The Hydrant

A little help from my friends

2008-05-18T21:10:00.005-04:00

I ran out of time for the Colonial, so I ended up borrowing Steve's army. It was a good deal for both of us: I got an army to play, and in return, I did a lot of needed detail work on his models. Here are two close ups of the bloodthirster after I got done with him.

2008-01-21T11:56:00.000-05:00

As I've alluded to in my previous blog, I've been working on a secret weapon to help my Vostroyans in a city fight. Well, three of them actually...

In reality these will probably be more of a gimmick than an effective tactic, but I'm looking forward to seeing the shock on my opponent's face when he realizes my combat-shy 'guard won't be as much of a pushover as he thought... Their ability to destroy buildings on a 4+ is the sole reason I'm taking them. I've never been a fan of pie plates, they scatter too often in my experience. Their only value lies in scaring horde armies during the deployment phase. Anyways, let's examine the points shall we?

Demolisher Positives:

Siege Shells destroy buildings on a 4+*
Demolisher shells are Strength 10 AP2 (when not firing at buildings).
Enemy units have to choose between being buried in a ruined building or standing in the open (and taking their chances with the Demolishers...)!

*This actually takes two successful shots, the first shot merely makes the building count as a Dangerous Terrain.

Demolisher Negatives:

Destroyed Buildings count as Size 3 Area Terrain ("...due to the clouds of smoke thrown up by the demolition") and will still block Line of Sight.
Pie plates have a chance to scatter.
Siege Shells do not have an AP value.
The enemy will almost always have a 4+ cover save.
Models in Dangerous Terrain only have to take Dangerous Terrain tests if they choose to move.

In the end, the only way to find out if this works is to play! To that end I just need to finish the army...

GorkaMorka iz 'Ere!!!

2008-01-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

From the Specialist Games' website:

"As you may or, indeed, may not know, this Saturday the Orks (with a k!) return to Games Workshop stores with a new range and codex after 10 year break. With all the fantastic and swanky new trukk, bike and boyz kits suddenly available I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to PDF and release the GorkaMorka rules, both for Specialist Games vets and those yoofs who weren’t about a decade ago.

The GorkaMorka PDFs that are available for download are Da Roolz and Da Uvver Book. The Roolz describe the raw mechanics needed to play a game while Da Uvver Book contains all the campaign information you’ll need to turn your games into more than just one off battles. You’ll need both books to get the best out of GorkaMorka.

The Roolz book describes the contents from the original boxed game, which are obviously no longer supplied. So, you’re going to have to source your own Orky scenery, and models. I did try and get a scan of the Turney Gubbinz template, but, alas, could not locate one, so you’ll have to find your own way of measuring a 45 degree angle. As this is simply half of a right angle I don’t believe it will be too hard to accomplish. Mob rosters have been included at the end of the Uvver Book file, feel free to print as many of those pages off as you’ll need.

Before you scoot off and start downloading please read our terms of conditions for downloading these files here. This is important because unauthorised downloading, selling, hosting or breaching our copyright in any way not only jeopardizes future download releases but could also result in GorkMorka and other such resources been taken off the site.

So, if you’re ready for some Orky mob madness you can download the files from their new home on the Games Variant page (follow link then scroll down) or you can download the Roolz Book directly from here (2.3 MB file) and the Uvver Book here (2.6mb file).

Go Gorkas!

For now,
Andy @ Fanatic"

On a sidenote, Da Roolz for Brewhouse Bash! are online too...

Is it hot in here?

2007-12-10T10:51:00.000-05:00

SO, it is December 10th, and our first Army Update is due. While I didn't meet my mark, I still feel it was a productive three weeks.

I was supposed to finish:

2 units of 12 Saurus
2 units of 10 Skinks.

Instead I finished:

1 Unit of 10 Skinks
3 Saurus

Ok, it sounds worse than it really is. Everything is glued together and based, and that took up a good deal of time. In addition, my next installment to get me to 750 including 1 character and a special is just that - one character and a special. 1 Skink Priest and 3 Kroxigors. That will give me plenty of time to play catch up and still meet my mark.

Here are the skinks in all their red glory.

I took Joe P's advice on the red, and I like it, but I feel like it would have been too much if I also did all the Saurus in red too. Therefore, they got a nice blue and red shields to match their little red cousins.

Here are the 3 I finished:

I like the way the red looks in contrast to the blue, and the gold on the weapons also looks nice. So far so good, and only 17 more to go!

Of course, 12 of the 17 are mounted on scenic-type bases I made. I painted the bases, and now I will paint the Saurus. In the end I will add vegetation to the bases as well.

Here they are so far:
So, thats all for now. I am confident that by the next deadline my 750 will be COMPLETELY painted! And the really good news is, most of the dull stuff will be out of the way.

Fast Attack!

2007-12-06T13:58:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay! I know I'm supposed to be painting WHFB, but I couldn't help it! I'm really keen on getting this out of the way (I'm tired of abandoning projects) so I don't have unpainted models staring me in the face anymore. So in the past few weeks since my last post I've been working on this: 5 nasty units of flamey-death! Ordinarily I'd never consider putting flamers on my sentinels, or kitting them out and armoring them up. However this army is being tailored specifically for Cities of Death and the rules change there. Specifically in terms of unit roles and value. This also marks the halfway point for my army in terms of models done. Up next I've got some nasty ideas in mind for Heavy Support (here's a hint:). You can check out the rest of the models in the gallery here.

The Army of Averheim!

2007-11-25T18:12:00.000-05:00

It looks like there will be a lot of Empire armies in the painting challenge, but they should all be different. My own army will be from the city of Averheim, in Averland. The inspiration comes from my recent visit to the Bavarian city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It's a very well-preserved medieval city, and I couldn't help but think of the Empire while I was there!

The army list will include:

30 halberdiers with 9 free company detachment
25 swordsmen with 9 free company detachment
25 spearmen with 9 free company detachment
12 crossbowmen
10 handgunners
6 knights
5 pistoliers
5 outriders
20 greatswords
1 cannon
1 helstorm rocket battery
General will accompany the greatswords
Lvl 2 wizard will accompany the spearmen
Warrior Priest will accompany the swordsmen
mounted Battle Standard Bearer with the Griffon Standard will accompany the halberdiers

No stank, no popemobile. I'm convinced the Empire army can win with ranked units and clever use of the detachment system. I'm not saying it'll be easy, mind you, just that it's possible.

The city theme should be evident throughout the army. The core is three strong units of State Troops (to man the walls) with some missile fire and artillery to back them up. Three small units of cavalry will provide some mobility within and without the city walls. The Burgomeister (general) will be accompanied by his bodyguard of greatswords to apply force where it is needed.

The total model count will come in at around 173, so I have my work cut out for me. I have tried to break down the painting according to the painting challenge schedule. I won't meet the points requirements of each phase exactly, but it's the only way I've found to have an achievable goal in each phase.The first phase will include 30 halberdiers, 9 free company detachment, the mounted BSB (Ludwig Schwarzhelm model) and the great cannon. That's about 45 models in three weeks. Tough enough to begin with, but it gets harder- I'm being sent to Ft Dix for a week, so I'll only have about 2 weeks to complete this. I've spent the first week doing assembly and modeling (more on this later), so I've really only got one week to lay down all that paint. I may have to go over into phase 2 time to get this done, but as phase 2 is four weeks long, everything should be back on track by the end of phase 2.

Okay, now on to the modeling part. I decided early on to do city bases for the army, but I wasn't sure how to accomplish this. Fellow Dice Dog Tom L. helped out immensely by providing his time and materials to make a mold of some cobblestone bases we made. I have now cast enough plastic bases to get all of the phase 1 models painted.The masters are Citadel bases with Plastruct cobblestone texture on top. It took two nights, but we cut and glued the plastruct down, then applied putty to cover the gaps around the edges.

So the army of Averheim is starting to take shape. I’ll post pictures here as I get some models painted, and I’ll also post a bit more about the fluff concerning the army.

BloodDrinkers of Khorne Update!

2007-11-24T17:42:00.000-05:00

I have completed more work on my khorne ogres. I got another one done. Granted they dont look to chaosy right now, but i think it will all tie in as the more demonic parts are completed. Here is a pic of another bull on the left. 2 1/2 weeks to the end of phase one. I need to paint up 1 more bull, 3 iron guts and the hunter to make the deadline! I still trying to work out the scheme and i think i am satisfied with it.

I tried switching the metal to a brass/gold color, but i really didnt like the way it turned out. I didnt want to have all my ogres with shiny gold pieces as it didnt look right/natural. I did do the pants all in red. Which i think looks decent. I may do a few variations on the pants so that the whole army doesnt look like it shops at the same store.

I also modelled some Iron guts. I am very happy with the way they turned out. Here are some progress pics:

I think the axes will help with the Khrone imagery alot. My personal fav is the one reaching out. Man what a bitch it was to remove that stupid trap in his hand! I also modified my hunter a little because I wasnt a fan of the fred flinstone club he was holding. Instead i replaced it with his harpoon launcher. I am also not sure how i will paint the sabretusks at the moment. I was going to use fleshhounds, but i may just paint the tusks up red or even snow leopard.

Well the army is moving along nicely so far. I wont add any snow to the bases until 1 unit is complete. This way it will look uniform in case i screw up the recipe. Right now i am working on converting my tyrant. It needs some MAJOR work. The tyrant model in my opinion is one of the worst model GW ever made, even the old smilin' nagash model is better. I am flirting the possibility of making my tyrant 2 headed, altough i am not quite sure if that will look good. Ill take some pics when is complete. Hope you guys like the work so far!
-Death

My Empire!

2007-11-21T14:16:00.000-05:00

With my armies I generally procrastinate until a month or so before a tournament. Thankfully the Dice Dogs have started this challenge to keep me motivated enough to do my Empire with enough time before the Colonial in April to make it look good.

I like to theme my armies and my Empire shall be no different. I wanted to create a force that was partially military and partially crazed zealots with a good mix in between(prior to the new book I wanted to do a Cult of Ulric). The paint scheme will feature the Moroccan colors (red and green) and the banners bearing the symbol. I want it to feel like an araby themed army, I am used to painting elf and orc flesh so I am not how plasant the darker toned skin will look. Anyway, here is the 2250 army when done:

Archlector riding a war altar
2 Mounted Warrior Priests
Mounted Battle Standard Bearer
2 units of 23 Swordsmen each with a musician, standard, and:
5 man archer detachment
8 man free company detachment
1 unit of 10 Handgunners with a muician and
5 man crossbowman detachment
5 man handgunner detachment
5 knights with musician and preceptor
5 Inner Circle Knights with full command and the warbanner
A Great Cannon
2 units of 5 Pistoliers with musicians
3 units of 10 flagellants

There's 155 models in that army so I have lots of work to do. So far in playtesting the list has drew the new High Elves and massacred a Tomb King army. Hopefully I will be participating with this army in the upcoming Dark Tower tournament.

In 3 months I hope to have done:
10 handgunners
10 fagellants
Great Cannon+ crew
All the detachments (xbows, handguns, free comopany, archers)

I will be detailing my struggle and posting pics as I go along.

For the Empire !

2007-11-21T00:40:00.001-05:00

Well, as most of the club knows i have a large, and almost completely unpainted empire army. I have been tooling around with several lists and finally have one that i LOVE.
The problem is, getting around to painting it. So the painting challenge is going to keep my ass in line. I am going to put forth the effort to have a FULLY PAINTED Empire army. the first fully painted army in 10+ years... my last one being airbrushed brown, and dry brushed bleached bone (yes undead)
My list includes
2 units of 24 swordsmen with full command
1 unit of 15 greatswords (tutegen guard models)
1 unit of 5 outriders
1 unit of 12 crossbows
2 cannons
1 unit of 20 Flaggelants
2 detachments of 9 freecompany
1 unit of knighs
1 steam tank
1 arch lector mounted
2 warrior priests mounted
1 BsB mounted
Just shy of 140 models.
however. i cannot simply paint figures. i have this need to convert my heros.
so in this time i need to convert 2 warrior priests. One to be standing on a rock, with 2 kneeling swordsmen being blessed by him. this will be the new warrior priest model holding the book in front of him, with his hammer raised.
More to come as i get more time...

DD painting challege: The Blood-Drinkers of Khrone

2007-11-20T14:09:00.000-05:00

To no ones surprise I am embarking on a new challenge and a new army. To get away from the harder/more competitive lists I decided to do an Ogre Kingdoms Army. From a gaming standpoint they are probably one of the weakest armies in the game. On the other hand, they have a lot of cool looking models and modeling potential. I am a super slow painter and with a low model count I should be able to see this army full painted in just a few short months. Before I begin modeling, I like to conceptualize the army in my head. I try to get colors, bases, and theme down before I really start painting. I have always been itching to do an army with a base/main color of red. With that in mind I decided on an ogre army influenced by the blood god himself, Khorne. With all the blood and guts imagery already built into the army I thought it would be an easy transition. Here are some of things id like to incorporate into the army:

- Flesh tone instead of grayish skin
- Mohawks, hey they aren’t that tough but I can at least make em’ look the part.
- Chaos/Khorne Icons
- Snow Bases
- Axes
- Juggernauts of Khorne
- Little Red Demons (Gnoblars)

The army it itself will have a Tyrant, a hunter and 2 butchers. Aside from all the core infantry, I will also take 2 rhinox riders for modeling purposes. They will be the focal point of the army from a visual standpoint as the Juggernauts are going to be one of the few true Khorne models I will incorporate. I may also include Gnoblars mounted on fleshhounds as unit fillers. As of right now I need to paint 500 pts in 3 weeks to complete phase 1 of the painting challenge. So I will begin with 2 units of 3 bulls and 1 hunter. Let the painting begin!

Rise Huitzilopochtli!!!!

2007-11-20T12:11:00.000-05:00

The Dice Dogs Painting Challenge is upon us, and I have decided to step up and try to get my lizardmen host on the table. A couple of 2250 lists have been written. One is the "fun" list, and the other is a bit more competitive. The only real difference between the lists is the "fun" list will have an Old Blood mounted on a Carnasour, because the model is really cool. To be more competitive, the carnasour will be replaced by a larger ranked unit of Saurus, and the general will ride a cold one.

Keeping with my tradition, I have decided to eschew magic in favor of a ranks and flanks army that will bring the fight to the enemy. The force centers around two small units of Saurus, one larger unit, 2 units of Kroxigors, 4 units of 10 skinks, 3 terradons (a must have for this list), 6 Saurus Cavalry, and a Stegadon. An Old Blood leads this force, supported by a BSB and backed by the obligatory lvl 1 scroll caddie to deal with magic using cowards.

PHASE 1 requires us to paint 500 points in the next 3 weeks. I plan to churn out 2 units of 12 Saurus and 2 units of 10 skinks. Lets hope the gods guide my brush!!

Dice Dogs painting challenge: Getting Started

2007-11-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

For the Dice Dogs painting challenge project, I decided to do my Wood Elves, as that's the project that's been simmering for the longest. I've been wanting to do a winter themed Wood Elf list for some time now. The concept is based around the Winter Prince, a Highborn Wildrider. Unlike most tree spirits who lay dormant during the cold months, the Winter Prince's power waxes as the months grow colder and the nights longer. Few other spirits are awake to answer his call to arms though, so I wanted to go light on the tree spirits. Unfortunately, that leaves a pretty weak and boring list, so I needed a way to incorporate treekin and a treeman into the mix to keep it from being a complete avoidance list. That's where Rackham's Wolfen and Privateer's Alpha Warpwolf come in. Arctic wolves fit a winter theme quite well, and are an easy substitute for the tree spirits on similar base sizes.

My list isn't expected to be a major tournament competitor (at least not in my mind), but I'd like it to be flexible enough that I can swap a couple of units and make it a tourney list if I want. Because of that, I'll actually be painting up more than the required 2250, probably closer to 2500. Since Wood Elf units are expensive, this won't prove to be too much of a problem.

I figured the best way to start would be to take an inventory of the models I think I'll be painting.

5 Waywatchers – these are the models that got me to buy Wood Elves to begin with, so I didn't think it would be right to leave them out. Plus, I've already got the unit started from having used them in Mordheim.
3 units of 10 Glade Guard – these guys should paint up fast. Not a ton of detail, and the big cloaks make for easy shading. I only run two in my list, but having a third unit painted will give me the option of switching things up.
1 unit of Dryads – my theme is a winter force, light on the tree spirits, so I'm only using one unit of dryads. These guys will be bare of any kind of foliage, possibly with some snow/icicle effects.
5 Wildriders – these are the Winter Prince's personal bodyguards.
15 Eternal Guard.
5 Glade Riders.
3 "Treekin" – the role of treekin will be played by Rackham Wolfen.
1 "Treeman" – played by a Privateer Circle Orboros Pureblood Warpwolf.
A mix of characters, including the Winter Prince, a Wildrider hero/lord; a hero with great weapon; a hero with hand weapon and spear which I may convert to a BSB; 2 mages; an "alter" hero with bow; and a Rackham tree spirit that came with a box of wolfen that will make a very unique Branchwraith.

Next entry: pics of the starting state of the army.

For Vostroya!

2007-11-03T11:17:00.000-04:00

My CoD frenzy continues! This time in the form of my Vostroyan army! Far from being your usual 'guard variety, I plan on designing the whole army specifically for Cities of Death (to accompany my terrain). "What?!" I hear you say? "You never take a shooty army into Cities of Death ('especially the 'guard)!"
"True enough" I reply, but I like a challenge! Movies like Enemy at the Gates and Saving Private Ryan have inspired me to throw my lot in with the common infantry trooper, slogging his way through the blood, sweat and mud as he works to clear that next building, not knowing if his next breath will be the last as he turns 'round the corner...

Fortunately for my lowly infantrymen, I'm also painting up some armor! Lots of nasty flame-spewing armor to be specific. My plan for success is to load up with as much template-laying death as possible. Combined with small sacrificial units (remnant squads) and a sh*tload of plasma guns I should be able to shoot up enough of the enemy (while feeding him cheap units). I'm hoping a few demolishers with Siege Shells will also help. You can check out the armor and the rest of the Vostroyan Gallery here:

Cities of Death!!!

2007-11-01T19:52:00.000-04:00

My quest to build my own Cities of Death Terrain continues! With the completion of my ruined Imperial Shrine (left) that brings me up to six buildings! Next up is gonna be a Ruined Imperial Eagle inspired by the good 'ole boys at GW. You can check out the rest of the gallery here:

What We've Been Up To:

2007-11-01T19:46:00.001-04:00

News - 1st November '07: We've in the midst of Open Gaming! Summer was great with a boatload of Hordes and Warmachine games played. Congrats to Tony for taking the top prize in the Summer Rampage and thanks to all the new faces who came out to participate.

We've also had several great tournament placings recently too! Pete placed 6th and Joe P placed 11th and also won Player's Choice for his Nurgle DL at the Crossroads GT! Congrats Joe! And in a major upset, we took second place at the NEWCC!

Membership: How to Join

2007-11-01T19:40:00.000-04:00

Membership in the club is on an invitational basis (but this should not deter you from getting a game): we like to spend some time letting potential members see what we're about, and getting to know them as well. If you're interested in joining the club, the best way to start is to come out and play some games! You can introduce yourself on the messageboards (unfortunately due to high volumes of spam it takes a little time for us to activate new board signups -usually 24 hours or so), or just come down on a Monday night and say hey.

What to expect:
If you set up a game in advance on the boards, it's helpful to talk about your skill level and the type of game you enjoy – are you a GT winner who enjoys playing rock hard armies, or are you the kind of guy who paints the models he likes and kinda knows the rules, but really just likes seeing all the stuff on the table?

If you just drop in, you may not get a game the first night, but you should be able to set one up for the following week. You will be able to see what we've got going on, and chat with some of the members. Don't be afraid to say hello, even if we're in the middle of a game. We're all friendly, even if we're deep in concentration over the outcome of a flank charge or a disagreement over some arcane rule.

Our "getting to know you" period is usually from 1-3 months. While this may seem long, the success of the club is based on the lasting friendships that we've developed. A lot of us have been gaming together for 15+ years, and it's important to us for you to have time to get to know the people you're going to be playing with and for us to get to know you. We would rather take the time to develop a lasting friendship than take everyone who walks in the door.

Once we've gotten to know each other, if it's a good fit, you'll get an invitation to join. You'll get a shirt, a discount at Time Warp and Dark Tower, access to the club library, and access to the members only portion of the boards. You'll be responsible for paying dues (currently $5/month), and be expected to represent the club at gaming events you attend (i.e. wear your colors with pride!). Your input will be welcome in establishing the direction of the club (what games we play, new shirt designs, etc.). In short, you'll be part of the family.