DBA with English Andrew

Andrew's start with the Later Achaemenid Persians (II/7).

English Andrew dropped by to play some DBA, with miniatures supplied by Dave May.

Dave actually had the same Later Persian army I’d bought from Xyston, already in his collection. Throw them up against the historically paired Saitic Egyptians (I/53), also supplied by David, and you’ve got some good gaming ahead of you.

During game one, in which I used the Persians (and their 4xSp, not their 4xAux), Andrew set up his Egyptian spear line in between two flanking pieces of bad terrain that he expertly defended with psiloi and bowmen. I spent most of the game trying to figure out how my cavalry could take advantage – but they couldn’t. Before I knew it, I had trashed four units in the attempts, and Andrew had lost no stands at all. MVP goes to the two Egyptian bow stands, who took out 3 of the 4 units.

Scythed Chariot attacks the Egyptian heavy chariot general in an act of quick kill desperation.

Game two, and I wanted to avenge my loss with the same army. Using a different board, I defended this time, and managed to take the high ground in the centre of the board with my 4xAux, only to find Andrew totally unwilling to come up and fight them. (Sensibly so.) For several turns I couldn’t get enough pips to come down in a coordinated attack, and the game ended with Andrew picking apart my flanks while the unassailable centre held. This was arguably, the worst rolled game of DBA I’d ever had. Even Andrew was embarassed for me. Three times in a row I rolled 1 for pips, and probably lost my 4 stands to doubled results. Even my 4 vs 2 scythed chariot attack was stopped dead.

Game Three, and it’s my turn to use the Egyptians. This time the spear lines actually meet, and after a nasty pushing match in the centre, my Egyptians manage to kill a spear stand, with support. Add to that a couple of low value light horse and psiloi, and the battle was mine! Although Andrew did make it close with a scythed chariot run through a hole in the right side of my line that almost took out my general! Andrew did suffer from bad command pips in this game though, and I eagerly took advantage.

Beautiful paint job. Minis by Dave May.

End result – the Egyptians win every game, with a good mix of units and good command. A great day’s gaming – and with great minis. Thanks again Andrew, and you too Dave.

Yes… I’m busy

I hate not being able to update this blog, and keep my friends and fellow gamers up to date about what I’m doing to forward my tabletop pursuits.

But the fact of the matter is – I’m too busy with work! Business is booming, and I haven’t been able to put 2 hours together to get any minis painted or games played.

So, in order to distract you from my total lack of recent tabletop accomplishments, here’s a photo of Gillian Anderson in a thong.

Enjoy.

WOWW-Aug.07-09

Day 1 starts at 6:30 when Will and Andrew arrive, and it’s straight into the Warmachine 20pt tournament.

First matchup – Will’s Menoth plays my Cygnar. Will is using Reznick, with a Crusader, Dervish, Avatar and a Repenter. My force is Epic Haley, with a Defender, Ironclad and Centurion. Overall it’s a close game with some less than optimal moves on both sides – Will figures out that Perdition doesn’t work well against heavies, and I learn that it’s almost always best to play conservatively with your caster, than rashly. Rashly got Haley killed in the end.

A very fun game, that was close to the end.

Then Andrew played Will in game 2 – Cryx vs. Menoth. Using the other half of the table, (with a sculpted hill), Andrew’s Cryx won out over Menoth, as Will’s jacks couldn’t get up the hill in good cover, and got picked apart trying.

So no clear tournament champion yet, and lots of games yet to play.

WOWW Weekend – Aug.7-9th Announced

Next weekend is the second annual Summer WOWW Weekend, 2009. If you feel like playing Warmachine, Hordes, MTG, WOW TCG, or LoTR, then this is the place for you. Check out the WOWW blog page here for details, and get your ass down here.

DBA Persian Auxilia are Complete

DBA Persian Auxilia

I like the colour on these new miniatures (by Xyston). In a mild attempt to keep this new DBA Persian army from getting too colourfully out of control, I’ve used the same green on their sleeves as I used on my psiloi tunics. They still come across as light infantry, but are a little more aesthetically cohesive.

I realize I haven’t done the shields yet – they’re next – but they won’t take too long. Each of the figs above has a shield whether they’re armed with a spear or a short sword. Most of my auxilia from Xyston have spears – it’s about a 2:1 ratio.

Overall, I used 16 colours and washes on these 6 guys – I always keep the paints I use next to the minis being painted – in this case, I’m recording the colours for future Persian models.

DBA Persian Auxilia
Vs. Foot: +3     Vs. Mounted: +2     Time to Paint: 4hrs

DBA Persian Army Started

So after HotLead 2009, English Andrew decides that DBA is cool once more, so he and I strike a deal: he’ll buy armies in historical pairs, and I’ll paint them up. Sounds good.

I have just received the first order of these pairs, and I can’t wait to get them done – II7 Later Achaemenid Persians, and II12 Alexandrian Macedonians from Xyston Miniatures. Awesome minis – probably the best 15mm sculpts I’ve ever seen – very little flash too. They were ordered in tandem with 2 packs of spears also, which I think is a good idea, seeing as lead molded spears often get irrepairably mangled in blister packs.

Keep your eye out for these as I start into the Persian Army first, and document my progress – as much for myself as incentive, as showing them off to Andrew.

Doom Reavers are Complete

Doom Reavers have always been an expensive unit, points wise, to put on the table. But with MkII, that’s been lessened – they’re a respectable PC:6, and FA:2 now. They used to be FA:1, and 100pts.

I finally got off me arse and painted these models, after buying them over 2 years ago. They’re decently detailed, so take a fair amount of time to paint, but I think I still did the 6 of them in under 10hrs – a long time for me – about 1.5hrs each guy.  I painted their red plate armour with GW Foundation paint – Mechrite Red – the best red paint I think I’ve ever used. It’s opaque, easily tinted to be deeper than out of the bottle (which has a bit of an orange hue to it). Did I mention it’s opaque? Not many reds are, which has kept me away from red army paint schemes, because I hate painting multiple coats to get a solid colour. I’ll do it with the ‘jacks, but not much else – I’ve got a thousand more guys to paint.

The centre core of green on their swords represents the glowing evil that they contain. The swords drive their users mad, and give them their berserking ability, the ability to make an attack against a model in melee if they destroy an opponent with a previous attack. As you can see, this could lead to alot of freakin’ free attacks if you plow into enough opponents, which is possible with their 2″ reach. But these extra attacks must be directed at friendlies if there are no remaining opponents around!

Love the models, love the fluff – can’t wait to try them out on the table.

Doom Reavers

Points on the table (MkII): 6     Time to paint: 9hrs 

Spd: 6  Str:7  Mat:7  Rat:7  Def:13  Arm:14  Cmd:7 – Abominations, Advance deployment, Fearless – Fellblades are magical with reach and Weapon Master

Battlemind Painting Table-Apr.27-09

Battlemind painting table overview

Here’s a pic of my painting table at the moment. I have a unit of 6 Iron Fang Pikemen on the go – almost complete. There’s also a unit of 6 Doom Reavers too. The reason I’m doing these guys now is my new interest in playing Khador with the MkII rules – otherwise I’d probably have some more Trollbloods done, or be farther along on my new Hardrim army for LotR SBG.

The 10mm guys at the back of the mat are from Battle of Five Armies – I’ve based the goblins up for DBA as Hordes elements, so there’s quite alot of them to paint yet.

I have 2 glazed ceramic palettes that I use for painting. Only 1 is shown, and when it needs cleaning I swap it out for the other one, and clean them simultaneously. These palettes are awesome – but they have to be ceramic if you’re using acrylic paint. When they’re clogged with dried paint, as always happens after a few days of painting, I’ll take them downstairs and soak them in a pot of hot water for about an hour. The water penetrates the paint and you can easily lift it off when you clean the palette – usually just by scraping it with your fingernails. The paint lifts in the same flat puddles it dried in. If there’s any white glue on the palette, it too comes off in a blob. Then they’re like new – ready to use again.

Battlemind painting table closeup

Here’s a closeup of the minis I’m currently working on. You can see a few Haradrim spearmen in the mix too.

My painting station is where I spend most of my “gaming” hobby time. I get hundreds of miniatures painted a year because it’s an efficient table to work at:

1. It’s always setup
2. The paint rack at the back makes it easy to find the colours I need, or remind me what I even have available
3. The lighting is 50/50 yellow and daylight bulbs, so I’m looking at accurate colour while I paint.
4. My models are stuck onto film canisters for easy access with a brush – no chance of touching the figures.
5. Paintbrush roundabout holds my most frequently used brushes, x-acto blades, tweezers – even a tooth brush
6. Toothbrush - here’s a tip – you know when you’re flashing plastic and you get little plastic bits sometimes clinging to the model? Use a toothbrush and brush the area. The plastic falls off. And yes, the toothbrush is clean – it was bought specifically for modelling, and doesn’t have to have hard bristles. It does not scratch the plastic.

Leave me a comment if you have a question! Now get back to work.

Dave May Drops by for LotR

 Eager to try out some skirmish gaming, Dave May dropped by recently for some Lord of the Rings SBG – and we had a blast.

First Game:
The Dwarves would face off against the Uruk-Hai in 2 scenarios. The first was a scouting engagement with an unlimited number of bowmen allowed in the forces. This shows the weakness of bowfire, as both armies have very high defence ratings, there weren’t that many kills by bow. The game was settled by a meeting engagement near the board centre, as my Dwarvish Captain finished off Lurtz and his bodyguard after Dave had used Lurtz’s Fate early on in the game. This was a learning game for Dave, so we played with less than a dozen models each, and now he had a knack for the rules.

Onto Game 2:
With a full 400pts per side, Dave once again lead the Uruk-Hai – now armed with a Troll and 5 crossbowmen – into battle against my Dwarf force, now armed with an Ent ally and a standard.

The scenario was a modified “Take and Hold” game, with a statue placed in the table centre to mark the objective. Various groupings of warriors would fight it out around the table’s perimeter, trying also to make it to the centre statue for the win. My best chance to take down Dave’s Troll was late in the game, when I had a chance to charge it with 5 Dwarves, 4 of which could actually reach. But it was not to be. One by one, with a nearby Uruk Standard Bearer, the Troll smashed my warriors; then met up with my captain and Khazad Guard bodyguard, (and smashed them too) on the way to the objective.

By the time my Ent and remaining warriors had entered the courtyard with the statue, I was outnumbered, leaderless and broken. Dwarves were failing their Courage tests, and fleeing the field – even the Khazad Guard. I decided to capitulate before getting tabled, and the Uruk-Hai won the day.

Great games David – you can play here anytime.

My Favourite Primer

I was asked again on the weekend what primer I preferred for prepping my minis. Many gamers have many suggestions, and mine is DUPLI-COLOR SANDABLE PRIMER. Flat black of course.

Why? After many years of priming, I grew tired of GW’s black primer – it was the most expensive (by about 200%!), and each time I bought a can, it was hit and miss as to whether it was going to work smoothly or spatter its paint. Then I was told the new “Chaos Black” can wasn’t primer at all, but just black paint. They’d been forced to remove their primer for health reasons.

Pros: Dupli-Color is $7 at Canadian Tire, has more paint in it (340g) than most others, and, because it’s an automotive primer, you can bet it sprays on smooth. I’ve tried many other rust paints and primers, but this one’s the best. It also has a lever button top – I’d never seen anything like it. The spray-button at the top of this can is easier to depress than a regular can, because it’s levered. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but when I spray-bomb minis, I often do a dozen or more at once, and button fatigue sets in. Your index finger becomes tired, and you’re not spraying properly anymore – spackling can start.

Cons: Smelly, but no more than most. It’s also a very fine mist for black – wear a mask if you’ve got one.

Go out and get one, and give it a try. GW cans are only 280g, to Dupli-Color’s 340g, and Dupli-Color is half the price! (BTW – For white primer I use GW’s Skull White spray. Ya it’s expensive, but the spray is the finest mist you can get – and because it coats quickly, a 290g can lasts longer than their black.)