Southern Ontario Open Recap Part 2

So after our night on the town the alarms woke us up earlier than any of us really wanted. After rocking the free breakfast at the hotel and the mandatory (should be for all convention goers) shower we threw on the Team Spite shirts (except Tim who forgot his) and hit the road for the Canadian Legion that was hosting the event.

Some of the only photos I remembered to take

When we go to the Legion I got to say quick hellos to some of my Canadian buddy like Northblade, Chadi, Boots, and Charles (my partner in crime after the painting class) After the hellos it was time to break out the minis and get the tray ready for the day. It was at this time Tim realized he brought one of his troll cases and didn't have the minis needed for one of his lists :/

This mess is my tray prior to round one. Damn three lists and trolls :)

I don't know about y'all but round one of any event is always the most nerve racking for me and the lead up to pairing is always anxious. All I was hoping for was a match up where I had a clear drop and didn't have to think too much. Lucky for me this came true and I was paired up vs Legion and the scenario was destruction. 

Round1: I was paired up with Fadi from Northblade's meta. I forget what his other two lists were but I was nearly 100% sure he was going to drop eVayl theme force and I was right he did. Fadi's list was as follows (to the best of my memory):

Vayl, Consul of Everblight (*6pts)

* Naga Nightlurker (5pts)
* Raek (4pts)
* Angelius (8pts)
* Angelius (8pts)
* Angelius (8pts)
* Ravagore (9pts)
* Ravagore (9pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)

I dropped Runes of War. I was very happy with round one as it was a central scenario I felt very comfortable, the terrain was set up in such a way I could put my wall in great spots plus there was water, and I know the Vayl list pretty well to boot. 

I won the roll and decided to go first. I deployed in a pretty standard runes set up with the Doomie, the beasts, Janissa, and the KSB centralized and two units of runeshapers on each flank. Turn one everything pretty much runs forward. I had a little brain fart in my turn one as I forgot to do no continuous effects from the KSB and on his turn the ravegores set two of my runeshapers on fire....doh! All in all the game went pretty well for me and I feel hes was a little too conservative as I was able to score three scenario point on top of three and then get another two on top of four to win the game on scenario. Out of round one W CP:5 AP 23....1-0

Round2: I was paired up with Andrew who was playing Circle. His three 'locks were eKreuger, pMorvahna, and eMorvahna. I was pretty sure I was going to see eMorvahna so I decided to drop runes of war once again. He did indeed drop the Goatlady and his list was as follows:

Morvahna the Dawnshadow (*5pts)

* Gorax (4pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
* Woldwarden (9pts)
Warpborn Skinwalkers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
* Warpborn Alpha (3pts)
Wolves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Wolf of Orboros Officer & Standard (2pts)
Druid Wilder (2pts)
Gallows Grove (1pts)

The scenario for round two was balance of power which from my experience isn't all that "live". I decided to drop runes once again. Just like in round one I won the roll for initiative and once again elected to go first. This round my side of the table wasn't as favorable to my standard deployment as there was a pretty large obstruction on my right flank that would effect my standard "unpacking" He deployed his skinwalkers across from the runeshapers on my right flank and the unit of wolves across from the runes on my left flank where they could run into a forest. I went with a pretty standard turn one except the two units of runeshapers on my right flank were not able to get as far out as I would normally like them. The next turn we exchanged minis on the flanks and were jockeying for position. I lost the mauler to a primaled stalker on a turn I was considering feating but decided to hold off. I attepted to RFP as many of the skinwalkers as possible but my axer just didn't damage Mulg enough and Mulg was fully healed after eating two skinwalkers. Once he was down to a skinwalker and the alpha he ran them around my right flank and feated putting a lot of pressure on my backfield and swinging the attrition game largely in his favor. Luckily for me he had scales a few too many time and Morvahna was pretty far up the table to get feated skinwalkers into my backfield and she had 2 fury left in her. After surveying the table I felt I had a very solid Mulg assassination run in line if I could get all my orders of activation layed out properly. Janissa advanced and tectonic shifted pushing two skinwalkers off of Mulg and one off of Doomies back arc. Doomie was now un-engaged and I advanced him forward to rampager a beast out of mulgs charge lane, put fortune on Mulg, and feated. I was struggling deciding if, after receiving rush, Mulg was in charge range of Morvhana it was going to be <1/4" either direction. I decided I could afford to charge and fail so I charge a wilder that was a little closer but on the same trajectory I needed. I had to take a freestrike from a gorax but mulg was at full health so it wasn't too scary. Once the charge of the wilder was completed it turned out I would have been able to charge Morvahna....oh well. I killed the wilder with my fist and was able to take my club initial on Morvahna without having to goad. Since Doomie's feat was up she was going to have to take a D6 each time she transferred and between Mulg's dmg and feat dmg she just couldn't hold up. Mulg killed her with two fury remaining. Round 2 W CP:0 AP: 42.... 2-0

Round3: Before the pairing came out I was desperately hoping for some compelling reason to pick one of my other two lists. I was really enjoying runes of war but I needed to get the other lists on the table. Turns out I was paired up with David who was playing Cryx so Grim2 you're up. David was playing Lich2, Terminus, and pSkarre. He ended up dropping pSkarre and the list was as follows:

Pirate Queen Skarre (*6pts)

* Desecrator (9pts)
* Skarlock Thrall (2pts)
Bane Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (5pts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (5pts)
Necrosurgeon & 3 Stitch Thralls (2pts)
Necrosurgeon & 3 Stitch Thralls (2pts)
Satyxis Blood Witches (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
* Satyxis Blood Hag (2pts)
Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Satyxis Raider Sea Witch (2pts)
General Gerlak Slaughterborn (3pts)
Satyxis Raider Captain (2pts)

Scenario for round three was incursion. The board was pretty fair in regards to terrain with nothing really sticking out except one fag was in a forest. I won the roll to go first and I never like to go second vs Satyxis so I elected to go first. I deployed the SoB and Saxon on my right flank across from the right flag which was in the forest, D&S got deployed on the left flank, and the Hunters Grim/battlegroup/scattergunners/dygs we all centrally deployed. Turn one dygs burrowed, Grim put mirage on the scattergunners, and everything advanced. I tried to keep minis far enough back so as not to get charged by the raiders. I did a pretty good job of not getting charged on his turn but he decided to just run his raiders into my army and start jamming up the scattergunners and the dygs pop up zone.....the flag on my left went away. On turn two I popped my feat and attempted to clear as many raiders and mcthralls as I could but didn't' get as many as I would have expected. Over the next few turns the middle of the was just bogged down with back and forth fighting and David taking the advantage on attrition due to the recursion he had in his list. I really didn't execute a good game plan after engagement was established and felt like I was fighting an uphill battle the entire game. As I was getting very short on time I attempted a last ditch attempt to snatch a win from the jaw of defeat and was able to dominate the right flag to get up to four control points with 20 sec left on my deathclock. He was able to contest on his turn however and I lost on time. This game was very disappointing to me and has stuck with me since it ended. I have replayed it in my head multiple time and I just played poorly and didn't really make it tough on David. I had some terrible dice throughout the game but by no mean was this why I lost. It seems to me that dice tend to favor a well executed game plan and my rolls reflected my play. As I mentioned above I wish the list was a little different from design but I really wish I could play this game again from go. I cannot say with confidence that I would win but I can say I would play a better game. My hopes of an undefeated day one went out the door and the wind was completely out of my sails. I took a while looking at the table and replaying things in my head. Round 3 L CP:4 AP:37.....2-1

Round 4: I was still a little out of sorts and replaying the last round and I don't remember the warlock pairing for this round. I was playing Matt and he had Legion so I was gonna drop runes I figured I could play eGrissel day two if I qualified. The scenario for this round was Close Quarters. He dropped Saeryn. Once again I won the roll for initiative. I don't remember too may details from this game but I ended up winning via assassination on my feat turn as he ended up killing himself with feat dmg. Round 4 W CP:0 AP 75...... 3-1.

So at the end of day one I was 3-1 and had only played two of my three lists. When they did the raffle and announcements for day two they decided all the 3-1 players were invited back to day two and that they weren't going to narrow the field to the top 16. So I was back for day two and after losing round one Tim clawed back to a 3-1 record and was also going to be playing on day two. It was at this time that the announce the top player from each faction for the day and turns out I was the top Trollblood player and got a Trollblood patch and pair of dice for that achievement. I was pretty worn out by this point and while our initial plans were to hit up the town once again I ended up just going back to BWW to grab some food and watch the UFC PPV.

We came back for day two but neither Tim or myself were that into it. I got paired up with Phillip who play with Ze Frenchies out of Quebec I believe. He was playing mercs and was a really good dude. I forget his pairings at this time but know one had an earthbreaker. The scenario for this round was Outflank. I had so much fun playing runes on day one I said screw it I'll play it again. He selected:

Magnus the Warlord (*6pts)
* Nomad (6pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Steelhead Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Steelhead Heavy Cavalry (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
Lord Rockbottom (2pts)
Ragman (2pts)
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw (9pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)

I may be off with one or two of the solos but I am pretty sure this was his list. Turn one prtty standard advances on both side. Top of two I rock hammered a bunch of kayazy and was able to kill one girl from each pair of eliminators so I was pretty happy at the end of my turn with what I killed and amy positioning......well I shouldn't have been. I kinda forgot what Magnus' feat did and after clearing the left zone (a couple of those runeshapers didn't want to die) he got Magnus into his zone and feated. Oh no! I was pretty much locked out and was done at this point. Hindsight being 20/20 I may have been able to throw my axer into the zone to get myself an extra round but I got rolled game over. Since the game ended early we got to chat a but and he was a good dude and I hope to run into him at Templecon next year.

Tim lost his round one game to a guy we know from Buffalo. Seeing as we were both out of the running for anything we decided to drop and hit the road back to the States. The tourney was very well run and I hope they do it again next year. While I would love to say I won and was heading to WMW the best part of these trips is truly the old friends you get to catch up with, the friends to travel with, and the new people you meet.

Southern Ontario Open Recap Part 1

I'm well overdue on writing this post so lets just get at it. Last weekend was the Southern Ontario Open (SOO) which was a masters event which was also a Warmachine Weekend Qualifier. The event was open to 96 players and the final count at the beginning of round one was 88 players! This is by far the largest event I have played in outside of Templecon. I have to apologize ahead of time for the lack of photos as, like usual, I got caught up in the event and forgot to take many pictures. Here are the lists I brought to the event:

Hoarluk Doomshaper (*7pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)

Nothing Earthshattering here just your run of the mill tier 4 Runes of War. This is just a solid all around list and the one I probably felt most comfortable with going into the event. I'm pretty sure this was the drop if I didn't fell I knew the drop....if you follow :)

Here is the old man all ready for the Canadian invasion. I started painting him up two or three days before we were suppose to leave. He is nearly 100% finished in this photo just a couple small detail/touch ups needed. The base was re-purposed from another mini which helped save some time. 

Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels (*6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollkin Warders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Trollkin Warders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Feralgeist (1pts)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)

My version of what MoM calls the Miserable Meat Mountain. I obviously had to drop Mulg out due to character restrictions so I opted for a ranged battle group. I was pretty happy with this list going into the event and felt pretty comfortable with its game play.

Hunters Grim (*4pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Blitzer (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Sons of Bragg (6pts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Dahlia Hallyr & Skarath (9pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)

This list was the one I was most unsure about and gave me the most anxiety going into the event. This is the list I was play-testing the most going into the SOO and the one that underwent multiple changes in the time leading up to our trip. I was never 100% sold on the list and I was playing with the build whenever I got a chance to think about it. Despite practicing it a fair amount of time I was running tight on the death clock every time I put it on the table which was a little concerning. I was tinkering with the list  all the way up to the time I had to submit it to the TO the day before we left for Canada. This list was going to be my Cryx drop with some Khador cross over in there. I tried to borrow some JBFlanz tech and use Dahlia and her snake but I kinda wish I just dropped her. Hindsight being 20/20 I think I would have dropped D&S and put a slag troll in the battle group and either a champ hero or kithkar to have a commander for the dygs. If I went with the kithkar I would have had a spare point for either a feralgeist, swamp gobbers, or even a sorcerer....IDK. There are parts of the list I like but just didn't get it to that sweet spot I was hoping for. I think in 9 days when Horgle hits shelves I'll drop D&S and slot Horgle and slag troll into that slot and give it some more table time.

I got out of work Friday morning at 0700 and headed home. after putting about an hours into pDoomie to get him to the photo above I grabbed a quick nap. I was heading to the SOO with three of my Team Spite brethren: Scudo (Circle), Tim AKA LordSorrow (Legion), and Nick aka Naseluk (Skorne) so after Tim got out of work I picked up the guys loaded up the mini van and hit the road. We got into Hamilton around 2130 and decided to grab dinner across the street at Buffalo Wild Wings. After some food and drinks (taste so good when it hits your lips) we decided to make a night out of it. We got back to our room at about 0300 Saturday morning. What a way to be rested for day one of a big tourney ;)

This went a little longer than anticipated so I'll get into my games in my next post. Off to bed for this guys.

List Evolution/Tweaks

Hey guys hope all is well. Many of you may be aware that myself and a few of my Team Spite brethren have been preparing for the Southern Ontario Open and Friday was a day I was able to get out an practice again. I have been having a really tough time pinning down my third list for this masters event and I am still in a state of flux but may be getting a little closer. I have said previously that Doomie1: Runes of War and Grissel2 were going to be lists one and two and this has not changed. This three, however, has gone through multiple drafts and warlock choices starting at Grim2, then Grim1, then Jarl, then back to Grim1, back to Grim2, Calandra, glance at Borka, back to the Grims and Jarl, and finally Grim2 (I think). As you can see I have been all over the place.

Friday afternoon I headed over to the FLGS with my latest Hunters Grim list to give it a go. In game one I play Nick and a Rastheth: Chain Gang theme force. The scenario was close quarters and we were playing with a 45 min deathclock vs the appropriate 60 min to try and drive focus and efficiency. I ended up clocking myself but I think I played pretty well but wasn't focused enough on scenario and need to work on that. Game two I played against Adam and a Denny1 list. I was very excited that Adam came out as I really want to try and use this Hunters Grim list as my anti-Cryx list and also have some spill over into anti-Khador infantry as well. Once again we played close quarters. I ended up losing the game on an assassination as I was nearing the end of my clock again (gotta get faster) but was very happy with the game and the way the list functioned for its roll. Adam made me realize I need to work on my "unpacking" and placement a little more but all in all I am fairly happy with the bulk of the list but I'm not 100% in love with the battle group. Grim's battle group has changed multiple time and here are some of the groups I have used:

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Bomber (10pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)

I wasn't in love with this after putting it on the table. I think a large part of my issue was the entire list was too ranged focus and wasn't balanced enough. Time for take two.

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Rok (11pts)
*Axer (6pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)

Due to my overabundace of range in my first lists I swapped to a more melee oriented battle group for my second attempt. I only tested this once and due to poor placeent got Rok killed too early in the game but I liked the more balanced feel to the list. I did miss having access to far strike on non-feat turns however.

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Bomber (10pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Storm Troll (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)

The previous battle group helped me shift my list to a more balanced plan of attack in my troop selection so I shifted the battle group back to a more ranged oriented attack with an animus via the storm troll to assist more of my melee troops. This was the battle group I played in both games on Friday and was pretty pleased with it on the table.

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Blitzer (9pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Storm Troll (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)

This is a battle group which has not seen the table yet but will be tested next time I get out to the FLGS to practice. I love the bombers (whats not to love) but by dropping the bomber to the blitzer and dropping the feralgeist (just a point filler)I can add in a more useful solo like Victor Pendrake, Alten Ashley, or a min unit of bone grinders (Scudo wants me to do this). I love me some AA but I think I am leaning toward Vicky P as an other source of KD and easy application of mortality. That spell is truly bananas and if I can put it on a KD'd mini and not have to boost or let Moses troll apply it even better.

OK enough of my ramblings for now. I will leave you with a quick wip from this afternoon. This is a unit that has been in every version of my Hunters Grim lists right from the get go.

I didn't have a ton of painting time between laundry, dishes, a sick child, and getting dinner made while the wife had the sick child at urgent care getting antibiotics but i did get the metals basecoated on a min unit and the UA leader. I am sure many of you listen to the Muse on Minis podcast and a recent topic of conversation has been Minimum Sized Units of MSU list building. I guess this is a 40k principle and one they feel if gaining traction in WarmaHordes. While I don't know if troll shave a great MSU game (maybe here and there) I do feel that min scattergunners with UA is the way to go with this unit and save 3pts to put towards a solo or support. Well anyways here are the guys that will be joining Grim, Muggs, and Krump in my attempts to nail down list three for the Souther Ontario Open. I will paint up the last four minis but not sure if it will be while I bang out the min unit for my Grim list or later. While I was working on these gentlemen I reinforced and reminded myself of something....I HATE painting units. Well that's all for now have a great week y'all.

Bump In the Road

Hello y'all. Early last week I was riding a wave working on a couple warbeasts, stripping some minis, and restarting Grim2. Here is a pretty decent representation of where I left off:

 

I had plans of finishing at least one of the minis if not two by the end of last weekend but as we all know sometime life has different plans. At the end of last week my wife's grandfather passed away. We spent the weekend and Monday am out of town with family and attending the wake and the funeral. Monday morning after the services we drove back home and I starter my work week (really hard going back after three weeks off). The combination of all the driving, the emotional drain of the services, and starting work I was pretty beat and not really all that motivated to paint.

 

I do not anticipate being able to be overly productive on the painting front until my work week ends I was able to grab a couple minutes this am to do a little work on the storm troll. This is what our electric buddy current looks like:

 

I roughed in the first layer of highlights on his skin. I know I have said it before but I really do not like PP plastic minis. I do like the sculpt in general but the plastic has so many imperfections and the mold lines are always sooooo bad that you always miss some or have to lose detail to get them off....enough of the rant. I also did my shading wash for the bootstrap leather sections. This is drying as I am typing. Once the wash dries and I have time to get back to him I will highlight the bootstrap sections (maybe before work tonight). Then I need to clean up the skin highlights and move on to highlights two and three. The metal sections still require their washes as well. Once those times are done it will be on to details and basing. I hope to have him done sooner rather than later so I can put a fully painted storm troll on the table next time I play (end of next week I hope). Well that's all I have for now. Have a great weekend y'all.

Grim2 Redux

As part of my renewed painting interest I have decided to get back to The Hunters Grim and get them some serious (for me) table time. Sometime I have an easier time getting rolling on a mini starting from scratch versus picking up a previously started mini......so with that in mind Grim and some scouts had a date with the Purple Power. Mugg and Crump were spared as I am happy with their current state and should be able to pick up with out too much trouble.

Into the "Dip"

After their 24 hours soak and a quick scrub

Pretty clean. The mini had a few mold lines I missed previously so I was able to clean them up quickly before heading to primer

 

Blocked in some of the base colors with the airbrush then blacked out the stone and metal sections. The pants are P3 rucksack tan and the coat is P3 bootstrap leather. The plan for the pants is to do dark brown stripes with the rucksack. We will see how that goes.

 

I will be bouncing back and forth between Grim and the beasts I posted about previously. There are a lot of shared elements so I can hopefully assembly line some of those to enable me to get the three beast and The Hunters Grim done in fairly short order. I also need to finish up Grissel1 here soon.

 

Where Did May Go?

Hey there all. Well like the title says I have no idea where this month has gone. I really have had minimal time to work on any of my hobby projects. Here is were I stand on my current projects:

I have been doing a little bit of work on the blister which as been sitting in the basement for a few months. I also got around to cleaning a min unit of bone grinders. They were then primed and basecoated via the airbrush. I then painted the base colors on the fur and loincloths. I also filled the gaps on the witch doctor I assembled months ago. He also got primed and had some base colors applied. I am trying to decide what color the cloth on the witch doctor will be. I am leaning toward either purple or red. I did a little (emphasis on little) on Grim himself. This was mostly basecoating some of the metal sections. I am not sure when I will have painting time again but I am looking to get another few games in with THG later this week. So far my record is less than stellar but I am hoping that by dropping the MK from the list it will improve things for me.

Hunters Grim: Part II (Muggs and Krump WiPs)

I wasn't able to get as much done on The Hunters Grim this weekend as I was hoping. You see the weather here in the Northeast was lovely this weekend so I spent a fair amount of time outside doing yard work and playing with the boys. I hate yard work more than cleaning PP plastic kits but I had no excuse not too :)

As I said previously I am leaving Grim until the end so I can really focus on getting his skin the way I want. I would normally jump right into the 'lock but Muggs and Krump are so characterful that I am really enjoying painting these little fellows. Here is where they currently stand:

 

Krump in his current state. I basecoated all the metal sections with VMA steel paint. I then painted the yellow metal sections using VMC brass paint. The yellow metal section on the axe was painted with VMC bronze. I then painted the wraps on his feet and left arm using P3 rucksack tan. I love using rucksack tan as my base color for light colored leathers. This will receive a  wash with GW sepia wash and s quick highlight and be done. I started to basecoat the skin with my trollblood skin tone but didn't put enough on the palette and still need to do his left leg, fingers on his right hand, and belly. It is a shame that Krump is the "unimportant pyg" as he has so much character and I think he is my favorite of the three Hunters.

 

Mugg received similar treatment as his boy Krump above. His shoulder pad was painted with bronze instead of brass (my change this still). He received similar treatment with rucksack tan but I didn't paint the wrapping on his feet with it since his paints will be the light leather. These will either be a dark leather or more of a whitish cloth. You may notice the glove in the second photo has some subtle highlighting. I was playing around with something to try and have his gloves be black similar to Krump's coat but not going through the same process. Looking at the photos I realize I didn't paint the axe blade connection point yellow metal as I intent so will have to do that at a later point.

I don't think I will get back to these guys tonight but if I do I will be finishing up some basecoating and then laying down some of my shade washes. My work week starts tomorrow night so I hope to get more done on them before progress grinds to a halt for the week....we shall see. Hope y'all had a great weekend and catch ya soon.

Hunters Grim: Painting Begins

I started work on Grim and the boys Tuesday evening. The first hurdle to get over is always cleaning and assembly (my least favorite). I powered through this grind and finished this Thursday am while the boys were at preschool. All in all the minis were cast pretty well. There were some legit mold lines on Krump. There was also some flash and mold lines on Grim. Muggs was the cleanest of the unit right out of the blister.

I have decided to leave the knick knacks off for the time being and I have also elected to leave Grim's head and arms off for the initial painting. 

I picked up a new larger needle set up for my Iwata airbrush to use primarily for priming and basecoating. I primed the unit with Vallejo Surface Primer black.

 

Next I basecoated the trench coats on Grim and Muggs with my new airbrush. I only used the new one to get a feel for the trigger and such otherwise I would have used the Iwata I think. I used P3 bootstrap leather for this. I didn't paint Krump's coat at this time as I wanted to try and have his coat be like a black leather.

Here is Krump after his coat was worked on. I got in a bit of a groove and forgot to take photos of each step. I painted a layer of VMA black to have a nice smooth basecoat. The next step was highlight with VMA German grey followed by VMA medium sea grey. I then did some line highlights with the VMA med sea grey to pop a few edges and then I washed the entire coat with an old ink wash I made from a brushthralls tutorial. I probably could have just used GW Badab black wash but went with the old ink wash instead. I have to say I am pretty happy with the coat right now.

 

Next I basecoated Grim's skin with P3 trollblood highlight. I have a few new things I want to try out for my albino skin but I am keeping trollblood highlight as the base color. Hopefully the new changes will work out well.

 

I did a little clean up work on all three members of the unit. I cleaned up the over spray on Grim and Muggs' coats, basecoated Krumps backpack and trap with P3 bloodtracker brown, and laid down a layer of black on the metal sections.

This is where my progress has halted for the time being. I am heading to the FLGS later today to try out the Hunters Grim for the first time and I don't want any wet paint. Next up will be to basecoat the skin on Muggs and Krump as well as lay down my shading wash on all the bootstrap and bloodtracker sections. I hope to get some quality paint time this weekend so if all goes really well I may be able to the pugs done by Sunday night. I am going to take my time with Grim himself as I really want to see if I can nail that albino skin tone.

We Got Mail WeGot Mail...YAY!

My work week has finally come to and an end and by this point of the day I should be sound asleep and dreaming of nothing but boxcars and passed tough rolls, however, my dumbass scheduled a follow up sleep study tonight at 9:45pm so I am stumbling around like (more of) an idiot. The good part of this is that I was up when the mail guy came and delivered a package from good ole Mr Larsen from chain attack land (discountgamesinc.com). Let us look together shall we:

 The lot all as one

 

 Holy pieces parts Batman! I count 22 for three guys

 

The man, the myth, the legend. Did you hear I have mortality? 

 

" I make this bowler look good! and what do you mean I am the expendable pyg?"

 

 

 Grim1 "Sick hat bro I want one" Grim2 "trade you for those working goggles mine are broken"

I intended to paint up both Grims at the same time but I may have to wait and get Grim2's head as a bit once available. This could look too good to pass up.

 

Last but not least a lil ole base to make sure I got free shipping. This is most likely going to be used for my PoM as an alt 'jack base but I may base the fat man of Skorne on it....we will see.

 

 

So there you have it my little package of joy from Idaho. In my current state of exhaustion there is a high probability of me either gluing my fingers together or cutting myself but I think I am off to start cleaning/ assembling the Hunters Grim. I need to have these bad boys ready for the maiden voyage and it looks like Friday may be the day! Happy hunting all.

Spending Spree/All About the Airbrush

After the disappointment of not being able to get Grim2 the other day I hit up my favorite online retailer discountgamesinc.com and made a purchase. I ordered Grim2 and a second Grim1 to paint at the same time. I picked up a second Grim1 because my Grim1 was one of the first minis in trollbloods I painted and I was curious to see the difference. I also picked up a pot of P3 paint, 2 brushes (needed synthetic brushes for oil washes and for Vallejo Liquid Gold paint), and one resin base. You may be saying not much of a spree there Nog....I will get to the rest of it in a second.

I finally got back down to the cave and splashed a little paint around. I still have little interest in traditional brush painting (not sure why) but I have been really into the airbrush. I have been watching a bunch of painting videos on the topic and just want to work with the airbrush. The first piece I have here is an old metal feral warpwolf. I know a lot of people are saying this mini is "dead" with the riphorn coming out but seeing as I have it I said might as well paint it up.  

 

At this point he is nearly all airbrushed. I did the skin with the airbrush using three colors. I basecoated with VMA sandy brown, then shaded with VMA burnt umber, and highlighted with VMA skintone. I was happy with the results for the most part but I did have some mess up. I had some airflow control issues had had some messy spray sections. One of them is on the right biceps but luckily this one is hard to see. The other is on the left triceps but not as bad as the right biceps. I then basecoated the fur with the airbrush using P3 battlefield brown. I then had to break out the real brushes and I drybrushed the fur sections using P3 bootstrap leather, beast hide, jack bone, and a little Menoth white base. I blacked out the armor plates in preperation for the metal basecoats but I stopped there. I also started basecoating a couple other minis with a two tone basecoat via the airbrush but those with wait until I get a little further along.

This love of the airbrush leads to my second and larger purchase of my spending spree. I have been looking into a second airbrush for a few months now and I finally decided to pull the trigger and buy one. I picked a Harder & Steenbeck Evolution Silverline 2 in 1. I have read good things about this brush and after talking with someone via emails my mind was set. I was considering the Badger Krome but elected to go with the H&B Evo. I also picked up a few other supplies while I was shopping online so that is that.

I am really looking forward to getting my new toys next week and hopefully my new trolls will get me back into the full swing of painting. I plan to play some games next week (most likely Friday) and I plan to test out Grim2 for the first time. I have yet again come up with another list one that I can play without having to finish ant assembly, other than Grim and the boys, prior to game day:

Grim2 (-4pts)

*Mountain King (20pts) 

*Rok (11pts)

*Runebearer (2pts)

Fennblades: full (8pts)

*UA (2pts)

Pyg Burrowers: full (6pts)

Fell Caller (3pts)

SSC (2pts)

I kinda miss not having the bone grinders in there but I really like the damage potential on nearly all the models in the list. I think mortality can go a long way to helping the mountain king reach his potential but that will remain to be seen. I am fairly comfortable in the statement that the dygs will be a terror with the potential to benefit from mortality, a fell call, and charge of the trolls. If you pull off the perfect storm these little buggers can get to mat 10, P+S 12, and P+S 18....not to shabby :)

OK thats is that for now. Have a great weekend all and hopefully next week will see a flurry of activity in the cave and a bunch of updates.

Buzz Kill

After dropping the boys off at pre-school this am I headed down to the FLGS to get my Hunters Grim....didn't have it :( While I was waiting for the guy at the store to see if they even got one I called the other FLGS and they didn't have one in either...uuugggghhhh! So frustrating. I even skipped going to bed so I could get my new hotness. Well I guess that is just how things have been going lately for me. I have been in a kinda funk lately and this isn't helping. I did get a couple minis assembled and primed the other day but more on them at a later time.

I was starting to put my unit of scattergunners together the other day and was reminded how much I hate assembly so I decided to alter my Grim2 list for the time being to minis I have and can get table ready soon. Here is what I am looking at now:

Hunters Grim (*4pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Blitzer (9pts)
* Rok (11pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Farrow Bone Grinders (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Sons of Bragg (6pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Alten Ashley, Monster Hunter (2pts)

The fenns took the place of the warders seeing as I have no idea when we will see them (could be a long time), I dropped the scattergunners to a min unit (should still have plenty of infantry clearing), and added on of my all time favorite minion solos Mr. Ashley (far strike target on feat turn so can still shoot crazy far). Well quick post but I haven't posted in a bit (part of the funk) and I wanted to vent a little. Hopefully y'all were able to get the new shinnies you wanted.

Quiet Cave

So things have been very quiet on the hobby front as of late. I started working on Rasheth at the beginning of the month and haven't gotten anything else done on him. I have been picking up extra hours at my part time job and here at my main job and that has just been sapping my energy. When I get home I just want to veg out on the couch, play with the boys, swatch some baseball, or just sleep. The good news is that the extra hours equal extra hobby money. I know I will be picking up the Hunter's Grim in a week and a half. I am also eyeing a second airbrush. I am looking at picking up a Badger Krome to go along with the Iwata brush I am currently using.

Despite not actively doing anything hobby related I have had my mind on it a fair amount. I picked up a second Skorne 'lock the other day and have some big plans for him. I want to try out a few new things that if I can pull them off should look really sweet but also have a high chance of being destined for the stripping solution. I will go on this more once I start attempting it. I have also been really working on list building ideas for when I get to try out the Hunters Grim. The more I play with the list the more I realize you really can put anything in faction with him and see positive effects. I think I have settled on my first list and it is as follows:

Gunters Grim (-4pts)
*Rok (11pts)
*Blitzer (9pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)
Trollkin Warders: full (8pts)
*Sorcerer (1pt)
Scattergunners: full (8pts)
*UA (2pts)
Sons of Bragg (6pts)
Bone Grinders: min (2pts)

I don't typically proxy minis but I will obviously have to when I play this list as we have no idea when the warders or sorcerer will be coming out (fingers crossed Gencon the latest). When looking at beasts I went with Rok for a melee beatstick that has a dmg buff built in if needed and late game closing potential, the blitzer for the volume of attacks and his animus, and the impaler for non-feat turn snipe on Grim (I hear range 17 boostable guns at mat 8+ are pretty good). When I was picking troops I had a hard time and was going back and forth on a bunch of units but settle on the three you see. I really think the warders are going to be awesome on the table and weapon master attacks against mortality targets is really nice, the scattergunners are there to spray units into the ground, and I love the SoB normally but getting to attack a mortality target with fervor up sounds like a good time to me. The last two minis were filling points but also had a purpose. The grinders give me 2" extra on mortality and the sorcerer can try and keep those pesky upkeeps off the warders. I have also been working on some Skorne ideas but those will wait for a later date.

I am picking up an extra 20 hours of work next week but I still hope to get some painting done so hopefully some wip/finished minis in the next few days.

Gargantuans: More Thoughts

I have to say I am really impressed with the Gargantuans book as a whole. The more I look over it the more and more I like what I read. I think you we are going to see a lot of these minis on the tables pretty regularly even after the "new toy" phase passes. I am going to babble about some of the things I am most excited to try out or buy.

Trollblood:

The more I look at the Hunters Grim the more I can't wait to play them. Mortality is just a stupid good spell and I cannot wait to abuse the hell out of it. I have playing with list ideas in my head for the last few days and it really feels like you can play anything with him and he makes them pretty solid. Most of the lists I have been building have been at the 35pt level and while this is not my favorite point level it seems to be where are meta is comfortable at the current time. I'd like to put a melee heavy in the lists but at 35pts I just haven't been able to squeeze it in. I think the melee beasts for him with be Rok or EBDT and I am leaning towards Rok as the ability to put primal on a bomber or blitzer and then allowing them to charge for free with blood lure from Headhunter can turn them into melee monsters. Here is the latest builds I am playing around with:

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Blitzer (9pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)
Scattergunners: full (8pts)
*UA (2pts)
Dygs: full (6pts)
Bone Grinders: min (2pts)
Fell Caller (3pts)
SSC (2pts)

I am pretty excited about this list and think it will be pretty damn fun to play. It uses a few models I have never played before (blitzer, scattergunners, and bone grinders) but I think trying new minis will be good...plus I have been meaning to play them anyways. I would like to put the fennblade kithkar in there instead of the SSC to have a commander near the dygs to try and mitigate failed command checks but since I have no idea when he is to be released I left him off. I didn't worry too much about trying to build around the feat but instead built around mortality (so good). The nice thing about the scattergunners is that on the feat turn they should be able to mark most of their own spray targets or let the dygs mark, spray over the dygs, clear a lane for the dygs to charge. The scattergunners will also be the mirage target in most cases. I went with the blitzer to have access to repulsion and the potential volume of attacks he can put out. The bone grinders are a unit I have been meaning to get on the table with Calandra but getting mortality (did I mention I like it) up to 12" is nice. I am really excited to try this out and may play my first game with a proxy mini just to do it.

One last thing on the Hunters Grim...I think this may be the home for the mountain king as once again mortality make everything just better and there is always the snare gun for KDs. The longer I look over the book the more the warders are growing on me. You really get a lot of model for not a lot of points. I am a big fan of the kithkar. He is a really good combat solo and can replace the champ hero in the dyg support package and reduce the cost of the dyg package by a point. I also see a home for him in my pMaddy beast brick. He would make a very nice crusher target and also save me a point over the champ hero. Still cannot get my head around the night troll. OK enough about trolls lets talk about some other cool stuff.

Circle: They got some pretty amazing things in this book and it is making me want to work on my circle army again.

-Morvahna: best 'lock in the book in my opinion. The model looks beautiful, the spell list is top notch (can you go wrong with purification?), and her feat is sweet. All in all she is an A caster in my views and I would be shocked if she doesn't see a ton of competitive play the remainder of this year.
-Rip Horn Satyr: Wow this guy is awesome too. His damage output is going to be scary with 3 base attacks of p+s 16 (4 with smash & grab), a free charge, and circle buffs. I know Scudo is crazy excited about this guy. Damn you Scudo (just 'cause)
-Warpborn Alpha: He got spoiled a while back and he is still really good.

Skorne: Also got a lot of really nice minis. I think the general feeling is they got the best gargantuan by a long stretch in the mammoth. Skorne is one of the two factions I do not own a single mini for but PP keeps pushing me closer and closer to picking some up.

-Makeda3: She looks like a blast to play. She is an in your face I will take care of it myself kinda girl. The feat looks like it could get out of control and be a blast if you are playing her. The models for the unit are really nice too.
-Reptile hounds: Look like a fun little lessers
-Despoiler: I like this guy. Mordikar has been one of the skorne warlocks I have been interested in painting/playing and this beast is his baby. Unlike some of the other characters beasts of late (looking at you Rok) this mini begs to be with Mordikar.
-Willbreaker: Like the warpborn he was spoiled a little while ago and is also still good

Legion: Haven't really looked at much. I am not overly interested in legion right now.

Minions: I have a soft spot for minions. I have a blindwater army and I have wanted to start a thornfall force ever since I painted up Carver for Les. I was able to hold off on thornfall but then the Sturm and Drang theme force pushed me closer to the edge. I am afraid that Midas and his theme force may just push me over the edge.

-Midas: A really solid 'lock across the board. I don't think he as a bad spell on his list between bad blood, battle lust, calamity, and hex blast. His feat brings back minis and his collection of bone tokens mean you don't care if his beasts die. His theme force is full of minis I have wanted to add to my collection or already have. Bone grinders we already mentioned, Slaughterhousers I have wanted to try Jarl, he can use boneswarms (have three), and the pig beasts are just so cool. Here is my very first shot at a list:

Midas (-5pts)
*War Hog (8pts)
*War Hog (n/a) <---T4 benefit starts dead
*Boneswarm (4pts)
*BoneSwarm (4pts)
*Razor Boar (2pts)
*Razor Boar (2pts)
Slaughterhouser (6pts)
Slaughterhouser (6pts)
Bone grinders: min (2pts)
Bone grinders: min (2pts)
Bone grinders: min (2pts)
Bone grinders: min (2pts)

This is T4 granting me a dead beast as listed above, three corpse tokens on both boneswarms, and 4 war beast get advance more. What’s not to love here? At 50pt just add more razor boars, grinders, and road hogs to taste :)

This has gotten long. Real quick....Rask = really good, Shamblers = good just not pAlexia good, mechanic = good 1pt filler if you are playing a battle engine.

Like I said I am a fan of what PP did with this book and looking forward to seeing these minis in play.

Very Preliminary Thoughts on Gartantuans (Trolls)

I cut my sleep a little short today so I could run out and grab my copy of Gargantuans at out FLGS so I could look it over. I gave the book a quick scan prior to heading to work and focused a little more on the trolls/minion sections. I tried to avoid looking at too many of the spoilers and forums over the last few days as I wanted to try and form my own opinions and the initial troll spoilers left me a touch flat. I am sure much of this will change but here are some of my initial thoughts:

The Hunters Grim:

I like the spell list. I think mortality is a pretty amazing debuff and a great way to negate tough. A unit of bone grinders may be a really important addition to eGrim to give that little extra range for mortality. Mirage and mage sight may be a little more situational but I also like them a fair amount. Pursuit I am not too sure of at this time but may find it has it place. Reform and circular vision granted by his pyg buddies are never a bad thing either. I think his feat is OK. It isn't an amazing feat but it isn't Gunnbjorn bad wither. I have concerns over the whole warlock unit thing however. I am worried about the potential for one of the lower def pygs getting hit with a debuff and affecting the entire unit. I like that we are now able to use both the snare gun and Headhunter in the same turn the inability to boost on the snare gun may cause problems when you really need that KD. My last big issue with eGrim is that he lost his goggles.....huh? If you had some super sexy amazing goggles would you stop wearing them? I wouldn't. I think eGrim has the potential to be pretty fun and will be in that middle ground warlock level.

Theme Force:
I like theme forces and always like to see what PP comes up with. The theme force is interesting. The first thing I noticed was the inclusion of a unit that we have no idea about....trollkin highwayman. I think the feeling is that they are the troll light cavalry but who knows and who knows when we can expect them to be released. I am not a huge fan of the units available for the theme but they are OK I suppose. Based on the minis currently available to us I don't see a great unit to be up in there and be able to mark targets for the feat. My favorite part of this them is tier two and the option to allow scout to ambush. I think a unit of scouts coming off the edge with the ability to assault could be really fun.

Night Troll:
I really don't know what to think of this guy at this time. I like the preview pictures floating around of the sculpt even if the tongue is a little out of control. It seems like he has some neat gimmicky trick but I don't seem him taking a spot from an axer, impaler, pyre, or even slag.

Trollkin Warders:
Speed 4...I hate speed 4. I had really high hopes for these guys and have to say they fell far short in my desires. I really hate speed 4. I also thought these guys were suppose to be a champion unit so I was hoping they could be added in theme forces that allow champion units but unless the wording gets changed they are not champions. The unit cost isn't bad at 5/8 and reach weapon masters are always nice. All in all these guys fall flat for me at this time. Did I mention I hate speed 4?

Trollkin Sorcerer:
The spoilers released for this guy are what caused me to stop reading any of them until the book came out. The first run of spoilers said this guy was a wa and therefor his *action upkeep removal would have been fairly crappy. His correct version make his upkeep remove far better and helps us out significantly in those match ups were debuffs ruined out day. As a one point solo I see this guy getting plenty of run. As a single wound model we will have to be careful not to get him carved off the table.

Fennblade Kithkar:
I was worried this guy was going to be a 3pt solo but was pleasantly surprise to see he was only 2pts and also FA 2. The kithkar comes in at mat 7, two reach weapons of decent strength, and 8 boxes I was pretty happy with him. In addition to being a nice combat solo his tactician ability allowing fennblades to move through each other is very nice. I can seeing fielding this gentleman on a regular basis.

Mountain King:
We know this guy move along.

OK so  those are my initial thoughts after skimming through the book once. I also threw together a first 35pt Hunters Grim list. This is what I came up with off the top of my head:

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Bomber (10pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)
Fennblades: full (8pts)
*UA (2pts)
Scattergunners: min (5pts)
*UA (2pts)
Bone Grinders: min (2pts)
Fennblade Kithkar (2pts)
Trollkin Sorcerer: cliented to fennblades (1pt)

Oh Boy Oh Boy......Can't Wait!

When DieselDM went to Lock n Load this summer he took some pictures of the hunters Grim being sculpted and those green can be seen here. Move forward to today and PP has released the studio shots of the Hunters and if you haven't seen them here they are again:

 

When leaders like Madrak Ironhide and Grissel Bloodsong require the completion of missions in the most remote and inhospitable reaches, it is to Grim Angus they invariably turn. He and his band comprise the first line of defense for the United Kriels. In all his tasks Grim is assisted by a pair of pygs, Muggs and Krump, that have become the core of his team. In short order the pair learned to grasp Grim’s complex system of gestured signals and to fight smoothly alongside him even in silence, all three of them coordinating precise ambushes while tracking down their enemies. Grim has taken the time to teach Muggs how to use his snare gun and has come to entrust the pyg with it, while Krump has proven quite capable of devising and implementing cunning snares even in the midst of battle.

I have was really excited about the Hunters when I first saw the artwork and greens and those in our gaming group have thrown around rampant speculation on abilities since. I am really excited now that I have seen the finished minis and cannot wait to get them on the painting table. I am a little worried about how the warlock unit thing will work and really hope these guys aren't a swing and a miss rules wise like our king was....only time will tell but they are sexy.

Quick update on the painting front....I have Grogspar ~95% finished. I did a bunch of work on him Monday finishing the shirt and skin sections and doing more work on the metals and backpack. I do not intend to post a final photo of Grogspar until after Templecon as I was Bell to see the finished mini for the first time in person not on the blog (I think he checks in here from time to time). I will post the final photos after Templecon and if he isn't thrilled with the outcome I will be more than happy to take him back for my pending pirate force. After he is finished it is on to long riders, Horthol, and a war wagon.