Orruks going to a tournament!

The first post-general's handbook Age of Sigmar tournament is happening tomorrow at my FLGS.

Most of the last week I've spent finishing off the display board.  The snowshoe middle was done and I had to just to everything else.   It took way longer and was much more work then it should have been, mostly from dealing with the foam board warping from the PVA.

Just recycled the frame from my 40k Ork board.

I'm very much limited to the models I have. If I do expand the army I would love to add some Ogres to the list for some better punch in battleline units.

Anyway this is what I'm bringing:

Orruk Battlehost 
Destruction allegiance.

 Leader: Orruk Warboss:  Boss shield, choppa, great waagh! banner
Command trait: bellowing tyrant
Artifact: Talisman of protection

Leader: Orruk Great shaman

Battleline: 30x Orruks: Shield/choppa, Skull icon, drummer

Battleline: 30x Orruks: 2x choppa, skull icon, drummer
Battleline: 40 Grots spears/shields, gong basher, netters, bad moon icon

Behemoth: Mangler Squig

Artillery: doom diver
Artillery: doom diver

Other: Orruk chariot
Other: 20 spider riders, bows, bone drummer, icon

Sideboard:
Behemoth: Arachnarok spider
Artillery: Grot rock thrower
Others: Orruk Charriot

I don't expect to win any games, as the models are woefully under powered compared to other armies.  The whole scene is very new, especially around here. It's almost like a new game in fact..there is no meta yet.

It's also a potluck!  Tis' an amazing day. 

Showcase: Orcs and Goblins complete!

First post of the new year.  I have now finished all my Orcs and Goblin models. Took pictures, put them away and will probably forget about them.  Not sure what I'll be doing until I can buy some new stuff.

Showcase: Grimgore Ironhide

 Well here it is the first newly painted Orcs and Goblins model in the better part of 3 years.  Icy Orcs Grimgore Ironhide.   Really enjoyed painting it. Used some blue tint on the dead skin to make it look dead and lots of Blood for the Blood God. 

Working on spider riders.  Hopefully I'll be able to afford some new 40k models soon.

Age of Sigmar

So I finally played a game of AoS, my Orcs vs Gorn Lizardmen Seraphon.  It was a heck of a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed it...despite obvious balance issues.

So after just one game I already have some thoughts. That's the nice thing about a simple ruleset, it does not take long to get a grasp on it.

1. The roll each turn to see who goes first can be rough, especially on turn 2.  however I think if you know that your opponent might get 2 turns in a row, you can plan for that more easily. I didn't know it, so I was super aggressive and it cost me.

2. There is no unit balance. Sure you can play with a framework, like limiting wounds per unit, duplicates, etc but it does not help because some units are simply better then others.  There are comp systems out there, I'll have to look into it..

3. Shooting into/out of combat.  There is no rule that says you can't, but we played it like it does.   I think that really helped especially since I was facing some really potent shooting.

4. A game of remembering!  So many rules in each warscroll that it takes time to remember everything you can do. 

5.  Monsters. I *love* how monsters get weaker as they take wounds. It's a great mechanic I've wanted in 40k for a long time.

6. Multiple combats.  I think this is where the game really shines.  Because you do not resolve each combat separately, but pick units to attack in turn and then resolve the results after everyone is done. This means when involved in multiple combats you can only be sure of having the advantage when it's your turn and then only in the first unit you pick.  You're opponent can pick any other unit involved in other combats, giving him the advantage in that one. It's bloody brilliant if you ask me and ads so much challenge to the game.

I don't know if or when I'll pick it up again, especially how much better the Seraphon are then my O&G, and I don't have another army to play. My cousin does, tomb kings, but that has plenty of broken stuff in it as well..

Anyway that's it for now.

Portland Armies on Parade

Well last Saturday night was the Portland Games Workshop armies on parade. There were only 6 entries. I thought it would have been much bigger considering how loose the rules were.

I didn't place. I was very disappointed of course, but meh stuff happens.  At least the Seahawks won.

I finished the last 10 of my hand weapon/shield guys. Didn't bother to take pics, because it's nothing exciting. They look just like these 35:

Still having a horde of Orcs is pretty impressive looking, even if not that great. GW really needs to bring Orcs up to the level of Orks. They should have the same base stats and cost. 

Anyway, I'm almost done with Farsight.  Pretty simple paint job, for a pretty simple model.  I might do something else with the sword, not sure yet. If not, all that's left is the basing.

That's it for now!

Clan of Gork's Snowshoe: Savage Orcs complete!

It's easy to get things done when you get laid off.

I finished up my Savage Orcs and repaired my display board so I'm all ready for next weekend.

The idea behind the Savage Orc color is that they are a "hybrid" between the Icy Orcs and normal Orcs they have encountered and conquered. The blue-green algae is taking over the green algae quickly, but not quite yet.

Each model has individual warpaint, but trying to come up with 34 different ideas isn't easy.  I still like how they came out though.

The final color also pops really well against the white basing, which is what I was hoping from the start. I also added some tufts, man I love these things.

Enjoy the pics!

Trying to get some space wolves painted for the first time.We'll see how that goes..

Real quick update..

There probably won't be much going on for the next couple weeks as I rush to finish my Savage Orcs. I also need to repair my display board for OFCC fantasy at the end of the month.

You can follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/sorienor

There is a lot of non-40k stuff on there, so if you don't want to see that don't follow. I'll understand.

When I'm done with that though, I plan on making a display board for my Orks/Tau at OFCC 40k, and doing a complete series on Commander Farsight. 

I probably won't be doing any more Talking About Orks.  The next codex is probably too close.  The only exception would be going over the 6th ed codex books. If I have time.

Anyway.  That's it. More updates soon.

Hobby Update: Savage Orcs

I've been working on my one big must-do project and that is getting my unit of Savage Orcs (and Savage Orc Warboss) painted.  The stumbling block has been the color. I didn't want the same blue I used on the rest of my army, but wanted a kinda hybrid Blue-Green to show the (relatively) recent addition of the savages to the Clan of Gork's Snowshoe.

I mixed a lot of colors, many times. What I did find is that no matter the ratio, the greens would always dominate the blues, like the green pigments are always much more powerful.  It was really frustrating.

So I had abandoned the idea and decided to jump into painting them starting with Sotek Green.  It's very close to the old Hawk Turquoise. I then washed using my favorite Coelia Greenshade and then layer up with Sotek Green, then highlight twice with mixes of Sotek Green and Space Wolves Grey.

This got them painted but left me wholly unsatisfied with the result. Then I decided to try something completely out of the blue: I washed the first models with Thrakka Green.  This *almost* gave me the result I wanted.  Almost.  Next day I hopped on down to the game store and picked up the Waywatcher Green glaze.  This worked great, getting me very close to the vision I had in my head. 

First time I had really used a glaze, but the learning curve is pretty short. 

Still need to do the warpaint.  The other issue with these guys is now simply tedious they are to paint. Bone, leather, stone and skin.  Browns and beige oh my.  I was able to speed up the process by going to a drybrush on all the bone parts. 

Another part of that is getting in more color.  Reds really add to the look of the unit, but it's hard. There is some lizard skins on some of the models so doing red and green skins helps a lot.  I also painted the standard as they show on the GW website, with a transition from red to yellow.

That's about it for now.  I need to finish assembly on Farsight, then get him going.  Plus I'm getting the scratch building itch again, who knows what will come of that...

Tournament cancelled; Hobby overload.

So sad, the tournament I was going to was cancelled due to lack of turnout. At least I didn't have to drive down there.  Still not happy, was really looking forward to it. Oh well.

I spent the weekend staring at stuff. There is so much I want to do, that I'm locking up not able to decide how to proceed!   I did however, make progress on two things. I assembled all my Warmachine models. I now have an official 15pt list ready to play.  I think I'm planing my list along the lines of the way I play 40k. This could be fun, or a complete epic failure. Not sure yet..

I also actually started on my Savage Orcs! I'm still not 100% sold on the skin, but it's close to what I had in mind and easy to do.  I plan on doing a simple job, and if I have time go back and add layers. I have two months to finish 35 models.  They are, as expected, easy but tedious...so getting motivation is hard. If I don't get them done I'll mix in some of my regular dual-hand weapon boys to fill the squad.  It will look funny, but be painted.

It will look better after the basing with snow.

I have the savage orcs to work on. I have a bunch of kits and bits to try and build another Dakkajet. I have the warmachine models to work on.  I have ideas for Chaos allies for my Orks. I have more firewarriors to paint for Ork allies.  I have my Farsight to work on. Ugh. I want them all done now! 

Plus with Eldar on the way, I might try to pick up some of that for Tau allies..

Anyway for now I'm trying to focus on savage orcs, but who knows how long that will last..

A quick look through the project box

I'm sure everyone has one, a box or bin or something where projects sit for months..years..between times getting touched.  I keep mine close by.  In addition to the box, I have large bins I use for more current/pressing/larger projects.

So left to right. First is a misc bin with old bases, part of a Finecast KFF mek, and 3 Wargames Factory stormtroopers I put together for painting practice...and are still primed. Plus some bits and other misc models.

Next over I have a couple single model projects. Mainly is a Hawk Lords tactical marine I've been trying to get back too for a very long time. I'm using glazing to do the highlights, and really like the results so far.  I need to finish it, and I'm sure it wouldn't take long if I actually did it.  

I also have a Finecast Boss Zagstruck. It's been kinda waiting for me to get to cleaning up the stormboys.  Very much back burner. Also have the mek from the stompa kit, I want to paint this up and put him on the stompa.  Lastly is the Dwarf I won from Badgrendel's giveaway. I was going to try NMM on him, but he has so very little plate showing I decided to wait.  I did a drybrush of black metallic, then doing zenith highlights of boltgun and chainmail, finally a black wash.

Hair and beard will be done as grey, representing his character status.  getting to the face is going to be hard with the shield in the way.

Last bin has a few mushrooms I made for my Orcs & Goblins, the bits from the stormraven. I finished hightlighting these things, just waiting on the finished product. I got the first highlight on the flyer itself at least!  I also have my objective markers I made for the 6th mission with 6 of them. But I realized as I was making the last one they should have been on 40mm bases. Still trying to figure out how to work around it..

So that's my project box. Other stuff I have in bins is the 10 remaining Orcs with HW/Shield and Grimgor, and the jet battlewagon.  Other non-wargamming projects is the Revell helicopter and the very long-forgotten ME-262 model.

So that's the stuff I have sitting around being ignored. What's on your "project box" list?

More Orcs & Goblins, 6th ed markers

Finished my Spider Rider musician and Goblin shaman.  That's 7 out of 19 models done.  I kinda started in on the first set of boys.   Well, I do have more models ..9 spider riders and 10 or so goblins.. which I don't need to even build much less paint.  Also the boar boss does not really fit in with the army, so I'm not all gung-ho about painting him. I need another polar bear or something instead.  I mean I want him in my army, he's awesome for 105pts but the boar has got to go!  Just the legs are integrated with the boar so conversion isn't easy.  Ice boar maybe?

Next thing I plan on working on is a set of 6 identical objective markers for the mission with hidden points values. I will use insta-mold and green stuff.

Should work out.   I really need to get crackin' on the storm raven highlights.

Don't forget I'm now taking commissions, looking for my first customer!  Contact me at sorienor  AT gmail.com

Winners!

Hell ya! My team won OFCC Fantasy 2012!  I can't freaking believe it!

So  my team was 3 people, myself, Ogres and Skaven.  The Skaven player completely smashed face, getting close to max battle points. I didn't do bad either going 3-1-1 getting 73 out of a possible 100pts.  The Ogres ended up 3-1-1 as well.

My army was one of only 2 at the event (74 ppl) with max painting score, but the other one got more favorite army votes (he had a Cthulhu-based VC army) so I got second there.

My team got 2nd overall battle points, 2nd overall sports and 5th overall paint.  Enough for the win!

I didn't take much video the first day, and 2nd day I forgot the camera. It's ok I really didn't want the added stress of filming. I just wanted to have fun.

Some great moments:

Game 1: I fired the rock lobber at a unit of tomb guard. It scatters 10" directly over the middle of a sphynx, killing it outright
Game 2: I Lost the game entirely, but about 1400 victory points but got full bonus, so I ended up with more battle points then my opponent lol!
Game 3: Was really close from the start. This game we were fighting over a hill.  His first shot killed my troll, made the archers and all 3 war machines panic.  However after that the warmachines were golden. In the bottom of turn 6 a mangler and the warmachines completely cleared the hill, leaving only the mangler to claim it for bonus points. It was amazing.
Game 4: By far the closest and best game.  Key moment was when 2 units of Knight Errants charged my big'uns. One unit passed over a mangler, but made all but 2 saves. The other unit, however, charged over a river and lost 5 to dangerous terrain. The Black Orcs were wiff-tastic, being locked in with 5 knights for most of the game.  Oh, and lost the spider to Heroic killing blow lol!
Game 5: Amazing game. Gork came out and did a lot of stomping, killing 15 out of 18 Khorne warriors along with most of the marauders protecting the casters.   The moment of the tourny though was when my spearmen charged a kited-out Chaos Lord on chariot in the rear.  He killed 5, but I had ranks and charge and won by 1.  He then failed two LD8 panic tests, and then rolled 2-2-1 to flee, and the gobbos ran him down!  It was epic!

Things I learned:
-Foot Showshoe of Gork is the most amazing spell, ever.  There is no doubt I'm going to dual- level 4 casters in big games.
-My new strategy really works out. I move from having the big'uns ready to do all the damage, to having my NG horde and deep HW/Shield boys out front. with the BSB and general nearby they are both very, very resilient. I then use the chariots, big'us and spider to come up and actually kill things. I never got to use sneaky stabin' though or had many flank charges, but I didn't really need too either.
-Jury is still out on the chariots.  Really, these guys are interesting. People put more effort then I think it is worth killing them, as the usually don't do anything. But they are great for harassing, flanking,  and just generally being a pain.  I might go to goblin chariots due to the extra movement.
-I could probably use a Calvary unit, maybe replacing the chariots.  Speed is something I lack.

MVP:
by far the mvp's of the tournament were the warmachines, and specifically the doom divers. Holy crap these things are just amazing.  The doom divers are incredibly accurate, and just love to hit small units of heavily-armored troops.  Not great against mass infantry, but that is what the rock lobber is for.  Second place goes to the Orc Shaman and Foot of Gork.
LVP:
Aracknarok.  Only in 1 game did he do anything (harassing and finally running down a horde of marauders) the rest of the time he was not effective. Being only S5 he can't cut through heavy armor, and just in general isn't very killy or survivable.  Not too bad if you can use him as pure support, but there are much better support units you can get for 290pts.

So that's it!  A year's worth of bragging rights!

Off to OFCC!

After a  year of work, I am out the door to Fantasy OFCC.

Pics of my army and display board.  Laters!

Ding dong done!!! Orcs and Goblins army complete!

As of 4:11 am June 17, 2011 I have finished my 2800 Orcs and Goblins army for OFCC 2012.  It has been over a  year of solid work to get here including twice having painted over 50 models in a single calender month.

As a reminder here is the video that started my O&G build on June 1, 2011



Here is a pic I just took of my last unit, the glue for the flock is still wet here:

Keep in mind this is a heavily comp'ed tournament which is all about modeling and fun more then winning.  I have been told I have one of the weakest lists at the event, getting 1-2 out of a possible 6 on the power scale.  Which is fine, that means I won't be seeing any 9 Mournfang/dual cannon Ogre lists or anything like that.

I have a great idea for a quick and easy display base, plus finishing the snowshoe template. I was going to make a diorama-like display base but now I have an idea I'm going to run with that requires only a display base instead. will be much easier.

I have this Friday off so I expect everything to be done before then and I will make videos and stuff talking about my army then. 

After this monumental task (as far as I'm concerned), the question is what's next?  Stay tuned...

The Snowshoe of Gork

Last week while I was getting my face pounded by dwarfs, I was commenting I need to make a Foot of Gork template before OFCC.

My opponent suggested I make a snowshoe, you know, cause it fits with the theme.

I was like "damn it, don't do that now I'm going to have to make it!!"  and tonight I did. Sure it wasn't my idea but it was my execution including watching videos on snowshoe stringing. The knots used are authentic!

I tried to get some square balsa wet enough to bend but I don't think I could have done that in time, so I went with plastic. I'll have to do a faux wood paint job.

I also plan on altering the spell card to say snowshoe and then set it and the template on a small stand next to my army.

This weekend is going to be awesome weather, so after Pokemon with the kids, washing and some buffing of the car I'll start my display board. It's going to be a lot simpler then I wanted, but time is short..

There is no such thing as a break - Terminator Captain WiP

Spent most of today doing  housework, then went out to my WHFB game night and got my weekly ass beating this time at the hands of Dwarfs.  How long does an Arachnarok last to a cannon? 2 turns.  Always.  I did a lot of damage to each unit (only a few guys left in each), but just could not finish anything off.  I only completely killed 1 thing the entire game..when my chariot killed off the cannon. His volley gun blew itself up. Those were the *only* victory points I had. What did I have left?  The Rock lobber, a doom diver and 4 black orcs.  460pts out of 2800. 

In both of the last 2 games, my HW/Shield boys have turned out to be fairly resilient.  That stubborn with the general/bsb nearby is actually pretty good.  I need to figure out how to properly support this unit either with the chariots, NG spearmen or the spider.  I think if I can figure out how to play around that strength I'll do a lot better.

At least I'll have one of the weakest lists at OFCC so I probably won't be playing any VC, Ogres or skaven at all.

So anyway after coming home and getting some sleep I decided to work on the Captain a bit.  Finished the head, and I'm very happy with it.  It really won't take long to finish.

Icy Orcs: Not quite done but close enough..

Finished the shields and got them attached. Then did the re-arranging of the models into the new formation.

Very happy with how things are now. I am actually done enough where I don't have to do any more at all. I will probably do the skin on the guys around the edges, then do the varnish and flock.

For now though I'm gonna push out the terminator captain, then try to get a display board done.

Icy Orcs: Boys done, starting in on shields

All the boys are painted, so it's shield time!  Cranking through all 33 at once.

Also tried out a new trick gluing on the first shield.  Buypainted uses plastic glue through paint when he assembles his models. I tried it and what do you know, it works. The glue just goes right through the paint kinda like when doing the hairspray technique..the paint is porous.

After all the shields are done I gotta get out all the guys and glue them on so they fit in the original horde formation, then rearrange into 5x7 and add a second set of numbers. Fun~!

Oh, and our van through it's serpentine belt today. So much for buying a Dakkajet..

Orcs & Goblins: power vacuum

Are Orcs & Goblns a good army? I don't think so.  There are very few units that actually have any killing ability, while most of the rank and file core units lack any real power.

I played yet another game against Ogres tonight.  I lost by nearly 1000 victory points...though I did do a lot better then I thought I would.  I was actually able to munch through a couple units, and shot the mournfang off the table.

Still, it was a constant uphill battle. At least my warmachines didn't blow themselves up until turn 6..

The one unit that you can upgrade to big'uns with additional hand weapons is the one unit that can actually do anything. Of course they still die in droves so getting more is always required.  I'm pretty happy with that unit, with the Manglers and with the doom divers.  They usually perform pretty well.  I have a nasty habit of rolling a 1 on my magic mushroom..on the first spell he casts. 

My biggest disappointment though is the Arachnarok. It sucks. It has no survivability and no hitting power.  It's a waste of 290pts. 

What does it come down too? Savage Orcs.  Savage Orc big'uns with extra hand weapon. I can't see any other infantry unit doing anything.  With their ward save, it won't stop much but it's better then stopping nothing.  Black Orcs provide a bit of flexibility in contrast.

I havn't tried bolt throwers, but for a measly 35pts each how can you go wrong?  If I do anything else with this army, getting 3 of these will be a priority.

So drop the arachnarok, drop the boys, drop the orc chariots.  Get a hero warboss on boar, 3 spearchukas, block of 6 trolls and the rest on savage orcs.  I am pretty happy with the characters I have, but upping the Orc shaman to level 3 or 4 as well might not be a bad idea.


Lords
1 Orc Warboss: Shield, Armor of Fortune, Gold Sigil Sword (168)
1 Night Goblin Great Shaman: Level 4, Talisman of Preservation, dispel scroll (245)
1 Orc Great Shaman (165)

Hero
1 Black Orc Big Boss: BSB, Gambler's Armor, Sword of Battle, Ironcurse Icon (160)
1 Orc Big Boss: Boar, spear, shield, Talisman of Endurance (105)

Core
39 Savage Orcs, Big'uns, 2 hand weapons, standard, musician (449)
50 Night goblins: spears, musician, standard, 2x Fanatic, netters (265)
26 night goblins: bows, musician, fanatic (113)

Special 30 Black Orcs, full command, shields (425)
Spear Chukka (35)
Spear Chukka (35)
Spear Chukka (35)
6 Trolls (210)

Rare
1 Mangler Squig (65)
1 Mangler Squig (65)
1 Doom Diver (80)
1 Doom Diver (80)
1 Goblin Rock Lobber (85)

Maybe dropping some Goblins for a magic banner on the black orcs might not be a bad idea. Not sure which one though.

Overall this gives me a lot more punch, a lot more survivability and even more shooting without the huge point sink liability of the Arachnarok.

Icy Orcs - boys update

I finished another 5 boys, but this time I took them all the way to done.  Full layers/highlights just to show the difference between the base coat and the completed model.  I did this mainly to find out how long it takes, and it took about 3-4 hours for the 5 models. Now I know how much time to put aside. I'll probably go ahead and take the last 10 guys all the way to done.

 Let me know what you think.