Pink Horror Standard Bearer Wanted

I'm after one of these little blighters.

If anyone has one that they wish to part with I am a keen purchaser.

Pete Lite Comp - Should the Beast Be Shackled?

Around the world grumbles are being heard about the rapidly replicating Beast of Nurgle. They are becoming a staple in most Daemon armies.

We are now six months into the Daemon book and it is possibly worth having a discussion.

I am considering the following constraint in PLC (2400 points):

Unless the Daemon of Chaos army is entirely marked Nurgle, Beasts of Nurgle are limited to a maximum of eight (8) models.

To me this isn't particularly heavy comp but knocks out the more extreme builds unless you limit yourself to a Nurgle-only force.

Thoughts?

EDIT:

Following on from discussion in comments perhaps the better restriction is:

"If Epidemius is in your list Beasts of Nurgle are restricted to a maximum of six (6)"

Kromlech Plague Reapers - Painted

So I posted pictures yesterday of the two Kromlech Plague Reapers. Here are some shots of the painted models prior to final highlights.

The figures are quite detailed but lack some of the crispness you get with Forgeworld resins. Certainly add nice variation and fit the army well.

Kromlech Plague Reaper

Last Wednesday I ordered two of Kromlech's Plague Reapers. They are billed as Daemonic Executioners and so I thought I would use them as additional Beasts in my Daemons of Chaos.

Well they arrived from Poland today - less than 7 days from point of ordering - and they are very nice figures. Virtually no flash at all. Size wise they stand 53mm tall.

Here are some pictures after I put one together (three piece). They have resin pins but I removed them and used metal ones for greater longevity.

The plan is to have them painted for games on the weekend.

Nurgle Daemon Goodness!

Over the past three days I have been painting up models for my Daemons of Chaos. I started on Tuesday evening and finished last night putting in a fair few hours each day.

Here's some pics of the finished models, all ready for games this weekend.

GREAT UNCLEAN ONE

NURGLE FURIES

Hobby Update

So what have I got on my painting table at the moment.

Well first up I have primed all my Horus Heresy Death Guard for painting. That is a Praetor, an Apothecary and two Contemptor Dreads (both standard DG pattern - Multi-Melta/Power Claw). They will be worked through over the next month or so. I need to paint a further Tactical Squad and that will give me most of the 1500 points I need for Adepticon.

I have also started painting the model I got from Kromlech to use as a Great Unclean One/Nurgle Daemon Prince. Hopefully I'll finish this in the next couple of days so that I can use him on the weekend. The Kromlech models are really nice. I have ordered a couple of their Plague Reapers to fit into various armies.

Additionally I have ten Nurgle Furies to paint. If you remember I made these out of Plague Bearers with Gargoyle wings. Suspect that they will be reasonably quick to paint up and they will round out the Nurgle Daemons.

There are quite a few podcasts backed up on my iPhone. About half have Lizardmen reviews on them. It will be interesting to see whether the new models I've purchased for my Lizards have been a monumental fail. Still I'll probably only have to wait a week and opinions will have changed.

I've been very impressed by the iBook version of the Army Book and in particular the 360 degree views they give of the new models. They look like they will be a joy to paint. I have purchased two Bastilodons, a Troglodon and a box of Ripperdactyls. In the meantime, I am fixing a damaged Ancient Stegadon I had downstairs and it will be an Engine of the Gods in my list. Luckily Sam Whitt has fixed me up with some spare parts and I am waiting for some additional bits to arrive from a UK Bitz seller. Once I've got it fixed then I'll start painting it and hopefully this will inspire me for the new models.

So plenty to do......as always.

Pete Lite Comp - The Skullcannon Conundrum

Most of the discussion around loosening the warmachine cap has centred on whether in conjunction with this Skullcannons should be 0-1 in a Daemons of Chaos army.

Now given that the Skullcannon is one fugly model I am not unsympathetic to that train of thought, however I do reserve doubts that such a restriction is needed.

Most of the "compers" cite the fact that Ironblasters are 0-1 under Pete-Lite and centre their analysis on a comparison between the two. Local gamer Hamish Gordon has written a very readable analysis on his blog which you can access here

However I don't think it is necessarily the best analysis to consider the unit in isolation. Rather I think you need to look at the situation as to what units add to the overall competitiveness of the army.

Here are my thoughts on Ogres and Ironblasters taken from the FOB comments:

There has to be variation between armies and Daemons unlike Ogres, for instance, are much more susceptible to Magic (ref: Hellheart, Dispel Scroll, Feedback Scroll, Rune Maw). 

Does DoC having two Skullcannons break the game? No. Personally I'd only use one as points are spent better elsewhere.

Does OKs having two Ironblasters break the game? A lot of people said yes last year, hence the restriction.

Now I have both dogs in the fight. I own Ogre Kingdoms and steered them very successfully in 2012. I will say that running two Ironblasters lifted them from a good army to a great army, their only real weakness being Warriors of Chaos during that time.

Recently I have played Daemons and used one and two Skullcannons. Neither army in the guise I ran it is as strong as an OK army with all the toys, limited to one Ironblaster.

Now that's not to say there may not be builds that are at this level of competitiveness. The Nurgle Beast build backed by Epidemis and two Skullcannons was cited by Hamish as potentially all-conquering. However I think we have to see this in practice rather than by internet analysis. Tournaments are not won purely based on Theoryhammer.

Should we see a string of wins by the 2 Skullcannon army and people flocking to build such an all-conquering build then perhaps that is the time to start limiting Skullcannons.

The Only Good Dwarf Is A Dying Dwarf!

Regular readers will know that I'm not a big fan of the Dwarf race.

To assist you all, I thought I show you how I like to treat Dwarfs when I face them on the battlefield. The following pictures are taken from my game versus Adam Richards' Stunties at Panzershreck.

The Hammerer Block is charged by the Death Chicken, four Beasts of Nurgle in the front, two in the side and a unit of Flesh Hounds in the rear. Behind that a lone Engineer receives two units of Screamers and more Flesh Hounds (note forlorn anvil to the side).

The aftermath of the front combat just before the Stunties break in terror and are caught by a Beast. Attention will now turn to the Engineer who dies ingloriously.

The Longbeards take the opportunity to charge some Horrors, over run ......straight into a trap. Lots of dead dwarfs and the Stunties are tabled.

One less army out there ruining games for people who enjoy Warhammer.

Cue some pitiful defense musing from Dwarf apologists.

Daemons at Panzershreck

Over the weekend I went up to Panzershreck in Palmerston North for a six round 2400 point event that used the Swedish Composition system. I believe that math comp achieves nothing, it just shifts goalposts from one place to another creating a new set of most efficient armies. That said, it was a great opportunity to get away for an event and meet up with the local gaming cohort.

I got up at 5.00am on the morning of the event and drove north picking Sam Whitt up on the way. We bowled into Palmy just after 8.00am ready for the 8.30am start. I posted my list earlier so you can check it out there.

Game 1 - Ryan Lister (Vampire Counts) - Battleline

Ryan has beaten my DoC the last two times we played. This time he was rocking Mannfred and a block of 9  Blood Knights (Flag of the Blood Keep) plus two Vamps one with MR2. I realised early I wasn't going to get the bus so worked over the rest of his army, including Mannfred for a moderate win.

Win 15-5

Game 2 - Peter Williamson (High Elves) - Blood & Glory

Peter had Fortitude 6 to my 4. I also realised that he would be my main opposition in this event so it was always going to be a hard game. In the end I picked up more VPs for killing units but Peter managed to destroy the Lord of Change in one round of shooting combined with a Sunfire Gem IF Fireball and that broke me. A deserved win for Peter who'd go on to win the event.

Loss 6-14

Game 3 - Adam Richards (Dwarfs) - Battleline

I hate Dwarfs. However if I have to play Dwarfs I want to play Adam. He is always looking to make it a fun game and while other Stunties will see him as far too loose, I'm sure he gets a lot of enjoyment out of his play. In this game I gave him a unit to chase after which he caught and destroyed. While that was happening the DoC went wild on the rest of his army picking up a lot of points.

Win 20-0

Game 4 - Neil Williamson (Warriors of Chaos) - Dawn Attack

Neil's army was a 16.5 on a scale that capped at 13. He had Valkyia and then fitted in some Forsaken, a Shaggoth plus a huge bus of Dogs. It was rounded out with a unit of Knights, Skullcrushers and three Marauder Horse. The key in this game was my ability to force Neil in piecemeal while my Death Chicken cleaned up his Knights and chaff. In the end I got the whole army for minimal loss.

Win 20-0

Game 5 - Stuart Robinson (Warriors of Chaos) - Battleline

Not much to say about this game. If it could go right for me, it did. If it could go average to poor for Stuart it did. An example was a shot with Skullcannon through Tzeentch (3rd Eye) Disk Hero. He rolled a 2 for his ward. In the end it was a big win.

Win 20-0

Going into the last round I was 5 Battle Points behind Peter but 21 points ahead of 3rd. So I had no downside but big upside if Peter stumbled.

Game 6 - Hamish Gordon (Empire) - Meeting Engagement

Hamish had what I thought was the strongest list at the event. A few things went wrong for me straight away - no Gateway and my Skullcannon blew up on Turn 1. Key to the game was me rolling snake eyes for the Winds of Magic Turn 2. This removed a single Beast that was diverting a second unit of Demigryphs. This allowed them to clear out a Horror unit and threaten my rear. Going into Turn 5 I was up 12-8 and decided with no downside to go for it. My LoC was on 2 wounds and charged demigryphs. He fluffed his 7 attacks and then failed a series of 5+ AS and 5++. This turned game into a small win for Hamish.

Loss 8-12

Summary

While this was going on Peter crushed his father (who I'm sure rolled over and let him tickle his tummy) so anything I would have achieved was for naught anyway. Peter was clear winner with me second. Mike King snuck into third.

Charlie Lloyd won Best Painted and Sports. He got my Painting Vote while I gave my Sports vote to Hamish.

Great event with excellent opponents. Big thanks to Jeff Kent for running it and for allowing Sam and I to crash at his place.

Next event for me is Call to Arms in just under a fortnight.

Panzershreck This Weekend

This weekend I'm off to play at Panzershreck in Palmerston North. I'll be using my Daemons of Chaos, for the first time since they crashed and burned in the last round at NiCon.

My list has been modified to drop the Tzeencth Chariot and a Skullcannon for two units of ambushing Flesh Hounds. This is a concession to the Swedish Comp system being used but in all truth I suspect one unit would have made it in anyway.

In the first round I am playing Ryan Lister's Vampire Counts. He has gone with a Mannfred-led army centred around a bus of 9 Blood Knights with Flag of the Blood Keep. I suspect this is where his two other Vamps will go making it one god-awful bus. I must say I'm impressed that someone has bought 9 Blood Knight figures!

Tomorrow will be my first games since Horned Rat so I'm looking to use the weekend to work out some ring rust before Call to Arms in two weeks. The field looks really competitive and I can see a big group in contention for podiums.

With the Death Chicken "There Will Be Feathers".

Daemons for Panzershreck - Return of the Blue Waffles

I'll be attending Panzershreck in a couple of weeks and there they are using Swedish Comp. I understand that the event has attracted 16 players so it will be interesting to see how the comp affects things.

Looking at the comp pack, I remain unconvinced that it is any type of great leap forward. All it does it shift the goalposts about and reward people for trying to "break" the system.

Obviously at some stage Sweden was overrun by a vermintide and rats are now regularly appearing on "Stockholm's Most Wanted". I didn't even try to create a list for my Skaven and defaulted straight to Daemons.

For the event you need to have a Swedish Comp score between 7 (strongest) and 13 (weakest). I took the list I used at NiCon which came in at 7 and strengthened it. Strangely this improved my comp to 11. You've got to love math-comp.

Here is my list:

Return of the Blue Waffles

Lord of Change - General, Level 4 (Metal), Greater Gift, 2x Lesser Gift

Tzeentch Herald - Level 2 (Tzeentch), BSB

20 Horrors of Tzeentch - Full Command

15 Horrors of Tzeentch

10 Horrors of Tzeentch

4 Beasts of Nurgle

Beast of Nurgle

Beasts of Nurgle

3 Screamers of Tzeentch

3 Screamers of Tzeentch

5 Flesh Hounds of Khorne - Ambushers

5 Flesh Hounds of Khorne - Ambushers

Skullcannon of Khorne

I'm thinking the list will give my opponents plenty to think about while giving me the necessary tools to get things done.

New Nurgle Daemon Prince/Great Unclean One

I've been looking out for a suitable figure to use as a Daemon Prince for a Warriors of Chaos army and stumbled across this model on eBay.

It is produced by a Polish company "Kromlech" and currently can only be purchased via eBay. They call it a Rotten Butcher (Daemon of Plague) and it tipped the scale at USD52.99

Postage from Poland was only USD7.00 and it arrived in less than a week.

The model stands 4" tall from top of head to soles of hooves. It is a five part resin model and the casting is very clean and the pieces fit together extremely easily. There is minimal cleanup and it looks like any filling required will also be minimal.

Here are some photos of the resin pieces I received:

I am very happy with the figure an intend to use it both as a Nurgle DP and also as a Great Unclean One.

Once it is painted I'll post pictures.

The Nicon Experience

So back yesterday from Napier and six games of Warhammer at NiCon.

I took the Daemon list I had previously posted as I had spend the last 3-4 months painting Daemon figures and was keen to use them at an event.

Game 1 - Mike King (Lizardmen) - Battleline

Mike and I have been playing this game weekly and both had good understanding of how the other player's army worked. In the end there was carnage on both sides as we set about systematically dismantling one another. I lost a Skullcannon with the first shot of the game, a trend that was going to continue for that  particular model every game on the first day. I managed to clear out one Saurus block and get the Slaan General while Mike brought down the Death Chicken. After 6 turns I had killed 1940 VPs to Mike's 1910 VPs, making it a draw.

Draw 10-10

Game 2 - Nick Munn (Skaven) - Meeting Engagement

Having played with the rats on the odd occasion I had a pretty good idea of the army's strengths and weaknesses. Nick had the toys and the bodies. I managed over 6 turns to destroy his army picking up 2552 VPs while losing 645 VPs in return. This gave me a good win which was totally unexpected as I had heard on the internet that the Skaven were broken.

Win 19-1

Game 3 - Brian Smith (Dark Elves) - Battleline

Brian had the list that I thought was the most interesting in the field - bar my own one of course. It had huge blocks of Executioners and Corsairs backed by two Cauldrons and two Hydras. I quickly calculated that I would try and take out Hydras, Executioners and chaff while minimising losses to furnish a 15-5. While initially that plan worked, both Hydras gone by Turn 2, Brian got a long charge by his Executioners on my Death Chicken and I eventually lost him to the grind. In the end I was up by 199 VPs after killing 1539 VPs. This was a single VP short of a win.

Draw 10-10

Game 4 - James Cardno (Warriors of Chaos) - Dawn Attack

James pretty much had the internet build for Warriors of Chaos and this game was played on the heady heights of Table 1 with James leading the event by 5-6 points. Very early on things were looking very shaky as James made three of four slightly long charges into my Beast of Nurgle anvil. Through a smart challenge I was able to hold the combat with one wound left on my unit. My Death Chicken then went medieval on the Skullcrushers - Multiple Wounds and No Armour Save Gifts - doing 11 wounds. There was much smiling in the poultry farm. At the same time a Gateway (six Strength 8) wounded James Daemon Prince. I only did 4 wounds but James failed all four 5+ wards. James felt he was unlucky but based on averages (7x Str 7) he should die and on actual (6x Str 8) it is highly likely outcome. From here I went on a VP harvest and picked up points. I could have got a lot more but James' BSB made a Ld 4 Break test on the re-roll which was a swing of 800+ points. In the end I killed 2032 VPs for a solid win.

Win 15-5

Game 5 - James Brown (Ogres) - Battleline

James had Irongut Deathstar with RuneMaw and Crown making it largely invulnerable. I therefore planned to pick up the rest of the points and see where the cards fell. Unfortunately (well actually a fuck up of biblical proportions) I miscalculated the shot range of James' Ironbaster on Turn 1 giving him a shot at the Death Chicken. Of course he killed it with that single shot. So down 670 points before I start. Over the rest of the game I lost another 400 points and picked up 1242 VPs in return. I thought I played really well given the start but made two more errors in retrospect. I gave James' a charge on my Tzeentch chariot due to sloppy play and I received a "free" unit of Bloodletters which I threw away for little reward. I should have played a longer game with them.

Just a note on this game and mysterious terrain. I felt it was spoiled by the presence of a Wizard's Tower on the table - and just outside one deployment zone. This gave me free Loremaster on a unit of Horrors which mention I could potentially throw two Gateways a turn. I believe this is a good illustration of why we limit Mysterious Terrain to woods and marshes here in Wellington. It is potentially too unbalancing.

Draw 10-10

Game 6 - Dan Butler (Warriors of Chaos) - Blood and Glory

Dan's army had a Fortitude of 4 which meant I needed to pick up a single FP to win the game. These points were on his Dragon Lord (2), unkillable BSB (1) and Marauder Horse (1). My plan was to concentrate on the Lord - kill him after removing him from his Dragon - and the Marauders. A solid plan, but sometimes everything goes awry. I lost the Lord of Change to a Hellcannon shot Turn 1 and though I killed the Dragon and reduced the Marauders to two, I couldn't seem to buy a trick. I believe that I had about 6-7 dice rolls which would (and probably should) have won me the game but it wasn't to be my day. Saying that, I think Dan played superbly well and thoroughly deserved the win. It gave him the overall prize and I understand it was the first time he had taken out an event. I'd like to think that that was in no small part due to the help I gave him. Well done Dan, much deserved.

I avoided being tabled only by managing not to blow up my remaining Skullcannon after it misfired with the last shot of the game. Dan received 3015 VPs (with scenario bonus) while I managed 845 VPs.

Loss 0-20

Overall I had a great weekend. My record was two wins, three winning draws and a loss. Over the six games I collected more than 10,000 VPs which illustrates how aggressively the army was played. I thought I played well enough to podium but the Chaos Gods are fickle. In the end I finished 5th but had enormous fun. I played the list very aggressively pretty much always being in combat with my Chicken (when he was alive) Turn 1. Both the list and style of play was a surprise to a lot of players. The Daemons are enormously fun to play and I feel provide a real challenge both to me and my opponent. They are chaotic by nature but that just adds to their lovability.

Thanks to Jeff for umpiring and to all my opponents for a fun weekend

Daemons for NiCon

Next weekend is NiCon in the Hawkes Bay. This event moves around the North Island, last year being in Auckland. There it drew a very respectable field of 34 and I was lucky enough to win it with my Skaven.

This year - being in a smaller locale - it has drawn a much smaller field. Currently there are 12 players signed up for the event. I'm going up as part of a holiday with my wife, her sister and brother-in-law so adopted a pretty relaxed approach to the event. Over the past three months I've been painting Daemons and so I've built a list out of my most recent additions.


Lord of Change - Level 4 (Metal), Greater Gift, 2x Lesser Gift

Herald of Tzeentch - Level 2 (Tzeentch), BSB

20 Pink Horrors - Full Command

15 Pink Horrors - Standard

10 Pink Horrors - Standard, Gleaming Pennant

4 Beasts of Nurgle

Beast of Nurgle

Beast of Nurgle

3 Screamers

3 Screamers

Flaming Chariot of Tzeentch - Blue Horror Crew

Skullcannon

Skullcannon

I've had a few practice games with the list and I am starting to get my head around it. It is very chaotic and sometimes you just have to accept what the dice throw up.

WIP - A Flock of Festering Furies

Yesterday a box of Plaguebearers arrived in the mail. I had purchased these to create some "Nurgle" Furies for my Daemons. Two units of -1 to hit flyers, I feel will complement the Plague Drones.

Anyway a very simple conversion/kitbash. A box of PBs + Gargoyle Wings = 2 Units of Nurgle Furies.

The gargoyle wings fit straight on the shoulders of the PBs and were "welded" there with plastic glue.

Looking to paint them over the next week and then I'll get some shots up.

Herald of Nurgle

Here are a few pictures of a Herald of Nurgle I've been working on.

Based on the Nurgle Chaos Lord and utilises the Plaguebearer Champion head from the Plague Drones. The banner is a Stormvermin banner with Nurgle symbol added. Base is still to be finished with tufts and grass.

New FAQs - Daemons and Empire

Daemons

Empire

As expected Leadership for Daemonic Instability is limited 0-10

Reign of Chaos affects ALL enemy

And in Empire news, Hatred is restricted to Rider only (Guess GW have sold enough Demigryph models)

Edit: lots more coming in as of Tuesday PM

WIP - Slaaneshi Chariots

I've also started work on the Chariot Corps for my Daemons. Here is a WIP on the three different Slaaneshi chariots - Exalted, Hellflayer and Chariot. My plan is to use Juan Diaz Daemonettes as crew.

Blue Waffles

Over the weekend I based and trayed 50+ Horrors for my Daemons of Chaos. These are the old - 3 editions back - Horrors with the big hands. I love the goofy little rascals.

From here I am planning to give the spots and claws a further 1-2 highlights but wanted to get them to usable condition.

So introducing the Blue Waffles:

Four Units Ranked with Extra Horrors For Raising

These Units Act As Level One Wizard For 120 Points

Command Has Been Included In One Unit

Used Back2 Bas-ix Resin Bases

And All On Sarissa Precision Trays

Lizards & Vamps 2 - Daemons 0

Had two games over the weekend and both ended in heavy defeat for my Daemons of Chaos.

Mike (Runefang Lizards) and I played Meeting Engagement and both my GUO and Nurgle Herald arrived late to the party. Perhaps the GUO should have stayed away altogether as he was dead by the top of Turn 3, being Baneheaded by a Banishment. I had a chance to get Mike's Slaan late on and got him down to two wounds but weight of magic was telling in the end.

Against Ryan (Runefang Vamps), we played Watchtower. Ryan passed up putting a unit in but smart use of Van Hels put his big skeleton block in the tower. I then started to whittle it down with Herald-led Plaguebearers (despite the unwelcome attention of some zombies) and stopped it re-growing. The Beasts cleaned out the Varghiests. The key combat though was Vamp Lord on the GUO. I have +2 to WS, Str, A and Init, ASF but was Soulblighted. Through Red Fury and OTS Ryan killed the GUO in one round and although I struck at same time I was unable to wound him back. Ryan pulled the knight bus back but game ended Turn 4 denying me the opportunity to continue the Tower assault.

So two really fun games. I'm still liking the list a lot and feel that with more practise I'll be able to grind out some wins.