Triumph on the Horizon

I am currently working on painting my Cygnar Heavy 'Jack that I magnetized.  It can be a Defender, an Ironclad, or a Cyclone.  Somehow I missed it but it can also be a Triumph with a $10 part.  Looks like I will be buying something soon...

$10 piece is the Right Arm Shield, head variant, and a scope on the Long Gun

My First Tournament

I got to play at a realize tournament of Warmachine MKIII on July 3rd.  The people at West Texas Cards and Games were great and their new Press Ganger was there to help out with rule questions.  There were 8 players so no one had to sit out a round.  50 point lists with 1 hour games, 4 games total.  There were coins for Best Player, Best Painted, and Best Sport.

The list I took:

• Sloan - Shooty Warcaster
• Hunter - Advanced deployment assassin Light Warjack
• Hunter
• Defender - Long distance, heavy hitting Heavy Warjack
• Charger - Two shots per round, Light Warjack
• Charger
• Thunderhead - Electricity shooting, troop killing, melee Heavy Warjack

Every 'jack has a ranged attack and Sloan's once a game feat allows every 'jack in her battlegroup to make an additional ranged attack at +2 to hit.  I didn't know Sloan is a really popular choice right now for this reason.  I just felt like it would work.

My first game was against Circle (sorry, no pic). My opponent took:

• Wormwood, an ancient tree that teleports around the battle field
• Feral Warpwolf
• Pureblood Warpwolf
• Sentry Stone & Mannikins
• Shifting Stones
• Tharn Wolf Riders
• a minion unit of Croak Raiders (read fire tossing frogs).  

We were playing Moshpit (I'm pretty sure) and I didn't understand how the control points worked.  I thought they were tallied at the end of each round.  Instead, they are tallied at the end of each turn.  My opponent had first turn, I had a turn, then he took his second turn and they started counting control points.  Because my list was shooty, I had held back and was not in the 10" circle in the middle.  That was the only point scored in the game.  I killed 29 points of his army and was halfway through killing his Warlock.  I had lost a 9 point light jack when the hour was up and my Warcaster was untouched.  He won by scenario by the one point.  My opponent actually felt bad about winning as I had done more damage!


When writing this, I went back and checked the rules.  The rules actually say, "Starting on the second player's second turn, a player scores 1 control point if he controls the zone at the end of his turn."  So, we should not have started counting points until the end of my second turn.  Then again, I am not sure I would have moved into it and I am not going to hold it against a great tournament.

0/1

Second game, I played against Legion.  At first I thought they were Skorne but they were just painted red, instead of the traditional blue/cool tones.  I am pretty sure the Dragon Father would not approve!  His list included:

• Saeryn
• Neraph
• Ravagor
• Scythean
• Blighted Ogrun Warspears
• Shredders x2
• Beast Misstress (I think)

The scenario was Incoming.  Each round, artillery is randomly lobbed into the battle.  While it was fun to roll for, it had zero impact on the game.  

Unfortunately, my opponent held back a little too much and never really closed with my army.  Eventually, I was able to get a clear line of sight to his Warlock, chilling behind the Ravagor on the left flank and pick her off with my hunters.

1/2

Death to the Skorne!

 Round 3 was Cygnar vs. Khador, the classic matchup!  His army included:

• Supreme Kommandant Irusk
• Spriggan
• Behemoth
• Full line of Iron Fang Pikeman plus officer and standard bearer
• Iron Fang Kovnik
• Field Gun Crew

It was his first time running Khador and he took a little too long getting across the battlefield.  His war caster was behind a nearly impenetrable line of Iron Fang Pikeman with shield wall up and they were marching across the field on an assassination scenario.  Somehow, my 'jacks were able to shoot a hole through the pikeman line, just enough to be able to shoot Irusk from the front and with a Hunter from the side.

In the picture the below, Irusk is behind the wall, as we discussed where he could have been to stop the assassination.

2/3

Assassination of Khador

Round 4 was against a great opponent running Pigs, a minion army (again, no pic).  He told me several times that he had a Sloan Shooty list that he almost brought and I was pretty sure he knew how to get past my list.  His was a melee heavy list and really the only one to close with me all day.  I am not sure what was in his army as it was the first time playing against them and I didn't get a pic.  He was smart, ran straight at me, and took down my Thunderhead in one turn with a single pig.  Somehow, I was able to flank him and get an assassination with the Hunters.

3/4

So at my first tournament, I had a blast and I came in tied for second place out of 8 players.  The players were super nice about making sure I got the math right for hit and damage rolls.  Overall, I definitely have to do this again!

Video of Pinning a Warjack

With a tournament the next day, I decided to work on pinning my Cygnar Heavy 'Jack.  It is a plastic miniature but the glue didn't hold up to moving across state.  I also wanted to try making a video of the process.  Hope you enjoy it!

Unwrapping the Cygnar Heavy 'Jack

I am a little behind the times but my budget just allowed me to get the Cygnar Heavy 'Jack.  I like the options of the different arms.  I have several Ironclads but I like the option of an extra Defender, along with the nifty new Cyclone.  Tilaurin on Lost Hemisphere gives a great how to and I will be referencing that post as I get this guy together!

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!

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!

Warjack Update

So, I have been painting, albeit slowly. I decided to paint all my warjacks at once so I am extending my personal deadline to the end of next month. It is also a nice kick in the butt that the new MKII rules just came out! The before shots can be seen here and here. Here are some work in progress shots. I thought I was doing a pretty good job blending the lighter and darker blues but the camera really pulls out the differences... (warning - pic heavy but you can click them for a larger view)

Sentinel. I am really starting to like this little guy.

Hunter. Again, I really like the way he is going.

Centurion. This guy still has a weird pose and I lined in the lighter blue before I decided to try my hand at blending. Still, I will be happy get him out on the table.

Centurion 2. No light blue yet, but I added the white trip around the shoulders. It looks a little like football pads to me but I think I will go with it. I am also a little proud of getting the red in the "eye" slot. It is stinking small!

Hammersmith. I really like the way the metallics came out on him.

Defender. Again, I think the blending looks better in person but he still has a way to go. Thanks for reading!

Cygnar Heavy Jacks in Progress

Here are the heavy 'jacks that are in progress.

2 Centurions - I am fairly proud of these guys because they were the first 'jacks I built myself and the very first things I ever pinned. They may have also been the first ones where I used cork on the bases. I would really like to get these guys finished up!

Hammersmith - This guy is just huge!

Defender