Bless me #WarHamFam for I have sinned, it's been nearly 3 months since my last confession! Not to mention it's been two months since my last blog post. However, after #DreadTober I felt like I needed to take a bit of a break.
I've not done a huge amount of hobby in that time. But I did end up going to Armies On Parade in an actual store and I have a couple of NOT battle reports to share from my weekend at Otty's. Also, my job has a bit of a blogging element to it now; so whereas doing the blog used to be something different from my day job, now it overlaps. This means that the blog isn't always the escape from what I do on a day-to-day basis that it used to be. Therefore it's much harder to be motivated and without the content what are you gonna do?
I just wanted to check back in, say I am still around and with that time off I finally became motivated to put some Skeleton Bone on my Terminators. Yes, my Deathwing are finally progressing again, just in time to be semi-redundant with new Deathwing on the way. Although, I am no fan of the tiny new Mace's of Absolution. But I've overcome the initial lake of motivation to paint them. Statistically I may only be 25% through them but the two sets of bone highlights are the hardest and most tedious aspects of the model. Everything after that is mainly detail work with limited blending, except for the green tabards. I just want them done and out of the way.
After that I've plenty of Tyranids to add washes to, I've done a fair bit of base-coating I need to share. As much as I organise my efforts with my TO DO LIST I've been quite happy to set a hobby season 'satisfied' point and I'm very much thinking the Deathwing will meet that quota. So, if any of these Tyranids get done I'll be over the moon.
For now I'm going to leave it there, I'll have a better idea of things after Christmas.
Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been playing games again but sadly, although I've taken many pictures of the games I haven't found the time to write them up and so most of them are somewhat redundant. It also meant that when I had a game of MESBG recently I didn't take as many pics and then I was compelled to actually write it up so we'll make do. Otty is still buzzing from his Double's tournament at Warhammer World where he even got to play against Adam Troke. I played against his Moria army, with a Dweller and a Balrog the other week and it was hard going, this time I got to be the goblins and he had a large force of Rohirrim, with Théoden leading them. We were playing the Relic mission, where there are 6 objectives and if you end your turn next to them on six on a D6 it is the relic and you have to hold onto it until the game ends. However, it's a cursed item of power and you can become transfixed by it. On top of that it was maelstrom deployment - each of your army's warbands arrives randomly, or not at all, from board edges via dice roll. Otty won priority, he brought one warband on from the east, one from the west, the one from the south [the top middle] and his last warband didn't turn up. His cavalry picked up the banner objective on the left to inspect it, rolled a 6 and found the relic instantly! Which made my deployment somewhat easier. I got to deploy the Balrog force to the South, in an attempt to cut off the inevitable desperate escape the horse lords would attempt now they had my cursed banner. I also brought my Dweller on from the left, to shadow his force. I'm much less mobile so my Warg Marauder was the great grey hope... Unfortunately my last warband, led by Durbûrz, rolled a 1 to arrive, so didn't. I could have used Might points to increase the roll, but 1 or 2 points would have meant Otty getting to choose, which would be totally isolated. Using all Durbûrz's 3 Might points would have got me on north or south but that's all his resources so I left them off.
Next turn and I lose priority, we both try Heroic moves and I think I won so I managed to trap some of his force but forgot Grôblog has to move first and he was effectively surrounded by goblins so I couldn't move far enough to snag the banner, which promptly scampered off. The rest of Otty's Elfhelm warband went on to surround Grôblog. His final Warband arrived and came on in the top left corner to try and take my Balrog's force, but too far away.
My Balrog moved forward but it's only got a 6" move and the goblins 5" so it was wishful thinking. The Balrog has an 8" flaming whip attack, which killed a Royal guard but that was it. Durbûrz rolled a 2 for deployment, which meant Otty could deploy him, but I spent 2 Might to make it a 4 and bring him on from the south [top of the board]. I was hoping to scuttle between his middle warband and the one in the top right [out of shot]. Unfortunately the gap between them was 12-13" so they would be charged from either side next turn. So I moved them more towards the middle so if they did get charged it would be by only one warband, and it would pull them away from the Balrog. It worked, the next turn Theoden charged me, but also got the Warg Marauder too, which gave the banner chance to move further out of reach. Eventually my Marauder from the left caught two of the body guards but couldn't kill them.
However, the dweller caught one and Balrog caught the other which allowed the Marauder to slip between them and chase down the fleeing rider with the banner, who had not succumbed to its accursed powers so far.
Meanwhile Elflhelm decimated Grôblog and his warband was down to slim pickings at this stage.
Similarly my southern force was now caught between two of his warbands and Durbûrz was surrounded. I think I had one last chance for my Marauder to killer the rider with the relic, failed and with Otty getting the next turn's priority he would tie him up with infantry and the rider would make for the borders. A loss, but such a good game.
I'm not sure I've had a bad game of MESBG and despite some frustrations, cursed dice rolls and a loss as the dust settles it felt like such a cinematic game. Discovering the banner from the very beginning and racing it across the field as flaming demons stomped from the sides and behind was epic. Now Otty did say it wasn't a banner they found but Grôblog's Mithril crown, as he failed every chance to make his fight better for the warband around him but either way that race to escpae the board was awesome. I had some last ditch chances, some Marauder archers trying to pick him off long range and catching up with him right at the end but Moria just didn't have the pace.
Anyway, I love this game and I felt compelled to share it because the fact I can't get behind 10th edition 40k shouldn't overshadow then genuine hobby joy I'm getting from other game systems. It's disappointing I'm not getting the best out of the myriad of painted 40k figures I have, but it's a small price to pay for the pleasure and fun we're having at Otty's shed.
Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity it's #ArmiesOnParade and after enjoying the 2022 Parade in store at my nearest Warhammer in Liverpool, I was desperate to get in there again this year. This time I was going to parade my 4 'new' #BloodBowl teams on a scratchbuilt Megabowl 7's pitch and I've been working on it, adding to my teams all year. I managed to secure a bronze pin for completing the first quarters' challenge but the silver and gold eluded me because the tasks are set up for 40k and AoS, rather than the Best of the Rest category. And, some of these figures had been painted in previous years, just never had a chance to parade so they weren't completed within this time frame.
Anyway, it is all moot. After preparing everything, Parade Day in Liverpool coincides with Liam's 50th birthday! Now I love AoP, but I love my hobby crew even more and the promise of a weekend gaming with these guys is a much better proposition. And, thanks to COVID there are still entries online and although I have no chance of winning I'm still taking part virtually.
And that means this will be my 10th year of taking part - a decade of parade and although I would love to be there in person I've entered in absentia and online previously. I have my bronze pin for the year, so I'll take that as my participation badge. And, I can share on social media, so I'll still feel part of it at the very least.
Anyway, the Parade. As mentioned it's my 4 teams and these have all been shown before but never altogether and I went to great effort to get decent lighting - 3 daylight bulbs, a ring light and 2 other room lights, so at least the colours are decent on the Porkbelly Stuffers
Sadly the Rotspawn is just a little out of focus here, but the rest of Anaplastic PXA look pretty cool.
And my old skool 2nd edition team colours of the Middenheim Marauders.
The Orcs were loosely based [just with a lot more rust] on Robin Cruddace's 'Da Badland All Blacks' and as I still have zero ideas for my own novelty name I may as well acknowledge the inspiration and henceforth they will be Da Badland All Blacks.
I mean that's an unholy mess right there for a match start. Of course I've put a full team in each quarter, when in fact there should only be 7 players a-side for 7's but it was the rule of cool on showing off the entire team.
I'd still love to parade instore with this, but the Manchester Parade day is the day after Liverpool's and Liam's 50th is a weekend of gaming at Otty's. I may have another chance with Warhammer Wigan, if they have a parade it might be on the 25th [the day of the online winners stream]. We'll see...
Whether this gets held over to next year I don't know, unlikely as I think it might be my Tyranids [again] but this time featuring as much of the Leviathan additions as I can. Although I suspect the Leviathan category may be lost for 2024 it still feels like the best plan.
Thanks to the 3 Kurnoth Hunter Treemen and 2 star players the substitutes corner is pretty cramped. But they added to the team, which otherwise would have been just the basic squad, with no heavy hitters. Now, it's got the best line-up, though I still suspect they'd get squished.
I do fancy a Rumbelow Sheepskin to complete the team but I'm not that precious to drop £23, despite that being £2 cheaper than a plastic Techpriest Manipulus, which I also fancy for some reason.
I rotated the board round to see it from every angle.
The Nurgle team. I added the additional infected rotter, from a Poxwalker for the Parade.
I do think at some point I may buy a Lord of Plagues to convert to go with the team. It's an iconic figure, so much so I think everyone should paint one and for £12, maybe as a star player - a Bilerot Vomitflesh proxy perhaps [not a huge fan of the sculpt], it's decent value [again, see the Manipulus].
But more players for teams I don't play with seems a nonsense at this point.
I've had visions of a Karla Von Kill conversion from a Necromunda Escher gang member for years.
Haven't done it, so perhaps I can resist the temptation to adding to these teams.
But the fun is in the painting, as variety from nids and Dark Angels. Of course they're all done now so it's either dig out some of my old skool 2nd edition teams, or there's that Warhammer Underworlds Vampire warband to take forward.
Da Badland All Blacks [getting used to the name].
These were the main thing I painted for AoP2024, the whole team and two star players.
I had looked at doing a backdrop, but I no longer have access to a large printer.
Additionally, I felt it obscured other folks boards last time, little knowing that wouldn't be an issue.
I could have painted one from scratch, straight onto a piece of board, but I did not have something 2' wide.
I suppose I could have bought some more MDF, but I just didn't think it was warranted.
If I ever think to parade it in person I may go to the effort to do a single sided backdrop, but for now I'm happy with it.
Worth noting the 2 balls in the centre of the board.
And the Dwarven referee - short-sighted and deaf - the best ref!
That's mostly it, just 4 three-quarter diagonal shots to get a feel for the board, enjoy!
And, because I can, I'm gong to give myself a Bloody Great Big Bloody Stamp of Bloody Approval!
Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity it's the 3st of #DreadTober and I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Tyranid Screamer Killers. Did we manage to meet the deadline? Of course we did!
As #DreadTober comes to an end I'm less guilty about my headstart as without it it would never have been completed in time. It looks like I judged the effort needed to perfection and rather than feel bad about that I'm going to embrace it from now on.
I felt bad when I missed the deadline with the Tyrannofex so at least this time it was all worthwhile. Not to mention I managed 2 Dread sized creatures and a Knight sized one too.
Of course I could have just focused on one thing throughout the month but I'm not sure if that was the most effective and efficient use of my time.
Bottom line I have to balance the community event with my own mojo and muse and September I had the urge to start these early and it was the right decision.
So, no more apologies and I really like how these both turned out, enough that I will not mention the legs again!
In fact I'm going to say how much I like the plasma effect.
The blue is my least favourite glow that I add to things but it's worked out OK here. Just enough to add some variety.
The second Screamer Killer feels like more of a spider, with its downturned talons.
I put this next to a normal Carnifex and I can't believe how tiny the old model looks in comparison.
Almost like the old one is it's little brother.
The debate now is do I buy one more to make a proper Old One Eye conversion?
I think it's inevitable, but right now I want a bit of a break. Although I feel satisfied with my efforts in the hobby season so far, I think at some point I need to finish those Deathwing Terminators to be truly satisfied.
Possibly with the remaining bits of my Death Guard too, the Blight Haulers and lone marine.
But these are great and alongside the High Rule Dude it's been the best #DreadTober ever.
I've ended up with 3 amazing models that despite the minor setbacks I think have come out amazingly.
Can't wait for DreadTober 2024
And to top it all I get another Bloody Great Big Bloody Stamp of Bloody Approval!
