'Ard Boyz Semi Finals Results

I went down to GMI games in Riverside for the 'Ard Boyz Semifinals.  Here's my list and how the games went.

Grey Seer on Bell
Grey Seer on foot

BSB
Plague Priest with Furnace
Engineer with Doomrocket

45 Clanrats with PWM
30 Stormvermin with WFT
10 Stormvermin with WFT
50 Slaves

5 Gutter Runners with poisoned slings
5 Gutter Runners with poisoned slings

HPA
HPA

My first game was against Daemons.  He had Fateweaver, a big block of horrors and a big block of bloodletters, plus two units of flamers.  I have never played against Daemons before and my opponent was really cool and helped explain what everything was and even offered me useful advice on what to do.  With the wonky Kill Points in the scenario I was massacred, but if it had been victory points the game would have been a tie.

All win/losses in that round were Massacre/Massacred.  The kill points saw to that as giving up 8 for a rare choice is ridiculous.

I was against Warriors of Chaos for the second round.  My opponent only had two level 2 wizards, plus Archaeon.  We advanced and I had him tabled by turn three thanks to my magic and shooting running amok.  I grabbed the Fanatic on the first turn with my Slaves and passed my strength test.  They spent the rest of the game getting away from the action.  He was a pretty cool guy as well and I learned that Warshrines are nice if you roll well.  I got a Massacre with full battle points.

For round three I was on table three.  Have a look at what my opponent brought:

I've got me a tower, it seats about infinity so hurry up and bring your Slann Shack money! *

 Yes, that is a cardboard tube representing the Folding Fortress.  It doesn't even have a roof.  My opponent told me that it has 10 stories.  He said he was going to make it 12 stories but he didn't want to be cheesy.  I wish I was making that up.  This is sketchy rules wise, as the Fortress says it has to be the same size as a Watchtower building, or a similar scratch-built structure.  This is scratch built but it's twice as high as a Watchtower.

His army had 148 Skinks plus a dozen heroes in the tower with two Slann, both with Becalming Cogitation.  They had poisoned Javelins and the flaming banner.  He also had the dagger that causes Fear in Skaven.  Then he had four Stegadons outside the tower.  His whole plan was, "Come at me bro."

I considered holding back and simply playing for the draw.  However, I had to get a massacre if I wanted to place so I decided to try and destroy the building either via Crack's Call or the Bell.  If I could destroy the building I would probably win by a landslide.  If I couldn't destroy the building I was in for a world of hurt.

I advanced everything and after turn 1 I seriously considered turning back and simply playing to a draw. I decided to persevere, weathering the dwellers and the fiery darts of the adversary.  Turn two I rolled a 14 on the Bell and my hopes went up but I failed to destroy the building as I rolled a 3.  On turn three I rolled a 14 again and this time rolled a 6!  The fortress went crumbling down and killed both Slann and 1/3 of the skinks.  That still left a sizable amount, even after getting doomrocketed.

At this point it took us about an hour to determine how to place the unit.  The Skaven FAQ clears it up but he insisted on being within 1" of my models.  The confusing thing was that I had charged them with my Furnace but we decided that they were not in combat because they have to abandon the building which would remove them from combat.  It was a really sticky rules situation.

At that point the game took a major turn for the sour.  After disagreeing strongly on issues for about an hour everything was tense after that.  Because we had taken so long to decide what happened we only got to turn 4.  I didn't break his big unit so I wasn't able to get a massacre.  I got a major victory and got 6th place.

If I had charged the HPA into the Skinks I may have broken his unit, come to think about it now as I look at the picture below.  That's how they came out of the building.  Hindsight is always 20/20.  Furthermore if he had a proper watchtower I would have had A LOT more models alive.

I got me a Slann Shack, it's full of fail and it just set sail!*

*To be sung (spoken) in the voice of Fred Schneider from the B-52s if that wasn't clear.

Stormvermin with Converted Standard Bearer

I finished this unit up the other day.  I converted the standard bearer to hold the standard from the Island of Blood guy's back.  I just cut out the handle on the old one and replaced it with a matching cut on the new.  It's not perfect but it was quick and I think it looks pretty good.

Look, the drum is a ginger!

I decided not to rust their weapons because I figured Stormvermin would be more likely to take care of them.

Getting these guys to rank up is a challenge.  They've got shields, tails and halberds.  My solution is to use my ersatz Stormvermin to help not take up so much space.  I took the Island of Blood clanrats that have helmets and armor and am painting them up like Stormvermin.  They're considerably smaller and far less detailed but the idea is to intersperse them in a normal Stormvermin unit so they help it rank up.  Plus a Stormvermin box is like $50 and IoB clanrats are cheap.  I'm going to use some plasticard to beef up their spears so they look more like halberds (though in WHFB the aesthetic difference between spears and halberds is not entirely clear).  If anyone raises an issue I'll just say that they're juvenile Stormvermin that are replacing previous casualties.

WHFB: Watchtower Rules Query

My most recent game of Fantasy saw us roll the Watchtower scenario.  Now, Skaven have two ways to destroy buildings and I was equipped with both.  On the first turn I rocked the building with Crack's Call, destroying it.  The rulebook fails to provide an answer for what happens if it is destroyed, we assumed that it still counts as the main objective.  However, since it's now a ruin you can have multiple units in it, so it's not as simple to determine the victor.

To resolve this we decided that if one side had the ruin with no enemy units touching it, it would be a win. If there were an enemy unit "contesting" the objective (touching it) we would go to the secondary victory conditions provided in the rulebook which were victory points.

So is this the best way to resolve the problem?

Poisoned Wind Mortar

This was another exercise in speed painting.  Due to having two children, one of them a fussy baby, my painting time is drastically short.  The aforementioned Sanctum Imperialis represents a few weeks of working in bits and pieces.  This one I got done in three days, once again working a few minutes here, a few there.  Skaven are really nice for speed painting because it's easy to get good results quickly.

I'm sort of pleased with the glassy globes, I could have done better if I had put more time into it.  I think I need to make the clouds a bit more irregular, but as is I think it's good for a speed paint job.

The Mighty Warpfire Thrower

This was something I did to try and paint faster than normal.  All in all I think it took me about two hours.  I could have got it done quicker but I took extra time with the flames as well as weathering the metal.  You can see I attempted some glow effects near the burning rat.

I think I should have mixed some gray with the green for the smoke.  I'll do that on the next one.

Tutorial: Magnetizing the Screaming Bell/Plague Furnace

Being a man of poor means, I have to stretch every gaming dollar I possibly can.  Furthermore, when new editions change some units drastically change in power level.  Just ask anyone who played Tyranids from 4th to 5th.  Ask them where their Carnifex arms are.  Mine are magnetic so I survived just fine.

When I got the Screaming Bell I was determined to magnetize it, no matter how hard it seemed.  It's an expensive kit and both options seem attractive.  I'm not experienced enough in 8th yet to know which is better and there is rarely a better teacher than experience, so I'm going to have to run both to find out.  I tried finding a tutorial online for magnetizing this beast but there were very few, and I knew I could figure out a better way to do it than the ones I found.

This may seem like a lengthy preface for a tutorial, but this is a seriously difficult project.  This is the hardest thing I've ever magnetized, even harder than the Trygon I did earlier.  First off, the kit is among the most complex I've ever put together.  The Doomwheel is difficult as well, but this one takes the cake.  It has supurb detail but also a ridiculous amount of surfaces and delicate parts.  I almost snapped several of the flame/vapor tendrils on the model while cutting them off.  This is not a kit for beginners (and there's a lot of beginners getting into Skaven because of the IoB, but that's a topic for another day).

What makes this kit so difficult is that the kit shares several pieces in either the Bell or Furnace assembly.  Compounding this is that most of these are key weight-bearing joins.  The yoke and arches are the prime examples.  The back platform being reverseable depending on what you're running is a simple fix but the arches and yoke will be the hardest part.  Steel yourself, double check your polarizations and let's dive in.

Above you can see all the different components of this magnetization.

Let's get the hard stuff out of the way first.  Above you see the interior assembly of the arches.  The magnet is held in place with a greenstuff setting.  You want to use a small but powerful magnet.  This one is 1/8" wide, 1/16" thick and N52 grade.  In order to get the magnets in the right place, look below!

Glue a pair of magnets to either end of the struts.  Be sure that the glue has set, I usually reinforce it with a bit of epoxy.  When it sets, put some greenstuff in the arches and place another magnet on either end of the struts.  Widen the opening of the arches a tiny bit so that you can get the magnets in and out easily without breaking them.  Shove both ends in the arches so that the unglued magnet wedges into the greenstuff.  This way you know it's in the right place.  Double, triple check that your bell/censer is facing the correct direction because the arches must go in the correct side.  I messed up on this part twice and had to redo it.

Above you see the yoke.  Take two tiny magnets, the 1/16" ones are perfect.  Chop off a tiny, tiny bit of the ends and replace them with magnets.  They should still be the same distance apart as they were before.  This can be tricky, you should measure twice and cut once.

Before gluing the bell together, you'll need to get the Grey Seer in position.  Put him together except for the hand grabbing the bell.  Notice in the picture above he has the handle, do as I say not as I do.  I had fitted him, glued the hand and then taken the picture.  You'll need to properly fit him before you glue his hand.  Drill two holes in his feet next to the nubs that go into the corresponding parts on the bell.  Don't drill in the nubs themselves.  Put two small magnets in.

Place the Seer on top of the bell, put a drop of glue where you think his feet are, then drop a magnet in.  It will fall into the spot where the feet are.  The second one is trickier because the second magnet will want to go where the first one is.  Once you get both in and the seer stays up just fine, you can glue the bell together, and magnetize the Horned Rat symbol on top of both the bell and censer.

Now let's finish the Seer.  Very, very carefully drill into the handle on each side and place a magnet in each one.

You can't really see it in this picture, but I drilled a small hole and stuck a bit of paperclip in each side where the handle for the Seer meets the bell.  You don't need a full magnet, just enough force to help hold him in place as the feet provide most of the lift.  I then filed it flat and filled in the gaps so hopefully when it's painted you won't be able to see anything.

Now let's test it out.  Here's the censer assembly sans monks...

And here's the bell assembly sans Seer.  To attach this to the frame of the bell/furnace simply slide the pegs of the arches into the corresponding hole.  You can magnetize this part but it's firm enough that there's really no need.  I didn't bother.

Now the easy part.  Glue a powerful magnet on the underside of the front platform.

Put a magnet on the bottom of the brazier and the Plague Priest, be sure to check the fits and all that stuff.

The back platform is reversable.  It is not a weight-bearing part so I used a weird method to get it in.  Most of the weight is supported by the frame itself, I just wanted an extra bit of holding power without any visible point of contact.  I put two magnets in the sides and then added a magnet on the underside of the frame as seen below.

The magnets don't have contact but they still attract each other.

 To magnetize the Rat Ogre and Plague Monks to the platform simply widen the holes on the platform by a tiny bit so that you can fit a 1/16" magnet in.  To magnetize the Monks/Ogre, simply cut off the pegs on the feet about halfway so you have a flat surface.  Drill in a ways, then cut off the rest of the peg.  The hole will be in the right place and you can widen it for a 1/8" magnet.

Here it is as a Plague Furnace, missing the extra censer thing that goes on the arch.  I left if off because it's not necessary and I'd rather save it for other conversions.

Finally, here it is as the Screaming Bell.

Good luck!  I'll do it for you but I charge $100 for just the magnetization, and you have to clean the mould lines.  Yes, it is cheaper to just buy another kit.  That's the point.  I'm not doing this again.

WHFB: Don't Forget!

The most difficult thing for me right now in Fantasy is remembering all the stuff that's going on.  I played a game last night in which a highly annoying unit of 30 White Lions with a BSB and level 4 Life Mage just would not die.  At one point I got them down to 4 models, but the mage just used Regrowth and got them back.  I could have slowed this down but I made a crucial mistake.

I forgot that even if you don't have any casters you can use power dice in your phase to dispel effects.  I could have been using that to shut down the Throne of Vines so that he could have cast fewer spells that round.  So if you run out of casters, make sure you make the most of it and dispel what you can with your power dice.  You only have to meet the base casting value which for Throne is 8.  If you're a Dwarf player you especially cannot forget this.

On a side note, Life magic is proportionately better the more expensive and elite your troops are, which makes it perfect for High Elves.

I also forgot that the Storm Banner affects fliers.  He shouldn't have been able to fly his eagle around but I completely forgot that.  It didn't matter as I chopped it up pretty quickly.  I also did all my shooting before remembering to check if the Storm Banner ended.  It did, but if it hadn't I would have had to redo the whole shooting phase.

It might be helpful for me to write a little cheat sheet so I can remember things like "ring the Bell" or "Storm Banner is up" and such like that.

Also, we had a Temple of Skulls and I had a Warlock Engineer get up to S6 and 3 wounds before he got greedy and was sucked into the warp.  Too bad he never got to fight, but his Doomrocket took out tons of guys.

In other news I've got a huge backlog of commissions.  I'm working on two Venomthropes.  After that I've got a huge pile of Dark Angels tanks.  Furthermore, my second child should be born sometime this week.  Busy busy busy!

Island of Blood Command Groups

Here's the command groups for the Island of Blood.  There's a lot of pictures and the weather outside was partially overcast with winds so the light was constantly changing.  I was too impatient to wait so the photographic quality is not my usual standard but since it's Skaven we'll just blame someone else for casting Howling Warpgale outside.

I don't know how this guy can hold his standard up.

I particularly like this musician model.  I painted the rat a light gray because it reminded me of the Grey Seer on the Screaming Bell, so this is kind of a parody of that model.

I need to figure out a way to make the markings more visible with the black and white.  I may need to designate a circular space or something.

The hardest part wasn't the quartered scheme but making sure the runes were in the same place on opposite sides.

I used a touch of a verdigris wash that I mixed myself on the bronze bells (and champion helmets).

I've only painted a few of the rank and file troops.

Completed Doomwheel

Of all the models I have ever painted, this one was possibly the most complex.  There are so many surfaces, inside and out that make this a difficult model.  I had to pretty much paint everything separate from each other.  I'm still not satisfied with the base, I need to add some stuff to it as it is kind of boring. 

I considered rusting up the blades but I kind of like it as is.  I can always go back and add it.

I'm also not satisfied with the banner.  I may end up redoing it later.

Interior detail.  I tried a glow effect on the eyes.  It came out better than my other attempts but I still need practice with the technique.

Island of Blood Test Models

I decided to make my first painted Skaven models be the champions from Island of Blood.  It would be a good way to experiment and try to speed up my usual routines since I have eighty of the rats to paint.

I primed them with the Army Painter Fur Brown.  I then basecoated and did one layer of highlights on the silver metal only.  I then washed the whole thing with Devlan Mud.  Afterwards I highlighted the gold and the bronze.  I picked out the eyes and added the rust on the blade.  It really didn't take that long and it certainly looks like a dirty rat man.

The hardest thing was letting go of my normally meticulous style and making concessions in quality for speed.  But the nice thing about Fantasy is that only the front rank has to look good, the rest just have to look unified.