Dragon Coversion

Ahhhh, our good friend Norbert is back.  If any of you don't know who Norbert is, I suggest you read this blog entry.  Anyways, I have a purpose for bringing him back today.

   Now, Norbert is my second High Elf Dragon that I owned.  The first was the second High Elf model I ever purchased. It was the OLD, all metal Imrik model.  I think it was made for 4th edition, but I bought it in 5th ed.  That old Imrik model was also the first model I ever painted.  Needless to say, it was pretty bad.

   Norbert was different though.  I had been gaming for several years now, I was 24(ish) instead of 14, and I had a basic understanding of shading and highlighting.  Yes, I think I did a fair job on Norbert, but one thing that has always bugged me about this dragon is the head.

   Look at it.  I mean really look at it.  Here, let me help you a bit.

Especially look at the horns on this thing.  now, when you see those horns, does this truly look terrifying?   NO!  I've seen scarier antlers on a reindeer!  I wanted a dragon that really personified what I envision when I think of these beasties.

  Now,  when the new Stegadons were released I got two of them.  Now those thing come with not one, but two sets of awesome horns.  Then I won "best painted" at a tournament for my Lizardman Army and I got a brand new High Elf Dragon.

  So with this new Dragon, I decided I would make it look like I wanted.  As Imrik was my first model painted, this would be my first conversion project.  First thing would be the Head.

   So I took the horns off of the stegadon and pinned them to the head of the dragon.  I liked the look a lot, but it had gaps that needed filling.  I had never really used green stuff before, but it was a necessity in this case.

  So I set to work with the green stuff.  I think I did a fairly good job, especially for my first real try.

   Now, I need to order some Balrog wings to throw on the back of this baby!

Playing the Bard

Playing a bard character in either D&D or Pathfinder has often been laughed at.  Who could blame anyone for that.  The Bard has long been thought to be "the Crappy Class" and has Never been taken seriously.
   Those who mock, I have notice, are never truly "role players."  The Bard, in my opinion, is the ultimate Role Playing class.  No other class that I can think of offers more opportunities  to interact with other player characters or non-player characters that the GM might throw at you.  Sure their class abilities aren't the greatest, their spells are limited and non-damaging and they usually can't hit the broad side of a barn from four feet away.  But using their abilities to interact with the world is great fun!
    I have recently decided that when my Bard uses one of his Bardic Performance abilities that requires a song or a poem that I would actually use a song or a poem.  My gaming group has enjoyed this very much and it adds a bit of flavor and role play to the game.
    when I want to "inspire courage" for instance, I don't simply say "I use 'inspire courage,' everyone gets +1 to....."   I say (or sing) "the minstrel boy to the war is gone, in the Ranks of Death you will find him, his Fathers sword he hath girded on and his wild harp slung behind him.  Land of Song said the Warrior bard, though all the world betrays him.  One sword at least they rights shall guard one faithful harp shall praise thee." or some other similar song.
     If I use my Bardic Knowledge to find out information on some specific person or event, i don't just spout back out what the GM told me, I put my own little flare on it.  I chronicle our journeys, and use what I have written to perform in a tavern in our next stop.  If your GM is any good, he will reward you for making the game more immersive and fun for all involved by giving you just a little more information, or maybe a little extra boost to your Bardic Performance for the extra effort involved.
    S, While the Bard's abilities may not help too much in the combat sense, and he definitely won't be slaying any Dragons any time soon, he Will help with interacting in the game world and add that little extra touch of immersion that you might be lacking with the typical Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, Rogue party.

Battle Report: Tomb Kings

Ok, so this was my first game with the new TK's. I know, it took a while for me to get my first game in, but hey I work three jobs and have a pregnant wife, so time is limited. 
My list was (roughly) 
50 Skeleton Warriors 
Spears, Light armour, FC 
20 Skeleton Bowmen 

7 chariots 
FC 
30 Tomb Guard 
FC, Banner of the Undying Legion 
2 Scorpions 
1 Necrolith Colossus (Bone Giant) 
Casket of Souls 
SSC 
Skull of the Foe 

Tomb King 
Golden Death Mask, Armour of Fortune, Shield 
Grand Heirophant Kateph 

Lich Priest Lv. 2 Nehekahran lore 
scroll of mighty incantations 
lichpriest Lv. 2 Lore of Light 
Dispel Scroll 
The visionary SC 
Tomb Prince 
great weapon, 

His list was....pretty crazy. He was practicing for Ard Boyz this weekend, but I wasn't since I didn't play in round one (had to work) 

30 Phoenix guard 
Banner of sorcery 
Teclis 
Prince 
BSB 
Banner of the world Dragon 
Charadryn 
Korhil 
lv2 wizard 
and the rest was Sea guard, and ALL of the chatacter went into the unit of seaguard with the war banner. 
oh, and a five man unit of Shadow Warriors that he forgot about. 

I believe the prince had the folding fortress, which was set up in his right flank. we played the second mission. Both of his units were set up in his right flank, with his seaguard in the tower. Most of my units were set up in the middle except my skellies which went in my right flank(and never saw combat) 

He went first, and didn't move at all. He couldn't shoot me with his sea guard as I was too far away, but he got some spells off. Not too much. 
I played fairly reserved. moved up a little, but I was very cautious with my movement. I wanted the charge with my Chariots. Bone Giant was moving up the right flank. I used Desert wind to move him closer, and I tried a few other incatations, which were dispelled. SSC misfired and rolled a 3. 

Turn 2. he move his phoenix guard a little, got mystifying myasma off on my Chariots (but not with irrisistable force) so I took my chance and used the grand Heirophants Scroll that forces a toughness test. He failed it, but not on a 6, so he couldn't cast for the rest of the turn, but he didn't take wounds:( 
My go, I manouver a little more with the chariots, trying to get a charge next turn on the phoenix guard. Move my Bone Giant up so I might be able to combo charge with the Chariots. still forgot about the scorpions. 

Turn 3 
He moved his seaguard out of the tower, because he new I wasn't going to get anyplace near that tower. He shot my TG a little. Got Myasma off again on my TG this time (he thought I'd charge the seaguard), but failed a spell, so Teclis couldn't cast again. Miscast with his other guy, didn't do much. 
I charged the phoenix guard with my chariots, and (due to a lucky roll of 11) my Bone Giant just got in. I devastated the PG. I took No wounds and teft all but three there. they broke and I ran them down. SSC, now able to fire again shot at the seaguard, took out about 8, but they had the prince in there for Ld. 10. They passed their test. 

Turn 4 
He was still trying to get me to charge his seaguard so that he could stand and shoot. he moved to 5" away form them and still tried to shoot them. I just brought the casualties back in my turn. he cast myasma on them again and dropped all three stats by three. that hurt. he also cast Mind razor onto his seaguard unit (after moving the BSB out during the movement phase). 
I flipped my Chariots around and brought out my scorpions. one died due to rolling a 2 on the mishap chart. I cast the Incatation that adds an extra attack and extra shot on the .higher level of 18+ with the Scroll of mighty incantations. I miscast, and killed four archers, but brought back my Tomb Guard. I also put the 5+ ward on the TG. SSC misfired again, but rolled a six. 

Turn 5 
He finally charged my Temple Guard. He cast Myasma again on them and we were about to fight the combat when my wife called. SHE WAS IN LABOR. I swept all of my minis into the box as fast as I could and dashed out of there. His unit would have obliterated my TG, but that would have put it at a draw. 

My Wife gave birth to our fist son, and first child at 2:30pm the next day (16 hour Labor) May 20th 2011. 8 lbs 15 oz 21 inches long. Both mother and Son are doing great. 

He had a hard time choosing which spells to stop. Magic phase is key to new TK's. Love the Chariots, and the necrotechs, especially the Visionary. all in all, not too bad for my first go

And the Legions Amassed

Well, I'm still working on my Tomb King Army.  I have all of it assembled, and I am working on paining them.  Since I am a huge University of Utah fan, I have decided to paint the army crimson and white.  Right now I have working on the core of my army, a unit of 50 Skeleton Warriors armed with spears and light armour.  This unit will typically be deployed in Hoard Formation and used as an anvil unit to tarpit enemy units and keep them in place until they can be hit by either my Chariots or my tomb Guard in the flanks.
   My Current list (around 3,000 point as that is the common points limit in my area) is this:
Tomb King (currently taking suggestions on names) Usually equipped with the Golden Death mask and either a magic weapon or a ward save.  I like the Golden death mask, not because of the Terror (though that is nice) but because any unit within 6" of the Mask cannot use the Generals "inspiring Presence" rule or the Battle Standard Bearers "hold your Ground special rule" which means the Fear and Terror caused by the Unit he is in will have a better chance of going off.  It also means that any Unit defeated by his unit in combat will break MUCH easier.
   Grand Hierophant Khatep.  I find this special character facinating.  He has the Lore Master ability, which will make sure I have every spell in the Lore of Nekehara, His Scroll of the Cursing Word, though a bit situational, is great for stopping that Lv. 4 wizards magic phase and possibly killing the wizard as well.  I really like to use this against Teclis.
    Lich Priest Lv. 2 with Dispel Scroll
    Lich priest  Lv. 2 with Neffera's scroll of mighty incantaions
    Ramhotep the visionary.  Possibly the best Special character in the book, or atleast the most useful for the points.  Giving the unit he is in Frenzy AND hatred is great.  Giving one Construct unit to re-roll armour saves is great as well.
    Tomb Prince, sometimes on a chariot, sometimes on foot.  Usually has the Armour of Silvered Steel for a good save
     Core Units go like this.
    50 Skeleton Warriors with Full Command and Light armour and spears (the Crimson Legion).  massed in hoard formation and a great anvil.  I usually stick the king in there to make them Ws 6!
     6 Chariot (7 if the prince is on foot).  No champion so that the Prince can be in the front.  These guys hit HARD!!  they wiped out a big unit of Phoenix guard in one turn,
     20 archers, no upgrades.  when used with the Incantation of Righteous Smiting they can pump out some damage.
    Special
    30 Tomb Guard.   Usually in hoard formation,  Full command and no upgrades.    I like putting Ramhotep in this unit,  so i'm thinking about putting Halberds on them since they can't use the Parry save when they have frenzy.
     Rare.
     Casket of Souls
     Heirotitan 
     Screaming Skull Catapult with Skull of the foe.


Now, that doesn't add up to 3,00 pts, but that's because I like room for flexibility,  I've used some tomb Scorpions in the past and have been thinking about using the War Sphinx.  I think I might like another Screaming Skull Catapult as well.  Choices, Choices.

More Pathfinder

Well, it's been a while since my last post about Pathfinder, so here we go.  My last post was about a campaign Big Game was running where my Swashbuckler defeated several monsters all by himself.  Well since then, turns out the entire thing was a dream (I hate it when GM's pull that).  Turns out we were all rally slave gladiators.  Well we played a few sessions, then we all died.  In a truly Epic fashion I might say.  So it fell to Full Time to start his campaign.  I decided to play an Elf Bard in this one named Elendil Starshard.  He's a pretty basic Bard, starting at level one.
    For my second Character, I decided to play a classic character from my past.  He is a Dwarf fighter named Hendel, named after one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite books "The Sword of Shannara."  He wears full plate armor, and carries a Dwarven War Axe and a Heavy Steel shield.  the basic premise for him in combat is to use his War Axe double handed and deal out as much damage as possible while using the Power Attack feat.  When he gets low on HP, he pulls out is shield and starts to fight defensively.
   Full Time set us up, as he usually does in his campaigns, as part of the City Guard.  What a bard is doing in the City guard, I have no idea.  We were sent out on several missions and then told to investigate the new alleged Thieves guild in the city.
    We investigated, traced it back to a ships first mate who was smuggling stuff in.  The captain said it was the  first mates Brother in another city that was the contact.  so we decided to go get the brother in another city by hitching a ride on the smuggling ship.  Apparently this was NOT part of Full Times plan.  Big Game and I have a pretty long history of screwing with Full Times campaigns.

And the Tomb Kings Rode to War

First off, I would like to apologize for my long absence from the blogging world.  I have had a lot going on in my life, mostly the birth of my son!  y wife and I are extremely excited for the new addition to our little family.

  Now, on to the topic at hand...The Tomb Kings.  Now, I wasn't around for the first release of the Tomb Kings as their own army book back in sixth edition.  When they were released I was serving an LDS mission in Taiwan.  But when i got home and got back into the hobby, I was very interested in them  Who wouldn't be.

   An army of skeletal legions led by their ancient mummified kings, and supported by constructs of stone and metal.  But what really got me was the fact that they were undead, but not evil.  I'm not the most well versed person in the world, but usually undead=evil, but not so here.  The back story and "fluff" of the Tomb Kings army was very interesting.

   So,  about two years ago, I started a Tomb kings army.  I was getting tired of my usual armies and needed something else.  I had just sold my books back at school so I had about $150 in my pocket while at Dragons Keep and so made the plunge.  The result was an army that was fun to play and paint and put together, but not very competitive.  Were were in the closing months of Seventh Edition, and the Tomb Kings book was still running on sixth and had not aged well.  I loved the army, but with more tournaments happening in my area I needed to focus on a more competitive army.

Now, however, I can now put more of a focus on the Tomb Kings because their new army book is out.  A beautiful, full cover, hard back book that had me anxiously waiting for WEEKS leading up to its release.=, and I was VERY impressed.  I know, I know.  Many of you out there aren't all that impressed.. They didn't redo the core models at all, the Knights and stalkers look a little silly (to you) and the sphinx (especially the Necro Sphinx) loos like a Power Ranger monster (I'm looking at you Wayne Kemp and Dan Heelan).  But you know what?  I don't care.  I like the core skeletons.  I don't think they look that bad, especially in mass formation.  The Skeleton Horses that receive so much hate are basically anatomically correct for a horse skeleton, so I don't know what you guys want, and as for they stalkers/knights and the sphinx, I' not really planning on using them in my army so I really don't care what they look like, but keep in mind that they are supposed to be animated STATUES and so will look a little goofy, and that is basically what the Power Ranger monster were to, animated sculptures (yes, I watched that show).

   Rules wise, I'm VERY happy.  Not over the top, but not crappy.  I like them a lot.   My favorite new rule was is the change to "My Will Be Done."  Now a Tomb King or Tomb Prince will always give their Ws to whatever unit they are in.  This automatically gives a huge boost to big blocks of Skeleton Warriors.

  Another change that i really like is the magic lore.  Raising the Dead as the Lore Attribute is a wonderful idea, and it works really well.  Having more augment and hex spells in the deck, and only one spell that actually does damage to the enemy is a stroke of brilliance, and really pushes what I have always thought the Tomb Kings army is about, synergy.

  This is not an army you can push across the table without a plan (see Lizardmen).  When you take each individual unit by its self, they seem weak and easily killed.  But when put next to each other, and with the proper Character support, this army can be very effective.  Take your normal Skeleton Warrior for example.  Not too effective in combat,  Add in a Tomb King and they are now Ws 6.  so now those skeletons which would normally hit on 4's if not 5's will now be hitting most things on a three or better.  Still not good enough? use spells from the Lore of Nehekahara to boost them  How about adding killing blow and extra attacks to those same warriors?  So now you have a 4 point model, with two attacks, Ws 6 and killing blow.  pretty stinking good from where I'm sitting.

  All in all, i love the new book, and I can't wait to get some more games in with it.  keep an eye out for more on the Tomb Kings from the Bard.

Rogue Trader Tournament

Last Saturday I took the opportunity to attend a Warhammer Tournament at my friendly local gaming store, Dragons Keep.  These tournaments are known as Rogue Traders.

   Now, for the unfamiliar, I should write about the format first.  In a typical Warhammer Tournament, there are a number of rounds.  Three in this one.  Each round you get a different opponent.  There are three outcomes you can get each round.  Win, draw, loss.  Each  outcome is worth a specific amount of points.  25 for a win, 15 for a draw, and 5 for a loss.  Each round there are specific bonus battle points and objective battle points you can get each round.  Each opponent you get also grades you on your Sportsmanship and painting of your army.  At the end of the three rounds, the individual with the most battle points, combined with Sportsmanship wins.  Prizes given, Generally, 1st, 2nd 3rd places as well as best sportsmanship and best painted.

    This tournament went just like about every other tournament I go to.  I started off in the first round playing a man named Mike.  he was playing a rather well planned out dark elf list, and I was playing a Lizardmen list.  his strategy was built around a large tower that he had, and I knew from the get go that if I just sat back out of range of his massive amounts of Crossbowmen in the tower I could get at worst a Draw,  But that isn't how I like to play.  I pressed forward, a large unit of mine got cut down by the tower unit, but I destroyed his Black Guard unit, and all but one of his Witch Elves.  If I would have destroyed the last of his Witch Elves it would have been a Draw, but it was a Loss.  Oh well.  I would rather Lose and go all out than Draw and play like a pansy.

    So with that Loss I got pared up against Big Mike and his New Orcs and Goblins.  Now, I have played Big Mike many time, But the Orc and goblins army is Brand new, and I have not played against it or read the rules.  that gave him the advantage right off the bat.  Add that to his big spell that he got off in the first round destroying a quarter of my army, and my Slann Mage-Priest dying, this was an easy win for Big Mike.

    Round Three comes up and i am paired with Full-Time.  Ahh, I have played Full_Time several times.  More importantly he is playing MY High Elf Army,  this Army I know inside and out.  My Strategy was sound, my rolls were good.  I won with ease.

    In the end, Mike(1st round opponent) won 1st place.  A guy named grant won 2nd, and a guy named Rich won 3rd.  There were several other random prizes, and I won Best Painted.  Well....Mike (1st round) actually scored Best painted, but since he finished 1st overall, I got the prize.  But I ain't complaining.

Battle Report: High Elves vs Lizardmen

High Elves and Lizardmen are two of the oldest races in the Warhammer World.  At one time their empires spanned the globe.  Now dwindling under the threat of chaos, these once proud races must march forth and do battle.  this time, they fought each other.

Saturday, Full Time and myself ventured up to our friendly local gaming store known as the Dragons Keep to play a game of Warhammer.  I used my trusty old High Elves and Full Time, because he doesn't own his own army yet, used my lizardmen army.  It was a very fun game.

Above is a photo of the battle field after the set up, but before the game began.  The High Elves ar positioned on the right, and the Lizards on the left.  Both armies are very heavy on the Infantry.  The High elves have NO cavalry, and the lizards only have one unit of Cav, but have a very large monster in the Stegadon, and some very formidable smaller monsters known as Salamanders.  Both forces have very strong casters.  The elves have the always formidable Teclis, High Loremaster of the White Tower.  And the Lizards have a very powerful Slann Mage-Priest.  I could tell from the start, whoever controlled the Magic Phase would win the day.

So, to make what could be a very long story short, the Lizard dominated the magic phase.  I showed mercy on Full Time in the first turn and cast a very devastating spell "Pit of Shades"  on a unit of Saurus instead of his Slann Unit (which it could have decimated) and payed for it dearly.  He proceed to destroy my unit of archers with his salamanders, and got off a few spells, but failed a charge on my unit of White Lions.  All in all, Turn one was a draw.

Turn two was the turning point.  I failed to cast my first spell with Teclis, which meant I couldn't cast any more this turn.  I failed a charge with my White Lions on his Cold One Cavalry, But I got the charge on his Skink unit with Sword Masters and totally destroyed them.  pretty good eh? well, In his turn two, Teclis was destroyed by a well cast spell "The Dwellers Below."  After that, I did well in combat, but not well enough.  all that survived was a spearman.

Lessons Learned?  If your are going to cast a spell with Teclis, roll enough dice to make sure you get it off,  Sword Masters better break the unit they fight in turn one ir they won't survive, and White Lions don't ALWAYS run.

The Rat Men

I Recently got a text message from my cousin, we'll call him "scruffy," that seemed quite odd to me.  Scruffy and I are as close as two people who live several states apart can be.  We converse regularly, he was my Best Man at my wedding, and has been and will always be one of my best friends.  At a younger age Scruffy would come visit his grandparents, who live in the same town as I do, for the summer and we would hang out all summer long.  I actually lived at their house during the summer more than I lived at my house.  as a result, Scruffy and I got into the same things, including Warhammer.

As I built up my High Elf army Scruffy built a Dwarf army.  this was advantageous in several ways, the first being that we could actually play against each other when we weren't at our local gaming store of choice (Games People Play at the time).  As time wore on though, Scruffy drifted away from the hobby.

It wasn't really his fault.  I went on a two year mission to Taiwan for my Church, and he had to get along without me.  Since I was the only person he knew that played Warhammer, he stopped.  that was nine years ago that I left for Taiwan.  Which Brings us to his random but interesting text message.

"I have officially started a Skaven army."  That was his message.  Apparently the appearance of my blog had some how ignited a fire from a spark that was burried deep inside him, a fire to play Warhammer.  His army of choice? Skaven, the lowly (literally and figuratively) rat men that threaten society from their subterranean Under Empire.  So, to honor Scruffy and his choice to start playing Warhammer again and his choice in army, I give him this blog entry, a look at the Skaven.

As you can see by the image to the right, the Skaven are a true "horde army."  To any non-warhammer players out there, this simply means that their troops are not very well trained, but what they lack in skill they make up for in numbers.  Skaven, put simply, will beat you with magic, firepower, and lots and lots of rats. 

In Warhammer, armies are built to an agreed upon points limit, usually between 2,000 and 3,000 points.  Each model in your army list will cost a certain amount of points, and Skaven don't cost very many points at all.  A skaven Slave will cost less than a quarter of the points as a High Elf Spear man, and a Skaven Clan Rat about half.  So, for every Spear Elf I buy for my army, Scruffy can have almost twice as many Clan Rats, and four times as many slaves.  This comes in handy when you concider that the Skaven have a special rule called "strength in numbers" which basically a higher Leadership score the more Rats you have in each unit.  Add that to the new "steadfast rule" (if you have more ranks than your opponent in the combat, you're stubborn), even if Skaven lose the combat they aren't likely to run away.  Keep the General and Battle Standard near by and they won't be going any place any time soon.

The second thing the Rats do well is shooting.  This army can rain down almost as much firepower as a Dwarf army, and it's probably twice as deadly.  the problem is that this shooting isn't very reliable.  Take the dreaded "Ratling Gun."  Is contraption, like almost all Skaven weaponry, is almost as likely to shoot their own army as it is to shoot their enemy.  This adds a fun and exciting element to the game.  the feeling that anything can go wrong at any moment is something that isn't present with most of the other armies. 

Add that shooting to the craziness that is the Doomwheel and the Hell-Pit Abomination and ou have a recipe for an army that is just as likely to kill its self as the enemy.  Like I said, this is part of the fun on the Skaven army.

Magic is the third and final thing the Skaven do well.  their Grey Seers and Warp Lock engineers and Plague Priests can magic you to death as well as the most tooled up Slann in the game.  All-in-all, a superb army to say the least!