Drinkin' and Modelin'

Progress Report 1/28/12 - Rolling away...

2012-01-28T09:15:00.000-06:00

I haven't put paint to mini in about two weeks! Been busy working on a position change at my job, reading a ton of books, and playtesting an upcoming boardgame called Impact City Roller Derby. It's a game meant to capture the speed and action of actual flat track derby.

This shot is from a game earlier this week. No miniatures for me yet, though Impact! does make some. Today I am off to see my local league play a match or two in the hopes of gleaning some new insights into what would make a good derby boardgame. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on what you would like to see in a Roller Derby boardgame?

Beer Review - Thirsty Dog Old Leghumper.

2012-01-21T17:08:00.000-06:00

Thirsty Dog Brewing Company - Old Leghumper

Beer Type: American Porter

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a dog and some legs on the bottle which seems appropriate given the name. This is a nice dark beer with just a hint of red in it when viewed through the light. Medium off-white head after the pour sits in the glass about an inch thick.

Smell: Classic "dark" aromas with chocolate malt, coffee, and some dried fruit lingering in the background.

First Drink: Not as much coffee or chocolate as the nose would have you believe. Reminds me more of a stout than a porter.

Mouthfeel: Pretty smooth, not a lot of carbonation here. Left my mouth feeling a bit sticky and dry.

Last Drink: More of the bitter coffee and alcohol coming through as the beer warms up. Nice and warming.

Drinkability: Already had a few and I could easily see myself drinking a few more.

Notes: First beer I have had from this brewery and I look forward to trying some more!

Verdict: 4 out of 5. A solid porter made not too far from where I live. Nice.

Links: Beer Advocate and Thirsty Dog Brewing Company.

The vampires are here, the vampires are here!

2012-01-16T22:28:00.000-06:00

More accurately the Skeletons (or skeledudes as some might say) are here. The only new models I cared to buy out of the new range (as I still have plenty of skeletons, grave guard, and converted black knights to paint) - the new Black Knight/Hexwraith box, the new plastic Wight King, and the new Finecast Krell. Also grabbed the new book and a set of magic cards.

The "haul" in all of it's "glory"...

I've only flipped through the new book but from what I can see it's another solid 8th edition army book release. Nothing too overpowered, lots of cool art and illustrations, and some interesting "fluff" to tie it all up. Best of all it seems my 7th edition army ideas have panned out for this new book and I will be able to build a functional and fun list based on the models I like instead of the models that are "good". Exciting!

I am looking forward to building the new Black Knights to mix in with my current conversions, and I have some ideas on converting the Wight King into a BSB, but I am a little nervous about my first piece of Finecast. The Krell model looks great though... totally the bad ass skeleton warrior look I dig for my Wight King. But before I can allow myself to dig into any of these new toys I need to complete the painting work on my table - the Lizardmen Blood Bowl team I started earlier this month!

The shiny new things... are calling me.... from the grave...

Played some Warhammer this past Sunday.

2012-01-09T20:54:00.001-06:00

Yup. Been awhile. Like... a year or so? Figured it was time to give it a go again. Broke out the Beer Gut tribe and took them to war against Chaos. First list with the new Ogre Kingdoms book looked like this:

LORDS: 385
Slaughtermaster - Level 4, Greedy Fist, Fencer's Blades, Ruby Ring of Ruin (385)

Wanted to try out the big caster and the Greedy Fist and see what the hubbub is all about. The ring was there to ensure I had enough ranged magic for maximum fist potential. It was a scroll but I swapped it...

HEROES: 322
Bruiser - BSB, Lookout Gnoblar, Heavy Armor, Enchanted Shield, Crown of Command, Luckstone (189)
Butcher - Level 2, Ironfist (138)

Butcher was my Maw caster and lived in the Ogres (err Bulls) while the BSB Bruiser hung out in the Ironguts with the Slaughtermaster. Goal was to hit the right unit at the right time... hard. Was not looking to get into any drawn out combats with Chaos Warriors.

CORE: 558
Ogres x 6 - Standard, Bellower, Ironfists (212)
Ironguts x 7 - Standard, Standard of Discipline, Bellower, Champion (346)

Solid core of Ogre backup and Irongut character bus at Ld 9 with a BSB reroll. Pretty standard stuff?

SPECIAL: 203
Leadbelchers x 4 - Bellower (182)
Sabertusk Pack x 1 (21)

Wanted to see how Leadies do in the new book. Mission accomplished.

RARE: 130
Gnoblar Scraplauncher (130)

I love my Scrappy! It used to be a dreaded sight among the WoC players of my past. Wanted to see how the new rules hold up in the current book.

Total Points: 1,598 of 1,600

Keeping in mind I don't own any of the new models (yet) I had to make do with what I have from my first purchases. The Beer Gut tribe is looking a little dark, dingy, and dusty. I am a much better painter overall now and it hurts to look at my first attempts at miniature painting. Oh well... everyone has to start somewhere I guess? Still, they looked pretty bad ass all lined up in the Sunday morning sun.

My opponent's list was a pretty basic WoC list. Block of MoT Chosen with a BSB, Level 4 MoT Sorcerer Lord, two small blocks of MoK Warriors and a unit of MoK Chaos Knights. It was his first game of 8th and the first game he has played with the "new" Warriors of Chaos army book. Fun and learning all around!

I won the roll off and took the first turn. Moved up some Leadies on the flank across from his Knights, swung my lone Sabertusk around the opposite flank to threaten his Sorcerer Lord (just behind the Chosen unit in the center of the board), and moved my Scraplauncher into a firing position. First turn of the magic phase I cast Caress from Lore of Death on his Lord with my Slaughtermaster. He attempts to dispel and fails. I then roll a ridiculous number of hits and POOF the Lord is no longer a problem (knocked down to level 0). After that comes shooting where my Leadies blow all but one of his Chaos Knights of the board in one volley.

The rest of the game goes by fast as I wait for the right time before combo-charging a unit of Warriors, killing all but two of them with impact hits. I take two wounds on my Slaughtermaster before cutting down the remaining enemies and running past the encroaching Chosen threat. Leadies finish off the lone Chaos Knight and shoot another unit of Warriors in the butt while my Sabertusk march blocks the Chosen and keeps them away from the battle. My opponent concedes on turn 4.

Fun (re)learning game and I learned a few things:

1. Leadbelchers can be pretty good now.

2. The Greedy Fist + spell hits combo is dirty and makes me feel bad in my pants.

3. Warhammer 8th Edition can still be pretty fun and I should play it more often.

Before I get back into my Ogres too heavily I have a date with some skeletons... and their new found bony friends. Coming soon!

Beer Review - Magic Hat #9

2012-01-07T13:01:00.000-06:00

Super behind on the beer reviews. How can I call my blog Drinkin' and Modelin' when there isn't any booze?! Here is one from way back in Austin (though I can get this beer here in Kalamazoo as well).

Magic Hat Brewing Company - #9

Beer Type: Fruit/Vegetable beer

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a big orange and pink/red number 9 on the label. Beer poured a light golden color (maybe a little orange?) with a nice thick head.

Smell: Apricots first, followed by a little malt and hops.

First Drink: Sweet apricot and fruit flavors followed by a mild honey aftertaste. Interesting...

Mouthfeel: Pretty light overall and nicely carbonated.

Last Drink: A bit more hops and bitterness coming through now.

Drinkability: Hard to quantify this beer as "drinkable" or not. It is strange and I like it ... I think.

Notes: Magic Hat makes some odd beers but I don't fault them for it. Here's hoping they manage to keep it up!

Verdict: 3 out of 5. Not quite enough going on to keep me really interested in this beer.

Links: Beer Advocate and Magic Hat Brewing Company.

Progress Report 12/31/11 - End of vacation, end of the year.

2011-12-31T13:33:00.000-06:00

That's a wrap 2011! It's been quite a hectic year for me all things considered. After working in my position at the co-operative grocery store I manage for just over a year I had to completely change the way I did everything in preparation for the move to a new store. This was a massive undertaking and it ate up large chunks of my life (and time). That said... the results are truly amazing! I am really proud of what I helped accomplish.

In the new year I will be changing my position at the store, moving from managing all the purchasing/stocking/etc to running our deli. It is a long term move and something I am quite excited by. It means giving up a lot of responsibility of the store overall but it is an area I am far more passionate about (making kick ass food for kick ass people).

Blah, blah, blah ... how about some pictures of what I managed to get painted on the Lizardmen team yesterday?

Yup. That's it! Just working on the basecoats before I move into adding more details, highlights, etc. I doubt I will get any more painting today as I have plans to cook some dinner, play some LoTR Risk, and have a few drinks before the year ends. Wishing you and yours a fantastic end of 2011 and all the best as we kick off the new year.

New Year (Hobby) Resolutions 2012.

2011-12-29T14:39:00.001-06:00

It's that time again! Time to sit down and look at the year in review before planning some resolutions for the next year. So first let's see how I did this year on the resolutions I made in January 2011.

Finish all the Blood Bowl teams I have started - FAIL?
I did manage to "finish" several teams - my Ogres, Vampires (which weren't even started when I made this pledge), Undead, Chaos Dwarfs, and the Amazons. I didn't finish two of the teams I had sitting around at the start of this pledge (Orcs and Lizardmen) but I am working on them now.

Play on the tabletop more - FAIL
Gotta I don't think I managed to get down to the FLGS once for a game of WHFB. Crazy!! Such a failure!

Stop buying and start painting more models - FAIL?
While I didn't buy as much as previous years, and I did immediately start assembling and painting most of what I did buy, I still bought new stuff and didn't paint as much as I would have liked.

Don't start any new tabletop games - FAIL?
Bought a Necromunda gang and started assembling them to play with the local Blood Bowl folks. Never actually got any games in though...

Be an even better sportsman - WIN
Small incremental improvements, and I still have ways to improve, but I definitely felt like more of a "good sport" while losing all of those Blood Bowl tournaments I attended. I even got a few "best game" votes!

Get another four issues of the Bellower released - FAIL?

This It's really hard to do a good webzine with some regularity. Hats off to all of those out there still organizing and releasing them... I was not as good at it. Managed to get a few issues released and the Bellower has migrated to a blog which I count as a success on some level.

So 1 out of 6 resolutions isn't too bad right? Right!?

Ok thanks cats...

Here is a (hopefully) more attainable list for this year:

Update the Bellower blog with "real" content at least once a week all year: I advocated for the switch, and I see a lot of potential, now I need to help build a strong web community in a secondary medium for the Stronghold. I will need help though! If you are reading this and wish to contribute in any way please let me know!

Finish painting all of the Blood Bowl teams I have started: That means the Chaos, Lizardmen, and Orc teams all need attention. I am not counting the in limbo Khemri team I sort of started earlier this year.

Play some WHFB somewhere, somehow: I know there are still folks playing at the FLGS and I haven't even touched the new Ogre Kingdoms book since it was released. With Vampire Counts on the way in January I have zero reason to not show up and play.

Attend as many Blood Bowl tournaments as possible: I went to about a half dozen events this year and I hope to match or surpass that number this year. I am just starting to get "in" with the community so perhaps I won't have to be seen as a "noob" this time around.

Paint more models then you buy: I know I won't go a whole year without buying any new models but I will strive to paint way more and buy a lot less! I do have my eyes on the new Vampire Counts Black Knights though...

Well I can't do much worse than I did last year, but that is still a pretty intense list. The focus is really on painting and playing games so it shouldn't be too hard to get done. We'll see how I fare when we review this again next year! What do you hope to achieve in your new year of hobby?

Progress Report 12/28/11 - Vacation day four.

2011-12-28T15:42:00.000-06:00

Haven't managed to get much hobby work done today. I finished up some touchups and basing on the vampires and that's about all (so far). Instead I spent a lot of the day reading (finished two books), cataloging new metal collection additions (so much new music to listen to), and trying hard not to answer work emails.

Here is where the bloodsuckers stand as of this moment:

I didn't mean to pose them so they all lined up neatly together... but they do! Next up for these guys is a varnish and some "fresh blood" before I call them "done". Then it is on to another project... perhaps the Lizards? Orcs? Chaos? Which should I finish next!?

Progress Report 12/27/11 - Vacation day three.

2011-12-27T14:09:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I managed to get plenty of GS sculpting done on the Chaos BB team. I decided to add some small touches to each of the beastmen/bloodletters to help break up their skin tone a bit. Things like bracers, gloves, punching knuckles, shoulder pads, etc... each one got something. No pictures at the moment as they are currently drying after priming.

Today I have managed get highlights on all of the Vampire BB team and I am working on the bases for the unfinished vampires. After that it will be a bit of blood, then static grass, then a coat of sealer, before I gore them up one last time to keep the blood looking "fresh".

In other news... Chest of Colors posted their "Worst Miniature" winners and losers. I know the suspense is killing you so I am posting the finalists here:

The winners are….
Nagash with 14,80% of all votes
Sunbathing orc with 12,85% of all votes
Minotaurs with 7,10% of all votes.

Check out the rest of the informative post for the community response, and the "losers" of the poll. Great content!

Progress Report 12/16/11 - Vacation day two.

2011-12-26T11:01:00.000-06:00

Well I finally have a week off from work! Yah! Time to get cracking on some miniature building and painting (mostly painting). My goals this week are to finish painting my Vampire Blood Bowl team in time for the new KUBBL season and to finish building/converting/basing my Chaos team, then at least prime them. Extra points to me if I can get them all painted up too.

Maybe I can knock out three teams and get my Lizardmen painted up too!? Who knows! Full of inspiration at the moment (quiet down over there Skyrim..) Here's where we stand at the moment this morning:

Perhaps a little clean up is in order first...

Merry Gutmass!

2011-12-24T10:27:00.001-06:00

Still a bit of work left to do this week... then I am taking a full seven days off! In a row! I expect to be cranking out minis and finishing up some desk projects before the year ends. Pictures to come of course...

In the meantime... happy holidaze and a merry gutmass to all!

The Bellower - "top secret" project complete.

2011-12-19T22:17:00.001-06:00

So... the Bellower is dead. Long live the Bellower! http://bellower.blogspot.com/

I'd go into more details here but my first post on the new blog details things pretty well. Go on! Check it out!

Painting and modeling motiviation - I listen to metal.

2011-12-17T15:02:00.002-06:00

I listen to metal. But what does that mean? What is "metal" to you? It is a word that evokes a lot of different things for different people. When folks ask what sort of "metal" I listen to I find it hard to explain what I mean when using the term. There is a large subculture of "underground" metal bands, each with their own distinct style, and often falling into their own musical sub-genre.

Personally I like my metal in many different styles - heavy, fast, slow, evil, psychedelic, oppressive, hard, gross, etc....

Since I have decided to post the occasional metal video or music link here on the blog (as it is typically what I listen to while painting and modeling) I thought it would be good to get some education material posted as well. As a sort of metal refresher here is a video which covers some of the early UK/US Grindcore and Death Metal pioneers such as Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower, Entombed, and Carcass. Most of the coverage is of Earache and Peaceville bands but it is good representation of what the metal scene was like at the time this was filmed.

Enjoy!

Only 5 days left to support the APES OF WRATH!

2011-12-06T18:39:00.001-06:00

Did you know that Three Die Block and Zlurpcast have teamed up (in a way) to get a team of APES together for Blood Bowl (or other miniature action)!? It's true! There is a Kickstarter right here!

It's not too late to get involved! I haven't made a pledge (yet) but you can't go wrong with a couple of monkeys... I mean apes... like these!!! Get the word out there!

Krampus!!

2011-12-05T17:54:00.000-06:00

Happy Krampus everyone!!

How are you celebrating your Krampus today? Need inspiration? How about a list of a few possible Krampus related activities you can do with your friends and loved ones:

Make yourself a Krampus mask
Cut and or burn some bundles of birch
Ring bells!
Join in a parade or throw a party
Drink, feast, and be merry (and drunk)
Run through the streets screaming "Krampus is coming!"
Tell a story
Ringing more bells, and beat on a drum
Give gifts and take gifts too
Beatings and/or whippings!

Whatever you do, have a good time and don't forget to celebrate! It's another 364 days until the next Krampus day after all...

Off to the Underworld Cup!

2011-12-03T04:33:00.001-06:00

Why I am awake so damn early? Because I am headed to beautiful Wisconsin for the 2011 Underworld Cup! I had intended to go to last year's event but the winter elements conspired against me and I chickened out. Not so this year!

While I had hoped to have my additional vampires painted in time to take the Strigoi Slash, I didn't manage to get them done enough to bring along. Thus I have fallen back on my trusty friends of the Nurgland Germs making this their 4th (or 5th?) tournamnent showing in 2011. What did I choose to bring you ask? Well since you asked...

Click on the image for a more detailed look. The gist of it is this: 14 player roster, 5 normal skills and 1 doubles skill, 1 reroll. We'll see how it goes!!

Progress Report 11/27/11 - what progress?

2011-11-27T15:58:00.000-06:00

Trying hard to get back into hobby mode. The end of our first KUBBL season has left us with a gap between seasons that has killed much of my ambition. That and Skyrim .... Ragnar the Bardbarian must kill dragons!

So I have been wanting to practice some Khorne painting styles for my eventual (or so I say) Warriors of Chaos army, and I have been wanting a Chaos BB team, and I happen to have all the models I need to make one laying around.... so here is a crappy WIP picture of that!

Hopefully you get the idea from that photo. Working on test models for both. Basically I am using old Bloodletters for Warriors and new Bloodletters for the Beastmen. Still not sure what to do for the eventual Minotaur. Perhaps a Bloodthirster? Or maybe a Bloodletter on Juggernaut? Too early to tell.

In gaming news... planning on heading out to the Underworld Cup next weekend. I haven't chosen a roster yet but I am toying with the idea of bringing the Hooded Menace (undead) or the Strigoi Slash (vamps). I made a vampire roster with 15 players and 4 rerolls that seems almost too silly to pass up. More on that later this week. In the meantime... back to Skyrim!

25 worst miniatures ever made?

2011-11-17T19:20:00.001-06:00

I just finished the Nagash trilogy from Black Library and that really drives home just how terrible this sculpt is. Here is a list and poll posted by the Chest of Colors about the 25 worst miniatures ever made.

While I don't agree with all the choices (the Kingdom Death models are cool... it's different and I like that) it is still an enjoyable read. Had me thinking... what makes a good model?

Life...

2011-11-12T10:54:00.000-06:00

The fight.... for LIFE...

I won't bother with "sorry for not posting" apologies. Inhumate does a good job in the video above. It would be a familiar story anyway... a month since my last post... life intrudes...

Sometimes the hobby urge is strong, sometimes less so. I was working on Necromunda models. I blame that for my slow decline into a lack of modeling/posting/painting.

Getting back on the hobby horse though! Just finished up the first new season of KUBBL with my Chaos Dwarf team Dunger Mifflin. Finished with 2 wins, 2 ties, and 3 losses. Not the greatest results but the good news is I also walked away with the team casualty award and the player with the most kills award. In the process I had plenty of injuries of my own - including a dead Chaos Dwarf blocker (Phylis Vance - RIP) and a couple lasting injuries on key players. I didn't manage to sneak into the playoffs but it was a fun season and I am pumped for the next one!

I have a perverse urge to put Mifflin on the back burner and start up my Vampire team the Strigoi Slash. I had a lot of fun playing a limited version of the team at Zlurpee Bowl this year and I would love to see a more developed version of the team in our league. Plus they are kind of like the Ogre team only they suck in a different way (get it?).

Banged up this quick logo which I am pretty happy with...

The models are mostly all done, just need to paint a few more Vampires. The hard part is choosing my starting roster. Right now I am debating between these two options.

Option #1

Vampires x 3

Thralls x 9

Rerolls x 4

Total: 970gp

PRO: More players on the pitch more often with the extra Thrall. Having a little gold left in the treasury gives me some flex in what I spend my earned gold on early.

CON: One less Vampire to start with which means it will take longer to skill up a full Vampire roster.

Option #2

Vampires x 4

Thralls x7

Rerolls x 4

Total: 1000gp

PRO: Four Vampires on the pitch makes for all kinds of interesting opportunities. It really plays up the S4 and A4 madness and opens new avenues for Hypnotic Gaze.

CON: I could easily eat through my entire team in one game with no bench. I would also have no gold in reserve to buy more Thralls.

Any advice on which roster you think is better would be much appreciated. The upfront cost of the Vampires has me shying away from going with 2 although I did compete with some of the best players in the country at Zlurpee Bowl with a roster like that. Hmmm...

Beer Review - Great Lakes Brewing Nosferatu

2011-10-15T17:26:00.000-05:00

Been too long since I posted a beer review! I promise to have at least one a week for the rest of this month and perhaps I can manage to pull that off for even longer. God knows I drink plenty of beer...

This time around I have a review of a regional seasonal brew in keeping with the month of October.

Great Lakes Brewing Company - Nosferatu Imperial Red Ale

Beer Type: American Strong Ale

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with the trade mark Great Lakes Brewing label - black border with art and stylized fonts. Beer pours almost blood red into the glass with a medium ivory head.

Smell: Initial smell is sweet caramel and malt with a sour citrus note. A bit of hops bitterness comes through as well.

First Drink: Strong grapefruit citrus flavors quickly followed by sweet sticky caramel. I'm getting a bit of hops but not as much as I had expected.

Mouthfeel: Good carbonation, and easy drinking, although the finish seems a bit dry. I wanted a glass of water after the first bottle.

Last Drink: Getting more hops in the finish, and an interesting aged wood flavor? Not sure where that is coming from but it's a neat trick.

Drinkability: This is 8% ABV but you wouldn't know it without reading the label. The overall brew hides the alcohol flavor well and holds up to repeat drinks. Enjoying this one.

Notes: Great Lakes Brewing Company may be one of the only things I like about Ohio. All of the beers I have had from this brewery have been good, and their seasonal ones are just as fine. This one reminds me of some of the Stone brews in a way.

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5. Good flavor, unique finish, and a decent buzz. What more can you ask from a beer?

Links: Beer Advocate and Great Lakes Brewing Company.

Progress Report 9/26/11 - Chaos?!?

2011-09-26T18:20:00.001-05:00

Wow. Chaos has been a word for my life... since the Chaos Cup. One of these days things will settle down enough for me to relax and enjoy some hobby time. Until then, I suggest you read Tristan's excellent coverage of his Chaos Cup games and experience because my rundown won't be anywhere near as detailed. In fact... here it is:

Driving to Chicago. Feeling sick. Urgh.
Got to Chicago. Drinking beer, winning a big game of Red Dragon Inn, not sleeping very much.
Wake up to find myself blessed by Papa Nurgle. Bathroom hilarity noises ensue.
Got to the bunker. Got the new Ogre Kingdoms army book.
First match of the day against Amazons. Quickly scored upon after receiving the kick, manage to drive it back down the field on the return kick, crazy shit happens and my ball carrier gets knocked over. Can't manage a second half return score but keep the Amazons at bay. Lose the game 0-1 with 6 turns left on the board.
Second match of the day is against Wood Elves. Slap a few woodies down and keep them from scoring. Come back, kill a treeman, smash some elves, and score. Win the game 1-0 with no turns left.
Third match of the day is against Chaos Dwarfs and fellow KUBBL coach Beaux. Crazy back and forth match, dodging with Rotters, Nurgle Warriors flying off the pitch, manage to keep things even stevens but fail several attempts to take the win at the end. Tied this game 1-1 with no turns left.
Fourth match of the day is against Dwarfs. Lots of Dwarfs and Nurgle Warriors laying on their butts but nobody breaks armor. Manage to take out a few but crazy Dwarf dodges keep the Germs from scoring. Lose the game 0-1 with 6 turns left on the board.
Drinking and bullshiting at the Brick House with Chance and Drew B. of 3DB and some nice folks from out West. Good fun.
Don't manage to sleep much with all the loud screaming going on outside my hotel room all night.
Wake up and finish the Skavenger Hunt then get to the venue late.
Fifth match is against Undead (Drew B. from 3DB/etc). Dice go south quick and the Undead smash their way to a solid win. Lose the game 0-1 with no turns left.
Sixth match is a low table scrub-off against Halflings. Manage to have one of the most fun games of the tournament, fail several times to take the win, succeed several times in keeping the Halfings from winning, and end the game in a Tie. 1-1 with no turns left.
Drive home tired in the rain. Make it back and pass out for days.

So there it is. The quick and dirty version. Didn't win anything with the exception of the Skavenger Hunt prize which my league mates and I took home. I like BB events but this two-day one was rough on me. I could bitch about the two games I lost due to my opponent playing slow but that wouldn't serve much purpose and it's likely I would have only lost the game or tied it up. Still a lot of fun and I am looking forward to next year's event.

In other news... got home and started working on my Warriors of Chaos WHFB models. First up was this big boy:

I really like this model and I hope I manage to paint it in a way that does it justice! Going to be a challenge for sure. I'm still toying with my paint scheme but I did complete one test mini for what the Warriors in the force might look like. This one is a unit champion perhaps?

I am happy with these initial results but skeptical on spending this amount of time on 30-40 models. I plan on adding some fresh blood spatter to the shield and the base isn't complete but you get the idea. Thoughts?

Still plodding along with my Dunger Chaos Dwarfs in the new KUBBL season. Lost my last game 0-1 against Dwarfs after coach Beaux pulled out some super dodge manuevers, didn't roll any 1's, and pushed my ball carriers down twice as they attempted to run into the end zone. Not a great game for the Chaos Dwarfs and next up is the leagues only Slann team. We'll see how that fares... in the meantime here are a few more pics of the team:

The "minotaur"

My "bull centaurs"

Four of the "chaos dwarf blockers"

The other four "chaos dwarf blockers"

Coach/board marker

Off to the Chaos Cup!

2011-09-16T11:13:00.000-05:00

Yeah! Chaos! Cup! Headed out to the Chicagoland area for three days of nerds and Blood Bowl. Bringing the Nurgland Germs out for this one. My roster isn't too mind blowing but in case you wondered what it is:

Yup. One reroll from Leader. On a Rotter. Should be fun! Look for a tournament report later on...

Progress Report 9/10/11 - Quick and dirty.

2011-09-10T21:05:00.000-05:00

Sorry for neglecting you blog. My hobby life has been full of sadness and I didn't want to share that with you. My large preorder for the new Ogre Kingdoms book and models was canceled and now I am awaiting the refund for the models I paid for to buy more stuff. Sad times. Then I went to the LGS to pick up the new book and walked in at the exact moment they were selling their last copy to another person.

With all of that on my mind I have decided to wait on my Ogre expansion and focus on my lonely and deprived Warriors of Chaos. Expect to see some WIP updates of them in the coming months as I Khorne out with the metal headed dudes.

In other hobby news... our new relaunch of KUBBL starts next week and I am working to finish my Chaos Dwarf team. This one is called Dunger Mifflin (yeah, yeah it's an Office thing). Here is a quick and dirty WIP pic of the group taken on my ipod:

I am really liking how they are turning out. I had to clip the bases off and do some slight modifications to make them fit on to 30mm bases for Blood Bowl, but the random color schemes I am painting them in are turning out nice. The best part is it gives me a chance to practice a lot of painting fundamentals I have been neglecting for a long time. Hopefully they will do well on the pitch!

Next Friday is the Chaos Cup in Chicago! I'll be taking the Nurgland Germs and I just sent in my final roster today. It's a two day event and I don't expect to win too many games but I am hoping for a fun time.

That's all I got for now! Hope to get more content added here soon, including better pics of the finished Dunger Mifflin "dwarfs" as they are completed.

Progress Report 8/31/11 - Nuns the word.

2011-08-31T18:27:00.000-05:00

This summer has been busy. Have had very little time for anything. Got some painting done on the Amazon/Nun team for Blood Bowl though. Actually painting these up for a friend to use in an upcoming event. Not 100% where I want them to be but they are getting there. Painting black and white is hard.

Sorry for the bad picture quality but I am off to get a practice game or two in with my Ogres! Got the new book, magic cards, and some models headed my way as well. Ogres!!

Expect to see more soon. Honest!

Ogre Kingdoms - new army book cover to smash you!

2011-08-24T18:53:00.000-05:00

RAHHH!! Ogres!!

Busy with family marriage things this week. Hope to have some painted mini pics up early next week. In the meantime... look at that brutal fat dude!

New Ogre Kingdoms book information and pics!

2011-08-10T18:51:00.000-05:00

New images and info from the new Ogre Kingdoms book due out next month! Found these on the web today... word is the whole book has been leaked to the internet. Here is the latest and greatest:

Magic:
Ogre Magic has been reworked and spellcasting now works the same way as for all wizards. Spells are pretty much similar to what they used to be, except they last until next magic phase and are not RIP.

Lore attribute is bloodgruel - on 2+ mage gains 1 wound and +1 to cast for his next spell, on a 1 takes an S6 hit.

The signature spell grants stubborn to a unit within 12"/18" (the latter is presumably on a boosted casting)

As for other magic, 2d6 2s no save missile, augment giving target +1t or all units wihin 12" +1t with higher roll, panic test spell to all enemy units 18/36", regeneration to unit/all units within 12" with higher roll, small template spell ini test needed if passed 3s hit if not 7s hit d6 wounds it can be changed to large template with higher roll needed.

Ogre mages can take great maw, death, heavens and beasts magic.

New mage model is the firebelly, who uses lore of fire, can be upgraded to lvl 2 for the standard price of a wizard upgrade, can take a great weapon or extra hand weapon and has S4 breath attack, flaming attacks and 4+ ward vs fire.

Magic items and big names:
Big names still there and come out of magic item allowance. Didn't get changed that much from what you currently have. Best one is probably giantbreaker - doesn't require giant in the army - for the cost of dispel scroll model can't refuse challenges or flee but gets +1S.

Magic items are few and generally meh compared with common items. Most interesting item is hellheart, which causes a miscast in all enemy mages within 5xD6" at the beginning of enemy magic phase - one use only, costs 2 scrolls.

Thundermace (asl, +2s 2h weapon), or thundercrush attack instead, small template model in the centre hit with 9s d3 wound, rest hit with 3s.

Siegebreaker (asl, +2s 2h weapon) roll to hit against ini or siegebreaker attack d6 hits with str equal to height of the building up to 10.

Rune maw rules I think are the same as in last book (I dont see its max range use but i think this will be faq'd).

Dragonhide banner same stats as in last book + can be used as breath weapon with 3s.

Core:
Core units now include ironguts at 43 points, and with all command models costed at +10 points (which is same across the book).

Special:
Special units got a lot of changes, leadbelchers will now fire D6 shots every turn, no misfires, and are move and fire with no penalty for moving.

Sabertusk, 1-10 unit size. Each one has 3 S4 attacks, so aside from being the redirector of your dreams, it can sometimes work as a mage assassin. One costs slightly more than 4 halberdiers. T4 and two wounds.

They can't use general's leadership or battle standard re-roll, and their own LD is 4 - and can only be joined by a Hunter - so I would say they will only come in two unit sizes - 1 or 10+hunter. This second option is not so bad - the unit will cost you some 350 points, but it has vanguard, swiftstride, and 30 S4 WS4 I4 attacks + whatever the hunter brings.

Maneaters basically choose two special rules (you cannot chose the same special rule for two units) from a group of 8 - including poisoned attacks, sniper, stubborn, swiftride, strider, vanguard, itp, scout.

Mournfang cavalry is the new heavy cav, with a lot of options (potentially a 2+ armour save), tons of attacks and a price tag that is in the vicinity of a bloodcrusher, depending on what armour/weapons you take. 3 wounds, D3 impact hits and a total of 7 attacks per model make them somewhat fearsome.

Gorger is now special and gets a bit more expensive, but loses the rule by which it had to end movement closer to an enemy unit. It does have frenzy, unbreakable, killing blow and ambusher special rules.

Rare:
Scraplauncher is rare and similar to what it does now (S3 KB catapult).

Ironblaster is an empire cannon with horrible fluff and a pretty unpleasant misfire chart. S10 grapeshot and a special rule that allows you to roll two dice for bounce and chose the highest, even if one is a misfire.

The two mammoth-like critters are... the stonehorn, which can have a mounted harpoon launcher (S6 D3 wounds 36" bolt thrower that doesn't penetrate ranks and is move and fire if mounted), 4+ armour save, does a lot of S6 impact hits on the charge, has dragon-like stats (but lower WS, Ld and initiative), M7, 4+ armour save and a special rule which halves the damage from all multiple-wound weapons that hit it.

...and the thundertusk, which is a support version of the above - has a mounted catapult that doesn't get hurt in any way by misfires, a harpoon and a 12" S6 KB weapon (chaintrap) - 3 weapons on its back, and gives all enemy models within 6" ASL. The tradeoff is - no impact hits and one less attack.

A stonehorn can also be the mount for a hunter.

Additional:
Clubs are hand weapons now.

Bull charge - no info about needing 6" to charge but when calculating charge range if you roll 10 or more there is d3 impacts rather than 1.

Giant is now stubborn!

If stonehorn makes sucesfull charge he makes 3d3 impacts(instead of his normal attacks) +1 for each dice if charge roll was higher than 10.

Trappers is an upgrade for normal gnobbies @25pts it makes every model in a unit that charges them take a dangerous terrain test.

Special Characters:
Golfgag is a hero with 5a he can take 2d6x10p magic items, if golfgag joins maneaters they have always stubborn and vanguard rules from been there done that special rule.

Bragg is 4a hero with heroic killing blow rule in challenges if he slays challenger enemy unit he was in it is disrupted for the rest of the turn.

Great stuff here! Can't wait for the new book to come out so I can start playing with some of this nasty stuff! It sounds like almost every unit got a lot better. HAH!!

The Bellower - Issue #6 Out Now!

2011-08-07T20:03:00.001-05:00

Got it done and released! Woo hoo!

In this issue:
- Cover art by Hermut ALLMighty
- From the Gut by Hragged
- Ask Aunty Doreen by Aunty Doreen
- FAQ For New Players by Barney and Captain Lardgut
- A Giant In Chains by The Ultra-Mega Bob
- The Feeding Grounds: Thoughts From Thinling Realms by Barney, The Ultra-Mega Bob and various chatty Thinlings
- The Butcher's Cauldron: Build a Stone Hut by Reg06
- Tactics For Tyrants: Slavegiants by The Ultra-Mega Bob
- Gastronomic Rumblings From the Butcher's Pot by Eric J Goldstein
- Guts of Legend: 'Handsome' Kurg by Meathook and Hermut ALLMighty
- Armies of the Stronghold: Tribe of Dragon's Mountain by Nightmare and Barney

New Ogre unit pics!

2011-08-01T18:31:00.000-05:00

Great way to kick off August, and right before my birthday too! New Ogre Kingdoms models!

First impressions? Undecided. I love them and hate them at the same time. Change is scary. Looking forward to seeing more detailed shots and sprues of course. I'm sure I will be a little bit poorer (while my Ogres will be a little bit richer) come September.

Ogres coming soon!

2011-07-30T12:15:00.000-05:00

I'm really looking forward to September! New Ogre Kingdoms stuff!! Woo hoo! It's like a late birthday present for me. Been working hard on the next issue of the Bellower which I hope will be released next week - just waiting on a few last minute contributions to come together.

Not much going on in the modeling front although I did just get a bunch of Ramshackle minis in the mail this week - going to be using them as a Chaos Dwarf Blood Bowl team with the possibility of being a Goblin team as well. Hard to explain without pictures... so I will get some up soon!

In the meantime... Ogres!!! What are you hoping to see out of the new book?

New Vampire Counts models and rules incoming - Updated with more pics!

2011-07-24T11:31:00.002-05:00

Came across this news today while reading Mr Saturday's Mumblings - new Vampire Counts models and rules to be released soon!

A new Vampire Lord plastic kit that can be made into a Zombie Dragon or something called a "Terrorgheist". Also to be released are new plastic wraiths as well.

Also new rules in the August WD which change things up a bit for VC.

And this info was posted on Warseer by ihavetoomuchminis:

all these new rules are meant to be official rules.

The Ghoul king mount thing. It's worth some more points than a Varghulf. It can be included as a mount for a ghoul king (wich is any vampire lord with the ghoulkin vampiric power) or as a RARE UNIT.

It flies, causes terror, is large target, undead. I think it is WS3 or 5, not sure on that. S5, T6, W6, I3, A4, L??.

It has a shooting attack similar to the banshee. Roll 2d6 + number of wounds remaining of the monster - Leadership of the target unit = No armour saves allowed wounds. Not sure on the range. I think it was 18". Probably less.

Can be upgraded with poisoned attacks and/or a special rule that inflicts 3d6 S2 hits on any BtB unit when it dies.

The wraiths become a hero choice, and it seems they can join units. They are the same stats as in the VC book, and can make an special attack, replacing its normal attacks. This special attack auto-wounds and doesn't allow armour saves. The model is plastic and has 3 different heads. It's like levitating, with a cloak and a scythe.

The banshees become a hero choice (not sure if they can join units). Not new rules. The model is great. Also levitating.

It isn't specified if the wraiths rare unit of the VC book is still usable.

What i like: all, but the fact that they are giving us even less reasons to take anything but ghouls as basic units.

This stuff is getting me interested in my VC army again!! How about you?

UPDATE: Just came across a few more pictures on Warseer. Cool!

Ogre Kingdoms - New rumors abound!

2011-07-22T08:08:00.003-05:00

New Ogre rumors are coming in fast and from what I have seen in the past I think this current round hold water. Time will tell...

From Zephyr on the Ogre Stronghold:

Phil Kelly is author.

Plastic kits:
Rhinox Riders (on regular Rhinoxen) (box of 3)
Scraplauncher/Skewer-slinger (Similar to Warp-cannon/plague-claw in design)
Great Mammox with three ogre crew and plastic tyrant option (Same base as Arachnarock. Imagine a cross between a musk ox and a Mammoth)
Yhetees (More gorilla-like, and and no more 80's hairstyle manes. Really dynamic for a plastic kit)

Finecast:
Jahred The Red on Rhinox
Golgfag Maneater
Redone Goldtooth, Skrag, maneaters (box of 3, female, ninja and pirate discontinued), Tyrant/bruiser, gorger.

Rules:
Bull Charge will work always, even though you're less than 3 ogres and charge less than 6".
All ogres except butchers gain a basic 6+ save from their gut plates.
Ogre Clubs negates parry save, and is a general rule for all weapons like Choppas in OnG.
All army restrictions gone, but gnoblars do not count towards minimum core.
Gnoblars T2, but Sharp stuff is March and Fire, Range 10".
Weapon options for units cheaper, and minor point reductions across the board. Bulls will stay same base cost.
Magic will be standardized. Most spells will stay similar (augments) but with greater range, and can be buffed to affect more units. May also be cast on Yhetees and Gorgers.
Rhinox Riders are super-hard. They get regular stomp and D3+1 Bull Charge, and also has Devastating Charge. (Special Choice)
Scraplauncher, same but moves to Rare.
Rhinox and Mammox are mount options for Tyrant and Hunter.
Mammox can thunderstomp everything, like the SoM Bonegrinder Giant. Insane stats, but expensive (like 290 points base.). Crew can have leadbelcher swivel guns.
Hunter greatly improved. Move and fire with harpoon and monster-killing special rules.
Yhetees as in SoM, but with options for 2HW or GW, and musician now. No standard-bearer.
Leadbelchers auto-hit, and can fire every turn, but only S4, no AP. Don't come with Light Armour.

Magic Items:
Big Names Gone.
Half of items are Magic Weapons.
Tenderizer and Siegebreaker will stay.
Halfling Cookbook grants Loremaster.
There's a banner granting the same frenzy Minotaurs have.

Plastics will be out in October. Finecast in November.

Things I like in this list of rumors (to be taken with plenty of salt):

New plastic kits for a Rhinox, Mammox, Scraplauncher, and Yhetees.
New models for Golgfag Maneater and Jhared the Red.
New rules for the Ogre Club sound interesting and are quite fluffy I think.
Gnoblars max caps are gone but they do not count towards Core requirements.
Minor point reduction across the board with weapon options being cheaper.
Hunter gets better with move and fire and monster killing abilities (heroic killing blow?).
New special characters.

Things I don't like in this list of rumors (I really hope these aren't true):

No point reduction for Bulls? That would make them the worst monstrous infantry unit in the game!
Yhetees are not really improved. Same as in SoM but with different attacks.
Scraplauncher moving to a Rare choice seems excessive. Must be a lot of whiners out there with big block armies.
Taking away Big Names is like Dwarfs losing runes or Bretonnians losing virtues!
Making Gut Magic more "standard" doesn't really appeal to me. Simplifying it does but I hope they don't ruin the flavor (pun intended).

So there you have it... my thoughts on these rumors. I'm sure you were dying to know what I thought!!

In the end I won't complain too much if the new book is of the same quality and caliber of the last two (O&G and Tomb Kings). I suspect the release of this new book will give me a reason to bust out the big boys on the table again... it's been almost a year since I played a game of WHFB!!

Progress Report 7/8/11 - Dodging my way back to you blog.

2011-07-08T11:08:00.000-05:00

Life!!! It keeps happening without me!! I am slowly pulling myself up and out of Real Life(TM) and back into a world of tiny men (and women, and monsters, and... you get the idea) - I hope to have more meaningful content here soon. In the meantime...

Behold my Vampire Blood Bowl team! I will be playing them tomorrow (and Sunday) at the 7th annual Zlurpee Bowl! Since regular BB tournaments just aren't hard enough for me I have decided to play one of the teams listed in the rules pack - FTLOTG (For The Love Of The Game) Vampiire. That's right... two Vampires and ten Thralls will go head to head with all comers in a blood filled (probably the Thrall's) weekend of BB matches. We'll see how much love I have for the game after this one is over...

I assembled and painted this team in just under 5 days. I started with a unit of 10 Vampire Counts Ghouls I had sitting around collecting dust and thought... could I make a Vampire team out of these guys? After looking at the GW Vampire models and coming back across the Strigoi models it all came together. Beastial vampire blood sucking dudes with smaller crazy blood crazy dudes all on the pitch to drink a bowl full of bloody balls!

I only needed two vampires for this team so that's all I managed to get done! The look suitably feral and gruesome I think. The skin came out exactly like I wanted so I am pretty happy with that.

Next up was the Ghoul crew playing the part of Thralls. Low armor average BB players with a penchant for violence... sounds about right.

I have their bases painted with the skill I have given them for my tournament roster. I discovered later that I would probably have changed a few skills but I didn't have time to go back and paint the bases and skill text again before leaving for the event. Oh well!

So that's it! Now I am off to Indiana with some Blood Bowl cohorts for a weekend of boardgames, beer, and blood (on the pitch only please). Here's hoping I come back with some good tales and ideas for the next time around.

Progress Report 6/11/11 - I'm still alive!!

2011-06-11T10:54:00.002-05:00

I'm still alive! Honest!! We finished the building, move, and set up of our new co-operative grocery store and opened the doors on May 31st. The past two weeks have been just as crazy as I had to figure out the logistics of how our new store operates and ensure we had plenty of product for our new customers to buy. All that is going well so I hope to get back to some hobby related items soon.

Quick re-cap of what happened last month:

Beat my first round playoff opponents in KUBBL IV with the Hooded Menace only to lose badly in my second game against an undefeated Dwarf team. Some horrible dice rolls combined with my team being heavily outmatched going in kept the Undead dudes down on the pitch for most of the game. Finished the season with a record of 6 wins, 3 ties, and 4 losses. Not as good as I had hoped but a nice comeback after some tough mid-season games that left my team rocked.

Attended the first Kalamazoo Blood Bowl tournament the Special K Cup. Took the Nurgle team under the name "Nurgtritional Facts" with the player names all being gross nurgle themed cereal additives. No body seemed to notice or care about that. Tournament had a ton of Elf teams due to the special rules for the event. Managed something like 1 win, 1 tie, and 2 losses. Played all of the top ranking teams with the exception of the winner. All in all it was a pretty fun day out and I did manage to walk away with the "Cereal Killer" award for most casualties (16 by the end of 4 games).

Started painting my Lizardmen Blood Bowl team and got most of the painting done on my Ogre cheerleader model for a painting competition at the Ogre Stronghold but didn't manage to finish it in time. This was due to the crazy work schedule and the burst of 100 degree weather we had earlier this week when I tried to get it done before the deadline. Here's two quick shots of where she's at right now:

I like the way she's turning out. Not bad for a model that was missing an arm when I got it!

We're in the middle of a bit of a KUBBL downtime for the summer, or possibly due to lack of interest, but I have to get a team together for ZlurpeeBowl next month and that may involve some additional painting. Or maybe I will just take my Ogres and lose all weekend.. who knows?!

Progress Report 5/8/11 - Getting ready for Special K.

2011-05-08T08:56:00.000-05:00

Only 24 days until I open a new store... the co-operative grocery where I work is expanding to a larger building. It's all very crazy, and busy, which is still keeping me away from my painting and modeling time. I have managed to get a few tabletop games of Blood Bowl in for KUBBL. Our 4th season is wrapping up and the playoffs start next week. The Hooded Menace is going in as a #3 seed. My season overall has been a lot of ups and downs. We'll see how I can deal with the heavy hitters of the playoffs...

This weekend's small bit of hobby time was devoted to two things related to our first league run Blood Bowl tournament - the Special K Cup. That meant I needed to make up a roster, and also find time to finish off the trophies for first and last place - a nice shiny bowl for first, and a wooden bowl for last.

I painted the wooden bowl in a more shoddy manner as to reflect it's nature as the last place award. The first place award was all done freehand but the paint I am using is really ghastly. I did an "okay" job. It looks nice from a distance of up to 2-3 feet but up close you can see it's a bit rough around the edges. I may still add a thin layer of varnish to seal it and smooth out some of the rough bits.

For the tournament I am bringing my Nurgle back out. The rules allow for so much roster I was able to fit in a start player on top of my full complement of Warriors, Beast, and Pestigors. Thus, a hastily built Max Spleenripper was born!

He's supposed to be a Chaos Warrior with a chainsaw. I wanted him to look a bit dessicated and crazy to fit right into my Nurgle team. There will be plenty of gore on the chainsaw, along with the sliced off human head laying at his feet. I skipped the "pointy hat" and gave him a crazy beard instead. I'm pretty happy with the results as I slapped this together with some bits and a little greenstuff (mostly on the chainsaw) in just under 15 minutes. I also built some turn/reroll markers for the Nurgle folks.

And that's it for now! Look for some painted pics later this week. Be sure and call your mum today!!

The Bellower - Issue #5 out now!

2011-04-26T22:29:00.000-05:00

Hey! This is done...

You can download it or view it by visiting the Stronghold here. This issue was quite an ordeal to make but somehow we got it done. Not feeling 100% about the content but overall I think it is pretty solid. The Feeding Grounds article is probably the most interesting thing...

What do you think?

Beer Review - Magic Hat Roxy Rolles.

2011-04-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

Still working through a back log of beer reviews...

Magic Hat Brewing Company - Roxy Rolles

Beer Type: American Amber/Red Ale

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a red Magic Hat label featuring a biker of some sort. Beer is a nice light brown color with a thick off-white head.

Smell: Plenty of hops along with some malt as well. Smells like what I have come to expect a red ale to smell like!

First Drink: Plenty of the caramel malt followed quickly by some spicy hops.

Mouthfeel: A little oily but the overall sensation is smooth.

Last Drink: More of the floral hops comes through but I am also getting something a bit "stale" and bitter. Not liking it.

Drinkability: This is a Fall seasonal I am drinking in the Winter. Reminds me more of a Bock or Doppelbock than a Red or Amber ale.

Notes: Might just be a bit old, wish I had a chance to try this when it was more fresh.

Verdict: 3 out of 5. Some interesting flavors going on but not all of them are ones I like.

Links: Beer Advocate and Magic Hat Brewing Company.

Progress Report 4/17/11 - Painting dem greenskins.

2011-04-17T13:25:00.000-05:00

Managed to get some test scheme paint on the two Orc lineman for my Blood Bowl team. Still toying with the idea of adding some battle damaged paint to the armor. I kind of like them as is though... learning how to paint green skin and yellow cloth has been tricky. Maybe add a colored stripe down the helmet?

I feel like I have so much to learn about painting but not as much interest in getting myself to the next level. I suppose a medium-quality is all I really want for the tabletop anyhow. Thoughts?

Inspiration...

2011-04-16T22:10:00.002-05:00

Not having time to work on hobby stuff makes me sad. Here are a couple things I have come across that have inspired me for painting/modeling projects:

This foam Blood Bowl pitch by utopiaztudioz is carved/burnt/sculpted and painted before a fabric back was added so it can be folded for transport. I want something like this!!

James Stokoe's Orc Stain has a great color palette that I would love to paint some models in. I don't know that I am a good enough painter yet but... having some models that look like this... would be rad:

Warhammer Forge nurgly Ogre Tyrant! Riding a gross toad-dragon thing! Looking forward to seeing what this book brings us...

Alright... back to work on the Bellower! Gotta get this done in the next week or so. Also working on my first Orc test paint schemes for the Trailer Orc Boyz! Until next time...

UPDATED: New Tomb King model pics - Sphinx, snakes, and silly skeletons oh my!

2011-04-05T07:42:00.002-05:00

Woke up this morning... ate a big bowl of oatmeal... and came across these pictures of new Tomb King models on the Subject to Stupidity blog.

UPDATE: More and better pics here - thanks to My Dice Hate Me! for the link!

I assume we'll see an official announcement from GW soon with some better pictures and description but as a first peek into what's inside the new TK book... I am not sure if I am a fan? The snakemen seem pretty cool but I am not sure how they fit into the lore? The snake riders are just plain goofy but perhaps in a fun way? And the new "necrosphinx" looks justifiably bad ass but what does it look like without that time intensive 'eavy metal paint job (the skin)?

Looking forward to seeing what comes out in the next few weeks. I have always toyed with the idea of having a TK army (using my VC skeletons not the abominations the TK call skeletons) and there are some interesting themes here to play with for sure. What do you think?

Noteworthy news and models.

2011-04-03T12:10:00.000-05:00

The days and weeks are flying by! I am still firmly entrenched in my life at work which doesn't leave much time for hobby stuff. I did manage to get the start of a test paint scheme on two Lineorcs for my BB Trailer Orc Boyz team and spend a bit of time painting commission stuff but otherwise...

In the meantime I have been getting my miniature fix in with weekly games of Blood Bowl in our Kalamazoo league (not doing so great with my Undead but the season is only half over), and spending time browsing the web for interesting or unique models I might like to own. Here are a few I have come across that I wanted to share (and to keep as a "wish list" for later):

Microarts is releasing some rubber molds for quick greenstuff conversions. Not sure if I would buy one but I like the idea. More info here.

Maelstroms's BaneLegions are coming out fast and furious and this Wight King model really caught my eye as a potential BSB for my Vampire Counts army.

I check in on Secret Weapon from time to time as I like the look of their work. Just noticed they are now offering a "sack of skulls" for basing, making skull headed things, adding to models... you name it! You can never go wrong with more skulls.

I'm interested in learning more (and trying out) their new set of washes, and I have been wanting to give their weathering powders a go for awhile. Anyone given either of these a try?

I saw Wyrd is releasing a Malifaux model that could almost be a stand in for Valkia the bloody if you were willing to sculpt on the Chaos armor...

Avatars of War is releasing a full regiment of "Dwarf Berserkers" aka Slayers! They look pretty cool but I am not sure I love the layout of the models in the unit picture. I gave up on my force of Slayers and sold off my models last year (to help fund my Warriors of Chaos and Blood Bowl forces) but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the angry stunty folks.

Moving on.. we have the natural enemy of the Dwarf... Orcs! Came across these figures by Ramshackle Games (a new company to me) and I just fucking love them! I wish I had a reason to buy them and paint them up...

And lastly we have the slew of quality stuff coming our way courtesy of Mantic. They have shown off some great looking models in the past couple months but I gotta say I really like the look of this boar riding Orc boss.

So there it is... a short list of models and stuff I found to be interesting or noteworthy in the past few weeks. I hope to have some time for hobby and gaming this month but I also need to get the next issue of the Bellower laid out... so...

Beer Review - Breckenridge Lucky U IPA

2011-03-27T11:19:00.000-05:00

Still quite busy with work which hasn't left me much time for life. Also recovering from some kind of illness that had me launching my stomach contents into the toilet for a day long adventure. With that fantastic mental imagery in place... how about a beer review?!

Breckenridge Brewery - Lucky U IPA

Beer Type: American IPA

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a red and gold label centered around a horseshoe. Beer poured an orange-amber color with a nice thick head.

Smell: Sweet orange aromas with something a bit spicy in there as well.

First Drink: Bitter hops quickly followed by sweet citrus and malt. A lot hoppier than the aroma let on.

Mouthfeel: Smooth going down but a little light for my tastes.

Last Drink: A second hint of hops now but without the sweetness from the malt and wheat.

Drinkability: 6.2% ABV but you can't taste the alcohol. I could finish off a few of these with no problem.

Notes: This is supposed to be a year round brew but I haven't seen it around much lately. It is one of the brewery's more recent additions though, so it might just be in short supply.

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5. Not bad, but only slightly better than average.

Links: Beer Advocate and Breckenridge Brewery.

Beer Review - Real Ale Shade Grown Coffee Porter

2011-03-13T15:03:00.000-05:00

Holy crap! It's been over a week since I last posted on the blog and it's been since right before Christmas when I last posted a beer review!! I am incredibly busy with my job and life at the moment but this is something that must be rectified! Here is a review of one of the last beers I had in Austin last year before I moved..

Real Ale Brewing Company - Shade Grown Coffee Porter

Beer Type: American Porter

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a Real Ale style logo that looks a bit like a bag of coffee beans. Beer poured a dark brown/dark red color with a thin head.

Smell: Coffee, chocolate, and something nutty. Smells a little subdued for a porter.

First Drink: A lot more flavor here than the aroma hinted at. First up is the coffee, followed quickly by dark roasted malt and chocolate flavors.

Mouthfeel: Thin and carbonated in the style of all the Real Ale brews I have had but it has a nice smooth quality.

Last Drink: The chocolate flavors really come through as the beer warms up and the coffee sticks around for a long time.

Drinkability: I can't complain. Not the best porter I have had but this is certainly one of the best Real Ale beers I have tried.

Notes: This beer was a limited edition brew. I only saw it in the stores in Austin for a few weeks before it vanished. I hope I get the chance to drink it again some time!

Verdict: 4 out of 5. Left me wanting more.

Links: Beer Advocate and Real Ale Brewing Company.

Progress Report - February is a month for bullies.

2011-02-27T13:36:00.000-06:00

Well... I did it! I set out to get my Bultimore Bullies done and painted this month and I managed to squeeze it in just under the deadline. I need to add a couple of details and seal the models but here is what we ended up with...

Now I need to decide which team to take to next weekend's tournament! Right now I am leaning heavily towards the Ogres.

Spent a bit of time on two commission pieces as well...

Neither of these are quite done - need to add a bit of detail and finish up the base on the troll model.

And then there was these two jokers...

Might be a bit hard to tell from the angle but the one on the right has a chainsaw in place of a hand. Be honest... do they look goofy?

Book Review - "Heldenhammer" by Graham McNeill

2011-02-25T19:21:00.000-06:00

Another book in the "Time of Legends" series, this one being the first of the Sigmar trilogy. More Black Library reviews to follow - including "Bloodborn" by Nathan Long, the first in a series of books centered on Ulrika from the Gotrek and Felix novels.

"Heldenhammer" by Graham McNeill

Sigmar. A name used sacredly in the Empire and throughout the old word. Bards and peasants alike spin heroic tales of his legendary rise to near god-like status, while temples and congregations worship his likeness and pray to his mercy for guidance and forgiveness. But well before all of this the legend of Sigmar began like most others... with a man.

Heldenhammer begins with a young Sigmar, then prince and son of King Bjorn of the Unberogen tribe, on a quest to prove his worth as a man. Sigmar is the living model of virtue and heroism and it is quickly apparent that his story is a stark contrast from the darkness and lower moral standards of most tales set in the old world. He envisions a future for all the tribes of man, one that has them working united to carve a peaceful existence out of the dangerous land within which they live.

McNeill does a good job of portraying Sigmar as he ages throughout this first story. We see Sigmar as a young man with his friends, as a grieving son and sudden king, an envoy to the tribes of men, warrior and berserker, leader, and hero. The story is a mix of high and low fantasy - readily borrowing classic elements from writers such as Tolkien and R.E. Howard.

The battles scattered throughout the book are taught and action-filled affairs, from small skirmishes to full scale epic warfare, and you get a good sense of Sigmar as a leader, tactician, and warrior. High praise for a fantasy book right? Well, unfortunately the one battle that is less than stellar is the final one portrayed in the book - the battle of Black Fire Pass. This battle is "historic" and often referenced in the "modern history" of the old world but we're left with what feels like a rushed attempt at finishing the story "in a good place" for the next book in the series to begin.

While the story does falter in some areas the overall character development is quite interesting, especially in the first half of the book. I would gladly recommend this first novel to anyone with a fleeting interest in the WHFB old world, it's "history", or action filled fantasy stories in general. It may not be the most original tale but it is certainly an entertaining one.

Verdict: 8 out of 10. An action filled read that introduces readers to Sigmar - the man and the legend.

Progress Report - Ice is not nice.

2011-02-22T17:58:00.001-06:00

You may already be aware of this but the area of the US where I live got a rather nasty winter storm over the weekend. It was an onslaught of snow, followed quickly by freezing rain, and it made traveling very dangerous while simultaneously bringing down trees and power lines all over the state. I ended up losing power (and thus heat) in my house for the past couple days, luckily it came back on today. It all started on Sunday morning while I was playing in a BRAWL...

I brought the brand new Hooded Menace team and walked away with third place overall scoring 1-1-1 in my three matches. The first game was against a fairly new Chaos team and started off with a "oh shit" moment as the first block of the game resulted in a dead (again) Zombie for the Menace. The rest of the undead rockers must have been a bit pissed to see Macehtazo go down (for good) as they came back to score 6 more casualties of their own on the Chaos team! By the end of the game there were only three players left on the pitch for the Warkittens, and only one of those was a Chaos Warrior! Walked away with the win and went on to play the overall winner of the tournament (and my new most hated elf team) the Umlauts.

It was a close game against the elves after the first elf score, but three turns of a Ghoul dropping the ball to score the tie (pick up, rolled a 2, re-roll, rolled a 1. same again for two more turns!!) led to the two elves and one treeman on the pitch taking home the win. If I had tied this game the Umlauts wouldn't have won the whole thing and the Menace would have likely tied for second overall in points. Oh well... on to the last game against a fairly developed Necro team!

The D-gens came out strong and knocked the Menace about the pitch for a quick score. The Menace came back and quickly managed to score one of their own to tie up the game. The last half of the game was a grudge fest with the ball switching hands multiple times before finally coming to rest in the middle of the pitch between two Flesh Golems and two Mummies for the majority of the half. A final last ditch effort to break out with a Werewolf was foiled by some incredibly "go for its" by the Menace Ghouls who redeemed themselves and kept the D-gens from getting the game winning score.

Still! Third place is pretty good for a new team I think! I haven't played many games with the Undead but so far I am really liking them. I will be using them in KUBBL IV which begins this week and is a much longer season as we now have 14 coaches in the league! Winning third is nice but it came mostly out of these numbers:

I scored 15 casualties (two of which were regen'd kills in the game against the D-gens)and topped out both of the number #1 and #2 slots with 4 casualties on a Wight and a Mummy! Awesome! Can't wait to see what happens in KUBBL IV once the team starts to develop a little more... although my current schedule is looking quite difficult.

Before the power went out on Sunday I also managed to get more paint on my Ogre team - adding some bashed up painted shoulder pads. I like the look of em!

That's all for now. Gonna enjoy the electricity, heat, and warm food before another crazy day of ice and snow.

Nurgland Germs - KUBBL III season recap.

2011-02-19T16:06:00.000-06:00

KUBBL III Season Recap

Straight from the diseased heart of the Empire, deep below the city in dank darkened sewage systems, came the Blood Bowl champions of Nurgle - the Nurgland Germs! They came to hug, love, pass on a few diseases, and keep the high and mighty both unhealthy and low scoring throughout the season. For the most part this was a success:

The Germs came out strong in their first five games - managing to stay on the pitch and shut down the Norse, Wood Elf, Vampire, and Dark Elf teams they faced. Things took a turn for the worse when they played the KUBBL up and coming Orc team, managing to maintain their strong defense but failing to make the game winning touchdown.

This tie was quickly followed by their toughest opponent (and eventual winner) of the KUBBL III season in the nasty Underworld team of the Gits. Despite being pushed around the entire game by Goblins they did manage to hold the soon to be champions to a minor 0-2 loss while earning a place in the division playoffs (due to a forfeit by the Slann team).

The first round of the playoffs continued the downward spiral for the Germs as they lost to a substantially tougher version of the Dark Elves which they had dominated in the regular season. The game was lost due to a crucial Really Stupid roll by the Germs team captain Sucksore, who failed yet again after successfully managing his Loner reroll.

Overall it was a fairly stunning showing by the rotten renegades from Nurgland, performing admirably during the regular season and earning Best Defense for KUBBL III with only 4 touchdowns scored against them (two of which happened in the playoffs).

And now for some photos of the Nurgland Germs team! Please exscuse the dings and dirty bases. I hope to find time to clean these up soon (and hopefully my league-mates will stop dropping metal dice and unpainted figures on my painted plastic pieces).

The solid (on the outside) armored yet pussy center of the Nurgland Germs... the Nurgle Warriors! From left to right - #4 Fiddletaint, #3 Loatheflush, #2 Killbubo, and #5 Wartgristle.

The pusbeasts, the vilehorns, the movers and the shakers... the Pestigors! From left to right - #8 Helmdreg, #7 Pestbelch, #6 Rendclap, and #9 Glutman.

And then there are the stalwart slushy stand-ins, the beatable bums, the breakable blockers... the Rotters! From left to right - #10 Pustor ov Muppetz, #11 Maggotwine, and # 12 Spurtback. The lot of them without skills a hope nor a prayer. #13 though 16 have yet to enter the team roster.

And last and usually least we have the bloated bastard team captain of the Nurgland Germs himself... the Beast of Nurgle Sucksore!

Somehow he made it on to the KUBBL III All Star team though I don't know how..

Well that's KUBBL Season III in the books. The first for the Germs, but will they return for KUBBL IV or will the newly raised Hooded Menace step in to show the league what an Undead team can do? Find out next week (because that's when I need to make my choice by)!

Tavern Talk - List Building.

2011-02-19T10:29:00.000-06:00

Time for another edition of Tavern Talk courtesy of the Trading Post! This time around Kuffy asks:

"After listening to a recent show of Heelanhammer I came across the idea of list building. I wanted to see how people went about building their lists. There are a host of methods people use. Some start with the rare slots or their character choices, while others get the core choice out of the way. Do you see a difference between a friendly pick up game list and a tournament list? One thing it seems many gamers often appear to view and consider with their lists is the meta game - how much attention do you put on the local meta-gaming? Are your lists consistent or do you change from game to game? I have heard of gamers tailoring their lists to work against certain armies or lists, does this appeal to you? How do you feel on the topic of tailored lists?"

It feels a little disingenuous to be writing about "list creation" when I haven't played a game of WHFB since last year... but since when does a lack of experience keep me from blabbing away!?

My approach to list creation typically depends on the type of games I will be playing. Taking part in a tournament or other competitive play requires a different type of list with different tactics - specifically being able to handle threats and challenges of all types (the all comers list). Playing a random (or planned) pick-up game with others is a different type of list, though I rarely tailor my lists to be "the best" against a certain army it is important to have a fighting chance of a fun game.

I have refused games against opponents who have brought lists tailored to destroy my specific army - like bringing double doomwheels or aboms against my Ogres if you are a Skaven player for example. This decision has never been made from the "I don't want to lose" place, but more from the "I want to have a fun game" zone. Playing with my Ogres is already an uphill battle in most situations!

"Grey Seer at 1k LOLOLOL"

When creating a list I usually look at an overall theme. That might be completely subjective, fluff driven, or keyed to one or two specific phases or capabilities of my army. I try to have at least one thing I can do each phase if possible (neither Vampires nor Ogres get much in the way of shooting), and I usually start each list with my character selection. This is most likely due to the two armies I own both being very much character driven - Ogres with CC ability and Vampires with magical support.

The final filter that must be applied to each list I build is purely an economic/realistic one - do I have the models required to field this list? I am not rich nor do I own enough models to make every list possible with either of my forces so some sacrifices must always be made to make it work.

I think for tournament play it is most important to build a list and practice with it several times before making changes. Once you have learned how the army plays you will have a much easier time making those types of decisions without the aid of "theory hammer".

So that's it! The basic overview of what I look at when building my army lists. How about you? What goes into your lists and how do you go about deciding that?

Progress Report 2/14/11 - Happy Hooded Menace day!

2011-02-14T18:39:00.000-06:00

Hooded Menace is done and painted now. Just in time to celebrate the announcement of the new Tomb Kings book in May!

Hopefully you can guess what each piece is by the letter on the base? M for Mummy, W for Wight, G for Ghoul, Z for Zombie, and S for Skeleton. The colors and poses are the same among those types as well. I still need to add a bit of static grass to the bases but overall I am quite happy with how they turned out seeing as I only started them late Friday night!

I've already played two games with the Menace against a dirty Elf team - drawing the first 2-2 and winning the second 2-0. I'm really enjoying how the Undead team plays on the pitch... who knows, maybe this will be the team I bring to both the Headbanger's Ball and the start of KUBBL IV?

Progress Report 2/10/11 - where did all this come from!?

2011-02-10T19:57:00.000-06:00

Holy crap! Have you seen all the new O&G WHFB book and model information? Who am I kidding... of course you have. Still! Most exciting! When I first got started in Fantasy I was quite intrigued by the idea of a Savage Orc list but the models just weren't there, nor were my modeling or sculpting skills. So the announcement of the new Savage Orcs and Forest Goblins models and units has me quite giddy. Hee hee!

So I was sitting around trying to decide what team I should play in the next KUBBL season and I kept coming back to comments from my league-mates about playing "a better team". New teams require new models, and not only new models but newly painted models, something I don't have right now. I am still working on the Amazon team and I don't know if I am good enough to play them quite yet. I am taking my time on the Orc team and they won't be ready for the new season, and the same with my newly assembled Lizardmen team.. so where does that leave me? Looking around I noticed a box of LoTR "Army of the Dead" models collecting dust and suddenly...

I have a new Undead team! I plan on differentiating the positional pieces by painting them different colors and they are also in a certain pose. Lineman (Zombies or Skeletons) have an arm up, Ghouls are moving forward with an arm out, Wights have two hands out on their chests, and Mummies are standing straight up. Hard to tell from this photo but they look quite different on the table. To get these all painted up quickly, and also to practice some new skills, I will be painting them in an "ethereal" blended style. I'm hoping to have them all done by this weekend! Crazy!

Now I just need a name and a theme for the team. Right now I am leaning towards Hooded Menace - a name taken from one of my favorite bands at the moment. Slow, heavy, and relentlessly coming after you... sounds like the Undead BB team on the tabletop right?

The other thing I have poked at the last couple days is my "troll" for the Trailer Orc Boyz.

Still adding another bit of chain suspenders, a bit shoulder pad, and some other "orc" bits to make him fit in with the team more. I like how he's turning out though. What do you think?

Progress Report 2/6/11 - A super Sunday?

2011-02-06T16:12:00.000-06:00

Darn it! Here we are... another Sunday and another one post week on the blog. I need to find another day or two during the week that works well for updating!

Got a bit of stuff done this week and still managed to work a bunch (in between sleeping and finishing two books). Quick rundown...

Assembled the rest of the "core" for my Orc BB team - the Trailer Orc Boyz (three more Blitzers and one Thrower). Working on my "troll" now (basically a big Orc made with an ogre body and Black Orc head and hands).
Finished another test mini for my first potential painting client - basically the same just a different skin tone.
Got more basecoat/skin done for my BB Ogres.

And that's it! I didn't manage to play any BB this week due to the blizzard weather and some long hours at work on Wednesday, and the super-something-bowl put a cramp in my plans to get some WHFB in today. Behold! Photographic evidence of my progress!

So there you have it! Photos! Comment, critiques, and commentary are welcome as always. This week I hope to finish up my Orcs and get a bit of primer on them. Then it's time for me to decide which team I will be playing in KUBBL IV - Nurgle, Ogres, Orcs, or ???

Progress Report 1/30/11 - Money maker... putting it to the test

2011-01-30T14:59:00.000-06:00

Another week, a few more models with paint and primer. I've had a strong desire to put brush to miniature but life has conspired against me. Puppy-sitting, working, and time spent on the Bellower have kept my hobby time to a minimum.

Something's got to give! Maybe I just need to stop reading and sleeping so much.

Had a few requests from the KUBBL folks to paint their models. I quickly turned down the initial requests, as I don't feel I am a particularly strong painter, but after a bit more badgering I agreed to do a test mini or two for one.. "client" ??

This Orc comes from the standard BB starter box and was very sloppily primed - leading to a loss of some fine detail and some craggy/cracked texture. My goals on this model were to present a tabletop quality miniature in under one hour total. Given that I am not a very fast painter I used a few techniques which I wouldn't settle for on my own BB minis but I think the results are acceptable (good?).

We'll see what the potential client thinks! I have another mini sitting here which I will try a slightly different skin technique on, and this Orc needs a few highlights and some minor detail work before I am willing to call it "good enough"

This one post a week stuff is for the birds! I promise to get some more stuff up here soon... including a brief overview of my first season with the Nurgland Germs.

Progress Report 1/23/11 - here come the Lizards.

2011-01-23T10:38:00.000-06:00

Oi! Been a bit since I updated the ole blog. I've been quite busy this week with my hobby time. Just a quick list of "accomplishments" ...

Cleaned, assembled, greenstuffed gaps, sculpted bits, based, and primed a new Blood Bowl team - the Lustrian Leathermen!
Finished the sculpting and assembly of the Ogre cheerleader who was missing her arm.
Completed the red cloth basecoat on my January painting commitment for the Blood Marys.
Worked on the skin colors of my BB Ogres the Bulltimore Bullies and began work on the metals.

And now for a bit of photographic evidence:

Putting these awesome Impact/Rolljordan models together was quite a feat. None of the arms attached smoothly and all required greenstuff additions to fill the gaps. This wouldn't normally be too bad but these crocodile models have no smooth muscle near the joints so I had to sculpt on armor plates and scaly skin for each of them. I also ended up missing a hand on one of the Saurus models (a recurring theme with my new BB models as of late) so I added a scaler/saw/knife where the hand should be.

I also played my last KUBBL III season game with the Nurgland Germs and lost to the Maynooth Gits 0-2, ending my undefeated season. It was a fun game but coach Thom was out bashed the Germs with goblins for most of the game and I just couldn't seem to keep the ball out of his team's greedy little hands and claws. The Germs did manage a fair few casualties, including the death of the dirty S3 goblin who kept them from scoring twice during the game. Now it's on to the playoffs!

First Blood Bowl tournament... a "short" report.

2011-01-16T13:56:00.000-06:00

I attended my first BB tournament yesterday. It was Put A Ring On It in Glendale Heights, IL - a tournament to celebrate the marriage of two fine BB playing folks (valdric and rowdykatie).

I had originally planned on bringing my Amazon team the Bloody Marys but I was unable to complete a decent paint job before the event. I know now that anything would have been fine (as I saw several unpainted or only partially painted teams) but the rules pack specified a fully painted team was required. The only team I have "fully painted" right now is my Nurgle team so the Nurgland Germs made their debut appearance on the tournament scene.

For those wondering what a Nurgle BB team roster might look like, here is the roster I ended up playing at the event. The restrictions were:

- Total roster of 1100

- Player and skills must be purchased within that limit

- No skill may be given more than twice in a roster

- Must have 11 players

There were a few others but these were the main points for building a team. In addition to these rules you were given two "skill rings" which could only be applied to each team's 0-16 choice. One added +1 ST or +1 AV while the other added +1 AG or +1 MV. For Nurgle that meant boosting up two Rotters, and they had to be unskilled to get the rings. All in all it was an uphill battle creating a "competitive" team roster for Nurgle but I soldiered on and came up with this:

Beast of Nurgle w/ Break Tackle
2 x Nurgle Warriors w/ Stand Firm
2 x Nurgle Warriors w/ Block
2 x Pestigors w/ Wrestle
4 x Rotters, one with Kick and one with Leader
and a Fan Factor of 1

11 players and only 1 re-roll might seem scary to most players but I am not like most players! I've been playing the Germs in our local league with only 2 re-rolls and it has yet to be a problem. With the right skills the team doesn't really require them all that often. After the event was over I realized there were at least 3 game halves where I didn't use my 1 re-roll at all!

So perhaps you're wondering how I did overall? Not so great. My final game stats for the day were 0 wins, 2 ties, and 2 losses. There were a few outside factors which came into to play here but for the most part my team just couldn't cut it against full rosters with more skills. Here's a quick rundown of my games (as I remember them). No names for the players or teams and no final point tally for the Germs - I don't want to half remember/guess them and be wrong!

Game 1 against High Elves

First pairing was against a High Elf team. In most situations this would be a great match up for Nurgle as the High Elves rely heavily on the passing game to win - something that is difficult to do with to much Disturbing Presence on the pitch. Coupled with a blizzard which lasted the entire game, it seemed that NUFFLE had the High Elves number for this game.. but in the end it was a 1-0 loss for the Germs.

The Germs received the ball and began their slow, tank-like roll, up the field along the sideline. Shortly after entering the HE side of the pitch a (really) lucky blitz involving three dodges (one into 3 tackle zones) and two GFI's knocked the ball carrier down and sent the ball out of bounds. It was thrown back into the middle of the pitch where it was quickly ferreted away from the Warriors and shot down to score the first TD. The rest of the first half was a bash fest by the HE who managed to knock out a Warrior, my S4 Rotter, and a Pestigor, but failing to make it back into the end zone for a second score.

The second half started off strong with a great kick from the Germs (putting the ball 2 out from the end zone and along the sideline) followed by a blitz on the Kick-off chart which put Nurgle Warrior deep into the HE defense and kept them from retrieving the ball. After a long bit of bash and crash in the center field, with a few failed pick up attempts by the HE team, the Germs managed to get a hold of the ball and position themselves for a tie with 1 turn remaining. Unfortunately time was called before this could happen... leaving the Germs holding the ball only 5 spaces away from their TD.

A fun (if disappointing) start to the event and a 0-1 loss for the Germs.

Game 2 against Orcs

There were plenty of Orc teams at the event but I only managed to play one all day. This roster was heavy on skills and light on players which is something I was quite worried about going into the game.

First half started with the Germs receiving the kick. Out of bounds kick put the ball in the slimy hands of a Pestigor while the throw a rock kick-off result knocked a Black Orc out for the initial drive. After a bit of cautious play on the line of scrimmage, the Germs managed to tie up the remaining Orcs while the ball carrier ran down center field and sat one space away from the end zone. With the Orcs safely tied up (either on the ground or hung up on Warriors and the Beast) the Pestigor danced to the far corner of the pitch and ground out the turns before finally scoring on the 8th. Not the most exciting half for my opponent, with the ball stall and some terrible rolls eating up all his re-rolls early in the half, but the Germs come away ahead 1-0 going into the second half.

The second half began as a complete role reversal as the Germs got plastered with a rock and the Orc offense quickly bashed a few players out of the game. With only 9 players on the pitch there simply wasn't enough Nurgle going around to stop the Orcs from driving their Black Orc bus/cage into the end zone to tie up the game 1-1.

The Germs received yet again, determined to get a second score to win the game, but a rash of terrible rolls (mostly from the Beast) allowed the ball carrier to get knocked out of bounds and resulted in a loose ball. Even with tackle zones on the ball the Orcs managed to pick it up and run into scoring position with just one turn left in the game. A lucky blitz took out the one Orc TD receiving threat and stalled the game out on the last turn with no way for either team to get the winning score.

With a lot of bad luck on both sides of the table this game really ground down the coaches and the Germs come away with their first tie ending the game 1-1.

Photo of the pitch - Orcs getting ready to smash a few Nurgland Germs!

Game 3 against Pro Elves

The third match of the day had the Nurgland Germs excited yet again as they saw the look of fear in the eyes of the Elf coach. Surely this would be another chance of victory for the forces of Nurgle on the pitch? Not if the skilled up Elves had anything to say about it...

The first half started with the Germs receiving the ball. Weather was nice and the kick off table was kind to both players... sadly the dice were not. After 4 rapid-fire turnovers from both sides of the pitch it seemed the game would be over quite quickly. The Germs scramble and manage to score a sloppy TD near the end of the first half.

The second half began much like the first but the shining rays of NUFFLE energized the Elves who somehow managed to knock two Germs out of the game in quick succession. The Germs answered back with two injuries of their own but it didn't keep the Elves from managing a TD scoring pass out of two Disturbing Presence zones with their AG 5 Elf.

The remainder of the game was a back and forth scramble as the Elves lept into a rolling Nurgle tank and knocked the ball out of bounds. The Beast was Really Stupid for almost the entire second half but managed to finally wake up in time to tie up a few Elves who were threatening to score and led the Germs to their second tie of the game, ending 1-1.

I hate playing Elves but this was a fun game with a lot of back and forth action on both sides of the table. A great (talented) opponent and hands down my best game of the day.

Game 4 against Dark Elves

Really!? More Elves?! God I hate them. For the last game of the day the Germs were once again paired up with an Elf team. Like the previous Elf rosters this team focused heavily on skills and less on a full roster. Lots of block and dodge made it difficult to knock the DE around much.

Game started off in a miserable way for the Germs as they kicked off to the DE. The kick-off table was a High Kick, which took a far corner kick right into the hands of a skilled up Blitzer. A rash of armor breaking blocks left most of the Germs on their face or flipping over/standing up for the first 4-5 turns of the half. Coupled with the high MV of the Elves and the low MV of the Germs this made it incredibly easy for the DE to score the first TD.

The kick to the Germs quickly devolved into a game of "don't let the Elves get that ball" as it shot into the Germ's end zone and sat far out of reach of the receiving Rotters. The Beast failed all his rolls (6 in a row) and the DE put two key players out of the game (the S4 Rotter and a Pestigor) before the first half mercifully ended.

Second half started off much the same with the DE kicking to a lightened Germs roster. The one AG 4 Rotter managed to pick up the ball and run into a cage of Nurgle Warriors but the Beast continued his streak of absolute failure and stood around doing nothing for another 4 turns - culminating in a chance to score being shot by a failed Really stupid, successful Loner roll, re-failed Really Stupid combo that left the ball carrier open to a blitz.

The DE took the blitz, injuring yet another player in the process, and gained the ball only a few spaces from the end zone. With only 8 players on the pitch it became impossible to get the ball and safely guard the remaining DE players. A desperate one die block from the AG 4 Rotter gave the DE player a chance to Dump Off but the Disturbing Presence of the few remaining Warriors and Really Stupid Beast kept the recipient from catching the ball.

The game ended 0-1 in favor of the DE team and the Germs left the field in pieces... tired and angry.

---

So that was my first experience at a Blood Bowl tournament. I knew I was going to have an uphill battle with the Nurgle team, but it was shocking just how handily I was pushed around by lower ST, lower AV teams. It just goes to show that a skilled up Elf team should be able to easily beat an unskilled Nurgle team every time. I had to fight so hard just to get the draw... it was really demoralizing. I much prefer playing the Germs in a league setting where their particular skills really start to shine when paired up with some experience gains.

Will I go back for more tournament action? Probably. Am I sorry I went to this one? Absolutely not! It was a fun learning experience and I got to see first hand what the regional BB community is like. For the most part I liked what I saw, although there were a few folks I could do without, most everyone I met was friendly and easy going.

Now to get back to painting up a few different teams... for the events where I don't feel quite so into being a punching bag for the higher tier teams.

Progress Report 1/9/11 - WIPweek

2011-01-09T14:50:00.003-06:00

Not a lot going on in the gaming department this week. Felt sick on Wednesday and my BB league game was canceled so I stayed home to get some painting done and sleep. In the end I got less painting and more sleeping done but I didn't get sick!

Just one week left to get these nuns painted to a basecoat/tabletop standard for my first BB tournament. Got the black and skin done and I am working on the red cloth now.

I also spent a little time sculpting some greenstuff on an Orc Blizter. It's a start anyways...

I need to add some more to the "fisty punchy thing" as it looks a bit crap right now. I might just take it off if I can't make it look better. The biggest thing was making sure the spiked shoulder pad looked attached and not just "floating" on this arm which I have accomplished.

For my "best theme" award from KUBBL II (for the Bulltimore Bullies) I received a cheerleader model to paint. Sadly she was missing one of her arms. I decided to add on an arm holding a gnoblar/snotling to replace it. Here is what I have so far:

I'm thinking about having the gnoblar/snotling holding the other pom pom but we'll see how it looks once she is holding him. The end result should be suitably Ogrish and disturbing.

Tavern Talk - New Year Resolutions.

2011-01-08T12:42:00.002-06:00

It's the first Tavern Talk of the new year!

Kuffy asks:

"The new year is here, time for all those promises you make to the 'hobby gods', friends and family about your hobby. It is time to admit them to the blogosphere, to share with us all the resolutions you have made for Fantasy in the new year. What are your plans for the up coming year? What goals do you hope to achieve for 2011?"

Before I dive into my plans for the new year I thought it would be interesting to see how I fared in my resolutions for 2010. So with that in mind let's take a look at what I was so "resolved" to accomplish and how I fared.

Be a better sportsman: I think I did pretty well here. I learned to love the games I play and not get as caught up in the competitive aspects, but there are still ways I would like to improve more with this. I sometimes get caught up in a "downward spiral" when things aren't going well for me and that brings down the mood of most games pretty quick.
Verdict: WIN

Finish painting my Vampire Counts WHFB army: I didn't even come close to finishing this one. After getting my army assembled, based, and primed I stalled out on the painting front. This was compounded by my move across country and the general lack of WHFB community in my hometown.
Verdict: FAIL
Begin work on my Warriors of Chaos: I did start building a unit of Marauders/Beastmen and even got test paint on a few models but overall I sort of stalled out here. Part of my problem was trying to decide on a theme for my WoC force. I really love the idea of Malal but I am quite tempted to go with a Khornate force now.I expect more work to be done on this army during 2011, most likely before my VC get any additional love.
Verdict: WIN?
Learn 40k and start or don't: Played a few games of 40k before I moved away from Austin and won them all. Overall I just can't get that excited about 40k as a tabletop game. I like a lot of the fluff/theme/setting and some of the models get me really pumped but as a game... I decided not to bother (now at least). Instead of 40k I started playing Blood Bowl instead!
Verdict: WIN
Build some terrain: I didn't even get started on this. The idea of building terrain interests me but as I don't have a gaming table right now (nor anyone to play on it) this resolution stalled out before it ever got started.
Verdict: FAIL

Release four issues of the Bellower: We did it! It was a tooth and nail event that came right down to the wire but I did manage to wrangle up enough content for four issues last year. It will be difficult to make it happen this year but I am willing to give it a go.
Verdict: WIN

Attend as many tournaments as possible: I only managed to attend Adepticon for WHFB and I didn't make it out to any other events (although I had planned on going to a couple Blood Bowl tournaments). The biggest reasons for not accomplishing more here were economic and work/time related. I am hope to do better this year!
Verdict: FAIL?

What was my final tally for the 2010 resolutions? Well counting the questionable verdicts we're looking at 4 wins and 3 fails. Not bad!

So what does 2011 have in store for me? An even busier professional life (opening a brand new grocery store that is four times larger than our current location), a general lack of hobby funds (meaning I will have to get very creative with the bits and pieces I have sitting around), and working hard to build a larger gaming group (I have Blood Bowl for now but I am lacking any real WHFB community). With those things in mind here are my resolutions for 2011:

Finish all the Blood Bowl teams I have started: I currently have one Nurgle team fully painted and three other teams in various states of completion. I would like to get my Amazon (Bloody Marys), Orc (Trailer Orc Boyz), and Ogre (Bulltimore Bullies) teams finished this year. I also recently picked up a few models for a Lizardmen team so that is in the books too... lots to do!

Play on the tabletop more: Gotta find some time to get down to the FLGS for some pickup games, out of town to tournaments as time and funds allow, and maybe even ramp up the "at home" gaming action in small ways. I want to play more games!!

Stop buying and start painting more models: I did a pretty good job of this last year (without a formal resolution) but I want to be even better about it this year. I have plenty of models which need paint and there is little reason to buy more (with a few exceptions... like my WoC army).

Don't start any new tabletop games: Unless there is suddenly a huge swell in local gaming around one tabletop game I vow not to start anything new. I'd love to get some Mordheim action going, and the Wyrd and Privateer Press games/minis have been taunting me, but...

Be an even better sportsman: I want to be someone people like to play, knowing they are in for a fun game, and not someone people are dreading being around. Small incremental improvements are okay as long as I am always striving to have more fun in games.

Get another four issues of the Bellower released: This one will probably be the most difficult thing on my list. I know the coming months will see a drastic reduction in the amount of hobby time I have, let alone time to edit/write/create/communicate enough to get this webzine assembled and released four times during the year. I'd love help if you are reading this and have any interest at all!!

That is quite a list... we'll see how I fare next year! In the meantime keep an eye peeled for periodic updates on my resolutions as time goes by. What do you hope to achieve in your new year of hobby?

Progress Report 1/2/11 - Light box take two..

2011-01-02T12:19:00.000-06:00

What is this!?! My first post of the new year isn't a resolutions post? Nope. I meant to get that one up yesterday but working and then playing Axis and Allies took up the remainder of my day.

Still messing around with my new light box. I think I got the lighting better this time around and the pictures are much clearer. Color looks good too. Not too jazzed on the composition (the Ogre is standing a bit wonky) but here are pictures from my Ogre Stronghold December painting pledge:

There! One Ogre done for my Blood Bowl team. I am pretty happy with how he turned out overall. Spent more time on the skin tone on this guy and I also worked hard to make the blood look "realistic" without being too overpowering. Can you make out his gold teeth under the gore? I also worked on my first ever "battle damage" on the numbered shoulder pad... wanted to give it a worn look. I think the results are pretty good.

For my January painting pledge I am trying to have my Amazon Nun Blood Bowl team done to at least a three color standard for an upcoming tournament this month (Put A Ring On It - 1/15 near Chicago). So far I have started the black. Just a skin color, white, red (for some cloth), and gold to go!

That's all for now! Hope your new year is off to a fantastic start and stop by later this week for my new year resolutions... a look back at what I accomplished last year and what I am aiming for this year.

Who reads this?

2010-12-31T00:50:00.001-06:00

Been posting a lot but I haven't been getting much feedback. Has me wondering who reads my rambles besides myself? I enjoy chronicling my descent into miniature madness but what do other people like about this blog? Inane Courage gave me the idea to delve deeper...

BEHOLD! CHARTS!

There we have the most popular page views by post of all time for this blog (click to enbiggen). #1 is my fictional Army of Malal post (probably for the images) while #2 is my review of the first Nagash book. After that it is posts about rumors and various other news related tidbits. Nothing too fancy.

And here we have keywords searches (all time again) - nothing too shocking here, just reaffirmation of the most popular page views (although I find it interesting that a sprue pic post is up there).

And finally we have my best reference links (of all time... for now) with BoLS taking the #1 spot. Plastic Legions comes in #2 (thanks for adding me to your blog roll!) and the rest is a trickle of self promotion from WHFB forums.

There you have it. People who read my blog want to know about Malal and Nagash book reviews. Sorry to disappoint you all with my boring WIP pics and crummy paint jobs but I can't post about your favorite topics all the time.

The Bellower - Issue 4 Out Now!

2010-12-30T00:17:00.000-06:00

It's done! The fourth issue of the Bellower (the Ogre Stronghold webzine) is now available. You can find it here.

From our "press release"...

In this issue:
- Cover art by Hammertooth
- From the Gut by Randroid and Barney
- Ask Aunty Doreen by Aunty Doreen
- The Feeding Grounds: 8th Edition Overview by Sandals, Rocdocta, Lexy, Avian (We Iz Orcs) and Malorian (The Orc Tactical Team Podcast)
- Butcher's Cauldron: How to Paint Blood by Jarhead
- Tactics For Tyrants: Gut Magic Tactica by Entreri Bloodletter
- Gastronomic Rumblings From the Butcher's Pot: A Question of Why by Eric J
- Tales of Conquest: Ogre Kingdoms vs. The Empire by Mercules
- It's a Trap! by Ultra-Mega Bob
- Blood Bowl Ogre Team Overview by Chance and Pauly from Three Die Block
- Armies of the Stronghold: Feastmaster Tribe by DonTheDime and Barney

Thanks to everyone who helped out on the new issue (if you are reading this) and thanks in advance for checking out the new stuff! As always I would love to hear any and all feedback, praise, suggestions, or ideas for contributions for future issues you might have.

Progress Report 12/28/10 - Messing with my new light box.

2010-12-28T12:12:00.000-06:00

So what sort of holiday swag did you get? I got a light box and some brewing supplies. Still messing with my camera settings and lighting but I think these pics are certainly better..

My Beast of Nurgle (Sucksore) from the Nurgland Germs. The color is almost spot on with the actual miniature's paint job but I am still having some trouble with the lighting and overall graininess of the image. Gotta read up a bit and figure out how to make that go away.

Tavern Talk - Looking Back

2010-12-26T08:32:00.000-06:00

Time for another edition (the final one for this year) of Tavern Talk courtesy of the Trading Post! This time around Kuffy asks:

"So, another year ends. As we wave bye to 2010, I wanted to get your thoughts on your hobby throughout it. What are your proudest achievements? Where did you fail? Just how has your year in Fantasy been?"

I have a detailed list of my resolutions from last year that I will be going through later this week, but just as a quick run down of my biggest failure and achievement for the year...

EPIC FAIL: Planning on painting and finishing my VC army this year and not getting a single model painted after moving from Austin, TX to Michigan. I played a few games with the army this year (in fact I didn't lose a single one of them) but I just didn't find the "spark" I needed to get this done.

EPIC WIN: Starting Blood Bowl and finishing up one team (the Nurgland Germs). I know of at least two BB tournaments I will be attending in the coming year so I see this as a good way to continue my tabletop competitive efforts while I work on building a WHFB scene here in my hometown. Also... Blood Bowl is a lot of fun to play!

Overall I would say my year in Fantasy has been a mixed bag but in the end I came out a stronger hobbyist with a love and appreciation for more games. Fantasy started off strong with a good showing in the WHFB team tournament at Adepticon 2010 before quickly dropping off due to lack of players/interest here in my local gaming scene. While there are more players and interest now I have a hard time getting myself motivated to play the game again. Hoping a new force (WoC) will get me pumped up enough to dive back in head first with the Fantasy action!

How has your year in Fantasy been? Any major success or failures you'd like to share?

Have a very...

2010-12-24T21:16:00.001-06:00

Beer Review - Bell's Christmas Ale

2010-12-24T09:32:00.001-06:00

Bell's Brewery, Inc. - Bell's Christmas Ale

Beer Type: Scottish Ale

Appearance: 12 oz brown bottle featuring a lone christmas tree in a yellow field of grain. The beer poured a nice amber color complete with a big off-white head that left plenty of lacing.

Smell: Sweet and sour first, then followed by some citrus hops and a bit of malt.

First Drink: Some strong alcohol flavors come at you in the front, quickly followed by some bready flavors sprinkled with hops and a bit of bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Pretty smooth for the amount of carbonation in the bottle. The overall body was somewhere in the "medium" range.

Last Drink: A lot more of the bitter comes through as the beer warms and sits on your tongue. It isn't bad but it sort of overwhelms and nuances the beer might otherwise have.

Drinkability: Nothing too crazy, pretty easy going down, and it is fairly affordable when in season. I liked it a bit better on tap but the bottle is a decent drink.

Notes: Hometown (Kalamazoo) brew for the holidays? Reminds me more of an IPA than a christmas ale (or scottish ale).

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5. A splash of the season but not the best of seasonal local brews.

Links: Beer Advocate and Bell's Brewery, Inc.

Progress Report 12/19/10 - BB Orcs continued...

2010-12-19T16:54:00.000-06:00

Orcs! Managed to get a few additional Orcs assembled for my Orc BB team the Trailer Orc Boyz this week. In the back you'll see four Black Orc Blockers (the one with the blade on his hand is my team captain), then the two Lineorcs, with my one Blitzer in the front. I added some face guards to the Lineorcs, and the Blitzers will have a spiked shoulder pad and Black Orc gauntlet to show their faster moving and additional smashing capacity on the pitch.

Only played one game of Blood Bowl with the Germs this week - crushed a Vampire team 2-0 leaving me with 3 wins and 0 losses so far this season. My two hardest division opponents are next in line.. we'll see if I can manage to make this season a complete shut out or if the fast moving Dark Elves and Underworld teams will manage to beat Nurgle back.

Got more page layouts for the next issue of the Bellower done as well. Just a few more articles to go and we'll have another issue in the bag and out before the end of the month! This one has been hard going... I hope it gets a little easier in the next few issues. Not sure I can manage to devote as much time to it while still finding time to work on my own hobby stuff.

Picked up my two Hellcannons from the FLGS this week. I'm not looking forward to cleaning and assembling those bad guns... might be a project for the new year.

Look for a few Christmas beer reviews this week!

Book Review - "Nagash the Unbroken" by Mike Lee.

2010-12-17T14:16:00.002-06:00

Holy cow! It has been way too long since I last reviewed a WHFB related book on the blog. Today's review is the next in a series from the Black Library - this one being the second book in the Nagash "Time of Legends" books. Look for more book reviews here soon!

"Nagash the Unbroken" by Mike Lee

The second in a series of three book, "Nagash the Unbroken" begins shortly after Nagash was soundly defeated by the combined forces of Nehekhara in "Nagash the Sorcerer". Stripped of his terrifying power, and desperately seeking refuge from the burning rays of the sun, Nagash encounters a pack of hunting rat-creatures who carry a small magical stone. After ingesting the stone (and some of the rat-creatures) Nagash is once filled with a burning torrent of magical energy. Following the trail of the (now deceased) rat-creatures and the scent of the magical stone, Nagash soon finds himself in the hills and mountains of Cripple Peak where the rest of this tale unfolds.

Just as "Nagash the Sorcerer" made great leaps forward and backward in time, so too does "Nagash the Unbroken". Sometimes jumping around as much as 50 years! A majority of the book is spent focused on Queen Neferata, Arkhan the Black, and Lamashizzar, Priest King of Lahmia, who seeks the secrets of immortality hidden away in the books of Nagash he has removed from the Black Pyramid. While this secondary plot it intriguing I often wished the story would jump back to Nagash so I knew what he was up to. While there is less narrative jumping back and forth here overall, it can still be confusing and seems somewhat unnecessary.

While the nobles torture Arkhan and search for new magical venues of immortality, Nagash retreats deep within the mountains where he slowly rebuilds his strength, finds new undead allies (in the ancient tombs and barrows of the barbarians who live there) and re-encounters the cowardly Skaven. While Skaven play a big role on the book cover and even in the text on the back of the book, their overall part in the story is quite brief and mostly revolves around Nagash's hunger for his new addiction to warpstone, which gives him far more power than ever before.

Overall I found this book to be more of the same - an enjoyable look into Nagash's past and an interesting view into the "old world" of Warhammer's "history". While less confusing, repetitive, and boring than the first book the story does seem to meander a bit before ending abruptly on a "cliffhanger" to set up the next book in the series. If you enjoyed the first book or have any interest in Warhammer lore, warpstone fueled necromancy, or the undead you will likely find a thing or two to like here.

Verdict: 7.5 out of 10. A fun, fast, and entertaining read that avoids some of the missteps of the first book while keeping many things the same.

Whispers of the blood god...

2010-12-10T09:17:00.001-06:00

Khorne has been whispering sweet murder musings in my ear over the past few weeks. This has led me to come up with a list that incorporates the WoC models I currently have with a couple of new additions. Very straight forward, punch you in the face style gameplay but I think it could be fun...

BEHOLD! KHORNE!

LORDS: (403)
Chaos Lord - Mark of Khorne, Juggernaut, Halberd, Helm of Many Eyes, Dragonhelm, Talisman of Preservation, Favor of the Gods, Diabolic Splendour (403)

A down right nasty example of Khorne's chosen sporting 6 ASF S6 attacks (with another 3 S5 from his mount), a 4+ ward save (2+ vs flaming attacks), a 0+ armor save, and a few nasty Chaos tricks to boot. He'll live in the unit of Chaos Knights for one hard hitting Khorne-powered steamroller.

HEROES: (314)
Chaos Sorcerer - Infernal Puppet, Talisman of Protection (135)
Exalted Hero - Mark of Khorne, Fury of the Blood God, BSB, Halberd, Shield (179)

The Sorcerer isn't "fluffy" in the list but he will be modeled in a way that matches the Khorneyness of the army (hahahah). He will actually be the puppet - a sort of head and torso being controlled by one of Khorne's chosen and there simply to protect his forces (and manipulate the miscast table for extra fun.. especially when the Hellcannons misfire). The BSB is a must in an all Frenzy bonanza such as this and a nice opportunity to use the Fury of the Blood God gift in a fluffy and functional way. The BSB will deploy in the Warriors while the Sorcerer will live in with the "Marauders".

CORE: (683)
Chaos Marauders x 39 - Mark of Khorne, Musician, Standard, Champion (176)
Chaos Warriors x 24 - Mark of Khorne, Halberds, Musician, Champion, Standard, Lichebone Pennant (459)
Chaos Warhounds x 8 (48)

Two big fat units of nasty fighty things. I skipped the flails on the "Marauders" as I will be using Beastmen instead and I don't think the flails look good on them. If only they had the additional hand weapon option...

The Warriors are pretty basic but I wanted them to have the Halberds as a way of really dealing some serious damage to incoming heavies, plus a little magic protection in the form of the MR1 standard. Hmm... I should look into how MR works in a unit for 8th (as the BSB has MR2 already and I might be able to use those 15 points on a character elsewhere).

SPECIAL: (440)
Chaos Knights x 8 - Mark of Khorne, Musician, Standard, Blasted Standard (420)

Common 8th edition WoC tactics say... DON'T TAKE KNIGHTS!! To hell with that I say! Sure they aren't quite as impressive as they once were, but used in the right way this unit can still deliver one hell of a punch. I've given them the 5+ ward vs shooting banner to ensure that most (if not all) of them make it through til the Turn 2 charge that will get them into CC. Overall this unit could probably be seen as a Chaos Lord delivery system.

RARE: (410)
Hellcannon (205)
Hellcannon (205)

Yup. I went there. The Hellcannon is just so damn cool and the only thing cooler than one Hellcannon is TWO! I played a one day tournament last year (or was it at the start of this year?) with Goatboy's WoC models and I had a blast with two of these guys running around the field. Unpredictable, deadly, and fun to field. Yes it can suck to be on the receiving end of a Hellcannon but I am counting on most players learning how to deal with the evil bastards.

Total Points: 2,250 (of 2,250)

So there you have it.. my "all Khorne" Warriors of Chaos list that features both Magic and Shooting. I like the idea of a Khorne army twisting these two hated things to their advantage and best of all I only have to buy another 4-5 models to make this list a reality.

It's been quite a while since I had much WHFB content here and even longer since I wrote a new army list (for 8th no less). If you have critiques and/or feedback I would love to hear from you.

Orcs & Goblins - New book March 2011

2010-12-06T14:23:00.000-06:00

WAAAAAGGGH!! From GW today...

Incoming: Orcs & Goblins

For years uncounted, before even the Empire existed, and Men were little more than barbarous and primitive cave-dwellers, the Orcs & Goblins have haunted the mountains and deep forests of the world. Extremely aggressive and savage creatures, Orc & Goblin tribes rarely suffer a peaceful moment in their unending lust for battle and inexplicable urge to pillage and despoil.

Once roused to war by a powerful or charismatic leader, a greenskin Waaagh! on the march can rapidly snowball into a seemingly endless tide of rowdy Orc and Goblin warriors, scuttling creatures and lumbering monsters as neighbouring tribes flock to join the gathering masses, or capitulate in defeat. The haphazard nature by which Orc & Goblin armies are mustered results in a huge variety of unruly mobs of squabbling warriors and a wide selection of creatures both great and small. Such huge diversity ensures that greenskin armies are by far the most unpredictable to face in battle.

March 2011 will see the release of Warhammer: Orcs & Goblins, an essential guide to fielding a greenskin host on the tabletop, and a veritable font of knowledge detailing the complete rules, background, artwork and enormous range of miniatures available to a budding Warboss.

To support this exciting release, we will also be unveiling a genuine feast of new miniatures that would sate even the most ravenous Troll. All will be revealed in time, but keep up to speed on developments by checking out White Dwarf and the What's New Today blog on the website. If you haven't already done so, make sure you sign up to the Games Workshop newsletter to learn of any news as soon as it is released.

With this in mind, if you have ever fancied starting your own legion of greenskins, or are looking to ensure that your tribe is the biggest and nastiest around, remember that the Orcs & Goblins are already blessed with a plethora of multi-part plastic kits. The selection of fantastic sets below are the best way to get your army up and running, safe in the knowledge that they will not be replaced in March. So, gather up some Boyz and grab your favourite choppa because now is the time for WAAAGH!

Progress Report 12/5/10 - Merry Krampus day!

2010-12-05T17:31:00.004-06:00

Merry Krampus!

Hope you managed to scare some little kids and shake some chains today! I had to settle for shaking chains at a puppy but he was a bit frightened so I suppose it counts...

Life has been a bit nuts! Working in a retail store before/after/during the holidays can be quite stressful. I had hoped to mitigate this stress with extra hobby time and possibly attending a Blood Bowl event but life and work had other ideas. Sadly I missed out on the Underworld Cup in Kenosha, WI, which turned out okay as one of the co-commissioners from our local Blood Bowl league took him the first place trophy! Congrats to Beaux and his (not painted like the Power Rangers) Chaos Dwarfs for getting it done.

While the Nurgland Germs didn't manage to make it out to the Underworld Cup they did secure a win in their first game of the new KUBBL III season against a hard hitting Norse team - beating them 2-0. No casualties were score by the Germs but Rendclap the Pestigor scored two touchdowns, leveling him up to gain access to Sure Hands. With a previous +AG boost under his belt this is one dirty diseased beastman that even Krampus could love.

And with that quick recap I will leave you to your own tabletop debauchery with this quick little glamor shot of the fully painted Nurgland Germs in all their glory:

Beer Review - Red Chair IPA

2010-11-29T20:12:00.000-06:00

Deschutes Brewery - Red Chair IPA

Beer Type: American IPA

Appearance: 22 oz. brown bottle featuring an illustration of a red chair on the label. Shocking! tan/gold with blue and white lettering. Poured a sort of copper/amber color with a big off-white head that laced the glass quite nicely.

Smell: Wow! A lot of aroma here. Something herbal, something citrus, and something toasty. Smells quite good!

First Drink: Not as much initial flavor as the aroma would have you believe. The first thing I taste is some sour hops and sweet malt.

Mouthfeel: Easy on the carbonation, nice medium body with a smooth finish.

Last Drink: Something a bit earthy coming through along with what might be a mild berry flavor?

Drinkability: I really, really like this brewery and this beer is certainly one I will be drinking again in the future... if I have the chance!

Notes: There is a distinct lack of the bitter finish I would usually associate with an IPA present in this beer. It is replaced with a more upfront and lasting bitterness that makes this pretty easy to drink.

Verdict: 4.25 out of 5. A nice change of pace from the more hoppy IPA brews out there.

Links: Beer Advocate and Deschutes Brewery.

Happy t-day!

2010-11-25T19:12:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful to have made it through a really hectic few months of work. I'm thankful for a fun group of gamers to play both Blood Bowl and WHFB with in my town. I'm thankful for having the funds and time to paint tiny little miniatures and relax. And most of all I am thankful to all of you for reading my inane ramblings.

Have a great holiday and if you're in the mood to do some shopping tomorrow you might want to check out this list of deals courtesy of The Hopeless Gamer.

Progress Report 11/22/10 - Quick little WIP pic.

2010-11-22T18:52:00.000-06:00

I survived the first of three turkey days and I managed to slap together a couple Orcs to boot! Only two more days and 14 or so more models to go...

Black Orc Blocker on the left with your average run of the mill Lineman on the right. Pretty happy with the options on both of these sets and I look forward to playing around with them more to make a couple Throwers and some Blitzers.

Sunday, sunday, sunday!

2010-11-21T20:14:00.000-06:00

Stopped by the local game store today to see what the WHFB Sunday folks were getting up to and discovered a slew of new armies and generals playing the game! There must have been 14 people in the store playing Fantasy when just a month or two ago there was only a handful (4 or 5 of us at the most). This is most exciting!

I didn't manage to get in any games as everyone was finishing games in the store's first escalation league (which I wasn't able to participate in due to work and life restrictions) but I did meet some new folks and learned a few things about 8th ed as well.

For instance... did you know?

Units fleeing in subsequent turns no longer flee towards the nearest table edge - they continue moving forward until they run into something or run off the board.

This one was new for me... just one example of how I really need to play more 8th ed especially if I am going to attend any tournaments or events in the coming months.

In the meantime I picked up a couple boxes of models for my next Blood Bowl project:

I'm not crazy about the standard BB Orcs so I will be making my own out of these boxes of 40k Ork Boys and WHFB Black Orcs. For what team you ask? Why for the Trailer Orc Boyz of course!!

This week is going to be really hectic with lots of work and long long days. I hope to get some WIP shots of the Orcs up as well as some pictures of my (mostly) painted Nurgland Germs. Until next time...

Tavern Talk - Rituals

2010-11-19T13:54:00.002-06:00

As you may (or more likely may not) know I am a contributor to the Trading Post... or I will be once I add something to the site. And to make things worse I haven't managed to contribute to any of the "Tavern Talk" articles that have been posted there to date.

Lucky for me a new question just come up!

Kuffy asks:

"As we all know gamers are creatures of habit. This extends into the realms of our gaming, whether it be how we treat our dice to how we prepare for a game. Some place their dice with the 'six' up to "inspire" good luck, while others will not roll the same dice twice in a row. Some gamers have mascots for their armies - either a specific model or even a cuddly toy. So the question posed is; what are your gaming rituals?"

Rituals are something I try to avoid in my day to day life. I already have OCD tendencies and I find myself getting stuck in "my ways" very easily when I encourage such things. Having said that... gaming has always been one area of my life where I have allowed myself some small obsessive pleasures, most of which relate to dice:

Switching out my dice: I like to have multiple dice available (the same type and design is best) to switch out as needed - typically when a particular dice is "misbehaving" and rolling too low or too high too often.
Changing die facings: This one is very closely related to my first ritual but usually comes before I switch to a different die. When placing my dice on the table I like to turn them so the 1 is not face up and the 6 is showing. Sometimes I will just turn it so the 1 is not facing up and call it a day.
Replacing dice: If I was honest with myself (and had the disposable income) I would probably buy a new set of D6s every few months or so. As it is now I tend to just rotate through the several sets of different colored dice I have (although I do really want a set of Game Science D6 dice).
Using themed dice: I like the colors of my dice to reflect some attribute of the models I am using or the game setting. I don't like goofy symbols so it has to be the color of the dice or the pips that get this across.
Only one color at a time: The dice I am using have to be the same color unless I have no choice at all. When I played more tabletop RPGs I spent many hours getting together new sets of dice that all matched - D6, D8, D10, D12, D20.

That's probably enough... I don't want to get too carried away detailing my own descent into gaming OCD madness and I think you get the picture. How about you? Are there any particular gaming rituals you preform before/after or during the games you play?

Beer Review - Full Sail Pale Ale

2010-11-14T16:49:00.000-06:00

That's it!! I haven't been adding enough beer reviews to the site - mostly because I have a hard time finding "the right post" to include them on. Not anymore! Starting now I will be putting them up as there own separate entries. I'll try to get a new one up each week but I there won't be any hobby information with them. This week we have a "classic" beer from an equally "classic" brewery...

Full Sail Brewing Company - Full Sail Pale Ale

Beer Type: American Pale Ale

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with the tell tale Full Sail label - tan/gold with blue and white lettering. Light amber in color with a thick off-white head and some slight lacing.

Smell: Something grassy and green with some sweetness to it. Can't really smell much hops.

First Drink: Really sweet but not in a cloying way. Initial sweetness gives way to a bit of malt and some banana/citrus flavors.

Mouthfeel: Not as smooth as I normally like, a bit of carbonation gives this a bite.

Last Drink: A little more of the hops comes through at the end and as the beer warms but not nearly as much as I would expect from a Pale Ale.

Drinkability: Easy to drink but not a lot going on here.

Notes: This beer has a pretty loyal following but I doubt I will be going back to this one when I want a pale. Reminds me a bit of the Alaskan Pale Ale I had last year but I liked that one a little more.

Verdict: 3.25 out of 5. Not bad but not outrageously good either. A good pale for those who are afraid of hops perhaps?

Links: Beer Advocate and Full Sail Brewing Company.

Progress Report 11/11/10 - Changing weather.

2010-11-11T21:15:00.001-06:00

Sunday's BRAWL was a bust for me and the Nurgland Germs. In classic tournament form I went straight from a win in my first game to a low scoring tie directly to a loss in the championship game on table one. Ended up 5th overall with a 1-1-1 showing. On the plus side I did get a shot of my partially painted models on the BB pitch!

Beast of Nurgle and his babysitting Rotter buddy.

First match was against a bash heavy Orc team coached by Rusty - the majority of which had Block and Mighty Blow. I managed to sneak in with a TD to win the game and avoided any long lasting casualties. This game was my one and only win for the day.

Second match was against my up and coming arch-nemesis Thom and his team the Maynooth Gits (the Underworld team that beat my Ogres in the KUBBLII playoffs). It was a hard fought game on both sides, and a lucky turn 8 score from Thom kept the Germs from taking the win.

That put the Germs in a tie for overall points for the day and having to face down coach Beaux and his dirty Cantina Killers - a Chaos Dwarf killing machine. The game strarted off uphill and stayed that way the whole time. The Germs didn't manage to do anything at all. It was a classic case of two teams so unevenly matched the only way the lower value team can win is great luck or star players. I don't have great luck, nor good luck, and star players were not allowed... so a loss was had by all (my players).

The good news is the Germs have skilled up enough to be a pretty decent starting team for KUBBL III which starts next month. All the Nurgle Warriors have Block and two of the Pestigors have Wrestle which makes them excellent in a safety capacity. We'll see what happens...

In the meantime I am still trying to get the team all painted and ready to go. I've been slowed down by work and a puppy but I did manage to apply some water effects to their swampy bases.

This is the first time I have ever used water effects on a miniature and overall I am quite happy with the results. Once I finish adding some small details I will seal the model and get some photos of the finished results. Until then...

Progress Report 11/6/10 - Preparing for a BRAWL.

2010-11-06T16:43:00.001-05:00

Due to circumstances beyond my control I no longer have access to quality image editing software. In the meantime I am trying to make due with GiMP... the results have been less than spectacular.

The colors aren't perfect but they are as close as I could manage with my current experience using this program. I've added a few highlights since this picture was taken but overall I consider him pretty much done. Going to be taking him and the rest of the Germs to a small one day "tournament" style event against other KUBBL teams (called the BRAWL). Should prove interesting!

Happy Samhain!

2010-10-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

I love October so the 31st has always been a bittersweet day for me. Halloween is my favorite holiday but November has always been a bit of a downer. Lucky for me there is the Celtic holiday of samhain (or samhein - pronounced SAH win)!

Drinking, dressing like dead things, and setting fires has always seemed like a good idea at this time of year. Speaking of drinking and burnt things... how about a nice fall seasonal?

Magic Hat Brewing Company - Odd Notion (Fall 2009)

Beer Type: Belgian Dark Ale

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a black Magic Hat label and a skeleton on it. Beer is dark! Really dark brown with some red hues and a biege head.

Smell: Lots of burnt stuff. Almost like a barbecue. Dark, roasted, sweet, smells.

First Drink: Just as dark as the smell with a heavy earthy flavor, quickly followed with a sweet malt or chocolate milk flavor.

Mouthfeel: Not as heavy as I would expect from the smell and color. More of a medium body that goes down smooth.

Last Drink: A hint of whiskey now, perhaps some dried fruits, and a lot more smoke. Odd ...

Drinkability: This is a Fall seasonal I am drinking in the Winter and it still tastes amazing. Wow!

Notes: Quite unlike any beer I can name and the flavor is one I will remember. Thanks Magic Hat!!

Verdict: 4.25 out of 5. Too bad this is a one time seasonal brew, I could get used to drinking this.

Links: Beer Advocate and Magic Hat Brewing Company.

Hope you too can enjoy the end of October with a good drink, good company, and safe journeys.

Progress Report 10/29/10 - Crappy ipod pics and stuff.

2010-10-29T18:34:00.001-05:00

Ahhh! Spent all last week on the road and not painting models or playing games!! I'd love to show you some of my progress but all I have to take a picture with at the moment is my ipod. Here are the results of that...

That's totally worthwhile right? Surely you can see all the gross and nurgly details on these Blood Bowl Rotters? Please forgive the crapulence and I will try to get some better pictures added soon.

Speaking of Nurgle... I have decided to give the Bultimore Bullies a season off to rest while the Nurgland Germs give KUBBL a much needed dose of infection. I am hoping to use this time to paint the Bullies as I have the majority of the Germs already done (or close to it). I played a game with the Germs against a Vampire team and lost 0-1 on the last turn of the second half. There is a lot more story there but I don't feel like recalling the sad details that led to the loss... just know it was a truly epic game (probably one of the best I have ever played).

Did I ever share the really cool Nurgland Germs team logo I pieced together? Well here it is!

That's all I got for now! Just downloaded the new Blood Bowl Legendary Edition for PC and I hope to have a review of that up here soon. I started a digital version of the Bullies and so far they are 2-1-1 with a starting roster that included 6 Ogres and no rerolls. Pretty awesome!

Progress Report 10/15/10 - Still bowlin'

2010-10-15T13:42:00.000-05:00

Blood Bowl still has a firm grip on my tabletop time (which has been rapidly dwindling over the past few weeks) with the completion of the second KUBBL season and my attempts at getting the other person who lives in my house to play it with me. Managed to finish the construction of my Nurgle BB team (the Nurgland Germs) and here is a crummy pic for those into that sort of thing:

The Rotters are just made from VC Zombies while the Pestigors come from the old Beasts of Chaos Ungor/Gor herd box. The Beast of Nurgle is made from Chaos Spawn and greenstuff while the Warriors are converted from the Human models that come in the BB starter box. The hair on the table comes from my hairy dog Udo (and damn if it isn't everywhere).

The Bultimore Bullies finished up their season with a somewhat respectable 3/0/5 (of course one of those wins was a forfeit but who's counting) and falling out of the playoffs in the first round. Oh well. The team is developing nicely and I have started to figure out a few "tactics" that work most of the time so perhaps next season will go better?

In WHFB news... nothing really. Haven't managed to really do anything at all for the next issue of the Bellower nor have I played a game of 8th in a month or more. Hoping to remedy that this weekend as my local gaming store has started up an escalation league that I intend to play in. I am thinking of giving some time to the WoC now and have got a 500pt list in mind that I need to build for. The big problem is finding the time/funds to get the models done which may be my undoing in this and forcing me to go with a VC list instead. One thing is for sure... making a 500pt WoC list that has anything useful in it is quite difficult.

This month is pretty hectic for me but I will try to get some meatier updates posted soon! Heck, I haven't even thought about posting over at the Trading Post and I am supposed to be one of their contributors!!

Three Die Block - Ogre Blood Bowl team overview episode.

2010-09-30T23:31:00.000-05:00

Really busy this week but I wanted to share this with any Ogre and Blood Bowl fanatics reading the blog:

Ogre Blood Bowl team overview episode! Listen all the way through for a little shout out surprise ...

Coming here soon - book reviews, new model pics, and other ramblings. Isn't that exciting!?

Gamesday 2010 - Ogre Kingdoms news summary.

2010-09-27T19:12:00.001-05:00

Shamelessly ripped off from Hragged over at the Ogre Stronghold:

Arguably the biggest news coming out of Games Day this year was the grand unveiling of 'Warhammer Forge', the fantasy equivalent of Forge World.

The folk at Warhammer Forge have been working on some very interesting projects, so let's take a look at a few of the things revealed that may be of interest to Ogre Kingdoms fans

Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos

- The first of several campaign books set at some point in the future of the the Warhammer world, possibly in an alternate timeline (could be depending on how we react to it).

- Focuses on what Rick Priestley describes as "the story of how Chaos destroys the world", a Chaos incursion of massive world-ending scale.

- The Tamurkhan book is the first of two books that will feature the expansion of Nurgle into the West, starting with an invasion into the Ogre Kingdoms, then moving through the realm of the Chaos Dwarfs, through the Worlds Edge Mountains, then into the heart of The Empire. More books will deal with the expansion of Tzeentch into the south, Slaanesh into the East and Khorne into the North (the plan is to release two books a year over the next 5-6 years).

- Book contains content for Chaos Nurgle, Ogre Kingdoms, Chaos Dwarfs and The Empire players, with artwork by Adrian Smith.

- Tamurkhan is in the form of an Ogre (he can take the form of creatures he kills, he's really a big maggot or is made up of lots of small maggots).

- When the forces of Nurgle enter the Mountains of Mourn, some Ogres will fight against them while others will join them.

- They won't be shy about killing off well-known special characters during this campaign. Even the likes of Teclis or Karl Franz aren't safe!
- Due for release in February-April 2011.

New Ogre Miniatures

- Chaos Ogre (this was available to purchase at Games Day and was priced at £18, but it will eventually be available to buy online via the upcoming Warhammer Forge website).

- Nurgle Ogres (two displayed at Games Day, another one to be revealed).

- Apparently a Mammoth with Ogres on it was mentioned at one of the Games Day seminars, with promises of lots of big monsters coming next year (not sure if these will be from Warhammer Forge or Games Workshop).

Thanks to various people around the Internet for all the info and photos!

Awesome!!!

Warhammer Forge - WHFB ForgeWorld sister company unveiled at UK Gamesday!

2010-09-24T17:19:00.000-05:00

From a recent GW press release - looks like us Fantasy players will have a new way to frivolously spend our money!! Woo hoo!!?

Warhammer Forge Exclusively Unveiled at Games Day UK

Veteran games developer Rick Priestley and Forge World sculptor Mark Bedford have spent the past few months masterminding a brand new project, a long-awaited foray into resin products and detailed expansions for Warhammer, The Game of Fantasy Battles.
Warhammer Forge unveil a veritable horde of work-in-progress resin kits as well as early layout copies of the first in a series of lavish expansion books for the very first time at Games Day UK.

You’ll be able to see the staggering range of resin models that have been created over the past year, and Mark Bedford and his intrepid in-house sculptors Keith Robertson and Steve Whitehead will be available all day to answer any and all questions you have. These intricately detailed models are some of the finest yet produced in resin, adding an incredible depth and breadth to the existing Warhammer range.

Rick Priestley will be on hand to explain his future plans, and Book Production Manager Paul Rudge and Graphic Artist Sam Lamont will be displaying a dizzying array of their incredible work-in-progress example pages from the first Warhammer Forge book, and some phenomenal artwork from Games Workshop artistic stalwart Adrian Smith, as well as everything from single page vignettes to concept sketches and full-colour cover art.

The Warhammer Forge Studio team will be located right next to the Forge World Design Studio stand in the Arena – a map of Games Day can be found here.

You’ll be able to quiz the whole Warhammer Forge design team on the future of this exciting new range, and as an added bonus two of the resin kits on display will be available as advanced pre-releases from the Forge World Sales Stand in strictly limited quantities – details of exactly what these are will be unveiled at Games Day, so don’t miss the Warhammer Forge Studio Stand!

Excited?! I hope to see a slew of new models to be announced in the next few weeks. I can't afford to buy any of them but it won't stop me from looking! How about you?

Progres report 9/19/10 - Nuns and fun.

2010-09-19T16:34:00.000-05:00

Here are the Nuns (which will be playing the part of Amazons) for my Blood Bowl team all based and primed.

Started getting the base coat down for the skin and habit on the catcher there. Not looking forward to painting black and white on the same model for the first time but I figure it will be a quick way to learn!

Not much else going on in the world of Warhammer and Blood Bowl. Planning out the next issue of the Bellower, working on painting my Ogre BB team, and playing the occasional game of BB as well. Haven't gotten in any games of 8th ed WHFB since last month, something I am hoping to rectify this week. In the meantime we have one of my other favorite hobbies (and recently much neglected here on the blog)... beer!

Full Sail Brewing Company - Full Sail Pale Ale

Beer Type: American Pale Ale

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with the tell tale Full Sail label - tan/gold with blue and white lettering. Light amber in color with a thick off-white head and some slight lacing.

Smell: Something grassy and green with some sweetness to it. Can't really smell much hops.

First Drink: Really sweet but not in a cloying way. Initial sweetness gives way to a bit of malt and some banana/citrus flavors.

Mouthfeel: Not as smooth as I normally prefer, a bit of carbonation gives this some bite.

Last Drink: A little more of the hops comes through at the end and as the beer warms but not nearly as much as I would expect from a Pale Ale.

Drinkability: Easy to drink but not a lot going on here.

Notes: This beer has a pretty loyal following but I doubt I will be going back to this one when I want a pale. Reminds me a bit of Alaskan Pale Ale but I liked that one a little more.

Verdict: 3.25 out of 5. Not bad but not outrageously good either. A good pale for those who are afraid of hops perhaps?

Links: Beer Advocate and Full Sail Brewing Company.

Progress Report 9/11/10 - Blood Bowl on the brain.

2010-09-11T16:50:00.000-05:00

Been playing lots of Blood Bowl, better yet I won my last two games with the Bultimore Bullies! Awesome! My next game is against a bashy Nurgle team though which doesn't have me feeling too hopeful.

Speaking of Nurgle... our league has a "Open" which is basically our rookie league for the real deal. By playing games in the Open you can develop a team without the frustration of playing the entire season (like I had last season with the Bullies). I currently have two teams in the Open - The Bloody Marys (Amazon) and the Nurgland Germs (Nurgle).

I have played one game each with both teams and they couldn't have been more different. With the Bloody Marys I played a super bashy Chaos Dwarf team which killed one of my players on the second turn and proceeded to stomp all over me for the remainder of the game. It wasn't fun. With the Nurgland Germs I played against a pretty standard Undead team, stood my ground and stymied my opponent for the entire game (almost scored though!).

For the Bloody Marys I purchased a Nun Gridiron team from Shadowforge. They just arrived today!

Look for more on the models and their assembly in a future post. I've also spent a bit of time last week slapping together a Rotter and Pestigor for the Nurgland Germs. They have a bit of paint on them but I am still finishing up some details (and messing around with new techniques).

Tried making the bases look all swampy, rotten, and nasty. Might have to spring for some real water effects instead of the diluted PVA glue I used on those miniatures. Overall I am happy with how they are turning out although the Pestigor is my least favorite. I'll muck him up some more and nobody will be the wiser!

Still messing around with the paint scheme for my Ogres as well. Here is the latest and "greatest" for the Bullies.

That's it for now! Hoping to get a beer and/or book review up here soon and I have been toying with the blog layout as well. If you find something messed up or broken please let me know. Adios!

The Bellower - Issue #3 out now!

2010-09-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

It's here! The third issue of the Bellower! This one was quite the beast to put together but I think the overall finished product is worth a once over. Feel free to share your comments and critiques - I love hearing what other folks think about the "publication".

If you feel the need to spread some Ogre related tactics, battle reports, pics, art, or if you have created your own Ogre language .... send 'em to me! We need more content and more contributors!

Progress Report - 8/27/10 (now with crappy lightbox)

2010-08-27T14:42:00.000-05:00

Look! It is a model with some paint on it! I found a little bit of time to work on my test Ogre for the Bultimore Bullies and that is the result. Still needs some highlights and details, and I am probably going to add some blood and gore to the Ironfist and maybe around the mouth as well (this player is named Ardgut Bloodgulper). I took this picture in my crappy cardboard and foil "light box" and I have to say the results aren't too shabby. Almost makes me look like a competent painter!

Played my first game of the KUBBL II season this week and lost to a High Elf team. I just couldn't keep them from dodging around me. Even with half their team being knocked out they still managed to score on me. In the end it was only a 0-2 loss so I suppose it could have been worse. I scored 4 casualties in the game, one of which came from a Snotling. I need to get an Ogre or two with Tackle to help deal with all the high Agility and Dodge teams in my division. Next week is a good ole fashioned bash-up with an Undead team.

I've also been toying with starting an Amazon team in our KUBBL Open League (kind of like a semi-pro league). I plan on ordering the Nun team from Shadowforge which can be used for Amazons or Humans or ... ??? I really like the models, and playing something different from Ogres should be fun.

On the WHFB side of things I am getting ready for a short campaign that is going to kick off at my game store - trying to decide between running Ogres, Vampire Counts, or assembling enough WoC for the 1,500pt requirement. I expect to see a lot of High Elves and Skaven as the campaign is to support the new players coming into the scene thanks to the Island of Blood so perhaps Ogres wouldn't be the best choice.

Speaking of Ogres, I am frantically trying to finish up the third issue of the Bellower to get it out this month (probably right down to the wire - sometime early next week). Even with a major drop in contributions I think the issue will still have something for everyone. Not what I had hoped for but overall I think it will do. In fact... I need to start the final layouts right now!

Ogre Kingdoms in 8th edition - Podhammer and me.

2010-08-20T10:05:00.007-05:00

I've been meaning to get to a post about Ogres in the latest edition of Warhammer, but Trent “Hammer” Denison has beat me to it with a post of his own on his blog Stop, Hammer Time. Read his thoughts, come back, and I will lead you through my own thoughts on my favorite fatties (with a bit of commentary on Trent's commentary).

All set? Okay, here we go... to put it simply Ogre Kingdoms in 8th edition WHFB are better all around. Don't believe me? Well let's go over some of their major weaknesses in 7th and see how they stack up this time around:

Small army size: Yes your armies of Ogres will likely still have less units in 8th but the overall effectiveness of each unit has increased with abilities such as Steadfast and Stomp attacks, not to mention easier access to ranks for you Ogre units. You'll probably still be outnumbered but without the Outnumber rule to doom you to static CR death you have a better chance to winning each fight you encounter.
Magic and shooting attacks: In some ways the bullseye on your Ogre heads has gotten even larger when it comes to these attacks but we have new ways of dealing with them - mainly Gut Magic! Access to a Slaughtermaster greatly increases the effectiveness of your Gut Magic while also increasing your magic defense by virtue of his +4 to dispel attempts. Throw in buffs that stack and you have a chance at building some really nasty Ogre units. Also, in most cases you will be able to get into close combat on Turn 2 which is where Ogres are safest from these types of attacks.
Out and out speed: Remember the funny little game of chicken you always had to play with your Ogre units when facing down a line of cavalry? Well not anymore! Now that both units move 2d6" you stand a much better chance of slamming into that unit of knights before they ram headlong into you. Better yet, with a longer charge range possible for your enemies you are more likely to get off a devastating Bull Charge as well (since they won't always have to be as close to get their infantry charge off).
Maneuverability: Another huge deficit for Ogres in 7th edition, the addition of the Swift Reform rule has made Ogres much more maneuverable overall in 8th edition (also making bellowers even more mandatory for each unit). Being able to quickly reform and then move is a massive boost to the wide frontage most Ogre units bring to the table. Learn to love it, and use it as often as needed!
Lack of static CR: In 7th edition it was quite hard for Ogres to play the static combat resolution game. With the addition of smaller ranks in 8th it has gotten a little easier. Throw in the necessity of a BSB, and scenarios that reward units with standards, and suddenly your Ogres have a little bit of static CR of their own to throw around. It's not the greatest out there but it is certainly better.
Average to low leadership: The changes to BSBs in 8th makes even the crappiest Gnoblar capable of so much more! With a Tyrant and BSB in your list (and likely a Toothcracker or two making their units Stubborn) you face a much lower chance of failing most any leadership test that comes your way. A great thing for an army who was previously so prone to panic checks ruining a close game.
Low Weapon Skill: Not a lot can be done about each Ogre's crappy WS stat - the good news is the new stat to have is Ini and Ogres suck at that too! Instead of complaining about not being able to hit anything you can complain about not having a chance to hit anything even after you charge in! But seriously, the addition of support attacks from back ranks of Ogres, and the Stomp Attack for all Ogres, has greatly increased the effectiveness of all Ogres. Still not the best, but absolutely better.

So there you have it, a few of the biggest weaknesses the Ogre Kingdoms had in 7th edition and how things are looking up after the release of 8th. I mentioned at the start of this post that I would leave a bit of commentary on Trent's thought regarding Ogres, but let me get one thing out of the way before I start.

I think Trent is often the best part of Podhammer, especially when it comes to list building and creating interesting synergies. For example - I blatantly ripped off his Warriors of Chaos Exalted Hero on a disc and changed it a bit into my own beloved build (see my Malal army for more details). While I respect his opinion on matters related to this game my thoughts on the state of the Ogre Kingdoms are just a bit different. I'm not going to repost everything on Trent's blog so if you are wondering what the hell I am talking about you should go read his post first.

On Tyrants - flying 4+ ward save builds are fun and all but as the heart of every Ogre army I find he is much more valuable near the center of the force. His leadership is needed to make the BSB really shine, and his ability to crush most RnF troops is an added bonus when dealing with more attacks coming in from basic infantry. I also think that in general the GW is a waste of time. I much prefer the CLS for it's boost to WS and Ini. Combine that with a potion or a Bullgorger (or two) or even the Giantbreaker big name and you have one mean fat summabutch.

On Slaughtermasters - Grut's Sickle? No. Just no. With a 4+ to cast and a basic casting cost of 3+ what the hell could you possibly need that +1 to a spell for? Not to mention the cost of a Bull putting each use at a meaty 11 to 12 points. If you want a crappy +1 to a spell just take the equally worthless (but cheaper) option of Tooth Gnoblars.

On Hunters - yes they are still not as good as they should be. I would consider taking one if he could be the BSB, but the changes to the battle standard bearer have made it almost mandatory for all lists to include which means less points available for the poor Hunter. I think he may still have a place in some lists but I haven't found one for him in mine (yet).

On Gnoblars - 40 Gnoblars is still just that; 40 Gnoblars. The changes to thrown weapons have greatly decreased their effectiveness, and while Steadfast is cute it won't matter much when your opponent is killing 20+ a turn with their own attacks. Not to be overlooked, but I certainly won't be putting 3 units of 40 in my lists. Kudos for mentioning the awesomeness of Trappers!

On Bulls - for slightly less points you get what is basically the same as a unit of Ironguts. Add in light armor and ironfist and you have a much more resilient Ogre that is still cheaper. If you want the high strength attacks there is always Bullgorger. Don't overlook the original in favor of their flashy brothers in blub.

On Ironguts - attacks coming at Ogres tend to be high strength which usually negates one of the big advantages these guys have in heavy armor. Striking last isn't that big of a deal (since they are base Ini 2 anyway) but their crappy WS still makes it hard to hit elite infantry. Good shock troops but I don't see much advantage to ranking these guys up (with the exception of their higher Ld and ability to carry a magic banner). Without characters backing them up the Ironguts are just a bunch of Ironwimps.

On Yhetees - they are still crap. You are absolutely right.

On Leadbelchers - overall I would say there is even less reason to take these guys in 8th. With the changes to reforming units it makes it much harder to keep these guys in a position of power. Their role in 7th was to support with flank charges and deal with incoming flank threats. Swift reforms make this much easier for Ogres without spending the massive point cost for a Bull with a crappy cannon. I don't see them living in my lists very often.

On Scraplaunchers - you say it is too many points for a chariot, and too many points for a stone thrower, but what about a unit that is both!? Not to mention the large blast template with S3 and KB!? I am pretty sure most armies would kill for something like that. Imagine the Empire with a weapon that was S3 and KB. Sure it can be unpredictable but if you are already planning on taking 3 units of 40 Gnoblars I think you know how valuable something like the Scrappy can be. With horde units being more prevalent I say don't leave home without it!!

On Gorgers - they are bad and have only gotten worse in 8th edition. Most things will be able to quickly reform and blast them off the table before they ever get into combat. With more attacks coming in once it does make it T5 and 4 wounds will only last so long. Now if it had Thunderstomp...

On Maneaters - certainly not as strong a choice as they once were, I think there is still some value to be had here. Take a small unit, add a character or two in front of them, and BAM ... instant ItP, Stubborn, and awesome support attacks. If you are running a solo (non-flying) Tyrant try throwing one with a GW or CLS behind him for laughs.

On Slavegiants - don't be so quick to overlook this choice. He still has the highest Ld in the OK army, and with the addition of Thunderstomp he can really wreck small units of infantry. Worst case you take one to give your main unit of Ogres a break from being shot to bits by artillery for a turn or two and benefit from the Giantbreaker big name.

Besides the things listed here I agree with the rest of Trent's overview, and I too would say the Ogre Kingdoms fall somewhere between a Tier 2 and Tier 3 army. Hopefully a new book this year will put them firmly in the top tiers eating the small fleshy ones!

The summer WHFB webzine roundup!

2010-08-15T09:17:00.000-05:00

Hey! A post!?!

So as of late I have been really bad about posting when a new WHFB webzine has been released and what I think of it. I figured now would be a good time for a quick "roundup" post with a few details on what has come out recently! Here we go... (in no particular order)

The Doom Seeker #5

While this webzine originally started as a Slayer-centric publication it has morphed over time into something a bit more general that is mostly focused on the hobby aspects of Warhammer. The layout is looking much better with every issue (aside from a few personal pet peeves) and this issue starts out strong with an article/interview about Garagehammer - a WHFB podcast. You'll also find some info on the Araby fan-made army book, info on 8th edition, fiction, terrain creation, and more.

Overall: Three out of five naked Slayer butts.

Skavenblight Gazette #9

Ahhh rat-things!! The mad rats over at Skavenblight Gazette have the best ad featured in the Bellower and they put out a pretty good webzine too. This latest issue isn't quite as lengthy (or flashy) as some of their past efforts but the overall layout and content is still top-notch. With articles on Fantasy Roleplay, painting tips, and Rat Ogres how can you go wrong! Check it out.

Overall: Four out of five screeching giant rats in your pants.

The Word of Hashut #9

If I had to pick one WHFB webzine I most look up to when it comes to creating my own it would have to be the Word of Hashut. Really great layout and design and the content is usually very focused, interesting, and well put together. This issue is lacking in a few areas (as Willmark had some challenges in his life - best of luck buddy!) but for a second year anniversary issue you could do far worse. Features here include a brief time line of CDO, tons of great model pics, regular staples like excellent Shadow and Flame comic, new units, fiction, scenarios, blood bowl, battle reports... the list goes on and on. Even though the Bellower ad featured in the issue is an old one (I kid Willmark, I kid!) this zine is still worth your time and attention.

Overall: Four and a half stunty slaves out of five.

The Invocation #5

Last but not least we have a bit of undead goodness from the folks over at the Carpe Noctem forums. This fifth and latest issue is everything you may have come to expect of The Invocation starting with a quick overview of changes to the Vampire Counts army in 8th edition, how-to guides, background, a really long piece of fiction, tournament/battle report, and more. Kudos to the Disciple of Nagash for stepping up the overall visual quality and layouts of this webzine, it has really come a long way in the past few issues. Hop out of your graves and see for yourself!

Overall: Four out of five moldering zombie heads.

Well I think that about covers it for the "usual suspects". I'd love to hear what you think about any or all of these WHFB publications and YES the new issue of the Bellower should be out "soon". Getting things together for issue #3 has been quite a chore but we're getting a little closer each day. Honest!

Progress report - nothing doing 8/7/10.

2010-08-07T07:04:00.004-05:00

Why hello there neglected blog and neglected blog readers!

Summer still has me stewing in a variety of work and personal activities, none of which relate directly to my tabletop hobbies. I do have a strong desire to paint and work on the construction of my WoC army, and I just added a sixth Ogre to my BB team, so there is a good possibility of more interesting updates to come soon.

In short here is a quick progress report for the past few weeks:

Played several games of 8th edition with my Ogre Kingdoms and won every one of them. While my current playing field has limited variety (only Empire, Skaven, Warriors of Chaos, and Bretonnians at the moment) the lists are still pretty damn hard. Still working out what my "normal" 2,500 list would be but currently we play a lot of 1,000 and 2,000 point games so it hasn't been as important.

Played a few games of 8th edition with my Vampire Counts and lost about half of them. I find it much harder to keep my general alive with the increased amount of attacks coming at him and/or the severe miscast penalties when rolling double 6's. Had a lot of fun but not as many wins as I have had with my Ogres. One thing I have learned is the Black Coach and Grave Guard are both much better in 8th edition.

Lost my first game in the KUBBL I Squiqbowl with the Bultimore Bullies. Managed to get enough in my treasury to hire my sixth and final Ogre but the game was just yet another loss for my disheartening Ogre team. I find myself piling on the ball and knocking people down only to have it somehow squeeze past me to some random receiver near my end zone. This has happened in almost every match so I am not sure how to deal with it? Snotlings can't manage to keep anyone in place with their S1 and Titchyness. Leaving an Ogre in the backfield extremely hampers my offensive line and doesn't guarantee they will be where they are needed when they are needed (with their crappy agility and movement). Perhaps next season will be better?

That about covers my gaming and hobby time for the past few weeks. Additionally I have been fretting over the very empty Bellower layout for issue #3. I have a few things to slap together but I am very much on my own for content and help putting the finishing touches on the next issue. Our team really needs some new blood so if you have a creative hankering and love the Ogre Kingdoms please get in touch with me. There is plenty of stuff to write/illustrate/diagram/model/photograph so creative folks of all types are welcome!

Until next time ... have a beer review!

Stone Brewing Company - Stone Thirteenth Anniversary Ale

Beer Type: American Strong Ale

Appearance: 22 oz. brown bottle with a number 13 and a classic Stone devil inked on the glass. Poured a dark red/black/brown color with a thick off-white head with lots of lace.

Smell: Dark sweet breads, pine hops, and more sweet stuff. This smells damn fine.

First Drink: Huge rush of hops quickly followed up by the sweet "brown" flavors of roasted malt.

Mouthfeel: This is a beer with the capital "B". Thick bodied with just the right carbonation and a really nice smoothness after the first sip.

Last Drink: More citrus and banana flavors coming though now. I can taste the 9.5% ABV as well.

Drinkability: Really good but not a session brew - unlikely to happen anyway as this is a special edition beer and I have only seen the one bottle of it.

Notes: Man. This is a really good beer and its a far cry from the now typical style I have come to expect from Stone. If this is what I have to look forward to I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Verdict: 4.75 out of 5. Well crafted, full flavored, and it left a lasting impression. Here's to another 13 years of Stone brews!

Links: Beer Advocate and Stone Brewing Company.

Hot time in the city... summer Blood Bowl action.

2010-07-24T09:34:00.003-05:00

I will spare you with the "blah blah blah I have been so busy" bit this time around. It is summer and that means getting outside and seeing people. It also means a new issue of the Bellower is (slowly) in the works. These things take time away from my modelin' hobby.

Lots of stuff has occurred in the world of WHFB 8th edition - new rules, new models, new FAQs, and so on. I'm not going to go back and cover these things retroactively but I have been keeping up with these new developments over the past few weeks. I did pick up a copy of the rule book and I have been going over it in preparation for some future Bellower articles. I am hoping to get in a game or two this weekend so perhaps there will be some WHFB related posts in the near future. In the meantime...

Finished up my first season of Blood Bowl this week with another loss. Final record for this season is pretty crappy but here is a detailed look:

My biggest hurdle overall during the season was just straight up bad luck. It seemed I failed 80% or more of my Bone Head rolls, rarely got block dice, never broke armor, and only occasionally managed to cause a casualty against the opposing team. Ever single team I played was better skill wise and coached by people who (seemed to) know how to play the game.

My biggest frustration with the overall performance of my team wasn't on the pitch though - it was at the table. Being a new player who jumped head first into this game I am still not 100% on how many of the rules and rule interactions work. I tended to default to the voice of a more "experienced" coach during my matches and this caused problems:

Players taking advantage of my lack of rules knowledge to "forget" certain rolls that needed to be made during the course of the game (dodge, interceptions, etc).
Getting multiple different rules explanations for how Throw Teammate works cost me untold touchdowns and draws/wins on my record.
Sideline coaching was a cause for at least two losses by listening to and acting on poor advice from observers.

I don't mind losing a game or two (or three or five) but the combination of bad and incorrect rules information, horrible dice rolls, and constantly being outmatched by the opposing team has created a real sense of anger and bitterness in me. In short ... it wasn't fun. I am hoping next season is a bit better for me.

Here is a look at my final roster for the season to date (still have to play the loser's bracket tournament):

It wasn't until my 6th game that I was able to purchase a 5th Ogre for my team - who was promptly knocked out, failing to be rolled back in for the rest of the game (even with a Bloodweiser Babe). My two star player are my captain Trubb Headbuster and his wing man Argut Bloodgulper - these two are really the only ones who have managed to do anything on the team. The worst Ogre by far is Gutsplitter who has spent 90% of the season laying on the ground.

Among the Snotlings (Gnoblars) there is also one standout player - Nibbutz. This little green horror managed to score a touchdown as well as cause a casualty... not sure how that happened. Kneez has also been a constant contributor with two touchdowns and an interception. The others are mostly fodder and I am (not so) secretly trying to get a couple of them killed off before next season starts.

Well that's it for now! First post of July and the month is almost over ... what can I say? I'll do my best to get some interesting posts up here after I get in some more games and paint some models. Thanks for reading ...