Call to Arms Fantasy Results

Here are the results for the Call to Arms Fantasy competition held over the weekend.

Best Painted went to Sam Whitt with Joel van de Ven-Long second. Best Sports to Josh Kennedy with James Millington 2nd.

This was Tom's first tournament win after he placed 3rd at NatCon. It was Tim's first North Island win.

My predictions were reasonably spot-on. My Top 5 all finished in the Top 7. Sam and Joel pushed their armies in to spoil my party.

Sam was leading going into the last round where he lost to Tim (15-5). Tom pulled out a 20-0 over Raymond to jump from 3rd.

Interested to get some feedback on what people thought of Special Characters being included. Only one army in the Top 8 (10?) had one - Tim's Tomb Kings. However while Khalida strengthened the list the two Catapults and two Caskets made it pretty nasty to start with.

Special Characters at CTA Fantasy

Special Characters have been allowed for the first time in years for a Wellington event. There are 22 participants and after checking their lists we have:

Khalida (Tomb Kings)
Throgg the Troll King (Warriors of Chaos)
Festus the Leechlord (Warriors of Chaos)
The Green Knight (Bretonnians)
Tyrion (High Elves)

Of these the most worrying is Khalida as there are no surprises what unit she will be in given there is a unit of 50 Skeleton Bowmen. 2x 50 shots always hitting on 4s and poison is going to shred a lot of armies. It will be interesting to see which armies get to the block.

It will also be interesting to get thoughts on Special Characters post the event :-)

Caveat Emptor

Just over a year ago I purchased a Forgeworld Great Unclean One off New Zealand’s eBay equivalent, Trademe. The cost was about 70% of the price that it would have cost to buy direct from Forgeworld. It came on a Forgeworld bag, all the pieces were there etc.


I painted up the model and you can see the finished product.

A couple of weeks later my interest was piqued, when after buying a Forgeworld Keeper of Secrets from the same buyer, I saw that he was selling two more Great Unclean Ones. Checking his other sales I saw that he had multiple auctions of a limited range of Forgeworld figures. I’m naturally a suspicious type and thought that it was extremely unlikely that a private buyer had purchased three Great Unclean Ones from Forgeworld, given the cost.

There had increasingly been stories of Forgeworld getting burnt when they shifted some production to the Far east and I thought that this might be the remnants of some of this product.

Fast forward a year. Yesterday a parcel turned up at my place with a number of figures in it. Check out the following:

Games Workshop’s Khemri Warsphinx. So what? Well you’re right it is the Tomb King Warsphinx but instead of plastic the whole model is made of resin! Now unless I’m mistaken Games Workshop haven’t shifted the Sphinx to Finecast.

The model arrived bagged up – solid body – separate legs – head jaws, etc. It came with the howdah and the Tomb Prince/King. Assembly was 15-20 minutes, very little flash and in fact all it required was the removal of resin pouring lugs. Here is a close up of the detail.

And what was the cost of this figure? Well the local RRP for the Khemri Warsphinx is NZ$98. This model cost US$18 (NZ$22). This is less than a quarter of the price.

So here is clear evidence that Games Workshop is facing a piracy problem. This is not some poor quality home casting but a sophisticated copy of their IP. I am now suspicious that the Forgeworld figures I purchased last year were in fact sourced from a similar facility and then sold on the local auction site.

So the upshot is caveat emptor - “let the buyer beware”. Be sure that when you use an auction site that you know what you are paying for. To be honest in this case – and as the owner of two Games Workshop plastic Khemri Warsphinx – I can see little difference in quality between the authentic and the “copy”. The major difference is in the heft of the figure.

Calling all baby seal clubbers!

Here's what I settled on for Homecon:

Liche High Priest, Lore of Nehekara, Level 4, Earthing Rod
Liche High Priest, Lore of Light, Level 4, Scroll

Tomb Herald, BSB

21 Archers, Mus, Std
20 Archers, Mus Std
10 Archers
10 Archers
3 Chariots, Mus, Std, Flaming Banner

4 Necro Knights, FC
Warsphinx, Fiery Breath
Warsphinx, Fiery Breath

SSC

SSC

Casket

Heirotitan

Should be a good learning experience.  Hopefully since the first round is seeded by list strength I won't be too out of my depth.

Does it do Mindrazor?

Homecon II is coming up in a couple of weeks, and just like the Empire last time, I'm thinking of trying out a new army for the event. The only army of Dad's that really caught my attention of the ones I hadn't used before was the Tomb Kings, so I figured why not, let's give it a go.

Now, some reading would suggest the Tomb Kings are much maligned by the Internet Tough Guys (TM) on TWF and elsewhere, and are apparently a shadow of their former self.  Off to a good start then.  At Homecon, we are playing under SCGT Comp v2, so the strength of the armies will probably bit towards the high end of what we see in NZ.  Nothing better than a trial by fire to learn a new army!

Dad's posted pics of the bit's and pieces of his TKs that he's painted up since the book came out, but ideally he'd have painted a bit more for me ;).  There are only four Necro Knights, two Sphinxes, and only 60 archers.  That last complaint seems a bit ridiculous, even to me, but under SCGT, they are allowed up to 90 archers, and from what I've heard, archers are quite good.

There are quite a few unique list ideas out there at the moment.  Obviously there is the Khalida filth, but SCGT goes some way to restrict that.  One build that really caught my eye was the idea of using Ramotep, who is the Necrotect special character.  He gives Frenzy and Hatred to his Tomb Guard Horde, and gives re-roll saves to a big unit of Necro Knights.  Coupled with a bit of Light magic and you have some serious combat power!  Only having 4 snakes is a bit of a barrier to that though.

Basically, I'm going to try out a 'standard' list and see how it goes.  I'm still figuring out a couple of options, but all of the usual suspects will be present:

• 60 Archers
• 4 Necro Knights
• 2 Warsphinxes
• 2 Catapults
• Casket

At this stage, it looks like a Heirotitan and a couple of Level 4s (Nehekara and Light) will be joining them, but I'm still tossing up a couple of things.  I'll put up the full list tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to giving these guys a run out and seeing what they can do.  I am under no illusions; I expect to get smashed and be making up the numbers on the bottom tables, but it should be a great deal of fun!  
It will also be my first time without Mindrazor in almost a year.  I'm just a terrible person on the inside...

2012 - The Year of Ratties, Fatties and Boners

With 2011 coming to a close I’m about to end my self-imposed hiatus from the tournament game. Moving into 2012 I’m looking to start playing events again having already signed up for Equinox and intending to play both Runefang and NatCon.


With this in mind I’ve been (slowly) painting up the various pieces I have outstanding for a number of armies.

First love, Skaven have seen some new Clanrats added and also two new Abominations purchased (Bane Legion’s Flint-Fang and Forgeworld’s Brood Horror). I’ve also purchased a swathe of Rat Ogres and I have some Weapons Teams. Over the next few months I hope to finish them giving me 6000+ points of tournament ready rats.

Second off the rank are my Ogres. I’ve added all the new characters, the new Monsters, new artillery and have just purchased three new Forgeworld Rhinox Riders. Once finished this again will give me about 6000 points of Ogres.

Finally, the Tomb Kings. As regular readers will be aware I have finished two Sphinxes, heaps of Archers and the Necropolis Knights over the last few months. I’m looking to tidy up the rest of the existing army and finish the Herald I need.

So the upshot of this is that I intend having three ready to use armies for next year which I can tailor to particular situations. Hard to see the skaven being replaced as main army but sure it will help to mix it up. On top of this I have a long term project to add more units to my Empire and add the new Vampire Count units as they are released in support of the book.

The Weekend's Hobby

Over the weekend I based all my new Tomb King models and now all I have to do is add static grass and the army is largely finished.


I do have a Hierotitan and Herald to paint but then that’s it for the Tomb Kings. I’ll try and get them done over the holiday break.

The other thing I did over the weekend was to sort out what I want in my Ogres. I managed to sell off two boxes of Mournfang Cavalry and replaced them with an order for three Forgeworld Rhinox Riders. I already have three painted so this will give me more options.

I have made up one Ironblaster and have undercoated it ready to paint. I have a second Ironblaster but this is pretty much surplus to requirements as I can’t see too many events let you run two. So if you want a cheap Ironblaster still on the sprue let me know and I’ll work out a cheap price.

A quick reckoning shows that I now have about 5000 points of Ogres so some time in 2012 I’m looking to get them all on the table in some form of mega battle.

Sphinxii Hit the Boards

After three-four months sitting on the painting table my Sphinxii are ready for basing.

They are painted to a tabletop standard to get them onto the battlefield.

The Howdah come off so the Necrosphinx can be use as either a Necro or Warsphinx.

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - Redux

And at the Throne of Skulls at Warhammer World over the weekend, there was an effective demonstration of what you can get with no comp.


Bryan Carmichael (who from Twitter conversations I’ve had with him is a lovely bloke) took Tomb Kings and won the event.

The lynchpin of his army was Queen Khalida and a unit of 89 Archers. Khalida improves the archers shooting to a never modified BS3 i.e. always hit on 4s, and poisoned shots.

What that means is each turn on average 45 shots hit the target, 15 of them poisoned. Of the other 30 – 15 more wounds (T3), 10 more wounds (T4) and 5 more wounds (T5 or T6).

In one game, this saw a Bloodthirster deleted in one turn, most of 30 Bloodletters the next etc.

As I said before “This is why we can’t have nice things”.

See? I'm into Recycling.

Everyone loves a bargain and I’m no exception. Last week I picked up a Tomb Kings Battalion Box plus the Liche Priest blister (with mounted and foot) and a Tomb King on Trademe for $40. Works out at less than 20% retail.

It arrived yesterday and was partly assembled and les than 5% painted. Win-win!

See? Good things happen to good people :-)

I've now finished painting my Snake Surfers and Sphinxes so I have a weekend ahead of painting 60 Archers. They may yet make HomeCon!

The Sands Keep Shifting......Still

So after feedback and some discussions with Jack (which were primarily “I’ve got no idea how it will play”), I’ve come up with a revised list.

The revisions take out some of the “luxuries” that were in the first list and make it a bit leaner. I like it flexibility and the variety of options it has to counterpunch. Certainly I think it is suited to my general wargaming playstyle which is to force the enemy forward then counterattack.

Here’s the list breakdown:

Liche High Priest – Level 4 Hiero, Lore of Nehekhara, Earthing Rod, Talisman of Preservation
Liche High Priest – Level 4, Lore of Light, Dispel Scroll, Dragonbane Gem, Ruby Ring of Ruin

Tomb Herald (BSB) – Standard of Discipline

20 Skeleton Archers
20 Skeleton Archers
20 Skeleton Archers
4 Chariots – Std, Banner of the Eternal Flame

Warsphinx with Fiery Roar
Warsphinx with Fiery Roar
Tomb Scorpion
Tomb Scorpion
4 Necropolis Knights
3 Carrion

Casket of Souls
Screaming Skull Catapult

The Shifting Sands....ah.....Shift

The weather in Wellington was pretty bad over the weekend. This coupled with a wife suffering from a particularly vicious headcold, gave me the opportunity to paint the new additions to my Tomb King army.

I’ve decided to make one of my Sphinxes as a Necro/Warsphinx and the other as a standard Warsphinx. This should give me flexibility to see what fits the army style I want to play.

The weekend also gave me the opportunity to think about the sort of list I’d like to run. I think that the TKs are suited to a shooty/magic list with counterpunch ability. I’ve decided that I will try that as my initial list and see how it goes.

Not Mine. Mine of course is Purple and Green

At a headline level I am looking at something based around the following at 2400 points:

Level 4 with Nehekhara, Earthing Rod, Opal Amulet, Cloak of Dunes
Level 4 with Light, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Preservation, Ruby Ring

BSB, Std of Discipline

3 Units of 20 Archers, Muso
2 Units of 10 HW&S Skellies
4 Chariots

4 Necropolis Knights, Muso
Warsphinx with Fiery Roar
Warsphinx with Fiery Roar
Tomb Scorpion

Casket of Souls
Screaming Skull Catapult


So what do people think?

First Tomb King List

So here is my first attempt at a 8th Edn Tomb King list.

High Liche Priest - Lvl 4, Earthing Rod, LoN

Liche Priest - Lvl 2, Scroll, LoN

BSB

3x 20 Archers - Muso, Std

1x 10 Warriors

2x 3 Chariots - Muso

4 Necropolis Knights - Muso, Std

Warsphinx - Fiery Roar

Warsphinx - Fiery Roar

Hierotitan

Casket of Skulls

Screaming Skull Catapult


That's 2400 points on the button!

Thoughts?

Postscript:

I'm already tinkering before it gets on the table. See comments for initial changes

Next Tomb King Wave

So here are the next release of Tomb King figures and these are all in "Finecast". In addition to thise Tomb king, Casket of Souls, Ushabti with Great Weapons will may the switch to resin.

Prince Apophas

Necrotect

Liche Priest

Ushabti with Bows

I really like the Special Character, dislike the Priest

The Sands Continue to Shift

A few more things are starting to emerge about the upcoming Tomb King release.

In regard to new units I’ve seen the new models in the “flesh” and can confirm that they look great. I am expecting a second wave of releases in the next few months when we’ll see new plastic Ushabti (with Great Bow option) and at least two new character models. One of these is likely to be a new King/Prince model that is at least part a swarm of scarabs and the second is a new 60 point character type called a Necrotect.

The rumours around the new Sphinx figures look to have been pretty much on the mark. The Warsphinx will be 210 points while the Necrosphinx will be 225 (cheaper than the Abomination). The Necrosphinx can give up one of his five Str 5 attacks for a Str 10 Heroic Killing Blow – in effect becoming the monster killer he was rumoured to be. Interestingly, both can gain a Str 4 Breath Weapon but I do struggle with GW’s pricing. On the more static Warsphinx it is 20 points whereas the flying Necrosphinx only pays 10 points. Value for money? You be the judge!

The Tomb Guard come with shield standard as suggested by the models which have the arm molded to the shield. Looking at the model it does appear that there is only one standard top. These are some of the nicest figures GW have produced in my opinion.
In line with the Orc & Goblin book there is a limit on magic items. Hopefully this confirms the new trend.

No more magic charges but lots of opportunity for magic movement.

Hope that casts some more light on things. Two and a half weeks to release.

Desert Lore

So floating around the net is the new Nehekharan Lore. Take it with a pinch of salt. The most interesting point if this is correct is no magic charges.

Nehekharan Lore:

Lore Attribute:

The Restless Dead - D3 + 1 wounds if augment spell is successfully cast on friendly Nehekharan undead unit. Any unit can only be effected by the Desert Wind once per turn.

Signature Spell:

Khsar's Incantation of the Desert Wind - Cast on 8+. All unengaged friendly Nehekharan undead units within 12" may make a single move as if in the remaining moves sub-phase (cannot charge). All non-engaged friendlies can be instead targeted within 24" for a casting value of 16+. Any unit can only be effected by the Desert Wind once per turn.

1. DJaf's Incantation of Cursed Blades.

7+. Augment, range 12". Until the start of your next magic phase close combat attacks gain Killing Blow or Heroic Killing Blow special rule. If the unit already has Killing Blow or Heroic Killing Blow special abilty, it will work on a 'To wound' roll of 5 or 6+ while this spell is in play. Can increase range to 24" instead on a casting value of 10+

2. Neru's Incantation of Protection

9+. Augment range 12", until start of caster's next magic phase. 5+ ward save on a single friendly target unit. All friendly units within 12" can be targeted instead for 18+

3. Ptra's Incantation of Righteous Smiting

9+. Augment range 12" until start of caster's next magic phase. Target unit gains 1 attack (mounts, riders, models crewing chariots, monsters and war machines). If armed with a bow or great bow then get multiple shot (2) special rule. All friendly Nehekharan undead units can be targeted instead within 24" for 18+.

4. Usirian's Incantation of Vengeance

Hex range 18" 10+. Until start of caster's next magic phase target unit has its movement reduced by D3 to min of 1 & all terrain is treated as dangerous terrain if unit moves. Range can be extended to 36" for a casting value of 13+.

5. Usekhp's Incantation of Dessication

11+ Hex range 24". Target unit suffers -1 strength, -1 toughness (to min of 1). Until start of caster's next magic phase. Can instead choose to reduce by D3 (min of 1) for a casting value of 22+

6. Sakmet's Incantaion of the Skullstorm

Remains in Play. Magical Vortex 15+. Small template is placed on the board and a direction is nominated. Artillery dice is rolled and the number is multiplied by wizard level = amount template is moved in stated direction. Every model passed over or under the template suffers a single strength 4 hit. Misfire = place template over caster and scatter by wizards level in random direction. Use large round template for a casting value 25+. On subsequent turns, vortex moves randomly equal to role of artillery dice. If misfire, vortex dissipates instantly.