Being a terrible wargamer

The truth is I have been a terrible war gamer since I got back into the hobby in 2011. I'm not particularly talented in the artistic side of the hobby, I wouldn't even say I was mediocre but that's not what I mean. I pick up and start new armies every few months and even then I generally don't follow through but then again that seems to be a common affliction.Truth is I never played any games. I collected and painted, took part in online debates and lurked but I didn't put plastic to table and roll those dice. That's not to say that you have to but it is a big part of the hobby. And I didn't really do it.


 TILL NOW.

I actually finished an army of Ogres for Kings of War. I have a local opponent for Kings of War who has a man-cave set up with a 6 by 4 table and is ready to play. We've played two games which isn't a lot but as we have kids and lives (to some degree on my part) that's good all things considering. I won the first game as well which is encouraging. I went to a tournament and despite coming dead last, I had a whale of a time.

 

It turns out playing Kings of War is awesome (this wasn't really in doubt but a hypothetical proposition none-the-less). Happily the club that put on the event is into Kings of War, and drive-able. I'm gonna try and get down once a month to get some games in. Hopefully not agasint Trev "The Treeman" Taylor. This guy was a thorn in my side in the last tourney game.

Sadly the most local club to me isn't so inclined or as seemingly friendly. I went into the local FLGS only yesterday where my 'local' club is based from, looking to buy some basing materials and potentially some Cold One Knights, but having interrupted a conversation about late war heavy soviet tanks by having the audacity to want to buy something wasn't made to feel welcome in the slightest. It's okay though, I can buy from the internet and not feel like I'm an invader in some special club.

BACK IN THE GAME

So I've not posted in a long time. Over a year in fact. Last September I went back to college to study an Access Course in Science to get into Uni to study Diagnostic Radiography. It was hard but I completed the course with all distinctions and got into Uni.

Doing all this with a toddler, continuing the day job and a wife who is also doing a degree was hard. Didn't really have the time to do any hobbythings really. Passing exams and writing assignments is more important. Long term: better job = more minis, think of it that way.

Well I'm back. Sort of. I am just focusing on Ogres really. I want to finish an army and actually play some games. The disaster that was Age of Sigmar has pushed Kings of War into a higher level and expanded the player-base and there are many more games that are being played including locally.

The Christmas break has afforded me some limited hobby-time. Namely Berserker Braves. These are some beefy and excellent metal minis. The Ogre Horde continues to grow.

I also assembled some of the Salamanders from the Kings of War 2nd Edition Kickstarter. OH BOY. Detailed plastic kit with different weapon options and bits. Pretty fly.

TROLL!!!!

So I have had a saturday night in to myself. The little one has been good and not stirred at all. The resulting hobbytime has been productive. Despite recently posting about my Naga project, I have tried to make some headway with my Mantic Ogres.

Why, you ask?

Well, I want to paint a lot of Lizardmen, however Orges & Trolls are low in number count and already have some completed units so the effort required to complete the army is less. Also they kick ass.

I've got my Trolls pretty much done. They have tiny fiddly legs, which are the main unfinished areas. I am aiming for tabletop standard so they are not works of art. Three Ogre are have now been based , and three more are nearly done.

The Naga Project

The Naga Project

Hello Wargamers, Warmongers and Mantic fans!

I have been inspired, partially thanks to this thread, to embark on a new army project. The hobby magpie has struck! I plan to create a force of cold blooded reptilian warriors, which I will christen the Naga Raj. My plan is for the Army to be lead by Turtle-Men, the Naga, which will use the Dreadball Teratons. I know Naga are meant to be snakemen but I like the name too much to give it up. 

A traditional Naga

I have liberated some of the old GW plastics from eBay to form the core of the army. The Old Saraus warriors are ten-a-penny on Ebay and I have quite a few. Some are being stripped and some are ready to be basecoated. I do have a fondness for them even now, and they are perfectly servicable minis. As you can see below I do have a fair few to be getting on with.

I will be mainly using the Naga Raj in Kings of War though I am not sure which list to proxy. Orc with Goblin allies would fit, however I have a WIP Greenskin horde already for Kings of War which at the time of writing is my number one project. However they are something of a chore though.... I don't want to have several armies which effectively play the same. Furthermore Orcs aren't quite representative of an implacable relentless for, which is something I associate with Lizardmen.

Abyssal Dwarfs look to have counts as for many of the putative models I have lined up, so it may well be them. The slower nature of the list would lend itself to the reptilian cold blooded aspect of the Naga and their allies. However their alignment of MOST EVIL does correspond with my idea of the Naga Raj being not Evil. They are sacrificey, expansionist and seeking the delicious flesh of warmbloods, but not 'evil'...

I have a rough scheme for proxies noted below:

Halfbreeds -> Sampa Mounted Warriors (Cold One Riders)

Blacksouls -> Sampa Warriors (Lizardmen)

Slave Orcs -> Sampa Labourers (Old style Lizardmen)

Immortal Guard -> Teratons!!!

Lesser Golem -> Elder Sampa (Kroxigor) or my Orges till I get some...

Decimators -> Kisani (Skinks)

Gargoyles -> Terradon Riders or Ripperdactyl Riders

In terms of army composition the Naga will lead an army of Lizardmen foot soldiers. The main source of which is to be GW's range, where possible I will avoid using them direct for my own reasons. Despite my distaste for their business practices it cannot be denied that they do make some good minis. There are many Lizardmen minis floating around the net however, and as much as I can, I will use diverse sources of minis. I love the look of the Avatars of War Lizardman Hero.

If Mantic are listening please make a line of reasonably priced reptilian fantasy minis! Or better yet introduce Terarons to the world of Mantica. They would be a great addition, and find a welcoming home in the Naga Raj. I will convert the Dreadball Teratons as fantasy warrior Naga, I plan for them to maybe use spears and axes as their main weapons.

The whole army is to reference South Asian mythology to the extent that my limited modeling and painting skills will allow. It is going to be an expensive project, probably another slowburning pipedream. It will look great on the tabletop and hopefully kick some arse.

Fluff Outline/TLDR

In the southern lands of Mantica, the climate is tropical and dense forest cover the lands. This green cloak is rich in life of all kinds. It is in these lands that the Naga live. The Naga would be known as Turtlemen in the northern lands. The Naga are highly intelligent, and run a complex and diverse civilisation.

At the head of the civilisation are the demigod Akasiya, who instruct the Naga, and below them there are various castes and races of Lizardmen. There are the Warriors and Labourers, the "Imanadara Sampa", often reduced to just Sampa. The scribes, artisans and farmers, the "Kisani". They are smaller than the imposing Sampa, however they are quicker wits.

MORE OGRES

Greeting Warmongers, Mantic Fans and Wargamers of all stripes. I have a bit of an update on my Mantic Ogre project.

I have another six or so of these bandits coming along. I've assembled a further trio with hand weapons and shields. Thankfully their poses expose their torsos for easier painting access. The Ogres with two-handed weapons have some issues in this regard. That or my shoddy painting skills can't handle it.

There is a now a based and completed unit of 6 Ogre Warriors with two-handed weapons. Gotta love that Crushing Strength (2). That's 190 play points. Three Crossbow/Mini ballista equipped Ogres aren't far behind, for 140 points. So far 330 points in 9 minis, not including any magic items. Ogres are awesome.

Unpainted/WIP
3 Blunderbuss equipped Ogres, again 140 points.
3 Ogres with Hand Weapons & Shields, 115 points
3 Ogre with two-handed weapons, 115 points
Total: 700 points.

I do have some Goblins to round this lot out, in terms of bodies and points. Some Orc Gore Riders could be Fleabag riders quite easily though in future I would like to get some of these despite my arachnophobia. Look I'm okay with little ones. It's the monstrous tarantulas that could steal children that terrify me. Or those fuckers from LOTR/The Hobbit. GODAMMIT I hate them. Anyway Ogres would give a shit. They wouldn't mind some spiders.

I am quite pleased with the paint job I'm getting here. The minis do lend themselves to it, with a mixture of large skin areas and some detailey bits. The difference is perhaps that there are less minis so the prospect of painting them is not overwhelming as opposed to 40 Orcs....

Ogre Progress

Hello Everyone

I have recently started an Ogre army using Mantic's lovely Ogre minis, thanks to a decent Ebay deal.  It cannot be denied that these are great miniatures, and in the person the top-heaviness that some online photos have is absent. They have great detail, and a decent amount of variety. To be fair they do have massive massive arms, and so do the Marauder Commandos and Hulk from Deadzone. Some one at Mantic likes the big-guns!

Painting these minis has been fun, and I love the fact that the number of minis that would make up a horde in another army is pretty much the whole army for Ogres, less painting time required AND less monies to spend. As a time challenged new (ish) dad, and with time and funds for hobby competing with Baseball in the hobby arena and more so in the wider family setting this is only a good thing. Further they can double up a trolls in my Orc army. Three Ogres are nearly done, needing basing and final touches, three more are ready to move on from the basecoat stage and three crossbowmen (crossbogre??) have has some base coats.

THE FLUFF

I get carried away sometimes and fluff my armies before they are even 10% ready to play, and the Ogres are no different. My fluff for these guys is tied into a Dwarven army I plan to do, using a mix of Abyssal Dwarves and Titan Wargames minis. There is a link between the two races in that they both make fierce warriors and have a love of gold, and yet in stature they could not be more different. This is the stuff I have so far.

The Golden Hell Bull Bhaalla and his servants

The smashing of the Fenulian Mirror did not only cause the sundering of the Celestials and the downfall of high civilization. Magic forces where unleashed beyond the scope of mortal minds, birthing untold life and magical entities into Mantica. One such entity is the Golden Hell-Bull Bhaalla.

Trickling into consciousness north of the Mammoth steppe in the Ice mountains, at a site where a massive herd of Aurochs were driven over a cliff by eager hunters in ancient times. Bhaalla is in truth a demi-god, representative of the pride and spitefulness of that beast, but also its protective nature. Slumbering under the mountains, Bhaalla was starved of the food of gods, the worship and adulation of the faithful and laid dormant for millennia. It was only in the last few centuries that Bhaalla has truly awoken. Bhaalla was disturbed by a band of Dwarf and Ogre explorers seeking the treasures of past civilisations deep in the mountains. The seduction of the two groups was a simple matter, and soon they toiled and prayed endlessly nourishing the nascent deity. The fruits of their toils was Bhaallagrad, the under Citadel of the Golden Hell-Bull, a underground complex of halls and mine shafts.

Eager for sacrifices and worship Bhaalla has ensnared a cult of Dwarfs and Ogres, both races drawn to Bhaalla's promises of wealth, power and glory. Bhaalla tolerates no other idol and is a jealous proud deity. Neither a shining or dark god, Bhaalla is terrible in wrath and merciful to those who do his will. Raiding parties journey forth bringing slaves, resources and converts back to Bhaallagrad.

ALL HAIL BHAALLA!!!

Taken from http://www.feannadh.com/3_workbench/pictures/taurus_concept.JPG

By my rough reckoning I have around a thousand points, so it will take some time to get them all painted given my glacial painting speed. They were pre-assembled following a Ebay purchase so there are 3 Crossbows, 3 Blunderbusses and 9 Warriors with double handed weapons, and three unassembled which I plan to give a hand weapon and shield. I will add to them in time but this is enough to be getting on with....

I have numerous goblins, including ancient monopose Games Workshop goblins, 20 Night Goblins from Ebay and ten Mantic Spitters. These are the core of a goblin contingent, which will also find a home in the Orc army AND on it's own as a goblin army. These guys will be speedbumps in Kings of War, the Red Goblins. I would like a fleabag unit or two, but I do have some Gore Riders and they will do. For now. 

Taken from http://musksminiatures.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/rankeduppretty.jpg

Reinforcements!

This lot of bandits came in the post today. Excellent minis. More unassembled to come.

The end of the Affair

Ill thought out Rant:

I'm sure by now wargamers have heard or read about the sad news from Beasts of War. I find it a both a totally bizarre situation and really sad. BoW provide coverage and free advertisement for GW, and in covering many systems and companies can be considered quite fair. They were doing good for the wargaming hobby as whole which can only benefit GW.

To essentially punish them for doing so and seemingly being successful seems so vindictive and petty. I can understand having an issue with Wayland Games. However BoW was never a rumour peddler like some sites.

Either GWs products aren't good enough to be compared to others in and open and umbiased way, or GW needs absolute control over their products across the entire internet. Clearly as any one who has seen, say, the mins from Dark Vengeance box set, GW minis are some the absolute best in the business. They could only benefit from the comparisons with others.

Controlling brands and IP is not a matter of locking everything down. If anything its counterproductive. News of the BoW issue spread across the internet quickly, dominating my twitter feeds. Quite a few said they would boycott GW now. How many actaully do this long term remains to be seen. I am one of them. I was thinking about both Chaos Warriors and Lizardmen. No longer.

There are thousands of people who evangelise GWs products for free. It feels like GW would rather they didn't. Sad.

Back into the Emperors Fold

So this week I've been off work with a chest infection. It was bad, I woke up one night coughing and there was some blood in the phlegm. Not good - I've had an X-ray and is well with my lungs.

The time off work has allowed me to indulge somewhat in my sedentary hobbies. So I dusted off Civilization 4, installed it on the old laptop.and conquered the world several times, as the English. The bloody warmongering Aztecs, they always declar war when I don't need it.

I also got some hobbytime in! :-)  For some reason it was my Space Marines that called to be worked on, rather than my recent Mantic Games binge. I've managed to make progress mainly on the Dark Vengeance Terminators and Bikes. I am a slow and crap painter but it has been pleasurable indeed, the bikes in particular are smashing models.

All in all, I didn't realise quite how many assembled Space Marines I've got. Its approaching over half company at least. Not enough are painted but this has improved, no the real issue is stripping all the eBay bargains. This is at the best of times a tedious affair, complicated in this case by the thick paints the previous owner applied. A Rhino in particular is taking the piss - a month in dettol hasn't really shifted it. I got some more Dettol today so hopefully a less paint saturated tub will do better.

There is also a Dreadnought and Attack Bike in need of a deep cleanse, so in terms of cool models to add the the force there are plenty beyond Dark Vengeance. Looking on eBay tonight there seem to be a few cheap Rhinos out there: my eyes are peeled.

Armour is key to the fluff for my chapter, the Swords of Midnight. In my mind each squad has one each! My break from work has also given me time and energy to add and update the fluff I have for my chapter. Its coming along nicely, adding bits here, tinkering there. Its quite lengthy already and I have more to add. I love time off work, even if I am coughing like an eighty year old smoker.

LOOK WHAT CAME IN THE POST!!!

New Armies for the New Year

Greetings, and best wishes. In a classic move reminiscent of my younger self I have been distracted from my KoW Orc horde. The demon that is eBay, has lured me into this dangerous path, with several bargains. The High Priestess, under my instruction, got me the Mantic Christmas Box for Christmas. This feast of miniatures was compounded by the Mantic Spring Clear out, where more bargains were had. Resultant from this I now have three new Mantic Army projects. Admittedly I haven't received all these miniatures in the post yet, but a man can dream and plan.

1. Elves

I have managed to get around 750 points of Elves, nearly all infantry, a solid core for further expansion with Cavalry and Drakon Riders. In truth none have technically arrived yet, apart from the sprues from the Christmas Box. This is the curse of eBay! Sill as there is a massive hobby backlog, its not so bad. I have no idea about fluff or indeed a colour scheme for these guys yet. No doubt it will come to me in time.

2. Marauder Orx

Two Grunt Sections, the Trike from the Christmas Box and an old 40k Nob with no arms makes up this army so far. Its not much but according to my calculations its around 530 points all options taken. The initial impetus for this force was the two Grunt Sections for ono £5 on the eBay. How could I turn this down? The Christmas Box has added to this force, as the orc sprues added to variety of the Grunts, and meant there are several bodies left over. These are going to be converted into a heavy weapons sqaud, something which doesn't exist in the Warpath rules, but would be badass nonetheless and would fit the destructive tendencies of the Marauders in the fluff.You can't have enough Dakka.

I even have the beginnings of fluff for them too: 'The Yellowfist Brigade'. An highly organised band, well for Marauders anyway, with ambition. I have begun to assemble this budding force, including the Raptor, which looks amazing. The minis have have a lot of nice accessories on the sprues and I am enjoying putting them together. As for paint schemes, I'm thinking bright, lots of yellow. As they are a ramshackle race, they are going to have a fair bit of variation between minis, which will also be more fun for me. Win/Win.

3. Forgefathers

The Mantic Christmas Box included 5 Elite Forgefathers and a Weapons platform, a prefect base for an army. An order for 20 Steel Warriors, and one depleted bank balance later, and I have the basis for a Space Dwarf army. Sadly unlike the other emergent Warpath force I am building, I don't have any fluff or background in mind.

Colour scheme-wise, I am thinking of dark greens, dirty metals and grey flesh, which would fit the minis, in my mind's eye anyway. It seems 'wrong' to paint these aliens like they are Caucasian, or even humans, hence the grey skin plan.

So 3 more army projects and even more of a backlog, but then what's wrong with that?

Army Log: Commander Panda's Orcs Uodate II

So I have managed to get some good solid hobbytime in, with the High Priestess going her works Christmas do. Not the the furtive one model undercoat or secretive couple of quick miniature  assemblages kind of hobby time, this was a good solid session. Naturally this time was spent working on "The Green Horde of the Beast", despite there being other wargaming temptations.

Gradually the Horde is taking shape. 15 Axes are assembled and undercoated by hand. I've heard great things about spray on base coats, and given thw time and hassle of manually doing it I have resolved to purchase some this weekend Gods willing, or as soon as I can get round to it. 10 Great Axes are assmebled The Gore Riders are assembled, my willpower broken. I aimed to finish these last as a kind of reward for getting the foot sloggers done. Looking upon them in the bag in the army box I couldn't resist. Also 10 Greataxes are assembled, awaiting painting.

The Gore Riders are great minis, and I got 11 bodies in the bag. I don't know if this is intentional or some kind of fortuitous mistake on Mantic's part. Far be it from me to waste this opportunity, so using an old metal 'Cold One' from a long forgotten Dark Elf Knight I have concocted a 'Krudger on a Slasher' using the Champion as a proxy. In his stead as unit leader/champion in the unit, I have used a right arm, bigax and head left over the Great Ax box to fashion a slightly more killy Orc.

The only real issue was that some of the weapon arms and the standard were a bit bent and out of shape. I remember reading somewhere that a warm bath (I am paraphrasing here) would sort them out. Sure enough a bit of water in a pan on the hob for about 2 minutes, and they were soon straightened
out.

Painting has begun on the Beast and the Flagger. A brown base coast has been applied to the fur cloaks, as well a light brown to the Flagger's banner. A dirty silver to some of the metallic areas. My painting is not good, but it can only get better.

In terms of unassembled models only 20 Axes remain. This begs the question 'What next for the Horde?'. Ranged attacks are something that the horde lacks, so some Sniffs or Goblin allies do seem a natural option. The Heresy Minis Goblin archers look great and would be great pseudo-Hobgoblins, matching the fluff for Sniffs. But then a unit of Moreaxes would add some serious attacking power, or maybe another unit of Greataxes. Financially speaking though another One Player Army set, cheaply bought off eBay, would be many more worthy warriors to the Horde.

There are temptations to deviate from the racial purity of the Greenskin horde. Goblins and HobGoblins don't count, as they are the natural minions and under slaves of the Orc; if anything their addition is inevitable. It is the prospect of non-Goblinoid allies that intruiges me.

Titan Wargames do an excellent line of Dwarfs, which could easily be Abyssal Dwarfs allies/slave masters. This would unleash destructive war machines to add a ranged aspect to the horde. But then there is the prospect of Ogres from KoM, painted as Orkoids allowing KOM warmachines. Choices Choices.

Army Log: Commander Panda's Orcs

So in this blog I aim to document the beginnings and growth in my Orc army primarily for use in Kings of War. A relative new comer to both Mantic Games and Fantasy Wargaming in general this is new ground for me. I traditionally gravitate towards Sci-Fi, having both Space Marine and Tau armies in 'the other Company's system'. Orcs are 'different' to both of those factions in a lot of ways so it should be interesting. Lots of dirty metallic armour/chainmail, green skin and leathers, instead of high tech armour and pale blue/human skin tones. In this respect these are going to fit the 'classical' stereotype of fantasy Orcs. I don't want to be too adventurous, as a new game system, new genre, new style and an original skin colour would be too much I think.

I have a selection of Mantic Orc unit boxes and a couple of characters, namely a Flagger on foot and an Avatars of War Orc boss with which I am buiding my core army. In terms of thw rank and file there are 35 Axes, 10 Greataxes and 10 Gore Riders. I also will use some Hobgoblin wolf riders I have from back in the day. These guys will be temporary Gore mounted Krudger and Flagger. I have also an old Skaven Rat Orge which will stand in for a Troll till more suitable miniatures can be sourced.

I have a dream that one day GW will crack out the mouds for their Chaos Dwarf era Hobgoblins and do a limited edition run as I bloody love those minis. I would happily have a full army of them, they have so much character. A Kickstarter would be an excellent way to do it with minimal risk. Or Mantic could fill that gap as they did with Squats/Forge Fathers.

Any way back to the Horde, the Orc Boss is a stunning sculpt, I am so impressed. It's an absolute monster. It is now known in the army as 'THE BEAST'. Any Orc army for any system would benefit from one. The Flagger is a pretty awesome model too, and it vaguely matches 'THE BEAST', with its fur cloak.

Add caption

As you can see I have started on the Green Horde. 15 Axes are assembled, some undercoated, along with the Flagger and 'THE BEAST'. I also have started on the Greataxes too, but these are fiddly little sods, in comparison with the regular Axes.

I am holding back on the Gore Riders, as I often save the best till last. I can't wait to get some of these Boar riding maniacs out and charging around the tabletop so I want to get my skills a bit more practiced before I crack them out.

I have a basic army army list* worked out for the horde as is. This list has 3 infantry units as a core, one big cavalry unit to deal out damage while the Krudger and Troll act as support for the units. The Flagger will stay in range of Axes to maintain discipline and keep them steady.

*I think the link works, should link to Google Docs.

Plans and Praise

In a world of rising prices and falling wages, Cheap Minis and Free Rules? Oh be still my beating heart.

So recently I have been dipping my toe in the waters that is Mantic Games. I say dipping, I actually mean mostly look on the shop alot and planning armies. However as there are also free rules, trying to get it together to learn and play instead of just wishlisting.
I also joined the forum. There are some great threads for beginners like myself, such as the battlescribe rules and army list stickys. Some friendly people responded to my intro post and we met up to play Kings of War. 

The games were awesome! The very lovely forum members, Sardonic Wolf, Darklord and Maccwar bought loads of lovely miniatures, wound counters and Maccwar even some handy cards with stats on to help with the gaming.

I played two games both with Maccwar's lovely Elves, once against his Orcs and once against Darklord's Undead. I won in my first game against the Orcs (clearly beginners luck) and the lost to the shambing hordes of Darklord's Unread. All I can say is I don't like Darksurge!  A few deployment mistakes in the Undead game taught me some lessons I plan not to forget about spreading too thin.

The venue for the night of gaming was Stockport's Northwest Gaming Centre, which was a veritable cavern, filled with Wargamers battling away. There was a pleasing diversity in the games systems being played and lots of tables. I had great time and have decided to get a Kings of War army and divert myself from getting a Warpath force till the kickstarter at least. The question is which one?

I do like the Dwarfs as a race, being beardy, stoic and fond of a drink, somewhat like myself. Plus Badgers! The Elves I played as had some strong units but they could never be described as tough which is something I would like. Elite and Phalanx are great rules to have it seems. Dragon Riders are cool too, and the Bolt throwers can dish it out with good dice. The Orcs seem strong and straightforward, smashing all before them, and I do like the boar-riders too. Having played against them I feel that they would suit me. The Undead, while powerful, seem a bit too nuanced for the likes of me.

So a toss up between Orcs and Dwarfs? Hard drinking miners or savage beasts? Orcs have one tactic and that is SMASH and have no shooting unless you take allies with Goblins being an obvious and legit choice. Simple is good.

An amazing eBay deal has swayed me:

More minis to paint. My backlog has increased by 55 now.

I have to say I am loving the friendly and inclusive nature of the community, it's really welcoming. That there is a official Mantic run forum is something awesome in its self and part of that. The only thing I'd like to see changed about the forum is making it compatible with the Tapatalk to increase convenience.

It's all quite quite exciting really for me. I feel I can get an army, maybe two and a Dreadball team going, all with out taking up a second job or selling a kidney. I showed the one player Corporation army boxset on the online shop to the Sweet Lady. She said 'Ooohh, that's cheap!' in a totally serious way. As opposed to the 'Go and play with your little men' tone I sometimes hear.

I guess that must be a common sentiment to many. Times are hard and bills seem to be going up, so its nice for something in life, in this case wargaming, to drop in cost.
Let gaming continue.

Project Backlog

Myself and my Sweet Lady are moving house in the next few weeks, and have preparing for some time. In fact the keys are due to be handed over tomorrow. Following this there is much work to be done in terms of decorating. This is going to put a massive dent in my hobbying, till about Christmas/New Year. Booooo!

Except the new house will have room for hobbying and crafts, and a garden & shed for paint spraying. This also means people can come round to play Wargames! A short term hit for long term gain.

So to fill time and better plan my hobbying time when it comes around again I plan to write large amounts of fluff. I already have posted two pieces on this blog, and have several long  rambling outlines on Google Docs. I have a detailed vision for my Space Marines of the chapter "Swords of Midnight" and there is a basic history prepared for them. My ambition is to write a mini codex for them, cutting and pasting rules from the Space Marine codex. I have a lot of unpainted Space Marines and could feasibly field half a company if theg were all painted, so I want a background to do them justice.

I also want to continue my Tau fluff/story as that is largely formed in my imagination. My Tau are a largely complete army in terms of painting,  with only some Kroot remaining to paint. I feel in terms of technique these are the best minis I've painted yet, but they are sadly packed away for the move. I will release evidence of this in due course.

Journey to Pan'Dha, Part Two

'The Future' was going to break up, our careers and destinies dictated by Tau'va, as it should be. Yet I couldn't help but feel a pang of regret as I realised my comrades, who had been part of my life for so long, would probably see me or each other again. I knew this was the way of things in our society, and these emotions would pass but still I savoured them a while. We had a party to celebrate our new lives, and to mark our parting. It was a lively affair, full of debates and discussion. It had an undercurrent of sadness, as iwe played out the last chapter in our time.

My posting was of little interest in comparison with more exotic roles such an AI specialist to T'ros, gloriously added to the Tau'va, and many of our group to the homeworld, as if some great hidden enterprise was unfolding, sucking in the best and brightest.

And so it ended.

I was packed and ready at that point, and had been for days. The waiting was irritating, I had no fixed project to spend my energies on, and little indication of the time frame of my journey to Pan'Dha. The correspondence I had received stated bluntly to wait until called. And so I did.

It was surprising then, as I thought my time wouldn't come, when a young Fire Caste warrior called at my quarters. 

"You are to come with me, I assume you are packed?"

Her voice was firm and invited action.

"Yes ma'am, I ready."

"Please follow me."

She didn't seem to have time for academics, especially young and unproven ones such as myself. She was an intelligence officer, it was about the only information I could extract and even that was implied.

Our journey to the space port was quiet and uneventful. She piloted the simple transport and I sat in the back. I had work to do on my database... adding relationships, refining linkages, adding notes, pulling in new sources of information. Finally near the end, as the Space Port came into view she asked:

"I see you're busying yourself, personal project?"

I wasn't expecting her question, I betrayed my shock my jumping a little in my seat.

"Yes, its a database on Pan'Dha, I'm collating all available sources to begin analysing it's socio-historical background and putative trends."

There was a pride in my voice, and why not? This thoroughness was why was top of the class. Her response was surprising to say the least.

"An interesting approach, I think that's why they picked you. I had to read your work on xenos integration and the caste system, I see how you began that line of thought. That was good work."
"What? Are you in the Pan'Dha military? Who are 'They'?"
"All will be answered in due course. We're here"

Journey to Pan'Dha, Part One

Allow me to introduce myself, I am Suo'Khu. An unusual name but I digress. My past is not important in this tale but some needs to shared. I was a young student of Social Science, as part of the General Institutes, a group of educational institutes in Southern Bork'an. There was a group of us, high achieving students.

We called ourselves 'The Future". We were full of ourselves. Top marks across the spectrum, some like my self social scientists, others economists, AI specialists, engineers and even an astro-physicist. We rampaged across academic events on Bork'an like a Tidal Wave of youth and vigour. We all were in the same academic year, and graduated all within the space of a month. We awaited our assignments in the Empire. Some hoped for frontier postings, assisting in the expansion of the Empire. Others wanted to be posted to homeworld for top level research.

Pan'Dha is an insignificant outpost of the Tau Empire in the "northeast", and so it was with trepidation that I was assigned there. So insignificant I had never heard of it. Me, a recent graduate of the Bork'an Central Academy of Social Science, an educated member of society, ME! Suo'Khu!

Of course I immediately began investigating my destination  My initial research on the planet was only slightly less discouraging than my initial prejudice. I shall summarize here several available reports:

"A small observation outpost established at the close of the Second Sphere expansion, Pan'Dha - a moon of Dasak III, is neither ideal for our race in terms of habitability nor on established trade routes. As such it had a small population and limited importance, interesting only to Marine Xeno-biologists. This has changed in recent years due to breakthroughs in agricultural production of local sea plants, and in increased hydrocarbon extraction."

An isolated backwater, full of farmers and miners. I was to join the faculty at 'the' local educational institute and teach part-time while I documented local history and culture. There was only ONE educational centre on the whole planet! Of course, the Greater Good demanded it and I would obey, but I resented the sideways step my career was taking.

However deeper investigations began to pique my interest. More recently established colonies, when researched using academic libraries, have extensive volumes of socio-historical data and analyses. For example Fi'rios has two comprehensive and updated sets of social and linguistic trend data, which are analysed in the Bau'na series of journals. Pan'Dha has nothing. There a few scattered essays, the latest of which was14 years old, not to mention the poor methodology of its own research and poor referencing. My own work is far more thorough and rigorous. Perhaps I could begin a new journal, with myself as editor?

"The Pan'Dha Journal of Social Science, edited by Suo'Khu"

A scintillating thought. I began to see the wisdom in the guidance of the Tau'va and fully committed myself to my post.

 Naturally what was available was now safely stored in my personal archive. Already, I began to construct a database collating all available data and began requesting works on frontier worlds, even marine biology and hydrocarbon extraction - if it was important to Pan'Dha, it would become important to me.

Tau Update

I haven't posted in a while, having been busy with a tranche of my old models from my youth I found in my parents attic. In partiular some Space Marines, which included a Tactical Sqaud in metal, 4 plastic terminators and a Chaplain in Terminator armour. These have been stripped using the dettol method, and repainted as "The Swords of Midnight". Having worn myself out on these Gue'la warriors of repute, I got the urge to continue with the Cadre.

A thread on ATT inspired me, which detailed the creation of an all drone army. Accordingly I customised one spare gun drone so that instead of twin linked pulse carbines, it has one Pulse Rifle and an attachment indicating it's different configuration and role. I intend to run it as the Commander's personal drone, in addition to another similar customised drone. This is of course highly fluffy and not in the Codex, but it seems to fit the background.

Ten or so FireWarriors need basing and finishing so they are a priority once the custom "Rifle Drone" is finished. I also plan to finally attach the landing gear to the devilfish.

It feels good to be back paying attention to the Tau, there's just somehing about them. Even moreso the recent finecast releases open the way to more conversion opportunites. Happy Days.

Hobby Slow Down

I have nothing for Miniature Monday this week. I feel sad and it also shows how I am a little bit lazy: I have Kroot that need painting.

The fiddly little bastards.

They've a lot more smaller details than than the Tau models. Which is a pain for my limited skills and they have natural surfaces like skin and leather. Tricksy.

I was thinking of orange for the  Space Chickens. My Tau are mainly black, so the Orange would both stand out and make a change to paint. Or so the theory went. Being so bright, however, makes my lack of artistry painfully obvious. A dark green is much more forgiving. And boring. Time to work on my skills then....

Pandaforce Onwards

The Pandaforce is making progress! It's time consuming and fiddly, but I have almost a playable force:

• A Crisis Suit Commander and two Fireknife bodyguards.

• Six Stealthsuits.

• Two six Tau Fire Warrior squads.

• A Devildish (nearly finished painting).

In terms of unpainted models I have some Kroot and some more Fire Warriors. The Kroot are being undercoated and are next on the agenda following the Devilfish. The Kroot are going to have as a main colour Orange skin - this will be a nice contrast to the mainly Blacks and Blues/Purple of the Tau in the Pandaforce.

I am aiming to add 3 more Crisis Suits, 3 Broadsides and some Pathfinders to the Pandaforce but this goal is dependent on time and money. By my calculations it runs to well over £100. Better get that new job then! I've had a week of work so this shows me that, given time, it's possible to get a significant amount of painting and modeling done.