Path to Glory Campaign - Short Resume

Today I finished the Path to Glory campaign I initiated at my FLGS. Here's a short narrative story about my champion's journey:

Prologue

Vlad the Poker was a merciless and cunning killer before getting the blood kiss of an unknown vampire. His past is shrouded in mistery, yet somehow he managed to get elevated to a lord's title. One day came across the carcass of a dragon, and using his necromantic knowledge, resurrected it to serve him as a mount and as a tool of war.

Then he set out to defeat the local warring warlords who were potential threats of him becoming a powerful ruler of the lands. To reach this pinnacle, first he had to recruit able bodies. He found the barrow of an ancient renowned warrior, burried with his horse and his honor guard. He quickly raised them and bound their bodies forever in his service.

Chapter I.

Soon Vlad met his first contender - Virulax, a greater demon of the always merry Rain Father. Vlad didn't realize that this encounter with him wouldn't be his last. Virulax, blessed by Nurgle, overwhelmed Vlad, who was overconfident of his newly found abilities. He had no choice - declare defeat and retreat. Live - or in his case - remain dead for another day.

Chapter II.

Vlad stopped for a while, to plan his next move. He hoped to find creatures of untold power, that would aid him in his conquest. He captured a follower of Tzeentch, from a local herd of beasts led by Bââââh the Humbugger, who was marauding the local lands. He prepared the Enlightened Tzaangor for a sacrifice, so his blood would draw in the bloodthirsty Vargheists from the deepest, darkest and most terrifying chasms. The herd reacted and charged Vlad and his followers, but they were massacred and too late - the sacrifice was done and the Vergheists were summoned.

Chapter III.

Vlad now with his forces bolstered, ventured out again. During his expedition, he came across of an ambitious, but feeble Skaven Grey Seer named Skitty. He sought to try out his new test subjects so he challenged Vlad for a fight. Cowards as they were, the Skaven grouped together and waited for the enemy. Two rivals faced each other, but Vlad was cunning too. He sent his vanguard to circle around the mutated rats, while himself charged the main line. Thanks to his clever ambush and the Skaven's negligence, the latter was utterly defeated.

Chapter IV.

Now Vlad, almost unopposed, sought out more knowledge in a vault of dark secrets. Here he found Nighthaunts driven to insanity by their past deeds and an eternity of torment. He realized he couldn't get to his goal with reason. These spirits only understood one thing - murder. The Red Duke, a past executioner, led these Nighthaunts. He was so driven to insanity, he instantly fell to Vlad's trap. While his vanguard charged the left flank of the enemy, they left an opening for Vlad, who went straight for the prize. After a fierce battle with Spirit Hosts, he got to the Red Duke, and released him from its suffering. One could call he showed mercy. He hoped to find knowledge, but he only found the vault in ruins. On his way out, he found a wittered prisoner of the Nighthaunts. Vlad spared his life in exchange for his servitude. He turned out to be a vile necromancer in search for dark power, captured by the tormented spirits.

Chapter V.

The vampire lord continued to seek out new foes, eliminating competition and raising their fallen soldiers as new recruits. Unknown to him, a foe already found him. The Doom Guy, a powerful and superb warrior of Khorne, set a trap for Vlad. Unlike the rest of the Bloodthirsters, this one choose to wait, instead of charge forward. He watched Vlad's movement, and waited until his army got separated, then he striked. Demons of Khorne, conjured by blood and war poured out and surrounded Vlad and his Vanguard. Vlad, with no choice left, sent a part of his units to keep the demons at bay, while he prepared to flee. Even though a Skull Cannon scored a direct hit on him, he was still able to escape and kill in the rest of the warband to finish his enemy off.

Final Chapter

The final challange came. The Trial of the Champions. Four warbands, led into battle by ambitious leaders, only one to come out as victorious. Vlad choose a strategic location near a Realmgate, that could be easily defended if needed. He saw in the promoximity lights shooting down the sky, and soon realized a smaller stormhost was set up defensively in a nearby fort. He wasn't about to allow them to get a foothold in the area he desperately wanted to defend. He sent his vanguard out, him close nearby, flying around a tower were a ballista was set up. But the treacherous Skaven gave the Stormcast valuable information about Vlad's movements and the Ballista zeroed him in. They showed no mercy and shot him down from the sky. Vlad would never see his plans realized. His army retreated, only to fade into obscurity.
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The campaign was really fun, I got to play against multiple opponents with different armies and varying style. I got to see a small force of skirmish turn into a smaller army. Endre's victory in the final battleplan was no suprise - not only he had a resilient army, but he also chose to weather out the storm! Well deserved victory nonetheless.

I am gratefull to everyone who participated in this campaign, hope you enjoyed it!

Kitbashing and Painting Wight King with Baleful Tomb Blade on Skeletal Steed

Happy New Year Fellow Hobby Enthusiasts!

Since there is only a very old model kit available from Games Workshop for a Wight King on a Skeletal Steed, I decided to kitbash one for myself. Since there is no points costs for adding a mount for the Wight King and I need a fast supporting hero for my Black Knights, it is a much preferred unit in a Legions of Nagash army where I include BK.

The Kitbashing

Even if the GW kit is old, I still used it as inspiration. As you can see, I used the Black Knights horse as a base for this model, I added the Seneschal head and a shield from the Grave Guard kit. For the sword I used the one from the Vampire Lord on a Zombie Dragon kit, carefully sawing the blade and glueing it to the hilt. For the horse's head, I used one from the Citadel Skulls kit, I cut down the original head and used green stuff to add rotten tendons and to cover any seems between the two pieces. I also cut down leather straps between the horse's head and the saddle, and added cut out chain pieces from the Hexwraiths weapons.

The Painting

I primed the model with Zandri Dust spray. I always like to start with the base of the miniature, since I find that the most messy part. I like Games Workshop texture paints, as those are easy to use and I had previous issues with sand and PVA glues just peeling of the bases. I used Armageddon Dust, shaded with Agrax Earthshade and drybrushed with Tyrant Skull. I also like to throw in some stones, and paint them with Mechanicus Standar Grey and Dawnstone.

I painted the armour of the horse and the rider. I choose gold and copper as the main colours. For the shoulderpads and helmet I used Gehenna's Gold, Balthasar Gold, Retributor Armor. I gradually mixed these colours together and applied incrementally, I can't tell you a recipe, because I don't have one. I used Agrax Earthshade and Reikland Fleshshade Gloss as washes. For the chestplate I used Brass Scorpion and Runelord Brass. For the steed's armour I used Screaming Bell and Hashut Copper. I used Nihilakh Oxide to weather the copper and brass. For the chainmail and chains I used Leadbelcher and Stormhost Silver, and applied weathering with Ryza Rust. I was a bit in the mood to experiment, so I added more battle damage and weathering to the copperplates, adding damaged effect by applying Agrax Earthshade in specific spots and highlight around those spots adding a dept effect in an otherwise flat surface.

I had a hard time picking a colour for the Wight King's robes, I already have two in green/red and didn't want black. In the end I went for a teal colour. I used Stegadon Scale Green, Dark Reaper, Sotek Green and Temple Guard Blue for the clothes.

The bone on the other hand was easy, since I painted so many skeletons I didn't even had to think about it. I base the bones with Rakarth Flesh, then gradually highlight them with a mix of Screaming Skull, Pallid Wych Flesh and Agrax Earthshade. I drybrushed the horns with Tyrant Skulls and Praxeti White, and applied glazes of Agrax Earthshade and Seraphim Sepia. I highlighted them with the Screaming Skull and Pallid Wych Flesh. For the rotten tendons I always use Pallid Wych Flesh and a glaze of Druchii Violet.

I painted the shield in wood colours (Dryad Bark, Gorthor Brown, Baneblade Brown), the leather in black (Abaddon Black, Dawnstone) and the skeletal symbol with gold.

For the horse's robes I used Abaddon Black, and gradually mixed in Stormvermin Fur and Dawnstone to add highlights. Then I used a sponge and added brown texture and drybrushed light brown to add dusted, weather effects on the robe.

For the leather parts I used Rhinox Hide, Doombull Brown, Tuskgor Fur and Mournfang Brown, Skrag Brown, Deathclaw Brown.

I left the trickiest part last, I tried only once NMM, but nonetheless went ahead and painted the sword with Abaddon Black, Dawnstone and Ulthuan Grey. I used very thinned down layers to feather the colours together and create a smooth blend between them. I wanted to create this evil, blackened blade effect, after all it is a Baleful Tomb Blade!

Finally added some tufts and painted the rim of the base with Steel Legion Drab.

Hope this helped you with painting your Wight Kings or Skeletons! Stay tuned for more building/painting tutorials!

Narrative Battleplan - The Doomed March - Blood Moon Rising - Legions of Nagash vs Clan Skryre

This is the first battle for our narrative campaign, set in the events of the Malign Portents.

Type: Narrative Battleplan
Mission: Blood Moon Rising
Malign Portents: The Balemoon

We both selected our armies, and we decided that the Legions of Nagash will be the ambushers and Clan Skryre will be the Marauder.

Ambusher's Army: Legions of Nagash

Allegiance: Grand Host of Nagash

General: Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament
Leaders:

• 2x Necromancer
• 2x Wight King with Baleful Tomb Blade
• Cairn Wraith (Artefact: Grave-Sand Timeglass)
• Knight of Shrouds

Units:

• 20x Skeleton Warriors with Ancient Spears
• 20x Skeleton Warriors with Ancient Swords
• 10x Grave Guard with Great Wight Blades
• 10x Black Knights
• 3x Spirit Hosts
• 2x Morghast Archai with Spirit Halberds

Marauder's Army: Skaven

Allegiance: Clan Skryre

General: Arch Warlock (Artefact: Esoteric Warp Resonator; Command Trait: Masterful Scavenger)
Leaders:

• Skaven Warlord with Warpforged Blade
• 2x Warlock Engineer

Units: 

• 40x Stormvermin with Halberds
• 40x Clanrats
• 3x Stormfiends
• 4x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team

Behemots:

• Hell Pit Abomination

Deployment:

I had to separate my army into two, so I chose to deploy Arkhan, the Morghast Archai and the Nighthaunts on the left side of the table.

Next the Skaven deployed their army on to the designated area in the middle.

Finally, I deployed the rest of the army on the right side of the table.

Round 1:

We each generated Prophecy Points according the book: +3 for playing in Shyish, +3 for each Harbinger, +1 for each Wizard and Priest. The Skaven Warlock and the Engineers try to cast some spells, however Arkhan is an excellent spell unbinder with his +2 to his rolls. Cristi charged into my lines with the Hell Pit Abomination and his Clan Rats, however he didn't manage to kill Arkhan as he hoped. The Morghast Archai made sure that his Abomination wouldn't survive another turn. Some Clanrats died and some fled from the might of the Morghast Archai. Arkhan also had a blast with his Curse of the Years spell, dishing out a whooping of 10 mortal wounds. The Abomination died and also caused some mortal wounds, leaving Arkhan with 1 wound left! I cleaned up the side, recovered some wounds for Arkhan and started to aggressively advance my force towards the middle.

Round 2:

The Skaven won the roll-off for the next round and started to reinforce the left side where the Clanrats and the Abomination failed. We generated PPs this round too. The Warlock Charges in along with the Engineers, Warlord and the might unit of 40 Stormvermin. They blasted through the Spirit Hosts, only to be returned by Arkhan in my turn.

At this time the action here was really intense which also distracted my from moving my units on the other side of the table. I managed to kill the Arch Warlock, and also to inflict some damage on the Leaders and on the Stormvermin. However, I had my share of casualties, the Knight of Shrouds has fallen and I lost one Morghast Archai. On the other side I managed to clear out the Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team with my Black Knights.

Round 3:

At this time I knew Arkhan was doomed and I started to question my strategic plan (if there was any).

The Skaven won the roll-off yet again. Cristi saw an opportunity and started to charge into my now weakened left flank. He managed to kill Arkhan with the Stormvermin and also killed the rest of my army on this side of the table. My Deathrattle force on the other hand was very slow and couldn't get here in time.

Round 4 and Round 5:

Well past round 4 this was really over, the Skaven army managed to escape (this time) from the grasps of the undead horde. Skaven managed to score a minor victory!

Malign Portents - Age of Sigmar Narrative Campaign

I always wanted to try Age of Sigmar in a narrative play, so we decided to give it a try. Since I purchased the Malign Portents book, I had the tools to make one. I convinced my friend to play a series of games which are connected and form up a bigger campaign. I will update the story as we progress through the games and post separate entries for each battle report.

The March of the Skaven

Clan Skryre was always a pack of curious rats and inventing mad scientists. Word got to them that Nagash was up to something in Shyish and they just had to find it out for themselves. They gathered a force and started marching through the blasted and barren landscape. What they didn't know is that Arkhan was already waiting for them...

The Skaven reacted quickly and sent some of the Clan Rats and a Hell Pit Abomination to weaken the lines of Arkhan the Black. However, Arkhan was surrounded by his loyal bodyguards, the Morghasts, who then swept through the rats with their halberds like it was grass. The cunning Warlock saw an opportunity to kill Arkhan, but he died before he could see his devious plan go through. Arkhan now overwhelmed by the Stormvermin, was killed - or was he? The small force of undeads and nighthaunts quickly fell to the force of lesser yet more numerous rats. Clan Skryre managed to cut through the lines of Arkhan and quickly evade a cold and planned death by Nagash. But this is just a mere delay for Nagash. Time is not of importance to him. Eventually the slow but tireless army of death will catch up with the rats.

Deathrattle vs Skaven Skryre - Age of Sigmar Battle Report

Time for the first battle report!

I played a pitched battle against my good old friend Cristi (check out his battle report over here).

The Lists:

Grand Alliance Death, Death Allegiance (1000 pt):
Leaders

• Arkhan The Black, Mortarch of Sacrament
• 2 x Necromancer
• Cairn Wraith

Units

• 3-man Spirit Hosts
• 5-man Black Knights
• 10-man Skeleton Warriors with Crypt Shields and Spears
• 10-man Skeleton Warriors with Crypt Shields and Swords

Grand Alliance Chaos, Clan Skryre Allegiance (1000 pt):
Leaders

• Arch Warlock
• Warlock Engineer

Units

• Poisoned Wind Mortar Weapon Team
• 3 x Ratling Gun Weapon Team
• 4 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team
• War Machines
• Warp Lightning Cannon

Pitched Battle: Knife to the Heart

The Deployment:

After setting up the objectives and rolling for sides, we started to deploy our forces pretty much in the back, however I went in bold and deployed the majority of my units to the front. Cristi deployed his units in the corner, with the exception of Arch Warlock, Warlock Engineer and the Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team. We chose to roll who should begin instead of going for the first who finished deploying.

Round 1:

Skaven was to go first and quickly dispatched my Black Knights and Spirit Hosts. The Cairn Wraith barely survived with 2 wounds.

On my turn I cast Curse of Ages on the Warlock Engineer and successfully got rid of him. I advanced the left flank of my skeletons and charged with Arkhan the Black and with the Cairn Wraith the Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team.

Round 2:

I won the roll, which gave me some hope to win. Unfortunately I didn't get to successfully cast Curse of Ages. In the combat phase Arkhan killed the rest of the Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team. 

On Skaven's turn the Arch Warlock and Warp Lightning Cannon inflicted 7 wounds on Arkhan, which made him really vulnerable.

Round 3:

I won the roll again, and successfully aged the Arch Warlock with continuously rolling 1 dice! Unfortunately since Arkhan was weakened I couldn't move him out of harms way and the Skaven's managed to shoot Arkhan off the table. The Wraith also dies to shooting. By this time my left flank was dead, only the Necromancer managed to stay alive. This is the point that I regretted holding my right flank in the back.

Round 4:

Necromancer casts Arcane Bolt and kills one of the Ratling Gun Weapon Team. I knew this was not going well for me so I charged with the Necromancer, then he died heroically! We chose to end the game at this point as no way my right flank was going to survive the trip to the other side of the table, nor Cristi's units were able to reach my units in 2 turns. 

Results:

Skaven victory. For now.

Conclusions:

Playing aggressively with Deathrattle is a must. Caution does not pay off. Also, I need more Skeleton Warriors so the unit doesn't get wiped out so easily. 

Getting into the hobby - Building your dedicated hobby space

A very important part of this hobby's aspect is the hobby space. At first a desk or the kitchen table will suffice, but after a while your collection will grow, you will have more tools and paints at your disposal and you will need to create a dedicated hobby space.

I started out on a small desk, then I got a bigger one and then I just filled it up with paints, miniatures and tools. Recently I found an online store which sells hobby items like paint racks and some sweet modular workshop system. I ordered some items from them and I have to tell you, I got them from Poland after 5 days, including the weekend!

So this is how my desk looked before:

As I wrote, I ordered several modular paint racks from HobbyZone. The fun part of this was the assembly. I only needed some PVA glue and a hammer. I just followed the instructions, the racks were put together with ease. The parts fit perfectly, I only screwed up once with the magnets.

Then I got to organize my stuff around the racks. I choose to organize my paints by type and alphabetically - shades, base paints, layer paints, texture and dry paints.

The additional rack of the tools/brushes proved to be a good addition. As you can see I filled all the spaces with the paint pots, I even had a few remaining orphan! Overall I can wholeheartedly recommend HobbyZone. They provide a good choice in building a dedicated hobby space.

Getting into the hobby - First Steps

First when I started collecting miniatures I wasn't quite sure on what I needed to get into the hobby, besides buying miniatures. Getting into and out it is easy, maintaining your hobby is the hardest part. I decided to make an entry about getting into this hobby, helping out new comrades that would like to venture and explore into the world of miniatures.

Picking a line of miniatures

There are a ton of manufacturers to choose from. Even those manufacturers have a lot of different lines of miniatures. I will mention the most popular ones, so it would help you to explore a bit and also give you an overall idea about them:

• Games Workshop - Warhammer 40,000 - Grim-dark Gothic Sci-fi. Best miniatures out on the market. After a lot of controversy, they changed a lot in the past year. Price-wise you pay for the quality. There are some ways to get 40k miniatures cheaper, but it will still hurt your wallet.

• Games Workshop - Age of Sigmar - Fantasy. Fantasy as before they killed it and revamped it with Age of Sigmar. They made some new miniatures, but they look like Space Marines. Most of it is older, but some of them still look good.
• Fantasy Flight Games - I won't go into every miniature game they have, they release games and miniatures faster then I can type. Star Wars X-Wing and Armada are their most popular ones. Quality wise they are sub-par compared to Games Workshop. Price was cheaper, but they will still empty your pocket with expansions.
• Privateer Press - Initially started as an alternative to GW, but they produce unique miniatures. They started off with metal miniatures, but they ventured into plastic and resin as well. Quality and price wise they are OK, better then FFG but still not on the same level as GW.

Choosing your first army

I would go for the army you like the best. It has to be visually appealing to you, otherwise you will not paint them. Trust me, I know. If you don't have any experience painting anything, I would recommend to go for armies that are easy to paint - a lot of flat surfaces, easy color schemes, less details on them. If you plan on playing with them, go for an army that doesn't require a lot of miniatures.

If you plan to go into Warhammer 40,000 I would recommend Space Marines. If you plan to go into Age of Sigmar I would say go for Stormcast Eternals. X-Wing and Armada comes with pre-painted miniatures, which means they are playable out of the box!

Buying your first kit

A lot of newer collectors/player make the mistake to buy a large quantity of miniatures on their first purchase. I would never recommend to go for more then the necessary basics. For ex. in AoS or 40k, you need a "general/warlord" to lead your army and some basic troops. Games Workshop has some Start Collecting! boxes which contain one HQ unit (most of them at least) and some elite/fast attack/troop choices. The bundle itself is a great deal, as it will save you some money if not bought separately.

Where to buy

I would never recommend to buy directly from GW, only if you are interested in Web Exclusive items. Usually retailers and FLGS will give you a nice discount for miniature kits. I usually buy kits, tools and paints from my FLGS. Of course there are plenty of others to choose from.

Buying tools

Now you bought your first kit, congratulations! You are officially in the miniature hobby! Now you will need some proper tools to assemble the miniatures.
First you will need cutting tools. For starters a hobby knife. Yes, any kind of hobby knife will suffice. Go for the cheapest one.

Next you will need something to cut the miniatures out from their sprues. Just pick up a cutter which has a flat side.

You can find these tools virtually everywhere.
Now you will need a glue to put all the parts together. A lot of new (and old) hobbyist will use super-glue for plastic parts. Personally I use plastic glue which melts the parts together. I genuinely avoid using super-glue as it won't melt plastic and will only harden the glued parts of the miniature. Eventually this will cause the glued parts to break off. Also super glue tends to flow every where, and will cause some unwanted lumps on the miniature. Just go to a hobby store and pick up some plastic glue. You won't regret it.

At the beginning this is all you need to start assembling your miniatures! However I would also recommend to buy a cutting mat. This will help you to protect your desk/table.