I am having a hard time getting back in to the swing of things. I started painting up the rest of my Gondor army but I just can't bring myself to finish them.
I think I need to play. Playing always motivates me to throw some more paint on my models. When I'm throwing dice and my opponent's army is painted, and mine is not, it is a huge motivator to get it done. I'm always good for at least a week after that. Likewise, if my opponent's army is not painted I think about how crap it looks and want to get mine looking better. Either way the gaming is what keeps me painting.
The other thing that helps is having a deadline. I got more painting done in the lead up to the GitD than I have in any given year before. Having that sort of goal is hugely helpful to me. I have always worked best under a deadline.
Bottom line, I need to figure out a deadline or play some games. We have our warbands league this weekend, so I may be able to get some gaming done then. That would get me kick started on my Empire. I have a lot painted for that army but there is more I can do.
Next weekend is our 40K league. I have not played any games yet, but we are doing kill teams from the Battle Missions book. That would give me a chance to learn the rules and to get motivated to paint my IG. I have one squad of them painted.
I also got an American Rifle Company box for Flames of War for my birthday this week. If I get them assembled then I could play some practice games of that.
I guess I just have too much hobby and not enough time or motivation. I know what I need to do, now I just have to do it.
Showing posts with label GitD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GitD. Show all posts
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Gathering in the Desert - Overview
The Gathering in the Desert is over, and it was a fantastic event. I will do all I can to make it again next year.
Tim McKnight, the manager of Collectormania, and I had been planning our trip for a couple of days. His army was almost completely painted a year ago, he only had to add a couple of models. We both made up our display boards at the last moment. They were functional but not all that hot. The only good thing about mine was that the holes were cut in such a way that when the first four rows were filled I was broken. It acted as a nice score board for both my opponent and I.
Keith, the other Colorado player, was flying down. I offered to carry anything he might not want to take on the plane as we had plenty of room in the SUV. He chose to send his display board with us on the way down, we brought his army and paints back with us. It turns out, by the way, that you can't take a whole bunch of bottles of paint on the plane. TSA and Keith had it out, guess who won? Keith ended up checking his army. The Sabol army case worked as designed and the army arrived with no damage. Good stuff, but nail biting for Keith. The other problem that Keith had was that, as a physician, he has been told that he can work for days without sleep. When we got down there he was down two days on sleep, minus about three hours. The night before the game he stayed up all night finishing his army. He finished as Tim and I were heading for the door for breakfast.
Tim and I met up at the store at 0530. It had snowed overnight and I was a little bit concerned about the drive. As it happened, getting out of the parking lot at Collectormania was the worst part of the drive. We loaded Keith's display board and Tim's stuff into the car and we were off. The drive down was great. Good conversation all the way and an easy drive. We made good time and got straight to the hotel with no issues. Once we were checked in we called Keith, got handed around for awhile, and got directions to the store.
Empire Games is an impressive venue. They have twenty (or so) 4x6 tables, tons of terrain and the largest stock that I have ever seen. The store is brightly lit and the staff were great, helpful but not pushy. Tim spent some time checking the place out, professional curiosity.
We checked in on Keith, who was playing in the March to Mt. Doom. We met a few of the other guys and got directions to a local Mexican place. Dinner was great and the beer was a godsend. We hit a grocery store, since I had forgotten my ditty bag at home. It turns out that in Arizona you can buy real beer at the grocery store. We found some good Colorado beer, no local beers were in sight. Once we were done we found our way back to the hotel. At this point we were feeling pretty good about our ability to get around town. It helps that Mesa is laid out on a grid. Good system. I wonder why we don't do that so much in Colorado.
Tim and slept like crap. Hard bed, too hot, too cold. I was looking forward to sleeping in, being away from my boys, but I was up at 0600. I jumped in the shower and headed down for some coffee. The hotel had breakfast set up so I ate and waited for Tim. He got down, we called Keith, who was alive and awake but not really all that with it. It took a few minutes to get to the store and get our armies and display boards into the store and we were ready to go.
I'll cover the games in separate posts. The day flew by. I enjoyed all three of my opponents and the tables were gorgeous. I learned something in each game I played. My opponents were all great sportsmen and very reasonable about everything. It was the best day of gaming I've had, at least from a fun point of view.
Not so great from the gaming stance as I started out with a Major win, then a draw and ended with a total shelacking Major loss. Over the course of the weekend I played against the best overall, Best General and 3rd Best General. I learned a lot at least.
When we were done gaming for the day we all headed out for dinner again. Since people were coming from all over the country they wanted Mexican. Tim and I volunteered the place we had eaten the night before so we headed over. Most of us even found the place. Dinner was good and the company was great. The dinner ended up sitting a little heavy though. Back to the hotel, drink a beer, watch some curling on TV. Hit the rack.
The second night was no better than the first, and the third was just as bad. Day two was a shorter day, only two games. My first game of the day was no fun at all but the last one was great. I ended on a high note at least. The awards were given out and Tim won best sportsman. That was all he was really gunning for at this point so he was very pleased. Jeremy, who we had met there and fallen in with, won 2nd best sportsman.
I packed up my army and board and talked with everyone about their games and weekend. I was sad it was over but I was also beat and not looking forward to the drive the next day. Anyone who had not already left went to dinner again. A bunch of us headed back to the hotel and Tim and I picked up some beer. We got a variety pack of New Belgium as Jeremy had just been snow boarding in Denver and was raving about the beer. He was thrilled and we burned through the beer while we all sat around and talked through the games, history, sports, women, whatever.
Tim and I slept badly again so we were up early and out of the hotel. The drive started out well, a little overcast. As we got farther north we transitioned to rain, snow, harder snow, freaking BLIZZARD in ARIZONA and back to snow. It took us two hours to finish the last twenty miles before Flagstaff. It turns out, oddly, that Arizonan's can't drive in the snow. If they weren't driving really, really slowly, they were in the ditch.
Once we were out of the traffic jam/blizzard we grabbed some breakfast and got back on the road. The drive was reasonable until we hit Santa Fe and it got crappy again until we hit the Colorado border. At that point the roads were clear and dry and the rest of the drive was easy.
I had brought the Fellowship of the Ring on CD so we listened to that on the drive back. Tim had not read the books and was surprised by how different the books were. We both agreed that the first few chapters of the Fellowship could have been tossed out the window and no one would notice.
We hit town about two and a half hours later than we had planned. I dropped Tim off at the store at 2100 and headed home. Mama and the boys were all racked out but I woke each one up for hugs an kisses, then went to bed myself.
As I said at the beginning, this was a great event. The blizzard aside, the trip up and down was great. I can't wait to head back to Phoenix next year. Tim and Dean put on a great event and Tim's wife did all the book keeping, so thanks to her as well.
Tim McKnight, the manager of Collectormania, and I had been planning our trip for a couple of days. His army was almost completely painted a year ago, he only had to add a couple of models. We both made up our display boards at the last moment. They were functional but not all that hot. The only good thing about mine was that the holes were cut in such a way that when the first four rows were filled I was broken. It acted as a nice score board for both my opponent and I.
Keith, the other Colorado player, was flying down. I offered to carry anything he might not want to take on the plane as we had plenty of room in the SUV. He chose to send his display board with us on the way down, we brought his army and paints back with us. It turns out, by the way, that you can't take a whole bunch of bottles of paint on the plane. TSA and Keith had it out, guess who won? Keith ended up checking his army. The Sabol army case worked as designed and the army arrived with no damage. Good stuff, but nail biting for Keith. The other problem that Keith had was that, as a physician, he has been told that he can work for days without sleep. When we got down there he was down two days on sleep, minus about three hours. The night before the game he stayed up all night finishing his army. He finished as Tim and I were heading for the door for breakfast.
Tim and I met up at the store at 0530. It had snowed overnight and I was a little bit concerned about the drive. As it happened, getting out of the parking lot at Collectormania was the worst part of the drive. We loaded Keith's display board and Tim's stuff into the car and we were off. The drive down was great. Good conversation all the way and an easy drive. We made good time and got straight to the hotel with no issues. Once we were checked in we called Keith, got handed around for awhile, and got directions to the store.
Empire Games is an impressive venue. They have twenty (or so) 4x6 tables, tons of terrain and the largest stock that I have ever seen. The store is brightly lit and the staff were great, helpful but not pushy. Tim spent some time checking the place out, professional curiosity.
We checked in on Keith, who was playing in the March to Mt. Doom. We met a few of the other guys and got directions to a local Mexican place. Dinner was great and the beer was a godsend. We hit a grocery store, since I had forgotten my ditty bag at home. It turns out that in Arizona you can buy real beer at the grocery store. We found some good Colorado beer, no local beers were in sight. Once we were done we found our way back to the hotel. At this point we were feeling pretty good about our ability to get around town. It helps that Mesa is laid out on a grid. Good system. I wonder why we don't do that so much in Colorado.
Tim and slept like crap. Hard bed, too hot, too cold. I was looking forward to sleeping in, being away from my boys, but I was up at 0600. I jumped in the shower and headed down for some coffee. The hotel had breakfast set up so I ate and waited for Tim. He got down, we called Keith, who was alive and awake but not really all that with it. It took a few minutes to get to the store and get our armies and display boards into the store and we were ready to go.
I'll cover the games in separate posts. The day flew by. I enjoyed all three of my opponents and the tables were gorgeous. I learned something in each game I played. My opponents were all great sportsmen and very reasonable about everything. It was the best day of gaming I've had, at least from a fun point of view.
Not so great from the gaming stance as I started out with a Major win, then a draw and ended with a total shelacking Major loss. Over the course of the weekend I played against the best overall, Best General and 3rd Best General. I learned a lot at least.
When we were done gaming for the day we all headed out for dinner again. Since people were coming from all over the country they wanted Mexican. Tim and I volunteered the place we had eaten the night before so we headed over. Most of us even found the place. Dinner was good and the company was great. The dinner ended up sitting a little heavy though. Back to the hotel, drink a beer, watch some curling on TV. Hit the rack.
The second night was no better than the first, and the third was just as bad. Day two was a shorter day, only two games. My first game of the day was no fun at all but the last one was great. I ended on a high note at least. The awards were given out and Tim won best sportsman. That was all he was really gunning for at this point so he was very pleased. Jeremy, who we had met there and fallen in with, won 2nd best sportsman.
I packed up my army and board and talked with everyone about their games and weekend. I was sad it was over but I was also beat and not looking forward to the drive the next day. Anyone who had not already left went to dinner again. A bunch of us headed back to the hotel and Tim and I picked up some beer. We got a variety pack of New Belgium as Jeremy had just been snow boarding in Denver and was raving about the beer. He was thrilled and we burned through the beer while we all sat around and talked through the games, history, sports, women, whatever.
Tim and I slept badly again so we were up early and out of the hotel. The drive started out well, a little overcast. As we got farther north we transitioned to rain, snow, harder snow, freaking BLIZZARD in ARIZONA and back to snow. It took us two hours to finish the last twenty miles before Flagstaff. It turns out, oddly, that Arizonan's can't drive in the snow. If they weren't driving really, really slowly, they were in the ditch.
Once we were out of the traffic jam/blizzard we grabbed some breakfast and got back on the road. The drive was reasonable until we hit Santa Fe and it got crappy again until we hit the Colorado border. At that point the roads were clear and dry and the rest of the drive was easy.
I had brought the Fellowship of the Ring on CD so we listened to that on the drive back. Tim had not read the books and was surprised by how different the books were. We both agreed that the first few chapters of the Fellowship could have been tossed out the window and no one would notice.
We hit town about two and a half hours later than we had planned. I dropped Tim off at the store at 2100 and headed home. Mama and the boys were all racked out but I woke each one up for hugs an kisses, then went to bed myself.
As I said at the beginning, this was a great event. The blizzard aside, the trip up and down was great. I can't wait to head back to Phoenix next year. Tim and Dean put on a great event and Tim's wife did all the book keeping, so thanks to her as well.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Final Preparations
I am finalizing my preparations for the Gathering in the Desert. I have painted my army, plus some. I have fifteen copies of my list. I have the rule book, the Legions of Middle Earth book and the Gondor in Flames book. I bought new dice that match my army. This is vital, as all gamers know.
I am finishing up my display base. It is simple but good enough. I'll get pictures with the whole army later. I only have to dull coat five more rangers and that is done too. I just need to come up with a format for a battle report form and pack and I'm done.
I have read battle reports, played practice games and re-read the rule book. I have a hotel reservation and have made arrangements with my friend for the drive. I am ready to do this. One more day of work and then we head to Phoenix.
I am finishing up my display base. It is simple but good enough. I'll get pictures with the whole army later. I only have to dull coat five more rangers and that is done too. I just need to come up with a format for a battle report form and pack and I'm done.
I have read battle reports, played practice games and re-read the rule book. I have a hotel reservation and have made arrangements with my friend for the drive. I am ready to do this. One more day of work and then we head to Phoenix.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Army finished!
I. Am. Done. I have finished my Gondor army for the Gathering in the Desert. I am dull coating it, but that is a few minutes. I had to paint one last WoMT tonight. That took twenty minutes. Quite a bit faster than I was going when I started.
I'll get some pictures up tomorrow when I am done. Now all I have to do is get the display base done. I am hoping to get the holes drilled for the dudes tomorrow. I need to decide if I am going to magnetize them. I may put washers in regardless. That will raise up the bases to a better level relative to the foamcore.
I am hoping to get a practice game in tomorrow night. One of the guys at the shop has the night off and offered to bring in his army. It is a terror causing list so that will be good practice for me.
I am really looking forward to this tournament. I am very proud of myself for getting this army painted.
I'll get some pictures up tomorrow when I am done. Now all I have to do is get the display base done. I am hoping to get the holes drilled for the dudes tomorrow. I need to decide if I am going to magnetize them. I may put washers in regardless. That will raise up the bases to a better level relative to the foamcore.
I am hoping to get a practice game in tomorrow night. One of the guys at the shop has the night off and offered to bring in his army. It is a terror causing list so that will be good practice for me.
I am really looking forward to this tournament. I am very proud of myself for getting this army painted.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Practice Game
I got another practice game in on Saturday night. It was against Keith, again. Our first practice, a couple of weeks ago, he used his Fiefdoms list. Saturday he used his Dwarfs. This was a last minute change for him as he was planning on taking a Morgul Knights list. He is painting frantically right now. I only got a couple of pictures, and none of the table as a whole.
The dwarf battle line. Dain is in the center. There are ten rangers, a bunch of iron guard and Khazad Guard and the rest dwarf warriors. He also has a single captain in there.
Dain
Captain
1 x Dwarf warrior w/ banner (He forgot this guy in this game)
10 x Dwarf Rangers
? x Khazad Guard
? x Iron Guard
? x Dwarf Warriors (some w/ 2 handed wpns)
600 points
2 heros
5 Might
34 Models
Break Point 17
I played with:
Faramir
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith with Horn
8 x Rangers of Gondor with Spear
9 x Rangers of Gondor
16 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
1 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
5 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
4 x Knights of Minas Tirith
600 points
2 Heroes
6 Might
52 Models
Break Point 26
This is an illegal list, by the way. I discovered after our second game (another report) that I have too many bows in the Ithilien section of the list. I had also forgotten to pay for the shields on my spear WoMT.
It was a good game. Keith is the one who taught me to play in the first place. He learned from some of the best players in the country and has been to several tournaments. My only regret is that I play him more than anyone else. He is a great opponent but I would like to play other people so that I can face different tactical minds.
Dain
Captain
1 x Dwarf warrior w/ banner (He forgot this guy in this game)
10 x Dwarf Rangers
? x Khazad Guard
? x Iron Guard
? x Dwarf Warriors (some w/ 2 handed wpns)
600 points
2 heros
5 Might
34 Models
Break Point 17
I played with:
Faramir
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith with Horn
8 x Rangers of Gondor with Spear
9 x Rangers of Gondor
16 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
1 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
5 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
4 x Knights of Minas Tirith
600 points
2 Heroes
6 Might
52 Models
Break Point 26
This is an illegal list, by the way. I discovered after our second game (another report) that I have too many bows in the Ithilien section of the list. I had also forgotten to pay for the shields on my spear WoMT.
Here is my battle line awaiting the Dwarfs as my Rangers duel with his.
We were playing contest of champions, as this is one of the scenario's for the Gathering in the Desert. I had changed my list from my original list by adding Faramir and Cirion, specifically for this scenario. The plan is for Faramir to try to kill things while Cirion works to counter his champion, without dying, of course.
We started out edging forwards. I put Faramir and some Rangers in the tower, which was a mistake. Keith just kept out of range and I ended up having to move him out. Three turns to get up, three to get down. I lost a lot of shooting. The rest of my rangers were cleaning up and killed a lot of dwarfs, even with their D7.
Keith eventually got tired of the long range archery duel, which he was losing, and moved Dain and his entourage around a ruins to try and hit part of my line.
Dain is the orange spot in the center. Six of these guys will go right to block my Cavalry.
I kept back up as long as possible to enable me to keep shooting him. I managed a lot of kills through bow fire. S2 shooting is not great, but enough of it will get through most of the time. We finally engaged and the fight broke down in to two big fights. Dain was in my line just forward of where he is in the picture. The other half of Keith's army had advanced on the left (picture left) and hit my line by the tower. Faramir went in there.
I managed to win a couple of priority's that Keith wanted and he burned through Dain's Might store making Heroic moves. Cirion moved in to counter Dain and managed to hold him. Dain got three kills before Cirion got there but none afterwards. Keith realized, at home after the game, that he had forgotten that his Khazad and Iron Guards are S4. This would have meant more dead WoMT.
On the left Faramir managed to get three kills. The dwarf line was starting to bend but there was no real end in sight when the store had to close. We added up the points, since our heroes had tied and I had killed 25 points or so more than Keith. A draw really.
I learned some things in this fight. That tower was very tempting but not worth the turns of lost shooting to get in to. My Rangers need to be direct firing at the enemy for as many turns as possible. Moving forwards full to get in range is better than moving half and volleying. Faramir will need to kill some things by whacking on them with his sword. He can't get enough kills with his bow.
Keith also did some interesting positioning with his guys which worked really well. I will keep that in mind as well.
It was a good game. Keith is the one who taught me to play in the first place. He learned from some of the best players in the country and has been to several tournaments. My only regret is that I play him more than anyone else. He is a great opponent but I would like to play other people so that I can face different tactical minds.
Painting Countdown VIII
Progress had continued despite my silence in recent days. I have had to change my list, which means that I have one more model to paint, which I don't own yet. Bummer.
On the plus side the rest of the army is done. Everything is painted. Everything is dipped/washed. I have to do bases for everything but the rangers and Knights, but that will not take all that long. I will hope to be able to get the WoMT this week. If not then I will have to chop the spear off a WoMT and the sword off of a warrior of Rohan and call it good. I'd prefer not to do that but, there you go, I need to have a back up plan.
On the plus side the rest of the army is done. Everything is painted. Everything is dipped/washed. I have to do bases for everything but the rangers and Knights, but that will not take all that long. I will hope to be able to get the WoMT this week. If not then I will have to chop the spear off a WoMT and the sword off of a warrior of Rohan and call it good. I'd prefer not to do that but, there you go, I need to have a back up plan.
Army II
I made a discouraging discovery last night. My army is not legal. I had forgotten that it is actually two armies that are allied together. Per the Legions of Middle Earth (LoME) rules each one has to meet the bow limits of 33%.
Most of my army is from the Rangers of Ithilien list. I allied in the Tower of Ecthelion in order to get Faramir with heavy armor and the knights. What this means is that I had too many bows in the Ithilien contingent.
After some tinkering in Army Builder I came up with the following:
(Tower of Ecthelion)
Faramir, heavy armor, shield
3 x Knights of Minas Tirith w/ shields
(Rangers of Ithilien)
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith, shield, horn
6 x Rangers of Gondor w/ spear
10 x Rangers of Gondor
13 x Warrior of Minas Tirith w/ spear and shield
18 x Warrior of Minas Tirith w/ shield
Heroes: 2
Might: 6
Models: 53
Break Point : 27
This gives me 17 shoot 3, strength 2 shots a turn. I still have three Knights for acting as reserves, grabbing objectives and moving bilbo's treasure and such around the board quickly.
If you have a passing familiarity with numbers you will see that 18 is more than 16. Sixteen is the number of WoMT with sword and shield in two boxes of WoMT. That leaves me short. Now I need to buy another box. This is disapointing as I am finished with everything else. All painting is done. I need to finish basing and dull coat them, but other than that, I am done.
It also means that I painted a bunch of models that I did not need to:
3 x Knights of Minas Tirith
2 x Rangers of Gondor
3 x Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ spear and shield
Most of my army is from the Rangers of Ithilien list. I allied in the Tower of Ecthelion in order to get Faramir with heavy armor and the knights. What this means is that I had too many bows in the Ithilien contingent.
After some tinkering in Army Builder I came up with the following:
(Tower of Ecthelion)
Faramir, heavy armor, shield
3 x Knights of Minas Tirith w/ shields
(Rangers of Ithilien)
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith, shield, horn
6 x Rangers of Gondor w/ spear
10 x Rangers of Gondor
13 x Warrior of Minas Tirith w/ spear and shield
18 x Warrior of Minas Tirith w/ shield
Heroes: 2
Might: 6
Models: 53
Break Point : 27
This gives me 17 shoot 3, strength 2 shots a turn. I still have three Knights for acting as reserves, grabbing objectives and moving bilbo's treasure and such around the board quickly.
If you have a passing familiarity with numbers you will see that 18 is more than 16. Sixteen is the number of WoMT with sword and shield in two boxes of WoMT. That leaves me short. Now I need to buy another box. This is disapointing as I am finished with everything else. All painting is done. I need to finish basing and dull coat them, but other than that, I am done.
It also means that I painted a bunch of models that I did not need to:
3 x Knights of Minas Tirith
2 x Rangers of Gondor
3 x Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ spear and shield
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Painting Countdown VII
More progress to report, happily. I have all of my models now. I will get Cirion and Farimir assembled and primed tonight. I got eight more WoMT with shields painted tonight and got started on seven spears. I still have one more shield and spear (bad primer job, had to re-do it), the horn blower and the two heroes. If I can get them all done this week then that gives me plenty of time to work on the display base, play some practice games, spend some time with the rule book and play some practice games.
Here is the list and progress so far.
Faramir
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith with Horn
8 x Rangers of Gondor with Spear
9 x Rangers of Gondor
16 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
1 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
5 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
4 x Knights of Minas Tirith
It doesn't look like all that much progress since last time. Most of the work has been on dipping and basing. The entire army should be done by the end of this weekend. It's very exciting.
Here is the list and progress so far.
Faramir
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith with Horn
8 x Rangers of Gondor with Spear
9 x Rangers of Gondor
16 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
1 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
5 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
4 x Knights of Minas Tirith
It doesn't look like all that much progress since last time. Most of the work has been on dipping and basing. The entire army should be done by the end of this weekend. It's very exciting.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Box 2 of WoMT
Here is the pile of Warriors straight off of the sprue. They look bigger in a nasty pile like this. It makes me happy and sad. Sad because I have to clean mold lines off of all of these. Happy because it is 24 more dudes for my army.
The basecoat on the front dude is pretty rough. The ones on the guys in the back is butter smooth though. I love the Army Painter line. Great stuff!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Progress Continues
I got in my box of Warriors of Minas Tirith, though not the heros. GW does their blisters as direct only. The direct only guys are not exactly Johnny on the Spot when it comes to packing and shipping. I should have them in the first part of next week, which will mean that I have all of the models for my Gathering in the Desert army.
While I was waiting for the new models I got the ones already painted, based. I am finishing up the WoMT as I write this (the glue is drying on the sand). The Rangers and Knights are all done. I have taking pictures as I go so I will post up a tutorial on how I do my bases.
I spent most of my hobby time yesterday de-flashing the new WoMT. Like, I suspect, every other gamer in the world I HATE de-flashing. I use three tools. Most of the work is done with a file. I only use an X-acto knife in the spots the file won't fit. I also keep a toothbrush handy to clean all of the plastic crap off so I can see the model as I work on it.
They are clean and have the first bit of primer on. One more coat and some touch ups and they will be ready to start painting. I will begin that tomorrow.
While I was waiting for the new models I got the ones already painted, based. I am finishing up the WoMT as I write this (the glue is drying on the sand). The Rangers and Knights are all done. I have taking pictures as I go so I will post up a tutorial on how I do my bases.
I spent most of my hobby time yesterday de-flashing the new WoMT. Like, I suspect, every other gamer in the world I HATE de-flashing. I use three tools. Most of the work is done with a file. I only use an X-acto knife in the spots the file won't fit. I also keep a toothbrush handy to clean all of the plastic crap off so I can see the model as I work on it.
They are clean and have the first bit of primer on. One more coat and some touch ups and they will be ready to start painting. I will begin that tomorrow.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Painting Countdown VI
I complete eight spear & shield armed WoMT tonight. All I have left is my horn blower and a single WoMT who will be armed with a sword and board but is currently broken.
Once the last two are done, tomorrow if all goes according to plan, I will need to dip these. I am hoping that it will be nice on Wednesday. If not then I will have to figure out some kind of box/shield/sack to shake the dip off in.
Faramir
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith with Horn
8 x Rangers of Gondor with Spear
9 x Rangers of Gondor
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
9 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
5 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
4 x Knights of Minas Tirith
Once the last two are done, tomorrow if all goes according to plan, I will need to dip these. I am hoping that it will be nice on Wednesday. If not then I will have to figure out some kind of box/shield/sack to shake the dip off in.
Following the dip will be any highlights and touch ups, followed by the bases. You can see the first step of the bases done in this picture. The brown will be covered by sand and static grass. I paint the base anyway in case anything shows through.
Here is a shot of all of the WoMT together. Once I finish the last two guys I will do an army shot so far. The list is as follows:
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith with Horn
8 x Rangers of Gondor with Spear
9 x Rangers of Gondor
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
9 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
5 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
4 x Knights of Minas Tirith
As you can see there is not a lot left to paint. I still need to do the display base and I would like to do an objective counter as well, though I am not sure what I will do for that yet. I am pleased at my progress though. This is already more models than I have ever painted in a six month period before, and this is two weeks worth of work.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Painting Countdown V
I completed seven more of my Warriors of Minas Tirith last night. That makes eight total. That means I only have a few more models from what I currently own.
Captain
Warrior with Banner
Warrior with Horn
6 x Knights of Minas Tirith
6 x Horses for the Knights
8 x Rangers of Gondor with spear
10 x Rangers of Gondor
8 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield
9 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield12 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield and Spear
I am changing up my list some, now that I know what the scenarios are going to be for the GitD. I need a character that can actually kill things since Contest of Champions is one of the games. In that one you pick one of your heroes. The game is decided by how many kills each champion has. My Captain of MT was just not going to get enough kills to compete in that scenario. The above list would have required me to kill off my opponent's champion with bow fire to have a chance.
This is the list I am going to play test over the next couple of days.
Faramir
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith with Horn
8 x Rangers of Gondor with Spear
9 x Rangers of Gondor
17 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield
13 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
4 x Knights of Minas Tirith
This list will give me more hero support but I have to give up the Banner and a couple of Knights to keep my numbers up. I think that it will balance out, and leave me with enough Knights to compete in the Seize the Prize variant. In that one you have to grab a prize from the center of the board and get it off of your opponents side. We'll see how the list does in testing.
My camera's macro is not 100% what I would like. I am having a hard time getting good shots. I'll keep experimenting until I figure it out though. You just can't have a mini blog without pictures of minis.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Gondor play test game #1
Thursday night I actually played a game with my Gondor. I was playing against Keith's Fiefdoms army with Imrahil, Beregond and a mounted Captain of Dol Amroth leading four Knights of DA, a bunch of foot Knights, some Rangers of Gondor, guards of the fountain court and Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth.
We played scenario from Legions of Middle Earth in which you start with a corner, 18 inch deployment zone and the game ends when one side had more models in their enemy's deployment zone than they do. There was a big hill right in front of my zone with a couple of odd pieces of terrain in the middle of the table and a big stone arch on the edge of his zone.
I had WoMT on my left flank with the Knights behind them. The rest of my army was on my right with my Rangers grouped up so they could volley the first turn or two. Keith had a couple of Knights, Beregond and a block of mixed foot on my left with Imrahill and two thirds of his foot on my right.
With eighteen Rangers I was putting out a lot of shots a turn. The first two, with volley fire, I accomplished very little, but once they were able to shoot normally they started to take a toll on Keith's models. He was rushing across as fast as he could to minimize my shooting. On my left we settled into a Mexican Standoff and really didn't do much until the last turn, when he charged just because the game was almost over.
The real action was on my right. Everything in his army had fight 4, which meant he won a lot of the fights. He also had great defense which meant I was wounding on 6's for almost everything. Imrahil was a monster, of course. This fight eventually sucked in most of my Knights and Rangers in addition to the WoMT and Captain who were supposed to be the battle line. Imrahil just blasted through, though he was out of Might and still had a ways to go to get the objective.
Keith did get one Knight to within an inch of my deployment zone but he was shot off of his horse just short. I had my horn blower in position to get into it and one Knight in the zone in position to charge his, now dismounted, Knight of DA. I won priority the last turn and we called it because we had reached the two and half hour time limit. We did not figure out the points losses but he was closer to breaking than I was, though I was no where near his deployment zone.
I learned a lot about my army in this game. The Rangers did about as well as I hoped and had an even greater psychological effect than I had expected. Keith is a very experienced player, including quite a few tournaments. If he was afraid of my shooting than it is probably good to go.
I had too many of my troops on the left flank. This side didn't really matter so I should have placed more strength at my most important point. I did have a lot more models than Keith which was big advantage to me, even with his better troops.
I used my Knights as a mobile reserve, which worked out well for me and kept me from losing the game. They do not hit a lot better than Rohan, but they are better protected and do have Lances, which makes them more likely to get a kill if they do manage to win a fight.
According to Keith there are likely to be a lot of horde armies there. My model count is just about average. I was hoping that there would be more small, elite forces. I can not horde as well as Tim's Moria Goblin army with 75 models. My only real advantage is my horn, my Ranger shooting and my good defense.
The other thing Keith said, which was discouraging, is that one of the scenario's will be Contest of Champions. This is won by the player whose best hero gets the most kills. My Captain will not be very good at this one. I may have to invest the points in a better hero. Not only will I need to buy and paint that guy but it will cut down on my model count as well.
The last bit of scenario info was that we will be playing one of the scenario's with an important modification. There is a scenario where you have to get an objective marker and get it off of your board edge. Tim Kulinski, who is the organizer for this tournament, and I played it last spring, when he came out to visit. I won a major victory even though he killed all but a couple of my models. This was because my Rohan army was able to get to the center of the table quickly, grab my objective and move it off quickly. After that it was all about keeping him off of his objective long enough to get away. This scenario will be modified so that you have to get the objective off of your opponents table edge. According to Keith this is a direct result of the game Tim and I played. If true, that makes me feel pretty good.
I will have to do some list testing and, probably, buy some new models, but all in all I am pretty happy with what I have. Still a lot to do, and I have not gotten any painting done the last two nights.
We played scenario from Legions of Middle Earth in which you start with a corner, 18 inch deployment zone and the game ends when one side had more models in their enemy's deployment zone than they do. There was a big hill right in front of my zone with a couple of odd pieces of terrain in the middle of the table and a big stone arch on the edge of his zone.
I had WoMT on my left flank with the Knights behind them. The rest of my army was on my right with my Rangers grouped up so they could volley the first turn or two. Keith had a couple of Knights, Beregond and a block of mixed foot on my left with Imrahill and two thirds of his foot on my right.
With eighteen Rangers I was putting out a lot of shots a turn. The first two, with volley fire, I accomplished very little, but once they were able to shoot normally they started to take a toll on Keith's models. He was rushing across as fast as he could to minimize my shooting. On my left we settled into a Mexican Standoff and really didn't do much until the last turn, when he charged just because the game was almost over.
The real action was on my right. Everything in his army had fight 4, which meant he won a lot of the fights. He also had great defense which meant I was wounding on 6's for almost everything. Imrahil was a monster, of course. This fight eventually sucked in most of my Knights and Rangers in addition to the WoMT and Captain who were supposed to be the battle line. Imrahil just blasted through, though he was out of Might and still had a ways to go to get the objective.
Keith did get one Knight to within an inch of my deployment zone but he was shot off of his horse just short. I had my horn blower in position to get into it and one Knight in the zone in position to charge his, now dismounted, Knight of DA. I won priority the last turn and we called it because we had reached the two and half hour time limit. We did not figure out the points losses but he was closer to breaking than I was, though I was no where near his deployment zone.
I learned a lot about my army in this game. The Rangers did about as well as I hoped and had an even greater psychological effect than I had expected. Keith is a very experienced player, including quite a few tournaments. If he was afraid of my shooting than it is probably good to go.
I had too many of my troops on the left flank. This side didn't really matter so I should have placed more strength at my most important point. I did have a lot more models than Keith which was big advantage to me, even with his better troops.
I used my Knights as a mobile reserve, which worked out well for me and kept me from losing the game. They do not hit a lot better than Rohan, but they are better protected and do have Lances, which makes them more likely to get a kill if they do manage to win a fight.
According to Keith there are likely to be a lot of horde armies there. My model count is just about average. I was hoping that there would be more small, elite forces. I can not horde as well as Tim's Moria Goblin army with 75 models. My only real advantage is my horn, my Ranger shooting and my good defense.
The other thing Keith said, which was discouraging, is that one of the scenario's will be Contest of Champions. This is won by the player whose best hero gets the most kills. My Captain will not be very good at this one. I may have to invest the points in a better hero. Not only will I need to buy and paint that guy but it will cut down on my model count as well.
The last bit of scenario info was that we will be playing one of the scenario's with an important modification. There is a scenario where you have to get an objective marker and get it off of your board edge. Tim Kulinski, who is the organizer for this tournament, and I played it last spring, when he came out to visit. I won a major victory even though he killed all but a couple of my models. This was because my Rohan army was able to get to the center of the table quickly, grab my objective and move it off quickly. After that it was all about keeping him off of his objective long enough to get away. This scenario will be modified so that you have to get the objective off of your opponents table edge. According to Keith this is a direct result of the game Tim and I played. If true, that makes me feel pretty good.
I will have to do some list testing and, probably, buy some new models, but all in all I am pretty happy with what I have. Still a lot to do, and I have not gotten any painting done the last two nights.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Painting Countdown IV
More progress on the painting front. I finished my six Knights of Minas Tirith.
That puts the count at:
Captain
Warrior with Banner
Warrior with Horn
12 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield and Spear
I am very pleased with my progress so far. I still have to buy another box of WoMT. They are on order.
That puts the count at:
Captain
Warrior with Banner
Warrior with Horn
6 x Knights of Minas Tirith
6 x Horses for the Knights
8 x Rangers of Gondor with spear
10 x Rangers of Gondor
17 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield12 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield and Spear
I am very pleased with my progress so far. I still have to buy another box of WoMT. They are on order.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Painting Countdown III
Another night of good progress. I completed all six horses and one more Ranger. I am done with both of those now. I have also finalized my list.
Captain of Minas Tirith - Shield, Bow, Heavy Armor 60 pts
6 x Knights of Minas Tirith 84 pts
Warrior of Minas Tirith, Banner 32 pts
Warrior of Minas Tirith, Horn 28 pts
17 x Warriors of Minas Tirith - Shield 136 pts
12 x Warriors of Minas Tirith - Shield, Spear 108 pts
8 x Rangers of Gondor - Spear 72 pts
10 x Rangers of Gondor 80 pts
56 Models
2 Might points
1 Hero
1 Standard
600 points on the nose.
This is going to play as a horde army. The Ranger's shooting should be able to put a hurt on most enemies. They also have fight 4, but a truly craptastic save. The WoMT are there to soak up casualties and swarm over the enemy. The Captain will hang in the rear and wait for that perfect moment to call a heroic move. The Knights are going to hammer enemy infantry. The horn will help with terror tests and, sadly, with break tests once I get below 50%. The banner, of course, is to help win fights.
I have not played with this army yet. I don't even have all of the models yet as I need to buy another box of WoMT. These tactics can win, I've seen it done with Moria Goblins. I don't have any heavy hitters in the list. What I do have is nasty shooting and lots of hard to kill warriors.
It should be fun, anyway.
Captain of Minas Tirith - Shield, Bow, Heavy Armor 60 pts
6 x Knights of Minas Tirith 84 pts
Warrior of Minas Tirith, Banner 32 pts
Warrior of Minas Tirith, Horn 28 pts
17 x Warriors of Minas Tirith - Shield 136 pts
12 x Warriors of Minas Tirith - Shield, Spear 108 pts
8 x Rangers of Gondor - Spear 72 pts
10 x Rangers of Gondor 80 pts
56 Models
2 Might points
1 Hero
1 Standard
600 points on the nose.
This is going to play as a horde army. The Ranger's shooting should be able to put a hurt on most enemies. They also have fight 4, but a truly craptastic save. The WoMT are there to soak up casualties and swarm over the enemy. The Captain will hang in the rear and wait for that perfect moment to call a heroic move. The Knights are going to hammer enemy infantry. The horn will help with terror tests and, sadly, with break tests once I get below 50%. The banner, of course, is to help win fights.
I have not played with this army yet. I don't even have all of the models yet as I need to buy another box of WoMT. These tactics can win, I've seen it done with Moria Goblins. I don't have any heavy hitters in the list. What I do have is nasty shooting and lots of hard to kill warriors.
It should be fun, anyway.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Painting Count Down II
I am making rapid progress. Today I completed nine more Rangers of Gondor. I took some pictures but they did not come out at all. I will have to work on that. Can't have a toy soldier blog without pictures. The more the better.
I also completed my first Warrior of Minas Tirith. I have not dipped him yet though. That will probably happen tomorrow. I started on base coating his fellows. Eight warriors with shields and eight with spears as well as the six Knights. There are also the three command models, Captain, banner and horn. I will need to buy another box of Warriors of Minas Tirith and the army will be complete.
Once I have everything painted I will do the bases. I prefer to do these assembly line style as they are very involved. I'll detail my process once I get to them.
In addition to the painting I picked up a tray to use for the army base. By me I mean my wife bought it for me. She shakes her head and sighs a lot, but she supports me. I also got the foam core. Now I just need to figure out what I want the tray to look like and plan that out. I am thinking of either a wall or a cliff with troops in front of it and on top. The reason I want part of it raised up is so that I can build a pocket into the back to hold the mini rulebook, dice, pens and army lists.
I am ahead on my painting at this point so I should have time to do the display board.
I also completed my first Warrior of Minas Tirith. I have not dipped him yet though. That will probably happen tomorrow. I started on base coating his fellows. Eight warriors with shields and eight with spears as well as the six Knights. There are also the three command models, Captain, banner and horn. I will need to buy another box of Warriors of Minas Tirith and the army will be complete.
Once I have everything painted I will do the bases. I prefer to do these assembly line style as they are very involved. I'll detail my process once I get to them.
In addition to the painting I picked up a tray to use for the army base. By me I mean my wife bought it for me. She shakes her head and sighs a lot, but she supports me. I also got the foam core. Now I just need to figure out what I want the tray to look like and plan that out. I am thinking of either a wall or a cliff with troops in front of it and on top. The reason I want part of it raised up is so that I can build a pocket into the back to hold the mini rulebook, dice, pens and army lists.
I am ahead on my painting at this point so I should have time to do the display board.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Gathering in the Desert
The Gathering in the Desert is an independent tournament for The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle game. It is held in Phoenix AZ in the middle of February. This is the third year. It will be my first time attending.
I am going to be taking a Gondor army. This is an army of normal dudes with good armor. I will be running a single captain, a whole bunch of Rangers of Gondor, who are good at shooting, and a bunch of Warriors of Minas Tirith with a banner and horn bearer. There will also be six Knights of Minas Tirith. I am still tweaking parts of the list, but I need to get it sorted ASAP as I have to get it painted.
I also want to do a display board. One of the lessons I learned at the con I went to last year was that it is really nice to have a display board to move your army between tables. If I have the time then it will be a nice piece of terrain. If I do not then it will be something much less impressive.
I have to paint two models a night to be done in time. So far I have eight models done in four days. I'm on track, but that doesn't include time to work on the display board. The good news is that the models I have done are the Rangers who, I believe, are going to be the models that take the longest.
Pictures will be upcoming soon.
I am going to be taking a Gondor army. This is an army of normal dudes with good armor. I will be running a single captain, a whole bunch of Rangers of Gondor, who are good at shooting, and a bunch of Warriors of Minas Tirith with a banner and horn bearer. There will also be six Knights of Minas Tirith. I am still tweaking parts of the list, but I need to get it sorted ASAP as I have to get it painted.
I also want to do a display board. One of the lessons I learned at the con I went to last year was that it is really nice to have a display board to move your army between tables. If I have the time then it will be a nice piece of terrain. If I do not then it will be something much less impressive.
I have to paint two models a night to be done in time. So far I have eight models done in four days. I'm on track, but that doesn't include time to work on the display board. The good news is that the models I have done are the Rangers who, I believe, are going to be the models that take the longest.
Pictures will be upcoming soon.
Back at it
I walked away from this blog after a couple of weeks. I just wasn't spending the time on the hobby that I needed to. Things change.
I have a lot more time for this type of thing right now and the desire to update this. The real catalyst was two things. First was the slew of "this is what I did last year" posts on various blogs and fora. I realized that I am not actually sure what I did last year. Second was that I am entered into a Lord of the Rings tournament in February. I have to paint my entire army from scratch. I have not a single painted mini for Gondor.
I was working on my Rohan last year. I still have the army but I am moving on. The list is just so bad. I don't mind losing all of the time. I hate that my dudes just suck so much. I will revisit them later, once I have gotten my Gondor up to strength.
I ramble, forgive me.
I have a lot more time for this type of thing right now and the desire to update this. The real catalyst was two things. First was the slew of "this is what I did last year" posts on various blogs and fora. I realized that I am not actually sure what I did last year. Second was that I am entered into a Lord of the Rings tournament in February. I have to paint my entire army from scratch. I have not a single painted mini for Gondor.
I was working on my Rohan last year. I still have the army but I am moving on. The list is just so bad. I don't mind losing all of the time. I hate that my dudes just suck so much. I will revisit them later, once I have gotten my Gondor up to strength.
I ramble, forgive me.
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