illegible scrawl on a screwed up piece of paper, so it wouldn't do me much good. His list was something like:

• Chaos Lord of Tzeentch with 3+ ward save, Crown of Command, Great Weapon
• Daemon Prince of Khorne with Helm of Many Eyes, rerollable 2+ armour save (I think), flying, breath weapon
• Daemon Prince of Nurgle (Level 1) with Glittering Scales, soul feeder thing, Familiar?
• Chaos Lord of Slaanesh on Chaos Steed with Slaaneshi pendant thing, solid armour and weapon
• Exalted Hero of Tzeentch (BSB) with 3+ ward save
• Sorcerer of Nurgle (Level 2) with the talisman that turns you into a Daemon Prince
• Sorcerer of Tzeentch (Level 2)
• Sorcerer (Level 2 Shadow) with Feedback Scroll
• 30 Warriors of Tzeentch with Blasted Standard, Halberds, full command
• 30 Warriors of Nurgle with Halberds, full command
• Chaos Chariot
• Chaos Chariot
• Chaos Chariot
• Chaos Chariot
• 10 Chaos Ogres of Khorne with Great Weapons, full command
• 13 Knights of Slaanesh with Ensorcelled Weapons, full command
• 4 Chaos Trolls
• Chimera with regeneration, breath weapon
• Warshrine
• Shaggoth with Great Weapon
• Hellcannon

Obviously that list is a bit rough, but it was something like that. Anyway, I took some pictures during the game in case it turned out to be interesting, but unfortunately it didn't end up being the most even of contests. I'll explain what happened through he power of captions (yay, captions!)...

Success! We both manage to deploy within a couple of hours of our arrival at the club.