Monday, 4 September 2023

Not Battle Reports - Middle Earth Strategy Battle Games

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been playing games again, in fact a fair few but I haven't shared them with you because they take too long to write to so I struggle to fit them in rather than do the hobby, blog about the hobby or play the actual games. What I have here are three games of #MESBG, I'm not sure I can relay what happened but if I can convey just some of the joy I got from these games it's all that really matters. 

Otty and Ben are going to a MESBG doubles tournament at Warhammer World so Liam and I have been 'sparring' with them so they can familiarise themselves with the rules more and also help fine tune their army list.


Ben may have been absent for this game, so Otty's son subbed in. The rules have you in control of one half of the army and I had this half with a much feared dweller in the dark.


Otty's Moria Goblins had loads of Warg Marauders for speed and durability.


Liam charged forward with his Orcs, a lot faster than the Goblins I had, which I tried to use the rocks to hide behind. 

We were all trying to get the objective in the centre, behind the picket fence, which gave me an idea.


I put the Dweller in the picket, his bulk meaning no one could get into the area, unless they climbed over the fence - so I had the objective...


Or so I thought, the mission actually stated it was a 6" area and the player with the most in was the winner. I had assumed it was a 3" area and blocked off access to it. All I ended up doing was trapping my own monstrous creature who did nothing for the entire game - much to everyone's amusement. We got royally trounced thanks to this cock-up.


If I'm honest, I have no recollection of this game whatsoever, which is why these aren't battle reports.


I think I vaguely remember Otty being exceptionally lucky with his dice rolls, because I think the next time we played [Turnip28] he continued to roll hot.


But it didn't matter that I lost again, I had been having so much fun just playing and once again realising - not my figures, not my problem if I lose.


Ultimately I'm seeing my role as helping Otty get better, so if I win or lose it doesn't matter - being a good friend and having fun does!


This time we got all four of us to play, but Otty went with me and Liam partnered with Ben running Rohirrim and Gondor. I wasn't sure on the logic of this as Ben needs to get familiar with the Goblins rather than his own Gondorian warband. But they did pretty well by focusing on Otty's side of the battlefield.


It was a mission where the heroes had to rack up kills, Which meant Otty's Goblin Shaman and my Durbûrz were at something of a disadvantage to Liam's mounted Theodred.


He just seemed to slice through the Goblins and there was only one drama where Otty managed to shoot into combat, avoid numerous 'in the ways', hit Theodred's horse a couple of times and almost kill it, if not for some special rule that allowed Theodred to escape being unhorsed.


The game carried on with Otty's half getting decimated an my half out of position, struggling to join the fray, my Dweller once again doing almost nothing, again to everyone's amusement. Throw in the fact that Liam's dice were on fire - almost any time he needed a 6 it would magically appear to ensure he won a duel or kept somebody alive. Otty couldn't believe it, I was hysterically laughing. Genuinely one of the best night's gaming I'd had in ages. Doubles makes it so much better.

Friday, 1 September 2023

'nids part 352 - Tyranid Leviathan - Psychophage white pics

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Psychophage. And the pictures on a white background.


Not a huge amount to add, although I will concede it looks a lot better on the white background than the red one.


You can pick out the creature a lot more.


And the feeder tentacles in particular look more impressive.


As does the abdomen and it looks much more disturbing for it!


I've also spotted some elements I didn't end up painting, like the rebar on rubble on the right as well as the pipe in it's tentacles.


I may add some Dirty Down Rust to these at some point, seeing as the rest of the model is varnished and sealed.



You might be able to pick out on some of these close-ups that the matt varnish has slightly 'frosted' in the recesses. It's not really noticeable, but zoomed in you can just see it.


Gloss up of its glossy abdominal sack.



It's unfortunate that applying the matt varnish, particularly on the basing sand just makes the varnish foam a bit.


This in turn dries with those bubbles trapped in the creases, creating the slight frosting. Annoyingly, that's the least important place for varnish to be - you don't need protection in the creases.


However, it is where the dust will settle, so inevitably it will always end up like this eventually.


Still, the varnish really makes the chitin plates  look great.


It's not quite a matt finish, maybe satin, but it balances out all the washes on the blue somehow and makes them much deeper.


My Screamer Killers are much more patchy with their washes on the chitin so I am fascinated to discover how those will turn out in comparison - we'll just have to wait for #DreadTober.

Wednesday, 30 August 2023

'nids part 351 - Tyranid Leviathan - Psychophage TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Psychophage. Well this escalated quickly, although realistically the bulk of the work had been done.


Once the bone and turquoise is done there doesn't feel like there's lots left, although I'd say there's still 20-25% of the model, with all the fleshy bits and black talons, not to mention the varnishes.


It felt like I was burning out on it though but I had a couple of nights where I was able to push on with it and focus.


Deciding on yellow smoke also helped - decision making always has the potential to stymie progress. Making that decision to go yellow just meant I could crack on.


Fluff wise I can tie it into the yellow sulphurous clouds that are above Ferron Proxima, so now we know why! The Tyranids have been surreptitiously xeno-forming the planet!


It's not perfect by any stretch but I like it and the yellow will fit in with the flock on the base and all the bits of yellow scenery I have too.


It's cool to add more of these accent colours back it, rather than go for the lime green or plasma blue again.


More highlights got added to the abdomen and I even put in some faint veins with watered down reds and purples.


The gloss varnish gives it an unearthly feel.


The question remains if a red sack would have been better.


Should I have inverted it so the tentacles were pink, and stand out a bit more against the Red Planet BASE! 🔴?


It still looks pretty gruesome and I'm really pleased with the results and the finished marvel. I will say that it felt a lot less like painting Tyranids than usual. There are subtle differences with the sculpting and the chitin plates which made things more uncertain than I'm used to.


It's hard to explain but the design language meant I'm usually quite confident about how to do certain bits but this just had extra stuff and much densely packed armour plates.


So I was slightly uncertain, which meant indecision and slowing down. That said, it only took about 12 days of intermittent effort to achieve this - something I'm immensely proud of.


So is this the last GREAT Big RUSTY Stamp of Approval?

Monday, 28 August 2023

To Do List 2023/24

Season of Blood

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #warhammercommunity having covered my achievements over the past hobby season, it's now that I look forward to the new one.

For once my list is looking significantly different. Sure, everything I still haven't completed from previous seasons is on here, but as I ticked off 17 items from last season's list [and already finished the Psychophage, which I planned to be in this Season's] there was a huge gap for things to do. 

As previous years I am going to begin with these two items, which are enshrined as the most important things TO DO every season…
  • Develop a more healthy hobby/life balance - go to bed at a decent hour[ish]
  • Continue to play games, they bring me so much joy and fun...
But for my painting goals let's start with Tyranids:
  1. #DreadTober - High Rule Dude
  2. #DreadTober - 2x Screamer Killers
  3. Leviathan - Neurotyrant and 2x Neuroloids:
  4. Leviathan - 5x Barbgaunts
  5. Leviathan - Winged Tyranid Prime
  6. Leviathan - 3x Von Ryan's Leapers
  7. Leviathan - 20x Termagants
  8. Leviathan - 11x Neurogaunts
  9. Leviathan - Rippers...
  10. Update all my old Termagants
  11. Genestealer Cult Sentinels
I'd originally thought I may end up painting my new Leviathan Dark Angels and elements from my Indomitus box - to be my #ArmiesOnParade2024 entry. But it may be the Tyranids as I'm not sure I can reconcile yet how to do my Primaris:
  1. Decide on how I will paint my Primaris... Silver and red 'Guardians of the Covenant style
  2. Dark Angel - Deathwing Terminators
  3. Dark Angel - The Lion
  4. Dark Angel - Old skool Crayola Whirlwind
  5. Dark Angel - Proteus Land Raider
  6. Leviathan - Brutalis Dreadnought
And the Death Guard, they're less of a priority with all the new Dark Angels and nids but for reference:
  1. Myphitic Blight Hauler
  2. Gellerpox Infected
  3. Dark Apostle
Build and paint a Turnip28 regiment:
  1. 3 Snobs
  2. 4 units of Followers
The Big Build continues, as always this season. The principle is sound and pays dividends with those items that tend to be off-list that get built through to painting and completion. It worked well over the festive season, when I couldn't prime anything. Some of these have been on my list for a while, so hopefully I'll finally get them built.
  • Dark Angel - Crayola Whirlwind
  • Dark Angel - Proteus Land Raider
  • Build some new terrain? 
    • Shrine of the Aquila
    • Galvanic Magnavent
    • Sector Imperialis terrain
  • Genestealer Cult Neophytes
  • Genestealer Cult Acolytes
  • 2 Armigers - Not sure about this, I haven't even bought them but I do fancy another 2, just in case so if I buy them they'll probably get built and painted
I've had a number of items that I classed as pipe dreams, both painting and building and they're still knocking around so here's they are just for my records as I don't want to forget about them, but with so many new items on my decks I must be realistic that they aren't getting done this season:
  • Tyranid Promethium Relay Pipes
  • Tyranid Bastion Crater [I have zero intent to do this this season, if ever, just want to remind myself it exists]
  • Space Hulk Genestealers - get them based!
  • 3 Tyranid Lictors
  • 3 Tyranid Shrikes
  • 5 Dark Angel Veterans/Command Squad
So that's my 2023/24 list, again a lot for me. All the best for your own efforts this season.