Progress Report - Skeletons!!!

Spent a few hours this weekend assembling a box of Skeleton Warriors with my new "foam safe" CA glue. The fumes are still there, but my skin does not seem to be as irritated with the exception of my eyelids. My sinuses and lungs are a bit messed up as well, but it is a far cry from what the "old glue" would have done to me. The only drawback so far is the longer set time this glue has. It has forced me to get creative with how I can keep the various skulls, bony shielfd arms, torsos, and weapon arms attached while the glue sets. A small price to pay for my health I suppose... as long as I assemble and glue in moderation I think I will be okay!

Here is a small WIP pic of the Skeletons I am working on at the moment.

"Aye! We ain't go no 'eads! Why does 'orny get a 'ead?"

This batch of 10 has a Champion and they are all equipped with spears. While I don't intend to use the spears in game, I like the look of a mixed unit with some spears in the back. It looks more like a creepy undead rabble and less like and ordered legion of self-aware skeletons.

I am also working on a few unit fillers for my skeletons. Here is the first, made with skeleton bits and using one of the "Gothic Graveyard" bases from Iron Halo.

Are they singing or screaming? Can skeletons even talk?

I plan on getting more of the Iron Halo bases, they are really high quality and I want to use them to base some of my characters too. The resin is nice and solid and the casting/sculpting is top notch. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for cool resin bases to make their armies stand out.

Well that's it for now! I am going to make an effort to post more WIP updates here each week, along with my oft-neglected beer reviews. I have a stack of reviews waiting to be published on the site, and whole shelf of beers in my fridge awaiting review. I have been slacking on the drinkin' portion of this blog! No longer! More beer!

Alaskan Brewery - Alaskan Amber

Beer Type: Altbier

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle that same generic (and slightly crappy looking) logo, this time with a boat on it and a red label. Crappy label or not, this beer has a unique orangeish-amber color that I haven't seen from too many beers. A really nice foamy white head, something I don't see a lot of in bottled beer.

Smell: A bit of fruit (citrus) and grain. Not a huge nose on this beer.

First Drink: Caramel and a sour citrus. A little sweet but not too malty. Nice.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, pretty much what I expect from an Amber ale. Quite a bit of carbonation but I don't mind that in this beer (especially if it lent itself to the lasting head).

Last Drink: Just a hint of hops, but it is barely noticeable. A sort of apple taste is lingering at the back of my tongue as well.

Drinkability: Very drinkable beer, and I wish I could get more of it!

Notes: Yet another beer from my trip to Fort Collins, CO. I like this beer better than the Pale Ale I also reviewed, but they are both quite good.

Verdict: 4 out of 5. Wish I had another one right now!

Links: Beer Advocate and Alaskan Brewery.

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?

Progress Report - 3/8/09 (now with MORE BEER).

Progress and beer!

Last weekend's tournament didn't go so well for the Beer Gut Tribe. The Ogres fought bravely against swarms of Lizardmen, a wall of Goblins, and the hordes of Chaos Daemons, but in the end victory was not achieved. All in all it was a good time, and I learned a few new things about playing the game, and that is what matters (although winning is welcome too).

I didn't take very detailed notes so I will spare you from a rambling recount from memory over a week later. I am in the process writing my final list for the upcoming (and first ever) Austin IGT. The event is called Capital City Carnage (great name by the way) and it will take place in early May at the Austin convention center. I am planning on taking the Beer Gut Tribe as it seems unlikely that I will have my VC fully assembled, based, primed, and even partially painted. Speaking of painted models, here is another completed Irongut from the series of pictures I took a few weeks back! I really like the first one as the IG looks quite menacing!

In other news, I have discovered I have a fairly acute allergic reaction to the super glue I have been using. I switched brands last October, but did most of my major gluing and modeling in the months since December. During that time I have developed crusty spots on my lips and eyelids, red itchy bumps on my hands and fingers, and some rather nasty wounds in my throat and sinuses. I finally realized it was the glue doing all of this (and that I wasn't turning into a zombie yet), so I switched brands again. I glued a little bit yesterday (still recovering from the last time I used the old glue) and I noticed a big difference. Sadly, I got a little on one finger and it is itchy and red today. Maybe I need to wear gloves while I am working with it?

All in all it is a pretty crappy allergy to have for someone in this hobby and I don't recommend it. It has really slowed down the progress of my Vampire Counts army even though I have plenty of models to assemble and convert.

But enough about models and allergies and tournaments. What about the BEER?! Oh .. well there is beer, or there will be in a month or so to be more precise!

We (the girl and I) have purchased our first home brewing kit! Went out and picked it up yesterday, as well as the ingredients to make our very first batch of beer. It will be a Pale Ale (although a fairly hoppy variety, not an IPA) and it is already bubbling away.

Making beer is fairly simple really, but it can be quite complex if you want it to. We opted for the simple method of Pitchable Yeast. This saves some time and it is easier for novice brewers like us.

The only problem we ran into was finding a vessel large enough to cool down the multiple gallons of boiling wort (the mixture of grains, malt, and hops pictured above) to stop the last bit of hops from losing all of its flavor. We ended up putting it in our bathtub and cooling it down there (though not quite fast enough so we may have lost a little of the hops flavor from the last addition).

It can be quite nerve wracking to have this (possibly) living thing hiding away in a bucket where you can't see it (sort of a Schrödinger's beer cat). We finished the beer at about 7pm last night and woke up this morning to find it bubbling away! It's alive! ALIVE!! Now for another 5-7 days of yeasty action and we will transfer it to the secondary fermenter (the box on the left) and add more hops. Another few days of that and its off to the bottles (with some priming sugar) for aging and carbonation.

Then we will have some beautiful baby beers to drink. I can't wait to try it!