Painted Tharn Whitemane

Here is a Tharn Whitemane, another solo for the Devourer’s Host theme force of the Circle Orboros army in Hordes. I assume that the idea here is that the Whitemane has retained his badass-ery while becoming wiser, so along with being a decent melee solo he also brings Veteran Leader to help other Tharn with their accuracy. Amusingly, this also applies to Tharn who presumably outrank him like the Warcasters Iona and Kromac. I quite like the Whitemane but somehow never seem to find the space to fit him into my lists.

Painting the Whitemane was a joy. The sculpt is so much cleaner than the Tharn Ravager units I recently struggled with, although you can see in the side-on photos where the mould has slipped a bit and misaligned the front and back of the cast. The real loser here is my photography – I was trying some playing around with the light balance but couldn’t get it not to blur. I have a few more things to try out before I ask my sister-in-law for a bit of help as she’s much more of a photographer than me.

Next on the painting table: Fiona the Black.

Warmachine / Hordes battle report: Minions vs Convergence of Cyriss (75 points); 19Dec2020

I got another game of Warmachine / Hordes in via Wartable. My opponent this time was Andrew who is working on a Convergence list with more than a little jank in it.

Game 33 – Bunkers (scenario 2) vs Andrew’s Convergence of Cyriss

https://conflictchamber.com/?cb201b_-2nqr1d0LpkoPoPp-oRnHoOoOq9oNoNjDjDjD

Minions
[Theme] Will Work For Food

[Azazello 1] Lord Azazello, the Castellan [+29]
– Road Hog [15]
– War Hog [14]
Boomhowler, Solo Artist [0(6)]
Dhunian Archon [0(6)]
Dhunian Archon [0(6)]
Flugwug the Filcher [4]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
J.A.I.M.s [5]
Primal Archon [8]
Primal Archon [8]
The Wastelander [5]
Void Archon [8]
Void Archon [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]

This is the same list as I’ve used for the last few games. I think it’s useful to play a list for a few games regardless of how good or bad the match-up is so that you can see where it has good options and where you’ll struggle. More importantly, I’ve been finding it really fun.

https://conflictchamber.com/?cc201b_-2od2nBnBoRnHpMoNoNpB1hpNpNpN2525

Convergence
[Theme] Strange Bedfellows

[Aurora 1] Aurora, the Numen of Aerogenesis [+29]
– Mule [14]
– Mule [14]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
J.A.I.M.s [5]
Prefect Hypatia [5]
Void Archon [8]
Void Archon [8]
Asphyxious the Sanctified [14]
– Stalker [8]
Negation Angels [0(6)]
Negation Angels [0(6)]
Negation Angels [0(6)]
Soulhunters (min) [11]
Soulhunters (min) [11]

Andrew is using the Convergence theme that incorporates a load of random Mercenary and Cryx options. I assume that the point of this list is to turbo-charge those Soul Hunters and fire them into me from across the board.

I win the roll-off and choose to move first. Against such a fast force I’m worried that I’ll be jammed up in my own deployment zone if I let Andrew take the first turn; he gives me the side with a slightly more annoying house. I keep my deployment quite symmetrical as usual, with one of each Archon and one unit of Valkyries on each flank and everything else going straight up the middle. My JAIMs picks the left unit of Negation Angels as Prey; Andrew’s JAIMs chooses the Void Archon on the right.

Turn 1: Minions
Everything runs forward. I can’t avoid being in range of the Negation Angels with the leading Valkyries so I spread them out to ensure that I should only lose one per unit if Andrew commits them (which I doubt). Azazello casts Storm Rager on himself and Phantasm on the leftmost unit of Valkyries.

Turn 1: Convergence of Cyriss
Everything moves up but mostly stays clear of my threat ranges. Aurora casts Aerogenesis and Arcane Might; Asphyxious puts some clouds on the left to cover some Soul Hunters.

Turn 2: Minions
I’m not really in range to do much so my plan is just to rush up and claim some table space where I can, then Feat and hope not to lose too much. Azazello drops Phantasm but upkeeps Storm Rager; he also Feats and shoots a couple of wounds off the central Void Archon. Over on the right the Valkyries drop a Soul Hunter and I send Flugwug in to eat a pair of Negation Angels; I figure that he’s cheap enough to make that a worthwhile trade. Then I pass the turn and cross my fingers.

Turn 2: Convergence of Cyriss
Aurora upkeeps Arcane Might. Various things move with Swift Vengeance or Apparition; JAIMs triggers a Counter Charge from the Primal Archon which misses anyway. Aurora Feats (catching pretty much her entire army), casts Aerogenesis and then charges a Valkyrie on the right and repositions onto the flag. We mess the rules up a bit here as we forget to give her Shadowbind from the Primal Archon and I also take a Riposte attack when she misses the Valkyrie even though she’s too far from Azazello to get Riposte. We figure that this evens out fairly, and anyway Aurora could have just run to the flag if she really needed it. The Hermit uses Whispers at the Gate and repositions deep into my right side. JAIMs kills her Void Archon and sidesteps into my zone; the lone Negation Angel flies right to the back of my zone too. The Soul Hunters on the right charge into the Dhunian Archon; the first one amusingly misses an impact attack on Flugwug and dies to Riposte but the second one leaves the Archon on a single box. The Stalker and a unit of Negation Angels team up to kill the Primal Archon on that side. The lead Void Archon finishes the wounded Dhunian Archon and also incidentally kills Flugwug with the spray. Asphyxious kills the two contesting Valkyries on the right and puts down a cloud in the centre to block my view. On the left, Andrew pulls back most of his models, though the Negation Angels do get stuck into the Void Archon for a little damage. Andrew scores his zone and the right flag; 2 – 0.

Turn 3: Minions
Ouch! I’ve lost a lot and my first thought here is to go for assassination. I upkeep Storm Rager. The Valkyries in the centre have a go at clearing the way for Azazello to get to Aurora but I would need to get extremely lucky to get everything (in fact I’m not at all certain that I even have enough attacks to make it work) and abandon the attempt as it’s clear after just this activation that it isn’t going to work out. Instead, I switch to seeing what else I can do to stay in the game. On the left, JAIMs and the Dhunian Archon clear the Negation Angels off my flag, though due to poor positioning and order of activation issues I need to waste the Void Archon’s activation to just sit on the flag. The Road Hog sets JAIMs and the lead Void Archon on the right ablaze and Boomhowler knocks down JAIMs but can’t get lucky enough to kill the contesting Negation Angel. Crucially, I forget to put Special Orders on Azazello. My Warlock uses Wind Rush to get round the building and walks over to kills Asphyxious (and JAIMs by using Flashing Blade) but it takes all of his Fury to do so, meaning that I can’t use Sprint to get back to safety. We each score the edge flags; 3 – 1 to Andrew.

Turn 3: Convergence of Cyriss
Aurora upkeeps Arcane Might and the Hermit puts up Whispers again. The Negation Angels make full use of Arcane Might to Paralyse Azazello and kill him easily without any other models even needing to activate. Minions lose by assassination.

Many thanks to Andrew for being a fun opponent, and sorry to him for not putting up more of a fight here. Andrew made very good use of his mobility to pivot me round that building in the middle and ensure that most of my hitters were stranded away from where I could use them. I need to think of a way to deal with such an army; I’m just not certain how to position against an alpha strike with such a long threat range, Flight and Parry. Any suggestions will be gratefully received. That said, I think it’s easier to learn from a defeat than a victory so hopefully this will help me improve as a player.

• Always use one of Boomhowler’s Fell Calls. Repositioning Azazello 3” backward behind the house in my last turn might well have been enough to keep me in the game.
• Also on the subject of Boomhowler, I could have made much better use of him further on the right; his gun is perfect for handling the Hermit in particular since the low POW doesn’t really matter. Critical knock down can be clutch too.
• I’m not really getting good value out of the Primal Archon’s counter charge. Perhaps it is just something where I need to opportunistically take advantage of a positional error from my opponents but in general I find that it is very easily shut down.

Painted Ghordson Driller

This is a second Ghordson Driller for my Warmachine Mercenaries. I have three in my current Ossrum1 list, so hopefully I can find where I put the third kit before face-to-face gaming restarts!

I kept the paint scheme very similar to the first Driller, mixing up where I put the accent colours a little. My hope is that when they’re all on the table together it’ll look like the Warjacks have all come from the same factory but without them actually being identical. Since there are only four colours and no fiddly details, painting the Driller was a lovely simple palette-cleanser between more complex living miniatures.

Next on the painting table: Tharn Whitemane.

Painted Battle Boar

This is a Battle Boar, a light Warbeast in my Minions force for Hordes. I feel like the rules on the Battle Boar don’t quite fit with my interpretation of its actual role in the game. The rules seem to suggest that it should be able to combine Berserk and Overtake to munch through whole units of infantry at a time, however it isn’t accurate enough to hit any model which has low enough ARM to be worried about taking such a hit. As such the Battle Boar’s main role in my army is to provide the Primal animus and to potentially score / contest zones in the late game. Despite all that, I do really like the Battle Boar and use it in my Dr Arkadius list all the time.

I enjoyed painting the Battle Boar a lot more than I thought that I would. As a sort of ‘Frankenstein’s piggie’ it has a lot of harsh metal bits which contrast with the softer tones of its skin and clothing. After I went for a dark brown skin tone, wild boar style, I realised that I would need a very bright colour to make the Battle Boar stand out on the table; hence the yellow skirt (loin cloth?). The various tubes going between pig and machine were also quite fun to add some much needed colour to the top half.

Next on the painting table: Ghordson Driller.

Painted Tharn Ravagers

Here is the second (of two) unit of Tharn Ravagers for my rather sporadic Circle Orboros army in Hordes.

I painted these Ravagers in basically the same way as the previous unit, with the exception that the robes are blue rather than green. I’m sure it’s not ‘realistic’ for my giant cannibal supermen to have different brightly coloured clothes for each group, but it makes them easier to use on the tabletop as I can tell at a glance which unit each one belongs too. It’s also more fun than painting everything brown which would probably be a more useful colour for forest-based hunters to wear. It was definitely a mistake for me to paint all twelve in one go but I’m very glad to be able to tick this lot off the ‘to do’ list.

I think that the outside members in this trio are the closest I came to duplicates over both units of Ravagers; they’re differentiated only by the colour of their axe head.  Of course, this has no impact in the game but it would annoy me to have a unit of six models of which two were identical.

The leader of the Ravagers, as is customary in Privateer Press’s miniatures, can be distinguished by having a unique sculpt and wearing more bling (in this case, bones) than the rest of the unit.  I actually have a pair of Ravager Chieftains still in the pile who can be added to the unit to command them, but that is a story for another day.

Next on the painting table: Battle Boar (for real this time).

Warmachine / Hordes battle report: Minions vs Retribution of Scyrah (75 points); 07Dec2020

Allan’s adventures in the CID for Retribution of Scyrah continue and I was happy to oblige him for another game of WarmaHordes via Wartable.

Game 32 – Bunkers (scenario 2) vs Allan’s Retribution of Scyrah

https://conflictchamber.com/?cb201b_-2nqr1d0LpkoPoPp-oRnHoOoOq9oNoNjDjDjD

Minions
[Theme] Will Work For Food

[Azazello 1] Lord Azazello, the Castellan [+29]
– Road Hog [15]
– War Hog [14]
Boomhowler, Solo Artist [0(6)]
Dhunian Archon [0(6)]
Dhunian Archon [0(6)]
Flugwug the Filcher [4]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
J.A.I.M.s [5]
Primal Archon [8]
Primal Archon [8]
The Wastelander [5]
Void Archon [8]
Void Archon [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]

Hurrah! Conflict Chamber is updated to include Azazello.

In the interests of my sanity I kept the same list as before. I figure that this also helps Allan’s testing a bit by giving him a stable baseline to work against, but the main reason was definitely my quest to get a handle on my own rules.

Retribution of Scyrah
[Theme] Defenders of Ios

[Falcir 1] Falcir, the Merciless [+28]
– Gorgon [9]
– Aeternae [17]
House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner [5]
House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner [0(5)]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Hermit of Henge Hold [0(5)]
Scythe [0(6)]
House Ellowuyr Swordsmen (max) [16]
– Soulless Escort (1) [1]
House Ellowuyr Swordsmen (max) [16]
– Soulless Escort (1) [1]
Dawnguard Trident [16]
Dawnguard Trident [16]

Allan wanted to try out the new Warcaster, Falcir the Merciless. These are week 2 rules which is probably good for me as she seemed to be regarded as quite oppressive in her original incarnation. Much of the rest of the force is also either brand new or under test for CID, but as per the previous game I just don’t know enough about the original rules to comment on the changes. I’m assuming that the basic plan is to jam me up with those Swordsmen units, use Falcir’s Bounty rules to hamstring any reply, then finish up any survivors with the Executioners and the Warjacks.

Allan wins the roll-off and asks to have the first turn. The terrain on the bottom looks a bit less annoying so I give Allan the top; I might be able to use that house to score my own zone. I go with my usual set-up with a unit of Valkyries accompanying one of each Archon out on the flanks and everything else in the middle. I do put Flugwug out on the left as I might be able to use his stealth and mobility to get a cheeky score on that flag. JAIMs chooses the left unit of Swordsmen as her Prey.

Turn 1: Retribution of Scyrah
Falcir casts Flashing Steel on the left Swordsmen and uses Cyclone to move further forward; everything else rushes me.

Turn 1: Minions
My stuff also runs, though I’m careful to keep out of melee threat range. I can’t stay out of Trident shooting range but with all my Shield Guards I’m not too worried about them, whereas my Road Hog and Void Archons will make short work of the Swordsmen if Allan wants to play keep-away. Azazello casts Storm Rager on himself and Phantasm on the Henchwomen Valkyries in centre.

Turn 2: Retribution of Scyrah
Falcir gets Pathfinder from the Objective and drops Flashing Steel. She moves up to cover pretty much my entire army and Feats to give Bounty tokens to Azazello, both Void Archons, the left-most unit of Valkyries and the Road Hog. Falcir also casts Pay The Price on the War Hog to give it a token too, then Cyclones back to safety behind the wall. At this point, she chooses Azazello’s token to be Falter Courage and the War Hog’s to be Snare. Scythe shoots the Road Hog; the first one is deflected back by the Wastelander (and the damage is cancelled by the Hermit’s Mad Visions) and the others do some nice damage. The Valkyries’ Bounty is chosen as Snare and all the others (both Void Archons and the Road Hog) are Confuse. Both Tridents use Telekinetic Wave to move a Swordsman forwards but rather surprisingly elect not to bother shooting. I suppose that this was to avoid triggering Vengeance but I’m not sure that it is worth avoiding Vengeance if the cost is not killing any of my stuff. The Swordsmen run to jam on both sides; one makes sure to contest my zone.

Turn 2: Minions
Looking at the effect of these Bounty tokens, I don’t think that they’re going to be as crippling as Allan seems to expect. I can definitely score my zone and I can probably get the left flag as there are only Swordsmen around it. Otherwise, Allan has offered up enough Swordsmen that I reckon I can more or less take them all off the table this turn and get a nice leg up on attrition. The Objective heals my Road Hog and Azazello upkeeps Storm Rager but drops Phantasm. I start on the left where the Valkyries shuffle a bit to maximise Gang coverage and clear out the front row of Swordsmen. The Primal Archon then charges through and eats a couple more and threatens as far forward as I dare while the Void Archon sprays down several more (using the glut of souls acquired to boost in order get round Confuse) then Void Walks back behind the Valkyries. Flugwug moves round, Jumps to the flag and kills the last two contesting Swordsmen to make sure that I can score the flag. On the right, things work out more or less the same, though the Primal Archon manages to knock down a significant number of Swordsmen plus the Gorgon and Executioner. The Void Archon takes the opportunity to kill off the knocked down Executioner and Void Walk back to safety. The Henchwomen Valkyries clear the Road Hog and knock down the Hermit; Boomhowler finishes him off. The Road Hog slightly strands itself by killing its Swordsman target with the assault spray to stop it Sprinting back (I thought that this still worked but Allan assured me otherwise) and setting the Gorgon ablaze. JAIMs runs to contest Allan’s zone. Finally, Azazello moves forward, Feats rather defensively, kills the Gorgon with his pistol and Wind Rushes back a bit. I had to strike a balance here between covering my models on the left under his Feat and staying in Shield Guard Range; I opt more for the former on the basis that his stats are probably good enough. I score my zone and the flag on the left; 2 – 0 to me.

Turn 3: Retribution of Scyrah
Allan’s going to have to assassinate me here or he’ll run out of models long before I do. The Aeternae gets Pathfinder from the objective and gets Empowered by both Mechaniks. Scythe one-shots JAIMs, presumably just to clear her out of the way. The left Trident trundles forwards but fails to deal with the leader of the Henchwomen Valkyries. The Executioner also fails to kill her (but I don’t get a cheeky Riposte knockdown either, sadly) and shoots the War Hog. Aeternae also fails to kill that Valkyrie so Falcir has to take the long route. She walks forward, Cyclones into melee with Azazello but fails to even hit him. I had the Hermit and two transfers in case that is needed too. Killing Falcir from here would be trivial so Allan [virtually] shakes my hand; Minions win by concession.

I had a fun game here and Allan’s always a nice chap to play with. I think that he made too much of a mess of his second turn, mainly over-estimating the impact of Falcir’s Bounty tokens, for this to be much of a learning experience on my side. Still, it is quite satisfying to have a turn where everything just plain works.

Warmachine / Hordes battle report: Minions vs Retribution of Scyrah (75 points); 04Dec2020

Allan asked for a game of WarmaHordes to try out some of the legacy models in the current Retribution of Scyrah CID. Lucky for me that I don’t know what most of them did before so I’m not burdened by having two slightly different sets of rules to worry about.

Game 31 – Recon II (scenario 6) vs Allan’s Retribution of Scyrah

https://conflictchamber.com/?cb201b_-2nev1d0LpkoPoPp-oRnHoOoOq9oNoNjDjDjD

Minions
[Theme] Will Work For Food

[Azazello 1] Azazello, the Castellan [+29]
– Road Hog [15]
– War Hog [14]
Boomhowler, Solo Artist [0(6)]
Dhunian Archon [0(6)]
Dhunian Archon [0(6)]
Flugwug the Filcher [4]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
J.A.I.M.s [5]
Primal Archon [8]
Primal Archon [8]
The Wastelander [5]
Void Archon [8]
Void Archon [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]

(Note that Azazello isn’t in Conflict Chamber yet so the link uses Helga1 instead as she has the same number of Warbeast points)

No change for my Azazello list. It seems to be doing quite nicely and when I consider swapping out solos I always seem to find some case where the current load-out works fine. Since my main issues with the list at the moment are 1) remembering what the rules of my many solos actually are and 2) working out where to apply said solos for best impact in the game, I figure that minimising changes is probably for the best.

https://conflictchamber.com/?c5201A_-1nf10v0vhQhJ3y4141oNhO3uhO3umpmp

Retribution
[Theme] Defenders of Ios

[Thyron 1] Thyron, Sword of Truth [+27]
– Manticore [14]
– Manticore [14]
– Fane Knight Guardian [0(4)]
Aelyth Vyr, Blade of Nyssor [0(5)]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Ghost Sniper [0(3)]
Ghost Sniper [0(3)]
Void Archon [8]
Ryssovass Defenders (max) [16]
– Soulless Escort (1) [1]
Ryssovass Defenders (max) [16]
– Soulless Escort (1) [1]
Dawnguard Trident [16]
Dawnguard Trident [16]

(Note that this adds up to 77 points; this is because Ryssovass Defenders are being tested at 15 points for a max unit)

Allan’s list is mostly legacy models that he’s testing for the CID process; we’re using the week 2 rules. Thyron is pretty much the elf version of Azazello so this should be quite an entertaining match-up. I also note that neither of us have any great way to speed things up, nor any meaningful ranged threat (apart from the Tridents) so I’m expecting a big brawl in the centrefield.

I win the roll-off and choose to move second. This is partly so that I can force Allan to deal with the annoying house in the right zone, partly to keep practicing playing second (since at least locally almost everyone seems to prefer to move first) and partly because with the movement ranges on offer here I think that I’m unlikely to get jammed out of anything. Giving the Tridents a shot at before I move twice is a little annoying, but I’ve got plenty of Shield Guards so I’m unlikely to lose anything that I don’t want. JAIMs chooses Aelyth as her Prey; I figure that she’s got to come forward if she’s going to do more than just apply Veteran Leader to the Defenders.

Turn 1: Retribution of Scyrah
Thyron puts Storm Rager on himself and Fury on the left Defenders. Then everything runs right down my throat.

Turn 1: Minions
All my stuff also runs. I figure that Allan will direct the Tridents to take out my Void Archons, so I make sure that they’re well surrounded by Shield Guards. Azazello casts Storm Rager on himself (so, it’s going to be one those games!) and Phantasm on the leftmost Valkyries though I don’t expect the latter to actually be shot directly by anything.

Turn 2: Retribution of Scyrah
Both spells are upkept, but no Focus is allocated. Both Tridents shoot at their Void Archons and I spread the incoming fire across the Valkyries and Dhunian Archons; in the end I have Vengeance on both units and the Void Archons aren’t even touched. I will also note that Allan rolled a lot of 7s here when he needed 8s to hit the Void Archons which was perhaps a bit improbable. The Manticores on each side put down Covering Fire in the zones, then the Defenders flood forwards.

Turn 2: Minions
Allan hasn’t contested my flag, so I need to make sure that I get at least one point. The Objective is probably within reach too, but I think that I’ll be better served taking out the Void Archon if I can get that far. Otherwise my plan is to tidy up as many of the Defenders as possible, contest all the scenario elements and use Azazello’s Feat to weather the following turn. I drop Phantasm but upkeep Storm Rager. The Valkyries on the left kill a few Defenders though one does die to a Last Word attack. The Void Archon there sprays down a few more and Void Walks back to relative safety and the Primal Archon moves forward to be an annoying counter-charge threat. Boomhowler gives the Henchwomen Valkyries in the centre Reposition then lays down his own covering fire to keep the remaining Defenders bottled up at the back of their zone. The central Valkyries clear some of the Defenders in the middle and Reposition back a little, then Azazello takes his turn. He Feats, casts Wind Rush to move forward and then charges the Void Archon. After killing the ghostie in one swing he casts Lightning Strike to Sprint back and sit at 20/20 (in melee) with a couple of transfers and the Hermit handy, daring Thyron to come for him and hoping that he won’t get knocked down by anything. That felt very satisfying. JAIMs is apparently awestruck by this display and missed both attacks into a Defender so the Void Archon lines up a perfect spray to kill five of them and make her lack of contribution irrelevant. The Valkyries move to block a landing spot for the Trident to get into melee with the Void Archon and gun down another couple of Defenders. Allan’s tough rolls were truly awful; I think that he made only one or two all turn. I score my flag; 1 – 0.

Turn 3: Retribution of Scyrah
The Objective gives Thyron Pathfinder; he drops Fury from the tattered remnants of the Defenders unit and upkeeps Storm Rager. The left Manticore gets Empower from the Mechanik. The Ghost Sniper shoots a Valkyrie on the left so I Shield Gard it to the one which won’t automatically die. Thyron uses his Feat and charges Azazello. Flashing Blade attacks kill a nearby Valkyrie and JAIMs and force out both my transfers and the Hermit, but Azazello is untouched; Thyron Side Steps clear at the end. Aelyth goes in but misses her swing. The left Defenders poke at the Primal Archon and a Valkyrie in the way, though I use the Dhunian Archon to save the Valkyrie; in the end the Manticore has to kill her to clear a landing zone for the Trident. It now goes for the big play by slamming the last Valkyrie, but Allan doesn’t manage the 5” slam he would have needed to contact Azazello. The Trident lets rip with its gun anyway but only a single fully boosted shot gets through (though that does really hurt). Back on the right the Trident slams the Primal Archon and shoots up my Valkyries a bit for pleasingly little effect while the Defenders jam me up. One of them kills Aelyth to make room for the Fane Knight to charge in out of nowhere but luckily (for me) he doesn’t manage to hit. I score my flag again, 2 – 0.

Turn 3: Minions
There is probably some way that I can score my flag plus another couple of points to just win on scenario, but Thyron is right there and it would be rude not to just kill him. Azazello upkeeps Storm Rager and cuts back to full fury. The Valkyries kill the Fane Knight and a couple of Defenders to clear off the right Void Archon. It charges into Thyron’s back but misses both initials; it does chip a few point of damage off with the spray and Void Walks to a open up more landing spots in case I need them. Azazello takes off most of Thyron’s boxes with boosted attacks (dying now to a cheeky Riposte would be rather sad) then the Wastelander reminds me what I pay him for by rolling a hilarious damage roll and over-killing the Warcaster about three times over. Minions win by assassination.

Many thanks to Allan for a fun game on a Friday evening. It felt very good to do what I dreamed with Azazello and have him tank pretty much Allan’s whole army though I would have also found it quite cool if the Trident had managed the slam and got the kill even under such high stats. I’m enjoying the learning process of what I can and can’t get away with using such an interactive front-line caster.

Things I learned:

• I need to get better on my planning for movement. Too much of my army ended up bottled up in the centre between the big rock and the burning rubble and getting them clear of it ended up being blocked in with my other stuff.
• Each solo is an interesting packet of tools; I am still trying to work out when I need to use each one. This is easier with pieces like Boomhowler and the Dhunian Archons as they can stay safe at the back and still contribute but Flugwug, JAIMs and the Wastelander are quite easy to squander if I send them in at the wrong time.
• DEF20, ARM20 turns out to be quite a tricky stat-line to deal with. Obviously I knew that intellectually but it was quite fun to experience it in the game.

Painted Tharn Ravagers

Here is a unit of Tharn Ravagers, heavy infantry for my Devourer’s Host in the Circle Orboros force of Hordes. They’re highly resistant to small arms fire having a nice combination of Rapid Healing, Tough and Steady (at least when the Ravager Shaman is at hand); even a big hit will be shrugged off if they can pass a Tough roll. Unfortunately the prevalence of anti-healing rules in general and Void Archons in particular has made these chaps a bit less scary than they once were. I’ve enjoyed them greatly with Morvahna2 as she can use her Feat to bring a load of them back into play; this can be back-breaking as they’re not easy to kill in the first place.

I really, really hated everything to do with painting the Ravagers. Firstly, I bought them as part of a second hand lot and they were already painted. The process of paint stripping was enough of a hassle that I wouldn’t even contemplate buying painted miniatures again. Secondly they’re covered in mould-lines and neither their previous owner nor I removed them all. Thirdly and perhaps most importantly I made the mistake of painting both this unit and another one at more-or-less the same time so everything that annoyed me about the poses (triple of one sculpt in a unit of six!) was doubled up. At one point I got so sick of them that I took a couple of weeks off painting while I decided whether to finish the job or just live with part-painted miniatures if I ever want to play with them; in the end I went for it and found the completion to be quite satisfactory just for the sense of closure. The scheme is basically the same as the Blood Pack with white and (in this case) green robes and everything else in ‘natural’ colours. I mixed up the colour of the metals and the skins so that each one is unique.

Another casualty of either transport or the stripping process appears to have been the leader’s axe haft (centre). It actually doesn’t look that obvious until you compare it to the leader of the other unit so I’m not really bothered about it.

Even cases like this where the sculpts are the same on the left and right miniatures, I tried to make some difference in the painting. For example I made sure that they had different skin colours so they at least look like members of a dance troupe, rather than identical twins in a dance troupe.

Next on the painting table: more Tharn Ravagers… sigh.

Painted War Hog

This is the second War Hog I’ve painted up for my Minions army in Hordes. I don’t have a lot to add since I painted the first one in the sense that no rules have changed. However, I have started to use Void Archons and the Hermit of Henge Hold which both have other ways to decrease armour of enemy models. This means that the War Hog can hit things needlessly hard is probably the among the most efficient killers of big targets in the game. I love to use War Hogs whenever possible, though in fairness there are only two heavy Warbeasts available to Farrow Warlocks so it’s not like there is a lot of competition.

I painted this War Hog with a classic ‘three little pigs’ pink skin, as much to make it look different from the other one as any other reason. It’s a straightforward sculpt and was quite enjoyable to paint up. Now that I have taken the photos I see that I forgot about its nose-ring so I’m off now to fix that. Interestingly, the bronze colour on the trophy Warjack head worn on its left leg is not showing up in the photos against the pink skin; presumably this is something that I could resolve with better photography or better post-camera tidying up. Now I just need to get a third one so I can give Joe his War Hog back.

Next on the painting table: Tharn Ravagers (yes, I know that the Battle Boar was in my plans… it’ll get there eventually).