Weekend Hobby Update

Work progresses on a number of fronts at present.

Firstly, I have started painting my THM Volcanic terrain. The lava has received a base coat - Averland Sunset over two coats of Vallejo Grey Primer (brushed) over Army Painter Black (spray). And the rock is on its third colour over a black spray base. I'm hoping to finish the rock this week to allow me to spray the lava on the weekend.

Secondly, having finished all my Herd basing, today I got 10 Mierce Taurox that I am using as Guardian Brutes. Originally I was going to put five on the base but I may have to reconsider that as they are large figures. I'm hoping I'll get them based this week.

Finally, I have been undertaking "The Great Leap Forward". This is a rationalisation/organisation of all my hobby terrain. It involves new garage storage but also determining what to keep and what to get rid of. As a result I have a large pile of (mainly) 40k terrain I'm going to sell - craters, fliers, urban buildings, jungle terrain, 40k ruins, basecloths, mdf buildings etc. I'll take it along to Maelstrom (next 40k event locally) but if any locals want to come and rake it over first then let me know. I also have about 5-6 6'x4' mdf tabletops if anyone needs a board.

Kickstarter - THM "Volcanic"

Lasted year I supported the first Kickstarter by THM where they produced a series of resin terrain pieces for Wargaming.

That was their first venture and it delivered on time - the only hiccup being the delayed delivery by Canada Post (never get anything sent surface to NZ - it took 10+ weeks). However when the package arrived the pieces were fantastic, painted up well and looked great on the table.

In mid-April they launched their second Kickstaeter with the "Volcanic" theme. Again this was successfully funded and given the quality of their first KS, I enthusiastically supported it, being one of their "Early Backers". This meant that delivery was scheduled for August 2016.

I paid the extra postage to have my package sent airmail and it arrived yesterday.

The piece in the top left is the Dark Altar and is 11" across. In the picture below you can see how crisp the detail is.

There was only a minimal amount of flash and that was only on a few pieces. It was restricted to the very edges and so was an easy clean up - 20 minutes for the whole lot using the GW Finecast Scraper.

I have a mix of lava pools, craters, fences and stalagmites to round out the table I plan.

All the pieces have now been washed to remove and release agent residue and this weekend I'm looking forward to painting them up.

THM are really the poster boys for a successful Kickstarter. They produce a great product, on time with realistic stretch goals. I'd have no hesitation supporting their future ventures or adding to my collection from their retail webstore.

You can check that out at THMiniatures.com

 

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Terrain - Merchant's Townhouse

With me having free time in the evening - due to getting through household duties during the day - I'm finally getting a number of projects finished.

Over the weekend I was bugging Sam as I've finished basing all The Herd I've got back and was told that good things take time. So out came some terrain I had partly based and I've moved onto that.

The first of these is the Merchant's Townhouse from Tabletop World. Regular readers will know that I have a lot of these pieces and that I love working with them. I use them as gaming pieces and they are ideal for KoW.

The house has been mounted on mdf, fenced and landscaped.

The walls at the front were printed on my 3-D printer.

The fences are by Renadra while the trees are old ones from Citadel.

Base measures 8" square which is great for some Height 4 impassable terrain.

 

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Australian KOW Rankings Launched

Over the past few weeks I've been working with a group of Australian TOs to get an Australian KOW rankings system established.

That is now up and running (thanks to the efforts of Jack to create the interface).

The three countries now using the FOB rankings methodology for KOW are now all grouped on this site under a single button. This is still listed as UK KOW Rankings (below the main banner) but in fact it has widened its scope and will be amended in the next few days.

As always the rankings have an opt-out option and for the UK you just need to advise Darren Parkes, for Australia Nick Legrand and NZ myself.

Over time - with more events - it will be possible to track how different armies are doing in different countries (though of course the sample size is statistically insignificant).

Warlords Super Series "Spring" KOW Tournament

As foreshadowed earlier in the week, the final Warlords Super Series KOW tournament "Spring" has been brought forward to 17th September.

The Players Pack for the event can be found here

Event registrations will be tracked and can be accessed by clicking on the button below the banner.

Kings of War Historical out in September

I've been waiting for this all year - KOW Historical. And it is out in September!

These are full rules and 30+ army lists for Ancient/Medieval wargaming. I love the KOW mechanics so I've no doubt that the rules will work for Ancients making a fun and enjoyable game.

Mighty Ape will have them....and they will be available digitally.

Paint Pot - iPhone App

While looking through the Apple App Store this morning I found this really useful little app - Paint Pot.

Effectively it is a database of hobby paints which can be used to create lists from. It covers all the major paint manufacturers - Citadel, Vallejo, Privateer Press etc - and appears to be up to date and current.

I was looking at it to create a shopping list so that I can know what paints I need to buy when I go to the hobby shop or make an Internet order.

However you can also use it as a record of colours you used on specific models or armies. This is illustrated in the next screenshot.

You can create a paint log for the model including a breakdown of specific mixes.

And best of all - it is free!

 

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Fields of Blood Event Calendar Updated

I've updated the FOB Event Calendar for Kings of War and Ninth Age events that I have been advised are coming up.

Crack's Call in Masterton has its registrations closing soon so download the Players Pack and send Neil a registration.

The next Warlords Super Series was down for 29 October but I've checked and there is no Warlords meeting that day so I'll need to reschedule. With October filling up I may look at 17 September as the month is free.

Tournament Result - Kings of Shore

Last weekend Rob Sadler ran a one day KoW event in Auckland. It was three rounds at 2000 points. Here are the results:

The tie breaker was Attrition.

The results will be uploaded to the Rankings this week.

Great to see another event in Auckland.

LOVE Multibasing - Tribal Warriors/Hunters

Following on from yesterday Stampede post, here are my Tribal Warriors/Hunters.

These are Troop sized units using OOP metal Ungors with current edition plastic shields. Again they are painted by Sam (well 20 of them are - the other four I had to do to meet MMC) and based by me.

I've used a broken ground theme for the basing.

They can be grouped together for row Regiments.

Or for one Horde.

Next to base are two Infantry characters.

 

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LOVE Multibasing - Herd Stampede

Over the weekend I based some of the latest Herd models I picked up from Sam the Painter.

Continuing the "Broken Ground" basing theme, I wanted to create a base where forest animals were being herded into the fight.

The Herder is from Mierce while the wild boars are from Wyrd's Malifaux "Outcasts".

Thanks to Sam for the job he did on the models.

I have similar figures to do a second Stampede (waiting for three more boars from UK to arrive).

Currently I am basing some OOP metal Ungors which will be multi-purpose. They are being based as Troop units but together can build a Horde.

 

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The Hobby Corner - A Local Friendly Game Stockist

Yesterday I went up to Kapiti (40 miles north of Wellington) to see my mum. I know what you readers are thinking "what a wonderful and dutiful son Pete is! He never S fails to amaze us".

On the way home I stopped at Paraparumu Beach to check our The Hobby Corner which is part of the local pharmacy. Local business owner (and wargamer) Scott Bowman has combined his two loves to bring another hobby outlet to the area.

I became aware of The Hobby Corner at Call to Arms last weekend. Scott was there supporting the convention as one of the trade stands.

The shop stocks products from a wide number of manufacturers - Mantic, Warlord, Games Workshop, Army Painter, Vallejo, Perry Miniatures, Fantasy Flight Games, Woodland Scenics and I'm sure many others.

I can see it being an important hub for the local gamers and I know I'll drop in there regularly given my familial visits.

Good luck to Scott and thanks for taking the plunge.

 

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Call to Arms - Kings of War Results

Over the weekend Call to Arms was held in Wellington featuring Kings of War for the first time.

The event was 2000 points over six rounds and was umpired by Robert Higgins.

The results were as follows:

Best Sport - Eugene Gielen

Best Painted - Pete Dunn

It was a very relaxed event given two days for six rounds. From my point of view the only real disappointment was the withdrawal of two players after Day One. This put the Swiss Chess draw under real pressure going into the final rounds. It also would result in the results not being included in the rankings if the Umpire chose not to include the withdrawals in the official results. Rob did because players had travelled specifically to get to rankings events.

FOB NZ Rankings - 40k Updated

The Warhammer 40k rankings have been updated for two recent events - Camp 40k in the south and Call to Arms in Wellington.

The Top 10 is starting to consolidate however the big event looming on the horizon is Conquest in October.

Kiwi Representation at Gencon

Checking out the excellent "Until Somebody Loses An Eye" blog this morning and I saw some pictures of NZ's David Grieg in action at Gencon.

David was in the running for Best Army Appearance I understand.

A Rat's Tail - Ratkin at CTA

I've been away for the last month and so have played no games in the last month and effectively 1-2 in the last two months. While I was away I submitted my list for CTA and made some changes from what I had been running, dropping Brutes and Slave Hordes and taking a second Horde of Shock Troops and some Vermintide.

The event was 2000 points, six rounds with rulebook missions. Terrain was our typical 8-10 pieces per table.

My list was:

• 3x Tunnel Slave Regiments
• 2x Shock Troop Hordes
• 1x Blight Horde
• 1x Vermintide Regiment
• 2x Weapons Teams with Storm of Lead
• 2x Death Engine with Vile Sorcery
• Swarm Crier
• Warlock with Bane Chant and Inspiring Talisman
• Deamonspawn with Wings

So you can see I've gone light on Magic Items and where possible tried to get some symmetry into the list.

Game One - Matt Barker (Abyssal Dwarfs) - Loot

In this game I managed to get two of the Loot counters early - The Blight grabbing theirs and eventually getting off the board unmolested. The one on my right flank Matt secured and tried to run for his table edge. I was able to shoot the carrying unit breaking Nerve and this left the counter unclaimed at the end.

In the centre my Shock Troops got the counter and started to back up. On the final turn they were sitting on 15+ wounds and made the decision to charge their pursuers in an attempt to break them so they didn't have to weather another charge. They broke the enemy leaving me with two counters.

Win 16-4

Game Two - Jayden Howell (Goblins) - Dominate

Jayden plays 10+ games a week on Universal Battle and as I said I felt very rusty going into this. Both of us were going to try and shove our hordes into the centre circle but both had good shooting. The game turned very cagey as we both realised sitting in the middle was sure death. My advantage was that my units were worth more points per square cm than Jayden's so I needed less in there.

This turned into probably the most tactical game of KoW I've played and at the end of Turn 6 it was a draw. We rolled up a 7th turn and while i was able to kill some of Jayden's units, he could cycle more in. It ended a draw on scenario and also Attrition.

Draw 10-10

Game Three - Joel Cunningham (Varangur) - Kill

This was a good scenario for me versus Joel's Varangur which only had two breath attacks. He had 3 Cavern Dwellers, the Linkworm and a Lord on Chimera (so juicy points haul). Turn One I let him come forward and then concentrated my shooting at his Lord putting 7 wounds on him. This kept him out of much of the game as he was reluctant to commit with my Daemonspawn playing sweeper. I erected a chaff wall in front of his Cavern Dwellers and was able to shoot them off over 3-4 turns. His infantry eventually took out my Blight but then received multiple charges and were destroyed.

Win 18-2

Game Four - Eugene Gielen (Ratkin) - Pillage

My first ever Ratkin civil war, Eugene's army had three Shredders and three Weapons Teams. Eugene won the roll for first turn and took it (which I thought was a mistake). He moved to close the distance and I was able to concentrate my Death Engines and LBs on the Daemonspawn doing 8 wounds. This spooked it and it decamped to somewhere safer. Eugene's shredders had awful luck but I had restricted his targets to the Blight and Slaves. Eventually a double 6 took out the Blight so it probably evened out a bit.

I committed chaff to inflict wounds and hold the enemy in place concentrating fire to remove units controlling counters. In the last turns I pushed my heavy hitters to mop up and hold 5 of the 7 objectives.

Win 17-3

Game Five - Ryan Lister (Undead) - Invade

This was a tough match for me as Ryan's army was composed of high point units. However I new he had points tied up in two Vamp Lords and they would only count half. I concentrated my army in the centre and pushed straight up the guts. On the flanks I sacrificed the Slaves, Verminkin and Weapons Teams to delay the Undead roll. I got lucky taking out Wraiths on a roll of 10. In the middle I sacrificed a unit of Shock Troops to take out Wraiths (x2), Soul Revenants and Werewolves. This cost me a Death Engine late in the game but with the other Shock Troops taking out a regiment of Dopplegangers I was able to win the centre and pushed quite a few points into Ryan's half. In the end it was a narrow win but it could have gone either way.

Win 16-4

Game Six - Kent Jackson (Elves) - Kill & Pillage

Kent's list was a bad match up for mine. He had Lord on Drakon, two Hordes of Drakons, lots of shooting units etc. There were also seven counters so I would have to expose my units to shooting to ensure I picked up the necessary points. In the end I was lucky that Kent tried to sweep a flank with his Lord and the two Drakon Hordes. This allowed me to use most of my army to blunt them before I moved forward to capture counters. One brave Slave regiment reached the Elf shooting lines and made a real nuisance of itself before dying (as all good slaves do). I was able to claim four of the counters and contest two others as well as picking up good points on the Drakons.

Win 18-2

Wash-Up

Overall the army did very well. I didn't really miss my Brutes and the Verminhorde were a nice variation over Slaves. It functioned against a wide range of adversaries from high shooting to none. One of the key requirements with the army is to be patient. You isolate threats but key is not to be too aggressive. I believe this is specially true with the Daemonspawn and the Weapons Teams as they can undertake multiple roles. I've started using the big guy more as a sweeper these days to instill uncertainty into the enemy. This is a different role from when I used the MRF where he was required to babysit.

In the end I finished on 95/120 points. Given that it was impossible to score 20 points in a game unless you didn't lose a model and destroyed the enemy army - and virtually impossible to get 19 - I was happy with the haul.

Starting the last round one point behind Jayden, I leapfrogged him to win by two. Both of us finished 5-1-0. Ryan was third with 4-0-2.

That meant I got some treasure. Yes-yes very covet-precious!

Call to Arms - Wellington Warlords' Annual Convention

Over the weekend my local club the Wellington Warlords held their annual convention, Call to Arms. This event has been going since the mid-seventies - so 40+ years.

It was great to see around 200 gamers battle it out across the table in a variety of competitions. From my reckoning I saw tournaments in:

• Kings of War
• Malifaux
• Age of Sigmar
• Warhammer 40k
• Dystopian Wars
• Blood Bowl
• Lord of the Rings
• Flames of War
• DBMM (Historical Ancients)

In addition, there were demo games in Frostglaive, Bolt Action and Guildball as well as WWII Naval, Napoleonics and I'm sure others that I missed.

I love multi-event conventions as you can walk around the tables and see a variety of different games as well as catch up with people who you might only see occasionally as you now play different games.

Up on the stage there was a huge Bring & Buy. I managed to sell about $300 worth of stuff that was taking up space in the garage. In addition, I pick up for Jack, an OOP Forgeworld Fire Dragon (new in its box). Score!!

ETC Modelling - Is this a new low?

In the past the ETC has thrown up some gems such as the infamous "Barrel of Bugs" army but this year we may have a new individual model low!

High Elf Skycutter Chariot

Those Pelicans obviously like tuna!

 

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UK KOW Rankings Launched on Fields of Blood

The astute amongst you will have noticed a new button below the Fields of Blood banner.

Yesterday we launched the UK Kings of War rankings. These follow a similar methodology to the NZ rankings but have been tweaked to reflect the UK KoW tournament scene.

The workhorses behind these rankings are Darren Parkes who collected all the UK data and Jack who did all the technical wizardry. Thanks guys.

Fields of Blood is happy to host them and believes that they will make a great addition to both the UK (and wider) tournament scene.

Darren is point man for UK TOs to send their results to going forward.

Review - Mantic Centaurs

A few months ago I purchased some Mantic Centaurs for my The Herd. These were a new release this year and I believe are part of the Forces of Nature range.

These models are metal rather than restic or plastic. They come in a box of five and there is also a Champion/Charactermodel that comes in its own blister.

Being used to GW metals of the past I was quite surprised how soft the metal was. It is very very bendable. I worry in the long term that the legs of the centaur of the weapons will break with normal use. We'll see.

The Five Centaurs with the Centaur Lord in the Foreground

I think that the models are a step up from the GW Centigor models in terms of sculpting. Certainly they are not as clunky or mono-posed.

The real problem with these models from an ease of use point of view is that they are broken into too many component parts. This makes them a real pisser to put together. In particular the arms are seperate from torsos and hands and the horse body is in two halves. I would suggest that they are not great for new modellers in that they are fiddly and have significant gaps. You can see in the photos the amount of green stuff filling I had to do.

The Five Centaurs - My Champ (Rear) came sans Tail

All the figures required filling and filing to get them ready to paint. What is surprising is that the Centaur Lord comes with single piece horse body. I'm not sure why this couldn't have been carried over to the box set.

When You Are A Lord You Get A More Solid Horse

I think the figures will paint up quite well and will look very nice on a multibase.

 

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Hobby Update

Right, so back in New Zealand after my month away....and looking to get my hobby back on.

While I was away I managed to visit a Blick Art Shop in Boston and picked up a few hobby supplies. These included a model clamp, a wet palette, some Zip Kicker (super glue accelerant) and more airbrush cleaner. Took up little space and was dirt cheap all in all.

When I arrived back my Kraken battlemat that I sourced through Kickstarter had arrived. It was 2-3 months late which seems to be pretty good for a physical KS. This month is expected to see the delivery of the second THM KS which I'm greatly looking forward to.

On this weekend is the Warlords annual convention, Call to Arms. It is a split focus event with a multitude of different games being played. The numbers for KoW are very disappointing - the field has dropped to just 10 after some pullouts. Life is tough for TOs at the moment as there seems general apathy in the tournament wargaming community in general - the exception being the Christchurch 40k scene.

Hoping to get motivated to bring along some stuff for the Bring & Buy. It normally has a good turnout.