A Book Review or Two

First up is the Red Duke by C.L. Werner 
      
     The Red Duke is the latest novel in the Warhammer Heroes series that gives a detailed incite into iconic characters of the Warhammer universe.  The book starts of with a troubadour in the slums of Bretonia meeting a vampire who claims to be and tells him the story of the Red Duke.  Each chapter has a section that tells the back story of the Red Duke in an italicized font, which might lead some readers to not break from one timeline or the other easily.  That then switches over to the current story which is still in a different time, and since some of the names are the same it can get hard to keep track of, which this could have been done on purpose to demonstrate the madness of the Red Duke. 

     Over all the book is very well written, but there is very little character development on certain side characters.  While I liked the book overall, it did not stack up to some of the other seminal C.L. Werner books like Palace of the Plague God and Blood for the Blood God.  Which the two books I just mentioned are glorious works that demonstrate the fickle nature of chaos and brutal nature of the Warhammer world, while developing some great characters.  (If you can mange to get a hold of these books get them as they a now out of print)

      So I think I will give the book a 7.5 out of 10.

Next is The Outcast Dead by Graham McNeil

     The Outcast Dead is the seventeenth book in the Horus Heresy series.  This book follows the trials of an astropath name Kai Zulane.  It starts with him returning to his old life to relearn the ways of being an astropath, but it then turns over to him running for his life after a prophecy of the future is implanted in his head against his will.  The book has some great insights into the characters of Rogal Dorn and the Emperor, whom are very minor characters, which the latter only appears in the dreams of Kai.  The Space Marines that show up in the later half of the book have some great character, and I would love to know more about them but they shuffle of the mortal coil by the end of the book.  The main idea of the book is that some secrets are best left secret.

      This is a great addition to the Horus Heresy series, while not dealing with the main plot line of the heresy.  Except for a few typos the book is very well written, with some great character development.  Which leads to one getting a little attached and/or sympathetic to some of the characters.  It also leaves just enough questions at the end of the book for one to want more, but not angry these things were left unanswered.

     So this book gets a 8.5 out of 10.

Tournament Last Saturday

Well the tournament last Saturday went pretty good.  I took Orcs and Goblins (a Orc Warboss, a level 4 Great Orc Shaman, an Orc Big Boss BSB, a level 2 Night Goblin Shaman, and a Goblin Big Boss on Gigantic Spider, 2 units of 50 Night Goblins with Nets and 3 Fanatics, a unit a 27 Orc Big 'Uns, 10 Spider Riders, a Bolt Thrower, a Giant, and an Archnarok Spider)

In the first game I played against Tomb Kings (whose list was a Tomb King, a level 4 Liche High Priest, a Necrotect, a unit of 23 archers, 8 Chariots, a Warsphinx, a unit of 33 Tomb Guard with halberds, 3 Carrion, 3 Sepulchral Stalkers, a Casket and a Screaming Skull Catapult).  Overall the game went great for me, with a couple of failed charges on his part, one of which he only needed to roll a three and got snake eyes.  Killed off his Level 4 in turn 3 with a combination of 'Eadbut and then in combat.  And his chariot which had failed a charge against my Night Goblins, on turn 2 with a flank charge from my Spider Riders and Arachnarok.

In the second game I played against Vampire Counts (which he had a pretty standard list with a Vampire Lord, A level 1 Vampire, a Wight King BSB with the Drackenhof Banner, a Necromancer, A unit of 30ish Ghouls in horde formation, a unit of like 50ish Skeletons 5 wide and like 10, a unit of 20 Grave Guard, a Corpse Cart, a Varghulf, and 4 Wraiths with a Banshee).  The scenario did not help him with it delaying the block of Ghouls, Grave Guard and all of his characters so they had to move on in the first turn.  With me going first I move both of my Night Goblins up and released the Fanatics from one and used the other to shield the first.  The 3 Fantics from the first unit Killed the Corpse Cart and the Varghulf the next turn when he charged through a couple more.  I then charged his Grave Guard with my Spider Riders and Giant and ground them out over a turn or two.  Also my Big  'Uns  with my Warboss and BSB charged the Ghouls in the flank and my Archnarok in the front.  It was pretty cool when my Arachnarok directed his Venom Surge attack against the Wight King BSB and kill him out right, and then my Warboss killed his level 1 Vamp, and my BSB killed the Necromancer all in the first round of combat.  In his next turn he charges my Warbosses unit in the flank with his Skeleton bus with the Vamp Lord, which I then ground out the Skelies over a couple of turns.  This left him with only his Vamp Lord and the Wraiths at the end of the game.

The third game was against Skaven (He had a Grey Seer on a Bell, a Warlord BSB, a Warlock Engineer, 3 30 strong units of Clanrats, a 30 man unit of Stormvermin, 30 Plague Monks, 10 Plague Censers, and 2 Hell Pit Abominations).  I lost this game pretty handily, through my own incompetence.  I let my opponent cast Cracks Call while the Bell was in combat with my Giant, although at the time I was questioning it in my head.  My Big 'Uns took a combined charge from a uint of Clanrats and the Stormvermin, which they readily won and ran done the Stormvermin.  My Arachnarok and Big Boss on Spider died to the 2 Abominations.  At the end of the game the only things I still had on the table was my Big 'Uns, BSB, Warboss, and my level 4.

At the end of the day I came in 4th out 16 people.  Which I think is a pretty good performance for only playing 5 games this whole year before the day.

October is Scary (With the Laziness)

So another month with just a bit done, have been ripping out the carpet at home to replace it with wood flooring.  Painted up four of the boats from Dreadfleet, and a couple of Dark Eldar for my friend.
Speaking of Dark Eldar; Urien Rakarth was a kind of fun paint job, the details are nice and crisp, but the Haemonculus on the other hand was a real pain.  The details were fuzzy looking and the bubbles were prolific (It is a prime example of FAILCAST). The next batch of models is a unit of ten Wracks, which i wish he had let me assemble and prime, the mold line and bubbles are not easy to get rid of once you start painting.
On another note I played in my LGS's Longest night event for Warmachine and Hordes, and one both of the games I got in.  Also signed up for a Warhammer Fantasy tournament on November 12th, and am thinking about signing up for another on the 3rd of December though this one is not at my LGS.  It is all in an effort to get in more games than I did last year, which I'm on track to do.

October

Painted: 4 (The Skabrus, Curse of Zandri, Black Kraken, and the Shadewraith from Dreadfleet)

Painted for Other people: 2 (A Haemonculus, and Urien Rakarth)

Purchased: 11ish (Dreadfleet, which I am counting the terrain as one model since it will be relatively easy to paint)

This year so far

Painted: 199

Purchased: 31

Dreadfleet and Pics

After popping open the box, I found myself blown away by the quality of the plastic included in it. Dreadfleet is a complete game in a box much like Space Hulk, with everything you need to play included. The fabric seascape is very cool (GW sarong), and the game rules are definitely well thought out without being overly complicated. The ships are very detailed (I like the fact that the sails have the designs embossed on them, so I don't have to paint them on free hand), and the terrain and other things for the game are as equally detailed.

One thing that bothered me though is that there were no instructions (except the vague pics around the side of the box) for the construction of the ships. The instructions are in the October White Dwarf, including the painting guide given in the magazine. Since I spent $115 for the box, getting gouged for another $9, is a little ridiculous. I will be probably be going with the 'Eavy Metal paint scheme on my ships, which I think will be done at a rate of roughly two a week.

I think over all I will give it a 7.5 out of 10, because of the price and it being a stand alone game with no expansion possibility is a little disheartening (would have liked some Orcy boats cause that is my current Warhammer army).   Here are pics of the Scabrus and the Curse of Zandri.  On a weird note I had a local player tell me that it was weird the way I painted the bases separate from the models?

Also I have pics of my Jarl Skuld, Arachnarok Spider, 6 Forgeworld Kammandos, and Buzzgob with his assistants (the one holding the signs sign is from some art I found online, and free handed onto it)

 

Here are some better pics of my Chaos Dwarf Deamonsmith.

A Lazy September!

Didn't get much done this month, and a new camera is on its way to me.  Picked up a few new models to paint at random in the future.  Also a friend approached me to paint his dark eldar army, which a little extra cash is always a good thing.

Pics will hopefully be soon.

September

Painted: 11 (An Arachnarok Spider, Buzzgob and his Assistants, 6 Ork Kommandos from Forge World, and Jarl Skuld for my Trollbloods)

Painted for Other people: 1 (A test model of Lelith Hesperax, to see if a friend would like me to paint his Dark Eldar for him.)

Purchased: 4 (Jarl Skuld from Privateer, and Supreme Zed & Sanguine with his little dog from Pulp City)

This year so far

Painted: 193

Purchased: 20

August 2011...Where do these months go.

Another month gone, with some decent painting done. Got 2 Blood Bowl teams done because some of the local players are on a Blood Bowl kick after trying it at Games Day, completed the Dwarf team plus the Deathroller and the Vampire team. Painted the plastic Necromancer and Cairn Wraith, on a whim. Finished up the Avatars of War Orc Shaman for my army. And painted up the limited Chaos Dwarf to test the scheme for my repaint of my old Chaos Dwarfs. At the moment I am at a bit of an impasse on what to paint next, will probably work on more random stuff, in hopes of getting some inspiration for a new project.

 

 

 

 

 

Better pics will come when I get a new camera, my old one seems to be crapping out.

August

Painted: 29

Purchased: 6 (Games Day Chaos Dwarf (that a friend picked up for me at Games Day), The plastic Necromancer, Cairn Wraith and Banshee, and Candy & Cola plus Suicide Queen & Rollo from Soda Pop)

This year so far

Painted: 182

Purchased: 20

July, is Chuggging Along.

Decent month of progress, getting a little bit closer to the 100% painted on my Trollbloods goal for the year. Bought and painted a Cockatrice, which was my first Finecast model. Any bubbles or imperfections in the model were very minor or in a spot that didn't matter. Also completed my unit of Runeshapers, but pics on them will have to wait till next week. Also finished up Skarsnik and Gobbla, a Savage Orc Shaman to go with my Orcs and Goblins, and took pics of the Big Boss on Gigantic Spider.



July
Painted: 8
Purchased: 3 (Cockatrice, and Scattergunner Officer and Standard)

This year so far
Painted: 153
Purchased: 14

Buckeye Battles

So over the weekend me and a bunch of people from my local store went to the Buckeye Battles GT held in Delaware Ohio (where I conveniently live). Overall I came in 47th out of 78 people, my record was 2-3.

On day one my first game was against Ben Davis (27th) with a very pretty Bretonian army, which was a major loss for me. The second game was against Bryan Amburn (33rd) with a Beastmen army, which was also a major loss. The third game was against Jon Carter (37th) with Orcs and Goblins, which was a minor loss. With three losses on the first day I was feeling pretty down and was contemplating not coming back for day two, but I figured that I paid to play in the tournament so I would come back.

Day two started good with me and two other people wining the "Scavenger Hunt", so I got some cool chaos star dice. Game one on day two was versus David Lees (75th) with a Wood Elf army, it was a major victory for me. And game three was against Lewis Smith (78th) with a Warriors of Chaos, that was also a major victory for me. That day helped me restore some confidence in myself. There some really cool painted forces there which I took some pictures of which are below.

June, and I'm ready to go!

Alright got the army completely painted for the GT. Pics will come soon. It is kind of funny, now that I'm done with the army I'm at a bit of a loss on what to paint next. I'm also going to do a write up for the event, but don't know if I will be able to do a battle report.

June
Painted: 72
Purchased: 2 (Avatars of War Goblin King, and Orc Shaman)

This year so far
Painted: 145
Purchased: 14

List for the GT

So i finalized and submitted my list for Buckeye Battles, here is what it contains.

50 Night Goblins 300
Full Command
3 Fanatics
Netters
50 Night Goblins 300
Full Command
3 Fanatics
Netters
27 Orc Boyz 288
Full Command
Shields
Big 'Uns
Banner of Eternal Flame
10 Forest Goblin Spider Riders 160
Full Command
Goblin Spear Chucka 35
Goblin Spear Chucka 35
Giant 200
Rock Lobber 85
Goblin Big Boss 127
Gigantic Spider
Light Armour
Enchanted Shield
Potion of Strength
Sword of Swift Slaying
Night Goblin Shaman 110
Level 2
Dispel Scroll
Orc Big Boss 97
Shield
Battle Standard
Standard of Discipline
Orc Great Shaman 245
Level 4
Talisman of Preservation
Orc Warboss 218
Shield 3
Armour of Destiny
Basha's Axe of Stunty Smashin'

May 2011...Good Progress

All right got some things done finally. Completed a unit of 50 Night Goblins, my Orc Battle Standard Bearer, and two Spear Chuckas. They are not the greatest paint jobs ever but they are good for the table top. They will be touched upped in the future.


May
Painted: 60
Purchased: 0

This year so far
Painted: 85
Purchased: 12