Witch Coven of Garlghast - Part 1 - Colour Scheme

Thought I'd do this as a 'Rise to Power' sort of series of articles so you can see how I progress with what is (to me at least) a brand new game system. A gaming friend of mine has offered to allow me access to his substantial collection of Cryx models in order for me to play test units without having to invest the same sort of money that it cost to fine tune my Warhammer 40K forces. After testing I'll buy a unit or two a week and gradually expand to the 50-75 point mark...after which I may treat myself to a Colossus...or two...

Here's the basic colour scheme I'll be using for my Witch Coven Warmachine army.

Obviously there will be a lot more work done on this model and the others but I wanted to put the basic colours on one just to make sure that I actually liked it ;-) On the 'Jacks' and other units I may go with an alternative colour to the usual green...possibly a 'cold' blue...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

The Witch Coven of Egregore - Assembled

So I suppose I better get started on Warmachine by actually assembling something...

Egregore

I've drilled a hole in a clear plastic stand so I can have the Egregore looking like it's floating a bit higher than it would have had I used the model in it's original form with the tab still attached. This also means I can detach it from it's base for transportation purposes.

They're apparently called Selene, Morgaen and Helleana...but I've no idea which is which.

You'll notice that there are gaps on the bases.

These will be filled with some kind of black water effect to represent the ichor that the background tells me pours from Egregore pretty much all the time. When I purchase the force to go with my caster choice I'll do the same with their bases so the whole army has a similar look. Initially my plan is to make two armies...one will be a tiered list from the main Cryx rulebook and I'd like to make a 2nd based around the list in this months 'No Quarter' magazine (Issue 45, Page 47).

Undoubtedly I'll have to make additional purchases after play-testing but I'd like to have a pretty solid core right from day one...any advice will be gratefully received ;-)

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

More Started, Nothing Finished...

I'm reasonably sure that most people reading this are exactly the same as me...If you happen to be one of those rare hobbyists who starts a project and completes it before moving onto the next one then well done...you are most definitely in the minority though, lol.

As a Henchman for Malifaux I'm often asked to demo the game to people. For this task I usually let them beat up Seamus and some zombie hookers with Lady Justice and some Death Marshal's  I however only have the 'Dead' version of the aforementioned lady which has on occasion caused some confusion to the recipient of the demonstration. I have therefore decided to purchase an actual Lady Justice model and pals to paint up so as to remove this particular issue ;-)

I have also put together the 'Miss Terious' that I acquired via eBay,

As yet again a photo reveals a mould line that I missed....

 As well as one of the two boxes of Oiran I bought,

This one's my favourite ;-)

I've also under-coated the conversion that I did to 'count-as' Hamelin the Plagued,

I'm looking forward to painting the following model as well that will be used as a Nurse with my McMourning crew,

There's a few other bits and pieces as well,

Due to the amount of overtime I've been doing it's been tricky to find time to do any significant hobby. Hopefully I can get some painting done when I finish up the extra five hours work I foolishly 'volunteered' for on Saturday morning.....

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Hormachine...I mean Warmahordes...

Finally jumped on the bandwagon and bought some Warmachine...

I liked the look of the Witch Coven and their pet floaty ball thing and who doesn't want something called a 'Deathjack'.

If any-one knows a decent 'Tier 1' Witch Coven of Garlghast list at whatever points value I should be playing this game at then feel free to chip in with a comment.

Through the Breach - A Malifaux RPG

I think my interest in RPG's is going to be rekindled soon...



Here's a link to the Kickstarter should any-one be interested. There's also a new widget on my blog's sidebar that should (If I've configured it correctly) show the current progress. I've already made a pledge myself and the support is already good enough for them to start adding 'stretch' goals to the project...already excited about this one ;-)

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Hasslefree Miniatures Newsletter

Some bits and pieces from the guys and gal/s? at Hasslefree Miniatures.

25 Sleeps 'til Christmas! A joint newsletter this week, aren't you all lucky! We'll let you all try and work out which bits were who (Hint, Sal's will be the parts without bad puns and sarcasm :) ) This time around we have a 'lot' to say so bear with us as this may be a doozy of a newsletter. There's some excellent New Releases up first, then make sure you read the info about the ever popular 'December Bonus Time', there's some info and links to upcoming releases (including an ever popular 'name our mini' thread over onFacebook) and at the end will be whatever it is I've forgotten as usual :)

At Last, Freak & Demon arrive in the webstore!

Possibly the most awaited release this year, joining Hassle andBergil, the second pair in our Modern Battlefield Troopers line areFreak & Demon. Freak comes equipped with a choice of Remington 870 pump action shotgun or M4A1 assault rifle, engineer backpack and cap / headset combo. Demon is shipped with the choice of M27IAR or the AS Val, a support backpack  and helmet / shades combo.

"Bring on the Bugs!" - Akkie Joining our newly re-organised Sci-Fi line is Akkie. Outfitted with the latest in smartgun technology, he's the perfect support trooper for our  KWS1aP Pulse Rifle armed troopers. Any resemblance to a mini-mad regular of ours is purely coincidental!

Maxine the Marine Maxine is .. well she's an ex ATF Marine, who now travels through Space. She's wearing bits of a suit of Powered Armour she scavenged off a ... large dead guy and is armed with a KWS2aC Carbine. Funnily enough, she came about from a sketch Kev did with bath crayons on the bathroom wall when bathing Luke one night!

December Bonus Time is here!

Lucky old you!  It is 'that' time of year again!  So what have we got to offer you (apart from the never-ending stream of gorgeous releases over the last few months!). Well, here's the deal! If you have never had a goodie bag from us before then these are crammed with lots of 'stuff' from figures to bases to resin to samples ...all sorts of things.  Some things we don't even sell!

Christmas Rings in some Changes

As you may have noticed, I (Yes this bit is obviously me, Artemis) haven't gone anywhere. A few months ago I signed on to help out my friends Sal & Kev up here at HF headquarters and it's sort of stuck :) You may also know I've had my own mini business for quite some time and doing both has sometimes proved troublesome. As luck would have it HF were looking for new ideas, and so, via a complicated set of dark rituals and blood oaths we've come to an agreement. More details on exactly what that entails with the next newsletter but starting today the HF webstore will be getting some additional lines for your pleasure. In fact as you log on through the next weeks you may see something new each time. Now nobody worry, they haven't sold out and the store isn't going to suddenly be full of Tyranids, Skaven, Khador Mechs and sprues of heads and legs that are 'absolutely not meant to fit on a Space Marine honest guv'nor, nothign quite so.. mainstream.' We hope you'll like the new additions as we've chosen them to complement Hasslefree and the familial atmosphere Sal has worked hard over the years to maintain and matching the high quality you have come to expect from us.

And Finally...

Don't forget our Limited Release Christmas Mini, half of the initial run have been packed and shipped already! Thanks all for a fantastic 2012 so far, see ya soon! Sal & Artemis

Mantic Games Newsletter

I've had a brief go at Dreadball and it's quite enjoyable. Forget comparisons to Blood Bowl though as it's very much it's own game. If people are interested I'll see if I can get some-one who knows the system to do a brief write-up for you...if your not interested then...well...I just won't bother, lol.

IT'S CHRISTMAS (nearly)! Quick Kickstarter update for our DreadBall backers before we start – after weeks of hard work your pledges are now shipping! Congrats to Keith - his is first in the post! We’re about to break into December meaning only one thing – It’s CHRISTMAS! Since you’ve all be good boys and girls, we wanted to give you an early present - theeight complete Kings of War Army Lists have now been made available for free Download from our website! Whether you’ve got yourself a fantasy army and want to try out a new game or you’re trying to decide what army to take to our Clash of Kings tournaments (did we mention there was a £1000 prize?), now you can download these lists and get gaming. Last Chance on Zombie Marines They’ve been mightily popular these guys and Sunday is the last time you’ll be able to get this great value 80-figure Zombie Marine pack! We’ll likely to run out of stock on these guys (those pesky Corporation Marines have all run off!) before then, so we recommend picking them up quickly! Deal ends 11:59pm GMT on Sunday 2nd December. Last Chance on Free Limited Edition Wildcard Today is the last chance to get a free limited edition metal Wildcard figure with a pre-order of DreadBall – The Futuristic Sports Game on our website! This fantastic new miniatures sports game is the perfect present for under the tree and there’s also a range of cool teams, fantastic looking MVPs and accessories including Paint sets and counter sets (and did we mention the Gaming Pitches?) on offer as well. Find out more about DreadBall in our hub and pre-order the game here. Crazy Christmas Box An utterly ridiculous box of sprues and vehicles (including warmachines, infantry, heavy weapons and more!) this incredible value deal equates to 70% off RRP, making this one crazy offer. Get upwards of 50 figures and 2 vehicles for just £24.99 with a Crazy Christmas Box.Please note our final shipping dates below if you want to get it for Christmas - don't miss it! Enforcers! Enforcers are incredibly detailed sci-fi miniatures – the Galaxy’s elite troops – that pack one hell of a punch. Available in Strike, Assault and Suppression varieties, these kits come with heavy weapons and are led by the mighty Enforcer Captain. We’ve got a number of great value Enforcer bundles, including the Protocol: Strike deal, and there’s also the gift-size Enforcer Army Set, packed full of these great new miniatures. Kings of War for Christmas It’s not Christmas without Kings of War and with the Hardback Rulebook and a swathe of affordable miniatures and value bundles, there’ssomething for every budget in the Mantic webstore. We’ve also got great new Christmas Bundles – loads of miniatures, a rulebook and in the case of the bumper deal, free heroes as well great for adding to your existing force or starting afresh - especially if you’re going to try and win the cash prize at our Clash of Kings UK and US tournaments!   Christmas Shipping Dates We're entering the busiest part of the year and we’ve been given these final shipping deadlines to ensure that you get your order before Christmas: 5th Dec: Rest of the World (Australia, Russia, New Zealand etc) 7th Dec: USA, Canada and Europe 18th Dec: UK Don’t wait – get your Christmas orders in quickly to avoid disappointment!

Games Workshop Newsletter

I have absolutely no interest in this game whatsoever and think that many of the models look terrible (the goblins are very basic and the generic trolls look like they were made by a small child who left his Playdoh too close to the radiator)...but I suppose there must be some people who are curious...so here's the GW blurb.....

The Games Workshop Newsletter 30.11.2012 In this issue: The journey begins…

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey launches this weekend Across the world, hordes of hobbyists are preparing to plait their beards, grow hair on their feet, pack a second breakfast into their rucksack and start memorising spells. Metaphorically, of course. Because our stunning new range of Citadel miniatures for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is being unleashed upon our Hobby Centres. The amazing new box set, The Hobbit: Escape from Goblin Town, the new rules manual, and a host of plastic and Citadel Finecast releases are available for you to buy. Our Hobby Centres will be packed with excited hobbyists, eager to open up the new kits and get painting, so make sure you head down to your nearest store to join in with all the fun. Don't forget to check in with our White Dwarf Daily blog for the latest updates. If you've been hiding under the Misty Mountains for the past week, make sure you take a look at our new releases section to see all of the exciting new products. From the amazing new box sets and resplendent Citadel Finecast kits, to the Hobbit Custom Figure Case and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Paint Set, there's something for all levels of hobbyists. Head over to games-workshop.com now and start your journey...

New Malifaux Project

Like most hobbyists I tend to get distracted by new shiny things before I've actually completed anything...this week is no different. Purely as a modelling project (I happen to be in the 'needs nerfing' camp) I'm going to create a crew for Hamelin the Plagued.

Continuing my general themes of using female models whenever possible I intended to utilise a Freebooter Miniatures model to 'count-as' Hamelin.

This one in fact...

By an amazing coincidence my girlfriend decided to buy me this model (and a few others) for my birthday which explains why Titan Games were unusually long in getting it to me as she had sidetracked my enquiry and bought it for me, lol.

Though the model is okay as it is I decided that I wanted her to have hair...unfortunately the use of 'Green Stuff' isn't high in my modelling skills but I decided to give it a go...

Okay...I cheated a little, lol.

Rounding off the base completely would have made it too small so instead I took off the corners and then rounded them off slightly and I used a 40K Chaos Space Marine top knot (I have loads because I always cut them off but like many OCD hobbyist am unable to throw any bits away in case they 'will come in useful later') to finish off the hairstyle. I was originally going to replace the boat hook with some kind of staff but I've decided it's nicely in theme as is and changing it would be change for changes sake ;-)

Also amongst my presents were this nurse model (also from Freebooter Miniatures) that I liked the look of.

Now I just need to decide if I'm going to use the official Wyrd models for the Rat-catchers and The Stolen or whether I'll use alternatives for those as well.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

1000 Point Warhammer 40K Campaign.

My FLGS is running a Warhammer 40K campaign starting at 1000 points and then increasing to higher points levels over time. The initial idea seemed to be themed armies but a few people are using more optimised lists than I was expecting.

I'm therefore going to use a Space Marine list (of some variety or another) and theme it as an expeditionary force of my Night Reapers chapter. This will most likely involve a cheap HQ, A couple of transported Troop  choices and some faster stuff to represent the 'exploration' units that such a force would most likely contain. It's damn difficult to create a balanced army in 6th edition and is borderline impossible at the 1000 point mark so I'm not really going to bother trying ;-)

So with a 1000 points there's always going to be rock/paper/scissors situations because balance in armies doesn't really come till at least 1500 and with many armies not until at least 2000. I'm told that the emphasis of this campaign is more towards the narrative than the competitive so I'll moderate what I take a little...of course if I find out that people are taking advantage then I'll break out the cheese ;-)

Anyway...

I've already decided on a Marine force and for me that rarely means spending much on HQ choices. A Librarian or equivalent is always a good choice so we can put 100 points aside for that and maybe he gets a few toys if there's any points left over.

We're presumably using book missions so I'm going to need scoring units and as its a standard FOC I'm going to need at least two to fulfil the minimum requirements. Obviously the Codex I use will effect this choice but provisionally that'll mean two units in Razorbacks (if I use BA or SW) or full squads in Rhino's if I use 'vanilla' Marines. A few people are already jumping on the Chaos bandwagon so I'm unlikely to go with a Chaos force just yet.

Keeping with my self imposed theme of an expeditionary force I'll need to take some fast moving units. I won't be using Jump units as I don't really like them (this is an aesthetic/personal preference issue, not a tactical one) so that leaves me with Bikes or Landspeeders...as I have a lot of both that isn't a problem.

If some-one decides to bring an uber Deathstar or a gigantic horde then I'll have issues bringing a balanced force against them but them's the breaks, lol.

With the preamble out of the way....

Option 1

1000 Point Blood Angels

HQ: Librarian in Power Armour (1#, 100 pts)
   1 Librarian in Power Armour @ 100 pts (Shield of Sanguinius; The Sanguine Sword)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 180 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 180 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Bolt Pistol; Infernus Pistol x1)
      1 Razorback (Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 180 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 180 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Bolt Pistol; Infernus Pistol x1)
      1 Razorback (Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 180 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 180 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Bolt Pistol; Infernus Pistol x1)
      1 Razorback (Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 180 pts)
   2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 180 pts (Typhoon Missile Launcher x2)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 180 pts)
   2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 180 pts (Typhoon Missile Launcher x2)

Total Roster Cost: 1000

Option 2

1000 Point Space Wolves

HQ: Rune Priest in Power Armour (1#, 110 pts)
   1 Rune Priest in Power Armour @ 110 pts (Chooser of the Slain; Murderous Hurricane; Storm Caller)

Elite: Wolf Guard Pack (3#, 69 pts)
   1 Wolf Guard Pack @ 69 pts (Wolf Guard in Power Armour)
      3 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Combi-Flamer x1)

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 160 pts)
   5 Grey Hunters Pack @ 160 pts (Flamer; Razorback)
      1 Razorback (Hunter-killer Missile; Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 160 pts)
   5 Grey Hunters Pack @ 160 pts (Flamer; Razorback)
      1 Razorback (Hunter-killer Missile; Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 160 pts)
   5 Grey Hunters Pack @ 160 pts (Flamer; Razorback)
      1 Razorback (Hunter-killer Missile; Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 160 pts)
   5 Grey Hunters Pack @ 160 pts (Flamer; Razorback)
      1 Razorback (Hunter-killer Missile; Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 90 pts)
   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 90 pts (Typhoon Missile Launcher x1)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 90 pts)
   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 90 pts (Typhoon Missile Launcher x1)

Total Roster Cost: 999

There are a great deal of other options but those are the two that leap to mind initially...though the temptation to bring a 15 Missile Launcher SW list may be too much to resist ;-)

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.