Nooooooooo!

So, once again it seems I have need of the Darth Vader 'noooooooo!' button. (http://nooooooooooooooo.com/)

I was hoping to make a quick post showing my painted wolf riders. Then the stinking wind caught them as I was varnishing them. Whoosh. Splat. Broken. :(

I managed to gather most of the bits, save one shield, and I have spares. Irritating though!

Army Building

So I recently played my second game in our personal Warhammer Rennaissance, this time against Andrew (700 points). Once again, it was a draw, with me ahead on VPs, but not enough to classify as a win (I was 75 VPs ahead, when I needed 100). Nooooooooooo!

Noooooooooooooooo!

Also, it's the second time in a row I've forgotten about my choppas special rule (+1 S in 1st round of combat for Orcs). Not a massive deal, but given how narrowly his necromancer survived, it may have made a difference. Next time I'm going to write it on my hand or something. 

Still, it's a learning curve, and I suspect that when next we meet, I'll be facing more than one necromancer. After the game we had the usual tidying up debrief; Andrew realised having one or two low level spell casters to back up his General would be a plan, and I realised I needed to bolster my army's leadership. 

I also realised that I'd been misreading the rules when it came to characters. I had somehow convinced myself I couldn't take Lord characters unless I was playing over 2,000 points. I have no idea where I got that from, as it ain't in the BRB or the Orc Army Book. I also realised I can have 25% Lords and 25% Heroes. Suddenly, I realised I have a bigger army than I thought, as the wyvern I bought didn't have to sit on the bench for an age. 

GW's awesome Azhag the Slaughterer model: waaaagh!

Here's what I own, right now (not all painted).

Lords: 345 points

Black Orc Warboss on Wyvern (using Azhag the Slaughterer model)

Ruby Ring of Rhuin*

345 points

Heroes: 190 points

Orc Shaman

Level 2

100 points

Goblin Shaman

Level 2

90 points

Core: 805 points

Forest Goblin Spider Riders

x 10, full command

160 points

Wolf Riders

x 5, shortbows, shields, musician

70 points

Wolf Riders

x 5, shortbows, shields, musician

70 points

Goblins

x 20, shortbows, shields, full command

110 points

Orc Boyz

x 15, shields, full command

140 points

Savage Orc Big 'Uns

x 20, additional hand weapon, full command

255 points

Special: 135 points

Orc Boar Boyz

x 5, Spears, Shields, full command, 

135 points

So my totals are:

Lords:    345

Heroes:  190

Core:      805

Special:  135

Total:    1,475

25% of 1.475 is 369, meaning my Lord is just under 25% and my core is well over it. Slam in a couple more magic items (Banner of Discipline? A magic weapon for the Warboss?) and I have a legal 1500 point army!

It's not a great army, by any means, of course. The Orc Boyz and Orc Boar Boyz both need to be bigger. I could really do with some Ld boosting stuff too (Battle Standard bearer? Banner of Discipline? Crown of Command?). 

But it's a 1,500 point army. Cue happy dance!

Numfar! Do the Dance of Joy!

*Ruby Ring of Rhuin - this is actually a sword. It's the Grudgebringer Sword (as featured in Warhammer games "Shadow of the Horned Rat" et al), which in our WFRP game found its way into the hands of a Black Orc. I've converted the sword onto the model, so will always take it for character reasons. More on that once the big fella is painted!

So simply by including the handful of unpainted minis I own, I can more than double the points of my army. Nice! I could also drop a couple of redundant bosses (Goblin archers, I'm looking at you) to get some extra magic items. 

I'm feeling pretty dang pleased with that. And keen to get that Wyvern painted. So enough spraffing.

To the bat-drybrush!

'Ere We Go, 'Ere We Go, 'Ere We Go!

So, while my painting speed has slowed down dramatically since the start of term, I have finished my next unit, and the final unit from my battalion: the Orc Boyz.

 

Orc Boyz

I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. The models are lovely, and characterful (albeit characteristically difficult to rank up), and I think the unit looks good, despite the very quick, production-line paint jobs. 

Boss

Here's the Boss (unit champion) of the Boyz. I'm yet to come up with a good name for him, though I think "Skull-taka" may be an appropriate epithet. 

Boy

This is a bog-standard Orc Boy. Nothing special about him, except he reminded me of the old Heroquest Orcs, which were the first models I ever painted.

Heroquest Orc - not painted by me!

See what I mean? I suspect the sculptor did that deliberately. Made me smile. :)

Musician

Here's the musician - it's hard to see in the photo, but one of his eyes are white. There was a scar modeled on, so I thought it would be nice to have that eye blind as a result.

Standard Bearer

Yes, once again I went for the lazy option of the totemic standard. Can you blame me? :) I like this model, though he does look like he's walking into a Force 10 gale. He's been counter-balanced with a penny in his base, and he still tips over all the time!

I'll do a post about choices and army building soon(ish), as well as a step by step on my wolfriders. 

Until then...Waaaaaaaagh!