Tale of Painters Entry 8

Only time for a quick post today as I update what I have completed for ToP this month.

Epic IG

Superheavy Tank Platoon - 200pts

So not much of an entry, and I'm still miles behind with the army, but next month shall be epic month! I have no 40k to do so next up is titans, valks and tanks tank tanks!

Army to date:

2050pts

40 IG

Busy month with the IG, I tried to get them done for a tournament. I just fell short and had to use an old Chimera, but it did mean that I got these two bad boys done:

Leman Russ & Medusa - 300pts

Army to date:

1434pts

So thats another month, another entry. I do love ToP, its such a good motivator, if a bit stressful at times. Look forward to all the epic stuff coming your way!

Tale of Painters Entry 5

Here we are again guys!

This month I epically failed to get enough 40K IG painted, so I've had to play my first joker for the Praetorians, which is not good as I'm already behind with them. I'm hoping to get two tanks and a squad done next month to compensate for this. What I can share with you though is my latest addition to the epic force, a Superheavy Tank Company:

This 600pt addition brings the whole army up to 1850pts, leaving them still 150pts behind target. Jeez, its hard work this painting schedule stuff!

For next months epic entry I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of some Epic Valkyries, so I can start creating my rapid response Stormtrooper platoon. Now I've just got to think up a suitable colour scheme to paint them...

The Return! Plus Epic Tale of Painters Entry (Month 4)

Well, its been a while hasn't it! No, I'm not dead, but I have had an enforced break from blogging over the last few months. Real life has been somewhat chaotic and rubbish of late, which has drained time and energy I would normally put into these here posts. Its also meant I've not been reading and commenting on all the other fine blogs out there, and for that I apologise. Let the great game of catch-up begin!

Anyway, on the meat of today's post. In spite of all that's happening in real life, I have been able to keep my painting schedule mostly up to date. We are on month 4 of the Librarium Online Tale of Painters, so both my Epic and 40k Guard are starting to look like armies in their own right. Today I'll post up my Epic work to date, and then I'll get up some photos of the Praetorians in the next few days!

Epic IG

This Months Entry

4 Leman Russ (including Vanquisher) & 1 Superheavy Tank Platoon @ 400pts

Army To Date

3 Formations @ 1350pts

So, given that I'm aiming for 400pts of epic in a month, I'm a little bit behind on where I should be overall. This was due to a joker that I had to play last month. This said, the epic stuff is so quick and fun to paint, I'm sure I can pull those points back later!

I've got to say, I absolutely loved painting the Baneblade. Its not very often you can claim to painting a baneblade in a single day, and the forgeworld model is really well detailed considering the scale. I was also glad that I took the decision to break up the grey space with the company marking (the red stripe on bone). I think it makes the model stand out much more, and appeals to the organiser in me.

Is it sad that all my guard models are correctly organised in companies and platoons, with the markings to boot? Probably, but I don't care!

Well, thats all your getting for today's post, I'd love to hear what you think. I'll leave you with a picture of where my Praetorians are to date, hopefully to wet you appetite for more photos to come!

Imperial Guard Vs. Eldar - Epic Battle Report 1

Well guys and girls, here is the first of what will hopefully be a series of Epic Armageddon Battle Reports.

A couple of days ago I met up with Ben, author of the blog Forgot my Tea, who brought his new and growing Eldar Warhost to the table, ready to face my IG army.

As we are both far short of the standard 3000pt size armies we totalled up what we had and settled on a 1750pt game. As it turned out this resulted in quite speedy games so we ended up with two battle reports, so look out for the second one soon!

One point to note, I'm not going to have time to delve into the game mechanics of epic, so in order to understand exactly what is going on some knowledge would be useful. I can highly recommend the Bell of Lost Souls series, Epic 101 (Part 1, Part 2) as a good way of getting the gist of the rules.

Anyway, here are our army lists....

Imperial Guard - 1750

Mechanised Regimental HQ

Mechanised Infantry Company

Tank Company

1 Baneblade

Eldar - 1750

1 Avatar

Guardian Host

Guardian Host (mounted in 4 Wave Serpents*)

Aspect Host

Ranger Troupe

Windrider Troupe

Fire Prism Troupe

1 Scorpion**

1 Wraithship

* Wave Serpents are represented by Falcon models

** The Scorpion is also represented by a Falcon model

Objective placement and Deployment

In the picture below you can see how both sides deployed and the placement of objectives.

*Larger version here*

One point worth noting for all the non-epic players out there, is how vitally important objectives are. Unlike 40k, for example, where there are a number of different standard missions, epic only has the one standard scenario, but there are a number of different ways to win. If, by the end of turn 3 or 4 either side has:

A. Achieved at least 2 of the below objectives

B. Has achieved more than their opponent

...then they are the winner. Should there be no clear winner by the end of turn 4, then the winner is normally decided by Victory Points.

The possible objectives are:

1. Blitzkrieg: Capture the enemies first placed objective (represented by the teleport homers in our game)

2. Break Their Spirit: Destroy the formation worth the most points in the opposing army

3. Defend to Flag: Control all three of the objectives on your table half

4. Take and Hold: Capture two objectives in the enemies half

5. They shall not pass: Have no unbroken enemy formations on your half of the table

The Eldar Warhost readies itself for battle

Imperial Tank Columns rumble onto the field

Turn 1

Having the higher strategy rating Ben was able to choose who went first, and surrendered the initiative to me. This was a clever move as I already had far fewer formations than he, in effect giving me less moves, allowing Ben to make all his important decisions at the end of the turn.

Not wanting to show my hand too much, my first move was simply to advance my baneblade forward, into the cover of one of the tower blocks to my front. In response Ben began to shift his army to the top of the board, using the city blocks as cover. First his scorpion and then his wave serpents made a beeline for this cover, and I could see that he was using his army's speed to round on my isolated mechanised company, who drove themselves further into cover in response.

The first turn seemed to be all about the armies manoeuvring, until my Tank Company rushed forward into the city. Seeing their chance Ben's Fire Prisms launched out from cover and unloaded into the tanks through a narrow gap in the streets. Suddenly ripped up by super-charged energy, two tanks blew sky high and the formation took a number of blast markers. Not a great start for the imperial forces.

Turn 2

Choosing to go first this time, Ben's Prisms once again fired upon the Leman Russ column, destroying one more, before disappearing into cover (Eldar rules allow their units to fire either before or after moving, a distinct advantage over the 'lesser' races!).

Realising that my only hope against the Eldar was to keep my forces together, I marched my isolated Chimera column back to the main group, hoping that I could force Ben to commit his Eldar to attack my formations head on.

In his turn Ben attempted to use his Wraithship to bombard the Imperial forces from orbit, but he failed his action roll, and the ship appeared to have gotten lost somewhere in the atmosphere...for this turn at least. The Imperial forces breathed a sigh of relief.

Wanting to inflict some damage on the Eldar forces, I doubled my Baneblade round the buildings it occupied and opened fire on the distant aspect host, gunning down a stand and gifting them some blast markers. Embittered by this, the aspects moved toward the Imperial forces, seemingly itching for combat. Seeing this as a cue the Regimental HQ launched forward, firing into the Aspect Warriors as they went. However, for all this bravado they only managed to kill one more stand, and were now stuck out in the open, a choice they would learn to regret.

'Damn the cover and open fire!!'

Seeing the foolish Mon Kieh move, the mighty Scorpion tank gracefully lifted itself above the surrounding buildings and proceeded to strafe the Regimental HQ, killing off three Chimeras and their occupants in one fell swoop. The grav-tank then used its 'pop-up' rule to drift back behind cover, denying the imperial forces any targets.

Trying to secure my now weakened position in the centre I moved my tank company up to support, ready to engage next turn - the lumbering tanks did not have the movement to fire effectively this turn, nor did I want to risk leaving them out in the open to receive Eldar fire!

With free reign to move the rest of his units, Ben pressed the advantage and brought forward the Windriders, whose Vypers managed to kill one more of the Regimental HQ's chimeras, breaking the whole formation. Curses.

The turn ended with the rest of the Eldar forces advancing and with my Regimental HQ failing to rally, leaving them inactive and cowering behind my lines next turn.

Turn 3

Once again using their superior strategy rating, the Eldar moved their Wave Serpents out from cover to take a damage point off the Baneblade, stuck out in the open. The Serpents then moved back into cover. After this Ben stole the initiative with the Vypers, to move them closer to my lines and, to further annoy me, he proceeded to steal the initiative for a 2nd time, something only Eldar can do. This time it was the might Scorpion that was activated and it effortlessly blew the weakened Baneblade to the heavens, along with any realistic hopes of winning the game back...

Abandoning any tactics and acting out of a desire to kill as many xenos as they could, the mechanised company struck out and pummelled the Windriders, finally managing to dent the Eldar line and breaking the formation. Their heroism would be remembered!

Affronted by taking some damage, the Eldar called upon their Wraithship once again, and this time it arrived on cue, with devastating results. Ben's pre-planned (and secret) orbital bombardment was right on the money, and caught my Tank Company, killing enough Leman Russes to break the formation. With this I had no actions left to take, and it was simply a matter of the Eldar forces moving to claim what objectives they could, and securing their victory.

Eldar Victory

Thou Shall Not Pass & Defend to Flag

*Image from DeviantArt

Conclusion

Well, what a pounding eh? This hideous defeat taught me to respect and fear the power and sheer mobility of Eldar firepower. Previous to this game I had only fought marines, and enjoyed blasting apart their short ranged units from afar with my Leman Russes. This time the tables were rudely turned on me and then some!

My biggest mistakes were splitting my force at deployment and then hanging back trying to find an opportune moment to strike. I think a better approach would have been to rush the Eldar lines, accepting the inevitable casualties along the way. To allow the xeno to dictate the terms of the battle, and to allow them to hug their cover, proved to be a disaster.

I must take my hat off to Ben, who played the Eldar forces very well. The Eldar list is really well written, and allows them to be as infuriatingly tricksie, as they should be. Indeed one of the reasons I enjoyed the game (despite being slaughtered) was seeing that in Epic Eldar do play like I imagined they would. Hopefully, if I can reach them, they will also be as easy to kill as Eldar should be...

We did manage to get a second game and battle report sorted, so look out for that write up in the next few days! And also check out forgotmytea soon, for some better pictures and hopefully Ben's thoughts on the game!

Thanks for reading!

Tale of Painters 2 Deadline 1: Met (Sort of...)

This post my first begin with an apology. I have well and truly failed to keep apace with 73rd's excellent A Tale of Even More Painters. I am sad that I didn't have the time to sort out my entries to the last few deadlines, but it has been great to see how the group has melded together, and how like minded hobbyists can offer each other a great amount of support and advice. 73rd, if you read this then please consider me off the challenge, but I wish you and the rest of the entrants the very best of luck!

A second apology also goes to the rest of the blogesphere. I've been remiss in barely commenting on so much of the great work that goes on out there. I'm going to try and follow the lead set by Gamer's World in suggesting the Common Posters Group, as it is unfair that I take so much enjoyment from what I read but do not give anything back. Damn my short attention span!

Anyway, despite failing A Tale of Even More Painters I have been able to keep up the longer term goals set by the Librarium Online challenge. Below are some shots of my entry for the first month:

1. Epic IG

Mechanised Infantry Company - 400pts

At 400pts completed I have managed to stay on target with my Epic force, and I am really enjoying painting at the smaller scale. In particular it was great fun painting the Chimeras, and I do love seeing them arrayed out in a mechanised column.

The scheme itself is rather simple, a military looking grey with highlights, and then simple highlighted browns and greens for all the stowed kit. I want to convey and real utilitarian and military feel with my IG armies. These are not the glory boy marines, all polished and shiny, these are the grunts that bear the brunt of the galaxies fighting and suffer for it...

2. Praetorian Guard

Infantry Squad w/ Grenade Launcher - 55pts

After only managing to complete one squad I am already 145pts behind where I should be with my 40k Guard, leaving me a lot of work to do next month! However, I am pleased that they are at least off the ground and that I am starting to get to grips with using the Army Painter.

Although I do consider it cheating slightly I cant deny that the Army Painter dip is the only way I could conceive of getting an IG army done in a reasonable time, and I pleased with the inital results. The type of shading style you get with the Army Painter also reflects the more realistic and darker tone that I wanted for my IG - getting away from the heroic style of my Dark Angels. I have also added in some details, making sure that all the lasgun targeting lenses are painted properly, as well as detailing the eyes and adding a few subtle highlights here and there (the sergeants sword for example).

I am sorry for the quality of the pictures, it is becoming clear that my camera phone is not up to the job! This said, I would love to hear any comments or criticism that people have.

For next month expect to see an Epic Armoured Company, as well as 3 more Praetorian Squads. This, at least, is the plan...

Thanks for reading!

TOEMP Deadline 1: Met... Oh, and SPACE HULK!!!

So, let the challenges roll in! Despite it being set at crazily short notice (your insane 73rd!), I was able to meet first The Tale of Even More Painters deadline. 73rd tasked the group to paint 75pts of models, to bed us in for the start of the challenge.

Given that I am painting my brand new Epic Imperial Guard force for the challenge, I have decided I will double all the targets set for those painting the larger scale models, simply to make it fairer for the rest of the bloggers in the contest. This means that my target was to paint 150pts of epic which, using some dodgy maths, equates to roughly 3 quarters of an infantry company, which you can see below:

As you can see, I've chosen a fairly simple paint scheme for the infantry. I had originally intended to paint them up in Praetorian colours, but I decided that it would not fit with the greatcoat'ed models. I went for a grubbier and WWI style drab uniform, which I think befits the larger scale of epic.

It has been an interesting and very welcome change painting epic scale models. It is certainly an easier process than painting Deathwing! I'm cracking on with more of the infantry stands, as I'm committed to paint the rest of the Infantry company (13 stands in total) and a Leman Russ squadron for the LO Tale of Painters. Oh, and then to the 40k scale Praetorians. I'm going to be busy!

Below you can see my Epic collection to date. This is why I love the game - there is something brilliant about seeing tank companies arrayed along with massed infantry. Maybe I just like parades...

As well as the visual scope, I have also found the game rules really fun and very challenging. The step from using tactics to taking on a more strategic overview is a big leap, but an enjoyable one. I hope to be able to set up some battle reports soon, so look out for that!

And finally...

I've you've missed the hubbub around the pre-release of Space Hulk, then you are probably living under a rock. Or dead. Or both.

Either way, I've seen the released pictures of the boxed game, and I was impressed enough to pre-order it on the spot! My only complaint is that I've going to have to heavily convert the Blood Angels terminators to make them Deathwing ready, but I'm absolutely sure it will be worth it! Look forward to a review of the game, short after it arrives at the beginning of September.

Ooooh dear god I'm excited!!

I would have love to have written more for this post, but alas I'm in a rush. But please do let me know what you think of my epic efforts. Do you get it...epic efforts.

I'll get my coat.