Start of the Tau

So I thought with the first day of the holidays yesterday I'd make a start on my Christmas projects. The Infinity starter set are built and took a hell of a lot longer than I anticipated. So many fiddly metal bits for each characters and so much flash it took ages to trim everything off and stuck. Though they do look good hopefully I'll be able to get them primed in the next couple of days (as long as the weather stops raining!).

Unfortunately it meant my plan of making the Fire Warriors was a non-starter yesterday, hopefully I can make them today with the possibility of priming them on Monday. I did begin on my Hammerhead that I bought for a tenner off eBay. Being pre-built it was missing some of the weapons but did come with unattached Railgun and Ion Cannon. So I'll be magnetising them so I can switch when needs be.

I've decided a Purple Tau army is on the cards, I was sick of anything Red or Blue what with both my Ogres and Empire armies being those colours and I'm not too confident on painting White or Yellow colour schemes yet. The other paint scheme I was thinking of was a drab green however I'm thinking a mid-year project of Nurgle-Themed Chaos Space Marines might be on the cards using the Dark Vengeance box set so I didn't want to reuse that.

So here's the start of the Hammerhead. Still got a long time to go but I thought I'd do an update. I base-coated the whole Hammerhead Naggaroth Night and then gave the grooves a wash of Druchii Violet. After they dried I used Xereus Purple to be the prominent bright colour. I've still got a few sections to do this colour and I'm still deciding whether to use a grey in the colour scheme?

So here's the Hammerhead in it's current state. Still alot of work to do this week on it. Unfortunately at the moment I'm only using my iPhone to take photos. I'm getting my girlfriend a Digital SLR for Christmas so I'm sure I'll be stealing that to photo my models in the New Year!

Christmas Projects

So guys, moved from Wordpress over to Blogspot and it's so much better!

Such an easier interface and the options to customise without being stuck behind the limitations of a set theme. Hopefully my blog will now blossom and become one that people read and enjoy!

So it's my last day at work before I take a week's holiday for Christmas, at work we were only going to have the Christmas Day and Boxing Day off as we need to do a full warehouse stock check. Thankfully, after participating in it last year, I've managed to book off the whole week so I can sit back and chill and mainly focus on my Wargaming while the girlfriend is at work.

As mentioned before I know I'll be getting some new Empire units for Christmas so that'll keep me busy in the following days after but before then I'm going to be building and painting my new Infinity team, make a start on my INQ28 Retinue and I've also decided it's about time my Tau Battleforce is taken out of the wrapping and get building and painting them! I've already got a colour scheme and the paints sorted as I'm going to attempt a Purple coloured Tau army.

Hopefully everyone has an awesome Christmas period and you all get what Santa wants. I'm sure I'll be posting a bit throughout the weekend and on Monday/Tuesday with my progress for all three projects.

Chalmers! 

Starting Infinity The Game

So along with Fantasy and Flames of War, I've been enticed into Infinity The Game by the lads at NAG. After seeing the georgous models by Corvus Belli I was instantly in-love and it's really got me in the mood to start a small-scale futuristic skirmish army.

After going through the various models and armies I realised I could easily spend a hell of ALOT of pounds on these models. But the one army that really grabbed my attention was the alien forces of the Combined Army but most importantly the Shasvasti Expeditionary Force. While the Starter set gives you some decent looking figures to start it's the extra units to add to your army that have got me burning a hole in my pocket!

Hopefully the starter set arrives tomorrow so it'll give me something to paint over the Christmas week as I've taken the whole week off work. I'll also be making a start on my INQ28 Retinue, I've already got some ideas of adding a Tau and Kroot to the warband and have ordered some great extra bits from Anvil Industry to really make these custom figures shine. More on the progress of that next week along with the first pics of my Empire and Ogre Kingdoms armies.

First FOW Training

So I had my first training session in Flames of War on Sunday at my (not so) local Wargaming club, Northumbrian Adventurers Guild in Blyth. I had expressed my interest in starting Flames of War in 2014 and Neil, who has been playing since mid-way through the 1st edition very kindly offered to teach me the rule this weekend.

He gave me a generous Late-War Tiger-heavy Panzergrenadier list against his British Armoured column and I've got to say I absolutely loved the whole day. The boards with all the scenery really makes the game look amazing at such a small-scale, you can picture the tanks rumbling down the village road while troops tackle the fields nearby to launch an attack.

While the basic rules are pretty simple to grasp we tackled some of the more in-depth rules and it's very easy to see how complex and tactical this game can be. For example in the first game I freely moved my Tiger command unit and two Tiger platoons towards the objective and then suddenly Neil ambushed them with some M10 Tank Destroyers and wiped out two and bailed one in one shooting phase! It really teaches you to not just rush up but to use the surrounding cover and expect the unexpected.

I'm going to playing a few more practice games at the club over the next few weeks with a view to possibly starting a Winter Volksgrenadier army from The Battle of the Bulge in Jan/Feb time.

Battle Report 1,000pts Empire vs Beastmen

So I took part in my first big battle tonight as apart of my training sessions at Games Workshop Metro Centre. After slowly picking up the rules with 1/2 units at a time me and Carl decided to up the ante a bit tonight and both run 1,000pt lists with our new army. I took my Altdorf Empire while Carl used his big blocks of Beastmen.
These are the armies;

EMPIRE
Battle Wizard Lord - Lvl3 Lore of Beasts
Master Engineer
Warrior Priest
20 x Spearmen w/Light Armour and Shields
24 x Halberdiers
- 9 x Handgunner Detachment
- 5 x Archer Detachment
Helblaster Volley GunGreat Cannon

BEASTMEN
*Roughly
Great Bray-Shaman - Lvl 3
40 x Ungor Herd w/ Spears
30 x Gor Herd w/Shields
30 x Bestigorg Herd
So this is how the game panned out;

DEPLOYMENT

Carl won the roll and decided to deploy first. He was over pretty quickly so ended up having some extra units to get a good defensive line going. My Master Engineer joined the Volley Gun on top of the hill. The cannon just off to the side to support the Halberdiers and the two ranged detachments. Spearmen off to one side to protect against the Gor herd on the left hand side of the table. Warrior Priest and Battle Wizard Lord both joined the Halberdiers.

BEASTMEN TURN 1

Basically everything marched forwards as expected. Poor dice for Magic and his attempt of Bestial Surge was easily dispelled.

EMPIRE TURN 1

The Spearmen march into the woods to stop the Gors however the trusty servants of The Empire walked straight into a Wildwood suffering two casualties as mysterious creatures within strike without warning. I roll big on the magic and the Battle Wizard Lord casts The Curse of Anraheir onto the Bestigors, hopefully the difficult terrain will halt their progress next turn allowing the cannon and Helblaster to show their worth before the Bestigors can get to our lines. Wyssan’s Wildform is then successful on the Spearmen for the forthcoming battle with the Gors. Finally the Flock of Doom is casted on the Ungors claiming 4 unfortunate victims. The power of the Helblaster Volley Gun is unleashed! A whopping 22 shots ring out across the hill and after the smoke clears there are 14 more Ungors lying crumpled on the floor, scared to face it again the Ungor startle and turn back to retreat. Meanwhile the Cannon over shoots its target while the Handgunners and Archers take out 1 Bestigor each.

BEASTMEN TURN 2

The Ungors fail to rally and flee to just before the table edge. Despite having The Curse of Anraheir the Bestigors march forwards and lose three more servants of Chaos to the difficult terrain. The Gors unsurprisingly charge headlong into the Spearmen, however whatever is lurking the Wildwood seems to be staying away as the two big units beat each other with Shields and Great Weapons. Thankfully with Wyssan’s Wildform the boosted Spearmen take out three Gors and they return with 5 casualties. Despite losing combat the Spearmen hold for another round making the leadership test just! Again Carl unsuccessfully tries to cast Bestial Surge.

EMPIRE TURN 2

Everything holds, the Helblaster fires off 12 rounds of shots this time towards the Bestigors however only 5 are dropped, the cannon tries to grapeshot into the Bestigors and only manages two measily shots which do absolutely nothing. Meanwhile after failing every spell in magic the Gors wipe the floor with the Spearmen and run down the remaining fleeing souls coming up only a few inches away from the side of the Helblaster! Thankfully the Beastmen will need to waste at least one turn to just get into position. Here's hoping the Helblaster can lay waste to almost a full strength Gor Herd in the next turn!

BEASTMEN TURN 3

The Ungors rally! Though their quite far away from the battle and will take another turn at least to get anywhere near marching. The Bestigors and Shaman charge the cannon while the Gors pivot to face the Helblaster and charge next turn. The Shaman casts Mantle of Gorok with Unstoppable Power, then gets lucky rolling gaining +6S and +6Attacks but losing a wound. However due to the miscast the Shaman explodes taking down five Bestigors and himself with the power! So glad the magic was out of it. The rest of the Bestigors tear apart the cannon and all but one of the crew who is overun and sets panick in the Archers who just witnessed the massacre. The Bestigors just stay on the table as the Archers run straight off probably to find more reinforcements!

EMPIRE TURN 3

The Halberdiers and Handgunners both pivot to prepare for the Gors and Bestigors. The Helblaster pivots and at almost point blank range knowing that it'll be their last chance to fire and trying to rush it only manages a below-average 10 shots. Though 5 more Gors drop dead, the Wizard attempts to slow their progress yet again by casting The Curse of Anraheir on the Gors.

BEASTMEN TURN 4

The Bestigors reform to prepare for the Halberdiers next turn. The Gors charge the Volley Gun, crew and Master Engineer. While the Engineer's pistol takes one Gor out they're almost lambs to the Beastmen slaughter as the four men valiantly fight to the literal death. The Gors march forward ready for the Halberdiers.

EMPIRE TURN 4 

The Halberdiers charge headfirst into the Gors. Warrior Priest calls to Sigmar and gets the unit to re-roll to wound. The Wizard also successfully casts Wyssan’s Wildform on the Unit to toughen them up even more however The Curse of Anraheir is sucessfully dispelled against the Ungors. The Handgunners seeing their regimental brothers locked in combat take aim at the Bestigors who are eagerly looking at the Halberdiers, only one of the Beasts drop though to the armour-piercing rounds. The Gor champion foolishly challenges someone and the Warrior Priest with two hand weapons takes him out before they can even get a hit in. The rest of the Halberdiers urged on by their Warrior Priest and feeling the blessing of Sigmar lay waste to the remaining Gors and without think turn their attention on the Bestigors who prepare to charge.

BEASTMEN TURN 5

The Ungors manage what I thought was the impossible and charge into the rear of the Halberdiers! The Bestigors charge into the front of the unit too making the soldiers of Altdorf sandwiched between these foul beasts. Thank god for Wyssan’s Wildform being active though. The Bestigors are cut down to just one remaining beast and despite needing Double 1s Carl manages it! The Ungors cut down a few Halberdiers who in turn return with 2 victims. The Handgunners watch on from the side nervously.

EMPIRE TURN 5

The Wizard feeling cocky tries to uneedingly cast Wyssan’s Wildform and manages it with uncontrollable force! A small round S10 template around the Wizard goes off killing two of his own men and knocking a wound off himself. Strengthed due to the spell the Halberdiers finish off the remaining Bestigor and two more Ungors, who frustratingly kill two spearmen too. With the combat a draw it looks like the final Beastmen turn will be the finishing point.

BEASTMEN TURN 6

Thankfully the Halbediers finish off the Ungors with Carl somehow managing to roll 1s and 2s on every attack he had! VICTORY TO THE EMPIRE!

Post Match Analysis
To be fair it was a very close call in the end. When I looked at deployment I thought I'd have a rather easy shot at winning this but then again that's my noviceness kicking in, because big blocks of infantry really do suddenly ware everything down in Warhammer Fantasy! My cannon again failed and I think part of it is due to me still learning how to use it. This is the third time I've used it and overshot every single shot in it. The star of the show though was definitely the Helblaster Volley Gun, in the very first turn and even at long range it ruined the huge block of Ungors, then at point blank range it took a good chunk out of the Gors too. Being able to use the Master Engineer ballistic skill definitley helped and thankfully I didn't need to use the re-roll ability on a misfire.
Overall a great enjoyable game and cannot wait for next week where we've agreed another 1,000pts on the table is the way to go. This time though I may try something different with some Knights of the Inner Circle and maybe a Mortar!

Working Out Empire List

So as I mentioned I've got a battle on Thursday night at Games Workshop Metrocentre, 1,000pts of my 

Empire against a 1k Beastmen army. I've been slowly putting a list together with the models I've got so far but still trying to finalise what to put in.

So far I’ve got this as a list but still need some help;
 
Lords
Battle Wizard Lord (in Handgunner Detachment)
Lore of Life or Beasts, Wizard Level 3

Heroes
Warrior Priest (in with Halberdiers)
Additional Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Helm of the Skavenslayer


Core
Halberdiers x 24 (Full command)
Detachment - Handgunners x 9
Spearmen x 20 (Full Command)
Special
Great Cannon (120pts)

Rare
Helblaster Volley Gun
Now this comes to 874pts, I could add 5 x Knightly Orders Inner Circle plain (no command) to make it 999pts.

Other models I’ve got at the moment that I could add;
Battle Wizard
Witch Hunter
Master Engineer
More Handgunners
10 x Archers
Mortar

Still need some tweaking, I'm thinking maybe an extra Handgunner Detachment for the Halberdiers and then a Dispell Scroll for the Wizard and Shields for the Spearmen. To get the full 1,000pts.

The Armies So Far

So since July I've acquired quite the collection of Warhammer Fantasy models, I started with an Ogre Kingdoms army; something a bit bigger than normal Fantasy armies to get used to painting again and also an army that doesn't need as many models as 'normal' forces to be complete.

That doesn't mean it's not a huge force, I've so far got the following;

1 x Firebelly
1 x Slaughtermaster
1 x Bruiser BSB
12 x Ogres
6 x Ironguts
4 x Mournfang Cavalry
8 x Leadbelchers
1 x Ironblaster
1 x Thundertusk
3 x Sabretusks
20-odd Gnoblers

The majority are fully painted, I've still got a couple of Ogres to finish off along with the Slaughtermaster. I'll try and get some photos up in the next couple of days.

Recently, since September, the Metrocentre GW store has been running a Winter Crusade where everyone starts a new army and then as long as we have a fully painted 1,500pts army for the end of Jan we're all off to Warhammer World to use our new forces. Now I've always been a huge fan of The Empire, something about the regimental core mixed with the blackpowder warmachines that really grabbed my attention as a kid so it was obvious that would be my next army for The Winter Crusade.

While I'm still slowly building Henry Krtuz Altdorf Relief (working army title) the army is already bigger than 1,500pts and I've still got Christmas, where I know the girlfriend has bought me some more Empire-goodness, to go!

I've been re-learning the rules with my Empire army working out what works for my force and what doesn't and so far this is the collection I've amassed, again pictures to come in the next few days;

1 x Warrior Priest with Extra Hand Weapon
1 x Kitbased Witch Hunter
1 x Mounted Wizard
2 x Wizards
1 x Master Engineer
24 x Halberdiers (20 troops and a 4-man Wizard Unit-Filler)
20 x Spearmen
20 x Handgunners
Handful of Archers and Crossbowmen
8 x Knights
1 x Great Cannon
1 x Mortar
1 x Helblaster Volley Gun

So yeah quite a list with alot more to come after Christmas Day! I really need to get on painting the models I've got at the moment because I can easily see January being a month of constant painting. Rather than going for the half and half down the middle for the uniform I've gone for the easier to paint Red top/Blue Bottoms or Blue Top/Red Bottoms.

I'll get some pictures up soon along with my next battle report which is my Christmas lesson on Thursday night 1,000pts vs GW Carl's pesky Winter Crusade Beastmen!

Welcome!

Welcome to Magic, Bolters and Rifles, my brand new blog featuring my escapades into Wargaming!

I've only recently got back into Wargaming; since July this year actually and slowly bit-by-bit I've been re-learning the rules and getting used to painting and modelling once more. To be honest the last time I played was about 10-12 years ago so it is safe to say I've forgotten basically everything.

A big props to Games Workshop Metrocentre who have been a huge help in the past few months of reintroducing me into Warhammer and also giving me hints and tips on what to get/potential army lists. Almost every Thursday evening has been spent in a tutorial lesson for Fantasy and it's safe to say that they've been so valuable to me.

So here we go, my forray back into Wargaming. At the moment it'll mainly be focusing on my Warhammer Fantasy escapades but I'm soon beginning to learn Flames of War and then in 2014 I'll be entering the realms of 40K, I've already got a Tau Battleforce still in its cellophane ready for assembling.

Hopefully I'll be updating this on a weekly basis maybe more. So sit back, relax and enjoy!

Chalmers