A Month at a Glance - January

Well, that went in quick, and completely opposite to form, I have actually been updating this...

So, painting wise I managed to knock out 2 Razor Boars, a maximum unit of Bone Grinders, and at the last minute, Rorsh & Brine, so a rather healthy 16 points.  The good news is I can now play with a fully painted 25pt list.  It might not be optimal, but, at least it looks not bad.

This is muh boomstick.  And dynamite.  And big-ass Pig.

Gaming wise - played about 10 games, all against Brushchewer, more wins than losses.  I've also just bought my ticket to NorthCon2015, so, I have a clear date on the calendar for having to be fully painted and au fait with all the rules.  Oh boy...


Off to Vapnartak in York in a couple of hours with Falkirk District Wargames Club, so, might be able to pick up some reinforcements whilst I'm there.

Plans for February are probably the addition of some Razorback Crews and Maximus.  If I get through that, I'll keep on keeping on with the Slaughterhousers and the Road Hog, before turning my thoughts to a second 'Lock.

Orange is the new Black...

...pit of despair I sink into when painting it...

But still, it is worth the effort, and to kick of the month (or year) I have knocked out two wee Razorboars, thus keeping my force still all Battlegroup.

Flaming Pigs, not just Roman around...

 

We doan need no steenkin' units...

So, next on the painting agenda, and in a bid to break out of the whole Battlegroup only force, I have a unit of Bonegrinders on the go.  Probably not the best beginning unit for Thornfall, although they will also give me some pre-painted points if I start a Blindwater list  ;)  I've tried them out a couple of times, and whilst they haven't been stellar, they are not a bad filler unit, the Arcane Bolt comes in handy, and they can do in a pinch to Quagmire something else.

As well as the Grinders, I've been working away on Rorsh & Brine, partly due to them being pretty much fully basecoated, partly because they are part of Carver's Tier list.  I'm not entirely sold on his Tier, saving 2 pts on Brigands isn't great when you are spending 9 on a Solo (with attendant Heavy) and losing all the units having Advance Deploy is a big blow, although, it is somewhat mitigated in my case by having a lot of beast that instead gain Advance Move.  Time will tell on how best to run it.

(One) Armed and Dangerous...

So, originally I was aiming at having 5pts painted this month between the max. Grinders and a Razorboar.   I'm at 4 already with the 2 Razorboars, and the Grinders will take me to 6 or 7.  Getting Rorsh & Brine would take me up to 15 or 16, which isn't a bad chunk to add to what I already have.  I'm toying with the idea of trying to get least one of each Farrow option painted up before doing more duplicate choices, so, not counting Alten Ashley or Gudrun, or any of the other non-pig solos.  If I can finish off the Grinders and R&B, that would leave - Roadhog, Maximus, Brigands, Slaughterhousers and Razorback Crew.  I'm thinking along the lines of finishing off each area (Warbeasts/Solos/Units) before tackling a new 'Lock although Arkadius and Midas would bring in some new Beasts as part of their Tier lists.

In non-painting news, I've also managed to get a few games in, somewhere around 4-5, and doing not bad.  I've broken the play it painted rule, just to try out new things, but, at the end of the day, I really don't have too many choices to spoil me for choice, and I'll be painting up at least one of everything anyway.

Brushchewer also picked up Maximus and the Sentinel UA for me, so, I am pretty much up to date with Thornfall releases (roll on the MeatThresher) and am just an Aspis away from a full Retribution collection.

Looking forwards, if I clear what is on the paintstation this month, I have a few pieces lined up in the wings, so I reckon it might be time to bust out a new big (flaming) gun with the Roadhog, and possibly some Slaughterhousers too.

As happy as a pig in....

Wash obviously...  ;)

Halves.  Things I don't do things by...

I managed to basecoat most, if not all of the Bonegrinders and Slaughterhousers so I figured it was about the right time to hit them with a wash and get them glued into the bases, which were already started and almost done.  Then I figured I might as well just wash the Warhog, Roadhog and Rorsh & Brine sitting there too, on the very, very off-chance that I actually finished the Grinders and Razorboar I pledged for January.  Pledge 5pts, paint 39.  Sounds great on paper, maybe a bit less realistic in theory.

In other news, I also picked up my first loss of the year, errrr.... got my first game in.  Carver ultimately falling to an Engine of Destructioned Makeda2, on two boxes...  after leaving himself open dispatching a Cyclops Savage and Quagmiring a Gladiator in the process to make it easy pickings for the Warhog.   It was a small 14pt game, just fully painted forces see, and I am thinking I really need to get at least one Razorboar painted up, just for that Mobility enabled 16" run to block charge lanes and attack avenues. 

Before the game, we did come up with a couple of Warmahordes specific house rules, which will be vigorously enforced.

1.  The player with the most fully painted (painted/based/varnished) army gains a +1 bonus to the roll for table edge/starting.  This is cumulative with any Tier bonus.  Obviously this doesn't come into effect if both players have fully painted armies.  Basically a small bonus to encourage fully painted gaming.

2.  All spells/feats/animi in play must be marked and on the table.  If there is any dispute as to whether a spell was cast/feat popped if there is no marker on the table, then it follows tat the spell/feat is not in effect.  This could have more serious connotations, but is designed for clarity during play.

In Elf related news, I am currently trying to nail down a 50pt list to get started with, and work out a colour scheme.  I've run the whole gamut from yellow to grey to green, but ultimately think I'm going to end up doing a variation of blue...  Likewise with the bases, I was planning bon going for a bleached look for them, but, after doing a quick tester, I think I might end up with grey slate, as it ties in more with my Farrow.

I'll give it a bit more thought and post up the prospective retribution list once I have it set, and keep pluggging away at colour theory.

Intros; Or how I stopped messing around and started removing mould lines.

Well, I think I have a hard act to follow in previous post but here we go.

Starting out this new year I feel like I definitely need a little focus. I have been in this hobby for a few years and looking back I haven't really produced much for the time (and money) spent. Well this is about to change.

I started out a few years ago at Salute when the stall I was running was opposite the Priveteer Press stand. I fell in love with the look of Warmachine and Hordes figures and with no idea about the game I picked up the Skorne starter set, a box of blood runners, a unit of Cryx mindslavers and drudges and a Skarlock thrall. Getting home all excited I put the battle box together quickly (and with none of the clean up that I would later learn is so important to make your models look good or the pinning that I would learn is important to stop them falling apart) slapped some paint on them and was very happy.


What a fool I was.

About this time I ended up falling in love with a beautiful Scotsman and moving up to the cold north to live with him. Both of us shared the hobby and this inspired me to paint more (and buy more). He had a collection of Skorne which he gave me and I slowly added more. I painted these quickly, wanting to have a force I could use to play as soon as possible (without knowing the rules, or the better half having a playable force, or knowing anybody else that played) which meant I ended up with lots of painted models but nothing painted to any good standard. After a few months of being badgered I finally realized I needed to up my game so after a few problems in the year I settled down to taking my time on each figure I do. So those 23pts you see painted are 23pts that I have painted recently to the standard that I am more than happy to be seen publicly, thats what you see here.






Well, I dropped my Cryx which wasn't much as you can see (I gave the Cephalyx to the man and the other stuff is up for sale to fund the rest of the hobby).





So I was down a faction and I needed something with robots. By that I meant a warmachine faction, what dropped into my lap, gifted by the man, was an entire army of Robots.

Thats right, I got Convergence of Cyriss.


The real unusual thing was this he agreed to clean up and build the entire army if I bought him a Xbox One. I picked up enough resin bases to base the amount he gave me and ended up just leaving them be.Well, he bought the Xbox ONE just before Christmas and on Christmas day I received enough reinforcements (and matching bases) to set me well on the way to have, once built and painted, multiple 50 point lists.

He also has painted a solo for me which is absolutely beautiful even though he says its not finished!





So my plans for the coming year are these:

1. Repaint my already painted miniatures.
   I have all this Skorne half painted and I want it to look the best it can so I aim to get as much of it painted up as I can. The best way I can do this is set a good goal so...
2. Paint and Play to confidence (at least) two 50 point Skorne lists.I have many rough ideas for list and need to set myself at least two so as to be able to play in steamrollers. 
3. Play more games.Having a boyfriend who plays and a big'ol gaming table all set up in the house really helps this but we both know that we need to play against other people to learn what the local meta is like. I'm gonna try to get out and about and play games.
4. Improve my painting.I know I'm not that amazing and I know I can get better and no better way to improve than to just DO. Practice makes perfect and all that.

Well that is about it, nothing much more I can say.

The happiest of new years to you all and I would love to see some comments and critique on the work I've done so far.

Wish me luck.