Words of Wisdom - The Sprue Cutters Union #2

Greetings once more fellow wargamers.

DISCLAIMER:

Despite the title of this second Sprue Cutters Union post (#spruecutters), I do not in any way laim claim to the possession of 'wisdom'. Any accomplishments that have been attributed to me are either hearsay, the subject of urban legends or sheer fluke.

Now that's out of the way, I have to say that this is actually a difficult question to answer, when I consider all of the things that have impacted my hobby over the two decades I have been collecting, painting and gaming. Even as I type this, different ideas keep dropping into my neural Inbox. You see, there are just so many things that have had an impact on my modelling, so many things I have attempted, so many models I have collected that I can't even remember them all and can't fathom (no matter how I try) what actually happened to some of them. There are a great many things to consider...

As far as the modelling side of the hobby is concerned, the nitty gritty of assembly and painting, I think I have managed to identify the three factors which I believe have contributed the most towards getting me to the modest level of ability I have attained today. Before I commence, another quickie disclaimer. I don't make the assumption that these three nuggets or tips are things that gamers and modellers the world over aren't already well aware of, but though I may be preaching to the converted, it never hurts to get what could be a slightly different slant on a topic you are already familiar with. Now, onward...

Nugget of wisdom #1: Glue

The first thing I would like to mention is glue; the kind you use, the quantity, and the preparation.

I'm guessing all of us use glue in our hobby, be it plastic cements, instant adhesives, art glues and hot guns. I only use two types of glue in my modelling these days: PVA craft glue for basing and terrain building, and 'super glue' or an equivalent liquid instant adhesive for everything else.

I never use poly cement anymore. Why? Well, yeah, poly cement may be designed for use with plastics, and essentially creates a pretty permanent bond, but that's the problem. Remembering that I am speaking as a tabletop wargamer, models get transported, and invariably some will break in transit or in use (see my much earlier article, 'Wargaming Triage'), and when it comes to carrying out repairs or refurbishments, taking apart a miniature or part of a miniature is much easier when glued with super glue than when the components are permanently bonded with poly cement. Sometimes entire units of models must be re-equipped to keep up with changes to army books and lists. When super-glued in place, you can snap bits off whole, but cemented bits pretty much have to be sawn off.

Also, I have bad memories of using cements when I was a much younger and less experienced modeller than I am today: tubes of cement splurged all over the shop, no flow control etc...it was awful. These days you can get much better quality stuff with brush application and everything, but I still choose the versatility of super glue every time. Saves hassle and heartache in many situations.

for the type of super glue I favour, I like Loctite Brush On. It's a good quality glue, and the brush allows great control over how much glue is applied and where. It has been recommended that I try their gel tube, which is meant to give the same control, but without the eventual clogging up of the brush and neck.

Still with glue, I would also say that you cannot underestimate the importance of proper preparation of the bits to be glued. Whether initially assembling a miniature or repairing/refurbing an older model, it pays to ensure that you have a clean and flush fit, by filing the contact areas. This allows a much better fix with even less glue, which in turn makes repairs and refurbishment easier still.

Final point about glue, more relevant to gamers than non-gamers. I am what I would describe as a Gamer-Painter, rather than a Painter-Gamer. With super glue I can get my miniatures assembled and on the battlefield fighting quick smart, and when I come to painting them (eventually), I can disassemble where necessary easily enough to allow for painting those hard to reach areas.

#2: Neatness

Ok, I've covered a 'tool', now I'm going to talk about a method. If there is one thing I have realised over the years, having seen some amazing miniatures, it's the importance of neatness. Some of us can paint to a mind bogglingly high standard, others of us can just about scrape 'battlefield quality' paint jobs, but even the least experienced painter can get perfectly acceptable results if their painting is neat.

There are innumerable styles of painting, techniques and processes that painters can apply to achieve the best result they can, be it layering, washes and glazes, non-metallic metals and zenithal highlights (to use the currently trending buzz term), but the key to getting a paint job you are happy with, regardless of how advanced the techniques you use are, is to paint neatly. This can be achieved by practising brush control, being sure to use a size and quality of brush that allows the level of control you need, as well as simple tricks like watering down the paint a little, again allowing better control so that you don't end up with thick paint obscuring the detail on your model and ending up invading areas of the model that you didn't intend. Many painters will say that multiple thin layers of paint give a better, cleaner finish than a single thick layer.

And for heaven's sake take your time when painting. It isn't a race (well, sometimes it is), and speed may come with time and practice. Armies that are painted really fast are more likely to be painted simply and neatly using tricks that speed the job up, rather than painting everything to the same high standard. Complicated paint work is saved for character and centrepiece models, while rank and file may be three colours (or less) and a wash. We probably all have those early models we painted when first entering the hobby, but I bet the ones that make you cringe are simply the ones that aren't neatly painted. Too much paint, and in places it shouldn't be. Neatness is the bedrock of painting skill, and everything else, all the advanced highlights and blending, all the stuff that wins trophies, is all built on top of that foundation.

#3: Motivation

Finally, I have decided to talk about the single factor that all the other areas of the hobby rely on, at least in my world: motivation. I did wonder if this was a bit of a Micky Mouse point to be making, a cop out, but the more I think about it, the more important it seems. Quite simply, the difference between a one time hobbyist that consigns their handful of miniatures to their cupboard of 'tried that and it didn't work out' and the hoary old veterans still playing after decades in the trenches, between the Grand Grey Armies of bare plastic and those that battle in glorious technicolour, is motivation.

I know it's obvious, but it's also significant. I myself am now experiencing a flush of motivation to paint my many (many) unpainted gaming miniatures, and this motivation has come from two sources.

Firstly, I am playing regular games at a local club again, against (some) painted armies, which makes me want to be able to put painted models on the table and contribute to the spectacle of a wargame in full flow, rather than detract from it with my unpainted warriors. Secondly, I am motivated by the community of #wargamers and #warmongers (and dare I say #spruecutters?!) out there who are constantly posting pictures and videos of painted miniatures of every description and skill level, from a dozen genres.

It's inspiring. Inspiration begets action, models get painted, we learn new things from our fellows, and then, all that action begets achievement. We become better painters, and more accomplished modellers, even better generals with all the games we are able to play with our painted armies. We gain satisfaction from our hard work. If you want more of an idea of what I mean, have a read of my Painting Survivor Series article.

I have decided on motivation as my third point, because I know what it is to almost lose touch with the hobby, to have been without a game for so long with no end to the drought in sight that I wondered what the hell I was doing keeping all these old models. Being a part of the community, feeling like our collections of miniatures have a purpose, that we can achieve something cool and worthwhile, is the motivation we need to do more painting and modelling. All the skill and tools in the world won't matter if you just can't muster the enthusiasm to pick up a model and...well, the world is your oyster. In miniature of course.

To read more articles on this topic, check out some of these blogs, all members of the Sprue Cutters Union.

Matt Black Gods World
The Combat Workshop
The Dogs Chuffers Scale Model Workshop

Perhaps you might like to join the Union?

Finally, for a chance to catch all of the member articles on the Sprue Cutters Union #1: Your First Model, The Combat Workshop has conveniently collected the links here. Well worth a read.

Thanks for reading...

My First Model - The Sprue Cutters Union #1

Greetings wargamers, and welcome to my Antiquarium.

This is the place that my most ancient and venerable curios are stored, some of which are reduced these days to little more than whisps of vague memories in stoppered jars bearing peeling and faded labels. I am here because I am currently aspiring to become a part of the Sprue Cutters Union, a new and fantastic initiative launched by The Combat Workshop.

The first challenge laid down by the Union is to talk about the 'first solo model kit you ever built'. Simple enough introductory task? Perhaps...

The Union itself is a cracking idea, and will hopefully bring together modellers, painters and gamers with great and varied experiences, but all with a passion for collecting, assembling, converting and painting miniatures. Some members may be collectors of scale military model kits, others may be wargamers of one stripe or another. Still others may bring something else entirely to the table. As long as members actively participate, then what they bring to the discussion is of value.

My First Model. Now then, though I do have a pretty vibrant interest in military history (indeed, one of the most amazing books I own is a weighty tome called 'WWII - The Directory of Weapons'), my modelling and gaming interests have always been Games Workshop's varied range of tabletop (and even map based) games. Believe it or not, some of their games other than the big two (40K & Fantasy. I don't even count the The Lord of the Rings games) are pretty good, despite the lack of corporate support for them.

In this jar, the one with the label written on in crayon, we can see the first model kit I ever built, which was actually a WWI bi-plane, and was bought for me before I was even ten years old, but I can't say for sure that this was a solo project. I am certain it was a mess after being smothered in poly cement, and I am sure was never painted, so lets just confine that one to modelling heaven.

I did have to search this place quite thoroughly to find exactly which model was the first one I can honestly say was the first kit I completed unaided, and much as I was almost convinced it was a set of the RTB01 'Imperial Space Marines Squad', when I really wracked my noggin, I remembered; after buying my first ever issue of White Dwarf magazine (issue 160, in February 1993), the first set I ever bought was the 'Space Marine' boxed game...

Now as anyone who has ever bought a Games Workshop boxed game will know, they typically come packed to the rafters with models, all needing to be cut from sprues and at the very least mounted on bases if not assembled from multiple components. This box contained not only several hundred 6mm Space Marines, Orks and Eldar infantry and armoured vehicles, it also contained numerous card and plastic city buildings to be popped out and put together, and a multi-part plastic Warlord Titan! It can be said that starting off with such a boxed set is something of a baptism of fire for a modeller or wargamer, or baptism of poly-cement might be more apt in this case.

I am miffed that I couldn't find a single decent picture of the box contents, but, beyond all hope, I managed to locate the Warlord Titan from the set. I don't have any of the other original models any longer, as I sold and traded away my collection for that game a couple of years ago in order to fund my Ogre Kingdoms army for Warhammer Fantasy, and I don't really know how I still come to have the Warlord, but with all this nostalgic talk of first models, I am glad that I do. Battered and extensively repaired it may be, but it is the first model I kit I ever assembled all by myself.

As always, thanks for reading...

...post script.

In the interests of supporting the Sprue Cutters Union, I recommend checking out some of the following links for posts written by other members on this topic.

Doogs' Models
Yet another plastic modeller
The Combat Workshop

Thanks.

The Bone Chapel

Greetings once more fellow wargamers, and welcome to the Bone Chapel.

This is a batch of photos I took of the amazing Bone Chapel in the grounds of the Igreja do Carmo church in Faro, while on holiday in Portugal last week. I found the place to be fascinating, and wanted to take some pictures both to document the visit and also to act as a reference for possible wargaming terrain projects.

I'm afraid I couldn't find any history on the building in English, but I do recall that the chapel is lined with the bones of more than sixteen hundred monks, whose remains were moved from a cemetery nearby and used to create this incredible chapel. I expect that this was the result of some kind of building works which required the cemetery to be moved to a suitable alternative location.

I hope these photos do sufficient justice to the place. 

Thanks for reading...

Portugese Pontification...

Greetings fellow wargamers, and welcome to my little haven in the sun. I have left behind my study of stifling stuffiness, and taken a much needed break from the rigours of regular routines. While I sit, Bugmans Best on the table and Piri Piri on the plate, I am free to ponder on the hobby we all love.

I will begin by confirming that to date, I have kept my vow to not purchase any more models until I have a fully painted army for Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. I can also proudly declare that I have made a start on the painting portion of the pledge, having completed a block of 40 Skeleton Spearmen for my Vampire Counts army, with only a little trimming of the hand painted banner required to finish them off (pics to follow). This effort was encouraged in no small part by my participation in the 'Astro Painting Survivor Series 7', which alas I have had to withdraw from due to an appointment with a swimming pool and no small quantity of ale. As soon as I make it back to Blighty, I plan on painting up a coven of three Witches to use as Necromancers, and a sweet mini my better half bought me from Hasslefree Miniatures for Valentines Day.

Next, I will clear up the loose end left by the first couple of posts I published on our club 40K League-tournament-thingy. At last posting, I had played two games, having once been tabled and once dished out a tabling of my own. After that things got a bit hazy, with several attempts made at arranging my remaining two games meeting with utter failure. It seems some of the other guys met a similar lack of success in pinning their remaining foes to the field, and with other events looming, play was abandoned. I am assuming that a couple of the participants must be concealing pointy ears, as the old Imperial Navy adage that 'you may as well try to catch starlight as bring the Eldar to battle' holds true.

On a more positive note, I can report that my 'Eye of Morrslieb' narrative campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Battle is more than half way through, the first two of three games having been completed, and the planning for the grand finale coming on apace.

The first game went well enough, with all eight players managing to get their games in over a two week period. The result saw four armies victorious and no draws. I lost my battle against an army of Skaven, but managed to put up a fight before losing my Vampire and Vargheists to a Doomwheel. My overperforming Zombies however managed to reduce said Doomwheel to a single wound, while also holding up two fifty strong units of Slaves and still hanging in there till the end of the game, just! In a previous battle against the Skaven (the same opponent in fact) I also managed to lose the Vargheists to a Doomwheel, and so resolved not to allow this to happen again in the future.

Vargheists just don't have the hitting power to take out the Doomwheel before its multiple special attacks whittle them down (not a unit of three anyway), which is easily compounded by crumbling and the Vargheists being Vampiric, and so only being able to recover a single wound from the Invocation of Nehek, plus another from the Lore Attribute under the right circumstances. I have discovered that Vargheists are actually a little tricky to use, as they are Frenzied, which means they must declare a Charge against the nearest viable enemy unit if they fail their restrain test, but they are also a Flying Unit, so you can't just block their charge arcs with other friendly units because they can make a Flying Charge straight over the top of them!

There are a couple of tricks I have picked up for trying to keep them under control until they are in a position to attack where you want them to, which include placing them so that there are no enemies in their front arc to declare a charge against, keeping them further behind your line to keep them outside their maximum charge range of the enemy, and declaring charges against the enemy unit closest to the Vargheists with another unit, so that after Charges have been declared, if they were forced to declare a charge, the unit they declared against is engaged by another of your units across their entire facing, preventing the Vargeists from Charging them as well. The best use of the Vargheists has to be into a unit of Infantry (which they can Stomp) and preferably into a flank or rear of a unit already engaged with another unit, to accumulate combat bonuses and reduce the number of attacks coming back at them. If you can throw them into the flank of an Infantry block with a save of 5+ or worse, they can really add to that combat resolution.

Of course Vargheists can shred most chaff units as well, but they will need to eat a fair bit of chaff to justify their points cost in this role. In my first game the Vargeists did in theory have a fair chance of killing the Doomwheel, probably more so than any of the Infantry blocks in the army, they just didn't manage it on the day. Conversly, the Doomwheel was probably also the enemy unit that had the best chance of taking out the Vargheists. A really unlikely string of movement rolls and a 'misfire' by the Doomwheel saw it smash into the flank of my Ghoul unit led by my low level Vampire, and they just kept failing to win a round or pass a Combat Reform test to turn and get more attacks on the Doomwheel. With only two wounds and the Doomwheel dishing out strength 6 attacks, the Vampire was in real danger.

The second game went better. After discussion between the participants, we decided each player would be allowed to add 250 points to their 750 point list from game one, and also be allowed to change round the equipment selected for their characters to allow them to fix any major errors they felt they had made with their earlier choices. We also decided that a single Magic Item worth up to 35 points could be included. All of this combined would ensure we got the chance to learn something new and different in comparison to the first game. I would have loved to have had the points to fit in a Hero Banshee, but just didn't have the points for her plus the Vampire and Necromancer.

In addition to the extra points, I decided it would be good to include some rules to represent casualties sustained in the first game, so after a couple of drafts, we decided that any characters killed in a challenge in game 1 would roll on a simple table to see if they carried any injuries into the second game, which would reduce one of their stats by 1. I also decided we should roll a die for characters that fled the field, with a chance that they would play game 2 with a reduced Leadership chracteristic, which represented their own courage being shaken as well as affect their ability to inspire their own troops. They had seen them run away once already after all.

Units that were wiped out in game 1 would start game 2 as if they had taken 10% casualties (wounds) on a roll of 1 to 3 on a D6. I did suggest to the gang that this did give my army an advantage, as I could regenerate the wounds with magic, but it was graciously agreed that this was simply an inherent advantage of the Vampire Counts army. As it turned out, all I lost was a single wound from the Vargeists, which was easily replenished.

After working out who won in game one, players all rolled their D6's and applied modifiers depending on how they faired in their first battle. Players added one if they won their game, two if they routed the enemy, and minus one if they lost the first game. This gave us an order in which the players arrived at the crash site from 1st to 8th.

The first four players to arrive had a decision to make: they had to decide where to concentrate their efforts. Did they focus on the glory of their Master by high tailing it back to their Master's main army as fast as possible with their full force and report what was at stake to give their Master as much time as a they could to raise a larger force and return to claim the Eye? Or did they send back a token messenger who would take longer to get back to their Master as they flitted from bolt hole to hole to get back, if they made it at all, but attempt to secure the Eye with the meagre forces at their disposal?

Option 1 would would allow players the chance to deploy further onto the battlefield and therefore closer to the objective in the final game, as their Master's army arrived quicker. Option 2 would more than likely result in their Master's army arriving later and starting the final game further from the objective, but would allow a single unit from the scouting force list to be deployed on the objective at the start of the game.

The earliest arriving players would decide in secret which option they wanted to go for, after which the later arriving players declared which of the earlier arriving players they wanted to attack. Only after players had declared which army they were attacking did we reveal which scenarios they would be playing. Unfortunately, as I had neglected to bring along my 6th Edition rulebook containing the Ambush scenario, we had to substitute in the Battle for the Pass from 8th, which represented the ambushers blocking the path of the enemy at a bottleneck. As a final proviso for selecting opponents, I decided that players could not choose to attack the army they already fought in game 1, just to prevent things becoming repetitive.

In the event, I rolled high and arrived second of eight players, I picked the makeshift Ambush option, and my Vampire Counts found their path blocked by a force of Lizardmen...

The game went well, though ended in a close fought draw. I had a plan and pretty much stuck with it as far as what I wanted each unit to do. My Zombies did their job once again, by engaging and holding up a unit of Saurus Warriors led by Skar Veteran while my Vargheists and Vampire leading his newly arrived Black Knights smashed clean through a second unit of Saurus Warriors and then cleared up the enemy back field.

My Ghouls seemed to be wading through treacle for the first few turns, taking ages to make it into combat with a unit of Saurus Cavalry. I think I underestimated the staying power of the Saurus cav though, as the the Ghouls had a really hard time getting through their thick armour. In the end, the last couple of Saurus managed to finish off the Ghouls, but at least by that point the Saurus cav weren't in a position to affect the rest of the field.

I think the only big mistake I made was the positioning of the Skeleton Warriors and Neceomancer. When the Zombies finally folded, the Saurus Warriors and Skar Veteran they had been fighting overran into the front of the Skeletons, and the Necromancer went down to allocated attacks in the following combat round. I should have repositioned the Skeletons before the Zombies died to take them out of the overrun path of the Saurus Warriors, or at the very least move the Necromancer out of the unit. Either of these two things could have netted me a narrow victory instead of a draw.

In any event, I think things are going well so far, the players seem to be enjoying it, I just need to make sure I am better organised for the final game, making sure there are enough copies of the big rulebook around on the night, as the scenario I want us to play (The Dark Monoliths of Zhulgozar) isn't in the small rule book...

There are already plans evolving for a 40K campaign to follow this one, fingers crossed this first attempt goes out with a bang.

Thanks for reading...

The Eye of Morrslieb Narrative Campaign: Part 2 - Rumble on the road!

Welcome wargamers, welcome, nice to have you back once again in my war room...

It has begun. 'It' being the three battle narrative campaign I am attempting to run for the guys at my local club. On Thursday the 6th, we were fortunate to have seven out of eight participants able to attend, and so we got right into game one - Meeting Engagement!

Fickle creatures that they are, the armies that we have ended up fielding in the campaign are not necessarily the same as the ones that were first put forward. In the end, we have the following forces represented:

The Vampire Counts of the Schwarzeschloss (my army)

The Skaven of Grey Seer Scuttle

The Skaven of Clan Sneekit

The Lizardmen of Georgapottle

An Empire force from Averland

The Greenskins of the Gouged Eye Tribe

The Dwarfs of Clan Rawbread

The Chaos Dwarfs of Daemon Smith Azgral.

I should mention that many of the guys didn't have names for their force or characters, so I have made some up for them.

We started off by determining which armies would face off against each other, which we did by randomly picking out two scrolls at a time from the Golden Chest of Destiny, which yielded the following match ups:

Vampire Counts vs The Skaven of Grey Seer Scuttle

The Skaven of Clan Sneekit vs The Empire

The Lizardmen vs The Chaos Dwarfs

Orcs and Goblins vs The Dwarfs

The final battle in the list is yet to be fought, as the Clan Warlord of the Dwarfs was busily engaged drinking mead and updating his almighty book of grudges, so that'll get played in my 'off week' I hope, and then we can crack on to the second game. Now, the results of the first game went as follows:

The Vampire Counts of the Schwarzeschloss were defeated by the Skaven of Grey Seer Scuttle (though this vanguard force was led by his underling, Warlock Engineer Trundle). The Skaven of Clan Sneekit routed the Empire Soldiers of Averland, and the Lustrians were defeated by the Chaos Dwarfs of Daemon Smith Azgral.



Now here is where things get interesting. The next thing that happens is that we ascertain in what order the armies arrive at the crash site, the idea being that those that won the greatest victories in game one stand the chance of getting to the Eye the quickest, having smashed aside the opposition, while armies which drew or lost lose valuable time licking wounds and regrouping after their battle.

Each army commander rolls a single D6, and applies the following modifiers depending on how their game ended:

Defeated in game one = -1 to the D6 roll

Drew game one = no modifier applied

Victory in game one = +1 to the D6 roll

Routed the enemy in game one = +2 to the D6 roll

Just to clarify, the definition of 'routed' which we are working to is an army that had no units left on the table that weren't fleeing. The army was 'fled or dead', if you like. Any players which draw their scores should roll-off between them to determine which of them arrived first, until a final order is established.

Given the modifiers, you can probably work out that even if an army was routed, it still has a chance of getting to the crash site early if by some fluke they pull their finger out and get moving, which is what I wanted really. I didn't want the result of first game to make the second game a forgone conclusion, and still give the players a feeling that they could influence the story. Plus, it's more exciting to create tension.

Now, based on the order that the armies arrived at the crash site, my original plan was to allow each player a choice which would help determine which battle scenario they played next. After playing game one and having a longer think about the different ways the players might be able to scupper my well laid plans however, the options demanded a re-think. I realised I couldn't very well give every player the same option, because to pair the armies off for game two would require an even number of players to choose each route. If we ended up with odd numbers of players choosing each option, then two players were going to end up setting their armies up opposite the invisible man, and I hear he doesn't play by the rules. Ethereal cannon balls and all sorts of weird ass stuff.

So, the decision I have had to make is as follows. Once the order that players reach the Eye has been established, the first four players to arrive get to make the choice:

1. Do they focus on securing the Eye, sending just a token messenger to their master, who will take longer to get the message through, if at all, as they try to avoid the perils of the journey and the rival forces about?

2. Do they lead their entire force to join up with their master's army, being more sure of getting to them quickly as they forge through the countryside in force, but leaving the site uncontested and having to contemplate ousting a rival force from the site on their return?

The decision that the players make in secret will result in them playing one of the following two games:

Players taking option 1 - armies that chose this option will fight a Forced March scenario using just a single objective in the centre of the table for control of the Eye. The winner will begin the final battle with a small force already on or near the objective.

Each army taking this option must also roll a D6 for their plucky messenger. If they roll a 1-2, their messenger has fallen foul of some danger and been killed. 3-6, they arrive at their master's camp/lair and report the discovery of the Eye of Morrslieb, and their master begins mustering their army to set out and claim the comet.

I got here first! - If an army taking this option arrived before their enemy according to the results of the first game, then they automatically count as arriving first for the scenario special rules. Units from both armies are only held in reserve on a roll of 4-6 on a D6. Units arriving from reserve from the army that arrived first arrive on Turn 1. Units from the army arriving second deploy on Turn 2.

Players taking option 2 - armies choosing this option will fight the Ambush scenario. The army that arrived last will be the ambushers, as their force meets the enemy coming back towards them and can set their trap, which fits the story. The winner of this battle will gain a positive modifier to their roll to see whose main army reaches the Eye first, giving them a better chance of taking control of the objective.

Once the first four players to arrive have decided in secret which option they want to go for, the remaining four players are allowed to nominate an army for them to engage in game two, starting with the player whose army arrived at the crash site fourth, through to eighth. Just to keep things interesting, players will not be allowed to nominate the army they played against in game one. I think that keeping match ups varied will not only keep it exciting, it will offer a different challenge and therefore an opportunity to further expand our knowledge of the capabilities of the various armies.

Only when each of the four players arriving last have determined which rival army they are attacking do we then reveal which option they have chosen, and therefore which scenario everyone will be playing for their second game. This way, no player can really cherry pick the match up, because they don't know what scenario they will be playing, though they might be able to make a guess based on what they think the strengths of the army are. The four players arriving last may not get to choose the scenario, but they do still have a lot of influence over what kind of games will be played because they decide which armies face off against one another.

Force Restrictions and Changes

Given that this is a narrative campaign, and I would like the games to tell a story, it has been appropriate to apply restrictions to the list selection. Initially, the plan was to use the exact same list for both game one and game two, the intention being to allow us to get to know our lists and concentrate on getting the best out of them against different opponents. After playing the first game we have realised that we might get little out of game two if the armies are exactly the same, and it would be nice to step it up a gear, so for game two, I am allowing players to add an additional 250 points to the list they used for game one, which represents stragglers arriving who didn't make it in time for the first engagement, or trusted troops sent out from the main army. The game one list remains unchanged, save for adding more units to it. Players are not allowed to take anything away, because to allow that we may as well just have fresh lists.

After thinking about the restrictions used for the game one lists, I have also had a hard time justifying to myself the reason for limiting the number of war machines that can be included on the basis of the forces intended to be mobile vanguard or scouting forces, when things like Chariots are fast and move under their own steam, so I am clarifying the restriction to say 'no more than one artillery piece per army'.

Apart from that, the restrictions are as per game one. The increase in total points value will allow more flexibility to add additional units and equipment, and give the armies more depth.

There is however one additional consideration...

Injuries and Casualties!

I mean, does it really feel like your army has been fighting hard over the preceding couple of days if everyone just dusts themselves off and has another go? What do you feel like you've achieved if an army you wiped out yesterday is back at full strength today?

Now I will admit that I might be taking a bit of a risk trying this, so I have gone for a softly softly approach, and one that I hope will not cripple any of the armies, but at the same time, it will only apply to this game, because the final game will be fresh lists as the main armies arrive to battle for the prize.

BEFORE players spend their additional 250 points, they should determine whether any of their units or models will be fighting at reduced strength in this second game. First...

Characters

Any HERO model (I haven't said Lords, because there weren't any allowed in game 1) that was killed on the field in game 1, should roll a D6, with a -1 penalty if they were killed by direct damage (by which I mean they had their wounds reduced to zero by some means, which doesn't include being run down whilst fleeing), and consult the table below to see if the model has suffered any injury which they will carry through to the next game.

1 = Start game 2 with one less wound than appears on their starting profile. This character really shouldn't be out of bed.

2 = Start game 2 with -1 to their Toughness. This character took a real beating, but is determined to fight on, despite their fragile state.

3 = Start game 2 with -1 to their Strength. The character has been injured, and though the wound is not life threatening, they will not be fighting at their full strength until they have had a few days to recover.

4-6 = No penalty. The character's wounds are superficial enough that their fighting prowess has not been reduced, and though they might have picked up a good knock to the head, some livid bruising or cracked ribs, and maybe an impressive new scar or two, they are able to fight on without significant detriment to their abilities.

Now, I would also like to consider those 'heroes' who weren't killed in the fighting, but only because they ran away! Heroes that fled the field saved themselves from having to roll on the table above, but I don't think they should get away scot free. They are after all meant to be leading the warriors around them, inspiring them and giving them confidence. Legging it to save your own skin while your unit standard bearer gets hacked down defending the regimental banner doesn't exactly scream 'Chuck Norris', does it?

To represent the effect of seeing a hero of the army flee the field (the coward!), any Hero that fled the field in game 1 should roll a D6. On a roll of 1 or 2, they will fight game two at -1 to their Ld Characteristic, reducing their ability to keep their warriors fighting as their faith in their commanders courage falters.

Unit Casualties

Righty ho, now this is getting on for being a pretty long post, so well done to all of you with the constitution to have made it this far. This is the last bit.

To represent the depletion of units that have taken a real mauling, either through battlefield casualties or warriors that have 'jumped the fence' and fled rather than fight on, any unit that was wiped out/destroyed in game 1 should roll a D6. On a roll of 1 to 3, the unit should start game 2 treated as though they have suffered 10% wounds, to a minimum of 1 (in case of any rounding weirdness). The unit entry on the army list doesn't change, they simply have 10% wounds worth of casualties removed at the point of deployment, so they are still worth their full Victory Points if wiped out in game 2. Any casualties should not be taken from Command models if possible. If the unit champion was killed in game one, some lucky chap will be promoted ready for game 2.

This could mean that war machines and monsters simply start with fewer than their full wounds in game 2, which I hope will work just as well whatever the unit type is. I guess we will find out.

That's it. I hope I haven't forgotten anything. All the pre-game prep for game 2 is far more complicated than for game 1, though not that complicated if it's all done one step at a time, so it might work out great, or it might fall to pieces. I guess I'll just quote the adage 'no battle plan survives contact with the enemy'...

Fingers crossed this works out, let me know what you think of my plan so far.

Thanks for reading...

Painting Survivor Series!

Greetings fellow wargamers, and welcome once more to my humble hearth. This time around, I have been inspired to talk about an invention of mine...

I like to think that I am an all round hobbyist, by which I mean that I play games, assemble and convert models (with even a little 'greenstuffing' thrown in from time to time), I write fluff, I collect, and I paint models. Now, not everyone likes every aspect of the hobby to the same degree. I will happily admit that I prefer gaming to almost everything else, and though I like seeing painted armies on the table top, and do paint from time to time, I haven't been concerned about the painting aspect sufficiently to push me to paint the hordes of models I have built up over the years.

I am sure that I am not the only gamer in this position: lots of models, but lacking the drive and motivation to get them painted. Sometimes I get into a painting mood and spend a few sessions knocking out a few models here and there, but I start to flag before I make much of a dent in my 'to do' list.

This is why I came up with the idea of the Painting Survivor Series. It's really just a bit of fun, a motivational tool intended to give inconsistent painters like myself a small incentive to start a painting project and keep going, rather than downing brushes a week later.

The premise is simple enough: an 'iron man' style endurance painting competition which is posted as a communal 'Work In Progress' thread on your forum of choice. In my case this is the Astro Wargaming Community forum. The basic rules are that each participant is required to post photos of the project they are working on every third day after the Opening Day, in order to display their painting progress, bearing in mind that the key phrase is 'Noticeable Progress'.

Progress includes everything from undercoat to completion of basing, which though not strictly all painting (static grass etc), allows people to get that last bit finished off before moving on to the next project. Any participant unable to post pictures of their progress for ANY reason is eliminated. This includes not having time to paint due to work or family commitments, batteries in the camera running out, or internet access problems.

To be a Survivor, you have to paint and you have to post, come rain or shine. If a participant was the 'last painter standing', then they are rewarded by being able to proudly display a badge in their forum signature declaring that they are a Painting Survivor. A fair amount of barracking and verbal 'one-upmanship' went on I can tell you.

Originally, the plan was to keep going until we had just one Survivor remaining, but within a couple of Series, this was resulting in 'paint-offs' that wouldn't end, the last two or three painters gritting their teeth and preparing to sell their soul rather than be eliminated.

I decided that, in order to be able to end a Series in a reasonable time, and give participants a 'light at the end of the tunnel' to aim for, (not to mention letting eager participants that had been eliminated have another bite of the cherry) I would limit the number of posts that would have to be made before reaching the end of the Series to twenty. That's twenty posting days met without being eliminated, which is about two month’s worth of painting work. Anyone who made it to the end would still get a Survivors badge to add to their signature, but if we did have a 'last man standing' situation before the end of the Series, then a purity seal could be added to the badge to display the winner's painting prowess.

In time, as people took part in successive Series, we decided to add to the existing badge rather than have more than one, so we added a tiny skull with a number on it’s forehead corresponding to the series that the participant took part in. The badges are awesome, and were created by a kind forum member, so a shout out goes to LutherMax, thanks for that bud, the icing on the cake for sure.



After six successful series, and about to start a seventh (after a lengthy pause it must be said), I have found that I have got more painting done as part of the Astro Painting Survivor Series than at any other time in recent years, and I am sure that others have felt the same benefit. It's amazing how much motivation you can draw from being part of a communal project, to see what multiple other painters are doing and how they are getting on all in one place, rather than as part of a single isolated thread. Why not mosey on over to Astro and have a look at past threads?

So, if you find that you struggle to maintain a fair pace when it comes to painting your miniatures, or that you are easily distracted by other things like the new series of Doctor Who, why not set up your own Painting Survivor Series, rope in those forum or club members who want to get their armies painted and on the table but don't seem to be able to build up enough steam to get it done, and see who has the stones to be the Last Painter Standing...

Thanks for reading.
　
　

The Eye of Morrslieb Narrative Campaign: Part 1 - Introduction

Greetings once more fellow wargamers, and welcome to my war room.

This time, I bring you part one of what will be a multi-part part series all about the narrative campaign I will (hopefully) be running. I have decided to post as the campaign goes along rather than wait till it's over and then post it all at once, to give an honest account of how things go. I haven't run any kind of campaign in an awfully long time, so I am not sure how it will pan out, but if I encounter problems along the way and can get around them, maybe others can learn from my misfortune. Here goes...

The Eye of Morrslieb

~~~

For twelve nights, the Eye of Morrsleib glared down on the land as it forged a shimmering path across the heavens, like the emerald spear of a god. It's luminescence lent the countryside below an eerie and unnatural hue, sickly and pallid. In it's wake, there did fall a rain of glittering dust which glimmered and sparkled with the pure stuff of Chaos.

In every place where the dust fell upon the land, it brought with it the power of change, unfettered and uncontrollable. It's taint permeated all: flesh, stone, earth and water. Living things were twisted into diabolical new forms, or rent assunder, mewling and ravaged. Dead things found their withered limbs, though creaking and splintered, imbued with terrible new life.

On the thirteenth night, the Eye opened and became one with the earth, and every creature attuned to the raging winds of magic turned their faces towards it's resting place, sensing its power...

~~~

The Eye of Morrslieb is a three battle linked campaign I am planning to run at my local club, in an effort to get enthusiastic but inexperienced Warhammer Fantasy players playing the game, and to allow grizzled old veterans like myself to get their teeth into something with a back story while hammering home the nuances of 8th edition. Also, it will make a welcome change from the slew of 40K battles that have been fought recently as part of our Club Warhammer 40,000 League. This is intended as a warm up before we go for either a Club Warhammer Fantasy League, or into a more involved map based campaign.

I have to admit, despite a barrow load of resources to refer to, planning a linked campaign for multiple players is much more complicated than planning one for just two armies. The campaign narrative breaks down into three plot stages, each represented by an appropriate battle. I am planning on using pre-made scenarios from various sources with as little tweaking as possible, just to keep things simple for this first campaign.

Now I stress, there are two things I would like this campaign to emphasise: Making a narrative work and be exciting, and to help people along with the rules and getting to grips with gameplay and how their army works. Although there will be an eventual winner, this is not intended as a competitive campaign.

Stage 1 - Investigation

The representatives of each of the participating armies, leading small scouting or vanguard forces who happen to be the closest to the impact area of the Eye of Morrslieb all rush to ascertain the nature of the object that has fallen from the heavens. It is clear to all that it is of significance and may be of value to their masters.

As the armies hurry to do their masters bidding, they unexpectedly run into rival forces, intent on reaching the Eye first in the name of their own masters.

This first battle will be played out using the Meeting Engagement scenario, representing the hurried nature of the forces, and their focus on getting to the prize first, rather than who else might be about. We have eight armies taking part, and each game will involve two armies. The results of this first game will determine which armies reach the crash site first.

The armies taking part are as follows:

Vampire Counts (me)
Skaven
Skaven
Warriors of Chaos
Lizardmen
Lizardmen
Empire
Orcs & Goblins

There will be restrictions on list selection, and as the first two games revolve around the smaller forces rushing to reach the crash site and what happens when they get there, the players will use the same list for both of the first two games.

The restrictions are intended to ensure that the forces that are selected are not going to unbalance these low point games, and to try and pruduce armies that are representative of the kind of force that is more of a garrison/scouting/vanguard type of force, rather than a main army force with all the big characters and support. That comes later...

Here are the restriction on the lists for the first and second game:

Maximum of 750 points in total

No Lord Choices - Your Lord is with his army, this is just a peripheral force

No Battle Standard Bearer - The Battle Standard is with your Lord and the main army

Maximum of one War Machine - this is a small force mobile force, not an artillery train

No Monsters - Again, this is a small force, not the Altdorf Zoo. The force is not equipped to deal with a monster

No Magic Items with an individual value of more than 25 points - Any characters with this force are not important enough to be able to afford anything more spangly

In addition, to avoid any situations where a single lucky spell wipes someones army off the table, spells are generated by rolling a D3 rather than a D6, ensuring that in the first couple of games we don't see any of the really big spells, and to allow the players to concentrate more on maneouvering and combat rather than sparkly sticks that go Whizz Bang!

I am hoping that non of these restrictions will have too adverse an effect on any of the armies, but being as I am using Vampire Counts (who aren't famed for their prowess in low point games), if the restrictions bite anyone in the ass it will probably be me! I haven't run a campaign like this before, which is another reason for starting small, so this is a learning curve for me in that respect as well.

Which armies run into each other will be determined at random using marked pieces of parchment marked with the symbol of an army. Once the Meeting Engagements have been played out, the results will affect who reaches the crash site first as follows:

Each army will roll a D6 with the following modifiers:

Fought and drew or lost = +0
Fought and won a Minor Victory = +1
Fought and Massacred the enemy = +2

The resulting scores will be used to determine the order in which the armies arrive at the site and discover the Eye of Morrslieb. Any players that draw scores will roll off to determine a final order between them. Obviously armies that achieve the best result in the first game will stand the best chance of reaching the crash site first, which comes with certain benefits in later games.

So, next comes the games themselves, who won, and what order they arrive at the crash site of the Eye...watch this space!

Thanks for reading.