No blogging but plenty of gaming!

The last few months have been a bit of a gaming marathon for me, playing weekly games of Age of Sigmar Skirmish for the Malign Portents global campaign:

All pics from the most excellent Warboss Kurgan

The odd Matched Play game of Age of Sigmar:

Legion of Nagash in action!

To a fully packed Salute weekend of games:

Star Wars Legion

 8th edition 40k

Advanced Song of Blade & Heroes

Mutants & Death Ray Guns

Basically, I have been very busy getting the stuff I have painted actually on to the table.  My visit to Salute was a pretty cheap one considering and I only returned with two boxes of figures, neither for any game system I play...dammit.

Down in Goblin Town

Clap! Snap! the black crack!
Grib, grab! Pinch, nab!
And down, down to Goblin town
You go, my lad!

14 days late but I managed to finish up my Goblin Town warband for the Lord of the Rings Battle Companies.  I am very happy with these and may even expand them into a full force for the battle game.

Goblins quaff, and Goblins beat.

That means that so far for 2018 I have:

-  Completed a Goblin Town Warband.

-  Rejigged and added to my Death AoS army.

-  Painted a Shadespire Warband.

- Modelled and converted a second Shadespire Warband.

Not bad going really! Add to that getting my scenery collection in order (more on that soon) and selling off a lot of unwanted lead and plastic to fund everything, I am pretty happy with how things are going so far!

On to some Malign Portents games!

Harbingers, Portents & HDR

Managed to purchase, assemble and paint the Harbinger of Death: Knight of Shrouds for Malign Portents this week to fit in with the rest of my Death forces.

At this point the focus is still very much Nighthaunts (and he provides an excellent General) for this, but now I am looking to expand into some more "generic" Death units.  Ghost Hounds have always had some appeal.

My latest photograph really emphasises that I need to go over the red eyes of my ghosts with purple (sorry, amethyst) to tie into the latest vogue.

Also, did you know phone cameras have an HDR setting? Because I didn't...

Ghouls & Ghosts

A game from the past!

Well, last year anyway. I am so bad at reporting the games I played.

Managed to catch up with Curis over the Christmas holiday and played an Age of Sigmar Skirmish game against him.  Like the previous game versus Tears we played the Treasure Hunt scenario (a favourite!) and once again I was beaten. Curses!

The ghosts ride again.

 Curis's absolutely beautiful Chaos warband. Check his blog for more!

 Riders head out to cause early damage.

Both warbands get stuck in. The Objectives turn out to be fairly spread across the board.  My Cairn Wraith does NOTHING.

 Attempt One to kill the pesky wizard.

 

 Attempt Two.

 

The wizard is triumphant and holds the central Treasure Horde until the end of the game.

Spoopy Lads

Decided that my ghosts didn't look "done" after their last few outings so, fuelled by the growing Malign Portent tease, I have done a few touch ups and adjustments.  Basically drybrushed another layer of white, gloss washed them black, added blood stains and spooky red eyes.  Also added a black rim around the base rather than dark brown.

I also realised that I just do not like the more modern Spirit Host figures, all swirly and that, so switched them out for bases of figures painted all ghostly to represent the collected victims of the army.

I picked Free Company figures and a few Orruks to represent the souls reanimated from the ghost's initial foray into the Harrowmark

Spirits of the Harrowmark

Lord Radclyffe's Company

The Middoth, The White Lady & The Wraith

Clash at the Guerac Throne

So, the skirmish game!

This played out really well for a "pick up" game.  We both had 44 Renown to play with and although Tear's force wasn't "strictly" legal, (you need one Hero figure to act as General so instead the Protector Prime was chosen), the game, and I am sorry if this sounds like a battle report in an issue of White Dwarf, came down to the last few dice rolls!

The scenario played was Treasure Hunt from the Skirmish book and we totally ignored all the Allegiance Abilities, Skirmish Abilities etc. as we mostly just forgot.  Bonus internet points to whoever gets the Guerac reference without heading to Google.

 

The Warbands Engage (bonus finger)

 

The First Clash, I quickly realised my Ghosts had no chance one to one.

 

We are really playing! My forces have scattered to take objectives.

 

Clash of the Generals!

 

The very last round and EVERY objective is contested! 

The game head to the finish with a threeway (stop sniggering Curis) tie over the objectives, the last blows struck took out my final Hexwraith leaving 2 objectives as contested and 1 objective held by the Stormtonnians giving them the win. The Guerac Throne had been liberated! Curses.

Shyish is a big place...

Well summer has truly put a spanner into the regular gaming plans but they have once again picked up and so I can catch up on the campaign updates.  I did however, manage to get in a skirmish game recently with the most excellent Tears of Envy.

We both wanted to play an Arabian Night themed games and after looking through my collection I was able to piece together a brand new warband made up of a mysterious warlock, his assassin henchman and a gaggle of Ghouls.

The warband.

We played a pair of linked scenarios set around a cursed village, deep in the sandier regions of Shyish with a troupe of Trasure Hunters trying to locate as much loot as possible while my evil do'ers attempted the same thing.

 

Ghouls go a-hunting.

Sadly my luck did not hold out in these games and I was beaten twice!  My warlock tried to run for it in the last game but sadly, well, the dice say it all:

 

"You're nicked sunshine!"

Back from exile and to the Fields of Blood

I am back from my trip down to the Big Smoke in the Realm of Metal so can finally catch up on my blogging.

The last clash that the Ordeshal Host talk part in was a skirmish around the crash site of an airship, full of plunder and currently swarming with humans and orruks...familiar foes.

A Wylliam eye view of the field

The Ogresuns and the Gilded Hand clash in the centre of the field with Lyrd Radclyiffe and Squire Percy being held at the edge.

By the time they are freed most of the blood had already been spilt between the orruks and humans

The White Lady was noticible in her absence during this battle, only stalking forward near the climax to cast arcance majicks at any foes still bearing arms.  She was unable to stop Kalyustar of the Guilded Hand from retreiving his prize from the wreckage and escaping deep into the forest...

However, something could surely be done with all these tortured souls still freshly freed of their mortal husks...

(Much more detailed accounts of this clash can be found both here and here courtesy of my excellent opponents Viktor and Warboss Kurgan.)

When the dice play along...

A real benefit of playing in a narrative gaming mindset is how the smallest in-game event can spark a whole story line or progress one already in play.

I had already established the the mysterious White Lady is fleeing deep into the Harrowmark from Nagash.  Why? So far I haven't decided but the idea of being on the run from such a powerful being really appeals to me.

During the last skirmish with Admiral Kurgan's Ogresuns I had deployed the White Lady at the foot of a Realmgate so that she could survey the battlefield and prevent the pesky Orruks from trespassing any further into "her" domain.  As the Realmgate has been modelled with Spirit Hosts spilling out it is obviously a portal to another part of Shyish...perhaps a part under the sway of Nagash?

The Lady Awaits

Once the game began he first roll I made was for the Realmgates abilities (these change every turn due to their eldritch nature!) and promptly rolled a double on the two dice.  Game-wise this translates to anyone stood nearby taking a few Mortal Wounds but narrative wise this means a huge blast of energy had spilt out of the Gate and caught the White Lady in it. Immediately this sparked a story line idea; what if the White Lady had been at the gate to seal it from Nagash and his minions but at the very last moment the distraction caused by the arrival of the Orruk warband to the field had meant the binding ritual failed and Nagash had managed one last attempt to reach the White Lady before the gate closed for good.

Orruks on the horizon.

The battle itself was a short, sharp affair which is detailed here.  For the White Lady and her followers the consequences are clear however; The Great Necromancer now knows where she is...and no-one escapes Death...

To the field of battle!

Although taking part in a skirmish campaign is the main drive of this blog and really the army as a whole, I will be playing "full" games of Age of Sigmar with the Ordeshal Host.

Tonight was the first of these games, with the host defeating a force of Seraphon who had been caught out in the blighted plains of M'nchtyr Aran'dl. My, as yet unamed, Mourngul was pushed to the brink of destruction but rallied after defeating a Saurus Oldblood riding a Carnosaur.

The Host Arrayed

The Fyrst Tale...

“What is my name?”

The Whyte Lady looked out at the windswept clearing, which was dominated by a skull laden tower, sheathed her blade and smiled.

Her retainers had done well in scouring the humans and strangely garbed orruks from the structure although the pest Radclyffe had got himself shattered at the hands of the largest of the green beasts and his soul had needed plucking from the ether before the Great Necromancer had noticed…that fool would give them away! The Lady had not fled into the cursed Harrowmark just to be pulled back by the Lord of Undeath to have her soul consumed.  She had lost her mortal shell to his rage, she would not lose everything…

Noisy Wylliam staggered out of the forest groaning, blood staining his hands and dripping down his legs...blood…that had meant something to the Lady in her past…

“Come Wylliam! We move on.” 

The Whyte Lady turned with a practised, almost courtly flourish and headed towards the tower with William staggering close behind, moaning with every step he took.

Just Wylliam

The first game in the Harrowmark Campaign ended as a victory for the Ordeshal Host, defeating both the Ogresuns and the Free Companies of the Gilded Hand in a scramble for territory.

Warboss Kurgan has written up the report here.

The Ordeshal Host march to war...

And so, newly christened (thanks to Warboss Kurgan), the Ordeshal Host, led by the spirit of the slain Whyte Lady have fled from the wrath of Nagash, deep into the Harrowmark and in there stumbled across other warbands and ne'er do wells...

The Ordeshal Host of the Whyte Lady, Lyrd Radclyffe and Noisy Wylliam. 

Photo by Warboss Kurgan

Into the Harrowmark!

This was the first game in our Harrowmark Run Age of Sigmar skirmish campaign which was a threeway clash.  I will put up a proper write up as soon as I have better photos stolen from my adverseries.

When is a Mourngul not a Mourngul?

So of course, I need an Mourngul if my force is going to pack any punch on the battlefields of Shyish.  However, I really do not like the "official" Forge World figure, it just doesn't tally with the rest of the army for me and I hate the in-built horse at its base.

Scouring the rest of GW's range I remembered the C'tan Shard Nightbringer which, to my eyes, is a perfect towering ghostly figure. Even better I had been given the majority of a Nightbringer figure by the most excellent and generous Tears of Envy minus the scythe.  A quick weapon swap later, add my patent basic paint job and Bob's your uncle:

Music to explore dungeons by...

Bandcamp recently published this excellent piece on Dungeon Synth which has introduced me to a genre I never knew existed but have always wanted!

The music of Spectral Kingdom has become my defacto theme for my Malignants...

A year later...

Well, this has been some time but the last year has been one of the most productive of my hobbying life with the amount of painting and gaming I have been getting in.

Age of Sigmar has totally revitalised my playing habits and with the trend of skirmish games being released by GW (Shadow Wars & Age of Sigmar Skirmish) I am getting in more games than ever.

Recently I have joined up with Warboss Kurgan and Godfather Viktor to play a Shadow Wars campaign and now we are moving on to Age of Sigmar...handily set in the Realm of Shyish...specifically in the Harrowmark

Gaming will commence soon but I have got my warband together and ready to serve the undying lord...

A Warning to the Curious

Cairn Wraith - Nathaniel
Spirit Host - The Ager
Zombie - William
 
Spirits, forever held in Shadespire, defending the old family treasure from plunders who venture to the city from across the Mortal Realms.

Slight diversion...

So while this isn't Age of Sigmar related (yet!) I painted up a Necromancer (nee Death) warband for Frostgrave using pre-slotta Citadel miniatures.

I think I am going to try and make up a warscroll for them to field them in my AoS force...

The whole gang

Lady Medusa and Red John: (Necromancer & Apprentice)

Flesh Golem & Zombie: (Exactly that!)

Skeletons and Werewolf: (Infantry & Barbarian)

No blogging but plenty of progress

Funny how much you can actually get done without noticing?

So after my last blog I post I went out and bought the entire beginning force (2 Spirit Hosts, 1 Banshee and 1 Wraith), promptly sat down to a good Doctor Who and painted the whole lot in one frantic evening.

I went for the now ubiquitous light blow glowing scheme (as can be seen here on some figures of a Necromancer Frostgrave warband I have painted in the meantime):

I was pleased with this on the smaller lead figures but it somehow just didn't seem to work on the modern plastic kits.  If you are drybrushing then you really do need a lot of details to pick up!

So tonight I am going back over the whole lot with a brand new colour scheme, something a bit...greener...

The plan is to totally rip off the EXCELLENT green scheme done by Darth Alec on his City of Silence force.  Hopefully this shouldn't take TOO long and I will have pictures. Maybe.

Probably need a new camera first...

The "list"

Well, there isn't one really.  Age of Sigmar has (in)famously done away with points and army lists to let people collect exactly what they want.  I have always found I do need a specific goal to aim for when creating an army in order to have a sense of the project progressing.

The formations provided for each army are a nice way of focusing a list to a theme with a nice game bonus but sadly one hasn't yet been created for the malignant forces.  Well, except for the one in the starter box but I'm not planning on picking this up (though I would have done if it had come out before Xmas ...grumble grumble...).

Instead I asked at my local shop how people are playing games and the manager said they aim for 50 wound games, nice and simple.  So...on to the list:

Spirit Hosts: As the bulk of the army I think I will go for 3 units of these.  At 9 wounds for 3 stands                          that is 27/50 used up.

Tomb Banshee: Something a bit more fun and a ranged attack. 4 wounds takes me to 31/50

Cairn Wraith: Brilliant model and is there anything more iconic than a floating spectre with a great                            big dirty scythe to go through the enemy? 4 wounds again. 35/50.

Hexwraiths: Ghostly cavalry always look great and the unit would give me a bit more flexibility on                          the field.  a unit for 5 figures equals 10 wounds. 45/50

Now then, I have 5 wounds remaining but I am missing a rather large piece of the puzzle.  A magic user!  As I mentioned in an earlier post, Undead were my first ever Warhammer army, back at the dawn of 4th edition and since then (and actually in earlier editions) you have HAD to have magic user in an Undead army, to keep all the bones and spirits together and also to bring more to the fight when it inevitiably goes wrong.

The magic users currently available for the Death faction are the Necromancer and the Lich Priest (disregarding Special Characters).  Neither which are malignants and neither of which have a spell relevant to malignants! There is the Mortis Engine which does also cover this but I am holding off on getting one until my force is a bit more complete.

I think I am just going to have to bite the bullet and pick up a Necromancer for the force, the only mortal on the field of battle! At 5 wounds they would perfectly round out the army to 50 wounds.

Plus, I have a plan to convert the model a bit to base them on someone...

Malignants?

So with the decision made to create a Death alliance army I wanted to give it a real focus.  When creating armies I like to limit the number of unit types to choose from to really keep the theme through it.

For this one, I wanted to do an army that was impossible in 8th edition Warhammer and do a 100% ghost army.  This was probably influenced by the fact it was winter, which is my favourite time to sit and read ghost stories (or watch the brilliant Ghost Stories for Christmas) as well as the ease I would be able to paint them

Going through the warscrolls  it appeared the units that would be most suited would be Spirit Hosts for the bulk of the force, Cairn Wraiths and Tomb Banshees for characters as well as Hexwraiths as the obligatory ghostly horsemen.  I would need a magic user to summon all of these lost souls to the battlefield but I hadn't made my mind up which one yet.

Now, I was going to call my army a "Ghost" army, but the warscrolls all seemed to have a certain Keyword; Malignant.  Ahh, so that is what I was collecting, a Malignant army!  I suppose this will cover any and all spirits, ghosts etc. that will be brought out for the Death armies and suits me down to the ground.  This was confirmed with the announcement of the Star Collecting Malignants box coming from GW.

(I realise this post has a lot of links to the GW shop but this purely to show EXACTLY what miniatures I am going to be collecting.)

The beginning

When Age of Sigmar (AoS) launched in July 2015 I was excited.  I hadn't played Warhammer Fantasy Battles for a number of years and, other than splitting the Isle of Blood Starter Set, I hadn't spent anything on the figures or rules for probably around 5 years. It was mainly 40K and many other 3rd party skirmish and historical war games.

Now, however, was an excuse to start my fantasy gaming afresh and from the very beginnings of a new system.  With half an ear on the rumours I had been collecting a Chaos Daemon army for the last year with half a mind to use them for the "new" Warhammer, if the prophesised move to round bases occured.

Well, it did, and I had an army ready to go for AoS from day zero and took them to Warhammer World on launch day to try the game out.  Well, I enjoyed it immensely, had fun pushing my figures about and went home a happy bunny.

However, then nothing happened. I didn't get another game in until around November (which again, I enjoyed despite being flattened) but I did decide to pick up the various books that were being published by Black Library as well as listen to the Mortal Realms podcast.  This brought the inspiration flooding back.

As winter drew in and Christmas approached I decided what would really get me going would be to create a brand new army from scratch, something designed JUST for AoS and collected to follow on with the story line.  I wanted to go back to my first ever Warhammer army (back in the dawn of 4th) and create an army of the Undead.

Or should I say...Death?