Miniature Mondays: Spirit Host

 Used this last week to finish up some models that were started at some point but sitting on my painting table waiting to be completed.  This is the third spirit host for my first warscroll.  Basing is pretty generic for now, but I plan on circling back with something better when I return to working on my death army.

On the Bench: Spirit Host

Complete my first spirit host model this week using the newer kit.  Need to finish 5 more of these before Nov 6th as I am playing Age of Sigmar at the Windy City Throwdown GT.

End Times Special Characters

This weekend we will be recording episode 43 of the show. The main topic will be us breaking down the big nasty characters from the End Times. As of right now, we are looking to discuss the following special characters: 

Nagash (End Times: Nagash)
Karl Franz (End Times: Glottkin)
Glottkin  (End Times: Glottkin)
Malekith the Eternity King (End Times: Khaine)
Thanquol (End Times: Thanquol)
Archaon  (End Times: Archaon)

If anyone would like to request another special character from the End Times, let us know in the comments section or send us an email to unstabledice@gmail.com.

Episode 34 - The End is Near

Episode 34 - The End is Near
Sponsored by Heroes Haven Comics and Games & A Gathering of Might

The end is near.  In this episode, the guys talk about the leaked Nagash model and rules.  After sharing their thoughts on the Lord of the Undead, they discuss their latest hobby progress in Marshaling the Host.  Next, Chuck previews Waste Wars XIII while John drools over his new warpfire dragon.  Finally, John has a very special message for a friend of the show.
 
Download: Direct Download | iTunes | RSS



Episode Timeline
00:00:17 Sponsors (Heroes Haven Comics & Games)

00:01:00 - The End is Near (Review of Nagash model and rules)
00:50:00 - Marshaling the Host (Michigan GT prep)
01:05:00 - Waste Wars XIII Preview (WFB Tournament)
01:23:37 - A Special Message for Richard

What Are You Drinking
Tucher Dunkles Hefe Beizen - 4+ Armour Save (Fair)

Emails
The Show Email - equinox999equinox@yahoo.com

Show Links

Over Da Top Gaming (Chuck's Blog) 
A Gathering of Might XIII
Michigan GT

Sponsors

Heroes Haven Comics & Games: Website | Facebook
A Gathering of Might: Website | Facebook
Wargamma: Website | Facebook

The Waaaghcast Cup: Kalima Killers Week #5

Snotlings scurried to gather the pile of teeth that had been thrown into the betting pit of the orc team. The orcs had a feeling that this would be a good old fashion bet down, so they were betting on who would cause the most bruises in the game. With the last of the bets placed and collected, the orc team began to chant their team motto.

"Crush, Crush, what a rush... Smash those mummies into mush."

The chanting continued until the team was worked up into a fevor and went screaming onto the field. The crowd erupted into cheers and brawls as the orc team took to the field. Finally there was a team on the pitch that would do something other than stand motionlessly like the Kalima Killers. The Killers had been on the field since the prior night, but had not moved since getting into their positions for kickoff.

The first half was a one sided affair as the orcs used a simple plan called pop and run to score two touchdowns. How pop and run works is that the orcs pop the closest skeleton and then run with the ball after it is dropped by the opposition. If there was a bright spot for the Killers, it would have been them being able to knock out the orc's star goblin player.

The second half was more of the same as the orcs continued to break skulls and score touchdowns. The orcs didn't have much trouble enforcing their green will on the Khemri team. The game concluded with the Killers taking a few cheapshots on some of the less experienced orc players.

After the game, the orc team rushed eagerly back into their locker room; each player on the team assuming they had won the bet. To their shock, they discovered that the equipment manager had won the bet. Seemed none of the players realized that a team composed of skeletons and mummies cannot actually be bruised. The orcs are now looking for a new equipment manager.

Waaagh Aeries VI: Andrew "Dr. Jones" K. Battle Reports

The following Battle Reports are from Andrew "Dr. Jones" K, who went to Waaagh Aeries VI with me.  I would just like to point out that everytime someone has carpooled with me down to Bloomington, they have walked away winning an award.



Andrew's Tomb King List
Khalida
High Liche Priest - Dragonbane gem, lvl 3
Liche Priest - Ironcurse icon, lvl 2
Ramhotep the Visionary
30 Skeleton Archers - full command
30 Skeleton Archers - full command
3 Chariots - musician, banner, Flaming banner
Tomb Scorpion
3 Sepulchral Stalkers
3 Sepulchral Stalkers
Necrosphinx
Hierotitan

It's my concept of the "infamous Khalida list," simply because I came up with this right when the book came out, long before it was cool . It's nicer because it's not 90 archers in one blob, and it's far less overall. The idea behind the list is as such: The skeletons form a line, one in front of the other. The Hierotitan stands out front to take charges and block my own. Khalida and Ramhotep stay in the front archer unit, and with the hierotitan blocking my charges I don't have to test for frenzy. The casters get the bonus casting dice to make them essentially lvl 3-4+ while the Chariots and Sphinx deal with flankers. Stalkers and scorpion pop up behind to deal with warmachines/small units. Works fine in theory and has done so on the table.


Game 1 vs Wood Elves (Steve)
Steve's List:Spell Weaver - Life, HoD arrow
Altar Noble
Altar Noble
20 Glade Guard
14 Glade Guard
10 Dryads
10 Wardancers
10 Wardancers
3 Treekin
Treeman
Eagle

Scenario: Battleline, with extra points for getting a character to the other side of the table.

Suffice to say, this went bad because I didn't even stick to my battle plan as outlined at the beginning, and because of dice. The only thing I did well at was getting power dice (after which I poofed those rolls). Pretty much everything sucked, I made the mistake of having Khalida leave to kill an Altar noble and fail, and the Stalkers misfired 5 of 8 times. On the plus side, they still killed the treeman easily and the eagle just as well. The Hierotitan was quite useful in boosting my spells, and even lived to the end of the game (everything else was dead by the end).

Loss!


Game 2 vs Dwarves (Kevin)

Kevin's list:
Thane/King?
Runesmith?
40 with great weapons
25 sword/board
12 Thunderers
25 Miners
Organ Gun
Cannon
Gyrocopter

Scenario: Watchtower, with a restriction that no unit of 20+ could garrison the tower.

This game went much better. Still, the hierotitan got blatted by a cannonball on the first turn...ouch. Still, I was able to roll the left flank (gyrocopter and warmachines), swing the chariots around, and then some big scrums happened. Turn 2 the scorpion popped up and threatened the cannon; he had to hem and haw to decide whether grapeshot or straightshot, choosing to grapeshot (which didn't kill it). Once his thunderers got in the tower, my archers all tore them to shreds. I made two important and interesting combats in the fourth turn. By then, the scorpion had destroyed the cannon, and so it and the chariots charged the horde of great weapons. The stalkers had shown up, so they all (and the necrosphinx) charged the other smaller block. The scorpion and chariots acquitted themselves well, killing ~20. Still...he entirely destroyed both units. UGH. The stalkers and necrosphinx failed to kill much of anything and lost the combat, lame! And just like that, due to the random game length the game ended and I had stuck my liche priest just close enough to the tower to cap it.

Win!


Game 3 vs Dark Elves (Paul)
Paul's list:Supreme Sorceress - shadows
Sorceress - dark
Noble - BSB
30 Spearmen
23 Crossbows
25 Witches
Chariot
5 Dark Riders
8 Harpies
5 Shades
Reaper
Hydra

Scenario: Blood and Glory

We both deployed refused flanks, each taking our right sides. His shades went near my chariots though and attempted to sneak past them...but couldn't do it and were run down. The stalkers showed up and did their job, dusting both the chariot and reaper. The scorpion eventually popped up behind the crossbowmen (and sorceress). It and the stalkers attempted to charge them; they fled but were caught by the Stalkers (despite being farther away). Near turn 4-5? I had a chance to clinch it. The hierotitan moved into place near his BSB, and I rolled a mighty 2 for the power dice, no channels. UGH. It failed to cast spirit leech...sigh, I would've thrown 6 dice at it. Oh well! On turn 6, Khalida's archers cut down 15+ witches all in one go, but were then charged by the harpies. Khalida killed 5, but they still managed to inflict 3 wounds on her and I failed all of my saves (had a 5+ ward from spell). Blegh, that lost me the game right there, as the failure of the hierotitan to capitalize was the key fail. Oh well. My moral victory was that I had scored ~1300 VP and he had only gotten about 930.

Loss!

Three great games and opponents, thanks for the fun!

Raising the Dead - Part Seven

When it came to the design of my hierophant, I wanted it to remain more skeletal than a “typical” mummy. I also wanted it to be larger and standout when compared to the more basic skeletons that would be used for the archers.

I started the conversion by using a basic skeleton from the tomb king kit. I swapped out a plain skull for one that was more ornamental in design from the chariot kit. Next, I took two arms from the tomb king archer kit. Once assembled, I used green stuff to create additional bandages and brown stuff for the metal bands and heavy leather sections. On the back of the model I added a couple of plastic chains from the marauder kit.

When it came to the staff, I used a plasticard rod for the staff and topped it with a bit from the high elf range. I created some wraps using green stuff. Once the green stuff was dry, I applied a bit from a spear and a chain bit with a skull from the marauder kit.


Introducing Remus Tut the Unleashed

Raising the Dead – Part Six

The last unit in my army is a regiment of skeleton archers. This is what I am calling a filler unit, as I will continue to add to it as I exceed the 1000 point foundation I am building. My ultimate goal is to have ~50 models in this unit when I reach the mythic 2000 points.



Now that I have access to a camera again, I can update everyone on what I am doing from a modeling perspective. When it comes to this army, my goal is to have every model in it have some level of conversion work. Not an easy task, but one that has seemed to given me inspiration.



One of the ideas that I had for this army was that the basic skeletons would be smaller than the more elite ones that form tomb guard units and characters. When it comes to the models, I decided to use the vampire count skeletons as a base for them. For the bows, I am using the ones off the glade guard kit. Amazingly, if you hunt around, you can build a 10 man unit of these guys for ~$10.00. To further make them appear more like tomb king models, I added green stuff to the model in the form of bandages and rags.



15 Skeleton Archers w/ Champion, Musician and Standard Bearer - 120 points

Raising the Dead – Part Five

At this point, I have spent 690 points out of a possible 1000. I need to now focus on the core choices in order to meet the army composition requirements. As I mentioned earlier in the week, my army is going to include a unit of chariots. Along with the stalkers, the chariots are meant to be my hammer unit that crashes into the enemy and keeps them from advancing.

3 Chariots w/ champion, musician and standard bearer – 195 pts

Raising the Dead – Part Four

Keeping with the theme of the army, I wanted to include a unit of Sepulcheral Stalkers. I like the models and think the rules are interesting enough that they could prove to be fun when fielded. Since this unit was an automatic for me, I figured I would use today’s entry to discuss my overall theme for the army.

When developing a theme, I like to search for imagery that grabs my attention and is within my ability to replicate. As of late, I have been on a kick doing nude imagery on banners and vehicles. Maybe it is some kind of hidden fetish, but I like to paint naked women. Along these lines, I wanted to have some eye catching banners that used my current interests but also seemed to fit within the fluff of the tomb kings. This search for a theme lead me to examining the Khalida model.

I really love the Khalida model, but since most folks shun special characters and she is too expensive for a 1000 points, the best she could be for now was inspiration. She did give me the idea though of looking up the Egyptian pantheon and finding a goddess that has some kind of relationship to snakes. While my research was not extensive, I did find the goddess Wadjet who was the protector of Egypt and the pharaohs. She is depicted as a woman with the head of a snake, though some depictions of her are the reverse with her head being human and her body being a serpent. Either way, she seemed like a cool goddess to use as a template for my army.

3 Sepulcheral Stalkers – 165 pts

Raising the Dead – Part Three

Typically I would dive into the core units after exploring my lord and hero choices, but for today’s entry, I wanted to explore the rare choice I plan to include in the army. The new book allows for a lot of cool choices, so deciding on only one was a bit of a challenge. Using the advice I have given others, I decided to narrow down my choices to the ones that fit into the theme and strategy of my army. Using that advice, the necrosphinx and necrolith colossus were out of contention.

Of the remaining choices, I quickly decided that I did not have an idea for how to make a screaming skull catapult that would fit into my theme. This left me with the hierotitan and casket of souls. One of the advantages of both units is that they help with the magic phase. In the case of the hierotitan, it grants an extra d3 to each friendly spell cast within 12” of the construct. In comparison, the casket of souls adds an additional d3 power dice to the pool. Between the two choices, the ability of the hierotitan seems to be less useful when there is only one friendly caster on the board. In contrast, the additional power dice can be used by both the hierophant and casket.

While the edge goes to the casket, I still wanted to compare the two units, as each also offers a certain degree of offensive capability. Again, both units play a role in the magic phase. The ability of the casket is to cast a bound spell that causes an enemy unit to take a leadership test on 3d6 dice. If the test is failed, the unit loses the difference in wounds with no saves allowed. On the other hand, the giant can cast two spells; Shem's Burning Gaze (light) and Spirit Leech (death). Here as well, I just felt that the ability of the casket was more appropriate to my game plan.

Casket of Souls – 135 pts

Raising the Dead – Part Two

In addition to the hierophant, I have decided to include a Tomb Prince in my army. Basically this guy is the general with a few additional perks to him. The two important ones are that he lends his WS to any unit he joins, very useful when placed in a unit, and his ability to curse the unit that kills him. A strange combination of rules as the one makes me want to protect him, while the other lends itself to making him a suicide bomber of sorts. In the end, I think it would be foolish to use him as a suicide unit, so I am treating the second ability as simply a nice to have when things go sour for him.

When it came to how I was going to kit him out, I knew early on that he was going to ride a chariot. My whole reason for doing this army was to include a monster block of chariots in the army. At a 1000 points, that monster block is not really that monstrous, but it is still large enough that I wanted for him to be riding a chariot to accompany the core choice.

As for equipment, I began with deciding on a magical weapon for him. Since he will be in a unit of chariots that are going to hit at a very low initiative, I decided to give him the I 10 sword. Also, since the overall theme of the army is that they are dedicated to the worship of a snake goddess, it seemed to make narrative sense that the weapon his goddess gifted him with would allow him to strike quickly like a cobra.

Next, I gave him the talisman that grants a 2+ ward save against flaming attacks. Since these guys are flammable, I am betting that my opponents will target such attacks at him. I don’t think this strategy will happen a lot, but I do expect it to happen enough that the 5 point investment is worth it.

The last item I have him was the enchanted item that allows him and any unit he joins a 6+ ward save against warmachines. Again, for a few points, the addition of a ward save seems worth the cost.

Tomb Prince w/ Int 10 sword, 2+ ward save against flaming attacks, 6+ ward against war machines and a chariot - 180 points

Raising the Dead – Part One

At the end of this week, we see the release of the much anticipated Tomb Kings book. Unlike the Orc and Goblins release from March, I am very excited at the release of the new rules and models. Since being announced, I have been playing around with ideas for a small army to be used at next year’s 1000 point tournament at Adepticon. Today I begin the process of spelling out what the army will look like in the months ahead.

One of the few things that my Dogs of War share with the new Tomb Kings book is that I am required to field a specific type of character in every army build. Every army is required to field a hierophant. The purpose of the character is to raise the army and acts as the anchor for it staying on the board. Similar to a vampire count, the army will crumble if the hierophant is killed.

When it came to deciding on what level of hierophant to use in the army, the process came down to whether or not it was going to play an active role in the game or just be very passive and basically hidden to avoid harm. In the end, I decided that I really want him to play an active role, so I elected to go with a liche high priest.

Another important rule about the hierophant is that it must take the Lore of Nehekhara. The interesting thing about this lore is that the augment spells can affect all friendly units when cast at the higher levels. Considering that, I felt that I needed to have a level 3 caster to give me a reasonable chance to get off the desired spells.

Since the loss of the hierophant will cause my army to crumble, I felt I should spend some points to provide him with a reasonable level of protection. To this end, I gave him the 5+ ward save talisman. Maybe not the best kit, but should provide enough protection against the well aimed cannonball or such.

Liche High Priest w/ 5+ Ward Save – 205 pts