More Color in the Underworlds!

   As promised in my last hobby post, I would get some more of the Underworlds: Shadespire models painted and then post some pics.  After a couple of later nights (totally due to procrastination), I finally finished the models and got to taking the pictures- even if in terrible winter-season light and on a simple phone camera.  But hey, it's done!

  This time, I finished up the Ironjaws warband.  I have to admit that I did not enjoy painting all the yellow.  Priming the models in black and then painting them on the bases may not have been the wisest approach, but the warband did come out strikingly awesome.  I tried to keep the skin dark (they are the old school Black Orcs, known for their thick, dark skin after decades of fighting), which was very hard to do with the bright armor.  Some bright, stony weapons and a dark base meant that I was really messing around with color theory on these guys.  Let me know what you think of the efforts for sure.

Ironskull's Boyz

  My wife painted her skeleton warband way back in November to give us some painted models for our trip to Warhammer Citadel.  She painted almost all of these models in the short span of a game between me and my buddy and had them completely ready by the time we went to bed.  Talk about speed!

Sepulchral Guard

My favorite one...

  Now that those are all done, it's time to get to painting some Ultramarines.  Give me a couple of weeks and I may have to dive back into the Underworlds: Shadespire models and get those Dwarves and Skaven done.  But first, some blue!!!

  Let me know what you think below and if you've been working on anything.  Happy hobbying!

That wasn't that tough!

  It's not like I'm busy and have things like school and children to worry about.  Every once in a while I get to do some hobbying for myself too.  But just to make sure that I'm never not busy and can procrastinate with legitimate excuses on my stuff, I toss in some work for other people too.  I'm not running a business, but I don't mind putting paint to miniatures for friends and even those willing to throw some pocket change my way.  Plus, this allows me to take my time working on my own stuff.

The last time I painted some models for others...

  There's a group of guys that I hang out with outside the hobby (although they are comic book nerds, so really just a different hobby) and they are well aware of my obsession.  So much so, in fact, that leaving my buddy's house in late November saw a blister pack thrust into my hands and orders given to paint it.  The owner is a burly man that takes pride in his machismo, and the model he handed me is apparently his 'avatar'.  I had no idea and when I asked our mutual buddy about it, I found that the owner has an old tattoo similar to this on himself .  With that, I was motivated to do an even better job than normal.

  But here's the kicker- it's a Bones miniature.  If you haven't worked with these before, here's the deal- Bones are cheap, accessible models for RPGs that are often copies of metal Reaper miniatures.  It's an awesome product line, especially for the poorer gamers among us (the typical miniature is less than $5!).  Considering that character models for DnD typically run you around $12-15 each, a low-cost option is more than welcome.  Unfortunately, the plastic that Bones miniatures use is PVC, not the resinated plastic that higher quality companies typically use.  PVC is not great for priming and painting, even with a hard scrub.  In addition, the detail isn't nearly as crisp as I'm used to, meaning that the ability to pick out those details during the paint stage isn't as easy as I'd like.  But the models are still really good and not so much a bear to paint that I avoid it.

   This particular model is the Avatar of Resilience, represented as a anthropomorphized Rhino.  I searched and dug through the Google Images caches and couldn't find a painted example, so I had to make it up as I went.  I even joked, after such an exhaustive search (that took 20 minutes) that I must be the first person to ever paint the model.  FURST!  But I digress...

  The model has very few details to work with.  No armor, a tree branch holding a boulder as a weapon, and a bunch of leather belts were the only details to break up the tough hide of the Avatar.  That didn't leave me with a ton of options.  When I first started working in the model, I wanted to pour a ton of work into the skin.  I was going to do some green and brown washes under gradual layers of wet-blended gray to give that natural tone and still have depth.  It didn't work.  I had to resign myself to drybrushes upon drybrushes of gray.  I then had to figure out how to do paint the rest of the model and pulled out every shade of brown that I own.  But browns are grays aren't exciting or contrasting, so I was still a bit unimpressed with my work.  And that's when it struck me-

  Cheeta skin!!!  The orange and dark spots would stand out on the model and draw the eyes to something other than the rather prolific belly-bulge or massive head.  That was a blast to paint and I am now trying to think of a way to bring that into something else.  The cheeta-skin was definitely my favorite part of painting this model, not for the technique but for the eye-catching effect it brought.

  After that, it was all about the eyes and horn.  I did another exhaustive search on the Google Images for 'Rhino horns' and 'Rhino eyes' and found some interesting information.  First, the horns are not bone-colored like the comical 40k style leads one to believe.  In fact, Rhino horns are either the same color as their hide OR they get darker towards the end.  Just like the hide, I had grandiose visions of how I was going to paint that.  An attempt at feathering (the old version of that technique, not the amended modern meaning) failed, then an attempt at wet-blending again failed.  I had to settle for just a few layers and be satisfied.

  More surprising was the eyes.  I thought that Rhinos had all black eyes for some reason.  As it turns out, they have very human-like eyes!  From lashes to colored irises, their eyes contain much more detail than I first thought.  I had a bit of fun painting these eyes as opposed to actual human miniatures because, well, they were bigger and much easier to do.  It's those little things (or big things, in this case)...

  I finished him in a matter of hours, but spread over a few months.  There were many other projects that I had to plug through before I got to this one, but I was so happy that he was finally done.  When I delivered him to the owner and my mutual buddy to take to him, I received a text of great appreciation.  And that made the needless struggles of painting the model totally worth it.  It isn't the best paint job or most fantastic model I've ever done, but I'm satisfied with the results.

That Rhino was more fun that the last project I did for this guy...

I do highly suggest Bones miniatures for those RPG gamers that need some miniatures for cheap.  If you're not a Golden Daemon-level painter, these models are perfect for you and won't cost you an arm and leg (miniature or otherwise).  Reaper is even kind enough to provide advise on how to treat these models right on their site!  Check it out here.

Let me know what you think below.  And Happy Hobbying!

My Faith Is Stronger Than Yours

  It was my wife's birthday and she gave me the gift of getting our game on finally.  She has been working on painting up her Sisters of Battle so much lately that she almost forgot there was a game to use all those models in!  I got her old-school Immolators built and primed (and even fixed the poor Exorcist that I didn't do great with the last time) and we set up for the next battle in our campaign.

  I didn't change the battlefield up too much from the last battle- just replacing the Fortress of Redemption with a new and old Sanctum kit to better represent the Sororitas territory.


Here's the continuing story:
  After his crushing defeat, the Chaos Sorcerer needed a way to get his forces deep in enemy territory for all the slaughter his blood rituals required.  Evaluating his tactical intel, he found an old section of ruins that was considered sacred by the corpse-worshipers.  Likely undefended, his forces could desecrate the site and contribute further to weakening reality for his rituals.  Unfortunately, the Sorcerer didn't know the whole story.  
  The Adeptus Sororitas, being alerted to the presence of Chaos on the planet, mobilized a small defense force to secure certain sites.  The sacred ruins of an ancient Sanctum could be found outside the densest population center and would be an obvious target.  The Canoness prayed for help and mustered all she could for the upcoming battle.  

  Having no reinforcements since the last battle, the heretic forces remain the same.  They consisted a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh with wings, a hellforged sword, and that elixir that everyone loves, a Sorcerer, a squad of 17 autogun-wielding Cultists, 10 marines with a couple of plasma guns and a power fist, 10 more marines armed for close combat and rocking a couple flamers and a power sword under their Banner of Excess, a unit of Possessed with a Banner of Excess, 5 Warptalons, an Annihilator, and a Knight Gallant with a stormspear rocket pod. More for the up-close-and-personal approach- the way Slaanesh likes it!

   Her forces consisted of St. Celestine, a Canoness with a bolt pistol and Mantle of Ophelia, 10 Sisters with a power sword, storm bolter, meltagun, and simalucrum imperialis, two small units with power swords and meltaguns riding in Immolators, Retributor with heavy bolters, 3 squads of Seraphim with hand flamers, power swords, and plasma pistols for a couple of them, an Exorcist, and an Imperial Knight Errant with icarus autocannons and a meltagun.  

  That equals out to four additional Faith Points, using the new beta codex in Chapter Approved 2018.  The force was definitely less points than it used to be and it was going to be interesting to see how these basic elements of this army worked.  As it turns out, the Faith Points weren't that important in this battle, but I blame that more on the size and limited collection we have.  

  The Word Bearers deployed in a thin line across the battlefield to face the Imperials.  The Annihilator and Daemon Prince held down the woods and kept the Renegade Knight's flank protected, while the squad of shooty Marines deployed atop the hill to be able to pick targets.  Finally, a giant horde of Cultists followed by frenzied Marines and Possessed wrapped around the Sorcerer to keep him safe.  With a simple strategy of attacking the enemy from every angle, the Warp Talons stayed in the warp to arrive later.
  The Sisters answered by deploying in a line meant to swing into the enemy.  The anchor Exorcist parked in the ruins with the Knight Errant and Celestine ready to leap forward and engage.  The other side of the ruins saw the Retributors, a full Immolator, and the mob of Sisters standing ready with their Canoness.  A final squad in Immolator took position in the other woods to flank the enemy.  With a counterstrike in mind, the remaining squads of Seraphim remained in reserve.

  We kept the mission simple again- "Kill and 12".  This meant that we got Victory Points for killing units and also the current Secondary Objectives.  As before, this battle is more-or-less a chance to learn the armies and add some narrative to the campaign.  The forces of Chaos, still burning from their last defeat, chose to go first.  

Battle Round 1

  The Word Bearers immediately leapt into action, pushing the Cultists-led horde forward to get as close to the enemy as possible.  Unfortunately, the Sorcerer was too busy directing the mob to successfully manifest any powers.  The Marines on the hill took the initiative and descended to behind the ruins in the hopes of gunning down one of the glowing Seraphim.  Unfortunately, their Shield of Faith ability kept most of the target alive.  The Renegade Knight stomped forward, ready to kill the loyalist Knight.  Knowing that he couldn't reach his target immediately, he ironically took cover behind the Imperial statue and fired his weapons at the Exorcist in the ruins.  Damaging the heavy tank, the Renegade Knight fired his stubber into the Seraphim to keep their heads down.  Looking up, he waited in satisfaction for the opposing Knight to accept his challenge.  In support, the Annihilator blasted the Knight Errant, with some of the damage blocked by the ion shields.  The Daemon Prince calmly watched to see where he could slaughter the most, eager to unleash slaughter on something.

  The Sisters of Battle rushed up with the Immolators and used one to fry a couple of Chaos Marines right away.  The unmounted squad of sisters unloaded their weapons into the Cultists and killed a few but watched in horror as the unit was unaffected.  St. Celestine, her Seraphim entourage, and the Knight Errant moved to attack the Renegade Knight and were disappointed to see the shields of the heretical war machine hold.  Looking to bypass that advantage, the loyalist Knight tried to charge the Renegade but found the Imperial Statue in the way.  Wisely, the Exorcist unloaded her missiles into the Predator hiding in the woods, crippling it and almost destroying it.  It was a stressful beginning to the engagement, but Sisters aren't known for their lack of tenacity...

   

Round 1 Score: 0-0

Battle Round 2

  The Word Bearers became more frenzied as the Sisters closed with them.  The mob of Cultists slunk away in the confusion just as the Possessed and close-combat-focused Marines ran up to engage.  The Marines made their way through the ruins of the old Sanctum and used their flamers to kill a couple of the Sisters in unholy flame.  The Possessed, spurred on by their Sorcerer's power, jumped onto the hull of the nearest Immolator and ripped holes in the tank.  Content with that flank, the Sorcerer turned and cast the power of aim on the bolter-armed squad of Marines.  They targeted the Seraphim again, this time felling almost all of them.  Some added firepower from the rest of the Chaos forces saw the last two angelic guardians fall.  It was this act that finally convinced the Warp Talons to tear into reality behind the Exorcist, but they were more happy to simply watch the destruction unfold.  The crippled Annihilator poured lascannons into the loyalist Knight, hoping to soften it further before the Renegade Knight charged in.  Taking the opportunity, the Renegade Knight deftly moved behind the Errant and used its massive fist to rip the entire fusion reactor out of the war machine.  Unfortunately, that fusion reactor exploded and severely damaged the Renegade.  But it was worth it...

  The Sisters of Battle were terrified to see their allied Knight Errant explode!  But this was not the time for consideration and they pressed the attack.  Five angry Sisters disembarked from the damaged Immolator, which retreated from the daemon-spawn.  With firepower from every unit that could target them, the Possessed were killed off with bullets and melta-beam.  Just then, another unit of Seraphim descended and lent their firepower to the big unit's and another Exorcist against the chainsword-wielding Chaos Marines.  Once they saw half the Marines downed, the big squad of Sisters drew their combat blades and slammed into combat, wiping out most of the heretics while only losing one.  The Canoness hung back and knew that her Sisters had everything under control.  Agreeing, St. Celestine charged into combat with the other squad that had killed her entourage, adding her strength to the small unit that had disembarked to do the same.  The enemy was locked up and it was looking promising for the Imperials.  

Score Round 2: 2-1

Battle Round 3

  The mayhem had built until the slaughter exploded across the battlefield.  Cultists, which had snuck up behind the Sisters and gunned down most of the Retributors, moved and prepared to assault both the Canoness and Retributors.  The element of surprise was on the traitors' side and they caught both units unaware.  It was going to be a brutal fight.  Meanwhile, the two squads of Chaos Marines fought as hard as they could but finally fell to the unerring onslaught of the Bloody Rose Sisters' knives and hatred.  The Renegade Knight turned and limped toward the Exorcist missile tank, firing more missiles into it but failing to cover the ground in its damaged state.  Angry at the failure, the Daemon Prince abandoned the Predator and ran right at St. Celestine.  With an infernal roar, he fired his Warp Bolter into the remaining Sisters and killed them off, turned his attention to the holy leader and hacked her completely in half, only for the living saint to reappear in a flash feet away.  The Prince never noticed and stomped towards the Immolator.  

  The Exorcist unloaded its rockets into the crippled Annihilator and was rewarded with an explosion from the woods.  The large squad of Sisters consolidated back to their Canoness and began killing the Cultists that threatened her and the surviving Retributor.  With the pressure building and their bravery waning, the Cultists finally dispersed.  Seraphim patiently maneuvered to find the Sorcerer and immediately attacked when they did.  He would die for his heresy.  The last real threat on the battlefield was the badly-damaged Renegade Knight.  St. Celestine hesitantly approached it, ready to fight it herself if needed.  But a salvo of missiles from the Exorcist crippled the war machine.  Summoning her divine powers in the form of fire jetting from her sword, she melted the Knight and let the wreckage crumble to the ground.  It was time to turn her attention to the Warp Talons screaming in the rear.   

Score Round 3: 4-7

Battle Round 4

  With very few assets left, the goal of the Word Bearers was now to cause as much damage as they could.  The resurrection of the Living Saint and the inability to finish off the Canoness was demoralizing.  Luckily, Daemon Princes and Daemons aren't known for their morale, so that slaughter would continue.   The Warp Talons charged into the now useless Exorcist and failed to damage the thick armor.  The Daemon Prince shot and killed some of the Seraphim that had just taken the Warlord's head, then noticed that St. Celestine was still alive and killed her a second time with his sword.  Before he decided to charge into the flame tanks, they incinerated the Prince and purified the blasphemy.  The Canoness would turn her force's attention to the Warp Talons later.    It was obvious who the victor was on this battlefield.

Score Round 4: 5-9

   Here's the scoreboard for this one- again a loss for the heretics...

  Okay, another battle done and another victory for the Imperials in our little campaign.  I think it may be time to amend the Word Bearers army just a bit.  It was more than awesome to see the Sisters of Battle in use with the new beta codex rules, as well.  The beta codex version isn't bad and I'm not sure I'm ready to face this force once we have more models.  A horde of Sisters all shooting bolters at 2+, charging and getting 2 str 4 attacks each...  that can pass a Faith test and fight again!  Yeah, not too shabby.  

  Congrats to the wife for winning at 40k.  She insists that we play some AoS now, so that may be the next battle report.  Stay tuned for more.  And, as always, Happy Gaming!

Bolter Wars

  Well, isn't that interesting?  Games Workshop recently released a new beta involving my favorite army with my favorite weapon.  And I think this may actually be one of the best 'rules adjustments' that GW has ever done.

  In case you're not sure there's precedent- remember that Space Marines were originally T3 models until a White Dwarf article way back in the Rogue Trader (1st edition) days, and Terminators didn't have an invulnerable save in 3rd edition until a White Dwarf article introduced the Crux Terminatus rule.  Beyond introducing races into the game (what's up, Necrons?), that magazine has contributed some pretty game-changing aspects to the rules.

  Now it should be noted here that this rule is "beta".  That means it is here for the joy of testing and giving feedback to the developers and there is no guarantee that this rule will ever become official.  Some of my favorite batrep sites don't use beta rules and exclusively use what's printed and I can totally understand that.  But we use beta rules around here since they're meant to represent the 'evolution' of the game and we want to be prepared to play other gamers when we ascend into the real world.  Plus, most of the other beta rules were transferred directly into the rules through the Chapter Approved, so it's a safe assumption that this rule will be as well.

Here it is in case you haven't seen it seven thousand times already:

  Basically, this just means that Space Marines (or their heretic ilk) gain some special abilities with their bolters outside the normal Rapid Fire rules.  Like normal, you get double shots if the unit is within half range of the target.  But now, those Astartes get double shots if they stand still (that's out to max range, by the way) or always if they just happen to be a Terminator or biker.  Or vehicle.  Like a Land Raider Crusader.

  Now I'm not the smartest guy and I originally read this to mean that Space Marines get to double their doubled shots.  I forgot the first part of that second sentence "Instead of following the normal rules for Rapid Fire weapons...".  Apparently, I wasn't the only one with reading comprehension issues as this interpretation turned into a debate online for a bit.  I was set straight by a buddy that reads the rules a little too well.  Okay, finally got it.  Not too shabby.

  So I can go on and on about who are the best recipients of this rule and whether it's game-breaking or not.  The first one is a dead horse that I don't really want to beat anymore.  But the second point?  Well, I don't think it's really game-breaking at all.  Let me explain.

  So a regular 13-point Space Marine with a bolter can stand still and put out two S4 shots at 24".  An Intercessor with a bolt rifle, costing 17 points, can put out two S4, AP 1 shots out to 30".  Does this compare to the seven points for an Ork or five for a Guardsman or Cultist (the Guardsman can shoot twice if ordered and the Cultist can get +1 to both hit and wound with a bit of voodoo)?  The problem with Space Marines is that they're pretty good at everything so their points cost has to reflect that.  But the entire game is filled with Space Marine-killers and they pay less points just out of sheer fact that whatever's holding the weapon is cheap (Tau) and the gun is cheap ("That causes how much damage?!").  It's not about the points, it's just how wargaming works.  Hordes have a higher ceiling than elites.

  So I think that this is a great way to give those 'elites' a higher ceiling without having to monkey with points or introducing even more cheesy weapons into the game.  All in all, it just helps narrow that natural gap between hordes and elites.  It's game-changing, but not at all game-breaking (in that negative way, like Castellan Knights...).

  Even then, that's not why I'm such a fan of this rule.  I'd rather waste your time talking about why this was such a fantastic addition to the game.  And just like above, I'll show you how it's as impactful as the previous White Dwarf incidents.

  In the original lore for Space Marines, they weren't yet what they are today.  They were typically just really tough dudes, often criminals of the worst kind, psychoindoctrinated and filled with combat stims to go smash alien face.  Someone, at some point, thought that they could be so much more and the concept of genetically-engineered super soldiers became the focus.  Publish an article that uses this rationale to change that all-too-human T3 to a tougher, meaner T4 and BAM!  You have the entire foundation stat for the game!

  3rd Edition was released when I went off to college and it changed... everything.  While there were some similarities (like most of the stat-line), the game became more 'generalized' and less granular.  Suffering from this was Terminators.  They went from having a unique armor save that kept them alive against even lascannons to having a bog-standard 2+, which was cancelled out by plasma weapons and even power swords.  Thankfully, it wasn't long before someone realized that the invulnerable Tactical Dreadnought armor was quite vulnerable and I came back from college to a 5+ invulnerable save.  BAM!  That became the standard for invulnerable saves and the primary reason to take the 40-point models back in those days.  Chaos Lords seemed to prefer the Terminator armor for some reason after that...

  Now here we are in 8th edition where everything has again changed (except most of the stat-line).  While the game didn't suffer vanillization like 3rd edition did to it, it did lose some of the charm for certain units.  And that natural gap between hordes and elites?  This edition has made that weakness much more glaring.  And here's what it comes down to-

number of shots

  Hordes have a higher ceiling because they come with some sort of specialty (shooting in the case of Guard and attacks in the case of greenskins) which, with numbers, allows them to overwhelm the elites.  Meanwhile, elite armies don't have enough shots or rounds to get off shots to even match the number of models the hordes can bring!  Sure, the elites usually have good armor saves which allow them to survive.  And hordes don't usually have good armor or toughness, so die quickly.  Except that the horde hits with 40 attacks against a 5-man squad of elites with 3+ saves.  Failing a third of those saves by probability means that the elites have to hope that those 40 hits only turn into 12 wounds and that they roll well.  The elites attack the horde with 10 attacks from whatever size unit into a horde and 6 die.  And?  Six down and dozens more to go...

  This means that the elites simply need a way to match that number of shots to that number of models in the target better.  This rules does that great.  

  But there's more.  For me, it's all about the narrative.  One of the things that used to drive me nuts was that the Space Wolves had True Grit and Counter-charge as special rules.  I play Ultramarines- the best armed, trained, and planned warriors in the galaxy.  Yet only the barbaric and not altogether bright Wolves were able to rock their rifles with one hand and help their battle-buddy when charged.  Yeah, that made sense.  There's none of that in this edition anymore, so no big deal.  It just never made sense to me in the fluff.  

  Today, the fluff shows that the average Imperial Guardsman has had two weeks of training en-route to a battlezone with their lasguns.  An Ork rebuilds his shoota at least twice per battle.  Even the Eldar go back to making pottery in between attempting genocide on somebody.  But a Space Marine never puts his bolter down.  It's gene-coded to him so only he can use it.  It's a club as well as a ranged weapon, and it carries the same honorifics as a legendary warrior.  And they've been using it for somewhere around hundreds of years.  They know how to use that bolter a bit better than the Canoness on her best day or the Tallarn Sergeant after killing Orks for a cycle or three.  

  Just like the Space Marines being tougher because they should be tougher and the Terminators are more survivable because they're supposed to be more survivable than regular armor, the ability of a Space Marine to use that boltgun should be represented in the rules.  For me, this rule is fully justified from the fluff and works.  

  Now let's talk about one unit that I would really like to see make its comeback- the Terminators.  I have always been in love with these guys, now having a fully painted 3k Deathwing army and another 3k in Ultramarine Terminators waiting for the paint.  When I really got into this game at the end of 2nd edition, Terminators were the best of the best and were worth every point and penny.  They lost favor as the editions progressed until today, where they're almost never used.  The reasons are obvious- multi-wound weapons and copious amounts of rending makes these models less survivable than before.  And they never really put out a ton of damage, even with assault cannons gaining an extra shot.  

  But this rule means that those storm-bolter-wielding Terminators can really cause some damage to the enemy hordes.  A 175-point squad could be laying down as many as 20 shots, adding re-rolls with some smart play, and BAM!  Damage output doubled.  And here's the best part- they don't have to teleport to take advantage of this!  Ever wanted a 'distraction-carnifex' unit for Space Marines?  Found it!  

  Overall, I couldn't be happier with this beta rule.  It's inclusive, but only to Space Marines of both varieties and all their vehicles.  It's not game-breaking but it does help to close an obvious gap in the meta.  And it fulfills the narrative 'fluff' aspect that got me and keeps me into this game.  I'm excited to use it...

Let me know what you think below and Happy Gaming!