Tale of 4th Gamers Month 3

Month 3 wasn't as hectic a painting schedule as Month 2 but I've still crowbarred in a significant amount of models and expanded the two armies fairly significantly.

Let's look at the Middenland Army first.

This month my Gold Piece spend was as follows:

	Month 3
	4	Knights	10.00			Budget	25.00
	1	Knight Standard Bearer	3.00			Carry Over	26.50
	1	Knight Champion	3.00			Actual Budget	51.50
	5	Pistoliers	15.00			Actual Spend	51.50
	12	Crossbowmen	13.50			Remaining	0.00
	1	Halberdier Command Group	4.50
	1	Hero	2.50
		Total Spend	51.50

I've made extensive use of Battle Masters figures again for speed/ease of painting reasons. I've stuck to the GP cost of what I'm planning on stuff being rather than real cost (Lord knows it wouldn't equate to 90's prices these days anyway).

This is my current Empire list:

	Characters
	Baron Ludolf Scholz of Wolfenstadt - Empire General	112	pts
	Double-handed weapon, hand weapon, heavy armour, barded warhorse.
	Captain Riek Blitzherz - Empire Hero	70	pts
	Double-handed weapon, hand weapon, heavy armour.
	Pawel Geiger - Champion of the Baron's Knights	43	pts
	Lance, hand weapon, heavy armour, shield, barded warhorse.
	Ostwald Stoisch - Champion of the Wolfenstadt Halbediers	34	pts
	Halberd, hand weapon, light armour.
	Characters Total =	259	pts
	Rank & File
	Knights of the Baron's Household - 5 Reiksguard Knights with Standard Bearer	234	pts
	Lances, hand weapons, heavy armour, shields, barded warhorses.
	The Baron's Cavaliers - 5 Pistoliers	110	pts
	Two pistols, hand weapons, light armour, horses.
	The Wolfenstadt Halberdiers - 22 Halberdiers with Standard Bearer & Musician	216	pts
	Halberds, hand weapons, light armour.
	The Wolfenstadt Bowmen - 12 Archers	96	pts
	Longbows, hand weapons.
	The Wolfenstadt Auxiliary - 12 Crossbowmen	96	pts
	Crossbows, hand weapons.
	Rank & File Total =	752	pts
	Army Total =	1011	pts

The first addition was a command group for the Wolfenstadt Halberdiers. I've used a metal Halberdier to represent Ostwald Stoich, a Champion who has a very similar breast plate and halberd as the plastics so I think I've matched them up well. The Standard Bearer is, if I'm honest, my least favourite of the two models available from the Perry range but as I had him and wasn't using him, in he went. The Musician is a Marauder sculpt that was released a little before the Perry Empire rebooted line, he's a little shorter but I see him as a veteran that doesn't want to give up the soldiering life. Maybe I'll call him Old Hanz.

The last addition to this unit, and mainly added to complete the ranks, is Captain Riek Blitzhertz, a Hero of the Empire, wielding great sword wearing heavy armour, very dashing indeed. He adds some much needed fighting capability should he survive long enough to use his always striking last +2 strength bonus sword. I may have to give him some low cost magic armour to try and keep him alive.

My next addition was the Wolfenstadt Auxiliary, cheap Battle Masters plastics that do well to fill out any Empire Army, especially from the time of 4th Ed. Twelve of them should be able to keep up a decent barrage of Strength 4 shot to keep the Orcs heads down. I may reinforce them with another eight later in the project giving the flexibility of a mega twenty man crossbow unit or two ten man units.

When it Knights of the Baron's Household I was really was in two minds about whether or not to add these chaps. I needed a unit to guard the Baron and I wasn't confident in Pistoliers doing the job. The whole point of doing Empire in this Challenge for me really was to get my units of Heavy Cavalry painted but I'm not ready to add my White Wolves, Panthers or Blazing Suns yet so I took the plunge and added more Battle Masters Knights to be "counts as Reiksguard" which I've already done for my Nordland army that this is Middenland Army will likely end up being a contingent in, representing troops sent by Boris Todbringer to aid the Army of Nordland.

Lead by a Champion and only being a small unit they serve a purpose as opposed to actually being something I was keen to add. A standard will follow, along with Wolf decals for the shields.

The final unit added to my Middenland army this month are some Pistoliers. They'll be mainly used for drawing out Fanatics in the campaign I'm planning - sorry chaps! I've already painted 10 Kislev Horse Archers and don't have a a vast cash reserve to use to buy more so Pistoliers get the nod in the suicide squad role.

Now, what about the Orcs?

	Month 3
	1	Orc Command Group	4.50			Budget	25.00
	1	Orc Standard Bearer	1.50			Carry Over	18.00
	6	Black Orcs	12.00			Actual Budget	43.00
	1	Black Orc Command Group	6.00			Actual Spend	43.00
	20	Night Goblins	10.00			Remaining	0.00
	1	Night Goblin Command Group	4.00
	1	Night Goblin Shamen	2.00
	3	Night Goblin Fanatics	3.00
		Total Spend	43.00

and their Army List:

	Characters
	Gordreg Deffmaka - Black Orc Warboss	144	pts
	Two hand weapons, light armour.
	Choppa Zawbutz - Orc Battle Standard Bearer	85	pts
	Hand weapon, light armour.
	Korg - Orc Boss of Da Bonekrakaz	36	pts
	Hand weapon, light armour, shield.
	Zobad - Black Orc Boss of Da Skull Smashaz	46	pts
	Two hand weapons, light armour.
	Boggin Stinkbreff - Night Goblin Big Boss	37	pts
	Halberd, hand weapon, light armour.
	Zoik Bong - Night Goblin Shamen Champion	83	pts
	Hand weapon.
	Characters Total =	431	pts
	Rank & File
	Da Bonekrakaz - 22 Orc Boyz with Standard Bearer & Musician	204	pts
	Hand weapons, light armour, shields.
	Da Shaftaz - 10 Orc Arrer Boyz	95	pts
	Bows, hand weapons, light armour.
	Da Blak Rodz - 10 Orc Arrer Boyz	95	pts
	Bows, hand weapons, light armour.
	Da Skull Smashaz - 14 Black Orcs with Standard Bearer & Musician	160	pts
	Two hand weapons, light armour.
	Da Shroom Untaz - 23 Night Goblins with Standard Bearer & Musician	75	pts
	Hand weapons, shields.
	Da Loonies - 3 Fanatics	90	pts
	Ball & chains.
	Rank & File Total =	719	pts
	Army Total =	1150	pts

My unit of Boyz, much like the Halberdiers, needed a command group. I've used a metal orc and tried to match up as best I can to the Boyz to represent Korg. It's a simple name as I don't expect him to last very long, he'll likely die early doors taking a challenge for his Warboss. The Musician is just the Musician available at the time but the Standard Bearer is one I'm rather chuffed with. It's a simple conversion but works rather well. The standard top is nabbed from a Goblin Standard Bearer that I had a spare of.

I've also added Choppa Zawbut to this unit, an Orc Battle Standard Bearer. he's the Orc Standard Bearer released in during 4th with an extended banner pole and a crossbar added which was stuck on with glue and then I added cotton which added strength and it's and attempt to to try and make it look like it's tied on with rope. I've always felt this model was rather well armoured for an Orc Rank and File model and wanted to elevate hm to Army Standard for many a year. Yes he needs the banner added but overall another simple but effective conversion.

My Black Orc unit went from 6 to 15 and added in a command group too. The Standard Bearer was a kind of rescue purchase off the Bay of E as he had no top/crossbar for his standard (not a complaint, I bought him like that) which helps to distinguish him from the Standard Bearer in my other unit of Black Orcs (that one has double-handed weapons). I'm still not convinced the unit is big enough to survive missiles and make a dent but I'm currently sourcing more models so hopefully I'll be able to add even more bodies soon.

Ere we go! Every 4th Ed army needs 'em - Night Goblins. Trippy little b*st*rds that deliver Fanatics, (no not in my Brother's case, except the time I expect them not to). I've already got loads of these guys painted up with either shortbows or spears (Battle of the East Gate anyone?) so really this is just a unit of left overs and double-handed wielding ones I was trying to build a unit of. They're lovely sculpts and iconically 4th Ed so I had to include some and the ability to take Fanatics is a good way of getting bang for your buck points wise. Sadly in real terms the cost a fortune so I'm unlikely to increase the size of this unit which is a pity but I'm happy to have been able to add this many and as I don't expect them to do much fighting I don't think it's a majorly big deal. Lurking in this unit is a Night Goblin Big Boss called Boggin Stinkbreff and the Night Goblin Shamen Champion Zoik Bong who I envisage will be tripping his way through the game......................................

Less hectic than last month but still quite busy.

Now to start my Narrative Campaign with these two armies and plan for the additions in November from my 25 Gold Pieces.....................................................................

Tale of 4th Gamers Month 2

You can see the rules of the challenge in the Featured section of the WFB 4th Edition Facebook Group. To sum it up, for Month 1 you paint your General. In Month 2 you must paint up enough other army list items to make your army a "legal" WFB 4th Ed army. What you pick is dictated by your Gold Piece budget, Month 2 is 50 Gold Pieces, Month 3 onwards is 25 Gold Pieces.

The Gold Piece costs are also in the WFB 4th Edition Face Book Group but they roughly translate to Games Workshop prices from about 1993/94.

As per the rules of the challenge in Month 1 I painted my two Generals:

Gordreg Deffmaka - Black Orc Warboss of the subjugated Bonekraka tribe, armed with the Axe of Grom and a hand weapon, He wears Armour of Meteoric Iron. I may add to his magical items over the next few months.

Baron Ludolf Scholz - General of Middenland armed with a double-handed sword & hand weapon. He wears Armour of Protection and rides a barded warhorse. Again, I may or may not add to his magical items over the next few months.

The Baron has been sent by Graf Todbringer to eradicate the Greenskin activity around the Howling Hills and the surrounding Drakwald that has been reported by the inhabitants of the villages scattered throughout the area.

The Orcs in question are, of course, the Bonekrakaz Tribe.

For Month 2 I've indulged in a little Monopose Madness, I've gone for the classic, iconic, often disliked but for me characterful and charming 4th Ed plastics.

My costings for the month are as follows:

Orcs

20 Orc Boyz = 10 GP

20 Orc Arrer Boyz = 10 GP

6 Black Orcs = 12 GP

Total = 32 GP with 18 GP rolling over to next month

Empire

20 Halberdiers = 10 GP

12 Archers = 13.50 GP

Total = 23.50 GP with 26.50 GP rolling over to next month

Here is my Orc list so far:

and here's my Empire list:

I've not spent the full 50 GP's per army this month but as I've painted up a fair quantity I think I can give myself a break and carry over what's left into next month.

The paint scheme's are fairly simple but that's what I get when I paint a flipping lot in one month! The monopose helped here as painting in production line is the easiest way to get massed ranks done quickly. It's also why I chose to do Middenland as it's a quicker single colour uniform than my usual Nordland, the yellow plumes are there to tie them together if I use them with that Army. (It also means I'm getting the Middenlanders done for my own running of "Revenge of the Doomlord")

Next month

Next month I have some important additions to make to the growing forces.

I need to add command groups to the close combat units and bulk up my meager Black Orc unit. I got 6 done simply to allow for my Black Orc Warlord. Five is the minimum unit size and I only painted six because it was more economical to "buy" two lots of three than "buying" three in a "blister" pack and two individual ones (and yes, I know the plastic ones were never in a blister but it's just how the GP costing worked out).

I also want to add some Crossbows and Pistoliers to my Empire troops.

Hopefully next month's paint queue won't be quite as frenzied!

The Odds & Sods Oldhammer Painting Challenge - Month 6 - "Humble"

For February's "Humble" theme I've returned to my true WFB love - Skaven.

Yes I know it's obvious but Giant Rats on 20mm bases have been on my "get it done" list for a while now. All my previous Giant Rats were on 25mm bases as that's what they go on in 3rd Ed.

The extra Slaves were just because I could and as any Skaven Warlord will tell you, you can NEVER have too many Slaves!

Here's the blurb:

Pack Master Skweek looked contemptuously at his pets. He had bred these Giant Rats to be vicious and hungry. They were always ready for their next meal. They were also expendable, there were many more where they came from. It was what made them useful in battle. He knew they grew restless. A crack of his whip settled them down but he knew he must find them a meal soon or they would turn on him and his fellow Pack Masters. There were still several hours before they intended to strike the Dwarf-Things in battle and they would need to be fed before that.

His eyes settled upon a pack of Skavenslaves. He could smell the urine and faeces that covered their bodies, it was common among all Skavenslaves, they lived an existence of terror, knowing they were the lowest of the low in all Ratman Society. Knowing that made Skweek swell with pride, he was superior, they were inferior.

These Slaves had been sent to Clan Moulder by Clan Snickit to pay for their services, it barely covered the effort of leaving their burrow let alone fighting alongside Warlord Snickit in his war against the Dwarf-Things. The casket of Warpstone they delivered had done that. It was simply cheaper to leave the Slaves to Clan Moulder than to have them returned.

He turned to the Slaves and spoke:

“A glorious day-day has come for you filth-scum, today-day you find your greater purpose……………...”

He cracked the whip over his pets and they rushed at the Slaves, jumping on them, tearing them apart with teeth and claws and devouring them in a blur.
“Good-good” he thought “I’m safe-safe for now-now”.