Templecon Mercenary Musings (List One)

As Templecon approaches and my pile of unfinished mercenary models continue to pile up I need focus my time on banging out only the models needed for Templecon. I intended to have my cephalyx force be my Templecon painting challenge army but I may have to shift the challenge army over to my dwarf list. I have signed up for every event at Templecon currently but I think I would like to focus on iron gauntlet, team tourney (with Northblade and Adam), and hardcore as the "for sure" events. Seeing as IG is a three list event and needs to be fully painted it may force Thexus to the side for this convention. At the current time I am sure Damiano is one of my three lists. List number two will be an earthbreaker list run by either Ossrum or Durgen (I keep going back and forth). I run into trouble when I start trying to pick list number three. The final list is between Drake MacBain and Exulon Thexus. I have no delusion of grandeur and do not expect to reach the "gauntlet rounds" of IG but I don't think I can have a three list pair that will be unable to make a 75pt which is why Thexus is looking more and more like the odd man out.

I have to lock up my list and I think the Damiano list tis the one I need to sure up first as some of the units can potentially spill into my dwarf list. I recently played in an event and was running this Damiano list:

Captain Damiano (*6pts)
* Rocinante (9pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Kell Bailoch (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw (9pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)

I really enjoyed the list and while I didn't play it perfectly by an stretch of the imagination it did do what I wanted and I was poised to win when a dice spike of 17 on 3d6 at dice off 5 put Damiano in the dirt (killed him to the point). I have no problem with this as it is part of the game but it got me thinking about what I can build into my list to help avoid this from happening again. That brings me to list idea #2:

Captain Damiano (*6pts)
* Nomad (6pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gastone Crosse (3pts)
* Vanguard (4pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Kell Bailoch (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw (9pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)

This list is obviously very similar to list number one except I drop Rocinante to a Nomad and dropped Alexia2. I like the idea of Alexia2 but I didn't get much use out of her in the game I played and I get the feeling she is a model you need to have some practice with to really make her sing and I'm just not going to have that time before February. Putting Gastone and the vanguard in there gets me some quality boostable guns to make up for the loss of Rocinante and the all important shield guard so I can potentially avoid that one final shot assassination which got me last time I played list one. I also like the idea of the possible Gastone/Galleon going into the earthbreaker list at 75pt if needed. I did a third list because I can't leave well enough alone and have to keep tinkering all the time. Lets take a look at #3:

Captain Damiano (*6pts)
* Rocinante (9pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. (Boomhowler and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gastone Crosse (3pts)
* Vanguard (4pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw (9pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)

Once again very similar but I was able to get Rocinante back into the list at the expense of Kell and the Nyss hunters while slotting Boomhowler and Co into the unit spot. While they will not be as effective at range as the Nyss hunters Boomhowler with deadeye can get some work done and really gum up the works as a tarpit unit. I feel I will be a little more tempted to cycle death march over to the Boomies from time to time which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing as it is really freakin' amazing on Kayazy.

I think for the present time I am leaning towards list number two but three is still in play. If I go with number three I can play Durgen/Earthbreaker and put the Nyss with him. If I go with list number two I'm more likely to play Ossrum/Earthbreaker and have boomies available if I want. Once I settle on the Damiano list I will be able to pick a dwarf list and once lists one and two are locked in I can see my 75pt options between the two lists and that will help select between Drake and Thexus for list three.

So what do y'all think? Damiano list 1, 2, or 3?

Templecon 2015 Painting Log

If you look at the Templecon website you can see by the countdown clock that there are only 101 days (at the time I wrote this) prior to the beginning of the convention. If I take out the few days leading up to the con that leaves me 14 weeks, give or take, to get my painting done. I have decided that the best way to accomplish my painting goals is to put the list to paper (actual and virtual) and try and plan out a points per week requirement. I intend to put the paper copy next to my painting station as a constant reminder/motivation/shaming tool. The list below if very large and intimidating at initial glance but this is nearly an all inclusive list and,  while I'd like to accomplish all of it, only some of it "must" finish. A second factor that comes into play hopefully making this a little easier is the fact that a large portion of the list is already assembled and in many of the pieces are partially painted. I will be breaking the list down into three categories and color coding theme for purposes of the blog:

Primary
Secondary
Tertiary  

As you look at the list below it should be pretty clear as to the theme for the minis in the primary category. These are the minis I need to finish for my "Templecon 2015 painting challenge" with my Canadian brothas Jamie and Chadi. If I can pull it off I'd like to post some updates here on their painting progress as well as one or two of my local guys I'm trying to rope in as well.

Warcasters: (25pts)
Exulon Thexus
Captain Damiano
General Ossrum
Durgen Madhammer
Drake MacBain

Warjacks: (76pts)
Earthbreaker (18pts)
Galleon (19pts)
Nomad (6pts)
Warden x2 (6pts/ea)
Wrecker x3 (7pts/ea)

Units: (84pts)
Alexia1 (5pts)
Arcane tempest gun mages (6pts)
*Officer (2pts)
Cephalyx mind bender & drudges (6pts)
Cephalyx mind slaver & drudges (6pts)
Nyss hunters (10pts)
Boomhowler (9pts)
Herne & Jonne (3pts)
Kayazy assassins (8pts)
*Underboss(2pts)
Aiyana & Holt (4pts)
Press gangers (6pts)
Sea dogs (8pts)
*Mr Walls (2pts)
*Riflemen x3 (1pt/ea)
Tactical arcanist corp (4pts)

Solos: (57pts)
Alexia2 (4pts)
*Thall warriors x6
Anastasia (2pts)
Bloat thrall (2pts)
Grogspar (2pts)
Cephalyx agitator x3 (2pts/ea)
Cephalyx dominator (1pt)
Killingsworth (2pts)
Eiryss1 (3pts)
Eiryss2 (3pts)
Hawk (2pts)
Gorman (2pts)
Harlan (2pts)
Kell (2pts)
Rockbottom (2pts)
Machine wraith (1pt)
Dougal (2pts)
Ogrun bokur (3pts)
Orin (2pts)
Pistol wraith x2 (3pts/ea)
Raluk (2pts)
Rhupert (2pts)
Taryn (2pts)
Thor (2pts)

There is the list as it currently stands. I think I have included everything but who knows as I banged this out on break last night at work and I'm ready for a nap;) When calculating the pt cost of the minis needing to be painted I just assumed a cost of 5 pts per caster just like an assassination in SR. If my math is correct the list adds up to a grand total of 242 pts which will mean I need to accomplish approximately 17 pts/week to have the list fully painted the week  prior to Templecon. The Templecon painting list is now on paper and staring me in the face time to get down to the cave and get to work (after I grab some sleep).