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....

Reinforcements!

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

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.