Foward Eorlingas!!

War of the Ring is coming and I'm getting prepared!

We had a bash at the Lord of the Rings strategy game when it came out. Maybe there was a flaw in the way we played but each game ended up with a line of troops pushing each other back and forth and not a lot of action. We pretty much unanimously decided this wasn't the game for us.
We maybe should have played a much more scenario based game but I think we all wanted to play out the massed battles from the films/books. This is, for me, the reason I'm in this hobby in the first place having read and been inspired by the books many, many years ago.
The Battle of Five Armies and Helms Deep in particular interested me.
I kept the faith and hung onto my models hoping for a massed battle game to be developed for LOTR, the rest of the lads sold up!



Now War of the Ring is on the horizon and it looks like my faith is going to be rewarded!
All accounts so far rate the game highly.
With this in mind whilst digging about my cupboard for something (forget what, I got distracted!) I came across a bag containing some Rohan warriors undercoated black and abandoned about the time we gave up on the original game.
I thought "I reckon I could dip them and get them done in no time".
Roughly 2 hours of work later (spread out with drying times) we have these:





Still need a blast of Matt varnish (next time you're passing Mr Walters!) but essentially done and happy with the result!!
Just another 40 to go and 50 riders and I'll have an army!! *sigh*

Usual blah blah re: picture quality. Probably something to do with lighting etc, who knows!

Lizard Update - Zed Possessed

It's all I can think of, I must be possessed, with just the bases to do, this converted Lizard Blood Bowl team is nearly finished. It was only half built on Saturday morning and nearly finished by Sunday tea time. I've not sat and with a brush in my hand all of the time either. Weird.

If only I was going to the tournament..

Lizard Update

Base coating and shading done. Just the highlights ha ha ha to do.

Theresa Green

Over the next couple (!?!) of months the plan is to revamp/spruce up our terrain and boards.

With this in mind I'll be knocking together some new stands of trees.

I'm making them with 2 things in mind

1) the changes in LOS in 40K and the need we have for more LOS blocking terrain

2) ease of use and being able to actually place models in them!

The trees are all based individually on metal discs (cheers Cortez!) and fit into holes in the base board which have magnetic tape in them to keep it snug.

This one is essentially the prototype but has worked out well! I've learned though that the "sockets" need to be a little less snug and there may need to be a bit more magnetic tape used but, hey, that's what prototypes are for, right?!

I've got enough trees for about another 6 stands and they will kind of tessellate together to make really big woods!

LOS checking, can you see the target?

Nope?

WAAAGH!!!!!

The dread really was behind the trees!
Job's a good un!

I've seen a House Fly.....

I've seen a crane fly......
But I ain't never seen a Dark Elf fly.
Well, not until last Wednesday anyway!

Wednesday nights game was a frustrating affair. Mostly for Zed!
The game started with limited movement from the High Elf and Rat combo and arrows and warp magic rained upon the Lizards and Dark Elves (the Corsairs were already eyeing up some nice new scaly cloaks!), well mostly the dark elves!
Drain magic kept the worst of the dark magic from the table and it was all looking like a mop up operation for the Helf rats, even with the warlock engineer being consumed by his own magic.
Then turn 4 arrived! The salamanders had been threatening to cause trouble all through this set of games (and not just to their own handlers) and after taking out several rats they spied a particularly juicy target - Elemberel's spear bodyguard.
3 bouts of flame later and half the spears were nothing but ash. At this point Elemberel remembered he'd left some magic potions cooking on the stove and had to rush off to check they were OK.
In the following turn panic checks were caused on the silver helms, reavers and 1 unit of archers, all failed along with storm vermin's break check (re rolled for a battle standard!!) and the game was essentially over bar a few more shots to attempt to grab some victory points.
Result - Salamanders win by a massacre!

With Binx finally getting some points it leaves the table looking quite interesting and certainly means its all to play for in the final week.
Either of the Elves can make the top spot whilst the last place is being fought out by the lizards and rats.

Elemberels Expeditionary force - 16
Kraken Host - 15
Chee-Ti Lizards - 4
Sneek Sneek’s Rats - 3

Lizard Team

I've been talking about this for a while but have been distracted by life, curses! I have finally finished assembly. More photos when I finally get to painting...

Tale of.... Two Elfies

Nothing to add to the Zed's write up (below) other than the league table:

Elemberels Expeditionary force - 16
Kraken Host - 11
Sneek Sneek’s Rats - 3
Chee-Ti Lizards - 0

The Elves have it!
But this week one of them HAS to lose (well, unless its a draw!) as the Good Elves rub shoulders with the rats (Ewwwwww) and the Naughty Elves get personally acquainted with the lizards (EWWWWWWWWWWWW!!).

More importantly can Binx get ANY points in the league....stay tuned!

Elfy Competiton

This week saw the first of the doubles games for the Tale of ... armies. The High Elves and the Dark Elves put aside their petty differences and fought the unholy alliance of the Skaven and Lizardmen armies.

A conventional line of battle for the Elven host saw a solid infantry centre with missile troops on either flank and the cavalry and giant eagle on the extreme left and right flanks to sweep round into the cold blooded cowards.

The Lizards and Ratmen infantry blocks also in the centre were flanked by Jezzails and Salamanders. The alliance advanced at a breakneck speed behind a screen of skinks, the combined volleys arrows, bolts and magic from the Elves doing little to slow them down.

After three turns of magic and missile fire exchange the largely untouched infantry were closing to fight in the centre. The Silver Helms were still locked in a combat with the Salamanders on the Eleven right and looked as though they would be ground down over the course of the battle.

As is often the case in Warhammer the game can be won or lost on a chain of events, none significant in their own right but in a series cause the rout of an army. This is that series of small events.

A unit of Stormvermin fail their fear test to charge the Cold one Knights, the following turn the Cold one Knights swinging in from the left flank attempt to charge at the limit of their range a unit of skink skirmishers, who opt to flee. This leaves a rattling gun to panic and the second exposed to missile fire and is killed. The following turn the Skaven miscast and it results in the High Elves to cast a spell automatically which causes the Stormvermin to lose 50% of their number as a persistent spell the Stormvermin lose another 25% of their start number, panic and flee. The Cold One knights charge the Skaven slave unit, destroy them and over run into the Temple Guard allies. A frontal charge followed and an unfortunate round of low rolling saw the end.

This small series of events, a failed fear test, a miscast and the destruction of a unit due to a flank charge was enough for the Lizards and Rats to be destroyed.

Can anyone catch Lordybloke as he tucks his fourth massacre result under his belt.

The photos (poor due to phone) show the casualties each commander took.

W.I.P Crackaway....

Just a quick update on the rat beast.

Slow going as I want to make sure each bit I work on is completely dry before moving on so I don't destroy anything with my pudgy fingers!

Going to do the majority of the beast in clay and will move on to greenstuff/milliput for detailing.

At least that's the plan!

As you can see (hopefully!) I've done the stomach, back and arms so far. The right arm is currently drying.

Tale of .... Elvish victory!

Just a quick update on the gaming league for Tale of.....

After rattling through the first games quickly we had time for a second and complete the singles part of the challenge, next week doubles!

Cortez vs Lordybloke
Much magic and many missiles flew across the battlefield but the Elves were wise to much of the skaven warp lightning, draining the winds of magic to limit their power.
In the end the elvish archers took their toll and the clan rats fled and (following a further barrage were unable to rally) ran from the field.
The stormvermin found the elvish spears too quick for them and after being poked in the eye many times, turned, fled and were eventually cut down.
Result: Elves score another massacre.

Binx vs Zed
A similar exchange of magic and missile occurred on the other table. The game eventually ending when a combined charge from the corsairs and spears caused the temple guard to falter and run, only to find their legs were entangled by the corsairs sneaky entanglers!
Result: Dark elves score a massacre

Cortez vs Zed
The skaven magic and missiles proved telling in this game. The evil green lightning accounting for a large majority of the naughty elves (until around turn 4 when a quick bout of gaming tourettes saw the rats run out of their special high powered ammo!).
It looked to be all over until the black horror ripped through the storm vermin leaving only around a third of the unit standing.
A sterling last stand from the corsairs, aided by the assassin and master saw them fight off the clanrats that had charged their flank. More entanglement saw the dirty rats run into the dirt.
The storm vermin had had enough at this point too, panicked and fled with no time to rally.
A real "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat" if ever there was one!
Result: Dark Elves Solid Victory

Binx vs Lordybloke
This turned out to be a little on sided! Having seized the first turn a long range shot across the battlefield saw the bolt thrower bring down a terradon, much to his chums horror and they fled off the table.
This gave the elf eagle free range to get around the lizard army and block their march moves meaning the pointy ears had plenty of time to fire at the cold blooded ones before they could reach their lines.
Only 2 reavers lost their lives compared to the lizards only having half a temple guard unit and the scar vet left.

Result: Yep, a massacre for the elves!

So the league table stands like this:

Elemberels Expeditionary force - 12
Kraken Host - 7
Sneek Sneek’s Rats - 3
Chee-Ti Lizards - 0

Next week's first doubles game sees the top of the league take on the bottom!

Jungle is Massive

The Lizard production line just keeps on churning out stuff.

This month so far I have finished Stegadon number 2 which again is magnetised to be used as a normal Stegadon with giant bow, or to be crewed by a Skink Chief.





























I wasnt planning to paint the Razordons for a few months but a spare afternoon and they were finished.














Im still hoping to be able to field a fully pained 6000pt army for the forthcoming Lizard vs Rat game.

Hmm photos are a little grainy, ah well....

Tale of the end........Or is it a new begining

Right a little later than everyone else but they are here in all there glory (1pt over admittedly).

From left to right :-
24 Stormvermin with Ratling gun, being lead by the Chieftain Battle Standard Bearer.
30 Slaves.
5 Jezzails.
29 Clanrats with Ratling gun and being lead by a Warlock Engineer.





Whilst doing this project some extras were painted just to see how easy they were to do.


A Grey Seer on his screaming bell.
4 Swarm bases.
A Warplightining Cannon.




Now that the Tale of......is finished as far as the painting goes I've been challenged to show willing and finish off my entire Skaven collection in preparation for a Warhammer Apocalypse style game this summer. The two armies are to be my Skaven vs Binx's Lizards which he has worked out will come to around 6500 pts. Now that's a lot of models when you look at how cheap the rats are, so with that in mind I totalled up the costings of my Skaven horde and came up with a total of nearly 4500. This is still 2k short of the lizards but with the possibility of a Vermin lord and the new rule book supposedly coming around the same time it could be easily raised. With this in mind the challenge was set by Mr Zed that I couldn't get them done by midnight 31st July 2009 and a £10 side bet was also placed, with the bet set and models looked at I hassled Lordybloke and he went for the bet too :-).



Now down to business, the models to paint are :-
1 Greyseer on foot
1 Warlord
1 Plague Priest
1 Warlock Engineer
1 Assassin
29 Clan Rats
30 Giant Rats with Pack Masters
6 Poisoned Wing Globadiers
10 Night Runners
58 Plague Monks
9 Gutter Runners
6 Rat Ogres with Pack Masters
10 Plague Censer Bearers
1 Warp Lightining Cannon


This is the 1st months work, all the Characters with the Night Runners, Globadiers and weapon teams.

Clan Rats, Cannon, Gutter Runners.

Plague Units.


Big unit of Giant rats.

Another big unit, the Rat Ogres.




Now just need to paint them all.............

Can you tell what it is yet?!

OK I was gonna keep this top secret until it was much further along but my general excitement (and boredom while it dries!) has forced me to get the W.I.P. piccies up.

Note this is still VERY early stages and it could all go wrong yet!

Looking forward to all the sarcastic comments but can you tell what it is yet?

An artistic representation of "The Wire" ?

Space Monkey?

Gibbon?

Tale of.....Fight Time!!!

Time turned.
The heavens shifted.
Slowly the planets moved into the sacred alignment.
Wise men watched through their telescopes, not daring to move as they witnessed the spectacle that was unfolding.
Finally everything was right and all members of the Lone Wolves involved in the "tale of...." challenge turned up for the games!!
Momentous indeed!

First mention has to go to the Zed-meister for providing us with a new home (in his new home!) with excellent facilities! 3 tables available and 3 games in action! Nice!

The Live draw finally took place.
Week 1
Zed vs Lordybloke
Binx vs Cortez

Week 2
Binx vs Zed
Cortez vs Lordybloke

Week 3
Binx vs Lordybloke
Cortez vs Zed

Week 4
Zed + Lordybloke
vs
Binx + Cortez

Week 5
Binx + Zed
vs
Cortez + Lordybloke

Week 6
Binx + Lordybloke
vs
Cortez + Zed

Game 1 Zed vs Lordybloke
The Clash of Elves

The elvish grudge match began with both sides maneuvering a little and exchanging bow fire. A few elves were lost on both sides but it remained even.
Then turn 3 happened.
Having been halted by their stupid mounts the cold one knights were facing a salvo of arrows from their hated cousins.
The High elf cavalry had been corralling the corsairs for a few turns and finally had them! The reavers charged the front whilst the silver helms smashed into the side.
The sky darkened above the Dark elf knights as arrows and bolts flew at them and then cleared as the arrows and bolts whizzed past them or pinged off their armour!
Things looked grim for trapped Elf pirates, even when a dark assassin threw off his dragon cloak and launched himself into the fray.
After a furious fight the reavers lay dead and the silver helms wavered.......but held! The tables had turned!
The magical battle had largely been a stalemate despite the extra power the sorceress was pulling in through arcane arts and stabbing her own warriors.
The corsairs, hero and assassin looked set to smash the silver helms from their mounts just as the cold ones ploughed into, over and through an archer unit.
Amazingly the High elf knights armour held to the barrage of attacks that landed causing the dark elf corsairs to panic, turn and be cut down.
The final turn (as it turned out) saw the high elf spearmen charge into their dark elf opposites and their extra ranks and numbers saw them easily scatter their targets.
With the dark elf army mostly decimated or running the end was declared.
Result: High Elf win by a massacre.

Game 2 Binx vs Cortez
The game started with a magical barrage from the rats frying lizards with their warp lightning.
Then the skaven guns opened fire causing skinks to explode into fleshy flowers.
With a swoop the terradons ended the ratling guns fun with rock and javelin.
After a little jockeying for position for a few turns the face off between the temple guard and storm vermin ended when the temple guard surged forward, their cold blood suddenly warmed (a bit like the garage occupants when the "fireball" kicked in!).
The elite lizards sliced through the elite rats like a hot knife through, well air, really! Not even the warpstone infused armour could save them.
Luckily the lizard bodyguards had caught a rat horde on the way in and along with the storm vermin's war banner their numbers kept them in the fight.
After a few rounds of fighting each elite unit was reduced to a handful of numbers but as the clan rats kept the body press on the temple guard could no longer hold them, they broke, were cut down and the game ended.
Result: Skaven win by a solid victory.

Or did they........

Its since emerged that the rat list is over the 1000pt limit by a whole point! The gaming world has been rocked and Binx is calling foul!
What should we do with a such a blatant cheat???
There's only one way to find out....FIGGHTTTTT!!
No actually I thought a poll was better, go vote for justice to the right!

Tale of 1 (chaotic) Gamer

I said I wouldnt start a new army this year but I lied.

With the new Lord of the Rings movement trays, my obsession with the Daemon armies has been reignited.

First I thought Id go mad and make a 2000pt army, but looking at both WFB and 40K Daemon books I cant come up with a list im happy with so I have a new plan.

So begins 'The Tale of 1 Gamer'

Coming soon will be the 1st step on an ongoing project, I plan to do 1000pts of each Chaos power for both games starting with Slaanesh.

Not only will this give me eventually the ability to field a 4000 point Daemon army for each game but also help on the road to finishing my Chaos Marine army.

Army Lists

Warhammer:

Herald of Slaanesh on daemonic mount
Herald of Slaanesh on foot
15 Daemonnettes, full command
15 Daemonnettes, full command
3 Fiends of Slaanesh

Warhammer 40,000:

Herald of Slaanesh on daemonic mount
Herald of Slaanesh on foot
15 Daemonnettes
15 Daemonnettes
15 Daemonnettes
3 Fiends of Slaanesh

Watch this space for updates

Walk the Line(men)

The Lone Wolves Challenge Cup is over and after going one step further and winning the competition I have moved on with preperation for the Blood Bowl at GW HQ in May

First to be completed is the 4 linemen for my new team that i'll be taking.

Still looking for a team name so far the favourite is 'The Bruised Brothers' after the slight purple tinge the players skin has that looks like they have been battered into submission.