A Tale of Duelling Gamers

Anyone who has been following this blog for a while will probably have seen the Duelling Paintbrushes challenges as they came and went. There have been three of them now. Each challenge went for about a month (I think the first one was shorter), and by the end of each one, I had a lot more painted models to show for my efforts. And a slight bout of hobby burnout, truth be told. Trying to painting anything up to 1000 points in a month can be bad for your mental health.

Anyway, Owen has been up to his tricks again, and this time he has organised a slightly less insane challenge - A Tale of Duelling Gamers. Unlike Duelling Paintbrushes, this will be something of a "slow and steady" effort, with the participants gradually painting up a sizeable force over a period of 6 months. It's the sort of thing that most of you will have seen before, with several gamers buying and painting models as they go, working under a monthly budget to ensure everything stays at a similar pace ($200 AU for the first month, then $100 in each subsequent month) .

Old School Gyrocopter

I can't say as I am a big fan of the new Dwarf Gyrocopter and Gyrobomber models. They're not really how I picture the machines at all, although I suspect I have just grown accustomed to the older versions. In fact, I never really liked the version that the new models replaced either. I've always been more partial to the 2 versions that are older again - the first and second incarnations of the Gyrocopter. I already had a painted model of the second one, and now I decided it was time to take a break from painting Warriors to paint up my model of the original version.

The original Dwarf Gyrocopter model, with a shiny new paint job.

More Painted Dwarf Warriors

I'm making pretty good progress at the moment. I've decided to go with the approach of painting this unit in smallish batches of guys rather than one or two huge groups, and it is definitely more rewarding. Rather than having nothing to show for my efforts until the entire regiment is eventually finished, I now have a usable unit of 21 guys, even though the project as a whole is still only half done.

This batch was a mixed group of 7 models, including some more Skull Pass guys and a couple of very old multi-pose plastics. Once again the unified colour scheme and conversions seem to bring them together as a unit despite their different eras of manufacture.

7 painted Dwarf Warriors to bolster my ranks

Painting Fantasy Fighter Dwarfs

Everything old is new again! Well that may not be entirely true, but some of my older Dwarf Warriors have managed to score a shiny new paint job.

Of all the guys I'm planning to put into this unit, the ones from the old Fantasy Fighters box set are the oldest. It's rather surprising then how well they fit in with the newest models in the unit.

4 Dwarfs from the Fantasy Fighters box set from 1992...

Chopping and changing

After the completion of the first wave of my Dwarf Warrior regiment, I was motivated to start working on the rest of the unit. At this point that really just meant selecting and preparing all the other models for painting, but that in itself took a little while.

Having pondered for a while how best to mix the models into several units, I ended up taking a slightly haphazard approach. Obviously I was starting with 10 Battle for Skull Pass models, which meant those were going to be what I was trying to match with the remaining guys in the unit. I figured the majority of the unit would be either Skull Pass models or the current multi-pose plastics, who are the closest match in terms of appearance. I also decided I could mix in a few much older plastic guys without them looking too out of place.

Unlike the first wave of guys, I ended up modifying nearly all the models making up the rest of the unit. Well, except maybe the multi-pose guys, who already vary a bit depending on how they're assembled. I also made a point of trying to modify some specific models that otherwise would never see a paintbrush.

With 4 sets of Skull Pass Dwarfs, I am somewhat overloaded with command groups for Warriors, Thunderers and Miners. Given I am unlikely to field tons of tiny units with full command, some of these models will doubtless be wasted. Not much can be done for the musicians (with instruments wrapped around their bodies in a way that would be far too difficult to remove), but I think I can make use of some of the others...

The guy on the left is the Skull Pass Thunderer standard bearer. I'm stealing a couple of his clones as guys with great weapons, just to add some variety to the unit.

Painting Dwarf Clansmen

So rather than stop, wait and really consider the feedback I had received in my previous post (and thanks to everyone who did respond), I immediately went and started painting some Skull Pass Dwarf Warriors. At the time I figured I could use them as a test of colour schemes, and that 10 guys wouldn't be an overwhelming number when mixed in with other models anyway (if that was the way I decided to go). 

10 Skull Pass Warriors, painted to a decent tabletop standard. As usual, nothing on the banner yet. One day...

Mix or match?

Since the arrival of the new Dwarf book, I've started digging through my stockpiles of Dwarfs. People that know me will probably not be surprised that there were slightly more models than I remembered. They're a real mix in terms of age, with some of them dating from well over 20 years ago. It will be interesting to see how they all come together.

Speaking of which, I've been trying to work out how best to go about planning and assembling my units. I had originally assumed that I would simply group the models of similar appearance together, but this would result in a number of units with very similar, static models. The Clone Wars, if you will. I might be able to convert some of them a bit to add some variety, but Dwarf models are not that dynamic and there would be limits to what I could do. 

The alternative is to deliberately mix the various eras of models between units - spread the identical models out as much as possible. This would give each unit a little more dynamism, but it would come at the loss of a coherent theme for each regiment.

So I guess I need to decide, do I mix things up or do I keep them grouped in nearly identical units?

Here we have our candidates, from left to right: Fantasy Fighter, Multi-pose Clansman, Skull Pass, Single Pose and Old Metal.

Cancon 2014 Aftermath: Part 8 (the finale)

And now it's time for my final Cancon post. It's ridiculous that it's taken this long to cover the 8 games of the event, but at least we're now at the end. This is the 8^th post in the series. You can find my previous game here.

Going into the last round, I was pegging my hopes on a big win. It would be enough for me to have achieved my rough goals and would leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling after a good last day of the event. Then I discovered my opponent was to be Ben Leopold, and I knew things were about to get interesting.

Game 8 – Battleline

Ben Leopold – High Elves

• Prince with Wizarding Hat, Dragon Armour, Great Weapon, Shield
• Loremaster of Hoeth with Book of Hoeth, Armour of Silvered Steel, Great Weapon
• Dragon Mage (Level 2) with Gem of Sunfire, Dispel Scroll, Enchanted Shield, Dragon Armour
• Noble (BSB) with Halberd, Armour of Caledor
• 6 Dragon Princes with Musician
• 5 Silver Helms with Shields, Musician
• 28 Spearmen with Full Command
• 18 Archers with Standard, Musician
• 24 Swordmasters of Hoeth with Full Command
• Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower

Mr Leopold is another Hampton player, and as such we've played on the odd occasion and seen each other play many times. He's a bit of a gambler, whose games tend to end quickly as a result of a dramatic (though often risky) action. My best hope would be that he decided to do something dramatic and failed, opening the door for a riposte.

Ben's list had some questionable content in it. Or rather, it had one highly questionable choice – a Prince with the Wizarding Hat. This is the special sort of madness you might find in his list, although he did his best to prove me wrong by predicting he would roll up the Lore of Metal, then promptly did so, and got Final Transmutation and Searing Doom. He may have been cackling triumphantly as he did so. Regardless, it made his use of the silly hat look far more masterful than it really was. Don't let him tell you otherwise...

Deployment. I don't recall why I put the Flagellants 8 wide on the right flank, but I had vague ideas about trying to keep the High Elves out of the buildings.