Figure Feature: Farrow Brigands

I'd say of all the Hordes unit models the Farrow Brigands have to be my favorite.  They of course are the meat and potatoes pig-men "shootey" unit of the Thornfall Alliance Minions.

The Farrow Brigands stat line reads a lot like the Cygnar trenchers including the "Dig In" ability.  However, they are a Minions units that will work for ALL FOUR of the core Hordes factions which is pretty cool.

The leader of the unit(pictured in the middle above) can say a different Prayer each turn buffing the figures in a different way(for various offensive/defensive perks).
I know many people are gaga for the Blindwater gators but I think the Farrows are more my style- in fact I might even build a Thornfall army in good time.  In the meantime, these guys will be some core support for my small but growing Trollbloods army. 



Click below for a video of this Figure Feature:

Figure Feature: Deliverers

The first time I browsed Privateer Press' website I loved the look of the Deliverers unit!  To be honest the Protectorate of Menoth wasn't a faction I was in a hurry to play but eventually I got around to them and of course, that meant it was time to paint up some Deliverers! 

The Deliverers, like the other bread-and-butter Menite militia, Zealots, have a nice Arabian-Steampunk look to them befitting desert fighters.  I went with a traditional paint scheme because I think the Sanguine/Menoth White/Black them is full of style. 

 One of the best things about these guys was assembly...none!  That's right, all of the models are one piece so you just slot them into their bases, texture up said bases....prime and paint!  As far as in-game- well they all fire blast radius rockets(Skyhammers, AoE=3) that can play havoc with an enemy advance...notoriously inaccurate but, hey, there's enough of them to blanket an area effectively!

For a video of my Deliverers, click below...

Warmachine: Passing On the Awesome

Today I had a great time passing on to the students in my miniature gaming club(at the high school where I teach) the awesomeness of Warmachine.  We had two small 18 to 25 pt. skirmish games and the students really picked up the basics rather quickly.
(excuse the blurry pics, used my camera phone)

One table saw a small Khadorian army led by Sorscha take on a Highborn Convenant Merc force led by Ashlynn.  The students did a nice job learning the basics of running, attacking, boosting and jack-marshalling(Hammerfall Highshields took a couple of Gunners).

In the end the Khadorian heavies were too much to handle(although the Mariner beat up the Destroyer pretty well).  It was said to see some of my favorite merc units(Highshields and Devil Dogs) get beat up a little...but they put up a valiant fight!

At the second table the other students had an evenly matched Protectorate vs. Cygnar battle. The Menite heavies(Vanquisher & Crusader) did a nice job while the choir of Menoth sung songs of battle to buff their attacks.













This battle ended in a stalemate(ran out of time) but it wasn't for lack of aggression.  Stryker repeatedly unleashed Earthquake while Kreoss responded with often Cleansing Fire.  The Vanquisher and Ironclad locked onto each other in close combat while the Lancer and Revenger repeatedly thrusted and parried with their polearms. 

The students at this table quickly(and impressively) gained a knowledge of spell-casting, 'jack-buffing and combat modifiers.

It was a lot of fun watching several students learn the game and I look forward to them passing on what they know to others in the club.  There's still much to learn, but in a couple of hours time they've mastered the basics and clearly have gained a sense of how different RATS, MATS, DEFS and ARMS affect the game.

It's a game that is simple enough to pick up and enjoy quickly but strategically deep enough to never grow old- that's the greatness of Warmachine!

Update: One of my students was nice enough to send some pics of our battles...he has a much nicer phone(and therefore better photos) than I...

Figure Feature: Madrak Ironhide & Impaler

Well I finally have painted my first couple of Trollbloods- an army I've been anxious to get my brush on for some time now.  You have to love these sculpts...full of power, character and humor!

Madrak is a great figure who, of course, is an "albino" Trollblood.  I love the stone, metal and leather details that Privateer put on this guy.  This was my first time doing a tartan- and that was a challenge.  I pretty much followed the guide in the Forces book for painting it, although I scrapped my first try and started over.

 The bases for my first two Trollbloods are fully customized.  I used carved sprue for the plant and green stuff for the other details(mushrooms, logs, vines & leaves).  I wanted a whimsical, decaying forest theme.



The Impaler has a classic Trollblood Blue coloration and I used the studio models as mu inspiration.  Note the turkey(s) hanging from his belt!    I find trollblood eyes a little tricky...but I have discovered that "less is more" is the key when it comes to their eyes.

The leather on this guy was fun to do...some Gun Corps Brown, Beasthide, and a couple of other shades all received a wash of Reaper Brown Ink(including the metal bits). 


For a full video Figure Feature see below...

Dystopian Steam- Sister Blog Launched

It's in its infancy but to check out my new blog dedicated to Spartan Games' "Dystopian Wars"(a steampunk naval warfare miniatures game!) click below...
 http://dystopiansteam.blogspot.com/ 

 I have a video up there showing an "unboxing" of a starter set if you are interested.  I will rarely use this Warmachine blog to make mention of the other blog, but I thought I'd kick it off here for anyone interested(after all, if you like steam-driven warfare, Dystopian Wars might be your 2nd favorite game like me!).

Don't worry, I'm still primarily a Warmahordes guy....but a little diversion is a good thing!