Questing Knight

I haven't worked on my Bretonnians in almost a year, but a few weeks ago I had an idea for a Questing Knight, and got to work on it. Things got started, but then slowed down, and I eventually finished it up yesterday. The head is from the new Space Wolves box, the axe from the High Elf Chariot box, and the rest is Bretonnian bits. He'll take a Lord or Paladin spot in the army, perhaps with the Questing Vow.

The Blockage

I've been stuck lately, on the dreaded block that stops me dead every time: big blocks of core troops. I love to paint, but blocks of infantry just dry me up. Right now, I'm working on twenty-four Dark Elf Spearmen. After finishing thirty crossbow foot earlier in the year, I just don't have a lot of heart for it. Perhaps I'll be able to buckle down tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day....

The worst is getting stuck like this really slows my creative juices all the way around. I don't want to write about what I'm doing, make lists, or any of the other things I really enjoy in the hobby. It's getting stuck all the way around.

Anybody else have this problem, or know a good way of working with it? It always passes in time, and I end up muscling through a great many models quickly all of a sudden one afternoon. The flood gates must reopen at some point.

Short Tournament Recap - Sci Fi Genre 11/21/09

So I played in another one of the bimonthly Sci Fi Genre Fantasy Tournaments, something I always look forward to doing. It was the regular deal, 2250 points and three rounds. The scenarios were Thanksgiving themed, which was pretty fun. I managed to pull out a first place finish out of thirteen players attending, and had three good games. One of these days, I'm going to remember the whole camera thing, so I can start doing battle reports on video again.

I ran my Dark Elves with some of the old tricks, being as I'd been running them without for a while. I had the Pendant on my Lord riding a Black Dragon, a Cauldron of Blood, and a Scroll Caddy. Three units of Dark Riders, Black Guard with the Ring and an Assassin, and a small group of Shades. And of course, the Hydra and two Bolt Throwers.

Round One

In the first round I played Chris with his Empire. I think I played him a year ago with the same list, which had two units of Knights, two or three infantry blocks screened by skirmishers, a War Alter, and a Steam Tank, plus two cannons, two mortars, and a Hellblaster Volley Gun.

He had some bad rolls, missing with his big guns in the first round aside from putting a couple wounds on my dragon. Like most gun lines, things began to fall apart quickly as I pulled my army closer to his, and I quickly began to make a mess of things in his front. His Alter Priest was not equipped with the Speculum, and so my Assassin and Black Guard slowly chewed it up. The Dragon and Hydra ate war machines and then went to work on the infantry block. I managed to hold down the Steam Tank with the Cauldron of Blood, which can manage impact hits beautifully.

The scenario involved bonus points for capturing a turkey in the middle of the table, which I did early with some Dark Riders. I ended with a massacre, having nearly wiped everything he had off the table.

I'll try and get the other two rounds up tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!

Ho Ho Ho - Because I VindiCare

Every year, on Librarium Online, I enter into the Secret Santa event they hold, in which everyone paints a miniature and sends it to someone else. It's kind of a cool deal. Last year I sent off a Space Wolf Rune Priest, and got a White Scar on a bike. This year, I'm sending off a Vindicare Assassin.

It's a lot of fun to paint something a bit out of left field, that isn't on my normal docket. I didn't want to do him all in black, and noting that the guy getting my present has snow bases on his army (okay, so I puzzled out who the person was), I decided to go with a grayish Vindicare, who could blend in with the cloudy gray skies above the snow. The tricky thing when painting a model that is supposed to be "stealthed" is resisting the urge to give it all the flash and pizazz that normally you'd use to make a model stand out. I really wanted to go without anything shiny or bright here.

I think the result came out pretty good, and I'm proud to send him away as a gift. I hope that the person receiving it enjoys the model.

A Cauldron of Blood

There are quite a few models in the Dark Elf range that when I first picked them up I didn't like. The Cauldron was one of these, because it's...well, it's a statue, but it walks. Kind of strange. So eventually I just painted it like a statue, all bronzed, because I didn't want to give it living elements. I painted it's handlers much like my other Witch Elves, and I really like the results. It's also a great thing to have painted for use on the table. It's abilities are amazing.

Who's Excited?

I'm excited. New army in for me in February.

Why I Chose Khador

I mentioned a while back that I choose my army based on models and imagery. An example, which sold me using only one model, is Privateer Press' Khador Army.

As stated, big robots running around isn't a big seller for me. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just not my particular usual cup of tea. But it does help that Khadoran 'Jacks are at least bulky and tough looking as compared to their counterparts. And their fluff is pretty cool, as they're a great Russian/Soviet hybrid culture. But none of that was the key. This model was:



It's just got a great Enemy at the Gates feel to it. The pose, and the look on the face is perfect, and it manages an eye patch that looks grizzled and not silly. This lady is waiting in a for three days without moving to shoot something, as the snow falls all around.

I mention this model because I don't generally rush to paint my favorite models, but will finally be painting this one very soon. I'm hoping to do a great job on it, and will really push to give it my best.

And Now, For Something Completely Different

So I haven't had a ton of progress lately on the painting front. I've been working like a dog, and just got a new job besides, which I start tomorrow. It's going to make for some long days.

I haven't had much to do with video games in a good, long while. I just kind of lost interest. But I always liked Bioware's games, and since I had some old games to trade for store credit, I decided to give Dragon Age a try.

It's pretty awesome. It's got a lot of great old school RPG qualities, and the story is engrossing as all get out. The best part is, it's one of those games that I'll play more than once when I'm done, simply to try out some of the many different paths you can take through the game. Right now, I'm playing a human noble warrior, and making the "good" decisions as much as I can. Next up, a rogue or a thief.

I highly suggest this to you, my tiny listening audience.

In the meantime, I will be working on more video battle reports. I keep forgetting to take the camera in with me, which I hear helps.

Looking back at some of my first Models

Ah yes, the Bretonnian Men at Arms, or as I like to call them, "My Crash Course in Painting Models". I did thirty six of these in thirty days, not really knowing how to paint, and just slopping away at it while slowly figuring things out. Everyone has models like these, whether they were twelve or twenty-five when they painted them. It's nice to see how far you've come, and how far you have to go.

Eighth Edition

So the rumor mill is hot and heavy with rumors of Fantasy going to Eighth Edition next summer. This would be right on schedule, although a lot of people seem really surprised. Here's some quick thoughts on what I'd like to see when Eighth is released:

- Ranks done by base size, so that Ogres and the like don't have to be five wide for bonuses.

- Break checks from fear and terror causers have leadership modifiers, instead of auto-breaking units. Like say -3 for fear and -6 for terror.

- A revision to the magic phase so that armies don't really have to focus on it all or nothing.

- Don't dumb down the game like with 40K.

Plastic Jacks

In comments, Simon asked, "What do you think of the new plastic 'jacks? Personally, I'm finding that the metal ones look a lot more Khadoran. The new ones seem very sleek and I don't like the proportions as much."

Let me start with the positives. Plastic Jacks are wonderful, in that they can be converted and magnetized and all that other good stuff. I'm thrilled that Privateer is moving in this direction.



However, like yourself, I'm not thrilled with the Khador Jacks. Don't get me wrong, I'll want to mess with that plastic kit pretty bad when it releases. But our metal Jacks, at least our good metals Jacks, are bulky and stocky. They exemplify their fluff, the "Khadoran Spirit" so to speak. Plodding, methodical, tenacious, tough as nails. They are solid and unyielding.

The new Khador Jacks...well, they're nice, but they're sleek and faster looking, with overblown, cartoonish features. They are not solid, and look like another Jack could just push them over. Also, I'm not a big fan of the buzzsaw thing on the Decimator, because it looks like something Wile E. Coyote might use (from a front angle, anyway).

What's hard is that I think the other factions really did well. The new Cygnar Jacks are gorgeous to my eye. Protectorate plastic Jacks are much better looking than their predecessors, and Skorne retained that skittery look (and will be well served by lighter plastic in the future). It's not that Khador didn't get nice looking Jacks, they just don't look quite as solid.

So in conclusion, I don't love them. Maybe they'll grow on me.

But yeah, I'll be picking some up the first day I can.

Khadoran Juggernaught

As you can see from the post below, this guy got a new paint job. The first one was yuck. This second one is still far from where I'd like it to be, but I think I have the basic techniques down for the colors. I'm loving seeing my Khadoran army come together, as the red over snow looks really nice on the table.