Game 60 - Vampire Counts - 2013/03/19

Greetings!

My friend Adam was preparing for the 3k tournament and asked me for a practice game against his Strigoi themed Vampire army. It was a pleasure to return the favor (Adam gave me a very good practice game with his DE before CanCon) and it is always a great thing to play a game in real life on a fantastic gaming table!

As the tournament Adam was about to attend used scenarios we also played one of them - dreaded Down Attack.

Army Lists and Pre-battle Considerations

I played 3k battles in 8th edition at the very beginning when the rulebook just came out. We loaded with lord level characters back then and it felt like you can have everything you wanted in the army. Now I was thinking how to expand the army I am much more familiar with. I narrowed down my options to two army lists but let me first present the army Adam decided to field:
 

Strigoi - Army List

Strigoi Ghoul King, Level 1, "Screaming Sword", Flying Horror - Lore of Vampires
Necromancer Lord, Level 4, Black Periapt - Lore of Vampires
Vampire BSB, Level 2, Forbidden Lore - Lore of Beasts

38 Ghouls
25 Ghouls
20 Zombies
20 Zombies
10 Crypt Horrors
6 Vargheists
6 Hexwraiths
6 Hexwraiths
2 SpiritHosts
2 SpiritHosts 

Outcasts - Army List

Archmage, Level 4, Staff of Solidity - Lore of Metal
Battle Standard Bearer, Heavy Armor, Shield, Great Weapon, Reaver Bow, Dragon Helm
Noble, Dragon Armor, Shield, Great Weapon, Barded Steed, Helm of Fortune, The Other Trickster Shard, Pigeon Pennant

2 x 10 Archers, Musician
2 x 20 Lothern Sea Guard, Full Command

10 White Lions, Musician, Banner of Eternal Flame
10 White Lions, Musician, Gleaming Pennant
12 Swordmasters, Musician, Bladelord, Amulet of Light
12 Swordmasters, Musician, Bladelord, Talisman of Loec
2 x 6 Dragon Princes
2 x 5 Ellyrian Reavers, Spears
2 x Great Eagle
1 x Repeater Bolt Thrower

Game 59 - Empire - 2013/02/28

Game 8 - Empire - Battle Line

In the last game of the tournament I faced Simon and his Gobo-like-Empire army. Long time ago I admired his Gobotonnia and this army was another version of it. All units were modeled as Goblins in blue and red colors. Awesome idea and excellent execution! I must admit that playing against such an army is an experience in its own!

What is more Simon was no stranger to me as we played against each other a few months before during Hammer of Dave tournament. Back then Simon had Dark Elf army and was caught by surprise. So we had a great opportunity for a re-match!

Simon brought the newest fashion in terms of the Empire army list composition and that meant ... 1+ armor almost everywhere :) (My sincere apologies for lack of details on magic items :()

Empire - Army List

Grand Master, Runefang, Crown of Command
Wizard Lord, Dispel Scroll - Lore of Life
BSB, Barded Warhorse
Warrior Priest, Barded Warhorse
Captain, Pegasus

13 Inner Circle Knights, Full Command, Steel Banner
20 Archers + 2 x 5 Archers Detachments
5 Reiksguard
4 Demigryphs
Hurricanum
Steam Tank
Cannon

Game 58 - Warriors of Chaos - 2013/02/23

Game 7 - Warriors of Chaos - Dawn Attack

A year ago there was a Watch Tower scenario played as 7th game. This year TO's decided to swap it with Dawn Attack. Given the choice I would go for Dawn Attack any day as I don't quite like win all - lose all scenarios.

Having said that I knew I was up for another tough challenge due to scenario rules anyway. When I got to know I am about to fight Warriors of Chaos I knew it is even more difficult task.

In game 7 I had a pleasure to play against Joel and his beautifully painted army. I must admit that this is very important aspect for me and I always cherish the opportunity to play in such circumstances. There is also another great topic to discuss after (or even during!) the game.

Joel's army was as tough as it was beautiful though :) No less than three silver surfers backed up by 2 skull crusher steamrollers, one warriors of chaos regiment and huge, 52 strong marauders of chaos horde. Joel was very kind to give me a copy of his army list so here are all the details:

Warriors of Chaos - Army List

Sorcerer Lord, Level 4, Mark of Tzeentch, Disc, Charmed Shield, Talisman of Preservation, Dispel Scroll, 3rd Eye of Tzeentch - Lore of Tzeentch
BSB, Mark of Tzeentch, Disc, Shield, Armour of Destiny, Stream of Corruption
Exalted Hero, Mark of Tzeentch, Disk, Shield, Bloodcurdling Roar, Book of Secrets, Golden Eye of Tzeentch - Lore of Shadow

4 x 5 Chaos Hounds
20 Warriors of Chaos, Mark of Nurgle, Halberd, Shield, Musician, Standard, Banner of Rage
52 Marauders, Mark of Khorne, Great Weapons, Musician, Standard

5 Hellstriders

5 Skullcrushers, Musician, Standard, Banner of Eternal Flame
4 Skullcrushers, Musician

Game 57 - Dark Elves - 2013/02/20

Game 6 - Dark Elves - Blood and Glory

Game 6 had a modified rulebook scenario. If one of the army was broken the game continued as normal but the opponent would get 350VP bonus. I really like that change as it can give you that something extra to win the game but it was not win all - lose all situation. One might of course debate if 350VP was enough bonus to try to break the enemy instead of playing it as typical battle line.

In that game I had a pleasure to meet Lachie and his beautifully painted Khainite Dark Elves. They all had great snow bases, with very chilly dark blue painting scheme. By chance we also had a high elf tower on our table so that it added further to the theme of the civil war.

Lachie's army was also unique in terms of composition. As I have mentioned it was an army dedicated to Khaine but also sported 3 huge regiments backed up by fast support units. In such force cauldron was of course a must!

Dark Elves - Army List

Supreme Sorceress - Lore of Metal
Witch Hag BSB, Rune of Khaine, Manbane, Standard of Hag Graef

30 Crossbowmen, Shields, Full Command
10 Corsairs
5 Dark Riders, Crossbows
5 Dark Riders, Crossbows
5 Harpies
5 Harpies

40 Witch Elves, Full Command, Banner of Murder
40 Executioners, Full Command

Cauldron of Blood

Game 56 - Chaos Dwarves - 2013/02/17

Game 5 - Chaos Dwarves - Battle for the Pass

In my fifth game of CanCon I had a pleasure to meet Perry who has just switched from 40k to fantasy battles. You could tell he loves big guns by the choice of his army. There were only 2 armies representing Chaos Dwarves but they were very different from each other.

I had absolutely no prior experience in playing against that army. I have seen a few reports and I knew it is a tough one to win against. However, Perry didn't have any of the big toys Chaos Dwarves army usually sports. That didn't mean it was an easy army to win against as he had a proper war machines park. And his artillery alone could do a lot of damage to my small and fragile units simply because they are all template weapons. Add to that Lore of Hashut and you see why it is scary opponent.

As if it was not enough I had to fight them in the battle for the pass scenario. That added extra distance between the armies which suits Chaos Dwarves and limited my own deployment due to lack of space. I basically had to deploy in two lines.

Here are more details of Perry's army (apologies for lack of all information on equipment):

Chaos Dwarves - Army List

Sorcerer-Prophet, level 4, Talisman of Preservation - Lore of Hashut
BSB
Daemonsmith-Sorcerer, level 1, Dispel Scroll - Lore of Fire

24 Infernal Guard, Full Command, Banner of Eternal Flame
25 Blunderbusses, Full Command
5 Hobgoblin Wolf Riders
5 Hobgoblin Wolf Riders
3 Bull Centaurs

Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher
Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher
Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher
Dreadquake Mortar

Game 55 - Lizardmen - 2013/02/13

Game 4 - Lizardmen - Battle Line

In my game 4 I met Adam, whom I played against a year ago at ConCon 2012 and at Hammer of Dave. Each time I managed to win after bloody fight so we started to establish some kind of series of battles between our armies. Adam was kin to prove he can beat me eventually and it was even more interesting as we had almost unchanged armies in comparison to our previous encounters.

Lizardmen - Army List

Slann Mage-Priest, BSB, The Focused Ruminations, The Becalming Cogitations, Plaque of Tepok - Lore of Life

Scar Veteran, Cold One, Light Armor, Shield, Dragon Helm, Dawnstone
Skink Priest on the Engine of the Gods, Dispel Scroll - Lore of Heavens

24 Saurus with Spears, Full Command
24 Saurus with Hand Weapons, Full Command
10 Skins with Javelins
10 Skink Skirmishers with Blow Pipes

7 Chameleon Skinks
7 Chameleon Skinks
20 Temple Guard, Full Command
3 Terradon Riders

2 Salamander hunting packs

Game 54 - Wood Elves - 2013/02/06

Game 3 - Wood Elves - Meeting Engagement

In the last game of the day I had a pleasure to meet Alex and play against his beautifully painted Wood Elves. We were going to play a meeting engagement scenario, as per rulebook. It is another tricky scenario when you had to roll for regiments to see what goes to reserves. The fact that particular unit is not going to enter the battle straight away does not mean one can be in trouble. Sometimes just the contrary!

I have not faced Wood Elves since very, very long time, let alone since the beginning of 8th edition. Asrai can be a tough match up, in particular due to their shooting superiority but also due to their excellent maneuverability. Alex had a following, very unique (at least in my opinion) army list:

Wood Elves - Army List

Spellweaver, Level 4, Moonstone of Hidden Ways - Lore of Beast
Spellweaver, Level 3, Dispel Scroll - Lore of Beast
BSB, Great Eagle, Hail of Doom Arrow, Dragon Helm (?)

Wardancer Hero, Blades of Loec
Branchwraith, Level 1

10 Glade Guards
10 Glade Guards
16 Glade Guards, Banner of Eternal Flame
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
5 Wild Riders
5 Wild Riders
10 Wardancers
10 Wardancers
Great Eagle
Great Eagle

High Elves Painting Tutorials - by Volomir

Greetings!

If you are a miniature painter yourself you probably already know about Volomir. For me he is one of the best painters and a constant inspiration, in particular because he paints some High Elves too. If you haven't visited his blog yet, you should do it now!

Volomir's Blog - place of infinite inspiration

As I have mentioned, for me Volomir is the master painter, in particular in the case of his High Elves. He creates a magical effect with these miniatures, his painting style is incredibly neat and I absolutely love the way he paints armor. 

Fortunately for other aspiring painters he is very happy to share his incredible knowledge about miniatures painting. He created fantastic tutorials and I keep coming back to them for even more inspiration. My favorite ones are linked below:

Sea Guard - Step by Step

Swordmasters of Hoeth - Step by Step

Last but not least I would like to say that Volomir does not stop at providing advice through his fantastic tutorials or blog entries. He makes sure he replies to comments and if you write him an email he will reply for sure! So don't hesitate and ask him more specific questions because advice from the best is priceless. Just be patient, as he might be busy painting :)

Cheers!