40k Maelstrom lists released

Next weekend we have the (now) annual Maelstrom tournament in Wellington.

Hagen the TO has put together a great players pack with some tidy comp.

Here is the link to the lists

There is a large amount of MEQ lists so I'm quite happy with my Daemonic army selection.  The Exalted Flamers putting out S6 AP3 torrents due to their formation will be gold.

The 2 Knight lists will be rough for my Daemons but after a practice game against Wil's list I have some ideas on countering them.

40K Daemons of Chaos - Dark Mechanicus Exalted Flamer #2

The second Dark Mechanicus Exalted Flamer is complete.

This fine fellow was built mainly from the Chaos Spawn kit with a Crypt Horror head and a massive Ork Mek Flamer.

I painted it using the same techniques as the previous one.  It involves a lot of Pallid wych Flesh, washes, glazes and Blood for the Blood God technical paint.  With the large areas of skin to paint I really got the hang on the scheme.  Painting spots and moles onto the skin breaks up the larger patches nicely.

Yesterday he joined the rest of my proposed Daemon list on the table.  I hosted a practice day for some local gamers including John from stumpy heaven.  Everyone was able to get two games in and I think it proved valuable for all.

I played John's Khorne Daemonkin list.  My Herald of Nurgle with Plague Drones were fantastic even taking out his D-Thirster in one round of combat.  The Exalted Flamers dealt with the Gorepack bikers as well so that gives me some counter to popular bike lists.  The result was a big win for me.

After lunch I played Wil's four Knight list.  I knew I would struggle against them but made moves to cause some damage.  Wil was familiar with what I could do and did not take the bait.  He did a lot of damage at range and even though a buffed Plague Drone unit took 1 Knight down in melee and seriously damaged another, stomps cleared the Daemons off quickly.  Wil got a clear win, I have had a good think about how to deal with super heavies and smart use of Daemonology  seems to be the answer.  We will see how it goes in practice.

One last Dark Mechanicus Flamer to go.

40k Daemons of Chaos - Dark Mech Exalted Flamer

For Maelstrom in four weeks time I am leaving the Eldar on the shelf - gasp!!! I am taking Daemons of Chaos instead.  I really like the formations in Curse of Fenris and the advantages of the Daemonic Incursion.

One of these formations requires Tzeentch Horrors and Exalted Flamers.  As I don't want multiple Burning Chariots (only source of Exalted Flamers) I thought I would build my own.  As I have been playing fun narrative games with a Heretek list it made sense to build some Dark Mechanicus monsters.

Going through my many bits I put this chap together.  The skull head is from Arcane Fulcrum terrain, body and barrel from an Ogre, vial and tentacle from a Dark Eldar Talos and the Flamer is from a Kataphron Destroyer.

I have two others on the painting table and three suitably large Lovecraft creatures already painted, so they should all look the part amongst hordes of Tzeentch Horrors on the tabletop.

Painting - 40k Daemons of Chaos - Plague Drones

Here we have my completed unit of Plague Drones which the previously seen Herald will take to the table with (c'mon GW give Heralds a Drone or Beast to ride).

I had previously started painting some of them in the more traditional green tinged necrotic flesh like the Plaguebearer riders have but after indulging in a lot of Bloodborne on PS4 last year, I took inspiration from the Bloodsucking beasts.

Where the skin is grey toned in the video game I went for a cold blue tone to contrast more with the riders and the blood bruised abdomen.

The abdomens were given a light spray of gory red with the airbrush then the exposed wounds were painted twice with the GW blood paint and a touch of Nurgle's Rot.

Painting - 40K Daemons of Chaos - Herald of Nurgle

Since finishing my initial Word Bearer pledge I thought it time to give my Daemon army some attention.

I had played a competitive Daemon army at the end of 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy but since it's demise the Daemons (and undead) have been languishing in the display cabinet.  So with the Curse of Fenris campaign book giving the Daemons some interesting formations I thought I'd get some ready for the table and round bases.

The Herald of Nurgle finally received a decent paint job.  It had been hastily made tabletop ready a couple years ago, though all that had been was a couple base colours and wash.  This time round I did it properly using layering, washes, glazes and technical paints to complete it.

With the variety of details over its rotting form, it was very enjoyable to paint.  I used careful line work and shading to break up what could have been flat segments of skin.

Next... Plague Drones

Daemons of Chaos at Crack's Call - a good send off for 8th edition

On the weekend of September 26 & 27th a small Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition tournament was held in Masterton.  It was Crack's Call and just like last years, it was the most fun light hearted event I played at this year.

This was to be the last 8th edition event I would attend and at 2000 points I took the Daemons.

My list was

Herald of Tzeentch, Level 2 Metal

10 Horrors, standard, muso
10 Horrors, standard, muso
14 Horrors, standard, muso

3 Beasts of Nurgle
3 Beasts of Nurgle
3 Beasts of Nurgle
5 Flesh Hounds, ambush
3 Screamers
6 Furies of Nurgle

3 Plague Drones, rot proboscis, muso
Skullcannon
Skullcannon

So lots of good useful units and no point sinks.

I played 5 really good blokes in the order of

Thomas with Undead - 20 point win
McCrae with Chaos Dwarves - 11 point win
Alan with Skaven - 4 point loss
Eddie with OnG - 20 point win
Aaron with Ogres - 20 point win

Once the final games were over I had secured first place with top battle points!  If memory serves Alan came second and McCrae third.  I also pleasantly picked up Best Painted so a very nice way to close this chapter of Fantasy gaming.  A big thank you to Neil Williamson who ran the event and hopefully we will see it continue using a new system.

Of course we had the Saturday night  Steeplechase game as well.  This was just as entertaining as last year but so much more bloody!  Last year I think only 2 players pieces got killed, well this year only 2 survived!  Cody with his Blood Knight surged out into the lead with a lucky teleport via the Tzeentch Hedge and wading through the carnage into second place - as everyone else got killed - nom nom nom was my Beast of Yharnam! He is the photogenic chap in the middle of the group below, in the Sunday games my opponents Eddie and Aaron were very focused on killing him.

Moving forward in the realms of square bases I am going to give Mantic's Kings of War a go.  I had the opportunity while at Crack's Call to have a good look through the 2nd ed rulebook and liked what I saw.  I particularly like the set unit sizes and that you don't remove individual models.  I already have ideas for building dioramas for the core of units that I will use.

For the Daemons though its time for a change.  They are going to get rebased to round bases.  Not for Age of Sigmar but for 40K, my primary gaming system.  I don't really like how they play in 40k(summon spam) but I won't use them for KoW and Alex is already using some of the army for his Daemonkin so it makes sense.

Painting - WHFB Daemons of Chaos unit fillers

I havn't been happy with the basing on my Daemon army since I first got them on the table.  This was a combination of time and some mismatched basing materials.

With Crack's Call on the horizon I am taking the opportunity to rebase the Daemons and really improve their presentation.

Taking inspiration from the PS4 game Bloodborne I am basing them as if they and their cultist minions are sweeping through a ramshackle ruined city.

I have built the fillers and bases out of greystuff, miniature scale ceramic bricks, plasticard and a variety of bits that Joel left me when he moved to Melborne.

Here are the first two nearing completion, there will be more to come.

 This piece will either have a tentacled cultist or Pink Horror added to it.

The repurposed Necromancer will be joined by 3 Pink Horrors and another cultist on this 5 wide base.

Building these has really inspired me to build more pieces like it for the game systems I play.

Painting WIP - Skullcannons

After having this pair of delightful monstrosities base coated red since before last years NZTC, I thought I had better make some progress on them.

I re-undercoated the cannons with Vallejo Model Air Bright Brass then a wash of Agrax Earthshade.   The flesh was Bugman's Glow washed with the old Ogryn Flesh and then darkened with Druchii Violet.  The red was Mephiston Red with Earthshade in the recesses and highlighted with Fire Dragon Bright.

I applied some Nihilakh Oxide in sections to the brass as a bright contrast along with the highlighted bone.

I still have to add the crew.  It will be a Bloodletter and cultist conversion on each rig.  The cultists to fit in with ones I have in my Plaguebearer and Pink Horror units.