Weekly Hobby Update

Been a reasonably busy hobby week over the past seven days.

I got in a couple of games - one versus Empire of Dust, the other versus Undead - with the Ratkin. As noted in earlier post, I got the chance to try out the new Control scenario which was an extremely positive experience.

Finished the 3D printed tower which is now ready to base. Once done I'll choose my next piece to print.

Started Multibasing the Goblins but also have built the bases for my next two Herd units. I have Gargoyles and Giant Eagles to base and will look to get those done prior to the weekend.

Downloaded my copy of KoW Historical and had a quick glance. Love the toolbox aspect of the standard list and how that forms the basis for other lists. Not so keen on some of the themed lists - both Roman and Chinese try to cover too broad a period - but because of the toolbox you can build an alternative.

Finally, bought my first Games Workshop game - "Gorechosen" the Khorne Pitfighting game. I can see this being a useful filler game on tournament weekends.

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COK Scenarios - Control

On Saturday Ryan and I were scheduled for a game and decided to try out one of the two new COK scenarios. We rolled up "Control".

The premise of this scenario is that the board is split into six 2' x 2' squares - three on each side. At the end of the game if you have more points in units (not including Individuals) in the square you "Control" it. Each square is worth 1 Contol Point except for your opponent's centre square which is worth 2 Control Ponts TO YOU. The player with the most Control Points wins.

My understanding is that it was developed by the TO of the US-based Lonewolf Tournament.

I can't say just how impressed with this scenario. From a tactical point of view it is fantastic. You are forced to constantly reassess throughout the game as to what the probable endpoint is. IMO it is the best KoW scenario to date. I'll certainly be using it as a staple in future.

In our game, Ratkin vs. Undead, the Rats were able to achieve a solid victory. However, this was largely achieved as a result of an error Ryan made. He had a unit of Wraiths worth 240 points in one square while I had a Horde of Shock Troops (235 points). He charged them over an obstacle, hindering himself in the process. My countercharge wasn't Hindered and I was able to do 9 wounds. Some above average Nerve rolls saw me break the Wraiths and claim the square. In this case Ryan didn't need to charge me as I was worth less points. If he had received the charge instead I would have been Hindered.

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Commitment - Bacon & Eggs

There is an old saying that explains commitment in terms of Bacon and Eggs.

"In B&E, a chicken participates while a pig is committed!"

Well in terms of KoW, my Goblin army is following the way of the pig. I say "my", it's actually Jack's goblins. But he is sitting in Boston so I'm feeling pretty safe.

The Night Goblins were based for Warhammer but I suspect that they will see more use in KoW, so after speaking to Jack, I began Multibasing. This is no small task given it requires two Legions (one a Horde plus additional base to convert to bigger unit) and two Hordes to start with. I want to hit the actual model count so that's 200 of the little blighters.

Off come the individual bases, setting the goblins free!

That's two Hordes of archers ready for Multibasing.

The bases from Sarissa, textured and painted waiting for the models.

The start of the Rabble...only 100 still to go!

The good thing is that I can do this while I watch TV so I should get it done by the weekend.

Once complete, the Goblins will be well and truly committed.

 

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FOB NZ Rankings - 40k Updated for DonkeyCon

Big event in South Island last weekend. The results for DonkeyCon now in the Rankings.

Kings of War - New FAQ Released

Mantic have released an updated FAQ for Kings of War.

You can get it here

Nothing earthshattering, more a quick tidy up.

NZ KoW Rankings Updated - WSS Spring and Call to Arms

The NZ KoW Rankings have been updated for Warlords Super Series "Spring" and for Call to Arms.

The decision to include Call to Arms was not taken lightly. There were 10 participants but two dropped out on Day 2. Robert Higgins included the two players in his final results and on that basis I have uploaded the results into the rankings.

The rationale behind including them was that the event met the minimum requirement at the outset for a rankings event and a number of people travelled to it on that basis. I'm also keen not to have the situation occur whereby one of more people can withdraw and so affect everybody else.

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Terrain - 3D Printed Tower

The last 3D piece I printed was Printable Scenery's Guard Tower and this week I finally got around to painting it.

Here it is with one of the Brothers Grimm (my Herd Shaman) for scale.

This time I used a product I found on the web called XTC-3D which acts as a finishing agent. It is a two part resin product that masks some of the printing striations and imperfections.

You just mix it and brush it on, then leave for 2-3 hours. It certainly provides a much superior finish over the raw product as a painting surface.

The model is six parts. I've glued it together for use - PVA - but it could be easily left unglued and the interior fitted out. I'll do that with my next print.

Very happy with the way the roof painted up. It really benefitted from the resin finisher.

So the plan from here is to base it so it is ready for tabletop action.

For those interested in the economics. The cost of printing materials was approx GBP 2.50 (USD 3.00 or NZD 4.00). The finisher is NZD $25 but I suspect would do 5-6 buildings this size.

Tabletop tower for USD 5-6, not too shabby.

 

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WIP - Printable Scenery's Tavern

I have had Printable Scenery's Tavern sitting on my desk for the last 3-4 months. It was printed on my 3-D printer earlier in the year.

With the weather shite today, I took the opportunity to paint up the piece ready for the battlefield.

The tavern just needs to be based and I'll try to get it done this week. It needs a little bit of drybrushing as well as some ivy on the outside.

Really happy with how it came up.

 

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WSS Spring - Results

Yesterday was the last of the Warlords' Super Series events. This initiative has attracted 11 new members to the Club with free entry to the four events run through the year. "Spring" managed to attract 10 players to the four round, 2000 point event. COK tournament tweaks were used.

Best Sport: Sam Whitt

Best Army: Luke Forrest's Night Stalkers

From an umpire's point of view it was very straightforward. I even had the chance to have a game with my Ratkin against Rob Higgins' Undead.

WSS "Spring" Photos

The final event of the 2016 Warlords Super Series, "Spring", was held yesterday and attracted ten participants.

Ryan's Undead await the onslaught from Sam's Varangur/Kin.

Undead have swarmed through the village

Peter's Empire of Dust face off against Jayden's Goblins in "Dominate"

The EoD swarmed the centre but were eventually thrown back decisively by the Goblins.

Luke's Night Stalkers taking the fight to Tane's Wall of De 6

Neil's Brotherhood up against Matt's Abyssals

I'll get results up later today.

 

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Warlords' Super Series "Spring" Tomorrow - List Link

WSS Spring is on at Warlords tomorrow. I have swapped out to umpire rather than play with Peter Williamson now participating.

You can check out the lists here

We are using the CoK tournament tweaks but sticking to Invade, Loot, Dominate and Pillage as missions.

Lliam's Pharoah has Wings rather than double nimble.

I'll post photos and results next week.

Games Workshop Relaunches White Dwarf.......Again!

This is from memory the third relaunch of White Dwarf in the past four years - the professional format relaunch, the weekly relaunch and this the "you guys were right relaunch".

It was about two years that White Dwarf went weekly with the monthly Warhammer Visions as an accompaniment. At the time the internet raged at the decision. The WDW was seen as no more than a catalogue while Visions seem to ignore the fact that modellers could see painted models online. The lack of written content didn't help Visions reception. In true GW fashion this was "Great News".

A lot has happened in two years - the End Times, the destruction of the Old World, launch of Age of Sigmar, further bloat of 40k and release of standalone games - and the relaunch cycle has turned again. I suspect the marketing model of churn GW employs subscribes to the goldfish memory view of its player base so the "Great News" moniker can be paraded again with no remorse.

Certainly my copy of the new WD had no admission that "Hey, the internet was right and WDW and Visions were crap ideas, doomed to fail".

Right, with the "Told You So" out of the way, this relaunch is a massive step forward on what was there before. The acclaim that the relaunch has received on the internet reviews shows that it is appealing to the masses far more than the weekly version ever did. Sure there is a certain amount of "Battered Wife Syndrome" evident as any meaningful contact would have been an improvement.

In reality though this is a significant improvement. I don't currently play any of the three core GW games nor do I own any of their boardgames but there is enough content for me to be happy just from a hobby point of view. For those who play the games and have been starved of in-depth content - new rules, battle reports etc - this must seem like Xmas.

Let's hope it continues.

Battle Report - Ratkin vs. The Brotherhood in Invade

On Saturday Neil came over the hill to have a game while his wife was busy in the city. I wasn't sure what he was bringing but he turned up with The Brotherhood while I used the Ratkin that I had used at Call to Arms.

Neil's list was as follows:

• Villein Martyr Horde
• 2x Order of the Brotherhood Regiments (one with Caterpillar)
• 2x Villein Initiate Regiments
• Order of Redemption Troop
• Villein Reconnoiterers Troop
• 2x Order of the Forsaken Regiments
• 2x Villein Siege Artillery
• 2x Forsaken Beasts (both with Breath Attacks)

My list was:

 

• 3x Tunnel Slave Regiments
• 2x Shock Troop Hordes
• Blight Horde
• Vermintide Regiment
• 2x Weapons Team (both with Storm of Lead)
• 2x Death Engines (both with Vile Sorcery)
• Swarm-Crier
• Warlock (with Bane Chant and Inspiring Talisman)
• Daemon-Spawn (Fly)

The Brotherhood was different in that it had no characters while like me Neil was only spending 20 points on Magic Items. Interestingly this seems to be a growing trend in our meta.

The table too was interesting. I wanted to use my THM Volcanic terrain so we had a battlefield with a lot of Impassable terrain with nothing over Height 2. This gave no hiding spots for Monsters on both sides.

We rolled up "Invade" and Neil had the first turn. During the battle I took pictures after each of my turns.

The first turn saw a tentative move forward by the Brotherhood towards what looked like my weakened centre. I moved my guys forward so they remain just out of charge range.

LOVE Multibasing - Guardian Brutes

Finished basing a couple of units of Guardian Brutes for my Herd today.

These are Mierce Tavorox, great resin figures that fit the bill nicely. Sam did a great job painting them. My contribution was rusting up the weapons, a couple of highlights on the skin of the darker animals and basing them.

Basing uses a mix of bark and gravel for stones and a variety of the tufts in my basing box.

Run out of Herd to base now but I'm getting towards the end of the units. From memory there are just Harpies, Beast Packs, Centaurs and Eagles to go.

 

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The End of The Warhammer Forum

I was browsing The Warhammer Forum the other day and my eyes were drawn to an Admin message headed "Closed to New Members" which said:

"As the majority of traffic new sign-ups here are spammers we have closed the board to all new members.

The general feeling among the admins and mods that still care is that TWF has had it's day and nothing on here cannot be found anywhere else."

That sounds pretty much a death knell to me. When the mods/admin have lost interest it can't be good.

Over the years TWF as been a bastion of Fantasy gaming. It was very much the place to go for rules questions and acted as the main discussion board for the ETC. with the splintering of the community it was replaced more and more by other avenues.

I guess we'll see a slow decline from here until it becomes an echo chamber.

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Chaos Space Marines Update

Games Workshop are releasing their latest supplement "Traitor's Hate".

I'm not sure about the title - shouldn't it be "Traitors' Hate" - but this update to Codex: Chaos Space Marines is missing the one thing Chaos adherents have wanted back since Gav Thorpe's bastard offspring - Legion specific rules.

No need to dust the Noise Marine Havocs, Noise Bikers, Noise Dreads or Noise Termies.

Nothing to see here. Wake me up next edition

 

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Ground Zero - Fantasy Gaming

One of the most disappointing aspects of the Games Workshop decision to nuke the Warhammer world has been the impact on the tournament gaming scene.

I know that the outcome we have had in New Zealand is reflected around the world.....a splintering of the "community" into different game systems. Here in New Zealand we have seen the people playing Warhammer Fantasy move in a variety of different ways:

• Kings of War
• The Ninth Age
• Age of Sigmar
• Warhammer 40k
• Ceased playing altogether

In some cases people have cycled through the groups looking for a game that scratches their itch. Now in larger population centres this may not be much of an issue as there are plenty of willing faces to fill gaps but in smaller centres - or those with dispersed population - it is having a massive effect (in terms of numbers).

To be fair in the last 12-18 months of 8th Edition, numbers had peaked and were starting to decline - I suspect because the edition had matured and had been "worked out". This wasn't helped by the lack of love GW was showing the system, largely phoning in army books and then not following up with after sales care (FAQs, etc). However WHFB was largely the only Fantasy game in town.

As a result of the splintering, the resulting communities have had to adjust. Tournament numbers are much less which in itself restricts variety.

Hopefully all of the various systems will grow, attracting new players to the fold. It was good to see multiple systems in play at the Warlords' recent convention Call to Arms. Every game has its attractions and advantages and the key thing out of it all is that people continue to game.

Weekend Hobby Update

As can be seen from the previous post most of my attention has gone on the lava terrain from THM. However that's not all I've been doing.

Over the past week I have managed to sort out a lot of terrain to sell. Most is 40k so I'll take that to the upcoming Maelstrom event. This has freed up space in my garage which has let me reorganise my remaining terrain more effectively. Slowly getting to where I want to be with regard to storage - both access and protection wise.

Next on the hobby desk are Guardian Brutes to base for The Herd before I move on to rebase Jack's Night Goblin army for KoW Goblins. I managed to pick up some more squigs on the weekend to use as Mawbeasts and NG Musicians to use as War Trombones.

So the coming week sees an emphasis on basing before switching back to terrain - I've 3D printed tower and tavern to paint.

Terrain - THM "Volcanic" Kickstarter

As I posted about ten days ago I received my Kickstarter terrain from THM for their recent "Volcanic" project.

Over he intervening time I've been using my evenings and part of this last weekend to paint it.

This is the main piece and it is 11" across. The central altar comes off revealing a pit.

To paint the pieces I first removed the minimal flash then washed them in detergent to remove the mould release agent. They were then sprayed Black. The lava areas received two coats of Vallejo grey primer and then GW Averland Sunset.

Here is the finished batch. This equated to roughly $200 NZD - read GBP 100/USD 140. I have tried to match them to work with a FAT Blast Zone mat that I have.

Here you can see the removable pit lid - with altar. I haven't decided what to do with pit yet but am erring towards filling it with boiling blood.

The lava pool. Once I had a good yellow base coat I got out the airbrush and used the various yellows and oranges I have in the Badger Minitaire range to produce the lava effect. By judicious over spraying you can get a lighting effect that reflects the lava glow on surrounding rock.

The broken column and broken statue. THM has created interesting pieces that are fun to paint.

Various lava pools. The two at the top give a hint of the "overglow" effect.

There are also a series of obstacles. For the wood I've gone for a parched/bleached look.

There is also a lot of scatter terrain featuring smaller pools, stalagmites and sundry outcrops.

Very happy with how it turned out. I was a bit hesitant about trying a lava effect but with the airbrush it is pretty easy.

Looking forward to getting them on the table in the next little while.

 

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