Off to another tournament I go!

Saturday is the day for FIGHTING!!

I am off to join the masses of sweaty nerds at BattleForge Games for my first WHFB "Heavy" Tournament. I was originally planning on bringing Ryan's Dirty Stunty Shootahs (aka Dwarfs) but after a couple practice games with the list I decided to go for fun and take the Beer Gut Tribe. Plus I will get to show off my new Tyrant model this way!

Here is the list I am using.

LORDS:
Tyrant – Heavy Armor, Cathayan Longsword, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Beastkiller, Wyrdstone Necklace, Greatskull, Jade Lion (331)

This Tyrant is loosely based on the build Wildcard has posted for his 2,000 point list, but I am taking Yhetees so I needed to drop the Greyback Pelt. The Greatskull is there for the Armor Save and also to make people even less likely to cast at the big unit with MR 2 and miscasts on double 1, 2 and 3s. I am still tempted to drop the Beastkiller bigname for Mawseeker, but I do want some way of dealing with monsters.

HEROES:
Butcher – Hand Weapon, Dispel Scroll, Dispel Scroll (180)
Bruiser – Ogre Club, Heavy Armor, Ironfist, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblars x 2, Mawseeker, Greedy Fist (199)
Bruiser – BSB, Lookout Gnoblar, Ogre Club, Heavy Armor, Sword Gnoblars x 2, Mawseeker, Gnoblar Thiefstone x 2 (214)

These guys are all utility based. Greedy fist is for punching wizards down and the Thiefstones are for the MR. Mawseeker should make them a little harder to hit, but they will all be in the front line anyway. Went with the club and Ironfist for the slightly higher Armor save on Mr. Fist. Butcher is just a scroll caddy and extra dispel dice. If he gets off some buffs on the big block or Ironguts .. GREAT! I don't expect that to happen though. I am a little worried about my lack of magic weapons, but I hope I can out CR any Ethereal troops I run into ???

CORE:
Bulls x 7 - Bellower, Standard, Lookout Gnoblar (280)
Ironguts x 4 - Bellower (202)
Ironguts x 3 - Bellower (154)
Gnoblar Fighters x 20 (40)
Gnoblar Trappers x 10 (60)

Pretty straight forward stuff. Put the Tyrant and Bruisers in the main Bull unit (in a 2 x 5 formation), run the Butcher behind or in the 3 model IG unit. The 10th trapper is there for a spare 6 points I had. Fighters will most likely be used for table quarters are as a flank speedbump.

SPECIAL:
Yhetees x 3 (195)
Leadbelchers x 2 (110)
Leadbelchers x 2 (110)

I don't really like any of these troops but I have the models and I need something to field. Maybe I can get away without misfiring all my Leadies to death every game!!

RARE:
Slavegiant (175)

I love this big guy. If I had two models I would drop the Yhetees or some Leadies for another one in a second.

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

I just lined up the big Bull/Bruiser/Tyrant unit on my worktable and it looked quite impressive! I am hoping to use this bit of psychological warfare to my advantage and take a few Ogre Kingdoms newbs by surprise.

Before I take my tribe to war, here are a few pictures of another Irongut to remember them by.

Pictures, pictures, pictures.

I promised more pictures, and here I am with more pictures!

This is one of my first four Ironguts. The keg strapped to his back is what marks him as part of my Tyrant's "elite keg guard". They are tasked with carrying the tribe's kegs of brew into battle to ensure they have plenty of refreshments available to wash down any small ones that get eaten in the process. I will add more pictures of my Ironguts tomorrow, but in the meantime here is a picture of my new (and improved) Warhammer workspace.

I am lucky to have such a kind and considerate girl willing to share her own crafty space with my stinky self (and my models too). With this new space I am hoping to get into a painting routine, spending about 1 hr a day working on my models. So far I have only spent it working on assembly and basing!

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.

Tyrant Karnov Beergut, Firespitter, the Outlander.

Here is a WIP picture of a commission I hope to have very soon.

Karnov is coming! Karnov is coming!

Things I love about this model:

• His bignessticity.
• The fire-brand holding turban Gnoblar.
  
• His Mr. T like earring.
• The anchor and boathook on his belt.
• His overall "I am going to beat your ass" pose.