Icicles – Hot Glue Style

I received a nice comment about the icicles on the base of one of my Man-o-War Demo Corps while attending Blood and Steel recently.
I’ve avoided adding them to more models they are very labour intensive but the kind words encouraged me to look into this again.
My old method involved cutting clear Perspex into shards which took ages and always looked a bit thick. However, I have read of a technique using a hot glue gun so decided to give this a bash.
Step one is to draw out some lines of the glue on a suitable surface.

Next step is to cut the glue into suitable shaped using a scalpel. Then simply glue into place with a spot of superglue.

Add a few more Icicles to taste. To give a little extra strength I then went over the icicles and the area around the point of attachment with some Vallejho water effect.

And here is a picture of the completed miniature with the icicles.

Blood and Steel – 50pt Hardcore Tournament

This Saturday I took part in a 50pt Hardcore tournament organised by Battlecult. With the experience of my single Hardcore practice game behind me I decided to leave Trolls at home and take Karchev Tier 4. I needed to get two models painted up to get my 35pt list upto 50pts so made the time to finish off an Extreme Destroyer and a Devastator. This is a list I am familiar with and is much trimmer than the Trolls.
I had a good tournament winning 3 of 5 games. All 3 games I won were close and boiled down to me being very aggressive. I learnt the importance of getting models into the scoring zones in the latter stages of the game to pick up control points and win the tiebreak in the event of dice down.
In the two games I lost, Karchev was pushed away from his jacks. The first was against Gorten who used his feat to pull him out of his ‘jack bunker; the second was against Bethayne who used Gallows to do the same. Gallows should be easy to counter in future by using Sidearms and marching forward more slowly. I’m not sure what could done against Gorten. Possibly using terrain as a road block but that is very situational. It’s a tricky one that needs careful thought.
I enjoyed the Hardcore and with a smaller list focused on the battle group it was possible to play efficiently and with a doable plan.
Well done to Battlecult on a successful first event!

Harkevich is on the way

I have been drawn to Harkevich as he works well with ‘jacks but unlike Karchev he supports ‘jacks of the ranged type. I am putting together a 35 tier list in the same way that I did for Karchev.
On the table today are an Extreme Destroyer, a converted Extreme Black Ivan and a couple of Winter Guard mortar teams.
Black Ivan will be interesting to paint as he obviously needs to be black rather than the eggshell and red scheme I have using so far. The standard scheme requires a Hull Red base coat to allow the desired effects, but I’m trying a Chrome base coat with Black Ivan to allow the chips and scratched to be more visible.

Legion, bloody Legion!

After the Trolls getting beaten to a pulp in Hardcore I took on Legion at 35pts Steamroller. I always have problems against Cryx and even worse ones against Legion. I took my favourite Karchev tier 4 list and faced Saeryn across the table.
The game started fine with Karchev merrily towing his ‘jacks across the board. The slippery Legion were careful to avoid a confrontation in the centre of the board and Karchev was forced into slinging the ‘jacks into the right flank a little earlier than I would have liked. This resulted in no Unearthly rage and little chance of knocking the Legion beasts for six.
When the Legion retaliated Karchev was hosed down by Typhoon and a combined attack of Saeryn’s magic with disengaging Raek and Angelius was enough to take the big guy down.
It was something of a shock when the Raek and Angelius sneaked away and in hindsight a lock power attack might have allowed me to keep the in place. Worth remembering for the future.
So, not a good Sunday nights gaming, although there were important lessons to learn.

Hardcore Practice

I was issued with an unexpected pass to attend Blood and Steel a 50pt Hardcore tournament organised by Battlecult. I have not played any genuine Hardcore so decided a practice game was in order.
I decided to dig out my old Troll list and take Calandra as she is possibly the nastiest Warlock the Trolls have. I also popped in a Bouncer as I know Hardcore is all about assassination runs, and despite being a tricksy Warlock Calandra is on the squishy side. My opponent took a Morty Cryx list, heavy on ‘jacks and with Deathjack leading the mayhem. I was expecting a tough game!
The game didn’t go well for the Trolls. I had taken far too many models and failed to use most of the army each turn. 7 minute turns at 50 pts is a big shock! Eventually a Seether snuck through my ranks and got the assassination run on Calandra. I had cast bump on the Bouncer rather than Calandra and the ‘jack side stepped around him and finished her off easily.
This was an important learning experience! I’m not sure my Trolls are the right way to go for Hardcore. Too much infantry, too much shooting and too many area of affects to resolve. Also although I can see a use for the Bouncer it will be important to get the bump animus on the right model in future. Hmmmm…… food for thought!

Bombadiers complete Karchev’s tier

The three Bombadiers complete Karchev’s tier 4 list. I’m very pleased to have 35 points finished and I’m really enjoying this list on the table too.
Next up will be the Butcher so I have a second caster.

More Mechaniks anyone?

Finished up my maximum unit of Mechaniks. Well worth having those extra couple of guys to keep Karchev and his chums in the game as long as possible.

Karchev completes the hat-trick

Karchev faced off against Retribution’s Rayvn this week. A 35pt game so I used the tier 4 list I am trying to make my own. The Retribution force contained a few nasty choices such as Mage Hunters and an Assassin so I was expecting a tricksy game where it would be important to engage with the enemy quickly and decisively. Any messing around would mean Karchev and co. getting shot to pieces.
As it turns out I completely fluffed my first turn trying to be too clever in using Karchev’s tow trick and a Ternion blizzard to screen the battlegroup. This resulted in a traffic jam and a juggernaut blocking Karchev’s run move next turn. A bad start which got worse as the Retribution gun line opened up and started chipping away at my guys.
In my next turn I decided it would be best just to get everything into the face of the Retribution and hope the Khadorian armour would stand up to a round of shooting before I could get my charge moves in. As it turns out I managed to whether the storm of the Retribution turn and had my chance to strike.
The Kodiak had an assassination run on Ravyn but unfortunately Karchev sprayed him while trying to knock down Ravyn with fissure. This of course meant the Kodiak was knocked down and left me with a very red face. A school boy error I really must never repeat. Luckily my other models began to take their toll on the Retribution gun line and I finished in a reasonable position.
The Retribution had a go at assassinating Karchev and he looked in trouble when some battle mages knocked him down. Ravyn made her move and knocked some of the stuffing out of him and the assassin also had a go. Fortunately the damage rolls were not enough to finish the man in the machine.
Next turn it was a simple job to get the Mechaniks into position to repair Karchev and he stood up to smash Ravyn into oblivion with a couple of mighty blows from his axe.
A close game and I made a couple of awful mistakes by trying to be to clever. I learnt that playing a simple and aggressive strategy is likely the best way to go and that suits me just fine!

Khador terrain

I’ve been working on some themed terrain to go with my Khador force. I managed to get a picture at my local club night. I tried to go for an industrial/supply station feel with a smelter and warehouse making up the two centre pieces. In the centre of the table there is a large scale Sorsha resin that makes a nice bronze sculpture.

Karchev marches on

The planned encounter with the Circle Orboros was postponed as they were waylaid and beaten up by some Cryx (and Cygnar) lurking in the wood. Luckily Karchev spotted a cheeky band of Skorne warriors lead by pMakeda, so he would have his fun after all.
I have not played Ken and his Skorne yet, so this was not an unwelcome change of plan. The game was 20 points so there would be no tier list for Karchev this time, instead I took two juggys, a Kodiak and max Mechaniks. Ken seemed intimidated by the big guys and put his light beasts away in favour of a Canoneer and a Gladiator.
The plan was simple: use ‘tow’ to sling-shot my jacks into the elephants; make elephant burgers; add squishy infantry garnish on top. And that’s basically how it went. I did make a mistake with the Kodiak electing to make a double handed throw at Makeda when his chain attack came off against the Gladiator. Last week this worked a treat on Magnus, but Makeda is a more slippery customer, so, as I expected, he missed and let the Gladiator off the hook. To make matters worse the Gladiator shook off the knock down and slammed the Kodiak. Throw power attacks certainly have their place, but I do need to be more discriminating in their use!
In the final stages of the game I repeated my mistake of last time by not allocating focus at the start of my turn. That meant my juggers failed to get into a position to protect Karchev. Madeka had a charge on the big guy and carrying near full fury I expected him to take a pummelling. Luckily Ken’s dice were even worse than my generalship and she failed to inflict any damage at all, even with several attacks! Karchev had little trouble putting axe to face and it was all over for the Skorne.