Backswing Brutes

I had two of the Demolition Corps needing to be finished. I haven't really been motivated to get them done. I need them for my Khador list and so yesterday I sat and got them finished. It was far easier than I remembered. Two brush blending is a lot quicker even though I make a good few mistakes. The large flat plates are really nice to work with. I am hoping that this means I will get the 'jacks done quickly. I haven't as yet added battle damage or done the basing. I am unsure if I really want to add the battle damage and I won't base them until I have them varnished.

I really like these in the game. Their MAT is high enough to reliably hit. Backswing basically gives you a reroll, though the errata changes this. Now you have to make the second strike even if there are no enemies within range. This can make for some difficulties when you are positioning them. I usually have Fury cast on them giving an effective P&S of seventeen. That is high enough to threaten 'jacks and 'beasts. They are slow however and as I use them as a counterpunch behind a wall of infantry I often don't get them into battle until very late in the game. This is okay but not ideal. It is good to have all points in the army working at the same time rather than having a lot of it sitting at the back doing nothing. Still if I can manage to attrition well with the forward elements of the army I can really dominate the end of a battle as the Demolition Corps comes into play without a scratch.

Friday Showcase - Ork Boy

I thought I would pop up a picture of a single Ork. I really enjoy painting these models as they are quite characterful and yet retain a simplicity. I haven't heard anything about the latest edition of 40k that would attract me back to playing sadly. I guess the game can be fun but fun in a different way than what I am really looking for. I have watched a few games in the local gamestore and from the outsied looking in it seems little has actually changed. I will still continue to paint my Orks though I doubt I will collect many more. I have a massive box of stuff to paint so I won't be running out of Orks for a long long time!

Winterguard ready for action

I had hoped to get the Winterguard unit finished yesterday. There was a little more to do on them than I had anticipated. I am getting close to having the full thirty five point list done now. The Winterguard are a massive part of my strategy. I use the list as a jam list. I slowly advance forward with the Winterguard in front. Behind them sits Alexia using the casualties of the Winterguard to build up some Risen. Generally a lot of effort needs to be put in to deal with theWinterguard allowing a lot of my army to advance unmolested. A full unit of Demo Corps, a Kodiak and the Butcher back all this up to add a good counter punch.

When I play against the Winterguard I have a healthy respect for them. They really pose a lot of difficulties unless your army is tooled to deal with the high defence. Circle doesn't come with a lot of AOE's, though the celestial fulcrum helps somewhat. Usually when I see Khador about to hit the table I use Kreuger. Having played once with the Wwinterguard I start to spot the weaknesses they have. They are slow which is a big one. Bob and Weave which adds two to their defence prevents them from running. Iron Flesh gives another minus one to speed. This means that they are often at their weakest during the first turn of the game. They have to run flat out in the first turn to be able to claim a good position for the second turn. Most often they don't have their buffs up. A good response to this for Circle is Bloodtrackers having prey on the Winterguard. Advance deployment helps as the unit has a short range. Usually you are close enough to get some shots in on the first turn. The problem is the second turn. Once the buffs come up there really is little to do until the Winterguard commit. I haven't got a really good response developed other than Kreuger as of yet.

The dreaded Manflu

The Manflu is a terrible illness. Most of last week I spent feeling terrible and having a tap instead of a nose. I didn't get much painting done but I at least got some reading in. I wanted to read A Feast for Crows again before I started with George R. R. Martin's latest book A Dance of Dragons.

Yesterday I was finally able to sit and get some painting done. I have had the Winterguard sitting on my desk for a while and I intend getting them done soon. I have a 35pt Khador list I would like to be able to field and they are a fairly large component of it. I continued with the 5th border legion scheme. I think it comes out fairly well, although my photography doesn't really do it justice. I am slowly improving my two-brush blending technique and while it is faster it is a lot easier to make mistakes with. I am also not really sure what the appropriate applications of it are. Large flat armour plates I can do but when it comes to smaller details I struggle and often go back to layering.

I will hopefully finish the rest of the unit today leaving me with not too many models to still have to do for the list. I played with it on VASSAL last week and you can see the battlereport here. It is a slow list to play but hopefully familiarity will allow me to build up some speed in play.

Friday Showcase - Ork Mob

Here is the core of my Ork army for 40k: a giant mob. I only painted twenty four but I definitely have the miniatures to bulk out the unit to its full compliment of thirty. I just couldn't have been bothered at the time in painting more! I have two mobs of this size and it seemed like enough. I have only fielded them a few times against a friends Silver Skull marines and the numbers became a bit superflouous at times. They all came from the Battle for Black Reach except the Nob. I picked up a Batalion box for some reason at one point and at least it gave me a few power klaws to use throughout the army. Right now these guys are occupying a shelf having not been used in three years, a shame really but I can't part with them.