Angels & Demons

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, my happy place in this hobby is getting use out of miniatures in unforseen ways, and this week my attention fell onto a handful of old Wargames Factory models who have been unwillingly drafted into two different holy wars.

The models in question are four plastic Numidian infantry that I had still lying around from way back when I was putting together a Carthaginian army for Warhammer Ancient Battles.

These very simple miniatures had already proved somewhat versatile in that they had provided me with two units of Numidian skirmishers and bulked out my unit of Iberian light infantry.

I'm not sure why I'd left four of them unused, but I was struck with 'divine' inspiration of how to use one of them whilst I was rushing in my bits box recently.

I stumbled on a spare arm from when I built my Pink Horrors for 40k which had feathers sprouting out of it and I was reminded of the Cherubim in Carnevale.

These are altar boys who are forced to undergo a horrific and painful transformation into divine seraphim by the Vatican faction.

As my Vatican force is already mainly kitbashed, I set out trying my own hand at some heavenly transformation.

The process involved little more than attaching a Pink Horror arm to the Numidian body and replacing the hand with the end of a Screamer's tail. A few other feathers were attached here and there and his foot was removed to echo one of the official models. The process was finished off with a head from Crooked Dice and the morning star from a Heroquest Orc to stop him flying away.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with the job I've done. He's a bit bulky and muscular for an altar boy, but that's easily explained away as part of the awful transformation.

He does look weird, but that's the point.

Whilst is was in the process of heavenly transformation, I decided to do something similar for a denizen of the Bad Place.

Specifically I wanted to make a Wretched for my unfinished Court of the Seven Headed Serpent warband for Trench Crusade.

The Wretched are poor unfortunate mortals who have fallen into the clutches of the legions of Hell and suffer psychological and physical agony as they are driven into battle.

For this conversion I used the head of a Chainrasp from Age of Sigmar that I had left from a unit I had given to my nephew. Finding and positioning an arm to fit with the hand in the stocks was the trickiest part of this process, but I figured that dowsing the wrist in blood effect technical paint would hide any awkwardness.

A liberal dollop of blood on his skeletal visage is meant to sell the idea that his face has been flayed off, which I'm not sure I like as an idea that has come out of my head.

The only thing I don't really like about this miniature is that I forgot to clean the mould lines off before it was too late.

I still have two more bodies to use and I could easily just do a second version of each of these conversions, but I'm tempted to do something different with them.

A Rashaar Slave for Carnevale is an easy choice apart from the fact that they are pretty much useless in game and I already have four of them.

I'm a little tempted to have a go at making some Caesar's Legion for Fallout Wasteland Warfare, but just having two of them wouldn't really be that useful.

I'll just have to see what inspiration strikes me.

Acquired: 81

Painted: 175

Lead Mountain: 661

Old Boyz

I am probably at my happiest in this hobby when I am finding ways to use miniatures beyond their original intention.

I enjoy kitbashing, printing and converting, especially when it means I can use something I already own rather than buying something new and shiny.

That's why the blog is called Cheaphammer and why I'm always surprised that I took so long to realised that 40k Orks are my spiritual home.

Recent forays into Gorkamorka moved my brain into an Orky space and so when I completed the somewhat rigidly specific Napoleonic British, it was only natural that the freewheeling spirit of Orks would call to me.

Also, it's Orktober.

However, the only unpainted Orks I owned were a handful of monopose (sort of, they have different weapons) Heroquest Orcs.

Not to be deterred I set about trying to make them look 40k enough by adding pouches and armour plates. I also swapped a morning star for the head of a power axe I had lying around, and I used a single Orks slugga from the bits box, although this did required a bit of arm repositioning.

With me only having a single slugga, guns were a slight issue and I couldn't really just give them all holsters like the one with the axe.

However, I still had half a dozen plastic Goliath arms from the original Necromunda plastics. Although horribly proportioned for the models they were intended for, the hands were suitably sized for Orks.

A few hand swaps later, a few blades added to belts and hands and I had five new/old boyz.

I painted them up as Goffs to help bulk out my existing unit (10 Orks is never enough) and painted them in the same style.

They only bit of this process of note was realising that Goff checks looked weird on a space marine should pad, and so I freehanded an Ork glyph, which I'm quite proud of (again, Orks are quite forgiving in this area).

All in all, I love them. They are a bit goofy and static, but they'll blend into the horde without too much fuss.

Importantly, they cost me nothing and they make this old boy smile.

Acquired: 78

Painted: 173

Lead Mountain: 660

Over the Line

Regular readers of this blog (both of them) will be aware that I sometimes lack a degree of resilience when it comes to finshing off projects.

Well not this time!

When I turned my attention to painting some British Napoleonic infantry this summer, I knew that despite my initial surprise at how much I enjoyed painting the redcoats, I ran the risk of losing impetus, change my focus and ending up still working on them in five years time.

After all, this is what happened when I started my US Napoleonic force a decade ago.

And so I opted to work in batches, specifically in units for the Sharp Practice War of 1812, which meant two blocks of six light infantry and two blocks of ten line infantry.

It was the blocks of ten that slowed me down. I've always struggled with batch painting more than half a dozen models at the same time. I get bored and frustrated with the fact that each colour takes so long.

However, this time I've managed to stick it out to.the end, getting all 32 infantry and their two NCOs finished in one big chunk.

On the subject of officers, the force is led by this rather splendid looking chap, who I picked up in a pack of two from Warlord Games some years ago.

The other mounted officer has already been recruited by the Americans and leads their scouting force.

I quite like the idea that this more ornately outfitted chap is a puffed-up militia officer who has spent time and money designing his own uniform.

And here's my full force, ready for action, complete with a warband of Native American allies to harass the flanks and put the fear of God into the invading Americans.

With two forces for Sharp Practice now painted, I can finally get around to playing a game, which I might do solo first to get my head around the rules.

In other news, I painted this short man to join my US artillery crew, which was a man short.

When I bought him from amongst a pile of loose single models at a show, I thought it was a boy with a bucket, but on closer inspection I discovered a beard that indicated that this is in fact a 20mm figure.

With a little scraping, I gave him a shave and he's back to being what I intended, a drummer boy whose been co-opted into the artillery.

Technically, this means that I've finished the British force first, despite starting the Americans eleven years ago.

Right, that's enough for now. I have some rules to read.

Acquired: 76

Painted: 168

Lead Mountain: 663

Sea of Green

Despite having painted up an entire Warriors of Nurgle army made up of very old miniatures in the last year and a half, I haven't actually played a game of Warhammer: The Old World in just over two years.

I've also never used a Chaos army in any iteration of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

I'd like these facts to be borne in mind in what follows.

Pete and I arranged to play a 1500 point game of Warhammer: The Old World last weekend and I saw this as an opportunity to finally get my 'new' army on the table.

Pete has also been building an army of Orcs and Goblins and was keen to give them a try.

My army consisted of pretty much everything I've painted, all with the Mark of Nurgle:

Winged Daemon Prince

Chaos Sorcerer Lord

9 Chaos Warriors

25 Chaos Marauders

3 Chaos Ogres

1 Chaos Chariot

1 Warpfire Dragon

Pete's army seemed to consist of a billion greenskins. More precisely I think it was:

Black Orc Warlord

Orc Shaman

14 Black Orcs

20 Orcs (two hand weapons)

20 Orcs (spears)

20 Goblins (spears)

20 Goblins (short bows)

2 Orc Chariots

3 Stone Trolls

Giant

The scenario we rolled up forced deployment in the centre (so no refused flank shenanigans) and pretty much guaranteed we would largely just smack into each other and see what happens.

Orc Turn 1

The Orcs opened up with a predictable surge forward and the Shaman summoned the Foot of Gork to come slamming down. Fortunately, only the big toe grazed my lines and a single wound was done to both the Chaos Warriors and my Chariot.

Nurgle Turn 1

Given that I had nothing to shoot the incoming horde with (before anybody mentions it, the game was half over before I realised the Warpfire Dragon is technically a stone thrower), I surged forward in return, trying to guess the distance I needed to ensure the Orcs were unlikely to teach my lines.

In what proved to be a terrible idea, I dispatched my Daemon Prince over to my left flank to contend with the Goblins and Chariots - essentially taking him out of the game.

Meanwhile the Dragon lurked on my right flank, ready to pounce.

Orc Turn 2

Charges were made and, fortunately for me, most of them were failed. Only the Giant made it into contact and proceeded to make heavy weather of the Chaos Warriors, which proved surprisingly resilient and also began to chip away at the Giant's wounds.

Nurgle Turn 2

With the Orcs very close, my heavy hitters sprang into action. The Chariot and Dragon slammed into the Orcs with two hand weapons and drove them back, narrowly missing out on breaking the unit and turning the flank.

The Giant and Warriors of Nurgle continued to trade blows, with the Warriors managing to win combat thanks to some truly terrible dice from Pete.

Orc Turn 3

More charges were declared and again failed as the Black Orcs missed out on getting to grips with the Marauders. However, the Chariots were now in position to wreak havoc on the next turn as they had evaded my Daemon Prince (who you can just about see dicking about with Goblins in the background).

However, the Stone Trolls did make contact with the Chaos Ogres, narrowly winning the fight. The Ogres failed the subsequent break test and were run down.

If only there had been a general nearby.

Nurgle Turn 3

Realising that they were probably doomed, the Marauders charged into the Black Orcs as it was their best option of survival, whilst the Warpfire Dragon moved to threaten the rear.

It was at this point that I found out about it's breath weapon and it managed to clip the back of the Black Orcs, killing a couple of them.

with the Giant having been reduced to a single wound on the previous turn, I was hopeful that the two remaining Warriors and the Sorcerer could finish him off.

The Sorcerer, seeking to hasten this outcome, managed to miscast a spell, which proceeded to kill both Warriors and not hurt the Giant, which wasn't wholly under the template because it's huge.

Predictably, the lone Sorcerer was squished with a headbutt whilst the Marauders were driven back by the Black Orcs.

The only bright spot in this fluster-cuck of a turn was that the Marauders were driven so far back that only one of Chariots would be able to come screaming into their flank.

Orc Turn 4

Waarrrgghhh! Chop! Chop! Splat!

Things turned out for the Marauders pretty much as you'd expect, apart from the fact that they rolled insane courage on their break test and held their ground.

However, in other news, my Chariot finally lost combat, broke and was run down by the three...count 'em, three remaining Orcs.

Nurgle Turn 4

All that was left for me to do was charge my Warpfire Dragon into a losing fight in the vain hope of breaking the general and creating a wave of panic that caused the whole army to flee...assuming that's a thing that can still happen.

Anyway, it didn't work.

***

We called it there as I'd been comprehensivly battered.

It had been a really fun game where I'd learned a few important lessons about my new army:

1. Don't send my general off on a wild goose chase.

2. Paint up a few more Warriors of Chaos and Chaos Ogres to given them some backbone.

3. Remember that the Warpfire Dragon is also a stone thrower.

4. Don't leave the Chariot unsupported.

5. Don't rely on the Marauders to kill stuff.

6. Remember that Gaze of the Gods is a thing.

I am going to scour my lead pile to see what I can do to bulk out some units, perhaps splitting the Marauders into two speedbump units.

However, I did enjoy a game with an army that was so direct and resilient, it's a very different feeling to my Undead, Wood Elves and Bretonnians, and it was definitely nice to finally play a game with these miniatures.

Anyway, happy October!

Road Rage

We're back on Gorkamorka, and after a frankly bruising first encounter Da Wreckin' Krew decided to change their name thanks to not being very good at wreckin' stuff, and rebranded as Da Dakka Boyz.

Hearing that Da Smashin' Kru were once again in the vicinity scooping up some scrap, Dakkaboss ordered his boyz onto da trukk to go and get those zoggin Gorkers and nick their stuff.

The chase was on.

The first game had seen my boyz take a bit of a mauling and there was already a bit of a gap opening up in terms of mob rating between myself and Matt.

Fortunately, the roll off gave me the choice of which scenario to play. I opted for 'Da Chase' because it meant that I could take advantage of my shootas without fear of too much return fire.

Also, the scenario looked daft, with a rolling road mechanic reminiscent of Mad Max 2 knock off board game Thunder Road, that I owned in my youth.

Despite getting first turn, an immediately failed thrust roll allowed the Gorkers to put some distance between us, but not before I managed to get some hits in on the bike, causing a flesh wound on the biker and damaging his kannons.

This meant that despite Matt's usual proclivity to charge maniacally at the enemy, no matter the game, with four scrap counters loaded on the bike, there was now no reason for it to turn around and it made a beeline for the board edge.

This now left the two trukks exchanging broadsides, with my 'eavy shoota posing a real threat.

However, it was Rivvet, one of my shoota-armed boyz who scored the hit that knocked some scrap off the back of the Gorkers' trukk.

Da Smashin' Kru didn't stop to pick it up and so I dispatched Grot (he doesn't need a name, there's only one of them) to grab the scrap.

He tried is best to keep up, but was left behind in the dust, facing the long walk home.

Meanwhile, this interlude had allowed the biker to get even further away, and it looked like the same was going to be true for the Gorker trukk until I managed to knock another load of scrap off the back, which Matt decided to risk stopping for.

Despite a hail of shells smacking into the ground around the yoof who'd been thrown off to grab it, they managed to haul the scrap back on board, but the gap had closed.

Before the Gorkers escaped, I managed to knock yet another load of scrap off, and this time they didn't st and so I was able to get my grubby mitts on more loot.

With Da Smashin' Kru disappearing off the table I was left with two scrap counters, a bunch of experience and, most importantly, no injuries.

Technically I lost this battle again, due to having fewer scrap counters, but given that there were only seven in play, with four on the bike, when I didn't immediately knock the bike out of action the result was pretty much a formality.

I was a fun game and we laughed a lot.

When it came to the campaign stage, I picked up a bunch of new skills; the highlight being that my Spanner, Trukksmakka, is now a stunt driver, protecting me from spins and swerves.

I had a profitable turn and opted to blow my loot in fitting a wrecking ball to my trukk. Mainly this was because the model has one already, but I'm aware that Matt's mob are significantly more tooled up for fisticuffs, and so the new addition might make him wary about getting too close.

Although it's just as likely to smash up my own trukk.

In other news I've built some thirty year old cardboard terrain from. The Digganob supplement. To give us some more things to drive around.

Putting the wrecked ship together without instructions was a bit of an adventure.

The four tents were much more straightforward and will serve as all sorts of tribal encampments in lots of different games.

I'm actually considering basing these pieces to make them a bit more sturdy as they aren't really models that you can easily disassemble for storage.

However, for now they are least given Da Dakka Boyz somewhere to camp.

A Shadow in the Blog

Dear reader,

I might have been telling a few fibs.

Earlier in the year, updates on the blog were somewhat intermittent and although I did have quite a lot going on at that time, the real reason for the dearth of updates was that I was secretly spawning a swarm of gribbly insectoid aliens from beyond known space.

Why?

Put simply, our little gaming group has a history of producing surprise armies when they are least expected: Matt's Japanese, Pete's Tau and numerous units are assembled behind closed doors in preparation for our Christmas games.

Also, Pete isnt the biggest fan of Tyranids. He says it's a specifically 2nd edition thing, but I think he's carrying some deep-seated trauma.

Therefore I was particularly saving them for him.

The initial impetus for starting a Tyranid army was a batch of 20 Genestealers I still owned from the second edition of Space Hulk.

I had planned to save them for a classic Genestealer Cult army for 2nd edition 40k, but when this project popped into my head, already having a swarm of elite melee troops helped with motivation.

I had also picked up a Broodlord more recently, with the intention to use it as a Patriarch in the aforementioned Genestealer Cult army.

I'd mainly bought it because every so often Games Workshop sends me a £10 voucher which is really hard to spend as even with the discount, having to buy from their website and pay postage makes it not worth the effort.

I just about managed to get this more cheaply than from a discount retailer.

However, the final straw was when the hype for 11th edition 40k began and I remember being annoyed that I hadn't taken advantage of the deal that the starter set represented in terms of miniatures.

Determined not to miss out again, and with 21 Genestealers whispering in my ear, I picked up the 10th edition starter set before it disappeared off shelves forever. I think I paid around £50.

Although several of the units in the box are not in the version of 40k that we play (5th edition), they are useable with a little bit of imagination.

For example, if I ignore the wings on the Tyranid Prime and manage to pick up another Ripper Swarm base, they are suddenly useable.

Similarly, although Von Ryan's Leapers are absent from the 5th edition codex, they are the same size as regular Tyranid Warriors and if equipped with scything talons, they're also WYSIWYG.

The 20 Termagants are no problem, other than the fact that there were a lot of them to paint.

I should really mention that I've done the whole army with contrast paints, but began with a black undercoat and drybrushed with Grey Seer to begin. The main bodies were done with Skeleton Horde, whilst Magos Purple was used for highlights.

The carapace has been done the same way I did my Giant Ants. It was painted in Doombull Brown, drybrushed Ratskin Fresh and then given a wash of Agrax Earthshade.

The Psychophage (here pictured before I'd finished the base) perhaps provides the biggest problem, but the model is pretty much the same size as a Tervigon.

So, instead of munching on psykers, you can expect this beast to be spawning plenty of new Termagants.

In addition to the models I already hand and those from the starter set, I also used a bunch of vouchers I'd received for my birthday to pick up a couple of big beasties.

First up is the Hive Tyrant which I opted to build with wings as I thought it looked cool, and armed with a heavy venom cannon to go ce it a chance of popping vehicles from a distance.

Last up, and probably my favourite model in the army, is the Trygon Prime, a nasty looking monstrosity whichbrings both combat potential and command and control yo the horde.

I chose to build the Trygon Prime over the regular Trygon and the Mawlock because I reasoned that the extra abilities outweighed the extra cost.

Needless to say, I'm posting this now because I've finally managed to get a game in with the army - a three way battle, the Broken Alliance scenario, with both Matt and Pete bringing Eldar of differing Craftworlds (Biel-Tan and Iyanden).

I'm not the arrival of the Tyranids upset Pete as much as I'd hoped, but he did immediately pivot his army and focus his fire on the Tyranids, suggesting that he's not keen on them.

Unfortunately, he'd brought an Avatar of Khaine for which I had no answer. The Tyranid Prime was cut down quickly, but the Trygon did manage to hold him up for a couple of turns.

Fortunately, the fiery demigod eventually turned it's attention towards Matt's Wraithguard and Wraithlord, which it battles until the end of the game.

On the up side, it turns out that Genestealers are pretty good in close combat, and paired with the Tyranid Warriors, they managed to chew through a unit of Howling Banshees, a unit of Dire Avengers and a unit and a half of Guardians.

The final Tyranid was dropped by indiscriminate fire from Matt's Jetbikes into the combat with Pete's Guardians.

Ultimately, as is often the way in three-way games, Pete and I took big chunks out of each other, allowing the slower advancing Matt to largely mop up what was left and take the victory.

I've got a fair bit of learning to do with this army, but it definitely plays differently from what I already have. It'll be fun getting to grips with it.

No changes to my numbers in this post as observant readers with have spotted that I've been adding what I painted as I went along.