Finished!

Come on, do I really need so say more?

Ok, I'll add one thing: Zphindar, prepare for your Farseer to meet his maker. *evil grin*

Bonus Pics

Bonus pics for my regular readers. These show the progress over the past two weeks from concept to nearly finished product.

 

So Close

Ok, finished the gems last night so the model themsleves are done, now the base. Here's a picture from yesterday morning, and the results this morning. I expect to be finished tonight.

Next up is finishing this guardian (not required for the megabattle) and obliterators:

Yet More Progress

Ok, yesterday morning we left off here:

Last night I finished the highlighting of the hands and boots, completed the weapon highlighting and blades, and finished the hair and fur.

This morning I put on the base coat of Red Gore for the gems and the Goblin Green coat for the base.

I expect to be finished the gems tonight, and started on the basing. Here is the Seer Council as a bonus pic.
 

Time Is Ticking

I've been putting in double duty on the warlocks in order to ensure their readiness for Saturday. Here is where we left off yesterday:

As of last night you can see the wraithbone helm and armour are done, the base blue on the weapons, the black face mask/gloves/boots, and the leather base.

And then this morning I did the leather pouches highlighting and added the green eye lenses and cables on the weapons.

Tonight: highlighing the black areas and the weapons. Tomorrow morning, start the gems!

I almost forgot!

Here are the pictures from the battle against Chris on March 18th. You know, the one where I was crushed? This picture here is particularily telling as you can see the remanants of 5 broken chaos formations.

The Battle Looms...

On April 1st we are having our Eldar megabattle at Corey's place and it promises to be awesome. In order to make a good showing I decided to finish a Seer Council for the battle and that required finishing two more Warlock in a week. Fortunately, the base coats of red were done so on Friday night I started the highlighting, and over the weeked did the wraithbone and base colours for the weapons.
 

They are coming along nicely, with the wraithbone being finished this morning (pic not included, camera was upstairs to go to work for this post).

In between waiting for coats to dry, I've been working on some much needed reinforcements for my Epic army. Obliterators, havocs, and a second Ravager titan. The Obliterators (Mark II design ;) ) and Havocs have their drybrush of blue done, and the base coat of black is complete on the Ravager.

More to come as the Warlocks march towards battlefield readiness!

Direction

I've toyed with the idea of fielding my Black Storm using loyalist marine rules sometimes for fun. I've even went so far as to purchase a Thunderhawk and I drool over the thought of a lander. It seems like an easy way to have a second army without all the buying and painting.

To this end I've managed to get 5 old style landspeeders and 3 vindicators for cheap. Find some razorbacks, and I'm off to the races for 3000 pt games.

Battle Report

Al and I decided (perhaps foolishly) to do a 4500 pt game at Bayshore on a 7 or 8 foot table. I thought four and a half hours should be sufficient but forgot that when playing Al, you sometimes need to factor in a bit more time.

 

The board was set up with have being a large urban area and half being a mostly wide open scrubland. I deployed heavily in the scrubland with garrisons because Al was cruel and placed both objectives there. My plan was to head sucker his army to the scrubland and then strike diagonally into the city where my three objectives were.

 

The first turn was marked by sneaky ploys with scouts to prevent the terminators from charging the whirlwinds, Forlorn Hope making awesome armour saves to frustrate Al, and dogfights between our airforces all over the place. I surprisingly won initiative on turn 2 (actually, it was a tie but since Al won first turn I got it this time) and launched an assault by bikes and daemons on the Warlord titan. It was a huge gamble, especially with a tactical squad within supporting distance, but I was feeling bold and it paid off. I got three damage on the big guy (no crits) and even though Al got 7 hits in return, my armour was red hot and only one daemon died. Supporting fire saw only a second daemon go down. The roll off saw me with plus two and it was enough to win and break the titan before he even moved.

 

I paid for the awesome armour saves a few moments later when the second terminator formation engaged the tactical formation and I lost three stands. Fortunately I killed all but the commander and the scrubland was well within my control.

 

In the city, Al had Devstators, whirlwinds, land speeders, and a scout formation. I attacked with a platoon of infantry with attached havocs in rhinos, Forlorn Hope, and a tank company. Despite taking serious damage from the whirlwind barrages, I broke both the land speeders and devestators and attacked the whirlwinds with lascannons getting one of them. I had Al on the defensive…

 

Turn three saw the warlord rally and advance to take the two objectives, then shooting up a deathwheel and getting two hits on the hull, one of which turned out to be critical! Damn! The second deathwheel, no broken and vulnerable. Al made a valiant effort for the Blitz objective, but despite numerous bombing runs by Thunderbolts into obliterator flak, the Forlorn Hope formation maintained their positions and continued to contest.

 

In the city I took the Blitz and another objective, but the half strength scout formation scooted in and contested the Blitz despite two bombing runs from Hellblade fighters.

 

We were running out of time so we looked at the board after three turns. Al was up 1-0 by virtue of controlling two objectives for Take and Hold (darn Warlord holding both of them), but I was close to securing Take and Hold and Blitz once I destroyed the last of the scouts. On the other hand, the Blitz on my table edge was in a precarious position and the second deathwheel was being hunted by the warlord titan for the BTS. In order to declare a clear winner we needed the fourth turn but lacked the time. We called it a draw.

 

Analysis:

This was a game of back and forth. I had crappy armour saves in turn 1, amazing armour saves in turn 2, and some decent ones in turn 3. On the other hand, except for one interception his thunderbolts made decent armour saves and my obliterators were on and off for hitting flak.

 

I forgot overwatch on garrisoned units which allowed al to break a critical platoon, and my defilers were negated right from the start by a whirlwind slavo. On the upside, I destroyed both Thunderhawks, one by flak and one by winning an assault (go Deathwheels!). Al’s terminators launched assault after assault and almost always decimated their targets. I wish my termies were as effective!

 

I learned quite a bit in this game and I look forward to our next match.

Turret Complete

OK, last night I sealed the turret, glossed the gems, and broke out the good camera!

And here are the better pics of the Striking Scoprions like I promised:
 
And currently on the painting docket are Hellblades followed by obliterators (Epic scale of course):

 

Thoughts From The Weekend's Games

The two games on the weekend really gave me a lot to think about, especially since they were so large and I took such different armies in each of them.

In the first game I think my army selection was what really hurt me combined with Chris' brilliant zone defense against teleporters and drop pods. My big infantry units were neutralized and his artillery and air power wore me down. In hindsight, after a Sunday afternoon of painting and thinking, his air power was frustrating but not decisive. It was breaking my units first that did me in, and then the aircraft could attack those broken formations and annilhate them.

In the second game my units were far more effective. My infantry got to shoot lots, my assaulters got the hand to hand match ups that favoured me more often, and even though I lost the Banelord it forced the opponent to use so much to do so that it was almost worth it.

Some other random thoughts:

- The Banelord continues to disappoint me. His firepower is pathetic for such a large titan. He is deadly in closecombat but his void shields provide little protection in that case. He is most deadly in firefight support but since he is always the BTS when on the board, my opponents seem to target him with everything and rightly so. I fear he will only come out in the big games where I can also afford supporting war engines in which case he acts as the bait/deterrent and the rest do the actual work.

- The Ravager continues to impress. His firepower at 45 cm is so nice to have, and his extra speed makes up for fewer shield and DCs. I would kill to have a Banelord class titan with Ravager weapons at this point.

- Defilers are actually more deadly in direct firing if there are vehicles within 45 cm such that the Battlecannon and twin lascannon have range. Added bonus is that the marines they are attached too can shoot too. I think I might garrison the defilers forward in cover more often.

- I'm also seriously considering more defilers as a second artillery would barrage would have been nice to use against Chris' artillery.

- I've got to stop rolling ones for initiative because every time I do I have to lose D3 daemons and everytime I roll 3 daemons lost. Grrrr...

- I need more Swiftdeath/Hellblade fighters. So I pushed my second hellblade squadron to the top of the painting list to get them ready ASAP. Not only will they provide better protection against enemy air power but they also assist in boosting my number of activations.

- I need more activations. I had fewer activations than both my opponents but didn't feel it against Sean because so many were tied up in the Lander and Thunderhawk and teleporting. But against Chris where his entire force was available I was totally mangled, force to commit while he sat back and waited. What also hurt is that I was unable to kill some of his weaker formations to reduce his activation count.

- Armoured companies of 6 predators and two landraiders were nice. Might make more use of them in the future.

- I find my opponents are getting better and better at securing their own blitz from terminator attack, so I used my terminators in a less agressive role against Chris and completely defensive against Sean and found for the most part it worked well (ignoring the 4 BMs I rolled for one formation in the game against Chris).

- Drop podding only works well when you land close to a target or objective. Chris' use of scouts to force me back was brilliant and easily cost me the game. Its no use having a 650 pt unit do pretty much nothing except die.

- Damn pinpoint attack missed again!!! Arrrrrgggg! :screams:

- obliterators... I love and hate them. I love their firepower and capabilities, but hate their lack of mobility and transport. Still, I'm almost at the point where I think I prefer to have them with marines on foot, garrisoning forward, than not having them and letting aircraft rule my life. Hmmm... Time to get that batch of Obliterator MkII painted.

Big Saturday

This weekend my wife is having her sister up for a Girl's Weekend so I'm going to be left to my own devices.

MUHAHAHAHAHA!

So in order to make the most of the free time, I've lined up two massive games of Epic. Cause you know, one wasn't enough. :P

The first is a 6K pt game against Chris and his Imperial Guard. Last time we clashed I punished him but this time I'm much more afraid of the firepower IG can bring to bear in so many points. I figure I have two choices on war engines: go big or go home. I'll let you know what I chose later.

The second game is another 6K pointer against Sean (Krago) and his Space Marines. He is fairly new to the game but is picking up speed quickly so I expect a vicious fight. But Chaos stacks up well against their loyal counterparts so I'm hoping I can deliver some much needed learning experience pain to Sean.

Full report to come.

Finished Scorpions

First off, here is the prototype model I did up at the beginning to get a feel for the colour scheme.

Here is the Exarch with his dreadlocks:
 
I know some people will not like the white dreads and suggest other colours. I respect their opinions but I have to go with my gut on this one. I like the slight contrast the white with black ink provides.

The other four models that make up the current squad.
 

And the full squad together.

Next on my painting plate is dark reapers, warlocks, and guardians. Last night I started the blood red highlighting on the warlocks and a guardian.
 

 

Finally Recovered

I have finally recovered from my illness (mostly) and completed the Striking Scorpions. I'll see if I can get some good pics tonight.

Week of Suckage

Monday was ok, Tuesday alright if busy. Then the shit hit the fan. Wednesday woke up feeling sick and proceeded to spend the entire day in bed. Thursday I went back to work to have an emergency call requiring my to work until 8pm. So for most of the week, no painting or modeling. Sigh.

Hopefully I'll have more luck this weekend.

Monday Painting Picture Report

It seems I tend to have picture posts on Mondays and Tuesdays of my painting progress. Go figure. Anyway, here's the latest.

Here are the finished Striking Scoprions excepting the bases and gloss varnish. As you can see, the bases are underway and should be finished tonight.

The wave serpent turret is also making good progress as can be seen here on the tank, and with more details and highlighting in the second shot.
 

I have a lot more infantry with base coats of red gore so expect more coming in the following weeks.

Stupid Life

My life has taken up a lot of free time this week so painting has stalled. Between having weekend visitors staying until late Monday, Chiropractic appointments Tuesday, starting Jiu Jitsu again on Wednesday as well as an Epic game, and then last night I had to do the financial books before Survivor came on. The good news is that I should make some progress this weekend and finish the painting of the Scorpions soon. I've got all the grey on, so its mostly touchups and then gems. W00t!

Battle Report - Black Storm Versus Ultramarines

Battle report pictures here. Start at the bottom and work up to get the correct chronological order, and I added descriptions to all of the pictures too.

Derek and I had a 4000 pt game that was a long overdue rematch from GMX in which I lost when my bikes failed to activate on a 2+ roll at the end of turn 3. I was looking for revenge!

Knowing I was expecting a drop pod army from a Battle Barge, Derek went a different direction and took an almost completely ground mechanized force. Only one tactical and one Devestator formation, and about 10 (!) Land Raiders in three formations. Unfortunately for Derek, my army only had 8 predators and two deathwheels so a lot of his firepower wasn't going to be telling, and he might have a little trouble with my 55+ stands of infantry.

The battle was pretty intense. Derek drove hard and fast for my side of the board while I played Mr Cautious with my formations, prefering to let Derek commit first. On the far west I easily turned back the lone Bike formation he sent at me but in the east my predators and deathwheels were not too effective in the early going and an assault by the bikes against his tactical totally fizzled. I was getting nervous in the middle where his large devstator formation (attached Land Raiders and Razorbacks) was advancing supported by a Land Raider formation.

Turn 2 saw my terminators arrive and land on either side of the two Whirlwind formations. Derek got the initiative and broke one formation, but that allowed me to use the other terminator formation to attack and destory his second whirlwind detachment. Feeling threatened he reversed direction with the central land raider formation and pulled it back to attack the rallied terminators in turn 3. Unfortuately for him his attack failed to kill any terminators and the counter engage activation on my turn saw me defeat and destroy his tanks.

This left his large Devestator formation alone in the middle of the board, and I quickly jumped on the miscue. One undamaged tactical formation moved up behind it and laid some blast markers on it while the other engaged the following turn. The combined firepower of the 16 Chaos Marines and 8 rhinos proved telling, reducing the Loyalists down to three units and broken. The devs ran and failed to rally for turn 3, allowing me to turn the deathwheels on them and destroy them to earn the Break Their Spirit goal. Combined with taking two objectives for Take and Hold this allowed me to win at the end of turn 3.

Analysis:
Derek made two vital mistakes (and neither of them was not taking thunderhawks or terminators IMHO): the first was having so many land raiders and not enough tacticals. Two twinlinked lascannons and 4+ RA save is wicked, but my army is almost never going to have enough vehciles and warengines to justify that expenditure. The second was pulling the Land Raider formation in the middle back to attack the Terminators. Not only did it leave the formation away from any objectives for either side for conttrolling or contesting, it left exposed the valuable Devstator formation to attack and ultimately destruction.

Derek played a mostly solid game otherwise and had me crapping my pants the whole time until late in turn 2 when I broke the Devs and then they failed to rally. At that point it became a mere question of whether I could get two goals to win or not. While Derek's army selection was not ideal when facing my infantry hordes, it was solid and had he concentrated his advance together more in one prong in the centre or side-centre instead of two, it may have worked.

Good game allround! Look out Al, I'm gunning for you...