Bretonnian Knights

Just finished some Bretonnia stuff. The knights have been done for a while, but I wanted the Paladins done before I posted them. I also finished a Damsel (mage). Behind her is a Paladin/Lord that Dallas gave me in a trade. He had already painted it, so I just repainted the shields and called it a day. Currently, I'm working on a Dragon from Mantic games that the Damsel has a slight chance of turning into.

Battle of the Nile, 1798

Dan and Stacy came to play the Battle of the Nile, a scenario that I've been working on for some time. The challenge was to create a fun naval battle with ships at anchor and one side being pounded to ashes. Instead of a classic French vs British engagement, I've decided to split the British fleet among the players and have the French ships operated by automated rules. Rear-Admiral "Dan" Nelson and Captain "Stacy" Foley would then be competing against each other for greatest honours!


Here is the set up, with only the van and center of the French line. The British would start the game within the zone delimited by the dice. There were two forts on the shore that did not do much damage during the game, just like it happened in History.

Foley's line, at the top, prepares to circle around the French van while Nelson's column resolutely approaches the center. The counters by the French ships are the anchor positions that the British ships were supposed to reach before nightfall.

Half of Nelson's squadron just went through the French line which is being pounded from both sides. White puffs of smoke were helping the commanders keep track of which ships fired. In the background, Foley's line is shooting intensely on the French van.

This is just before nightfall. Ships with yellow/green counters on their bow are using backing sail to slow down to their anchor positions. On the left, four British ships are firing simultaneously on the huge Orient. Despite many close calls, the giant of the sea did not blow up. On the other hand, the Aquilon sank. The wreckage can be seen near the black centerline. At that point, the fate of the French fleet was sealed, and the competing commanders were racing to perform the most glorious actions for honours.

On the last turn, the Tonnant was set ablaze four times! When compared to the real battle, the end result is eerily similar. All in all, despite the scenario being playtested for the first time, it was a very enjoyable game. Even with over 12 ships on each side, the game ran smoothly. The tactical challenge to the players was to position their ships as best as possible before nightfall so as to gather as much battle honours as possible. In the end, Captain Foley got 450 points of honours and Nelson got 425. A few adjustments will certainly make the scenario a little more challenging and even more entertaining.

Letting go of the Farseer crutch

I have started preparations for next year's Las Vegas GT. Games Workshop just sent out an email regarding the next several qualifying tournaments, and it mentioned that the GT winner "...will be decided in the summer of 2011 in Las Vegas at The Throne of Skulls Tournament..."

The U.K. Throne of Skulls Rules Pack and FAQs are already available online, here. So, assuming the same criteria for Las Vegas, we're talking 1500 point armies and standard missions from the 40K rulebook.

I've been thinking about my Las Vegas GT list for awhile now. Also, I had some good conversations with the other players at Mechani-Kon 2 last weekend.

As a result of the above, I ended up re-jiggering my Eldar list, with a couple of purposes in mind:

1. To get my HQ(s) under tank armour
2. To enhance the survivability of my Eldar tanks
   
3. To add some more close combat capability
   

The force has been streamlined by getting rid of psychic entirely. There is a single HQ - I'm using my levitating Farseer model (pictured above) to "count as" Prince Yriel, a hybrid Autarch/Warlock and the cheapest of the Eldar named characters. This character is interesting, since it combines the stats and skills of an Autarch with a couple of psychic weapons, the Spear of Twilight (a Singing Spear that's also a Power Weapon), and the Eye of Wrath (a single-use S6, AP3 Large Blast, that can be set off in close combat). Dverning has written an in-depth tactica discussing the use of Yriel in games, including the dreaded "Yriel Bomb" ploy, located online here.

With the extra points saved, I've also packed protective upgrades onto all the tanks, and added Powerblades to the Warp Spider Exarch.

The result is the following, a purer Swordwind style list:

HQ:
Autarch (counts as Prince Yriel) (1#, 155 pts)

Troops:
Dire Avengers (7#, 202 pts)
6 Dire Avengers
1 Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones; TL Missile Launchers)

Dire Avengers (6#, 205 pts)
5 Dire Avengers
1 Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones; TL Bright Lances)

Elites:
Fire Dragons (6#, 210 pts)
5 Fire Dragons
1 Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones; Vectored Engines; TL Shuriken Cannons)

Fire Dragons (6#, 220 pts)
5 Fire Dragons
1 Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones; Vectored Engines; Shuriken Cannon; TL Shuriken Cannons)

Fast Attack:
Vyper Squadron (3#, 210 pts)
1 Vyper (Scatter Laser; Shuriken Cannon)
1 Vyper (Scatter Laser; Shuriken Cannon)
1 Vyper (Scatter Laser; Shuriken Cannon)

Warp Spiders (5#, 137 pts)
4 Warp Spiders
1 Exarch (Powerblades; Death Spinner x2)

Heavy Support:
Night Spinner (1#, 160 pts)
1 Night Spinner (Holo-Field; Spirit Stones)

Total = 1499 Points

I took it for a test run the other night against MikeA's Nurgle army. Mike came loaded for bear, running the following:

HQ:
Typhus 225pts

Elites:
Chaos Terminators (5) 2xChainfist, 3 Power fists, Combi-flamer, Combi-melta, Reaper Autocannon 245pts

Troops:
Plague Marines#1 (7) 2x Melta, P.Fist, Rhino 256pts
Plague Marines#2 (7) 2x Melta, P.Fist, Rhino 256pts
Plague Marines#3 (7) 2x Plasma, P.Weapon 221pts

Heavy Support:
Defiler 150pts
Vindicator Daemonic Possession 145pts


Total = 1498 Points

We played a tables quarters style scenario from Mechani-Kon. MikeA played well, initially controlling or contesting all quarters, but the mobility and durability (durability - wtf?) of the Eldar proved too much for the Chaos forces. The turning point occurred mid-game, when Typhus and his bodyguards fell to a fusillade of melta and shuriken fire.

I look forward to further play-testing. This is probably the first time I've run Eldar without any psychic powers in over a decade.

Rat October

Some recent progress made on the Skaven horde.  Total now is 145 Clanrats, 36 Plague Monks, seven Jezzail teams, two Ratling guns, two Rat Ogres, and...



...one suitably grungy-looking Plague Lord to lead the army into battle!

Next up in the painting queue are some more characters - Moulders to herd the Rat Ogres and giant rats, a Warlock Engineer or two, a Grey Seer maybe...?  Then back to painting rank-and-file - Stormvermin - and maybe a Plague Furnace?  I just picked up a set of Skaven from the new Island of Blood box so it promises to be a Rat October indeed!  



Project "Elfes Sylvains"

This is not a photoshopped image. This is the actual cover of the French version of the Warhammer Fantasy Wood Elves Codex. Among the projects I have been considering in the last few years, a Warhammer army was always high in my list of temptations, and among the WH armies I knew there was one with my name on it, literally. Warhammer was also among the many challenges that Curt seeded along our gaming sessions, and with the release of a new edition of the rulebook, I thought that all the ingredients were gathered for me to start a new insane project.

This is what I have so far: 20 Glade Guards ("Gardes Sylvains" in French) and 12 Dryads. The two characters are proxy heroes that will be in command of the army until I get new ones painted. The right hand one died a glorious death in Curt's brutal Fantasy RPG campaign not long ago. The left-hand one is my new character for the next chapter of the campaign.

Here is a close-up of the Glade Guards. This is the first time I am painting a 25/28mm army and the learning curve was not too steep, thanks to all the precious tips that were generously provided by master painter Curto Da Vinci. I've tried various colors for clothes, leather armors and hair. Not all combination of base color/highlights were successful, but I will re-use the best ones for the next batches. I digressed from GW usual bright palettes with sharp contrasts for something darker and a lot more toned done, more in the line of their "Lord of the Ring" collection. I opted for a Fall palette of colors. The next Regiment I will be working on will be a lot more yellowish. If you know a few painting tips that could help me improve my next batch of Wood Elves, please do not hesitate to let me know.

The codex says that Dryads cause fear... This is one skull holding angry plant that I would rather avoid. I've painted the bark and leaves in a way to suggesting Autumn. I found these tree creatures very pleasant to paint. Actually, it was like painting scenery. The base could use more work. From this angle, it looks like the Dryads are walking on a carpet. For the next batch, I intend to use a gel with beads that Curt recommended.

For the "national" colors of my Wood Elves army, I've decided to use the green/yellow duo of the Saskatchewan flag. I thought about green and white, but then I feared that I might get into trouble if I ever play against a Roughriders' fan.

I plan to paint 3 regiments of 20 Glade Guards, 3 "orchards" of 12 Dryads, 2 squadrons of 10 Glade Riders and a few War Dancers, Waywatchers and Treemen. I hope to be finished before Christmas.

'Topes Lose

The Tyranid hive fleet Nostromo has been allowed to rampage across the galaxy once again thanks to the most recent Imperial effort. Local guard units had requested aid in mopping up operations after a hard fought but successful encounter. The Chapter that responded was inexperienced, only moderately successful on the battlefield and not up to the task at hand! After a bloody battle involving horrific casualties on both sides, the Tyranids controlled the majority of the pre-designated objective markers.

The current mood in the Chapter is grim with some openly wondering if Tzeench or maybe even Slaanesh are hiring. The Chapter has also noticed that their schedule for the next few months has cleared up considerably. When confirmation was requested for the cancellation of an operation in support of an Imperial planet fending off an Ork attack, the Imperial commander confirmed that “things weren’t as bad as originally thought” and “may even turn around in the next month or so!” He went on to say, “recent casualties have unexpectedly improved our food situation, so there really isn’t any need for your Chapter to show up. Thanks anyway.”

The Chapter has recently begun exploring other opportunities in bulk transport. Imperial Long Haul Transport Inc. has expressed interest in leasing some of the vast cargo space now available on the Chapter Battlebarge. The Chapter Master was quoted as saying, “We really think that this is an exciting opportunity that can really propel our Chapter into the big leagues of bulk transportation. The future’s never looked so bright.”

All kidding aside, the game was a bloodbath and thus a lot of fun and I was able to use some units that I've never used before. Some of them showed promise... before eating it hard! The most interesting units were the Sternguard and Assault Terminators. The Sternguard killed one Carnifex and reduced another one down to one wound in a single round of shooting, while the Assault Terminators killed a Trygon, but died to a man doing it. I think the big lesson is to consider how many wounds these units can realistically cause in a single turn. 8 wounds for two Carnifex are too many for the Sternguard and 6 wounds on the Trygon are too many for 5 Assault Terminators. Shooting needed to knock both those units down a few wounds before either of those units did their thing. In particular, I think causing a few wounds on the Trygon before assaulting would have made a big difference for the terminators. Although Greg is probably right when he said that Terminator are not worth their points. I certainly wouldn't take them in anything less than 2000 points.

Thanks to Dallas for hosting and everyone who came out.

ECW Regiment of Foote

I've been settling into my hobby space in our new/old house and have been slowly unpacking stuff that has been squirreled away in boxes for years. Anyway, here is an old chestnut. A regiment of English Civil War foot using Redoubt castings which I painted, cripes, about 10 or so years ago.

If I recall correctly I think this is supposed to be Allen Apsley's Regiment of Foote (composed of Royalists from Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Cornwall). These castings are advertised as 28mm but are really closer to 33-35mm. They're kinda anachronistic and quirky but I quite like them. I've always enjoyed the look of the 'hedge' of pikes, intermixed with loads of company banners, with the sleeves of shot on either side. The excellent banners are from Brian. I pipped-out a boatload Redoubt stuff in an ebay auction and it remains on a side burner as one of those 'retirement projects'. Who knows maybe I can entice Greg to get into this with me?