Lord of the Rings - What's on my hobby table

Berserkers! 8 of them (so far) as they are just cool and I want them to form the core of my first warband. 

I also have a cave troll (Boromir wouldn't be happy) that I will proxy in for an Isengard troll until I get the model and this guy can retire to the mountain retreat of Moria. 

I thought that painting the hand on their helmets would be difficult but so far I found that relatively simple. 

The paint chipped off the knee of the guy on the right and I need to finish some of the finer details. 

Hopefully I will have these guys ready for the table soon and they can face off against the Kingdoms of Men and Aragorn (or some of his friends) soon!

Warhammer 40k - Battle Report Necron/Chaos vs Blood Angels

Hi,

So here is my first battle report, unfortunately I lost all of my pictures from the 7th edition launch event battle and so I won't be able to show off the really cool terrain and armies at my local store. 

Thankfully my efforts to recover those photos lead to me uncovering this old battle in my files. Please forgive the unfinished paint work, this will hopefully be rectified before we start doing 7th edition battle reports. 

So without further adieu:

Necron with CSM allies (me)

Destroyer Lord

MSS

SW

5x Warriors

5x Warriors

5x Wraiths

Annihilation Barge

Chaos Lord

Terminator Armour

MoN

Combi Melta

Chain Fist

5x Plague Marines

2x Plasma Guns

1x Rhino

3x Spawn

MoN

Blood Angels (David)

Librarian

Honour guard (sanguinary guard and Emperors champion count as)

Land Raider

5x Scouts

Sniper Rifles

10x Assault Marines

6x Death Company

2x Attack Bikes

2x Multi Melta

Pre game thoughts

This was always going to be a tough match up for the Blood Angels, the necrons can bring enough firepower on their own but the CSM allies bring some really useful AP2 weaponry with the plasma guns. 

Both lists were trying out units we don't normally use, the land raider and honour guard for the BAs were a pretty big point sink but we wanted to see how they would do. The necrons would probably be able to glance it to death but we figured it may just be able to take a chunk of the "Necraos" force with it. 

On the other side I decided to give the spawn another go. On paper they looked pretty good but so far I have found them to be ineffective. I'm also running a chaos lord of nurgle (for the plague marines as troops) but giving him terminator armour and a chain fist for the first time. The model looks so cool I just wanted to include him somehow. 

The Battle

We rolled Emperors Will as the mission and Necrons got to deploy first. 

Blood Angels seized the initiative and off we went. 

Blood Angels Turn 1:

Everything moves forward apart from the scouts in the rubble (right at the back)

The land raider fired everything it had at the wraiths but to know avail. 

The two attack bikes take a couple of pot shots at the annihilation barge and cause one glancing hit. 

Necrons Turn 1:

The wraiths move forward to assault the assault marines. 

The warriors move forward into cover and fire at the Attack bikes, causing one wound. The Annihilation Barge also tries to get some revenge for the wound in the first turn but fails to deal any damage. 

The wraiths assault the marines and kill one. 

Blood Angels Turn 2:

The attack bikes drop back from the frontline. 

The snipers fire at the spawn and cause a single wound. 

The attack bikes take a shot at the annihilation barge causing a penetrating hit and immobilising it. The land raider finishes the job getting the Blood Angels first blood. 

Death company pile into the wraith/assault marine combat. 1 wraith dies but it costs the assault marines dear as 3 die. 

Necrons Turn 2:

The chaos rhino moves up to block the land raiders advance and delivers it's cargo. 

The warriors open up on the land raider and cause one glancing hit. 

The spawn charge the attack bikes but both sides fail to deal any damage. 

The wraith combat continues, 1 wraith is wounded while four more assault marines die. 

Blood Angels Turn 3:

The only movement this turn for the BAs saw the honour guard pile into the spawn combat. 

The land raider opened up on the chaos lord but failed to wound him. 

In the spawn combat 2 spawn die and the last one is dropped to one wound but they do kill the first attack bike. 

I finally remember I brought along mind shackle scarabs and use them against death company killing one. In the following combat two wounds are dealt out to the wraith unit and two death company die. 

Necrons Turn 3:

The warriors open up on the land raider again and wreck it with 3 glancing hits. 

The plague marines fire at the scouts, killing 2. 

The final spawn dies to the honour guard. 

The wraiths kill the last 2 assault marines and one death company without loss. 

Blood Angels Turn 4:

Things aren't looking great for the men of the Imperium, in a last ditch effort to push back the metallic menace the honour guard charge the wraith unit. The destroyer lord challenges the Librarian to single combat and he feels duty bound to accept. 

The snipers pick off one plague marine. 

In single combat the destroyer lord cuts down the Librarian, for slay the warlord, and the wraiths kill a further member of death company. 

Necrons Turn 4:

No movement here as the warriors hold one objective. The plague marines try to pick off the scouts, killing one, but at the cost of a plasma gun blowing up its owner. 

The destroyer lord kills two honour guard, including one with the banner, and the wraiths kill another honour guard and the death company.

Blood Angels Turn 5:

Hoping to steal victory the scouts move to hold the final objective and the remaining attack bike drops back. 

The only combat to resolve sees two honour guard die (if they had held the Blood Angels stood a chance, now the wraiths are free to attack at will) with no wounds to their opponents. 

Necrons Turn 5:

The chaos lord and plague marines kill the two scouts (and any hope for the Blood Angels). 

To add final insult to injury the wraiths kill the attack bike and with it the last member of the blood angel army. 

Complete Necron victory!

Post game views

At the time I did not expect the Necrons/CSM army to table the Blood Angels but I knew it would always be an uphill battle for them. The high cost of their troops coupled with the effectiveness of some of the Necron/CSM units meant they were at a distinct disadvantage before the game even started.

The stars of the show were the Canoptek Wraiths. They tore through every enemy, although the assault marines held them up for a number of turns, and at times I felt they could have taken on the entire Blood Angels army on their own.

The weakest unit on the board was probably the Chaos Spawn. Once again I was left disappointed with their contribution, only killing one attack bike, and I'm not sure when I will next use them.

Well that is it for 6th Edition, the next 40k Battle Report I post will be from 7th Edition and I cannot wait to see what the new edition will bring to our tabletops!

Warhammer 40k - The launch event

So I'm on my way and still pretty excited about this. There have been some leaks all over the net but that won't spoil the fun. 

I'm taking some Blood Angels with me tonight, I haven't brought them to the table in quite a while (and with the points cost creating a 1k army shouldn't be too hard)

(The picture is a bit out of date)

I will try and keep this updated throughout the night. Hopefully some battle reports to follow as well!

First update, I've had a change of heart and ran with my Necrons after I saw the state my Blood Angels painting was in. I've also had a quick glance at the new rulebook and it is big. Lots of subtle changes which are nice. More to come soon. 

And so I'm home and fell asleep before updating...

But here it is! (Mmmm new book smell)

Straight off the bat, it's bigger than 6th edition and I don't think that is all due to the extra covers. 

A galaxy at war is stuffed full of HD pictures, just take a look at this shot of the Astra Militarum!

If you ever feel you are running short of ideas take a look at this book and it is bound to get the creative juices flowing. 

Dark millennium hasn't advanced the fluff all that much but there is a bit more detail about some crusades. 

Finally the rules!

It's all very subtle but the first big change is on page 22

Here's a bit about generating warp charge, much like the magic phase in Warhammer. 

The discipline of daemonology gets it's own quick explanation, doubles could quickly eat up the psykers in your army, but the reward could be some very nasty Daemons. And where's the fun in life if you aren't taking a risk every now and then!

Over watch is still snapshots not BS-2. 

The new vehicle damage table:

New rule for chariots, characters can not disembark!

And hammer of wrath for chariots

Super heavies are in

Ok, enough about the books, let's look at the tactical objectives. 

Capture & control, take & hold and storm & defend are all pretty much the same

But now they get more interesting. 

Here are the seize ground cards:

Lots of variety here, I think my friends and I may focus more on these sort of objectives rather than the "hold marker x" ones. 

The purge rules aren't quite as good as the seize ground ones for me but the will definitely combat too many MSU armies (victory points for wiping out units!)

Last, but not least, the annihilation objectives. These target specific units or unit types. Kingslayer in particular is pretty good (now I need a Jaime Lannister in my army!)

Well I think that is enough reviewing for now, I hope to have half a battle report up later (unfortunately we couldn't quite finish it as we ran out of time). 

Lord of the Rings - Aragorn at Helms Deep

So this was one of my favourite when it was originally released and I finally managed to get my hands on it just recently. So here is my guide to painting Aragorn. 

First I base coated him with Abbadon Black. 

I then dry brushed it with leadbelcher. 

The next layer I added was some Khorne red, for the shirt and tunic. On the tunic I wanted a hint of red to show through in the right light which is why I deviated from the usual dark brown base here. 

Next I watered down some Mournfang Brown and painted this over the tunic. To finish the tunic I added a wash of Nuln Oil. 

For the face I used Cadian Fleshtone. You can also highlight with Kislev Flesh. 

For the hair, facial hair and boots I mixed Mournfang Brown and Abbadon Black. 

The gauntlets and scabbard were painted with Abbadon Black before highlighting the trim with Runefang Steel. I used the same layer paint for the blade of his sword. 

The highlighting for the elven scabbard on his back was done with Gehanna's Gold. 

Sorry this post is a little short today has been a little hectic and I ran out of time for all the detail I would like to include. 

I soon hope to have some battle reports up and for those of you who are 40k fans I will be at a release event for the new rulebook tomorrow night. Even though the new rules (or lack of them) are being rumoured I am looking forward to getting my hands on the new books, and some pizza!

Warhammer 40k - The dawn of a new era?

So for my first 40k post there is really only one place to start, 7th Edition. 

It was rumoured for a long time and now it's finally here and Games Workshop promise that it will change the way we play forever...

Ok so that's a bit over dramatic but they certainly are ringing the changes. 

Let's start with unbound and battle forged armies. Originally I was concerned with this as I could see lots of armies just spamming Riptides/Transcendant C'Tans/Wraithknights/<insert big scary unit here>... And perhaps they still will. But the fact that an unbound army can't contest objectives (at least as far as we've seen) should temper these over zealous lists. As a former (and future) Blood Angels player I have used a full death company army before and I know how difficult it can be to table an opponent. 

However, if everything can now score (as was rumoured) and armies can ally with themselves then there is still the opportunity for the system to be abused. 

Next up is the psychic phase. Fantasy magic phase step forward. Now I think this is a good move and an attempt to stop some of the death star builds that developed in 6th edition. Sure some silly things have come along with it (everyone has daemonology?) but the chance to dispell that re-rollable 2++ is something everyone will appreciate. I hope it will bring a bit more balance and strategy to 40k. 

Now for something I'm really looking forward to, variable objectives. Time to come out and play Mr Tau, you can't stay hidden behind that Aegis line all game any more. We've only seen a few of the objectives but there is enough there to give me hope. Kill the enemy general, grab that objective and hold... And once you achieve an objective you get to pick another at random. This should change the game up a bit and make every battle different.

Finally for the rumoured changes. 

Vehicle armour is no longer paper thin, now it's maybe a bit more cardboardy. It sounds like tanks can still be glanced to death but they should be harder to insta-kill. There is talk of an increase in hull points which isn't a bad thing, a squad of necrons with gauss shouldn't be able to glance a land raider to death in one turn. 

Consolidation into combat is back. Assault armies only have to deal with over watch once as long as another enemy unit is within range. To be honest this really makes sense and I think it will give some of the more assault focused armies a chance against the overly shooty armies from 6th. That puddle you see is the salty tears of Tau players. 

Over watch is BS-2 not only on a 6. There are also similar rumours regarding shooting at flyers. 

Interceptor/sky fire can only target ground or air, again I think this makes sense as long as it is in that turn and not for the whole game. 

On a closing note I would like to see Games Workshop advance the fluff a bit. I've seen mentions of the 13th Black Crusade in some of the videos that have been released and it would be nice to see some sort of outcome from that campaign influence this edition. 

7th edition will please some, upset others but hopefully we will all still have fun. 

Warhammer - March of the Dwarfs

Hi and welcome to my first post on my new Warhammer army, the Dwarfs. 

I must admit that previously my experience with Games Workshop products has been mainly limited to 40k, with some LotR flirtations. 

But recently Ben at my local store introduced me to the Warhammer fantasy game. I loved it. The strategy of the movement phase really resonated with me and I knew I had to get in on the action full time!

I picked up some Dwarf warriors and immediately got painting. 

Below you can see the 4 guys I started off with, let's call them Cacofonix, Fulliautomatix, Asterix and Vitalstatistix. (I loved these books as a kid)

I'm a big advocated of base coating models with a brush rather than spray paint. You have a lot more control and there aren't any gaps (which always seems to happen to me with spray paint). 

A helpful tip Ben have me  just a little too late for these models... Always attach the shields after painting! I usually try and paint as much as I can separately but I was too carried away with these guys. 

After base coating my guys I set about dry brushing them with leadbelcher and doing a quick wash of Nuln Oil to highlight the details in the chain mail. Don't worry about the dry brushing getting on the wrong parts of the model, you need to catch all of the "metal" parts and can paint over the rest later. 

The next thing to do is paint the all the hair! Seriously Dwarfs are just beards and chain mail, once that is done most of the battle is won. For beards I tried to keep it simple, the blond beards were Zandri Dust, brown Mournfang Brown, Black Abaddon Black and red (ginger?) was some wild rider red, although I may throw in a little Khorne Red to calm it down a bit next time. 

For the gold I used Gehanna's Gold. A thin coat on top of the dry brushed metal gives a very pale gold but I went for a few more layers to give my champion a darker and more striking colour. For the face and hands I went for Bugman's Glow. It's a darker skin tone than I usually use for Caucasian models but as Dwarfs are more gruff and grubby I felt it worked. 

After some investigation I decided to go for a Karak Varn, I can already imagine running campaigns to reclaim a lost home and strike the entry from the book of grudges, theme for my warriors. The general consensus via Google was that the colours I should use were red and blue. The Kantor Blue base with Khorne Red trim seemed to work a lot better than the reverse and created a bit of a "turn of the 20th century" French Army regalia for them which could prove quite striking with a whole army on the battlefield. 

After that it was just a case of highlighting where needed. I went over the edges of the helmets with leadbelcher and used Ceramite White for the wrap on the handle (thanks YouTube!). Once everything was in place I went over it with Agrax Earthshade and voila! A simple but effective colour scheme. 

There are some details I am still adding though...