Warmachine Reminder

Shelexie, do you have your Defender, Hunter, and Sentinel completed? This is the day you said you would have them done by...

Yes! They are all done, including the 2 Centurions and the Hammersmith! Next up are the Gun Mages.

I would also add that having an automated post remind me when things are due is a great encouragement (and a kick in the pants =)

This is the Pumpkin I carved this year =)








This is the one my roommate will carve when she gets off work today.


Just for fun, I carved this one last year:


And she carved this one:


Happy Halloween and Thanks for Reading!

Warjacks Finished!

These are the Warjacks that I have been working on for the last 2 months. In that time, I got a new job, a new TV, and my Master's Degree! Back in August, I set myself a painting deadline for each month. So far, I have been able to meet them. On to the Warjacks =)

Hammersmith: I really like the way he came out, especially the swan on the top. I could have painted the edging around the shoulder pads white to match the Centurions but I like this look.


Centurion 1: I always thought this one was posed funny but there wasn't much I was willing to do to fix it. I really like the way the shields came out on these. After the photo shoot, I blew away the static grass that he had attracted.


Centurion 2: More static grass in the photo but it blew away just fine. I like the way these guys came out, expecially since this was my first attempt at blending layers. The effect got much better once I found the paint extender additive.


Defender: This guy kind of got short changed but he came out all right. I never spent a whole lot of time on him and there are details that could have been picked out. Instead, they just got turned into the silver metal. Still, a great mini.


Sentinel: This is one of the light warjacks and it is amazing the difference in painting the big guys and a little one.


Hunter: I liked the hunter so much I posted 2 pics of him. You can tell that he is the one I started using the paint extender on. The blending is much better, especially on the top armor plate.


Same Hunter, different view:


Family Shot: Ready to pound on some Khador!

Warmachine Update

Two more days to go and I have started spraying the sealant! I promise pictures when they are all done. I really like the painting goal I have set for myself. I have (almost) complete 6 warjacks in 2 months. This is absolutely a new accomplishment for me! Things I have learned:

• It is okay to finish a mini (seal it). There comes a time to say "That is good enough for now."
• There is something nice about playing with completely finished models.
• Finishing a mini makes room on the paint table.
  
• Finishing minis lets you buy new ones!

Anything you want to add to the list?

Thanks for reading!

(Pic just for fun, found here)

Hobby Updates

 (Just for fun, found here) Warmachine Update:

• I am basing the 6 Warjacks that I have finished painting. These are the ones that I should complete by the end of the month for my personal painting deadlines. 5 more days to go.
• I am scheduled to start painting my Arcane Tempest Gun Mages next month. There are 6 mini's and I am including my unpainted Gun Mage Solo in the group as well. They are lined up on popsicle sticks, read to batch paint. Again, I have given myself 1 month to finish them.

Werewolf:

• I am still leading the Werewolf game with my friends, every Monday night. They go places I don't expect and do things I never think they will try and we have a great time. This last week, they met "The Cannonball". In downtown Elizabethtown, KY, where our story is set, there is a building that was hit with a cannon ball during the Civil War and it stuck in the wall. Later, when the building was demolished, the people of E-Town loved the cannon ball so much, they saved it and replaced it in the new building that was built. In the game system, something that is loved so much takes on a personality. The Cannonball is loud, gruff, southern, and very cordial to women. It was great fun.
• I am currently painting 2 mini's for the werewolf game (pics soon).
• I am also coming up with things to do to the characters tonight =)

Warhammer 40k:

• My local gaming store is hosting an escalation league. Last month, folks brought 500pts of a painted army and battled it out. 2 or 3 weeks from now, they will host the 750pt battle. I didn't know about the 500pt game and missed it. Now, I have decisions to make.

• Do I play my Blue Space Marines that I painted 10 years ago as a beginner? They look horrible but they are painted and I easily have up to 1000 pts (the next two games). The down side is I don't want to paint anymore Space Marines Blue. I think I just want to cut my losses on the beginner paint job.

• Do I play my black Space Marines? I bought these off a friend. They are primed black and I have started some hard edge highlighting and details in red and white. I have enough for models for 1250 (the next 3 games) but it would require a major time commitment to get them painted, even with the easy paint scheme. (If the models are not all painted, you have to sit 10% of your force on the bench).

• I also have my new orks but they are no where near ready to play and I really want to do a nice job on them.

• The other detail is the league is supposed to go until 2,500 pts and I simply do not have the cash to buy that many mini's, even if I did have time to paint them. What's a girl to do?

Thanks for reading!

New TV

The Bad News: After 10+ years, 4 moves and a direct lightning strike several years ago, my old TV died. The picture went from a 27" box to a 1" line cutting horizontally through the center of the screen.

The Good News: I started work at Best Buy (an American Electronics Store) about 2 months ago!

The Great News: A new 47" Flat Screen LCD TV at the Best Buy employee price (and all I can say is we get it for 5% over the company's cost). It is still not an expense we were planning for but we got a great TV for the price we paid. I will post pics when it is hung up.

2000 Hits!

Just had to post:

• 7 months
• 95 posts
• 2000+ hits as of today!

Thanks for reading!

2 More Weeks

As of today, I officially have 2 more weeks until my self imposed deadline for all my warjacks. Here is my progress:

• Centurions = Everything painted, still need to paint the base and seal them.
• Hammersmith = I think I am done painting him, still need to paint the base and seal him.
• Defender = I have most of him painted. I am not real happy with the way he turned out. He started with a gray undercoat, rather than a black and the gunmetal is too light. I have washed it with Bedab Black, my first experiment with the washes, and it helped. He just isn't going to be my favorite. I still need to create the base, paint it and seal him.
• Hunter = I really like my hunter. I am done painting him. Now I need to create the base, paint it and seal the model.
• Sentinel = Again, not my favorite but he looks pretty good. I am done painting him. I need to create the base, paint and seal it.

My next steps?

1. Create bases for the Defender, Hunter, and Sentinel.
2. Paint the bases.
3. Seal them on a low humidity day (hard to come by right now).
4. Static grass them.
5. Blog about it before my 2 week deadline and the automated blog posts.

I will post pictures sometime in the next week. Next month, I start painting my Gun Mages. I have also been hoping to pick up Epic Haley, and a Squire Model.

Thanks for reading!

Doom Wheel Ideas

Figs-Freak just posted a great question: What are some possible conversion ideas for the new Skaven Doom Wheel?

My Response:
What about a neat scenery piece with the wheel on its side and make it a barrel of blood or goo or BEER! Something along the lines of Ogre Kingdom's Skrag the Slaughterer - Be sure to direct your ideas over to Figs-Freak!

(Oger Pic from Games Workshop website)

1000pt Cygnar v. Khador

This week we decided to play a 1,000pt game, again using the MKI rules. We play at our local game store, Albright's in Lexington, Kentucky (they also sell belts and leather works). If you are in the Blue Grass, definitely check them out! Their tables and the folks there are great! My Cygnar list included:

• Darius
• Reinholdt
  
• Centurion x2
• Hammersmith

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

• Lt. Caine
  
• Chargers x2
• Sentinel

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• Journeyman Warcaster x2
• Hunter x2
• Eiryss
• Stormsmith

I set up my hunters and Eiryss in the trees near the objective.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

I will try to portray Khador's list as best I can in the write up.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

Following are a few closeups of Coffey's list:

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From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

We rolled for the objective and got King of the Hill. The first person to get 5 points for models on the hill (or in our case, the skull bridge) wins the game.

Round 1: In the first move, Coffey's Manhunter took out Eiryss. I thought he would move him onto the objective but instead he took out Eiryss. Eventually, I will learn how to use her. All of his other mini's moved up.

My Hunter's took out the Manhunter and the Junior's cast Arcane shield and up kept it for the rest of the game. Darius cast Full Throttle and moved up with his turtle group. He was also able to shoot 2 pressure cannon shots due to Reinholdt. Caine also moved his team up.

Round 2: The Man-o-war shock troopers moved several members onto the bridge to gain the control points. The Sprigan and Devastator also moved onto the bridge.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

The Devestator used a cloud effect and took out the Stormsmith and Reinholdt.

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The Demo Corp charged a Hunter though he was still alive at the end of it.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

My hunter's fought back killing 1 of the Demo Corps. Darius' Turtle group moved forward and engaged the enemy, breaking his protective shell. One Centurion engaged the Devastator (on the left) and the other Centurion engaged the big black one (I think it was a Juggernaut). Though they both did damage, it was not enough to destroy either.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

Caine shot Thunderstike at the Behemoth, knocking him back into the Butcher and knocking them both down. Khador gained 3 control points for troops on the bridge.

Round 3: The butcher stood up and moved to the center of the board, just behind the bridge. He popped his feat allowing almost all of his units to roll an extra attack die for each attack. Coffey attacked the open turtle shell, using the Fissure spell from Karchev and knocked down Darius, reducing his defense to 7. The Kovnik moved forward and killed Darius causing the 2 Centurions and the Hammersmith to go inert.

I was pretty much at a loss of what to do once Darius died. I started really looking at Caine and came across his Flash spell and his Feat. With nothing left to do, I flashed Caine into the middle of the bridge and popped his feat. He basically gets 4 shots at every thing in his line of sight and control range. With all is attacks, plus the shots from the Sentinels and Charger, he was able to take out Karchev, causing his battle group to go inert and no longer count for control points on the bridge. The Journemen and Hunter moved forward and were able to kill enough of the Shock troops to cause a leadership check. Surprisingly, they failed! They also no longer counted as troops on the bridge. Now I have to weather the next turn. I gained 3 Control points.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

Round 4: The Shock troops fled into my Hunter and attacked but whiffed. The Behemoth killed both of the Journeymen warcasters, opening a line of attack to Caine. The Butcher was able to move to the end of the bridge and cast Avelanch. With a surprisingly high roll, he killed off Caine.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

It was a great game and really flipped back and forth. I was surprising how much the objective mattered in this game, as most Warmachine games evolve into Kill the Caster. We had a great time.

Thanks for reading!

Fixed the Pictures

I was having some trouble with Photobucket in my last post but I fixed the pictures now. Check the new (old) post out here.

Thanks for reading!

Warmachine Battle Report

I got to play today! Using the old MKI rules, Coffey and I played a 755 point game and we had a blast. I don't have a full list from him but I took a few pics (sorry they aren't the best).

From Wanna B Painter

(above) On my right was this is a 5 man Man-O-War Demolition Corps and 5 horse Iron Fang Uhlans.

From Cygnar V Khador

To my left were the 5 Winter Guard + Rocketeer, Man-O-War Drakhun (the one on the horse) and the Marauder Warjack.

From Cygnar V Khador

He took (I think) Forward Kommander Kratikoff, an epic caster, as his Warcaster and the Kodiak is bonded to her. In front of her in the trees is the squad of Widow Makers and a Manhunter (not pictured).

From Cygnar V Khador

This is my battle group, all packed together like a turtle. It stayed this way for most of the game. In here is Dominick Darius, my caster, his half jacks, 2 Centurions, and a Defender.

From Cygnar V Khador

I also had a unit of long gunners and a Gun Mage Adapt (on the far right).
Not pictured is my Journeyman Warcaster with his Hunter, 3 Stormsmiths and Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios.

My plan was pretty simple. Keep Darius tucked away in an impenetrable shell while Eiryss, the Hunter, and my Gun Mage all went after his caster.

In Round 1, he was ale to kill of 4 of my Long Gunners, including the commander, which really limited their usefulness.

The Hunter was able to make a couple of really good shots from behind cover, including killing the Man-O-War Drakuhn in one shot, then used is once-per-game special rule to run 18" and get into combat with the Widow Makers. He didn't last long but it scared Coffey and he spent one of his rounds killing the Hunter rather than coming after me.

I was never really able to do much with the Gun Mage and the Manhunter eventually killed him off. The Stormsmiths also scared Coffey a little and the Manhunter and the Winter Guard killed them off.

From Cygnar V Khador

Eventually, these 2 Khador 'Jacks ganged up on Junior here and had their way with him.

Meanwhile, Darius has been busy. One Centurion would activate, move aside just enough for Darius to shoot his steam cannon, then he would use his crane to move them back into the Turtle position. Eventually, Coffey was able to run his Uhlan's (horses) up to Darius' group and attack. They couldn't charge him because the Centurion's prevent charges. A half jack land mine went off, killing one or two of the Uhlans. Then Darius' group got to hit first, taking advantage of full throttle, and killed all but one. You can see him running away in the background.

From Cygnar V Khador

However, this left them open to attack from the Demolition Corps in the trees.

From Cygnar V Khador

The Corps moved in and demolished the Defender and all but killed a Centurion. Then it was Darius' turn. Darius moved his half jacks into bases to base contact with the jacks and popped his feat. Darius feat allows him to completely remove all damage from Warjack's in his group! Then the newly refurbished warjacks took apart the Demolition crew, killing them to the last man.

From Cygnar V Khador

Unfortunately, the Winter Guard and the Widow Makers had taken the opportunity to move into range. They took every shot available at the heavily armored Darius and got him down to 2 health!

From Cygnar V Khador

Notice all the people liked up, shooting at Darius. Then, feeling victory close at hand, Coffey moved Forward Kommander Kratikoff in for the kill. She moved 12", using one of her spells, and got close enough to cast (____). I don't remember the name of the spell but hopefully Coffey will. Then he rolled double ones! And the angles sang.

From Cygnar V Khador

With 2 points left on Darius, he loaded up his jacks with Full Throttle and Focus and sent them after Forward Kommander Kratikoff. With their crazy good spears, they were able to take her down!

From Cygnar V Khador

The bad part is that Coffey knew when he moved the Kommander within range that it was an all or nothing play. He could have let his guns shoot me down next turn but he went for the kill. 9 times out of 10 it would have worked for him but I lucked out this time. It was a great game and we are looking forward to playing again with the knew MKII rules soon.

From Cygnar V Khador