The Imporance of Starting Over

There is, or will be, a moment in every painter's time when he or she will finish a model that they've spent hours and hours on, sweated for, and given their all to, only to find that it looks like substandard crap. There are two solutions.

1. Let it go and move on.

2. Strip it and come back to it.

I try to follow #2, and it's difficult every time. The 'Jack above is a good example. I hated it from the moment I finished, even though I worked very hard on it. My technique was just awful. Finally, after staring balefully at it for weeks, I stripped all the paint off. Tomorrow, I'll show you the improved model.

For now, I'm off to play in that 40K tournament at Sci Fi Genre. Cheers!

40K, Oh 40K! Or "Why I Need to Stop Fretting and Accept that I'm Terrible at Warhammer 40,000"

Tomorrow, I'll spend my Saturday morning and afternoon at Sci Fi Genre, playing in a Warhammer Tournament. I'll make my plan of attack, prepare for battle on the top tables, and hopefully squeak out another win.

Oh, wait. This isn't a WFB tournament, it's a 40K Tournament.

40K got me into the hobby. I love painting the models. The stories are amazing. And to top it all off, I still think Space Marines are the coolest idea since sliced bread. The problem is, I stink at the game. I have more than twenty Fantasy tournament wins under my belt, and in three years haven't placed lower than third place in any tournament I've played in (not to say that I'm a national powerhouse player or anything, far from it. So I do pretty well with that game. But 40K...well, it's a good thing that I enjoy playing so much, because I stink like old cheese. I think there are some basic reasons.

1. I only play Space Marines. It's not that I'm a new player, it's that I pick my armies in 40K and Fantasy (and other games) based on what sparks my interest in fluff and pictures and models. In Fantasy, a lot of armies do that. In 40K, none of them float my boat outside of Space Marines.

2. Space Marines absolutely do not fit my play style. I'm looking for fast, hard hitting, close combat machines. Space Marines have more in common with WFB Dwarves, and the game is more about shooting. So my instincts, which serve me pretty well in Fantasy, get me killed here.

3. I want to play my army like the fluff. I played a Raven Guard Scout army, even after they nerfed scouts to high hell and back. I'll happily charge Terminators and Assault Squads into crappy odds. I want to see my guys be heroes. Sometimes they are (I have a Scout Sergeant, above, who has killed a Tyrant, a Carnifex, Abaddon, and two units of Obliterators over the course of two games. Thus, the conversion). Most days they aren't.

So yeah, I'm terrible at 40K. But I'll be at the tourney tomorrow (at the low, low ranking table), because I love to play it regardless of winning or losing. At the end of the day, that Scout Sergeant and his heroic counterparts are what I really treasure.

Painting Scores in Tournaments - How I Run Them

Painting scores in tournaments, like composition systems, are a matter of great contention. You may advocate strongly for them, you may hate them, but not many people stay neutral on the matter. The two sides, as I've heard, go a bit like this:

Pro-Painting Scores: Painting scores should be required at every tournament. This is a complete hobby, not a game. Therefore, participants at tournaments should be judged on every aspect of the hobby, and not just their play, and this includes how well they paint their armies. Well painted armies are beautiful, and when new people come in and see these nicely done armies on the table, they will want to play. People who don't paint aren't really participating in this hobby. We don't want to see an unpainted army win a tournament.

Anti-Painting Scores: Painting scores should not be required. This is a war game, and painting is something you can do with your miniatures, but not something that should be required. Tournaments should judge who the best general is, and nothing more. When new people come in, they will be intimidated by having to paint for a year or so and get an army fully painted to have a chance at really participating strongly in a tournament.

I've floated somewhere in the middle on this subject for years, and have been often surprised that I am nearly the only person who seems to be this way. I love to paint (not well, but I try), and there is nothing better to me than really nicely done armies battling it out. I've won tournaments in the past with unpainted models, but not in the last year or so, and I try not to play with unpainted stuff just to make myself try harder on painting. But I do appreciate that it can be intimidating to a new player, and I have a problem when I hear about tournaments where painting was weighed so heavily it overshadowed most of the actual game results.

I think that perhaps the pro-painting scores ideal may be best at private clubs (say, for instance, The Cage in High Point), and a more relaxed ideal might be best for stores like Sci Fi Genre who are looking to bring in new customers for the hobby who may just want to play.

Here's what I've done in the past, and will do in the future. At Grail Quest 2009, I had a side competition where one could enter a single model. Everyone voted on the best painted model, and the winner got a gift certificate. Painting did not enter into the overall winner's score. This year, in Grail Quest 2010, I'll do the same, but probably change it to be people voting on the overall armies for best painted.

I think this is a good compromise. Where do you stand?

North Carolina Winter Tournament / League

The boys down in Charlotte have put together a great idea. We're having groups of players from different parts of the state play each other in league games. Divided into small divisions of five or six players each, they'll battle it out with each other, and the top two players from each division will go on to play in a tournament in January. It should be a lot of fun, and it looks like Durham is going to have fifteen players (which may be the most players from any one area in the state). We're hoping for participation from High Point and others as well! This should be a ton of fun, and I look forward to smashing and bashing all the way through the next few months.

Madrak Ironhide

I really enjoy painting Trollbloods. They're monsters, but with a lot of human qualities. I suppose it's why people paint GW's Ogres as well, perhaps. My troll recipe:

1. Paint the skin in Tallarn Flesh.
2. Wash with dark blue.
3. If you're working with a troll unit, stop there to keep the blues light. For a light warbeast, wash again. For a heavy warbeast, wash a third time. Basically, the more monstrous the model, the more "non-pink" I want to make it, removing any "human" qualities and making it something fantastic.
4. Highlight with a mixture of flesh and blue.
5. For "albino" trolls like Madrak and Grim, use mixes of pale flesh and blues to make them pale. I hate the pink albino troll look, and wanted a pale blue instead.

As I approach 1,000 points of painted trolls, Hoarluk will come next. At 1,500, I would imagine I'll work on the rest of them, since I probably won't go any higher.

The Big Blue Waaagh!

Dallas Posey, a player in Durham, has created The Big Blue Waaagh (http://thebigbluewaaagh.com) to serve the greater NC Warhammer Fantasy Community.

Big Blue Waaagh is designed to serve as a hub for our growing group of NC players, a place where each of us can keep up with the increasing number of tournaments and player groups throughout the state. I know I'm looking forward to having a central location to hear about the latest tournaments I can attend in places like High Point, Charlotte, and Fayetteville, and I hope to expand my circuit as well as new tourneys come to light!

Big Blue Waaagh will also be the central location for information on and records for Dallas' NC Master's tournament, an idea based on the Australian Master's system. Here, Dallas will record tournament results throughout the year, compiling the results using the Australian system. At the end of 2010, he plans on hosting a large tournament, inviting the top finishers throughout the state. It's actually a pretty novel and creative idea, and a lot of thought has been put into it. Go check out the details on his forums.

If you haven't been over the Big Blue Waaagh yet, and even if you have, I urge you to head over, register, and make a post or two to discuss upcoming tournaments/games days, ideas you have for the Master's system, or just to show support for a guy working to make our state community a better place. If you know of someone or a group that doesn't know about The Big Blue Waaagh, then please send it along.

The 2010 tournament series is looking cooler than ever. I'll see you there!

Ben

What Helps You Pick Your Army?

It's the pictures and models grab me, and off I go.

I started 40K with Space Marines, and remain years later playing only Space Marines. It's the cover art and imagery, the armor and swords and the huge guns blazing. Shrike screaming down from the sky and slashing at his foes. Implacable Lysander lumbering slowly across the field, shouldering aside huge blasts and scattering tanks with his hammer. I started with Raven Guard, and at 3,000 odd points switched to Imperial Fists. Another chapter, and another, will follow.

Cover art got me into Bretonnians as well. I love that image on the cover of the knight wading into the spawn of Chaos. Open the book, and you see the faded pennants. Loved it. It burns me out, painting all the different colors and patterns, and at around 4,000 points of painted models (with 4,000 left unpainted), I've had to put them on hold for a bit.

The models got me into Dark Elves. By the time I bought into them, I had improved my painting at least to the point where I knew that I wanted to paint beautiful and intriguing models, and Dark Elves were it. Leaked Cold One Knights just looked so fantastic, and when I saw Lokhir Fellheart, I was doomed forever. I'm more than halfway done painting the army, and I can't wait to finish it off.

Khador and Trollbloods from Privateer Press grabbed me with the models. It's the Khadoran infantry, all in red, that I love, but for the Trolls I simply fell in love with the Mauler model. It's amazing and dynamic and all I needed to collect the whole army.

So yeah, pictures sell me. I'll play good armies or bad, but the art on the box and the sculpts inside, that's what gets me and keeps me.

Assassins!

These are my two Dark Elf Assassins, Rakhov and Witte. The first is the Shadowblade model, which was far too nice to pass up, and the second my favorite of the generic assassin models. The second gentleman no longer has his wrist blade, but instead wears one of Lon's Stegadon horns as a weapon.

GW really sold Dark Elves on me with the models. An army of well sculpted ninjas, pirates, dinosaurs, and scantily clad ladies. I believe they may have been targeting their core audience a bit, and I went for it like a mule biting an apple.

Video Battle Report: Dark Elves v. Lizardmen, 800 Points

Today marks my first foray into the world of video battle reporting. After going down to Charlotte and playing, and then those great video battle reports on Youtube, I really wanted to get into doing the same thing.

This is a test run, so to speak, for the real deal. Right now, we're having small, sub-1000 games at the local store here, and I thought that'd be a good way to work my way up to making real reports. The video is a bit of a mess (camera batteries died halfway through, so the second half is pictured via Iphone) and I kind of hate the sound of my own voice, but hopefully through time I'll make it pretty awesome with time.

Thanks to Chad Hoggan for giving me this idea.

Work that Inspires Me - Ulrik the Slayer

One of my favorite things to do is to look at the amazing work that miniature painters do around the world. Some stuff just amazes me! I thought perhaps that once a week or so, I'd pull one of the pictures I've found that have really inspired or impressed me.

This is an Ulrik the Slayer model by David Rodriguez. It won a Golden Daemon in 2007. It's a beautiful model and paint job, but the thing that really sells me on it is how dynamic it is. You can almost hear the cold wind howl as you look at it as Ulrik hunts through the ice. A great model tells a story, and this one really does the trick.

Imperial Fists Terminator Librarian

I don't know how everyone else paints, but my process goes a bit like this:

1. Look at primed model for a few days/weeks/months and do nothing.
2. Maybe put a basecoat on.
3. Get a bug up my butt and paint the whole thing in a matter of hours.

That may be a bit simplistic. What I'm trying to get at is that I tend to seize upon models suddenly and paint them very quickly from start to finish. It's not really a planned process, it's more like me sitting down and then just losing track of time until the model (or squad) is done.

For instance, last night I sat down to "just throw some basic colors" on this Terminator Librarian. This was at about nine at night, after a lovely thirteen hour work day. Click, goes my brain, and all of a sudden it's eleven thirty, my back hurts, and the Librarian is done. Ah well, I'm certainly not complaining.

This piece was done for a competition on Librarium Online. The deadline is November 7th. Guess I'll just be the early bird.

Troll Bouncer

One of the great things about Privateer Press is their ability to make models in dynamic poses that somehow manage to hold together well. There are some models that I own that I worry about moving our touching, or that I can only pick up if I do so in a certain way. Most Privateer Press stuff, I'm lucky not to have that problem (GW's High Elf Dragon is another great example of a sturdy sculpt).

One of the models that really stands out as holding together well despite its design is the Troll Bouncer, which I painted recently. He's got that huge (and rockin') ball and chain going, but the chain fits snugly into the hand, and while the weight of the ball should be rough and pulling things apart, it holds well with a little green stuff.

Sure makes for an awesome model.

A Simple Guide to Stripping Paint Off of Miniatures

This is an article that I created a couple of years ago for Librarium Online. It's been very popular there, I think, having been up on the front page for around a year, so I thought I would share it here as well. Without further ado....

So a question I see come up here quite a bit is how to successfully take paint off of a painted model in order to redo it. For me, this was quite an issue, as there are a variety of methods you can find online, and many of them a) use illegal substances, and/or b) use extremely hazardous substances, and/or c) can destroy your models, and/or d) don’t work at all.

When I started trying to strip my models, I originally tried methods, which I found online, that didn’t work and destroyed two of my marines. This did not make me happy. I have also seen brake fluid suggested. While this does work, the substance is also extremely hazardous if it comes into contact with your skin or is inhaled, and I do not recommend its use.

Eventually, I came across the following method, which I will describe with pictures, to successfully remove brake fluid. To preface, I had models which looked like the marine on the left, and I had progressed enough to want them to look more like my newly painted models, of which there is a WIP on the right.



Step 1: Get Yourself some “Simple Green”

When I first heard of this stuff, I had no idea what it was and where you could get it. The fact of the matter is, you can get it at most home improvement stores, such as Home Depot or Lowes, and you can find it in the cleaning section, with all the concentrated cleaning chemicals and cleaning supplies. Heres what it looks like:



The great thing about this stuff is that it is non-toxic. It does have a smell, however, and you don’t want the concentrated stuff in cups in your house, so do this outside. Even if it freezes over a bit (which it has on me a couple of times) there doesn’t seem to be a problem. If you spill it on concrete or tile or whatnot, it’s a concentrated cleaner, and you’ve just cleaned the area a bit once you scrub it up.

Remember to read the directions and warnings on the Simple Green Bottle. Take any and all warnings seriously, although it is non-toxic. It can irritate some peoples’ skin. You’ll want to follow these directions, and wash up afterwards properly.

Step 2: Application

The best way I’ve found to do this is to use plastic cups, placing between 4-8 marines in each, and then fill the cup with simple green, covering all of the miniatures.





Here are some of my models soaking. You’ll notice a Land Raider Crusader over to the right in the first picture. It’s already been stripped on the bottom, so you can see some effectiveness there.

If I was in a hurry, I’ve had models be ready to have their paints come off in around 8-10 hours. The longer you leave the models in the Simple Green, however, the more the paint seems to loosen. I suggest a 3-5 day period of soaking for good paint removal.

Step 3: Paint Removal

This is once again a simple step. Either outside or in a sink that you can clean up afterwards with cleaning supplies, use a brush to scrub the paint off the model, doing so under running water. Be prepared if pieces come off the model where they were glued, you should be scrubbing fairly hard. I like to use an old toothbrush, but as long as you have a brush that will get into the cracks of the model and get the paint scrubbed, you’ll be fine. Here’s what my formerly dark blue model looked like after one scrubbing.



If you’d like, repeat Steps 2 and 3 to take even more off. I’ve reprimed the model and repainted from this stage, and been thrilled with the results.

Hope this helps, and feel free to make further suggestions in this thread if you have something else helpful on the subject.

Khadoran Iron Fang Pikemen

These guys are pretty tough to paint! On top of red being a less simple color to highlight and shade to begin with, these gentlemen have some tricky angles and details to go at. I think they turned out pretty well though. You can see the Destroyer hanging out in the back. Sometimes the fluff concept of Warmachine is not the most appealing thing to me (giant robots), but with a good paint job, I tend to like it quite a bit more.

"Rhymes with Witch" Elves

GW has some great painters. I don't think anyone will argue that. But I take issue a lot of times with the colors and styles they choose when showing off their models. It's not that the painting isn't top notch, and far better than I could hope to do, it's that they've done an excellent job of making the model look unappealing. One of my prime examples of this is the Witch Elf models, which are masterfully painted in the Dark Elf Army Book and advertisements, but really made me not like the models. Shades are another examples. These are my Witch Elves. While they aren't as technically good, I think I chose a color scheme that makes the model more appealing. What are some other models like this?

Imperial Fist Terminator Sergeant

One of the side benefits of the hobby, no lie, is that I learned how to properly spell the words sergeant and emperor. Who says this isn't educational? Anyway, after painting around 3,000 points of of Raven Guard last year, I decided to do something challenging and try to do the same with Imperial Fists. So I've been working on that for a bit, trying to master yellows, which can be a bit tricky. For a Librarium Online challenge, I painted this Terminator Sergeant the other day. We'll call him Sergeant Albrecht. I'm not sure where he lost that eye, but he sure looks mad about it. Luckily, he's joining his other nine friends to make a full squad, so whatever he's mad at should probably start moving in the other direction.

PBKW Oct. 10th Warhammer Fantasy Tournament - Third Round Battle Report

So I have everything written for the third round battle report this morning, but then I made the mistake of watching the video battle report that Chad made from our battle. So yeah, here you go:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEmdZ2F5Ze0
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OV1-98FH0w

I may start making these myself in the future. They're just too cool.

My general notes on the game:

Chad was a great opponent, and was a smart general. I benefited from having played Bretonnians for years before making the switch to Dark Elves, so I knew exactly what they were capable of and where to apply or not to apply pressure. That trebuchet shot was a blessing, as it made the Black Guard unit tempting for him to put all his big hitters into. I think you really have to hit them in the flank(s)/rear to have a chance, so that you can avoid the Lord or the Assassin. Or preferably run around it if you have greater mobility and shoot the crap out of it. Or feed it cheap units since it has to pursue/overrun.

Ben

PBKW Oct. 10th Warhammer Fantasy Tournament - The Third Round Cometh

Hi all,

So I'm writing up the third round battle report. I played against Bretonnians (my old army) in the third round, and Chad (the Bret player) mentioned that he made video battle reports and posted them online. In the second round, he had played Lon and his Lizardmen, and the game was apparently pretty darn entertaining. Without further ado, here are his battle reports from the second round versus Lon. I'll post up his videos from the third round as well once they're up, so that you can see both sides of the story.


Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaeaCjMiCKI
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FWeZ58arus

Ben

PBKW Oct. 10th Warhammer Fantasy Tournament - Second Round Battle Report

So I ended the first round with 24 Battle Points. At lunch (At Kanes and Walkers Cafeteria), I learned that Blair's Vampire Counts also had gotten a 24. He looked super excited that we might be playing each other next. Lon ate the largest piece of chocolate pie that I have ever seen, which almost caused me to be late to the second round.

Alas, Blair's dreams were dashed. Instead, I ended up playing Alex and his Tomb Kings. Alex was a very cool guy, especially since I had dashed in and moved my stuff over to our table at the last minute, so my setup was a bit slow. His Tomb Kings went roughly like so:

Tomb King (in Tomb Guard) with ability to move wounds to his unit on 4+
Hierophant (in Skeleton Warriors)
Lich Priest (in Casket)
Lich Priest (in Tomb Guard)
Two Big Blocks of Skeleton Warriors
One Big Block of Tomb Guard
Two Units of Three Chariots
Three Ushtabi

There was very little shooting in the list. Only the Chariots did so. This game will go down in my memory as "The Only Game in which my Witch Elves have ever gone Crazy Go Nuts / Done Much of Anything".

The Scenario was all about killing the opposing general and collecting his head. Your general also had to be alive for bonus points.

As we deployed, I noted the Casket off by itself. I had two scrolls and three dispel dice. I believe Alex chose for me to go first.

Turn One

In my first turn, the whole army moved up as quickly as possible. Dark Riders moved just shy of the Chariot's charge ranges and shot a bit at them. Bolt Throwers managed to take a wound off the Casket Priest. The Hydra started chugging towards the Casket as fast as his little legs would take him. Apparently at this time, my Witch Elves began taking miniature steroids down on the table.

In his turn, he didn't move. He shot all sorts of bound items and spells at me, which I weathered. The 5+ ward on the Black Guard helped a lot. I lost a few, but nothing else significant.




Turn Two

In my turn, one unit of my Dark Riders charged his Chariots on each side. Everything else continued to move up, just out of his charge range. The Hydra ran at the Casket like Lon at a giant piece of pie. Piddly shots were taken, maybe killing a couple of skeletons here or there. In combat, the Dark Rider unit on the Casket side did a few wounds to the Chariots and received no wounds in return. On the other side, his Chariots broke my Dark Riders and chased them down, putting them in great position to charge my third unit of Dark Riders. Whoops!

In his turn, he charged my third unit of Dark Riders, who decided to flee. They ended up in the woods. His Tomb Guard tried to charge my Black Guard, but were just short. My other Dark Riders beat the Casket side Chariots to death. He magicked me some more, and my Hydra withstood some spells. I scrolled the Casket again.



Turn Three

In my turn, my Hydra charged his Casket, my Black Guard charged his Tomb Guard, and my Witch Elves Charged his Ushtabi. My Chariots moved up to get to his Hierophant, but remained out of his charge range. My Dark Riders in the forest rallied. His Casket died, and my Witch Elves killed an Ushtabi and change, only taking two wounds back. My Black Guard wounded his King twice and beat a few skeletons down, losing him ten or so at the end of the day.

In his turn, his Chariots charged my Dark Riders. They held and managed to not run at the end of combat. His Hierophant jumped out of the back of it's skeleton unit. His other skeleton unit moved to help his Tomb Guard, but my Witch Elves killed the remaining Ushtabi. The game at this point became a clean up.

Turn Four and Beyond

There's not too much at this point. Chariots and the Hydra killed off the Casket side Skeletons. The Black Guard slowly and laboriously took the Tomb Guard apart, and the Witch Elves wrecked the Skeletons on their side. The Dark Riders down in the forest randomly managed to kill the Chariots. I took a turn to collect his General's head and then killed off the Hierophant and four remaining skeletons.

Alex was a great guy, playing what was only his second game with Tomb Kings. I really enjoyed playing him, and would do so any time. My Dark Riders were pretty amazing, and were gearing up to do incredible things in the third game. Those Witch Elves....this was their super game where everything went right, apparently.

Ben

PBKW Oct. 10th Warhammer Fantasy Tournament – Overview and Round One Battle Report

So Lon, Blair, Dallas, Ian and I returned from the Parker, Banner, Wayne and Kent WFB Tournament in one piece. Spent a Saturday just the way I like it, which is getting in three great games of Fantasy and learning some new tricks. The Charlotte folks were great, and meeting a lot of new people was a blast. I think Dallas got to talk to a lot of folks about his Master’s Series next year, and there looked to be some genuine interest in it.

The Composition scoring system was the same one from The Cage. I’ll save a discussion of that for another post.

So, results…I’m going to possibly get some wrong and maybe mess up names, but here goes:

Best Sportsmanship: TJ - Vampires

Best Painted: Lon Sims - Lizardmen (Way to go, Lon!)

Runner Up: Chad - Bretonnians

Best General: Dan Rothrock – Wood Elves

Best Overall: Me – Dark Elves

Battle Reports! I forgot my camera, and we left Durham at about seven in the morning and got back close to midnight, so forgive the fact that I’ve forgotten all but the goriest details. I’ll try and get one up per day for the next few days.

My list was this, as I posted a few days ago:

Dreadlord with Executioner's Axe 220
Death Hag with Cauldron of Blood, Rune of Khaine 225
Sorceress with two Dispel Scrolls 150
Assassin with Additional Hand Weapon, Rune of Khaine, Manbane 146
Ten Repeater Crossbowmen 100
Five Dark Riders with Repeater Crossbows 110
Five Dark Riders with Repeater Crossbows 110
Five Dark Riders with Repeater Crossbows 110
Twenty Black Guard with Full Command, Banner of Hag Graef, Ring of Hotek 355
Ten Witch Elves with Hag, Standard Bearer, Rune of Khaine 145
Cold One Chariot 100
Cold One Chariot 100
Hydra 175
Reaper Bolt Thrower 100
Reaper Bolt Thrower 100
Total: 2246

Round One

The first scenario gave bonus and objective points for capturing the center terrain feature (a small tower on my board), holding more terrain features than your opponent, and killing their largest units.

I was randomly paired against Tim Carmichael, who plays a mono-Tzeentch Demon list. It had, I believe 18 power dice. Now, a lot of people are going to say that this is a cheesy army, but I strongly disagree. I like that it’s themed to one god, and I don’t think it’s as nasty as it is on paper. It’s also a strong army that breaks against my army. But I promised I’d save my composition discussion for another day. Here was his list (not exact, from my memory)

Lord of Change

Three Heralds of Tzeentch, one was a BSB with the Stubborn Banner.

Three Units of 25+ Horrors

Three Flamers

Here was the setup (again, from memory):

Turn One:

I go first. Dark Riders go marching up the board and take shots at the Lord of Change, doing nothing. Chariots, Hydra, and Black Guard march forward to the left of the centerpiece, Witch Elves march to the right of it. The Bolt Throwers punch a couple wounds into the Lord of Change.

In his turn, he starts chucking magic at my army. He had all the nasty fun Tzeentch stuff. I had piled everything within twelve inches of the Ring of Hotek, and it paid off in droves this game. He miscast a few times with exceptionally bad luck, but only lost two or three horrors. He didn’t do much moving.

Turn Two:

I continue to march up my army aggressively. I am now in a position to force combat next turn. Tim charges his Lord of Change at my Chariot, which flees unsuccessfully. His LoC is now sitting just behind my Black Guard and in front of my Cauldron of Blood. His Flamers, having shot a couple wounds off the Hydra, charge it. He moves his left (from our overhead perspective) unit of Horrors up to eventually flank the Hydra. His magic phase continues to fizzle due to bad

luck, my two scrolls, and the Ring. He does make one of the Dark Riders on the right flee.

The Board looked roughly like this:

Turn Three:

In my turn, the Dark Riders on the left charge the group of Horrors nearby. Black Guard charge the middle Horrors. Witch Elves charge the right Horrors, and the Dark Rider unit hits it in the flank. Combat is not exceptional due to the Stubborn Banner.

In his turn, his Lord of Change charges my Cauldron of Blood. The Hydra kills off his Flamers. The Horrors on the left break and chase the Dark Riders. The center combat continues with a few Horrors killed. On the right, he has a magic banner tha

t wipes out the Witch Elves. His Horrors then break the Dark Riders and chase them down. Unfortunately, he pursues twelve inches and ends up with his BSB Horror unit deep in the far right woods, away from the rest of the army, which no longer will benefit from being stubborn. His BSB’s unit will spend the rest of the game trying to get out of the woods. To add insult to injury, my Death Hag beats the Lord of Change to Death.

Turn Four:

My Cauldron moves up to claim the center objective and sit there doing Cauldron things. My Black Guard kills the Horrors off now that they’re not stubborn. His Horrors move to threaten my Crossbowmen. A single Herald, earlier detached from his central Horrors, moves around the center objective. The Board (roughly represents the endgame as well):

Turn Five and Six: I move my Crossbowmen back to deny the Horrors a charge down in the south. He lone central mage kills my chariot off, but later miscasts and, giving me a free cast, is taken down to one wound by my Sorceress’ fireball.

End Game: My Cauldron controls the center, his biggest unit (Lord of Change) is dead, and I control more terrain features. His other Horror units are below half from various fighting and getting shot in their Horror faces. I get a 24/25, he gets (I believe) a 5/25. I give him full sportsmanship points and a 15/25 composition. The Daemon Stubborn Banner is brutal! If I had not managed to get a bit lucky pulling his army in different directions, I would have had real trouble chewing through them. That was really the turning point of the game, as was the Death Hag going Terminator on the Lord of Change with her poison attacks.

Tim is a great guy to play against, and I had a lot of fun. We were both a bit sloppy, from rust or being tired, but I had fun and would definitely play him again.

Ben

Games Day by GameonGW - November 14th

From Bobby at GameonGW:

Fellow Gamers,

The winds of winter will soon arrive, but before they do GameOn is hosting its annual Games Day. This event will be hosted at The Cage on November 14. What does this mean for you:
Games Workshop gaming galore. If GW makes it or made it, we will have it available to play or learn. We will have games and space available for Warhammer Fantasy, 40K, Aeronautica Imperialis, Mordheim, Blood Bowl, Apocalypse, Battlefleet Gothic, Lord of the Rings, Space Hulk, and anything I may have missed.
Last year we had 52 gamers come out. We want a bigger group this year…..the reason, more charity fund raising. Last year’s entry cost was 2 canned food items for the local food bank for the Holidays. So again, we will require 2 canned food items to come in and play GW games for 12 hours. That’s right….The Cage will be open from 9 am until 9 pm on the 14th. Let’s set a goal of 120 canned items.
In conjunction we intend to host a 40K Carnage tournament as another level of charity fundraising. We will take the first 16 players for a $10 entry fee. This will be a 1000 point tourney with special rules associated with a Carnage tournament. 4 gamers to a table, winner of the table plays in a final 2nd round to win the tournament. The winner will win a plaque and bragging rights, the remaining monies will go to the food bank as part of the fund raising. These games go relatively quick and provide plenty of other gaming opportunities for those that don’t win on their table in the first round.
So mark your calendars, set the day, and come out and have a blast gaming for a great reason…..helping others. Ask around, people had an AWESOME time last year. We will even open the swap meet for those that have minis to buy, sell, or trade.
Let me know if you have any questions…..hope to see you there.

Bobby
GameOn

Location: The Cage
600 N. Scientific St
High Point, NC

Parker, Banner, Kent and Wayne WFB Tournament on October 10th - What I'm Taking

So I'm headed down with a few others to participate in a 2,250 points Warhammer Fantasy Tournament in Charlotte, NC. Looks like there will be 16-18 participants, which makes this a small to mid range thing, but it should be a great load of fun. I'll be heading down with Lon (Lizards), Blair (Vampire Counts), Ian (Warriors of Chaos), Charlie (Lizards), and Dallas (Orcs and Goblins). There are a few interesting facets to this particular tournament.

First, although composition won't be score here, I'm not going to go too crazy with my list. I'm not going to play soft, but these seem like a nice group of guys, and Dallas is down there to discuss his North Carolina Master's League idea with them as well. So no Dragon or equivalent nastiness.

I know that the tournament had planned to include painting scores, but for whatever reason will not do so. Regardless, I'm taking a fully painted army, which is what I'm usually sticking to these days.

I'll be running Dark Elves, an army I've been running for about a year. During that time, they've been in ten tournaments, and have had seven first place tournament finishes, two second place finishes, and a third place finish. So not bad, but not quite on par with my Bretonnian record. I've run a dragon off and on depending on tournament environment, but haven't run him at all lately. I also always include a couple Cold One Chariots, simply because I went to the trouble of converting them, and did a pretty nice job of it. The list I'm taking, I've been told, is pretty soft for a Dark Elf list, and should maybe earn a 10+/20 in a situation where composition is scored.

Anyway, the list:

Dreadlord with Executioner's Axe 220

Death Hag with Cauldron of Blood, Rune of Khaine 225

Sorceress with two Dispel Scrolls 150

Assassin with Additional Hand Weapon, Rune of Khaine, Manbane 146

Ten Repeater Crossbowmen 100

Five Dark Riders with Repeater Crossbows 110

Five Dark Riders with Repeater Crossbows 110

Five Dark Riders with Repeater Crossbows 110

Twenty Black Guard with Full Command, Banner of Hag Graef, Ring of Hotek 355

Ten Witch Elves with Hag, Standard Bearer, Rune of Khaine 145

Cold One Chariot 100

Cold One Chariot 100

Hydra 175

Reaper Bolt Thrower 100

Reaper Bolt Thrower 100

Total: 2246

The Kunnin' Plan: Black Guard with Dreadlord goes up the gut with the Witch Elves hanging off to the side (hopefully soaking up some shots) and the Cauldron of Blood behind, blessing a 5+ ward onto the Guard in the early game. Two of the Dark Rider units swoop the sides and harass the opponent's flanks or hunt warmachines, while a third (situational) hangs back and plays sweeper to protect the Bolt Throwers and scroll caddy. The Chariots and Hydra move up a middle-side of the table and provide a heavy threat away from the Black Guard. Pre-game decision is made as to where the Assassin goes.

Comments and criticism are always welcome.

Raven Guard Captain

I originally picked up the hobby based on a picture in a store window. A space marine running rampant over some bad guy or another. I piddled around with Ultramarines, Crimson Fists, and a few do it yourself chapters before settling in on Raven Guard. I like their speed, stealth, and fortitude in the face of great odds. Shrike is a really fun and fluffy special character. This gentleman is one of my many Raven Guard Captains (and the one that I have a ready picture of at the moment).

Dark Elf Dreadlord on Foot with Shield

When Games Workshop released its new Dark Elf line, I knew I really wanted to pick it up, due to the Lokhir Fellheart model (which we'll get to one day). However, I really dislike their typical purple/black paint scheme. So my models have what I consider to be more of a mercenary look: dusky reds and bronzes mixed with the occasional faded purple and silver. I wanted to produce a look that was less foppish and more complementary to a race of proud, hard-hearted veterans of millennia long war. I finished just over 1,000 points the first week, and continue to slowly finish the army. This Dreadlord was the first week's last model.

Trollblood Dire Troll Mauler

I painted this up about three weeks ago. Previously, when I did any work with the smaller Trollbloods I kept the skin blue with a hint of pale tan, to show a "fleshiness" that comes out pretty well and gives them a people like quality. This gentleman, from the looks of him, didn't need to look like any kind of person, and so he's dark blue and red. Getting the wet effect into the mouth was a lot of fun. Weighing in at roughly the size and weight of a baseball, the Dire Troll Mauler is one of the largest models that Privateer Press makes in its regular line. The second picture should give some idea of the scale. I love the pose as well, as it really gives a sense of motion.

Khadoran Destroyer

I actually painted this a couple of weeks ago. I bought some Khador models around a year ago, and after experimenting with the red paint scheme a few times, was pretty unhappy with the results. After speaking with Minus_t over at the Librarium Online forums, I came back to Khador recently and am much happier with the results. Red shading and highlighting over flat panels is pretty tricky, especially as compared to "cloth". I plan on finishing a good part of the line this year, and this Destroyer should be the first of many Jacks that will follow.

Alten Ashley, Monster Hunter

I've always liked the Alten Ashley model, and lately I've been doing a lot of bright reds and blues, not to mention an entire line of bright yellow miniatures. Doing a model in subdued browns and greens was really appealing. I wanted Alten to really be a model that would blend into the background. After all, it's my understanding that you can't do much "monster hunting" if you're wearing hot pink.

Appetizers!

Hello there, and welcome to The Quiet Limit! For those of you who came here randomly, or need something like this, I thought I'd provide a little introduction.

A few years ago, after graduating from law/grad school in Indiana, my vision started to rapidly fade. Long story short, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and have been treating it for a while now. One of the habits that I picked up around that time (with zero art background) was miniature painting and sculpting. Kind of odd out of the blue, I know, but it helps with muscle control in my hands, as well as allowing me to do detail work with my eyes and brain. I've grown to really enjoy it, and even occasionally do some commissions in the area.

I wanted to start an independent blog to keep track of all the weird and wonderful models I work on. I often choose my pieces based on whimsy, based on whatever grabs my interest that day. Although I work on cars, planes and trains, most of my models come from Games Workshop and Privateer Press. I find that when I have the choice between a Plymouth Barracuda and an alligator with a monocle, I'll work on the alligator any day. Depending on my schedule and the size and details of the models, I can work on anywhere from one to a couple dozen pieces every month.

Anyway, many of the posts here will show my painting and whatnot, but I'll probably throw up some local hobby news and rumors as well. I hope you enjoy your time here.

Cheers,

Ben