Warmachine Bracket Final Four and [Spoiler] The Championship

The final four would all be good picks for my next army. As a consolation prize to the losers, I will start buying a few of their models to practice on while I paint the winner. There are two matches to resolve before the championship. Here is a look at round three:

Match #1 Gators v. Mercs
This is pretty tough call. Here are the advantages for Gators:
Close Combat. They are a dedicated close combat fighting force with some ambush options.
Cool Characters. I like all the warlocks, the Ironback Spitter, and Wrongeye.
Underdogs. I think most of the local guys would consider an all Gator force to be underpowered. This will force me to focus on good tactics.

And here are the advantages for Mercs:
Lots of Jacks. There is a wide variety of models for this army and can be fielded along other armies as well
Flexibility. Similar to the first, the army allows a wide range of play styles.

The Gators' main disadvantage is the small number of models available. Since the army I am making will be about 35 points, I will have to buy duplicate models or do some heavy converting.

The Mercs main disadvantage is that I just don't find them to be as cool as the Gators.

Win: Gators

Match #1 is Trollbloods v. Skorne
Here are my thoughts on the Trollbloods: They will be fun to paint and model. They have a wide range and can be done well in many different color schemes. They have a neat look and a variety of casters. I like the big Dire Trolls and would have to get several of them.

For the Skorne, they have a more limited color pallette, but a wider variety of creatures. The army has some nice "gotcha" abilities backed up with tough combat capability.

I have seen Skorne played, but not the Trollbloods. I have looked at both rulebooks and seen all the miniatures. The main advantage that Skorne has is in the variety of their warbeasts. Trolls will have to wait for another tournament. Win: Skorne.

And now, The Championship Match!

Sorry if this is short, but I have already listed my likes and dislikes ad nauseum. I would be happy with either of these armies, but right now Skorne just has a stronger stable of models. If Privateer releases a new Blackhide Wrastler in the next month or two I will probably change my mind, but what they have out now just can't beat all the stuff from Skorne. Plus, I love playing bad guys.

Win: Skorne!

Stay tuned for my next bracket, when I choose my first warlock...

Cheers,

Maniple

Warmachine Brackets Round 2

After yesterday's throwdown, 8 teams emerged victorious. This round will be a little tougher, since now many of my favorites are going to have to fall. Here are the current standings:

Gators v. Dwarves
Cygnar v. Mercs

and

Trollbloods v. Legion
Pirates v. Skorne

Match 1: Gators vs. Dwarves. This is a very tricky match. First let it be said that the old GW maxim is true "Dwarves are best." Over the years I have collected a lot of dwarves for various game systems and I even have a bunch of 40K Squats sitting on my painting bench. The Warmachine dwarves have a good look and look to be pretty tough, as is the norm with this race across all systems. I really like the Brun and Lug models, but none of the casters really trip my trigger. Also, the slow speed of the dwarves will really frustrate me over the course of a game. Access to lots of heavy Merc 'jacks is still pretty cool and their ability to shoot will be a benefit in the local metagame.
On the other hand, the gators have a lot going for them. I have never played an army of gatormen before and the idea is pretty appealing. I really like the look of some of the models and the warlocks especially. They have a variety of abilities from buff to debuff and area denial. I could also supplement the force with some Farrow (I think) if I wanted some variety. I don't yet have a dedicated close combat force and this one would be fun to play. The biggest weakness is in the selection of models. Privateer has been great about releasing lots of models pretty quickly, but I think the army still needs a few more to round out the heavies and the troops.
All in all I think the unique flavor of the Blindwater Congregation will win out. Win: Gators

Match 2: Cygnar v. Mercenaries
This one is actually pretty easy. Cygnar is well represented in our local gaming group and I can always borrow some models if I want to play them. Mercs are a bit more rare and they offer a lot of variety, allowing me to pick up units here and there and even use them alongside some other armies. Win: Mercs

Match 3: Trollbloods v. Legion
In the last round I listed my likes and dislikes of these two factions. Both have an interesting play style and are not present in our local community. I am going purely on looks for this one. While I like many of the Legion casters, some of the beasts leave me feeling a little "meh." On the other hand, the Trollbloods have a lot of character and  I think it would be fun to try and paint some tartan. Win: Trollbloods

Match 4: Pirates v. Skorne
It would be fun to do a Pirate army. I have tinkered with building some ships in the past for Warhammer and it would give me an excuse to make up some sweet dockside terrain. I like the idea of playing a swift raiding force with some unique abilities, although I already have that with one of my Cryx armies. The Skorne have a neat look, but I can't seem to get too excited about the warlocks. They have some sweet abilities, but I haven't found one I really like the looks of. On the other hand, I love all the different beasts that are available. The new heavy flying beast is particularly cool. Even if I never played a game with them, I wouldn't mind having a full collection of the beasts standing on a piece of terrain on my bookshelf. While I like some of the Pirate character models, the Skorne beasts are just too cool. Win: Skorne

Whew! There was some bloodshed behind the scenes on that round. Now we are down to the final four:

Gators v. Mercs

and

Trollbloods v. Skorne

Hordes has made a pretty good showing here, mainly because I already have several Warmachine armies and I want to branch out. In my next installment, I will resolve the final four and the championship.

-Maniple

Warmachine Brackets

One of my buddies has a bracketing system for determining his next Warmachine/Hordes faction. I asked him to put one together for me so I can start planning my next one. He sent me an extensive questionnaire on my play style, likes, and dislikes and compiled the results. What follows are my musings on his picks and my decision making process as I work through the bracket. Here we go.

Round One:
There should be some pretty easy picks here, as many of the factions I already own are here and can be eliminated swiftly.

The first match is between Dwarves and Farrow. I have played several games against Farrow and I like their play style. They have some nice combos and a they can be deadly. I have not played with or against any Dwarves, but they do have a wide selection of models that I like and I would have access to all the Mercenary warjacks, which are pretty sweet. The main benefit to playing the Dwarves is that I would be the only one with these units and it would be a good deal different from my other bands. My brother already has a ton of farrow, so I am going with the Dwarves on this match.

The second match is between Menoth and Cygnar. These are both pretty well represented among the local gaming community. I like Menoth's ability to thwart your plans and lay down lots of templates and flame. They have several casters I like and the rest of the line is pretty solid. This army seems to suffer a bit at range, but Warmachine is often decided in close combat anyway. Cygnar offers a different play style, with the ability to focus on range, close, or even combined arms. While all the major factions have plastic kits for their main warjacks, I feel that the Cygnar box truly gives you the ability to put together three very different 'jacks. The flexibility of Cygnar and their overall look will tip the balance in their favor. Win: Cygnar.

The third match is between Mercs and Circle. I love my Circle, but I already have this faction and the goal is to get something new. Win: Mercs.

The fourth match is a bye for Gators. They are heavily favored to win.

On the other side of the bracket we start with another bye for the Trollbloods. They have a pretty good shot as well, since I like their models. We will see.

The sixth match is between Retribution and Legion. This is a tough one. My brother has both of these factions as well and they both have a unique aesthetic. One of the things I like about Privateer is that they have broken out of some of the old fantasy tropes and created something new. Blind half-dragons and mecha-driving elves is not something we see a lot of outside of 40k. Both have a nice set of abilities and would be fun to play. Legion is going to push ahead here with its close combat punch and Lovecraftian imagery. Win: Legion.

The seventh match is between Pirates and Khador. Another easy one. I already have a bunch of Khador and the pirates are cool. Win: Pirates.

The final match is between Cryx and Skorne. I already have two Cryx armies. Win: Skorne.

So heading into round two we will have:

Gators v. Dwarves
Cygnar v. Mercs

and

Trollbloods v. Legion
Pirates v. Skorne

Tune in later for the thrilling results!

300 Challenge: 3 Warbands

I am pretty happy with my progress on the 300 Challenge, but I am not likely going to complete it before I go home for Christmas Break. I lost too much time in November. Still, I have accomplished quite a bit. Here is my 25 point Circle list that will be going into the tournament. Cassius, a Stalker, a Woldwarden, some Reeves with UA, and Lord of the Feast. This band has worked pretty well so far, but I will be playing some new armies and will not have much of a chance to practice against them. In particular I am worried about facing Everblight. That army can basically ignore my feat and that is a bummer

 I also cracked out some stones for bigger games. These were easy to put together, but surprisingly tricky to paint. I made the mistake of painting them grey first and then going back in to do the green. I should have gone in the opposite manner! Still they look pretty neat and should be a nice addition to the army.

 For Malifaux I spent some time on my Hoffman band. This was one of the easiest to paint, as I simply painted most of the army brass and inked it for some shading. I picked out a few details and called it good. I actually spent more time on the bases than the models. They are Deus Ex Mahina from Iron-Halo.net.

 I especially like the glowy orb.

 Hoffman was pretty easy to finish as well. I should have left the apparatus off his back and painted it separately, as some of the pieces were hard to reach. There are also some neat conversions out there that bulk up the suit and make it a little tougher looking. Maybe when I get home I can crack it appart and have a go.

 My final piece for tonight concerns Gutshot! My new game. I ordered the book online and some minis from Black Scorpion. The paint job is a little quick and dirty, but I needed to get them done before heading home. We will try the game out for the first time and I wanted something half way decent to play with.

 The detail is pretty respectable, but I did have a hard time cleaning up the ones that were resin. I got 10 cowboys, 5 outlaws, and 2 guys on horseback. I haven't based them yet, as the material I want to use is back home. I also opted to use round lip bases even though they came with GW style. I think they look a lot better. I need to order a few more, as the game does call for townsfolk, indians, and banditos. All in good time, however, there is still plenty left to paint on the table!

Last week I had finished 135 models. I have completed 20 for Circle, 5 for Hoffman, 17 for Gutshot, and three from the odds and ends pile. This gives me a grand total of 180! I can still get pretty close to my goal tomorrow if I speed paint some 40k guys that I have sitting around. Wish me luck!

-Maniple

300 Challenge: Cryx Chicks Part 3

These models have gotten easier as I went along. I think the problem with tackling a highly detailed mini is that all the details are not immediately clear when it is primed all one color. As I added washes and picked out details it got easier and easier to see what was going on. I guess the lesson is just to get started and let the details worry about themselves.

Skarre is coming along nicely. I want to do some free hand work on her cloak and make her a nice centerpiece model. The weapons will also get an extra touch, perhaps with magical glow or damascus steel effect. We'll see.

 They don't need a lot of work, just a few highlights and a little work on the base. I will probably dull down the colors a bit as well. If they are raiders, they should be a little less ostentatious. 

 The main change at this step was shading the horns, highlighting the flesh, and picking out some of the belts and other details.

Skarre will get a fresh base as well. I hope to be done with these chicks pretty soon so I can get to work on a new army. it has been slow going, but we are almost done!


-Maniple

300 Challenge: Cryx Chicks Part 2

I have been working bit by bit on the Satyxis Raiders. They are starting to get some definition, but I have a long way to go.

 I really like these bases. They are resin bases that I bought online from Kerr & King. They needed a little cleaning up, but the detail is good and they also have a depression for water effect to go into. I painted the stone gray and then washed it with brown and green wash. I will highlight it again with gray to pick out the edges.

 I should really just work on a few at a time, but I am loathe to waste any paint. This is the mob as I am working on them. I am still in the basic colors stage and they need a lot of cleanup. I often make the mistake of continuing to work on them even when I am tired, so the paint job is not as neat as I would like. I seem to spend a lot of time fixing mistakes.

 She is looking pretty good. I think I will go with white hair on this unit and black on the chicks with whips. They will be easier to distinguish that way. Now that the models have some color, I want to go back and work on the skin and faces a little bit. There are many parts I missed that I originally thought were going to be cloth, but are in fact bare flesh. These models are so finely detailed that you only pick up on some of the subtle details when you actually start applying the paint. Again, these are mistakes that are costing me time!

These girls need some bases! I ordered some new ones from Back2Base-IX and they look pretty good. I went with a simple wood decking base as I want to eventually model them on the deck of a ship. That would be pretty cool, right?

Another thing I noticed in my painting this week is just how important it is to check and double check your models before painting them for flashing and mold lines. I seem to remember going over these models very carefully, but I have found a bunch of things that need fixing. Again, time wasted.

Unfortunately I did not get much painting done during October. November's schedule looks better, but I am pretty sure my painting schedule is going to roll over into December to finish my goal of painting 300 models. However, if I can get through my entire backlog before I head home for Christmas, I will count it as a victory.

Cheers,

Maniple

300 Challenge: Cryx Chicks Part 1

My next step in the 300 Challenge is into Warmachine. I already have a bunch of models painted up, but these Satyxis models have been sitting around for over a year. I did manage at some point to get them on some nice Back2Base-ix resin bases, but after priming them I got sidetracked. As you can see, they are highly detailed and come in a variety of poses. My first step was to paint the skin with a blend of Elf Flesh and Rotting Flesh. I then hit the wooden bases with some Scorched Brown.

 As you can see, I have a ways to go. My plan is to try and do two colors every day this week and get them done in four days. I should be fine. Today was flesh and wood, tomorrow will be cloth and leather.

 This group comes to the table half done. The models still need a lot of work, however. There are a lot of buckles and straps to pick out as well as mistakes to clean up from my previous attempt to get them on the table quickly.

 Here is the new sculpt of Pirate Queen Skarre. I really like her pose, but she needs a new base. I think I can find something that will work.

This is the old version. still pretty cool, but she is chiefly being used as a test piece for the other one so I can get my colors right.

So far so good, more updates soon!


-Maniple

Painting 300 models in 3 months

"I hereby pledge that I will not buy anything else until I finish painting what I already have." Have you ever said this?

My goal this semester is to get several hundred models painted. I have a great number of things started, but very little finished. I spent the first week back at school organizing my collection, assembling all of my new stuff, and getting a coat of primer on them. One big victory I had was cleaning up my Gundrian Fuseliers.

They were one of the first armies I ever started, but I quickly stopped working on them for a variety of reasons. My initial collection was too small to make a platoon, the conversions were overly complex, and the color scheme I started with was ugly. With a fresh look at the army list, I fixed up some of their weapons and cleaned up the paint scheme. I chose something simple and took a day to finish them off. After a long day of painting, I had a fresh platoon and command squad. With them finished, it may be a while before I return to them with new units.


Secondly, I put some work into another set of conversions that my brother had started on some years ago. They were assembled under the previous guard codex where a unit could be given a doctrine that allowed them to be fielded with CCW and laspistol. As a result, they have a rather eclectic collection of wargear. I decided to consolidate the special weapons they did have into a veteran squad and several penal legion squads. Again I opted for a simple paint scheme and finished up the veteran squad in an afternoon.

Finally, I worked on some character models and completely finished a new Commisar Lord for my Cadians.

What next? Quite a bit. Here is the list that I will be working on over the coming months.

40K:
12 Cadian troopers
25 Vanirmen
18 Miscellaneous Marines
3 Sisters of Battle
40 Squats (Old School- thanks, Tyler)
1 Valkyrie
1Baneblade
1 Battlefleet Gothic Cruiser
A handful of characters and objectives

Dystopian Wars:
Brittania Land Fleet
Brittania Ship Fleet



Hordes:
Finish up my Warband
2 War wolves
3 Warpborn Skinwalkers
2 units of Shifting Stones with UA


Warmachine:
A bunch of Cryx troops
Cryx characters
Sorcha
2 'Jacks
3 Man-O-War
Man-O-War Drakhun


Malifaux:
Epic Teddy
Miss Demeanor
December Crew add-ons
Rezzer dogs
Hoffman Crew
Dead Justice Crew
Tons of Puppets

This works out to about 282 models, not counting the 44 done so far this semester. Can I do it? How well can I make them look in a hurry?

If I get these done to an acceptable standard, my next step will be to go back next semester and add another layer of detail. Stay tuned.

-Maniple

Hordesmachine Tournament List

Our group is trying to get a few new players in the game. We have started a little competiton in order to get them up to speed as quickly as possible. A player can bring any faction from Warmachine or Hordes, building a legal 25 point (plus caster allowance) list. Here are the ways you earn tournament points (75 possible):

Army List. 25 Points possible

• 5 points for bringing a Caster or Warlock
• 5 points for bringing at least 1 Heavy Jack or Heavy Warbeast
• 5 points for bringing at least one Unit of Troops
• 5 points for bringing at least one Solo
• 5 points if you stick to your caster's tier list

Painting: 25 points possible

• 5 points if all models are primed
• 5 points if all models have some kind of decorated base.
• 5 points if all models have three colors on them (primer does not count)
• 5 points if all models have some degree of highlighting or shading
• 5/3/1 points for the top three tournament favorites as voted on by the players.

5 Tournament Games: 25 points max.

• 5 points for a Win
• 3 points for a Draw
• 1 point for a Loss

If you show up with a painted, tier friendly army and at least draw all your games you will earn 60 points. Win a few and get some extra painting points for the win! Here are my final thoughts:

• Army size is limited to 25 points plus caster bonus.
• Max points you can earn in the tourney is 75.
• Everyone who pitches in $15 to the prize pool will be eligible for prizes.
• Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place These will probably be gift certificates to a hobby store.