Chogokin

Well, halflings are very sneaky. Besides, maybe he'll partner up with that Hellakin guy...

Bit of a story to this one. Although I enjoy buying miniatures, I have a hard time getting the gumption to paint them up. So I seek external inspiration for motivation. Back around the beginning of the year, as many of you may remember, Spike put together an Orc calendar, for which I submitted an entry who became Mr. April. There was subsequent discussion in that thread about the possibility of a dwarf calendar. At the time, I was a little short on dwarves, but I did have this halfling. I figured that a halfling with this kind of attitude would be a bit annoyed about being left out, so he's looking to rectify the situation. As it happens, I managed to wander up to Spike's territory a bit later for a tournament, and picked up the Warlord Dwarf king-guy in the paint-and-take. He's almost done, just a few details that need attention. But getting back to the halfling. This is a Heresy Miniature, and actually comes with several different right arms. Silly me, I had initially used the arm holding a crossbow. I had to find the sprue with the arms to get the one with the wanted poster. This, of course, was in storage up in Pennsylvania where I used to live, and my current stomping grounds are in South Georgia. I finally made a trip back in May and secured the arm. I got him painted up and assembled, and he's been waiting around until recently. I decided to go with a decal for the poster image, which was taken from Spike's signature and printed out on some MicroMark decal paper that I've wanted to play with for a while. The picture was taken with an old Nikon 880 that my brother gave me. The illumination was part natural light from the window, and part overhead lamp light. The image came out with a bit too much of a blue cast that has remained even after adjusting the color balance, and is a little too bright, especially noticeable on the poster where a lot of the details are washed out. But, I'll keep on playing with the camera until I get it right. Enjoy! Oh, and sorry about the double image. I was comparing two versions of the picture to see which looked better, and now I can't get rid of one!

I'm not a Warhammer player, but I have played 40K, so the first thing that springs to mind is that Warlord is going to be a lot cheaper. It's a skirmish game rather than an army game, with individual unit activation decided by random card draws rather than IGO-UGO. Now, if you play large point value games, you can approach the size of a Warhammer conflict, but usually things are going to be small. Also, Warlord tends to come down to real nail-biting endings, rather than being decided early in by factors such as army design or bad dice rolls. I have played Warmachine. There are certain similarities in terms of game size, i.e, they are both skirmish games. Warmachine, though, is also an IGO-UGO game. Warmachine presents itself as having an attitude, and utilizing 'borken' mechanics, with tactics largely revolving around using intentionally cheesy abilities to create effective combos. Warlord is more laid back, but don't let Reaper's soft-spoken approach fool you: there are lots of synergies to exploit in Warlord, the game just doesn't make as big a deal about it. Warlord's point scheme is also more objectively balanced than Warmachine's. Warlord will also cost less than Warmachine. Finally, there is a difference in theme: Warmachine is set in an industrial magical universe, with its signature characters being steam-powered magical golems, while Warlord has more of a 'traditional', i.e., D&D-esque fantasy setting.

Join Adon. We may or may not have Bond girls, but something we definitely do have are the scariest-looking CAVs. Yes, that's right, potential generals: Get your Ogres, Mantises, and Scorpions from Adon, home of Borsig Spline, manufacturer of the scariest(by popular acclaim)* CAVs in the known universe! *(Fans of Starhawk VI's, Khans, Rhinos, Mastodons, etc., need not apply, as they clearly lack any decent sense of aesthetics whatsoever.)

Heh, I really didn't need natural zeroes in that fight, against Elves. What I needed was a better appreciation for just exactly how evil Elven Archery really is, so I could have used better tactics. However, it was a fun matchup, and I learned a lot about how to use the Lupines more effectively. I hope that they run another tournament soon, so I can come back and show just how much I've learned...

Cool! I'll be looking forward to meeting you and the rest of the Tagarthos crew. Sadly, Mr. April and in fact most of my miniatures in general are all in storage in Pennsylvania I'll be bringing naught but a sad and misfit crew of pale-primered unloveds to this event. If I short myself of sleep, perhaps I can at least base coat them before zero hour...

Glad to see this update. I'm a new Georgia resident, currently living and working in Randolph county. My previous Warlord experience has been via a couple trips over to Castlebuilder's stomping grounds in Barthos Province (Of course, that was when I was living a good deal farther north). I'm going to try to make it up to your area this weekend for the festivities, hopefully arriving in time for Saturday's events.

Belated Thanks! I'm afraid I missed this correction when it was first posted, glad I saw it today.

Thanks for the insight! My estimation is that given the way Senet and friends would likely be used in combat, as a sort of hit and run shocktroop, the low DV isn't a huge disadvantage, and can be compensated for with relatively cheap equipment. I think I'd use her for larger battles, as soon as the cavalry grunts come out. On the subject of the Rager II, I'm pretty sure Siens is the sculptor. That's what it says both in the online store and the card. I started work on them last night, and for anyone considering buying the minis, be warned that there are some mold line issues. There are pronounced mold lines on the inner thighs and biceps. These are pretty easy to file away though. There are also mold lines around the tail, and due to the fur detail, these are really difficult to deal with. I made a few passes with my file, but eventually I just gave up. I'll hope that positioning and camoflauge will hide them.

Well, one of my christmas presents to myself has arrived, as I celebrate the new year with new Reaper minis. My armies are Nefsokar and Mercenary, so naturally I bulked up my forces with the new figures available. I haven't seen any commentary yet on them, so I thought I'd share some information. Neb'Nesew Ne'Pet, The Lord of the Sky, or That Floating Dead Guy As you've probably seen in the online store, Neb, as I'll refer to him, is one of the new Nefsokar Warlords. He's the floating dead guy. He's a normal human-sized figure, with elaborate robes, and depicted as floating slightly above his base (thanks to some trailing robes). He comes in four parts, not counting the base. The main figure is of the skull-faced man in his robes, holding a staff (which runs behind his back and under his robes) extended in his right arm. His left arm, bent up in front of his face in a mystical gesture of some sort, is separate, but plugs neatly into his shoulder. He has an elaborate decoration hanging from his girdle, which plugs neatly into a small hole in his front robes. Finally, he's got a kind of mystical scarab jet pack, consisting of a scarab-shaped backpack with four extended blade-like wings. This fits into a small hole on his back, and is contoured to fit around a small wedge shape in his upper back. A little superglue should hold everything together without need for pinning. All in all, a really great sculpt. I think Neb should be fun to paint, with lots of detail to bring out, ranging from his elaborate decorations, the folds of his robes, and the metallic wing blades of his backback. My only point of confusion is whether he's supposed to be a fleshy guy with no face, or a fleshy guy with a skull mask, or a dry guy with exceptionally well preserved limbs and just, you know, no face. His exposed arms are quite smooth, and don't immediately say "Mummy Flesh!", although his data card clearly indicates that he is Undead. The card art doesn't really help much. Painter's choice, I guess. Neb is a Cleric Warlord, 3/12, casting power 6. Not as much CP, but with a slightly larger inventory than Fatima. He can also cast Defensive Magic, and he's a Spy and Tactician, with Empowered and Horrid. He has 1 weak melee attack and 1 weak, 12" ranged attack. Not the most personally formidable Warlord, although it should be difficult for grunts to pose a threat to him, as they'll generally be rather terrified of getting near him. Sort of a Support Warlord rather than your Assault Style Warlord. Relatively low base cost at 143 points. I can see a few interesting strategies... fit him out with Teleport spells and a few friendly Avatars... or how about a truck load of Hold spells? The only thing I found disappointing is that he doesn't have any abilities reflecting his flight power. It would be nice if he had Flyer, or perhaps the Non-Corporeal ability to reflect him hovering over obstacles. Senet Net'Merew, Sister of the Desert, or That Chick on a Horse A pretty woman, garbed in long flowing robes, riding a gaily caparisoned horse and carrying a wicked-looking sword. I like the look, although I'm not as carried away with the styling as I was with Neb's. I wish the other Khamsin had this more traditional Berber-esque look, instead of the short tunics and scarves. From a construction perspective, another well-designed figure. Sword, scabbard, and quiver are separate, and fit neatly onto their respective arm, back, and saddle locations with small holes and pegs. I would probably keep the scabbard and quiver separate until painting was finished, and then attach them. The biggest challenges to painting are simply going to be the extensive folds of the robes, and of course doing convincing horseflesh. I actually really like the card art here, which is unusual for me. From a rules perspective, we see some interesting things, which will probably become more clear as the Cavalry rules become available. Senet is Cavalry, obviously, and also has the Mounted and Raider abilities, whatever those are. She's also a Tactician and Warmaster with Defensive Shot. Yep, she's a mounted archer. Typical for Nef archers, she's not very impressive, with 1 RA at RAV 2, Rng 18. With her base move of 12, though, she shouldn't have a problem picking her shots, and unlike infantry archers, she can easily avoid melee if she needs to. She's actually pretty good in melee, though, with MAV 4 and 2 attacks. Rather low DV (10) for a Warlord though. With a base price of 219, and a minimum troop size of 6, you're looking at a significant investment of points in Senet. It'll be interesting to see what the grunt Nef cavalry are like. Lupine Rager II, or Big Furry Death I was so happy when these guys came out. I've got the Lupine Lord, Shaman, and 4 of the first Ragers, so 4 of these guys fills out my Lupine Merc troop nicely. That said, though, I don't love this particular rendition of a Rager as much as I liked the first. Ben Siens just sculpts differently from Werner Klocke. From a purely thematic perspective, I wish they'd kept Klocke on this group. Rager II is much burlier than Rager 1, standing in an erect posture. General differences: the "sideburns" or cheeks of the Rager II are much bushier than those of the first Lupines, making the head look broader than the originals. This Rager is nearly naked, save for wrist guards, and armed only with claws, while the first Lupines were clothed and used weapons. The style of the fur is different. Whereas Klocke's lupine fur was rather coarse on the body, and flowing and plumelike for manes and tails, Siens' fur is finer, and as I said about the cheeks, bushy-looking, especially on the tail. Possibly more realistic, but also different looking. I'll admit bias, in that I really like the original Lupines. Even so, I think I wouldn't like the Rager II as much even if I were seeing it with fresh eyes, as I think it is rather top-heavy, with an overly large head and gorilla-like shoulders and arms. As far as painting goes, the challenge with wolves is to make them look convincing. You could go for a Confrontation-style, which is completely unrealistic, but distinctive and good-looking, or attempt to replicate the fur patterns of real wolves. I think the latter approach is the one to take with the Rager II, because the fur does look pretty realistic. Ruleswise, what's not to love about a grunt with 2 damage tracks, and 2 melee attacks at MAV 3? Yikes. Well, thank you for reading through this, and I hope it was of some use to the Warlord community.

Of the games you mentioned, I am most familiar with Starmada. It has many strengths as a starship combat system. It has an excellently designed ship construction system, that allows you to construct weapons and give ships of different factions their own unique flair. The basic movement system is hex-based, but it has options for playing on gridless maps, vector-based movement, etc. The rules can be used to cover just about any genre of space combat, from carriers launching fighter wings to raiders attacking convoys of unarmed freighters. There is also a lot of web support for it, and people have done Star Trek, Star Wars, and Babylon 5 conversions, so you can get lists of pre-built ships and house rules that support different universes of play. Full Thrust is one of the older games out there. I like their extensive line of miniatures, but the rules are less thought-out than Starmada's, and you don't get quite as much unique flavor for custom builds. The second edition should be out soon, and the first edition rules are available as free downloads, so it's worth checking out at least. I have played B5 Wars. It is a rather crunchy game, certainly a bit more to chew on than either Starmada or Full Thrust. Howver, it does provide a nice amount of detail if you really like a gritty, tactical encounter. Another game I'll toss out for the sake of mentioning it is Quad S. This game is in its second edition, and it's interesting. It doesn't have the customizability of Starmada or Full Thrust. There are something like 8 separate factions in Quad S, and what's neat is that each faction has its own rules. So one race's ships move differently, have guns that operate differently, take damage differently, etc., than another race's ships. It gives each race a unique flavor, and the game is simple and fun.

Hi there! I felt inspired by the call for Orc beefcake (orc-cake?), so I dug up the only Reaper Orc I own (not that I have a lot of orcs from any manufacturer, sadly) and painted him up. I hope you like him. Frankly, he scares me, and I think he needs a dentist, stat!

You kinda have to wonder what the big cheeses... Khadath, Netikerti, Khufu, did that Sokar brings them back as jerky, while Nakhti and Fatima get to come back juicy...

Let's see... I'm familiar with Starmada, Iron Stars, Full Thrust, Mekton Zeta, Starfire, Turning Point, B5 Wars, Attack Vector: Tactical, and Quad-S. They all have their good and bad points. I think I like Starmada the best, because it combines simplicity and customizability in one nice package. It's also still in print, which is a plus considering the other systems I've mentioned. I've heard good things about A Sky Full of Ships, and I may pick that up along with a box of Xtreme-hobby goodness one of these days.

As a fellow newbie with a Nef force, my advice would be to find a way of adding in some missile troops. I didn't, when I assembled my army, and I wound up getting slaughtered pretty handily in a large part because my opponents didn't have to worry about ranged attacks. Even if the ranged attackers in question don't look very formidable, they exert a psychological effect on the opponent. A tactic I want to try is get a really cheap unit of Awakened led by a Chosen, march up close to the enemy and watch 'em die, then Cross the River with a force of tough guys... Dervishes or the like to get the heavy hitters into melee range without taking losses on the way.