Hobby rut... we all go through it... ;(

Well, goal for 2016. Paint my complete Dark Elf army... which I first started collecting in 2011 or something like that...

Below are some test models I painted almost a year ago to demonstrate the scheme I'm going after... Am still toying with the idea of a non-metallic metal scheme.... but damn do shiny things look shiny.

Oh yea, this army will be rated M for mature...

Warhammer Wood Elves - A humble review

(Check out the limited edition Army Book cover art!... Which by the way is exactly the same as the regular Army Book's cover art... For only 25 pounds more!... Hooray sensibility!)

So, I laid my grubby fingers on the latest fantasy offering from our favourite plastic crack dealer and it kind of felt like this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQyx2PWyC2I

I'm only half kidding, in typical GW "tell a story that spans for millennia but sticks along a single central theme, over and over again fashion" they pretty much did rip off The Circle of Life for its whole Season of blabla, cycle of birth,death,re-birth fluff background :P

To be fair, the fluff wasn't bad, just a considerably underachieving effort on GW's part in this blogger's humble opinion. Note also how credit for the book goes not to any one games designer, but to the Games Workshop Design Studio as a whole... possibly because said individuals are hoping to walk into a hobby room without everyone spontaneously blaring out "HAAAAAAAA-se-neYAAA" at some point in the foreseeable future.

But I digress.

Talking about the rules aspect of the book itself, I was impressed. Not so much because it felt like an overly powerful (Tier 1 as some out there would put it...*ahem*) army, but because it opened up the possibilities of a far more unique army play style then any other Army Book has thus far been able to pull, while at the same time giving players the opportunity to build practical lists along more conventional terms (blocks of infantry in a battleline), if one were so inclined.

(The Asrai regularly warns maidens that deciding on fur is a pretty bad idea... but they just  never listen....)

Play style wise, Wood Elves remain to be largely their nimble shooty Selves (oh yes I did...) , but with a lot more style. As a ranged weapon the Asrai Longbow beats out pretty much any other ranged weapon out there courtesy of armour piercing and it's range. Sure, Dwarves will pack a heftier punch per shot, but taking into account that the Asrai can move and shoot with their bows AND in most cases pick from a range of Enchanted Arrows (granting everything from -3 to armour saves, poisoned attacks, flaming attacks, multiple shots or to hit penalty negaters), Wood Elf players are going to find their ranged shooters to be a heck of a lot more value for points, as clever placement and maneuver will likely ensure that at least some (the considerable sum at that) of his units will be able to pepper his opponents army throughout a game.

For combat, the Asrai also gain a few new toys which makes this Asur player rather envious. Asrai Spears, which come with Armour Piercing, are a real boon for your average S3 Elf. (They must be asleep in Vaul's Forge, what the hell la hoi!)  That Eternal Guard come kitted out with it is cool for sure, but the real joy will come for those players who'll want to play with cavalry, as even core choice Glade Riders become deadly, while special choice Wild Riders (They're base S4  and have Devastating Charge as standard...) go absolutely mental.

Another thing most immediately fascinating about Wood Elves for me, is the kind and number of monsters you could actually fit into an army.

                       (Trees. Are the principle cause of forest fires. - Lord George 'DubyaMD' Bush)

So fancy this. Treeman Ancient. A lord option. Lvl 2 Lore of Life Wizard as standard, but upgradeable to Level 3 OR 4. Also benefits from Blessings of the Ancients (+1 to caste). Thank you very much GW.

Moving onto your Heroes, gander into the Special Rules section and say hello to the sisters deadly, Naestra & Arahan. Riding on a Great Eagle as standard, these lovely ladies (Have I mentioned that you can't kill them unless you kill them both in a single phase? No? Well yes.) can ditch the wise old hoot and upgrade themselves to a grouchy old Forest Dragon for those occasions when they really want to dress to kill.

Now, on top of that you've got your average joe Treemen in your Rare options. Nasty and relatively inexpensive (You could have two of the tree huggers in a 2500 list) close combat frackers with a cool shooty upgrade option.

So yes, an army of monsters with S6 T6 and a whole lotta wounds matched with regiments of nimble, shooty elves. Maybe a regiment of Glade or Wild Hunters for some spice. Sounds pretty terrifying and fun to me!

Imperial "Victory" at Verdicon *Ahem*Ahem* Cough* Question not the might of the Imperium.

Re-enactment from the Imperial Victory at Verdicon. Note that lack of astropathic communication to the planet is believed to be due to "anticipated" solar flare distortions.

*To question Lex Imperialis is Heresy*

*1101101011110111011010111011110011111011*

11101101010101011!

1010111110111101010101010101010111101110111111flamingo1111010111010101101010101010101101010101101010101010spoon11101011010101010111111111010101011010101010101010101101010101010101010101010100101010101010101011111111101010111010011101101existensialism

Of Epic Gaming Moments

Had the chance to use the Terrify psychic power with my Farseer today. Up till now had always underestimated it because it looked seemingly meh. But today, seeing as I was going up against Mark's Necrons, which I usually struggle against, I figured what the hell.

So it's turn 4, and unsurprisingly it's a pretty tough fight with his multiple Night Scythe drop staring down at my one remaining troop choice of Dire Avengers with both Asurmen and Farseer down to 1 last wound each. My WraithKnight is nearby and locked in combat with another squad of Necron warriors, which I was trying to keep off an objective (and the overall fight) but then a Necron Destroyer Lord charges in and was tearing it apart thanks to mind-shackle scarabs and general good luck.

So, moment of truth, lose the wraith knight and a destroyer lord and necron squad are going to add to my troubles, likely ensuring a Necron victory from overwhelming numbers. Farseer thumbs his nose and casts Terrify onto the Necron Destroyer Lord. It is successful. Mark rolls deny the witch. Fails. He notes how fortunate it is all Necrons have Ld 10. Rolls his morale test... and FAILS!

So Necron Destroyer Lord breaks away from the combat and scampers off whence his codified circuits and cloud based operating systems came from! Successfully regroups in his turn but lacking Marine uberness, does nothing else in the turn allowing Big W to take out a few more Warriors though they do not break. Poor shooting by Mark leaves the Dire Avengers heavily battered, but alive! And in my next turn, the WraithKnight finishes off the warriors in combat while, in a round of very fortunate shooting, the Dire Avengers, Asurmen and the Farseer polishes off the entire remainder of the Necron squad which had been hammering away at them.

Bottom of the 5th, it's Mark's turn and with not much left, he tries to at least contest an objective by charging into the Wraithknight with the Necron Destroyer Lord. It blasts away with his Heavy Wraithcannons and misses, but gets to re-roll because of Prescience and boom, rolls the six. Suffice it to say that there wasn't much left of the Necron Lord to re-animate. Game ends in an Eldar victory, and it was pretty much down to the sequence of events brought about courtesy of Terrify :D

Moral of the story, your models will excel in combat when you finish painting them :P

Battlegroup Operational

We're coming up to what's quite possibly the campaign which I'm most excited about... Battlefleet Gothic

And so, without any further ado, allow me to introduce to you the fleet.


Battlegroup Adama in all its glory

Sword Squadron Ignis, Dauntless Ligth Cruisers Mayhem, Havoc, Revenge and Avenger, and Cobra Squadron Cazon

Swords are great escorts... It's been so long since I last played BFG that I cant remember why, but they are nonetheless great escorts :P  The Dauntless class is also possibly the best light cruiser out there (Seeing that it's a pretty short list of light cruisers out there...) Remember many an opponent often underestimating them early only to then witness what utter mayhem they can cause when they hit a battleline from the sides with torpedoes or lances.

Cobra Destroyers (Actually, those models are Hunters I think, but have always preferred the models and played em as Cobras). Lovely little harassment Destroyers which are great at disrupting an opponents fiendish plans.

Apocalypse Class Battleship 'Imperial Wrath'. Sadly, this was quite a late addition to my fleet towards when BFG play was dwindling down again so I think I've only ever fielded it once... Still, Nova Cannon on the prow and look at all those lances. I mean. Just. Look at em... Blasting away at range and then ripping the guts out of heretic ships of the line with awesome broadsides.... PAX IMPERIALIS heretic scum!!!

Seriously, LOOK at all those lance batteries. LOOK AT EM!

Here you see 'Revenge' escorting Imperial Behemoth Class Mass Conveyors. Each one of those is capable of transporting multiple regiments of Imperial Guardsmen and their attendant vehicles, weapons and supplies to conduct fully independent combat operations.

 Will prove to be very useful and fun models for those planetary invasion scenarios...

Here you see the Mars Class Battlecruiser 'Lion El'Jonson' and the Armageddon Class Battlecruiser 'Sparta'. The Lion is probably my most favourite vessel and more often than not serves as Battlegroup Flagship. She has a very illustrious career and has brought ruination to many a traitor vessel. The 'Sparta' has also served with distinction and is one of those great backup ships coz they can dish out a hell of a lot of fire.

The Retribution Class Battleship 'Rex Imperium'. Official Flagship of Fleet Admiral Riker Adama though as mentioned, he typically does fly his flag on the 'Lion' more often than not. A great gunboat the Retribution is, but far too often, the more nimble ships out there tend to be able to do her great harm.

Ships of the Line. Yet to be christened Lunar Class Cruiser. Dictator Class Cruisers 'Truth & Reconciliation' and 'Pax Imperialis', Dominator Class Cruiser 'Lucius Verinus'. My carrier heavy preference is I think a result of numerous engagements with Hive Fleet Zaki, which frankly leaves even the most grizzled Fleet Veteran crying like a little girl in the bathtub as she clutches her favourite inanimate Teddy.... Yes, Tyranid fleets are not to be trifled with. The Dominator is a great ship of the line and can hold up to even the battleships if you support her properly. Hmm, might reconfigure the Lunar into a Dominator as a matter of fact.

Will do a Space Marine showcase separately, but not really planning to involve them in this campaign.... Save perhaps the good chaps from the Imperial Inquisition's very own Matt Wardified kick a demon in the face then date his girlfriend Imperial Grey Knights.

So lets blow some stuff up then :D

Target(s) acquired

Been in a real hobby slump of late, primarily because I'd gone and done the usual thing of getting too much stuff, overwhelming myself with the hobby workload and then going into the inevitable "frakit,don't give a damn, gonna watch tv instead mode."

So, just listing out some objectives I've mentally set, (and by all means, come after me with an axe if I don't get them done).

Dark Eldar- Eldar Alliance list. Get these guys ready for play (assembled+ongoing painting) in the campaign being organised by Yip and Billy. Get a fully painted and WYSIWYG 1850 list for the year end tournament. This involves:-

Painting up the Eldar contingent. Going to push myself to make these guys look great with proper reference to painting guides, tips, techniques and the color RED.

Eldar on the list are -
1 Farseer
1 Warlock (Need to strip the paint of this 90's white metal era yokel first to boot)
10 Guardians
1 Wave Serpent
1 Crimson Hunter
1 Wraithknight

Aimed time of completion - August

Gah.

Dark Eldar. This is where it hurts... RE-painting all of my Kabalites into something actually half decent. Will keep the crimson colour scheme for my Wyches (which I won't be using in the list :S...), the Incubi, Archon and his personal Venom but gonna respray and re-paint the two kabalite squads, their 2 venoms and a ravager... Seeing as I do have 5 unpainted Incubi, I might even paint them and the personalised Venom in the new scheme... but the list of things to do is already exceptionally intimidating.
             
Aimed time of completion - In time for the Year End Legio Tourney

High Elves

Taking a deliberate pause here as I made a clear mistake in trying to paint too many infantry units at one go (Will muntah darah if I have to paint steel armor AGAIN). Still, have been spending a fair amount more effort on em than I traditionally do, so will definitely try not to rush this so that they come out dapper. Still, deadlines should be deadlines so;

Items to complete
- The Prince on Dragon.
- Phoenix with Caradryan
- Plastic on foot Caradryan
- Prince on Griffin
- 10 Elf Silver Helm regiment
- 20 White Lions
- the second White Lion chariot
Actually not that much left all things considering... Must find inspiration to do this.

Deadline. November.

Tau - Haha!

Dark Elves - Assembled and primed in time for the Legio Throwdown - October... rargh.

So on that note, really need to discipline myself on the purchases. It's amazing how when you're fired up to paint you can do whole regiments at pretty good quality in a matter of weeks... But when the bug leaves you, you wallow about like a dugong... Considering that work is going back into overdrive mode and much of July-August will likely be focused on the home reno, actually not too much time left for hobby time either... Ho-boy... :S