Rough Ridin’ with Daemons
Been a bit busy breaking in my new laptop. I did some research on Epic strategy with Lost and the Damned, and most lists contain traitor Rough Riders. Was going to just bu regular Guard Rough Riders when I realized I had a bunch of Daemonic Cavalry from the old Chaos sprue. So, I sawed the Chaos Space Marines off and replaced them with Beastmen to fit in with the rest of the army and be more fluff-worthy. After all, Rough Riders are not as good as Space Marines! Here's three formations, dedicated to Khorne, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch. Nurgle didn't have old cavalry. Oh well, I got more where this came from if I need it.
So far, my Lost and the Damned contains:
-Four formations of Cultists, with Demagogues (Dark Wanderer, see previous Epic post)
-Four formations of Mutants, with Demagogues
-Four Stands of Chaos Space Marine Aspiring Champions (to swap out)
-24 Land Transporters (third party, from Brigade Models, will add chains, spikes, etc.)
-12 stands of all 5 types of Lesser Daemon
-One of each Greater Daemon
-8 stands of "Big Mutants" (Old Chaos Minotaurs and Trolls with Gothic Imperial Masts that look like laser pistols in their hands)
-36 square bases with the old shield-and-axe Beastmen that count as Plague Zombies (dedicated to Khorne)
-3 Hydras (to be chaosed-out)
-Two Lords of Battles
-Three Khorne Doom Blasters and One Khorne Deathdealer
-One Slaaneshi Questor scout titan
-Four Slaaneshi knight titans
-Four Imperial Guard Bombards, modded into Nurgle Plague Engines (in progress)
-2 formations of 4 Defilers from Otterman (looks just like the 40K defiler!)
-4 old Cannons of Khorne (counts as Undivided Hellfire Cannons)
Now all I need is some Tzeentch flyers and Silver Towers, possibly scratch built as regular ones are rare.
Edit: DERP! Rough Rider formations contain SIX STANDS NOT FOUR! I'll get the other stands done in a bit.
On My Plate: 4-9-12
Recently re-mounted my old whiteboard, and I realized how many dang projects I have. Here's a re-hash so you can pity me.
-Azure Flames: YES, they're back! Low priority, but I still have to make a Kor'Sarro Khan stand in, add another Scout Bike, and start the Antonius Project, making Antonius my Marneus stand in.
-Orks: Gotta paint some lads!
-Imperial Guard: Low priority, but I'd like to make a 1500 pt. Creed list and paint it up.
-Warmachine: On hold, pending possibly getting out of WM entirely. I love the minis, but hate the way the game is going: toward even bigger things.
-Epic Marines: Still have to paint almost 9 companies, plus tanks, Navy support, and the Reaver Titan.
-Epic Orks: High priority is to finish the 3000 pt. list. Then, just paint lads!
-Epic Lost and the Damned: Thanks to Lexington and a few ebay auctions, I have a good host of infantry and daemons. Now, I need the more exotic things such as Daemon Engines and Chaos Altars. A lot of this might be scratch-build.
-Gothic Dark Eldar: All built, and ordnance is printed and laminated. Now I need to paint. I'm thinking Teal with purple running lights and boltgun metal blades with a Mithril Silver highlight.
Necromunda: Need to choose a color scheme for the Delaques, paint my starter gang, and then paint all of the other misc. gangers.
Blood Bowl: Gotta model some cheerleaders and Coaches for the Scrappaz, possibly some Bloodweiser Babes, Apothecaries, etc. Then, paint the Scrappaz. Also, I bought the old "Astrogranite" styrofoam Blood Bowl board, so I'm going to create, print, and laminate custom End Zones for the Scrappaz and the Monitors.
Epic Eldar: ON HOLD.
If Lexington could just shoot me now that would be great.
New Epic Army: The Cult of the Dark Wanderer
So it seems that Epic Beastmen are pretty easy to find on ebay. As a result of several auctions I've impulse-bid on, I now have the start of a Lost and the Damned army for Epic.
The above custom demagogue base forms the fluff for my army: The Cult of the Dark Wanderer. Yes, it's blatantly ripped off from Diablo, I admit that. But it's a great theme.
Now the more pertinent question: why would I want to collect the hardest army for Epic to collect? BECAUSE IT'S THERE.
Dark Eldar Escorts
16 escorts separated into five different makes, three of each (except one that gets four). Currently though, the one with the engine on top has only one, as I'm waiting for one more ebay auction to complete the other two.
As you can see, each escort has two magnets, just like the cruisers. The weapons also have two each. Now once the auction arrives, I'll only have to drill 4 more holes and then the fleet is BUILT.
By the way, I have a new secret project or two. Details next!
I’ve been bad: New Dark Eldar fleet for Gothic
So I've been a bit busy at work. Recently, I was bad and bid on a great Dark Eldar Battlefleet Gothic fleet. I won. I won too much actually, winning the five cruisers shown above. I planned to sell two. That didn't happen, so I had to buy more escorts to compensate (currently shipping).
It was painted terribly, so I stripped it (and gave myself a chemical burn with paint thinner.) I then thought: hey why not magnetize it? It can't be that hard.
Then I did the math.
108 holes to drill, 108 magnets to use.
*sigh* I'd better get to work. Next: Escorts!
Love Letter to Grendel
BOLS posted this guy's website, but I need to do so as well. He's been keeping a modeling blog since about 2000. He has a lot of excellent looking projects. Check him out:
Coming VERY SOON: a TOP SECRET EVENT. I've been silent so long because certain people had to not know it. But it will be a huge scale, multi-person battle report.
With Booze.
Battlefleet Gothic Teaching Game with Lexington
Lexington of Dice Abide was in town, and wanted to learn about Battlefleet Gothic. I thought of it as a perfect time to show off my Battlefleet Gothic teaching so I headed on up to Lansing.
Bozeman - Imperial Navy
-Admiral (Ld8) with one re-roll.
-Lunar Class Cruiser True Heart
-Lunar Class Cruiser Blind Faith
-Gothic Class Crusier Verisimilitude
-Tyrant Class Cruiser Belligerent
Lexington - Chaos
-Chaos Warmaster (+2 Ld) with one re-roll
-Slaughter Class Cruiser Swiftboat of Truth
-Slaughter Class Cruiser Traitor's Blade
-Murder Class Cruiser Domination
-Carnage Class Cruiser Overkill
Setup
Scenario: Cruiser Clash. Zone: Outer Reaches. Upper left had one gas/dust cloud. Lower left had a large planet with two rings of asteroids and one ring of gas/dust. Lower middle had two asteroid belts. Lower right had three asteroid belts. Asteroids were moved more towards the center of the board at both players' agreement. Sunward edge was at the top.
I set up at the bottom, with the two Lunars between the planet and asteroids, and the Gothic and Tyrant between two asteroid belts. Lexington set up at the top, with one Slaughter to the extreme left, Murder center, Carnage slightly to the right, and the other Slaughter to the extreme right.
Turn 1 - Imperial Navy.
I moved forward and turned with the Lunars. This was a tactical error, I sould have turned the other way.
Turn 1 - Chaos
Lextington went on All Ahead Full with the Traitor's Blade. Other ships moved up. Long range shooting brought down one shield on the Gothic class.
Turn 2 - Imperial Navy
The Gothic and Tyrant went on Lock On, while the Lunars wheeled to rejoin the battle. Some minor damage to the Chaos Slaughter, forcing a Brace For Impact. I miscalculated the distance to move the Tyrant, and so fired its torpedoes ineffectively.
Turn 2 - Chaos
The Slaughter moved around behind the Gothic and Tyrant, while the rest of the fleet closed in. The Tyrant was crippled. The other Slaughter fails a leadership check when clipping the edge of an asteroid field, but a re-roll saves it.
Turn 3 - Imperial Navy
I disengaged the Tyrant. Gothic moved up into base contact with the Carnage. Lunars moved closer, and one went on Lock On. The Lunars tore up the Slaughter Class Swiftboat of Truth, while the Gothic turned its guns on both the Slaughter and the Carnage, firing torpedoes as well. The torpedoes did nothing, thanks to a poor roll, and the lances brought down the Carnage's shields but did little else. The Slaughter went on Brace for Impact.
Turn 3 - Chaos
Ships re-positioned to regroup. Fire at the Gothic class forces a Brace For Impact.
Turn 4 - Imperial Navy
Ships regrouped. Fire lowers a shield on the Swiftboat.
Turn 4 - Chaos
Murder goes All Ahead Full to get around the asteroids. Slaughter goes right through the asteroids, hides inside. Carnage and other Slaughter put enough damage on the Gothic to cripple it.
Turn 5 - Imperial Navy
Disengaged the Gothic class. Lunars bash the Slaughter, causing a BFI and crippling it.
Turn 5 - Chaos
The crippled Slaughter disengages. The other Slaughter pops out of the asteroids and makes one of my Lunars Brace For Impact. Does little damage. Murder near the bottom fails to Come To A New Heading.
Turn 6 - Imperial Navy
Lunars open up on the Slaughter, crippling it.
Turn 6 - Chaos
Carnage moves to just outside the asteroids, fails to do damage to a Lunar. Murder successfully goes on Come To A New Heading. I forgot to take a picture for this turn end.
Turn 7 - Imperial Navy
Lunars close on the Carnage, causing it to Brace For Impact. A Critical Hit smashes the brige, causing a permanent -3 Ld. The Lunar that fired torpedoes Reloads Ordnance.
Turn 7 - Chaos
The Carnage fails the check to go through the asteroids, but luckily Brace For Impact saves against damage. Fire is ineffectual. Murder moves up to join.
Turn 8 - Imperial Navy
One Lunar goes on Lock On, other goes minimum distance, turns. Damage to Carnage is minimal, but causes a Brace For Impact.
Turn 8 - Chaos
Fleet disengages.
Final Victory Points: Imperials: 128 - Chaos: 91.
Final Thoughts: The teaching game worked well. I made an early mistake by splitting my forces. I should remember Imperial doctrine: focus on one target until it is obliterated, and then move on. Got a bit lucky near the end. Next time, hopefully we won't be so restricted and Lexington will have his Ork fleet done.
As an epilogue, me and a bunch of the guys chipped in for an xmas present for Lexington! Behold stompy goodness!
He tried to eat it.
Lightguard Complete! An Xmas miracle!
The Lightguard are complete! Huzzah! Next, more Epic Orks!
Battlefleet Gothic Battle Report.
Just got back from R.I.W. Hobbies in Livonia after a great game of Battlefleet Gothic with Gothic expert: John!
Scenario: Cruiser Clash with no limits on fleet composition
Size: 850 pts (was 750 but John forgot how much the Eldar Pirate Prince costs)
Bozeman - Imperial Navy
- Overlord Battlecruiser Centaur with extra turret and battery left shift upgrades. Admiral.
- Dominator Cruiser Kar Duniash with extra range battery option.
- Tyrant Cruiser Belligerent with battery range upgrade.
- Squadron of 5 Sword class escorts, Dagger Squadron.
John: Corsair Eldar
- Aurora Class Light Cruiser, Pirate Prince
- Solaris Class Light Cruiser
- Squadron of 3 Hemlock Class Destroyers
- Squadron of 3 Hemlock Class Destroyers
- Squadron of 3 Hemlock Class Destroyers
- Squadron of 3 Hemlock Class Destroyers
Board Setup: Mercurial Zone. Upper right had one small planet. No other terrain. One Radiation Burst. Lower long board edge is sunward. I set up on the Sunward Edge, John opposite me. I clustered in the center, John kept his cruisers centered, and spread out the escorts to avoid Nova Cannon fire.
Turn 1 Imperial Navy: Radiation Burst, -1 Ld to the whole board. Moved forward. Fired Nova Cannon, no effect.
Turn 1 Eldar: Moved forward, split fleet in two. Capital ships went to the left side with 2 escort squadrons, other 2 escort squadrons went right.
Turn 2 Imperial Navy: Radiation Burst, -5 Ld to whole board. Unable to go on special orders or even fire at select targets, I moved forward and shot the closest things. One Hemlock squadron on the right side takes two casualties. Capital Ships put 3 damage on the Solaris class cluiser, with 2 criticals that hamper turning.
Turn 2 Eldar: Solaris fails to disengage, and so runs for the board edge. Surviving Hemlocks on the right side roll poorly and do not harm the squadron of Sword frigates. The ships on the left side obliterate the Tyrant class because it can't make Brace For Impact. A Warp Explosion puts one damage on the Dominator class.
Turn 3 Imperial Navy: No Radiation Burst. Sword Frigates on right side wipe out a squadron of Hemlocks. Two surviving capital ships on the left strike at escorts, failinto do damage but forcing Brace For Impact.
Turn 3 Eldar: This turn much less effective due to successful Brace For Imapct by Dominator Class. Hemlock on right side fails to damage Sword Frigates.
Turn 4 Imperial Navy: Radiation Burst, another -5 Ld board-wide! Surviving Cap ships swing to the right, put 3 damage on Aurora Class, with a -1 Ld critical. Sword Frigates fail Come To A New Heading check, begin a two-turn long 180 degree turn.
Turn 4 Eldar: Fleet on the right finishes the Dominator class, reduce it to a Burning Hulk. Hemlock destroys one of the Swords.
Turn 5 Imperial Navy: Radiation Burst -5 Ld AGAIN! DAMMIT! Swords complete theie 180. Overlord Class battlecruiser fails to target the Aurora Class to finish it off, and so just causes a Brace For Imapct on one of the escort squadrons.
Turn 5 Eldar: Aurora fails to disengage, runs for the board edge. Surviving Hemlock on the right runs for the board edge. Two remaining Hemlock Squadrons fire on the Overlord class, do one damage from poor rolling. Overlord fails Brace For Impact Check.
Turn 6 Imperial Navy: Overlord passes check for Lock On, and destroys an entire Hemlock squadron. Swords fail All Ahead Full and simply move forward.
Turn 6 Eldar: Escorts fire on Overlord and split fire onto Dominator Hulk. No damage. They flee off the board edge during the Ordnance Phase. Game Over.
Final Score: Imperial Navy - 445, Eldar - 385 Victory for the Imperial Navy!
Commentary: I finally beat not just the Eldar, but John playing the Eldar! Close at the end. John could have won had he blasted the Dominator Hulk and gotten an explosion result, as holding the field put me over the top. The Eldar aren't that bad if you have long distance batteries. If you don't, you're in trouble. When I played John with my Carrier-heavy Chaos a while ago, he just flew right through the bomber waves and blew my ships to smithereens.
Look forward to another Gothic clash later this week vs. Lexington of Dice Abide!
Lightguard Trooper (running)
Two more to go!
As an interesting sidenote, John (of Battlefleet Gothic fame) will be in town soon. Expect a battle report! Also, expect another report as I refresh Lexington in the Battlefleet Gothic rules! It's a very Battlefleet Gothic Xmas!