The Arms Race

For the past few months, our gaming group has had a bit of a focus on 5th edition 40k. I've enjoyed re-discovering that Blood Angels are a bit filthy, getting to use my Daemons and taking part in my first Apocalypse game.

However, inevitably a feverish escalation has begun to take place. Pete is churning out Space Wolves and Eldar, Matt is turning the contents of the Combat Patrol magazine into 5th edition forces, and even Wes has bought an Imperial Guard army.

As for me, well, I'm never one to avoid jumping aboard a bandwagon...or should I say bandtrukk.

As I'm all out of Marines due to my Badab War adventure, and I painted all my Daemons when I bought them, I turned to the Orks I've painted for 2nd edition and Gorkamorka.

Also, due to edition points creep, what had been a 1300 point force in 2nd edition had deflated to 850 points by 5th, and so I needed to add to the army to get it to a reasonable size for a game.

The most obvious initial target for my attention was the spare Gorkamorka Trukk I still had unpainted. 

I opted to go for paint this up as a Bad Moons Trukk as my plan was for it to convey my Warboss and Nobs more quickly into battle, where their Choppas could do the talking. Also l, this means that I have the option of fielding two mobs in Gorkamorka, should I want to introduce anyone to the game 

Vehicles are quick to paint for Orks: base coat silver, wash with Agrax Earthshade, pick our panels for specific colours, sponge weathering, paint the tyres. Easy.

The awkward bit was the crew, as I didn't have any, apart from a couple of torsos, which I think had been freed up from using metal bodies on my Evil Sunz biker and Trukk driver.

Therefore I began cobbling together my crew from the bitz box. The lehs are from the Maelstrom's Edge miniatures I used as Servitors for my Corpsetaker Apothecary (for some reason the sprue had four sets of legs and only two torsos), whilst the arms are a mix of Skaven and Zombie bits I had lying around.

The worst elements of this rushed kitbash are covered either by their cramped compartment or some improvised pads on the driver's shoulders.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

The other addition to the army was adding a Shoota to the back of one of my Nobz who was missing a ranged weapon (which I've realised still needs some yellow markings adding).

It doesn't change his profile, it just makes him more WYSIWYG.

I've got a range of bits and pieces to put together for the Orks. I've inherited a Rebel Grot gang for Gorkamorka (with an incomplete Big Lugga) that can be added to my Gretchin mob, although I'd need a second Runtherd. 

I also have a toy tank that I'm mulling over what to convert into: a Trukk for the Goffs, a Scorcher or a Looted Tank. It's a decision that will largely depend on the bits I have available.

Although none of these are particularly powerful, it should mean I can properly play a 1000 point game of 5th edition.

Acquired: 82
Painted: 56
Lead Mountain: 519

Easy Riders?

Since the Badab War event at Warhammer World in February, I haven't done much with my Astral Claws.

Partly this was to do with focussing on other projects, but mainly it was to do with the series of mishaps an missteps which occured as I tried to put together this little lot.

These are Iron Hunters, Astral Claws bikers and one of the only fast moving of Assault troops that feature in the Tyrant's Legion army list.

I had two bikers already that came with a lot I bought that included a Dreadnought and a Land Speeder (both of which I've painted up previously). Unfortunately, this does not constitute a unit under 10th edition rules and one but was missing a bolter.

Therefore, I popped onto eBay and bid for a lot of five bikes. I've never had too much trouble with eBay purchases and so a quick glance at the (looking back, suspiciously poor) image told me that I should be able to put together a unit of six bikes with a bit of work.

I was wrong.

When they arrived I discovered that they were an absolute mess. They had been assembled so poorly that I can only imagine it was done on purpose.

The screens for the handlebars were glued almost flat to the front wheels, some bolters were back to front, others were just normal bolters (complete with handles) stuck on top, one wheel had be assembled with half of it inside out.

Then there was the paint, which was called on so thick that entire helmets had been smoothed over.

I set about trying to salvage what I could, but they had also been put together with gallons of poly-cement, which meant nothing was shifting without a struggle, and try as I might (with Biostrip and Dettol), I couldn't clear clumps of paint.

The one bright point was discovering that hidden within the mess were three metal biker bodies: a sergeant with a Power Sword, a Marine with a Meltagun and a Marine with a Plasma Gun.

Ultimately, I was able to salvage just a single bike from the mess and replace the rider of one I already had with the Sergeant. Even then, the Meltagun guy's bike is really chewed up in places.

I've managed to get it good enough for tabletop use and so I now have a, smaller than planned, unit of Iron Hunters to harass my enemy's flanks, something the Powersword, Meltagun and jazzy banner (Chaos Icon) will help with.

This was a frustrating process as the rest of the sludge encrusted crap had to go in the bin. I will add another three bikes (including a Plasma Gun) to this unit, but I need a break from them and to find some I can assemble myself.

Whilst I was doing all this, I took the opportunity to make a couple of adjustments to some models I'd already painted.

My Aspiring Champion's base needed finishing and one of the Terminators needed to not have a Power Fist, because I already have three and Chaos doesn't like uniformity. I've also decided that all power weapons in the army will be done with Nihilakh Oxide over white, so both models got that treatment.

The Lightning Claw came from the Mark VI Marine sprues from the Horus Heresy, and it was a simple enough kitbash to do that I'm now tempted to use one of my spare Space Hulk Terminators to cobble together my own version of Lugft Huron.

Putting together the Iron Hunters means that I've now reached a bit of a milestone in my Badab War project as I can now field a 1000 point army of Astral Claws.

Admittedly, due to the bikes debacle, I'm having to put some Goliaths in as the Renegade Marauders (Cultists) that were drafted in by Huron as a desperate measure (seems appropriate), but it is a fully playable army:

• Corpsetaker Apothecary (Dark Apostle)
• 5 Tyrant's Shield (Chaos Terminators)
• 10 Legion Cohort (Chaos Legionaries)
• 10 Legion Cohort (Chaos Legionaries)
• 10 Renegade Marauders (Cultist Mob)
• 5 Devastator Marines (Havocs)
• 3 Iron Hunters (Chaos Bikers)
• 1 Dreadnought (Hellbrute)

As I said, I'm tempted to put Lugft Huron together, but I'm also considering bringing in some heavy Support vehicles. However, I am trying to limit cost on this project, so I may just continue to add some really crappy infantry and use the Space Hulk Terminators to make a second unit.

We'll have to see.

Acquired: 82
Painted: 55
Lead Mountain: 520

Retail Therapy

I've been lack a bit of focus in my painting for the last couple of weeks and have been a touch frustrated with a couple of purchases which has prevented me from completing some goals I'd set myself (hence the lack of a post last week).

Therefore I decided to sit down and churn through some bits and pieces of 'street' furniture I've had floating about for a while as a way to de-stress.

Most of these are bits from various Mantic Terrain Crates that I was given (last year?) as part of the 7TV Secret Santa I participate in annually.

I hadn't got round to most of them because they are internal features (mainly from shops) and I don't tend to game in building interiors.

First up are these shelving units and a clothes rail. The produce on the shelves were all separate pieces, and I've added some other bits I had floating around. I kept the shelves dark so they might conceivably work in a variety of settings, for example Pulp or Post-Apocalypse.

I haven't worried about doing too much detail on the packaging or clothing as these are background elements and I didn't want to make them too specific.

I took a similar approach to the bending machine, giving the impression of a variety of brands but not worrying too much about doing more than painting each item a different colour.

The magazine rack I kept as faded paper without any colour, again so that I would hit into a variety of settings.

I'm struggling to think of when I might use the janitor's trolley. However, it is a funky little thing.

I bought this skip years ago at a wargames show. In fact it was Sheffield Triples, which might give an indication of how long I've had it.

I never got round to painting it as it is warped and had a broken section. I did however paint the other one I picked up at the time.

I decided to stop fretting and filled it with rubble, including a resin bin bag, and used a tarpaulin made from masking tape to cover the damaged section.

Finally is the teddy bear, which was really easy to to - easier and faster than anything else in this post, and a mcguffin from the launch of 7TV Apocalypse.

I'm not sure I'll ever use it as a mcguffin, but it will work fine as scatter terrain in Fallout or other post-apocalyptic games.

My shopping frustrations (more on this in a future post) have led to me binning several miniatures after stripping anything that might be salvageable. I've also sold some metal Death Company that I was never going to use (I have 10 painted already), and so I've actually made a bit of a dent in the lead pile this week.

Acquired: -83
Painted: 52
Lead Mountain: 524

Hidden Treasure

My head has been in a bit of a Carnevale space for the past couple of weeks which has meant I've been feeling a bit frustrated at not having more to paint for the game whilst I've also lacked motivation for other projects.

Therefore I set about digging through my backlog to see if there was any hidden gems that would help me scratch an itch.

In short, there was.

The longer answer was that I remembered that I still had a pile of treasure chests from a Mantic Terrain Crate lying around and once that was done I set about kitbashing a model to join one of my Carnevale forces to stand next to it as on their own, the chests would make for a rubbish blog post.

The model I used as the base of my kitbash is a soft plastic D&D miniature from Wizkids. I've had my eye on using it for some time as it stands roughly the right height and is armed reasonably appropriately.

The major issue was it had a pretty featureless face, and so the first order of business was a head swap (I think was from a viking sprue). On top of this I gave him a new sword and quiver from some Frostgrave sprues as the sculpted ones were rubbish, and procured a cloak from some Fireforge cavalry.

The result? He'll do.

Not an amazing outcome, the base miniature really has limitations, but I am pleased that I do have something that is useable and will look okay at table level, especially as he'll be joining my Vatican force, which is almost all proxy miniatures of varying standards.

In game I'll be using him as a Templar Marshall as there are only two options for characters in the Vatican using a (regular sized) crossbow, and the beard and bald headake him not look massively like a Squire.

The chests are the final unpainted piece I had left of the Treasury Terrain Crate from Mantic.

Although a bit fantastical, they won't look too out of place on the quaysides of Venice, waiting to be loaded onto a passing privateer vessel.

As such, I took the time to make the open scrolls look like maps to more hidden treasure, or perhaps to where this pile of loot will be hidden.

All in all, I'm pleased to have got these models painted, even if neither are my best work, as I've been able to use up some miniatures that were being overlooked and allowed me to scratch my itch at the same time.

On top of this, I've also managed to sell another Blood Bowl team (this time the plastic Elves from Dungeon Bowl), and so the week ends positively in terms of progress after my purchases.

Acquired: -73

Painted: 44

Lead Mountain: 540

Plus Ca Change

I've tried to use my Tzeentch Daemons in several iterations of Warhammer 40k, to varying degrees of success.

In 9th and 10th editions, they were terrible, and were repeatedly dismantled by Pete's Space Wolves and outmatched in pretty much every department.

However, in Horus Heresy, the tables were turned and the Ruinstorm Deamons opened a six-pack of whupass on the Alpha Legion. Whilst in 2nd edition they turned out to be too much for Matt's Squats to handle.

Let's try 5th edition...

I think I mentioned before Christmas that our group has settled on 5th edition as our default setting as it fits our slightly older collections and doesn't have too much complexity to make people who don't play every week have to check the rules every 5 minutes.

For a bit of a change from the Blood Angels, I arranged a 1500 point game with Pete against his homebrew Marines, the Emperor's Mailed Fists, which he's had for as long as I've known him, but I've never played against.

Emperor's Mailed Fists

• HQ - Terminator Captain (Thunder Hammer)
• HQ - Terminator Epistolary Librarian (Force Axe)
• Elite - 10 Assault Terminators (5 Thunder Hammers & 5 Lightning Claws)
• Troop - Tactical Squad (Plasma Cannon & Plasma Gun)
• Troop - Tactical Squad (Heavy Bolter & Melta Gun)
• Troop - Tactical Squad (Heavy Bolter & Flamer) with Rhino
• Fast Attack - Land Speeder (Assault Cannon & Heavy Bolter)
• Heavy Support - Predator (Autocannon & Heavy Bolters)

Tzeentch Daemons

• HQ - Lord of Change
• HQ - Herald on Disc (We Are Legion, Master of Sorcery, Bolt of Tzeentch, Chaos Icon)
• Elite - 6 Flamers (Bolt of Tzeentch)
• Troops - 10 Pink Horrors (Bolt of Tzeentch, Chaos Icon, Instrument of Chaos)
• Troops - 10 Pink Horrors (Bolt of Tzeentch, Chaos Icon, Instrument of Chaos)
• Troops - 10 Pink Horrors
• Fast Attack - 6 Screamers
• Fast Attack - 6 Screamers
• Heavy Support - Daemon Prince of Tzeentch (Soul Devourer, Bolt of Tzeentch)

For those who have seen my army previously, it should be noted that due to model sizes being a bit different in 5th edition, I used my Daemon Prince as a Lord of Change, and my Changeling as a Daemon Prince. I also totally forgot to deploy one of my units of Horrors, because I'm an idiot.

Mission & Deployment

We rolled up the Annihilation mission (which just meant killing each other's units, and Spearhead deployment, which meant opposite table quarters.

I got the first turn, but as the Daemons all arrive via deep strike in 5th edition, only Pete set anything up. Given that he didn't know where I'd be arriving, he castles up around a ruin, with his Terminators in the middle and his vehicles ready to push out round the table.

Turn One

As was totally predictable, when rolling to see which units were in my first wave, I rolled up the wrong half of my force. 

I also forgot that I didn't have to arrive in my deployment zone, however this turned out to be a beneficial error as deep strike usually leaves units vulnerable and the building in the middle of the table offered me protection.

With no targets to fire at, most of the Marines pushed forwards, unsure which way round the building the Daemons would come.

Daemons 0 - Marines 0

Turn Two

The Horrors and Flamers pushed around my left flank, whilst the Lord of Change and Screamers headed right. My aim was to use my greater mobility to split the Marines forces.

When the second wave arrived, I added the Herald and more Horrors to the attack on the left, and the combined firepower left several Tactical Marines dead and the Land Speeder unable to shoot.

The return fire was desultory (thanks in part to Daemon saves) and only saw a few Horrors killed. The star of the show was the Marine with the Plasma Cannon in the building who, during the course of the game managed to fire five times, rolling 'gets hot' three times, scattering away from the target once and failing to wound the only time he hit.

Meanwhile, the larger unit of Screamers dropped I'm behind the Imperial lines, aiming to both draw fire away from the main assault, and try to get the drop on a vehicle or two.

They did take fire, but only two of them fell, meaning they were ready to strike in the following turn.

The Deamon Prince came in alone and unleashed a Bolt of Tzeentch which destroyed the Rhino. The squad inside disembarked and unleashed a hail of fire which reduced him to half wounds.

Without someone to charge, the Terminators began to trek to where the Lord of Change was lurking, seeming to take my bait to pull them out of position.

However, the Librarian headed back towards the main line to lend his psychic might to weakening the saving throws of the Daemons.

Daemons 1 - Marines 0

Turn Three

The Daemons advanced, and having pulled the Terminators out of position, the Lord of Change switch back to the other flank. 

In retrospect, this was a mistake as the Terminators weren't that far away from the rest and the Lord of Change could have kept his distance and potentially tied them up for the rest of the game.

As it was, he'd got too close to the Librarian, who charged into combat determined to bring his Force Axe to bear.

Meanwhile, the Daemon horde unleashed Warpfire into the Tactical Marines on the crates, ultimately wiping them out.

Although the Landspeeder avoided destruction, it did have it's Assault Cannon destroyed rendering it less of a threat.

When the Marine did get to return fire, the Herald and one of the units of Horrors were obliterated, due in large part to the disruption the Librarian was causing with Daemonic saves.

Having avoided damage from Daemonic shooting, the Predator was set upon by the pack Screamers charging into its rear.

In 5th edition the only thing Screamers are good at is killing vehicles, so they made short work of it and the consolidated towards the Librarian.

This was another mistake as it allowed the Terminators to charge them and get back into the fight.

The Terminator Captain broke off to chase down the Daemon Prince, who was busy hacking his way through a Tactical Squad.

Daemons 3 - Marines 3

Turn Four

With the Terminators ready to run amok, the Daemons set about targeting weakened units and trying to limit the impact of the Imperial veterans.

The Flamers brought down the Land Speeder whilst the remaining unit of Screamers tried to prevent the Terminators getting to the Lord of Change.

Again, I wasn't thinking straight as all this did was given them an easy victory point.

In the main event, the Lord of Change and Librarian traded blows. The Librarian was struck and passed a leadership test to avoid having its soul devoured.

In return, the Force Axe struck and it's eldritch energy blasted the greater Daemon back into the warp.

Meanwhile, the Terminator Captain finally caught up with the Daemon Prince and destroyed it, but not before it finished off the Tactical Marines.

Daemons 5 - Marines 6

Turn Five

With the momentum very much in the Marines favour, the remaining Daemons began to back off, trying to avoid the rampaging Terminators.

Out of spite, the Pink Horrors unleashed a gout of Warpfire which consumed the heroic Librarian, but left them dangerously close to the Terminators, who caught the Daemons and obliterated them.

With a single Flamer left on the table, clearly intent on hiding, we decided to not bother with another turn and call the game there.

Daemons 6 - Marines 7

That was much closer than I expected, but I think the terrain really helped as when we did get close, I found the Daemons largely outgunned and outfought.

However, it was in movement that I lost this game, as I allowed the slower moving Terminators to catch my units, when I didn't have to.

Had I realised how much of a threat the Librarian was, I would have targeted him sooner, but really I presented the Terminators with two lots of Screamers which won Pete the game.

I think using Daemons in 5th edition will be a challenge, certainly more than in Horus Heresy, but it's not to lost cause that 10th edition is.

In other news I've been buying bits and pieces on eBay, which I'll talk about in another post.

Acquired: -61

Painted: 42

Lead Mountain: 554

Over-Troubled Waters

One of the areas of Carnevale I haven't really gone into yet is the wackier and more monstrous sculpts. As such, when giving instructions for potential Christmas presents, I asked for some 'big-gribblies' from the Rashaar faction.

Mrs Cheaphammer is not afraid of wandering into my FLGS asking questions for which she has no context and so I received a pair of Lesser Ugdru as part of my gift.

Admittedly, Lesser Ugdru are not the biggest of gribblies available to the Rashaar, but they are definitely gribbly. 

Also, I may already have two from the starter set, but they are the sort of thing that it feels right to have multiples of, and they are different sculpts too.

I was delighted with this gift.

When I came to painting them I wanted to ensure they matched the two I already owned. Fortunately, I'd meticulously listed the paints I'd used on them when I posted almost three years ago.

As I still had all the necessary paints, it was an easy recipe to follow.

The only bit of awkwardness came from one of the bases, as I needed to reclaim one of the 40mm resin bases from another miniature, and as such there were chewed up bits that needed masking.

The leaping Lesser Ugdru's foot (his ankle REALLY worries me) sorted one of the ugly areas whilst a small pile of gubbins from various sprues and bits boxes did for the other.

All in all, I'm pleased with these two, but I do still want some bigger gribblies.

Finally, I've got around to painting the third of the pack of MDF bridges I bought for the game when I first got into it.

Again, I've tried to match styles I used three years ago, and I think I've been successful.

In other news, I've managed to sell a chunk of old metal Blood Bowl miniatures, and so the Lead Mountain has taken a bit of a hit. I'm really hoping to make inroads into it this year.

Acquired: -71
Painted: 42
Lead Mountain: 544

Ambassador, you're spoiling us!

As anybody with any class knows, any Ambassador's reception worth the name requires several key ingredients:

• An eclectic array of well-travelled guests,
• Ostentatious outfits,
• Foil-wrapped hazelnut chocolates,
• Well-trained and discreet staff,
• After-party bloodletting in the streets.

The Foreign Delegates bring all of them and more to Patricians faction of Carnevale...well, apart from the chocolates.

After reacquainting myself with the more vibrant palette I use for Carnevale on some Reaper Bones miniatures last week, I settled down to paint the Foreign Delegates set I received as a Christmas present.

As with the last set of Patricians I painted, I was a little intimidated by the miniatures until I actually started painting. The finery and detail on the miniatures works really well with the contrast paints, washes and dry brushing I rely on.

Obviously, given the name of the set, there are two Foreign Dignitaries included in the box.

I'm assuming that this one is meant to be from the British landed gentry as he appears to be dressed for the hunt. Given what takes place at Patrician masqueratas, he's probably dressed totally appropriately.

Tally ho!

The other Foreign Dignitary is much more ornate and foppish. He's probably French.

This is the model I was most intimidated by, due to all the details, but I'm learning that with models this detailed I should let the miniature do the work for me. 

In game, whilst they are effective fighters, the Foreign Dignitaries also support their Venetian Noble hosts by helping them to replenish both Will and Command points.

Also included in the set are two Merchants who bring a little bit of short-ranged firepower and are able to use their gold to motivate other henchmen.

This portly fellow marks my first use of the Leviadon Blue contrast paint on his coat. I was pleased I got a chance to test it out as I'm intending to paint some Space Hulk Genestealers in the classic blue and purple scheme and Talassar Blue is too bright.

Speaking of Talassar Blue, that's the colour I used on this more piratical Merchant's coat. This chap is clearly more active in his acquisition of trade goods than his compatriot.

If you are looking at this miniature and thinking that his ankle joint looks fragile, you'd be right. I managed to snap it during clean up. However, resin miniatures fix really easily and I've probably ended up making his leg more secure.

The final model in the Foreign Delegates set is this Venetian Spy, although Sniper would be nearer the mark as she brings some much needed range to what is currently a close combat oriented force. The long rifle allows her to cover almost the whole board if she can find an appropriate firing position.

I really like painting the models in this game in the long flowing dresses. I've never known this about myself and I should perhaps steer future purchases for all sorts of games in this direction.

Oh, I broke her foot off too.

The final miniature in this little group is the last of the Reaper Bones miniatures I picked up on Amazon. 

I'll be using her as a Servant, and she fits in really well with the official miniature in this role. As such I made an effort to get her in the same colours to present her clothing as a uniform.

Technically she's part of a village mob, but I can imagine the staff that accompany the partygoers out into the streets being given responsibility for lighting the way (and being the most obvious targets).

With my Patricians force doubled in size I should look at playing a game with them, as they still haven't seen action. I have some time this week, so maybe.

Acquired: -26

Painted: 39

Lead Mountain: 592