Cool Tomb King Unit Fillers (a good internet experience!)

Got these in a box in the mail last night. Ordered from them Ebay for a very reasonable price (something like $15 for two and shipping from the UK to Australia).

Obviously the pillars are white resin. The corners are slightly rounded but the important details are plenty crisp enough.

Each pillar is made up of three pieces. I like that they are not one piece so I can make a third base using the top of one of the pillar and a broken shaft of the same one.

I also like that the shaft of the pillar has a variety of images engraved into them and the two sides are not mirror images of each other.

I plan to use these bases as unit fillers for my skeletons and maybe to bulk out the back of my ushabti.

Til next time...

B

Getting Ripped Off by the Internet

So a while back I was surfing the old interwebs and found this really cool army concept on The Warhammer Forums. A guy had taken chinese heads from a company known as Amazon Miniatures and put them on Bretonnian Men at Arms to create miniature versions of the terracotta warriors seen here:


His version of the army looked like this:


Having spent the summer of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 with my Dad in China I felt a certain connection with this army. To be specific right after all the craziness was happening in Bejing Dad and I were in Xi'an (home of the terracotta warriors) for a month. My Dad taught and I was his unpaid lackey.

I decided to paint up a terrcotta warrior army for Dad and went to Amazon Miniatures to buy the heads. The heads were surprisingly cheap so I bought an armies worth and bought a few boxes of men at arms anticipating their arrival. Well kids that was months ago and still... No heads. I have contacted the company to no response. Tried to get a refund through paypal and recently discovered that Amazon Miniatures website has gone the way of the dodo...

While I am only out something like $40 I am fairly disappointed that the heads never showed up. My parents don't really get my hobby but I really thought my Dad would dig this particular army.

The site in question was... http://www.amazonminiatures.com/

For pictures of the original thread that I found these pictures on... Look here (it is worth a look):
http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=61222&view=previous

Too bad.... Too bad...

RETURN OF THE SNAKE MEN!

Some of you will remember that a while back I started with an alternative to the "new" GW daemonettes to match my funky daemon army. I was pretty disappointed with how they were coming sooo I'll admit it. I put them in a box. I need to remember that the beginning stages of everything looks like rubbish and I need to remember to persevere through to the end... Well with Rumble Coming up I had to do something. The Rumble player pack banned lords (grrr) so Tomb Kings were out... Nerfed magic (grrr) so Vamps were out. I am not so sure about skaven at the moment so they were out. That leaves my Daemons... Had two blocks of Letters and Horrors already. Sigh... Daemonettes here we go.

I had about 6-7 at this stage when I started this week...

They look like rubbish... The basic bodies look alright except for the flat spots on their side where I had to rest them to dry and I didn't like how the teeth came out (I have not added the lips). Anyway... I got to fixing and they came out much better. For those wondering I used a marble inside each head to save on green stuff.

With lips and with imperfections kinda fixed they looked like this:


Here are a few more with command. The champion has one horn sticking out of his head, the std has a slaneeshi symbol on his head and the musician has horns. It is a visual joke I've used before. He is in the horn section... get it? Terrible I know.


The here is the standard from above... See... the symbol... I hope it looks better painted!


The last part of the regiment is the Gale Force Nine movement tray that converts round bases to square bases. I LOVE these things. I have a small pile of them and use them in my Daemons and in my Orc armies. Some models rank up so much easier using them (old chaos warriors, black orcs, etc). Sure they add a few centimetres to the width of the frontage and sideage but I don't play fantasy to win the world. It just makes life easier...


As you can see I left a few bald spots when I glued on the sand. That is for when I add the water effects and blue paint later...

Now Greg at the Hoodling Hole as written a very articulate piece explaining his gradual acceptance and then love of 8th edition fantasy... Check it out if you get the chance... It is a good read:
http://hoodlinghole.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-i-like-warhammer-8th-edition.html

Heresy Horus Model... Or... Look What I Can Buy On the Internets!

So I was on my old friend Wargamerau the other day and I found this little gem kicking around for $45. I bought it on a whim and I am glad that I did.

It is indeed Horus Lupercal and while mine is not painted I am quite pleased with the overall quality of the model.

The model itself is a little too thin for my liking but he towers over regular space marines. He comes with a set of stairs as a base.

Without the stairs his mace is too long to have him hold that AND not have it buried in the table top.I am lucky I guess as I did break mine... I am awesome (sigh) like that. Soooo I think I will take the opportunity to shorten it a bit.

His shoulder is a separate piece from the rest of his body but otherwise his arms, legs and torso are one piece. The claw and mace are separate as well. Here is the body and the shoulder...

His weapons before I broke the mace:


There is remarkably little flash for a resin model (I guess I am used to Forgeworld) but some of the detail is not as crisp as I have come to expect from GW resins. That being said I am keen to give him a layer of paint and see how he comes out.

I might use him next to my all metal RT era marines painted as Sons of Horus. Then he would REALLY look big.

Open Letter to the Local Shop...

After a fairly long running series of problems with my mobile phone provider I was struck how, as hobbyists, we put up with rubbish that we would never deal with reasonably outside of the toy soldier world. If “normal” companies that we deal with regularly tried the tactics often employed by businesses in our hobby we would be voting with our feet and either going elsewhere or rage quitting. Let me give you a few examples.

My personal bane… Low stock levels. If you walked into your local grocery store and they were out of milk, eggs, and all meats except for a small section of beef and pigs feet you would probably not go shopping there again. Why? Because it is a waste of your time. We expect businesses to sell what they advertise. If I had a dollar for every game/ hobby shop I have been in that has a minimal stock of EVERYTHING (not just GW products) I would be a rich dude. It is a worldwide phenomenon. I like to think that I am fairly well travelled and from Boston to Bermuda to Tokyo to Paris to… you name it… you will find poorly stocked shops everywhere. What is also universal is that they all tell me that if I don’t mind waiting two weeks they can get me what I need. WTF? Video game shops (similar market) don’t make people wait to buy hot sellers.

I am not talking about obscure Wood Elf character models either. My base line for years has been two boxed sets. Space Marine Tactical Squad and the Rhino Tanks. Stores should a stock of at least basic essential products of popular ranges. I have often travelled an hour away to a decent retailer avoiding closer crappier stock levels even though they may have what I need. I would rather support people that regularly have what I need.

Now lots of these retails have been bemoaning the internet and discount sellers there. I would say that is a conversation for another day except for the following. I have been doing this for years before the internet was even publically used and accessible. Crappy “stock listers” existed then too in the same numbers. Do you know what has driven me to internet shops (and I have only ever used them two or three times in my life)? The fact that they have what I want when the local shop does not. As I have stated in the past: I HATE TO WAIT. I want to walk into a shop with money burning a hole in my pocket and get what I came for. I do not want to walk out of that shop with that same “hot” money in my pocket disappointed. If you make me wait I might just go to where I will also wait but get what I want for a better price and/or where the customer service is better. Notorious internet discounter in the US, The Warstore, is popular for obviously reasons (price) BUT also because even though they are an internet business their staff are always friendly and knowledgeable about amazing amounts of the product in a variety of games.

Which brings me to my next gripe… Customer Service. GW retail staff have for years been saddled with the reputation of being overzealous. I know of a few friends who make a game of timing how long it takes the GW employee to come and say “howdy.” I’ll admit it… I kinda like this. The same questions are boring BUT they actually ask and interact with you depending on your answers. They generally know their product range and generally give a crap about how to help you with your hobby needs. GW has changed its retail policies in recent years, especially down here in Australia, to ensure that customers have positive experiences when they enter GW retail shops. I prefer this sort of behaviour all day compared to the alternative. The stereotype of the fat lazy game store employee is a stereotype for a good reason. They are everywhere! In many shops I feel like lighting a flare and running around the store, screaming like a banshee to get the “dude” behind the counter to even mumble something at me or heaven forbid look up from whatever computer screen/ paper/ game book/ sci-fi novel that is so damned important-that-I don’t-get-a-shred-of-help-finding-anything-on-their-poorly-organized-shelves… Grrrr…. I am an attention seeking kid. I know this… I have been that way since I was little… GIVE ME SOME ATTENTION DARN IT!!!

Bringing me to my final thought. Maybe it is because I am married to a librarian… BUT… Looking for a blister should not be like looking for the city of gold. Customers do not want to engage in an almost literal easter egg hunt to find the product that they want to purchase. I feel like saying “Give me a break. Take the morning off looking at the sci-fi novel and put your 35 blisters in order. You don’t have many because you do not stock the product in any depth!” Bitter much? Yes, I am. While I am at it… Vacuum the shop and air it out a bit. Game stores really do not need to smell of goats to get street cred. Trust me.

Anyway… Everyone is talking about global pricing. I thought I would shift the attention a little closer to home. I would recommend that shop keepers actually treat their businesses like businesses with customers who want to be happy. It will take a little work and sometimes a little money but it will pay dividends in the long run.

See you on the flip side…

B

Forge World Chaos Dwarves This Month!

Coming to a post office near you (when you order them) on the 23rd of May is the long awaited new chaos dwarf stuff from Forgeworld. In a word... WOW! This stuff looks great:

Basic troopers... Called infernal guard they come in at 36 pounds per ten... Not as bad a price point as I would have thought..
Overall I am really impressed with the detail on these models. Razor crisp details. I am hoping that they are not as badly cast as some of my more recent FW purchases because as I said... WOW!



Unit command... I really think they got the creepy look down pat for the unit champion's face... Disturbing but really cool.
They release on the same day and go for 18 pounds for three dudes which if you look at price per model comes out to a surprisingly similar result.



Now the iffy part... I really don't like the hand gunner/ halberd weapon guys. If I get these guys I will be cutting the weapons off and going with a different look. That being said... look at that scale mail on the back of the model... crisp detail. I feel like I could almost cut my hands touching the back of that guys armour. They are also 36 pounds per ten dudes...



And last but not lease some sort of cannon/ steam tank kinda kit. Since I don;t have an officiallist to use these.... Meh... Don't care... The crew are really nice though!



Now I need another Dwarf army like I need a hole in my head BUT these are nice enough that I am considering it.

Vampire Counts 101

My buddy Peter is the reigning Victorian Master of WFB. Besides being a heck of a nice guy in person, he is a daunting lord of undeath on the battlefield. He has been playing vamps so long it is amazing (he has other armies... he just doesn't play them). I asked Peter to write down a few thoughts on Vampire Counts for a few friends who are new to 8th edition.

Peter... Take it away:

Characters

Vampire Lords: You definitely want at least one. You could possibly get two in 2500+, but fitting them in to the Lords allowance is tricky. I tend to start with a 4+ ward (one of the generic ones or the Crown of the Damned) and then equip them depending on if you want to chop things up or cast spells. If you want a combat lord, Red Fury, Infinite Hatred and a +Strength magic weapon is a good start. The immune to Killing Blow or -1 to hit armours are decent. If you want to cast spells, Master of the Black Arts is almost a no-brainer - it ensures you'll always have a decent number of casting dice. Forbidden Lore is great (a Ld10 Death wizard is always nice), or Dark Acolyte if you just want to cast from the Lore of Vampires. Casting Vanhels Danse Macabre an insane number of times is easily possible and feels pretty dirty. The Staff of Damnation is also excellent if you have any hard-hitting troops (which you probably will), and the Helm of Commandment is extremely good for a Lord that wants to lurk at the back.

Vampires: Not bad, but easy to kill. They make decent but expensive casters and decent but fragile fighters. Hard to get a worthwhile armour save on one unless they're mounted; the Flayed Hauberk (2+ save) is about your only option on foot. A potentially nasty combo is the Talisman of Lycni (M9), the Power Scroll and Forbidden Lore with something like Beasts or Death, but it's 200pts for what might be a one-shot weapon (and people often aren't keen on Power Scrolls). They make a pretty good bearer for the Helm of Commandment if your Lord is selfishly hogging his own WS.

Wight Kings: Cheap and tough for a hero. WS isn't stellar, but with a great weapon they fight pretty well. They make excellent battle standard bearers, since they're harder to kill than a Vampire. You don't need a magic banner - I tend to use just the Flayed Hauberk and a great weapon. The Drakenhof Banner is extremely good but makes him a big target and may tend to erode your comp score, so use with caution.

Necromancers: They hold Dispel Scrolls and can always know Vanhels. Decent if you want a backup caster, especially if your Vampire Lord isn't using the Lore of Vampires.

Core

Skeletons: They weren't bad in 6th Ed, were so-so in 7th and are pretty dire in 8th. They can't fight and tend to die in droves. They can at least be joined by characters and get standard, so they're not too bad to include as an extra point of Fortitude in Blood or Glory. You could use them as a bunker for characters, but avoid anything that can actually fight or the whole lot will probably crumble. (There's probably a reason they got a drastic points drop in the Tomb Kings book...) If you do use them, either have a decent number (30+) to soak up casualties or be able to raise a ton of them. Frankly I'd just get Ghouls, though.

Zombies: About the only thing you can say about them is that they can take a standard. Apart from that they're dreadful and won't hold up anything even vaguely competent for more than a couple of rounds. Stick to raising them as diverters.

Ghouls: The core infantry you'll probably actually use. Same price as Skeletons, better WS, two attacks and Poison. They can actually do decent damage to the right targets, and WS3 T4 means they're about as tough as Skeletons vs many things with WS3. Running them 10 wide gives you a hilarious number of attacks, and with rerolls from Vanhels they'll shred anything with low toughness and seriously worry big targets with poor saves. One major downside is not having access to musicians or standards, so no swift reforms and no Fortitude point.

Dire Wolves: Cheap (only 40pts for a minimum unit), but they lost Fast Cavalry in the errata so they're not nearly as manoeuvrable as they were. They don't count towards your minimum core these days, either. Not too bad if you want a cheap diverter/war machine-muncher, but I'd generally shell out 20 more points and get some Fell Bats instead.

Bat Swarms: When it comes to bats, bigger is better. I'd say get some Fell Bats instead.

Corpse Carts: The Always Strikes First aura is quite good if you affect something that can actually fight (i.e. Ghouls or Grave Guard). Black Knights and Blood Knights would also benefit, but might tend to be out of range. I haven't used them much, but given that you have to fuel them with power dice now, I'd probably just cast Vanhels instead. The upgrades are ok but not earth-shattering, and now they can't regenerate combat res wounds they're unlikely to last if they get into combat.

Special

Grave Guard: These are your premier combat infantry. Give them great weapons, throw some accuracy bonuses at them (the Banner of the Barrows, Vanhels and/or the Helm of Commandment) and watch basically anything in the game die. They can quite easily be hitting and wounding things on a 2+. I'd use a wide formation and take at least 30, preferably 40 - they tend to take a lot of damage themselves, and are quite capable of crumbling if hit hard enough. The Banner of the Barrows helps here, but see the notes above on making friends and comp scores. They could make a worthwhile character bunker if you took a small unit with shields.

Black Knights: Basically mounted Grave Guard. Lost a lot of potency from 7th Ed as they won't break numerous infantry on the charge and can't grind enemies down very well afterwards. They do make a good bodyguard for mounted characters, but they'll still take a lot of damage from hard-hitting infantry. If you use them, try to get things in the flank while they're engaged from another direction so they can't turn to face you. Charging through walls/houses/crevasses/etc is still a cute trick.

Spirit Hosts: Not bad - Ethereal is always a great rule to have. They aren't going to kill very much, but might divert a unit for a round or two. They could be handy to stop a unit turning to face (see above). They tend to play second fiddle to Wraiths, though, who server a similar purpose while actually being able to kill things.

Fell Bats: A minimum unit is 60pts and being fliers they're very fast. Excellent for diverting things, especially anything with Frenzy. They're also quite capable of eating (or at least tying up) war machine crews. I tend to take at least two units, and often take three if it's a large enough game.

Rare

Varghulf: They maim T3 infantry due to being about the lightest thing with Thunderstomp, but avoid anything that can fight back. They can't Regenerate wounds from combat resolution anymore, so they're more fragile than they were. Like Black Knights, aim for the flank and preferably support another unit. One thing to bear in mind is that while they're M8 they don't have Swiftstride, so they won't charge as reliably as cavalry/fliers/beasts.

Black Coach: Quite hard to kill - except via combat resolution, where the wheels fall off in short order. The power dice eating and power-ups are cute, but can be annoying if it absorbs your dice at a crucial time. They don't do particularly impressive amounts of damage, though at least the Wraith driver gets S5 with his great weapon in 8th Ed. If you take one, use it to support other units unless you're charging something pretty feeble.

Wraiths: The Rare choice of choice. Ethereal means a lot of things can't touch them, and they can put out enough wounds to hold their own against a lot of units. This is one of their best uses - giant unit of Swordmasters/Chaos Wariors/Hammerers/etc giving you issues? Throw 4-5 Wraiths at the problem, cast the occasional Invocation to top them up and deal with the enemy a your leisure. They're also very good at cleaning up annoying enemy light units and supporting other units in combat. Watch out for heroes with magic weapons and good saves, Wights, Forest Spirits and Daemons. Magic is maybe less of an issue than in 7th Ed, since there are a few less magic missiles around now (but watch out for spells that give a unit magical attacks!). Daemons are a particularly depressing matchup, but if you have the points for a Banshee they can still harass things with her scream.

Blood Knights: Ludicrous damage potential, but expensive and quite fragile now. Charge anything with decent strength in the front and you'll take severe casualties unless you practically wipe them out. Aim for the flanks and take the Hatred banner. Keeping somebody with good Ld (a Lord or a Wight King) in range is also a good idea, or they may go chasing after the wrong thing and die.

General Thoughts

Overall, Vampire Counts got more fragile in 8th Ed. You can't rely on wiping the front rank of a unit out with a blood-mad Vampire Lord for protection anymore, and decently sized units can hit hard enough to crumble VC units in one round. Taking larger units than in 7th Ed is probably a good idea, especially anything you can't add to with magic. Fear and Terror got a lot less powerful, and deep infantry formations aren't going to break because you beat them by 4 or 5 points, so enemies aren't going to run off as easily. You need units that can actually fight, which VC have (maybe not with much variety, but hey. Bland but functional is better than bland and incompetent...)

Quite a lot of the choices range from so-so to pretty awful in 8th Ed, so unfortunately if you're really trying to hone your list to a razor edge it'll end up looking a lot like all the other razor-honed VC armies. A list that's hard to go too wrong with is a large Grave Guard unit (30-40), a couple of decently sized Ghoul blocks (30-ish), a caster Lord and a BSB. Season with diverters and Rare choices (well, ok, probably Wraiths) to taste. Having said that, most of the limitations are in the Core section, where Ghouls are the only really appealing choice. The stuff in Special and Rare ranges from ok to excellent, so you should probably be able to find a use for anything in there.