Da Rust is Strong wit dis Force!

  When I chose to start a NEW army, it was originally for Necrons.  I wanted a cheezy force that would be a cinch to paint in no time at all.  Sadly, the Necron army box was long sold out (I guess asking the store to hold it for two years for me isn't the best idea!) and the Orks were just released.  In any case, I wanted xenos and a bad guy, and I'm already playing Eldar (so no need for the spiky version)- so Orks it was!

  Just like my last NEW army, the Blood Angels, I stubbornly refused to quit the force or even modify it until I got the 'core' of the army painted.  And my Orks took a bit longer than I expected (hey, school and family and various other responsibilities tend to be higher on the 'to-do' list!).  But I was able to get them done in very little time following this method and the glory of rust!

  I'll show you the easy step by step on my Warboss below.  Please remember that my photography equipment changed (and isn't so good yet) and the rest of the model hasn't been painted yet.  Without further ado, let's go!

1,  Overbrush model with Warplock Bronze (or Tin Bitz, or whatever rusty color (not texture) you may have).  Be sloppy.

Just admiring my conversion...  I LOVE this model!

2.  Heavily Drybrush model with Leadbelcher (or any silver color, really).

3.  Stipple Troll-slayer Orange using your worst brush.  Be sure to let the orange paint dry up a bit, as even base colors are runny for orange...

4.  Stipple Rhinox Hide using the same brush (your worst one).  DO NOT CARE where the color goes.  Rust is chaotic and you not liking it will prove that you're doing it correctly.

5.  Heavily wash model with Agrax Earthshade (or Devlan Mud, or Armor Wash, or whatever).  It will 'fade' the colors together and bring detail back out.  Notice the the Deff Dread?  that's withe less brown and even more wash!

  From here, all you have to do is paint the rest of the colors and wash again!  Remember to check out the other post with the original instructions, as that's literally what I did after the rust.  Let me know what y'all think and, as always, Happy Hobbying!

Aleph for Me!

  We know that I'm like an addict when it comes to miniatures games.  Everyone who's been around me knows that I can't stop once I get started.  I have to make rational decisions to avoid games just because I know what'll happen.  And after this last bit, I think I've come to a realization:

I have a problem!

  They say the first step to solving a problem is admitting that problem.  Well, I have a problem with miniatures games.  Funny enough, it's not a problem I want to solve...

  If I'm going to buy something, I'm going to buy ALL of something.  There's no point to buying some of a product and then wondering what could have been when you could buy everything and regret that less (at least I do).  That's why I have 8 massive armies for 40k, and then three more than can be built up pretty quickly.  Three massive armies for Warhammer, a game I no longer play, 3 massive fleets for BFG, a game almost nobody plays anymore, and every module of Star Fleet Battles Captains Edition that was ever produced- a game nobody has ever heard of!  Yeah, I do that.

  Recently, that happened with Star Trek: Attack Wing (where I own literally everything except DS9 (which I did own) and the Borg Cube, neither of which I want) and Cryptozoic's DC Deck-building game.  Yes, I enjoy both of those games immensely, and yes, I don't need all of that stuff to enjoy it.  But yes, I feel obligated to collect it all.  ALL OF IT!!!

  And then my buddy got me into Infinity.  He brought over some Aleph models and tossed them in my lap.  Not knowing what the heck I was just assaulted with, I picked up the boxes and saw this:

Myrmidons- the badasses of humanity's AI

Posthumans- remote-controlled super-people!

  My buddy knows what I like!  He remembered me showing some interest in the robots and mecha feel of this faction, so he picked them up for me.  Yeah!!!  Of course, that started the avalanche of retail visits.  First, I had to pick up a leader, right?

"Say 'what' again!"

   But I still didn't have any of my cool little robot guys, so I picked this up today:

Aleph Starter Pack, including 3 Dakini bots!

  Now, in order to make my Steel Phalanx list, I have to wait for this box to show up- a box with two missile launchers!

Myrmidons and their Thorikatai brothers...

  I would be a liar if I didn't note that I also bought a couple of drop-troops, a couple of sentry bots, and a giant mecha dude to go with this as well.  But I don't want my buddy to know about all this yet, so sssshhhhhhh.  When I get it all built and painted, his Combined Army (the bad-guy alien jerks) will have enough fun.  I might as well make it a surprise too...

  As with all my other games, I didn't stop at a reasonable point.  My wife is already mad at me for spending so much money, but I can't help it.  Remember, I've admitted it, so I'm only just starting the process of solving it...  Heeheehehehehe

  What habits have taken your addiction?  Let me know and we can commiserate together.  And, as always, Happy Hobbying!

Da Waaaagh got to test da metal

This battle was a bit of a special one.  One of my long-time buddies rolled down here from Chicago and, for the first time in our almost decade-long association, we played a game!  He only brought some Necron infantry to paint, but it added up to 1000 points and I have this 1000 point army that I've been slowly painting and playing with.  So the heck with it!  We decided to throw down.

In the interest of keeping it short (he had a four hour drive back to his hotel), we decided to play a standard 'Kill and 12' mission on a 4'x4' table.  And y'all know how much I love the cityfight style right now...

da battlefield.  Note that the buildings are set up diagonally to keep any major advantages minimal.

I kept my Warbikes behind cover and on the flank, backed up by the Lootas, and then spread the boyz across the rest of the front.  This time, I remembered to put my Deffdread in a position to do something!  But not having the first turn meant i had to be ready to react to whatever he did.   

My deployment

He deployed some Scarabs and Warriors on his right flank, some Warriors and Immortals in the middle, and the super-fast Praetorians on his left flank.  He also infiltrated Flayed Ones in the middle...

His deployment

I tried to roll for Night Fighting rules, but it turned out that we were definitely fighting at high noon.  Darn.  Space Marine guns are bad enough...  He rolled and chose to set up first, and I made sure to avoid his 'good' stuff.  First turn comes around and it's time to see who goes first.  Funny enough, my buddy has the same problem that I have- he always get 'seized' on.  This case was no different and I was smiling- happy to be on the giving end this time!  So da Orks get first turn.

That's right- my die rolled a '6'!

My Warbikes leapt forward and shot at the Scarab swarms, killing half of them with a great amount of accuracy!  12 dice, and 9 hit.  Yeah, that happened.  Da boyz rushed forward on all sides, and the Lootas shot at some Warriors in the building, killing a couple.  It was phenomenal, as the Orks looked like they'd been to the range finally!

But the Necrons weren't perturbed and they leapt into action.  The Flayed Ones and the Praetorians jumped into the ruins where my Orks had just taken up position, and eventually shot and charged them.  The Flayed Ones alone killed off the whole mob, but the Praetorians did most of the word first as they didn't have to pick their way through rubble to get to their targets.  Royalty has its privelages...  Meanwhile, the Warriors and Immortals in the middle blasted the Deffdread to bits in a single volley, adding to that machines woeful record.  The Immortals failed with their shots, but the Warriors were sure to decimate the target.  The greenskin inside had hope for a moment, but it was not meant to be.  On a much better note, the Scarabs tried to charge the Warbikers and lost a few more in the process.  As the pieces of those silver insects flopped about the ground, the survivors thought better and failed their charge.  That left the Warboss in a very happy position...

End of Turn 1

Turn 2 was brutal.  The Warbikes and their leader decided to pull off a disordered charge to clear out the Warriors and metal insects from the flank.  Some peppering of the Warriors knocks them down to two and a charge over rubble and a crater requires an '11' to charge.  There's no way I'm going to make that and I just cost myself the game on that gamble...

And then I rolled boxcars!!!!

So the Warboss, a Nob, and a single biker come out of that scrum with nary a scratch and that flank completely controlled.  The Ork boyz in the middle of the battlefield consolidate and charge the Flayed Ones, losing most of their number but finishing off the very scary unit.  By the way, to all those players that think Flayed Ones suck- 3 base attacks, Str 4, Shred, AP 5, and the same cost as a Warrior- bite me!  Those guys are awesome!

But the Necrons answered.  The Praetorians jumped over and finished off the boyz, and the Warriors and Immortals shot at the bikers.  After everything was said and done, only the Overlord and his unit of Immortals stood against the wounded Warboss and his wounded Nob...

End of Turn 2

Turn 3 was just as brutal as the other Turn 3's.  My Lootas tried to shoot at the Praetorians as they came roaring in, failing to do anything significant.  A combat quickly ensued and the last two surviving Necron nobles finished the Lootas off with a chase.  It was a sad day for the big gunz...  

Not a lot left on the table...

The Warboss and his Nob took the charge from the Immortals and Lord, and His Overlord was only alive because he had turned down my challenge.  The arrogance!  His squad didn't run away, so my Warboss was now the last hope of my army.  We fought again, this time he accepted the challenge, and then commenced to finishing off the Orks with style.  Needless to say, that challenge didn't last as I didn't pass that one, single, final, all-important armor save.  That was it.  Another complete tabling.  

End of Turn 3

Well, I've played 6 games with my Orks so far and have won one.  Orks are a very rough army to play at such small points levels, and the 'codex' theme for the army is the worst one in the game ('codex' theme refers to taking the most basic stuff from a codex to display the 'personality' of an army).  I may play one more game with this army list- against the same guy that I played the first time and won against.  But I doubt that.  I wanted to get this army painted so I could start adding good stuff to it...

It was nice to also see the new Necrons at work.  I have to admit that I still hate Necrons with a burning passion, and I still very much think they are one of the most powerful armies out there, but they are a bit on the 'experienced' side and so should probably be a bit scary.  I didn't have to face any of the cheezy vehicles (thank Gork (or maybe Mork) for 1200 mile trips and limited luggage space!), but I don't think it'll make the army harder to beat, just more annoying while they're beating you.  But that's why I'm playing Orks- I need to get used to being beat and learn to win on 'hard'.  Necrons against Orks?  Yep, just like I remember it...

What do you guys think of the new Necrons?  Ever had a game where the dice were on fire for you and you still lost?  Let me know about your latest game and, as always, Happy Gaming!

How Long to Paint Ruins?!

  So what's the point of painting your models if your terrain still looks like junk?  That was a realization that I had while trying to get motivated to paint my Orks the other night.  I've been planning on painting the terrain for some time now, but I was so focused on my boyz that it simply slipped my mind.

  No problem, I stack all the buildings up on my tray and take it out to prime in the garage, and I'd be halfway done already.  So I played Tetris with the ruins, turned around and reached for...  nothing.  There was a full can of White primer and a 25 mm base just sitting there.  My hand hovered for a bit before my brain realized the futility.  So I stared at this for two weeks...

  But I picked up the primer and got to work, even grabbing my Moonscape craters along the way!  Here's where I got and where I stayed for another two weeks...

After priming them again...  These buildings have a ton of detail!

The buildings, drybrushed...  Notice the 'model' building in the lower left.

  Now I chose to drybrush the buildings and make them different colors.   While I had one set of the ruins previously done for the quick demo board years ago, the rest couldn't just look like that one.  So I chose to use gray, blue, and reddish brown for the sets.  I tried to keep like buildings together so that gives me the option of putting bigger ruined 'footprints' on the battlefield if I want.  Notice that I simply added Eshin Gray (really light gray, like the old Fortress Gray) to the main color to drybrush the flooring.  This can be changed later, but I do believe that even monochrome buildings should have a distinction between wall and floor...

  Speaking of things that can be changed later- Notice that I also painted the Aquila Warplock Bronze, to be painted Gold later.  This is the start of the principle of 'Minimum Two Colors' rule that we used to use in our Thunderhawds, and I may actually push that further.  Certain window frames will be silver, skull motifs will be bone, some statuary and decorative elements will be picked out, etc.  But terrain is secondary to models (and a close second!), so that's not a priority right now.  So I'm sure it will be a couple more weeks before I think about it again.

Bases!!!

  Funny enough, I'm always waffling between whether I want to base the ruins or not.  I layed down the buildings and traced out their outlines on the existing bases that I have now, because I should do this.  After all, I would have been written-up by the Inquisition had I chosen not to do this when I worked for the Emprah.  But then I got to thinking (again)- I lose a great deal of placement options between my storage shelf and the oddly-shaped hills of the battlefield!  I'm not sure I want to lose the versatility of the model ruins just for a bit more resilience and aesthetic...

  Of course you know that I'll post more in the future, including batreps on fully painted terrain!  I'm excited about that.  Let me know what y'all think of the basing idea and tell me what you're working on terrain-wise.  It is the most forgotten part of the modeling wargame hobby, after all.

  Happy Hobbying!