Progress Report - Painted Vampire Counts models.

It has been awhile since I updated my poor blog with photos of painted models, and since I have been painting up a storm as of late I am here to rectify this problem! Behold! Painted miniatures!!

First up is my completed unit of Dire Wolves. I bought and painted 10 and I don't plan on buying or painting any more of these! I am not a fan of this model although they do look better with paint on them (of course).

I think they look pretty dead.



A slightly different angle to make out the gribbly bits better.



And for completion's sake - the moldering rears.

Those with a keen eye (or creepy randroid-centric blog memory) will notice the terrain under their rotting paws - that is a display board I recently threw together for my armies. I got tired of not having anything for the events I go to. This one is a sort of "neutral" rocky/grassy theme for all my WHFB armies. I need to sand and stain the edges but otherwise I consider it "done". I plan on adding army specific pieces of terrain that can be used as objective markers to make it look more "themed" for each force.

Next up we have six mostly finished Black Knights. They still need some highlights and the weapons and armor need to be dirtied up a bit but otherwise I consider them good.

Fear the undead skeleton dudes!!



The skeleton horses look a bit goofy.

I gave up on trying to make the horses look ethereal as it wasn't turning out the way I had hoped. I might go back and give it another try but for now it is on the back burner.

Speaking of ethereal...

One unit down, one to go.

For those who made it through the entire post I have one last picture - the WIP state of my Vampire on foot (one massive undead brute).

Not 100% sure what I am doing with this fellow. The shield in particular is giving me headaches but I am still throwing colors on the model. What do you think? Does it look decent?

I am working on some Zombies at the moment and after that it will be more Black Knights and Skeletons. The undead horde never ends!

Comments, critiques, kudos, and suggestions are welcome and encouraged as always.

Vampire Counts 2,250 list take 4 - Revenge of the Skeledudes.

About two years ago when I started playing WHFB I had a really hard time winning. At best I could manage a draw, but I lost far too often. My first army and games were with the Ogres which are known to have a steep learning curve and hard time winning some match ups. Still ... I grew discouraged. With practice and patience I managed to achieve a winning record with the fatties and life was good.

Flash forward to last weekend's tournament where I brought my "new" Vampire Counts army out for a test run. The results? 1 draw (against Beasts) and 2 losses (against Skaven and a Night Goblin army). While the dice were not with me that day I still felt as if my list was the one letting me down. My magic phase didn't help matters; I only cast 11 spells in three 6 turn games with 10pd each phase. My vamps are some of the worst spell casters.

I learned a few things though:
1. VC core troops are really bad. No, really. They can't do anything.
2. A unit of 3 vamps (one being the Lord) and some Black Knights can wreck most things on the charge.
3. Wraiths are good and the unit of 5 with Banshee is quite powerful in the right situation.

Most of my games came down to me running my two units that could actually kill things into the enemy while the rest of my army was systematically destroyed. My plans to invoke enough Skeletons to keep them alive failed as I often needed to focus my casting on the costly (and fragile) Grave Guard unit. With that in mind I have made some changes to my list. Perhaps you can spot them in the following?

LORDS: (400)
Vampire Lord - Level 3, Red Fury, Beguile, Dread Knight, Blood Drinker, Walach's Bloody Hauberk, Black Periapt (400)

HEROES: (645)
Vampire - Dark Acolyte, Lord of the Dead, Book of Arkhan, Cadaverous Cuirass (195)
Vampire - BSB, Flag of Blood Keep, Dread Knight, Walking Death (250)
Vampire - Dread Knight, Supernatural Terror, Dispel Scroll x 2 (200)

CORE: (575)
Skeleton Warriors x 24 - Musician, Standard, Champion, Warbanner (237)
Skeleton Warriors x 24 - Musician, Standard (204)
Zombies x 20 - Musician (84)
Dire Wolves x 5 - Doom Wolf (50)

SPECIAL: (355)
Black Knights x 12 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Lance, Standard, Champion, Standard of Strigos (355)

RARE: (275)
Cairn Wraiths x 5 - Banshee (275)

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

Gone are the Grave Guard (right after I spent a week assembling them and making sure my vampire on foot would rank up in their unit), I have used to points to beef up my two Skeleton units and the Black Knights. As more added protection I have ditched the Hellfire Banner in favor of the 4+ ward save banner for the unit as most of the causalities I suffered came from shooting and magic missiles. The Skeleton Warriors where the caster vamp will live have gained a champion and a warbanner. I considered changing up the Vampire thrall to have Lord of the Dead (for early game invokes when he is near the Skeletons) but I like the insurance that 2 dispel scrolls brings.

I am considering changing up my warband list as well. I just don't see 10 Skeletons doing much against the types of forces I am likely to be facing. Comments, suggestions, and theory are welcome and encouraged. I don't really know what the hell I am doing with these undead!

Progress Report - getting ready for my first VC tournament games.

What is this?! Ogre Kingdoms content on the Games Workshop site? Cool ...

Been working on the completion of my VC assembly and painting prep over the past few days. This involved some really tedious rebasing of my models to make room for my sprawling vampires in the ranks. The results are favorable, and I am glad I did it, but I managed to cut myself for the first time doing hobby stuff. Woops. I suppose bleeding all over my Vampire Lord is appropriate in a way.

Here is a unit of Grave Guard with my Vampire on foot. I don't intend on making anymore Grave Guard for quite awhile. They are really difficult to assemble as everything is small and has to be glued very precisely.

Sorry about the yellow light, my hobby room is not the best for taking photographs. It is hard to tell from that angle but there are two 40mm unit fillers in the Grave Guard as I wanted to make my models stretch to fill a unit of 20 and also break up the unit form a bit.

In other news, I purchased a can of the Army Painter color primer and did a quick job on the remaining 30 Skeletons (with spears but not for the actual option, these guys will go in the back ranks as I like the look of them).

The results look really good! I wish I had done this sooner as it would have saved me a lot of time. Oh well. Live and learn.

Taking my VC list to a local tournament tomorrow. It will be my first tournament with this army and I know the competition will be fierce. I hope to win at least one game and gain some insight into this new (for me anyway) army. Wish me luck!

Carpe Noctem - The Invocation issue #3 crawls from the grave.

Webzine ahoy! This week we have the latest issue of the Vampire Counts zine The Invocation which is put together by the crumbling hands of Carpe Noctem members. Now in Landscape format! Hooray!

You can download/view the new issue here (it is around 10mb so it might take a moment).

This issue features the continuation of the magic item overview which was started in issue #2, updates on the Legion of Nagash, and the "Beta" release of the current Bloodline army list. The new army list makes up a majority of the issue but I won't get into my thoughts on the current list right now (and I have a few). The bottom line - if you are a champion of "fan made" characters, units, and rules, there is something here for you. The rest of the issue features classics such as a battle report, list building tips, model pictures, and some conversion and painting "how to" articles.

Overall this issue continues the with the layout and form set out with the first issue. The layout is clean and simple, but at times can be a bit boring. Much of the issue uses the same one or two backgrounds with little in the way of layout change to differentiate one article from the next. A few varied looking headings or illustrations would go a long way to help break up the "sameness" set forth throughout. I enjoyed the content of the issue but I couldn't help but notice a few obvious typos/mistakes which made it past the editing team. Oops!

Perhaps I am a bit biased but my favorite part of this issue (pg 61) was the ad for The Bellower - the first (and only) webzine dedicated to the Ogre Kingdoms! I was planning on announcing the creation of this publication at a later date but the folks from the Invocation team have done it for me! This is the top secret project I have been working on for the past couple months as I am responsible for the layout and Editor duties.

We've got some exciting stuff in store for the first issue, and if things go well we will be releasing a new issue each quarter for the foreseeable future. Soon I will have to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to layout and editing gripes ... perhaps a spot of revenge for the folks I have critiqued here over the past few months. Look for the first issue next month (I hope)!

Vampire Counts 2,250 list - this is what I am working towards.

I have posted a few variations of this list previously but this is what I am working towards for assembly and painting at the moment. Overall I am pretty happy with this list. I have played two games with it so far and won both. Would love to get feedback from the more (or less) experienced VC generals reading this. The overall theme is still Skeletons.

Skeledudes!

LORDS: (400)
Vampire Lord - Level 3, Red Fury, Beguile, Dread Knight, Blood Drinker, Walach's Bloody Hauberk, Black Periapt (400)

With the exception of the level 2 Vampire the rest of my characters are deployed in the unit of Black Knights. This Lord build is a bit of a hybrid but mostly combat orientated. He has a 1+ armor save, a 5+ ward save, and the Blood Drinker to help keep him alive. Combined with Beguile and Red Fury he can really do a number on most units/models while still supporting the rest of his unit.

HEROES: (605)
Vampire - Dark Acolyte, Lord of the Dead, Book of Arkhan, Cadaverous Cuirass (195)
Vampire - BSB, Royal Standard of Strigos, Dread Knight, Walking Death (210)
Vampire - Dread Knight, Supernatural Terror, Gem of Blood, Dispel Scroll (200)

The level 2 Vampire is deployed with the Grave Guard, typically with units of Skeletons to either flank. He spends most of the game buffing up these units while trying to stay close to the action to make use of the book. The BSB is mostly a support character but he can do plenty of damage on his own, plus he bring +2 CR and Hatred to the unit of Black Knights. Initially I was planning on making my BSB a Wight King but I have not been able to find a model I like enough to use so he has become a Vampire instead.

The third Vampire is mostly there for extra killing power, a bit of Terror for fun (this might get dropped), and the nasty trick that is the Gem of Blood. Great in a challenge when you just need to get that last wound in (especially if your opponent doesn't have a ward or regen save). It can be dangerous though .. on a roll of a 1 it does 2 wounds to the Vampire instead. This item might be dropped for another Dispel Scroll but for now I am going with just one.

CORE: (468)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Zombies x 20 - Musician (84)
Dire Wolves x 5 (40)

Skeletons! Initially wanted to field two units of 30 but I couldn't find the points to include the extra models and the Grave Guard. Zombies are my tar pit and redirecting unit, typically deployed near the flank of one Skeleton unit to stop and nasty stuff from getting a flank charge. The small unit of Dire Wolves is mostly a nuisance I use to chase off flyers and other Fast Cav. Also good for throwing at war machines to give them something to worry about for a turn. Would love to run more but I don't have the points!

SPECIAL: (501)
Black Knights x 7 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Lance, Standard, Champion, Banner of Hellfire (210)
Grave Guard x 19 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Musician, Standard, Banner of the Barrows (291)

Black Knights have the always important champ for taking challenges I don't want to throw a Vampire (or Lord) at. They bring the Banner of Hellfire for regen and anything that needs to be hit by magic attack. The Grave Guard are 19 strong and have the banner of +1 to hit. Always nice to hit most things on a 3+ especially when you have Killing Blow!

RARE: (275)
Cairn Wraiths x 5 - Banshee (275)

Wraiths. People don't like them and I know why. The biggest issue I have seen with this unit is it's larger frontage. I often throw these at a flank and they tend to kill themselves out of CC. Without the wounds for CR things can get dicey. You never want to crumble with a unit of 5 models that costs 275 points!

Total Points: 2,249 (of 2,250)

So that is what I am working towards finishing at the moment. As for the status of the models ...

• 40 Skeletons (60 assembled, 20 painted, 20 in progress, 20 yet to be primed)
• 20 Zombies (20 assembled and primed)
• 5 Dire Wolves (10 assembled, 4 painted, 6 in progress)
• 19 Grave Guard (10 assembled and waiting to be primed, another box to be assembled)
• 7 Black Knights (16+ assembled, 1 painted, 2 in progress, the rest are primed)
• 5 Wraiths w/ Banshee (5 assembled, 1 painted, 4 to be primed)
• Vampire on foot (1 assembled and waiting to be primed - may make a different model still)
• Vampire Lord (1 assembled and primed - a bit tipsy though and he doesn't rank up well)
• Vampire BSB (1 assembled and primed - using one of my Blood Knight models)
• Vampire on Nightmare (1 painted)
  

As you can see, most of the work to be done is in the painting stage. I am still hoping to have this done by the end of the year but it isn't looking likely. Even if I finish multiple units a week I will probably run out of time. I will have it all assembled and primed though dangit!!

Vampire Counts Warband - Is this too much?

One of the FLGS is starting an escalation league next month. I have joined with my Vampire Counts in the hope of getting more models painted before I move (always helps to have some impetus).

The first part of the league is a 500 point Warband (using the Warband rules) and I have created a list I am considering playing. My question to those reading - is this too much? Am I being a bit of a prick by bringing the Wraiths?

Are you ready for the bad touch?

HEROES:
Vampire - Lord of the Dead, Biting Blade, Flayed Hauberk (145)

Vampire lives in the unit of Skeleton Warriors and spams Invocation of Nehek to raise more Skeletons with his 3 power dice and +1 to cast. I gave him the 2+ armor save and -1 AP magic sword just in case he does manage to get into CC. My original build was a bit nastier but I had to squeeze in under the 150pt limit for Warbands.

CORE:
Skeleton Warriors x 10 - Musician, Standard, Champion, Banner of the Dead Legion (125)
Zombies x 20 (80)

Zombies tarpit and guard my flank. Skeleton's have the double US banner to ensure I get the outnumber from Fear but that is only really useful once I have raised more Skeletons in the unit. I am considering dropping it for a Warbanner, or I could add a Banshee to the Wraith unit.

RARE:
Cairn Wraith x 3 (150)

"Like bringing a bazooka to a knife fight" is what I called the Wraith unit when someone played them against me at 500pts. I think there will be enough things to deal with them on the table that they won't be as devastating as the might be, but it is still a rather nasty surprise for most players. Without Van Hel's to back them up they become substantially less powerful.

Total Points: 500 (of 500)

Overall I am happy with this list and it is made up almost entirely of models I still have to paint (which is the point). I'm aiming to have this done for the first week of January. Time to break out the brushes and get to work!

Progress Report - Do you like Dags?

Haven't managed to complete much model work yet. Spent the first couple days of being unemployed worrying about benefits, finding a job, moving, etc. Realized it is too early for me to worry about any of that stuff yet - better to spend time painting while I have it! Then I got sick ...

In between bouts of nausea (and all the wonderful things that go with it) I managed to get a test model done for more Dire Wolves. I am pretty happy with this model given that it was the first time I have worked with a miniature that was primed black instead of white. I had to learn some new techniques, plus I had no idea how I wanted to paint the Dire Wolves.

Feedback is welcomed and encouraged as always! I am a novice painter and I find that I learn more from doing (which is so often the case), but I am open to suggestions.

I started the model with a dry brush of Dwarf Flesh, followed by a few washes, highlights, some4 undercoat, more washes, and ... here we are.

I don't think the new model will be quite as pink, although I like the gross fleshy look. It doesn't look quite dead enough yet. Not sure what it needs.

Here are his buddies, in various stages of paint WIP. I don't really like these models too much but I think they do look a bit better when they are painted.

And as a treat for those who have made it this far into the post, I present ZOMBIES!

My first unit of 20. I have another 20 I plan on making, but we'll see ...

And that's all for now! I also managed to get one of my Blood Knight models assembled for use as a Vampire BSB (it's the Standard Bearer) but aside from the primed model there isn't much to show yet. Going to focus on completing these Dire Wolves, finish up my Skeletons, and then it's on to the Characters and special choices.

Hope you and yours have a great Thanksgiving holiday. I'll be celebrating with a Quorn log, tons of mashed taters, and Wild Turkey shoot!

Progress Report - Good news / Bad news.

First up, a bit of good news. I am going to have a lot more time to work on models in the next few weeks. I'm hoping to complete the assembly, basing, and priming of my VC force so I can get into the painting and hopefully complete the army before the new year.

The reason I have all this time to spend on models is because of the bad news. I was laid off from my job on Friday. I should be able to collect unemployment until I find a new job but it will still leave me a bit light on cash for any hobby spending for the forseeable future.

Also planning a move back home (Michigan) to be closer to my friends and family - this takes me far from the established WHFB scene here in Texas. Hopefully I will be able to scrounge up some games or get my friends back home addicted to collecting models of their own. I know I will miss the outstanding tabletop scene here in Austin. I didn't know how good I had it...

But enough about me and my (as of lately) crappy life. How about some more WIP pictures of my recent VC model work?

A finished Wraith with green stuff'd hood from the front.

I struggled a bit with the hood at first as it was covering too much of the skull below. I opted for a sort of "half cowl" look with tattered rags and I am pretty happy with the results.

This one was a bit tricky as I had to blend the green stuff hood with the original sculpt.

It looks a bit jaunty but I don't mind. Perhaps this particular Wraith is quite happy about his lot in unlife.

Also finished this little Skeleton unit filler. I bet this guy will be the life of the party.

Last but not least we have a fully assembled and primed Vampire Lord (being played by the mounted Mannfred von Carstein model).

This guy was a pain in the ass to get together as there were a ton of gaps that needed filling and I used one of the Iron Halo resin bases which required pinning and lots of glue to keep him standing upright. He is a bit tipsy and doesn't quite rank up with other cavalry models too well but I really like this model so I guess I will make it work.

That's all for now! Comments, suggestions, and critiques are welcome and encouraged as always.

Progress Report - Wraith WIP pictures.

Spent some time last weekend working on the final assembly of my Vampire Counts army. It has been almost a year and I have still yet to finish and play a 2,250 game with my new toys. What a shame.

To rectify that situation I worked on completing my unit of 5 Wraiths with Banshee. Here are a couple WIP pics before any green stuff was added.

The bodies are from the Lord of the Rings "Army of the Dead" models but I have removed the heads and hands and replaced them with Skeleton/Grave Guard bits. The scythes were made from Grave Guard standard poles/arms with Zombie scythe blades attached to the top. It was a bit difficult to find a pose that was radically different so I tried to go with ones that looked active and "realistic" - whatever that is for an undead monster.

And here is a group shot with the previously completed Banshee model. I have since completed the Wraith models with green stuff hoods and gap filling. I like the way they turned out, look for pictures of them to be added here soon.

Also wanted to share a couple links I have enjoyed the past few days:

• Games Workshop's Astronomican is pretty awesome. I know most GW gamers like to give them flack for a lack of fan support but I think pages like this are a step in the right direction.
• The Trading Post is a new Fantasy Blog hub with news and a long list of great Fantasy blogs you should check out.
• Noeste's blog has a great post detailing his Dragon Ogre conversion - something I wish I had the time and money to try out for myself. While you are there take a look at his Female Marauders of Slaanesh which are also quite awesome.
  

Sprue pics: Vampire Counts - Skeleton Warriors.

Another entry in the Sprue Pics collection - this time around we have the VC Skeleton Warriors kit. It is a pretty good set of sprues with options to make Skeletons with spears or swords and shields. There is not a lot of variety in the body types and poses but there are numerous heads - some with armor and plenty of skulls.

Sprue #1 - Front



Sprue #1 - Back



Sprue #2 - Front



Sprue #2 - Back

If you have pictures of new sprues to share send them my way and I will get them added to the site! Thanks.

Carpe Noctem - The Invocation issue #2 out now.

Another month and another WHFB e-zine is released to the web! This time we have a new issue of The Invocation - the Vampire Counts webzine produced by the fanged fiends at Carpe Noctem.

You can download the new issue here. Watch out! It is a hefty 45mb!

I really enjoyed the first article in this latest issue of The Invocation which goes over the magic arsenal available to Vampire Counts players (similar in style to my Basics for Beginners - Ogre Kingdoms articles). While I don't agree with all of the opinions it presented I always find it interesting to read another view on commonly used magic items.

The rest of the issue covers a wide variety of hobby articles including; a painting competition, zombie painting, army showcase, forum user projects (which include work towards two different army lists/rule sets within the Vampire Counts book - some of which are quite complex), cool art, a comic (sweet), battle reports, and tactics articles. There is certainly something here for everyone - a most impressive selection!

The look and layout of this issue is fairly consistent with a heavy use of "stained" paper backgrounds and black fonts. The overall feel is one of workmanship, but the sheer amount of content makes up for any lack in the design department. Plenty of pictures (where needed), cool illustrations, and decent font choices/spacing make this webzine pretty easy to read.

I would love to see this webzine switch to the landscape format used by some of the other notable community zines, but I know (from experience) that can be a pain to format. Limiting the use of different fonts would go a long way to producing a more "unified" look to the publication though, and I don't like the script font choice used for the lengthy piece of fiction included near the end of the issue.

Still, I recommend giving this webzine a look if you love (or hate) the Vampire Counts and I am looking forward to seeing the next issue when it comes out later this year.

Vampire Counts - 2,250 Skeletal Horde.

I spent the last few days gluing together models! Wow!!

This is very exciting as way back in January I developed signs of a super glue allergy (which is most inconvenient in this hobby). After visiting a dermatologist (and getting no help), a helpful recommendation from realgenius (thanks by the way), and a little internet research, I discovered "foam safe" CA glue. I still have to wear gloves when I do my gluing but the fumes are almost non-existent and my lungs, eyes, and skin are not getting all messed up from the glue. I can build again!!

With that in mind I have been trying to get my Vampire Counts army assembled to a point where I can play it in the regular 2,250 events around town. I think I am pretty close to being able to field this list (with some massive skeleton assembly).

I am still going for something that could be considered "friendly" but has a shot at taking on some "Heavy" lists. The idea is lots of Skeletons, but I would love some critical feedback from VC players and haters.

SKELETONS!!!

LORD: (450)
Vampire Lord - Level 3, Nightmare, Flying Horror, Red Fury, Walach's Bloody Hauberk, Wristbands of Black Gold, Black Periapt, Balefire Spike (450)

Flying level 3 lives in the unit of Black Knights but can charge out if the opportunity presents itself. I'm probably being paranoid but I built this guy to stick around - 2+ AS, 5+ WS, 3+ WS vs shooting or magic missiles.

HEROES: (467)
Vampire - Dark Acolyte, Avatar of Death, Book of Arkhan, Sword of Battle (200)
Wight King - Skeletal Steed, Lance, Heavy Armor, Shield, BSB, Banner of the Barrows (172)
Necromancer - Dispel Scroll, Extra Spell (95)

Level 2 lives in with the Grave Guard, Necro might as well or I will put him in a unit of Skeletons. Wight King lives in the unit of Black Knights with Lord for +1 to hit/Hatred/S6 on the charge/Killing Blow mania. Only one scroll but I hope that will get me by any really bad spells with my 6 DD.

CORE: (516)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Dire Wolves x 5 (40)

Skeletons! I love skeletons, I know they suck but I just love the look of them on the table and modeling them is fun in a sick way. The small unit of Dire Wolves is there because I had 40pts left and couldn't decide on a better way to use them. They will most likely get blasted off the board but at least they present a target for one turn, and maybe they can march block something.

SPECIAL: (502)
Grave Guard x 15 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Champion, Musician, Standard, Banner of the Dead Legion (235)
Black Knights x 8 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Lance, Musician, Standard, Champ, Royal Standard of Strigos (267)

Character bunkers mostly, also the units I expect to actually kill things.

RARE: (275)
Cairn Wraiths x 5 - Banshee (275)

Gotta have some scary fast movers! These will likely support the flank of the Black Knight/character unit.

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

I don't think the list is terrible and I have a pretty good idea how to play it. What are your thoughts?

Painted Skeleton Warriors unit - one down and many more to go!

Skeletons! I am nearly done with my first unit of Skeleton Warriors so I thought this would be a good time to share their WIP pics (on a nice sunny morning when I don't have to go to work). Still need to add some static grass to their bases, and I may go back and add more definition to some of the metal swords, but otherwise these are done!

Click on the pictures to see the enbiggen'd version.

Front shot, although my camera felt the one skeleton way in the back rank was the most important. Perhaps it failed it's Fear test and was too afraid to focus on the champion and command rank.

A 3/4 side view to show off some of the back rankers. They are important too! (mostly because they take just as long to paint and there are a lot of the little buggers) Pay no attention to the dog hair stuck to the bases, my final basing won't include (much) of the stuff.

The skeletons march to war on my gaming table. Fear their mighty weapon skill of 2! I can almost hear their creaky, cracking sounds as they shamble forward in search of new recruits to add to their ranks through death.

Still working on my first Vampire Counts list but right now it looks like it will have quite a few of these bony bastards. They aren't terrible to paint but all of the little details makes them a bit of a chore and this is only the first of what will eventually be a legion of 80 or so Skeleton Warriors (not counting the Grave Guard and Black Knights which would push me up towards 150 or more). Comments and critiques are welcome and encouraged.

Painted mounted Vampire Count pictures.

Well I finished this guy a few weeks back but didn't post it here as I entered it into a recent painting competition on the Ogre Stronghold.

Without further ado - two crummy pics of my first painted Vampire!

Click to make em bigger!

Overall I am pretty happy with how this guy turned out. This was my first time painting any "real" armor so I had to learn a few new techniques on the fly. You can't see it well in my picture but there is more layering/shading on the cloth around the base of the mount and on the cape. I may go back and add some additional highlights before I seal the model but otherwise this one is done!

Vampire Counts - Black Knights in Progress.

Just a quick update to show the WIP on my 16 Black Knights. Spent the weekend assembling the last of them before they were based and primed. Also got my first unit of Skeleton Warriors based and primed as well. Now it is time for painting!

I mixed and matched bits from the Tomb King Horsemen, Skeleton Warrior, and Grave Guard sprues for these Black Knights. I like the lightly armored look they have. Hopefully they will look good next to the more heavily armored Blood Knights and Vamps in my army.

More WIP pictures to come as I slap paint on these bony bastards.

Vampire Counts fighty 1,500 versus Warriors of Chaos.

Well I was supposed to play a 1,500 point game against Warriors of Chaos with my Vampire Counts today but it looks like that may be postponed until later this weekend. In the meantime I thought I would share this "fighty" VC list I was planning on bringing against the WoC. Trying out a few new things (for me) before I decide on what sort of "final" 2,250 list I will be working towards.

HEROES: (570)
Vampire - Nightmare, Dark Acolyte, Avatar of Death, Book of Arkhan, Sword of Battle (208)
Vampire - Beguile, Dread Knight, Blood Drinker (190)
Wight King - Skeletal Steed, Lance, Heavy Armor, Shield, BSB, Banner of the Barrows (172)

The Level 2 Vamp will be my general and live in with the Grave Guard unit. His job will be to stay close enough to use his bound Van Hel's on the units which need it, IoN wounds, and other general magic mayhem. The mount is for the extra armor save and bonus attack. The plan here is to accept the challenge the WoC characters/champs have to make with the Grave Guard champ and use the extra attacks from the mount and sword of battle to kill RnF troops.

The second Vamp lives in with the Black Knights and the Wight King BSB. With a reroll to hit from the hatred banner of the unit, and a potential reroll to wound from Beguile, I am hoping to maximize the Blood Drinker to restore any lost wounds to the characters or the unit. If I can get the charge this Vamp and his unit should be able to cut through most things.

The Wight King brings the +1 to hit for the Black Knights and himself, plus his higher toughness and wound count will hopefully make up for his relatively low armor save.

CORE: (240)
Crypt Ghouls x 10 (80)
Crypt Ghouls x 10 (80)
Crypt Ghouls x 10 (80)

Minimal core, may swap out one unit of Ghouls for a unit of Zombies but the Ghouls have a better chance of tearing through Marauders - especially with some help from Van Hel's.

SPECIAL: (514)
Grave Guard x 16 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer, Banner of the Dead Legion (247)
Black Knights x 8 - Nightmare, Heavy Armor, Shield, Lance, Musician, Standard, Champ, Royal Standard of Strigos (267)

Grave Guard have the Unit Strength x 2 banner plus full command for support of the Lvl 2 Vamp. Black Knights bring the Hatred banner to stack with the +1 to hit of the Wight King for maximum damage on the charge. Unit should have a static CR of 4 against most units (rank, banner, BSB, and outnumber).

RARE: (175)
Varghulf (175)

I have yet to try out the Varghulf as he doesn't really fit with my theme of Skeletons/Army of the Dead. Wanted to see how he does and if I should consider a conversion of some kind to include him in my 2,250 list.

Total: 1,499 (of 1,500 points)

Would love to hear any comments or questions you may have regarding this list! This is a "new" direction for my VC army and one that I have not experimented with too much. Any help is appreciated.

Skrag list update and Chaos Dwarfs at Chicago Gamesday!?

Quick update from the tournament I attended yesterday at BattleForge: Skrag and co. kicked ass! I went undefeated with two Massacres and one Solid Victory against one VC and two WoC lists.

Highlights from Game One vs WoC (fairly balanced list w/ a mix of troop blocks and cav)

• This game was the one where Skrag scored the most kills for the day - a total of 8 models.
• 3 Gorgers came in on turn 2 and tied up the two large troop blocks of Marauders and Warriors.
• Skrag and the Butchers dominated the magic phase killing 5 Chaos Knights with Bonecruncher.
• Scraplauncher scored a direct hit on a unit of Chaos Warriors and killed a total of 9 with only 3 coming from Killing Blow.
• Trappers lured a Chaos Sorc, Chaos Spawn, unit of Hounds, and a unit of Horsemen into a woods for most of the game.
  
  

Highlights from Game Two vs VC (hard list with a VC Lord on Abyssal Terror w/ Frostblade and Red Fury plus Beguile plus a huge Deathstar of Black Knights w/ two Wight Kings)

• My goal for this game was to not have Skrag killed by the Frostblade.
  
• Managed to destroy the Black Knight Deathstar on turn 2 after being charged by it on turn 1 due to irresistible Van Hel's.
• Skrag managed to stay in combat with the VC Lord for 3 turns, dealing 4 wounds to the mount and rider before finally failing the last vital Regen save and dying to Frostblade.
• Gorgers proceeded to trap the VC Lord and kill him with Killing Blow - mount crumbled due to CR.
• Game ends as a Massacre for me!
  

Highlights from Game Three vs WoC (hard list with a Gateway spamming Tz Daemon Prince)

• Turn 1 my opponent kills Skrag with irresistible force Gateway.
• I proceeded to crush the remainder of his army with only the Daemon Prince alive at the end of the game.
  
• Scraplauncher runs from Terror causing Daemon Prince only to stop 1/8" away from the table edge and rally on a 5 during the next turn.

So all in all it was a good day! I really like this Skrag list but as this was a "Hobby" tournament the lists were supposed to be more friendly. Not sure how well this list would do against some of the nastier things out there (monster mash type armies for instance) but all the games I played were really fun, even when it looked like I was going to lose on Turn 1.

In other news .... Chaos Dwarfs were confirmed at the Games Workshop Chicago Gamesday!?

I want to believe - but is this the previously rumored "non-human" race to be added to the game? Until we get more solid information I remain skeptical. Besides, GW has plenty of other armies they could work on updating before adding a new one (HINT HINT).

UPDATE: Read this thread over on Chaos Dwarfs Online and it seems the mention of CD at Gamesday might have been blown a bit out of proportion?

Progress Report - 2/22/09.

Has it really been twenty days since my last update?! My poor neglected Warhammer and drinking blog! Let us rectify this situation with a quick update (with more to come I promise).

In the past twenty days I have been fairly busy with modeling and the hobby in general. I completed the assembly of my Vampire Counts battalion (with the exception of the Corpse Cart as I was saving that for last), as well as a box of Dire Wolves I received for Christmas. This was done just in time as I have a slew of additional VC models on the way from some cheap eBay auctions I won. I will soon be awash in Skeletons, Ghouls, and Zombies! It is a variable undead cornucopia around here I swear.

I also received my Tyrant model in the mail from one Mr. Warplock Monkey. He is just as big and glorious as I had hoped, even with a few broken bits from the dirty post office workers pitching his box around. I have already completed the necessary repairs and I am hoping to have him based and primed this week.

Played a bit of Warhammer as well, getting in a few 1000 point games with my VC, two "Paradigm" games for the Beer Gut Tribe,more WoC TROLLS, and some practice games with Dwarfs for an upcoming tournament at BattleForge here in Austin.

I had planned on taking Dwarfs to the tournament next weekend, but I have decided to go back to the Ogres in the hopes of at least having fun while I lose to the myriad of Elves, Vampires, Chaos, and Daemons I am sure to face.

And that is about the long and the short of it! I promised (oh so long ago) better pictures of my painted models posted here, but I am still working out the kinks in my photo taking setup. Here are two (mostly not blurry) photos of my Bangstick Butcher to ease the pain.

He is more or less done. This was the fourth model I have ever painted so I feel pretty good about the final product. The gore on his cleaver looks a bit more layered and filthy on the table, but you can't really see it in these two pictures. Once I sort through the blurry pictures of my Ironguts I will add more pictures here. Look for those later this week.

In the meantime here is a review of a beer I had recently after my trip to Fort Collins, Colorado.

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Deschutes Brewery - Black Butte Porter

Beer Type: American Porter

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with basic Deshutes label (painted art in the center of a plain looking wrapper). Beer poured a dark reddish brown with a thin white head which faded with little lacing.

Smell: Roasted malt and just a hint of coffee.

First Drink: A little more of the "dark" flavors in the taste, a bit of coffee and chocolate. A nice hoppy finish and a little sweetness as well.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth finish and just the right amount of carbonation.

Last Drink: A lot more roasted malt now and the floral hops are coming through stronger.

Drinkability: This is a damn fine porter.

Notes: We have just recently gotten the Deschutes brews in the Austin area and this is one of the three I have seen locally. I don't often think of myself as a Porter fan but I really haven't tried a Porter I didn't like. Something about the faint "dirty" taste just gets my taste buds going. Makes me want some kettle chips or a sandwich.

Verdict: 4 out of 5. Really well done and a great example of the style.

Links: Beer Advocate and Deschutes Brewery.

Battle Report: Beer Gut Tribe vs. Vampire Counts 8/12/08.

Another day, another post about fictional characters and the tiny models I have put together to represent their accomplishments. Huzzah!

Today I faced down a mighty force of the UNDEAD, in a 500 point Border Patrol match against the Vampire Counts (hereby known as VC).

My list looked like this:

Butcher (General) @ 155
- Bangstick

Bulls x 4 @ 165
- AHW

Ironguts x 2 @ 96

Maneater @ 90
- HvA, BoH

Total Points: 497 (out of 500)

I learned yesterday that my opponent (the wily CHAD) was intending to bring Cairne Wraiths, and in fact did bring them to the battle. This presented an interesting problem. They are ethereal troops; skirmishers with 360 line of sight, they case Terror, have 2 wounds and 2 attacks, and can only be damaged by magic or magic weapons. Those of you in "the know" may notice I only had one model capable of killing or damaging them, my Butcher. I was quite concerned and convinced that I would likely lose the battle.

I didn't take notes on the match so I will attempt to run down some of the match "highlights" by my feeble memory powers alone.

Terrain Placement

I won the roll off with a 6 (CHAD rolled a 3) and began placing Terrain. It was a 4x4 board so I didn' t want a ton of movement/LoS blockers, so I began by placing one forest on the far right of the board. CHAD placed a rock formation on the left. I placed yet another forest on the far right on the opposite side of the board (in an attempt to force his Cairne Wraiths near that edge to take advantage of their movement). CHAD declined to place any more Terrain, and I chose not to place any additional Terrain as well.

I didn't have my camera with me, so here is a cruddy Terrain image from MS Paint.

Unit Deployment

Another roll off, with me rolling another 6 (CHAD with 3). I began placement with my 4 Bulls, all the way to the far left edge of the map. CHAD deployed his Wraiths and ... A BANSHEE (ARGGH) near the forest just as I had hoped. Next up was my unit of Ironguts to the right of the Bulls, with CHAD placing his Zombie unit in the middle. I placed my Maneater and Butcher near the forests to deal with the Wraiths, and CHAD placed his Skeleton unit with his Vampire inside in the middle behind the Zombies. So far, so good! Everything seemed to be coming up OGRES!

With it all done it looked something like this.

CHAD won the roll off for turn order and decides to go first. He moves everything up, raises a bunch of Skeletons, and gets ready to attack my Butcher and Maneater with his Wraiths. On my turn I lure out his dispel die with buffs, cast Bonecruncher on the Wraiths (hitting 11 times, wounding 4 times), and Bangstick the Wraiths off the table. So much for that problem!

DISCLAIMER: During this first turn of the game I made a mistake. For some reason I attempted to cast the Bonecruncher spell twice on the same turn with one Butcher. This is not legal. I was thinking about recent forum posts on the Ogre Stronghold relating to what "successfully cast" constituted. My first attempt to cast the spell was dispelled. I should not have been able to cast it again, but I did and it went off. As it was occurring I thought, "Wait a minute ... that can't be right at all!". I said as much to the CHAD, but he was not concerned with the outcome and didn't want to stop the game to look at the rules. Several spectators did look up the rules, and proved I was in the wrong. I offered to take back the wounds caused by the spell, meaning his Wraiths would have been on the table. Again, the CHAD declined, saying he had agreed to the outcome and that was his mistake. In short, I feel like an ass for inadvertently cheating, and CHAD is a good guy for not calling me on it (although he totally should have).

On turn two my Ironguts fled a charge from the Zombie unit (now 20+ strong) which then failed. Oh well. CHAD raises another unit of Zombies in front of the failed charge. Bulls move up on the edge to get in range of a Flank charge, while the Butcher's unit moves up just slightly to shoot at the oncoming zombie hordes, and manages to wipe out the newly created unit behind the Ironguts which failed to rally (rolling a 9 on a Leadership check of 8).

Turn three is where things got "interesting". CHAD attempted to raise more Zombies, and failed his casting attempts. His units moved up, with the remaining Zombie unit moving towards the Butcher and Maneater. Ironguts rally, Bulls fail a charge and move toward the Skeletons and Vampire 6". I attempted to cast Bonecruncher with two dice on the oncoming Zombies speaking the famous last words of "... which will hopefully NOT miscast". This of course creates an immediate miscast, luckily only resulting in a 4 on the miscast table, rendering the Bonecruncher spell unusable for the remainder of the game.

Turn four begins with CHAD attempting to raise another unit of Zombies in front of the Bulls who failed their charge, only to miscast as well! His miscast was not so lucky and he took a Strenght 8 hit, and lost one casting level, going from level one to level zero and losing his ability to cast anything for the rest of the game. Ouch! His Vampire took one wound from the hit while the Zombie unit attempted to charge the Butcher and failed (getting 2 shots and 2 wounds from the Maneater's "Stand and Shoot" charge response). The Butcher and Maneater moved back 3 " and continued chewing away at the Zombies with both the Bangstick and Brace of Handguns. The Ironguts moved into position for a flank charge, while the Bulls ran headlong into the mass of Skeletons and their Vampire leader.

The Bulls killed 3 Skeletons on the Bull charge, with an additional 5 wounds caused from 16 incoming attacks. The Skeletons and Vampire then attacked back, dealing two wounds and losing the combat by 1 point.

Yes! That's right! The Beer Gut Tribe actually WON A COMBAT!!

Turn five started with the Skeletons and Vampire killing two Bulls, who struck back and killed the Vampire. They lost the combat and were chased down by the Skeletons, who began to crumble. This left the nearby Ironguts with no targets to charge, so they began to move towards the nearest table quarter, while the Butcher and Maneater continued to move backwards and killing Zombies.

Turn six involved the Skeletons turning around while crumbling to bits, and the Zombie unit being charged by Butcher and Maneater. The Butcher's unit dealt 4 wounds, but it was not enough to wipe out the unit and they remained locked in combat while the Ironguts grabbed the far right table edge.

Final result: SOLID VICTORY.

Today was a good day for the Beer Gut Tribe. I feel I played my army fairly well, aside from the half-cheat and the poor charge response with my Ironguts, everything worked out the way I had hoped it would. A good list, a good game, and a good time. Pretty much everything I am looking for out of a game of WHFB.