WarmaHordes Mk3: All New War

So after a steady build up it's official – Mk3 Warmachine and Hordes is now available.

Along with the new £40 hardback rulebooks there are new faction starter boxes which look really good value. They also include mini rulebooks, tutorials, a game mat, tokens and all kinds of other bits and bobs.

Check out the official Mk 3 "All New War" website for info, background and hobby tips.

The rules were released for free online a few weeks ago and there has been a lot of chatter online about the changes and how the factions have faired. I have to say from what I've seen the changes seem to fulfil the aim of the new editions – not to reinvent the game but rebalance what already exists. The individual abilities and rules within each faction now seem to be more characterful and focus on the strengths and weaknesses of each faction.

Have a look at the new rules yourself…

Prime Rules

Primal Rules

This is all great stuff – free rules!! – and it's made me revisit my old Cryx and Everblight projects.

 

Now when I say revisit, I actually mean open up some army boxes and paw over old models. I also have a host of unpainted models for both armies (inevitably) so no need to be buying anything (hahaha!!).

We will see.

Escalating Warcasters

The original, Primal Lylyth

With the recent release of Warmachine: Colossals and the expected spring release of Hordes: Gargantuans, gaming in the Iron Kingdoms is definitely getting bigger.

pLylyth alternative sculpt

One of my favourite things about Warmachine/Hordes is the Warcaster/Warlock dynamic. They really are the leader of your army, pulling all the strings,  and the game is over if they die. In addition there are different versions of warcasters as their character develops in the background story. These alternative versions aren't necessarily more powerful, just different.

Epic Lylyth – a simply glorious sculpt

When it comes to my Legion of Everblight, I love Lylyth. She may not be the best Warlock for the faction in-game, but I love the character, the background and the models. Such is her draw that I own all three sculpts – original (primal) pLylyth, alt pLylyth and (epic) eLylyth.

With the recent info coming out of the Privateer Press Lock & Load convention I have the possibility of a new model to add to my collection. As part of the Gargantuans release it seems we are now getting Lylyth 3 who, instead of being on a standard 30mm base, will be on a 120mm base and considered a Battle Engine!

Lylyth3… soon to be a Battle Engine!

Yes, we will shortly have a version of Lylyth on a sleigh – ho, ho, ho! I like the idea for this (although I would have preferred a Raptor mounted version of Lylyth first I think) but the practicalities seem odd to me.

First of all in-game. As I mentioned, if your 'caster gets killed the game is over, but here we have a caster on a 120mm base rather than a 30mm base – not so easy to hide and, improved defences aside, does beg the question of how easy it will be to keep her alive.

There's also rumours of a Khador warcaster actually being a Colossal – at what point do we reach "too big" for commander models?… when they're physically the biggest model on the table?

Then there is the financial cost. The current Battle Engines retail for something in the region of £50-60 and the Colossals closer to £100. Would you pay that for a warcaster model that by definition will not be used in every game and, if her stats make her too vulnerable, hardly used at all?

Of course you could always look upon it as simply purchasing a lovely model to paint, but it's going to have to be pretty stunning to justify a price tag of £50+.

Nephilim Bolt Thrower

This is a great model to paint. There is almost every type of surface texture you can think of – skin, bone, cloth, leather, wood and metal. I thought it was going to be a 'quick win' but it is a deceptively detailed model and it was these details that took all of Sunday to complete.

The skin was painted in a similar scheme to the rest of my Legion models. I started with the VMC Sky blue over the black undercoat. This had an initial highlight of a Sky Blue/White mix before being washed in GW Asurmen Blue, paying particular attention to the recesses in the muscles. Sky Blue was used on some of the more shallow recesses before building up highlights to pure white. The tricky bit was trying to blend the black spikes on the secondary upper limbs (on his back) into Sky Blue/White. The result was ok if not super smooth. Straps and bindings followed the scheme established with the Everblight Shepherd.

Whether or not this guy will see much game time is debatable. He has some fantastic combat abilities – his Bolt Thrower is awesome – but he is expensive points-wise for what he brings to the table and there are arguably better options available.

Now that the Bolt Thrower is complete I'm moving on to clear more space on my table, starting with… another Nephilim, this time a Soldier.

This time I'm trying a slightly different approach to the skin. I started with a VMC Sky Blue/GW Mordian Blue mix which I left in the deep shadows when painting the pure Sky Blue second coat. This was washed with the Asurmen Blue and I have started to apply very thin Sky Blue/White highlights building them up slowly.

Without the extensive detail of his Bolt Throwing brethren I'm hoping this Soldier will be the 'quick win' I'm looking for.

Planning the Everblight Purchases

Absylonia with Typhon

I may have mentioned recently that I am enjoying my time painting Legion of Everblight the most at the moment. I can't explain why but they give the biggest buzz and I seem to get satisfactory results quite quickly.

I am even closer to finishing off the Nephilim Bolt Thrower than when the above pic was taken, which will leave me with 2x Shredders, a Nephilim Soldier and Absylonia still on the painting table. I also have my Angelius who is waiting for a little quality greenstuff time before seeing paint. Waiting in the wings I have Legionnaires, Striders and a Deathstalker – as well as a plastic heavy beast kit – but they can wait until I've had a few more games and moved beyond starter box status.

However, that's not to say that I don't have my eye on additional purchases for the army. The soon to be released Nightlurker is definitely on the radar. The model looks great, will be easy to paint now that I have my scheme worked out, and has some great rules.

With my birthday coming up in late September I have my heart set on the Legion's Battle Engine – The Throne of Everblight! That is a monstrous kit and, regardless of how it plays in-game, it looks like an absolute blast to build and paint. I'll need to sort out my airbrush situation and storage solutions but that would be worth it.

And as if that wasn't big enough, there is the upcoming Archangel Gargantuan!… please Santa?!

Rumoured to be being released before the Gargantuan rulebook (due in Spring 2013) this looks like it could be the ideal Christmas present for me. I've always wanted to paint a dragon, but the Forgeworld ones have never done it for me and the plastic Warhammer ones were too small. This fella is a true beast and would be a real challenge. However, where I would keep it I do not know!

As you can see, the kit is still being built so we'll have to wait before the final thing is revealed.

So that's where we are with Legion. Hope to have some new photos after the weekend, although hobby time will be scarce.

Legion of Everblight Update

Things have been quiet this weekend with hobby stuff – real life taking the front seat to full effect. However, last week did provide some very productive painting time and here is the result.

The Shepherd above has been on the painting table for quite some time now. A beautifully delicate model it was great to paint, although I did have to borrow a magnifier to paint – or rather see – her eyes.

This Nephilim Bolt Thrower is not complete by any means but his skin is coming along really well. He too has been fun to paint, if a little more work than the shepherd. With a Nephilim Soldier currently waiting for an undercoat it was important to get my procedure for painting skin sorted and I think we're pretty much there.

The Everblight Family Grows

It's been a while since we saw any of my newbie Legion army on the blog, but things have been progressing.

The Raek is finally complete, adding a new dimension to the original starter set models. The Blue/White skin continues to be problematic on the larger beasts, mainly due to me not having pinned down a painting procedure – my normal technique that I illustrated earlier in the year doesn't work here with the skin so I'm still winging it a bit. With more mid-sized and larger beasts on the horizon, this issue will no doubt sort itself over time, or I'll take an age finishing anything.

I'm also starting to get the snow technique to a point where I really like the results (binned the Games Workshop snow). Adding white paint to the process was a disaster – as you can see on the base on the amputated Shredder – and excessive coverage isn't great either (Carnivean base, although this was used to cover a multitude of sins). The best results so far can be seen on the Forsaken's base (to the far right).

The painting process continues, and I have three potential 'easy wins' on the table at the moment. The last two Shredders should have been done by now if I'm honest – the bright lights of shiner models distracted me after the first two were finished. I also have my Shepherd, who should be quite quick to finish, following a similar scheme to Lylyth.

Then, waiting in the wings if you'll excuse the pun, is my next Heavy Warbeast – Angelius!

This model has been problematic to build due to some miscast pieces, most notably the lower body/tail section. The weight distribution has also been a challenge and, in order to remain stable, the model is almost off the front of the base – second attempt as the first wouldn't stay upright for long.

We also have the very patient Nephilim Bolt Thrower. He will be a great addition to the team but probably more appropriate further down the line – he's just too expensive points-wise in smaller games. A lovely model though, looking forward to paint him so he'll probably end up a slow burn.

The other addition is a new Warlock. As much as I love Lylyth and her abilities/spells, she loses a lot of her effectiveness against non-beasts – i.e. Warmachines – due to them using Focus instead of generating Fury. To rectify this I bought not one, but three new Warlocks, the first of which is Absylonia. She looks not disimilar to the Forsaken, but even more mutated, and she has some fantastic abilites which should prove a lot of fun against Bull's Menoth army. She should also be relatively quick to paint, which always helps motivation.

With the ongoing/upcoming 40k circus there will be more posts about GW. However, do not fear Warmahordes fans, this is where my addiction lies right now so there will be more to see.

Everblight Painting Progress

So, back to work today with a bump after eleven days off (though it doesn't feel like it). At least the blog posting schedule should be back on track now. Routine can be a wonderful thing at times.

The last couple of days I've managed to find some decent painting time so made it my mission to complete the two models that have been hanging around the painting table for too long – the Carnivean and Lylyth. Apologies for the appalling photos, they were taken in haste this morning.

Not much to say about the Carnivean after the last few posts. I went back in with blue and purple washes (though they look really harsh up close in the photos, they came out well) to the point the skin was quite dark again. I then highlighted with thinned white to the point it looked balanced again. Claws were done in my usual mix and the base was painted and covered in snow to match the other Legion minis. I have picked up Woodland Scenics snow flock which, unlike the GW one, actually looks like snow not white strands of hair. I mixed into my PVA and water mix and applied to the base – whilst still wet I scattered addition snow flock on top. It covers a multitude of sins on the Carnivean base.

Lylyth didn't need much doing, just a few details finishing and a repaint of her skin to be more in line with the beasts. It was surprising how time consuming this turned out to be.

You may also notice that the bases are two-tone. Unlike every other game I've played, models in Warmachine/Hordes don't have 360 degree vision (except for a select few) so, to avoid any arguments, it is generally accepted that you paint the base edge in quadrants, either 180 or 90 degree sections. I've seen beautifully elaborate base edges full of colour and runes, but I wanted it to be more subtle so went with the Black/Coal Black option… for now.

Currently left on the painting table are the two remaining Shredders and the Raek, all of which should be relatively straightforward to complete. After that I am spoiled for choice. I have a Shepherd and a Nephilim Bolt Thrower built, however, I am due a package any day now with even more goodies!!

Carnivean Progress

This post was written last Friday, just before departing for holidays. I had hoped to have fininshed the Carnivean by the time we went away but it was not to be.

For the duration of the entire week I had dedicated my hobby time to painting skin… white skin. Following the scheme used on the Shredders I had to get the skin pretty much white with some of the Sky Blue remaining in the recessess, just the hint of a shadow.

By the end of Friday it was as white as it was going to be. Once back I can go in with the blue and purple washes to add a bit of depth and variation across the skin – as much as I like the idea of the big man being able to camouflage himself amongst the snow and rocks, I do want him to look alive at least.

Once this is complete I can get on with the claws and and final details needed (might give his teeth another highlight looking at the image above). Looking forward to get this model finished so I can get another couple of 'easy wins' under my painting belt and get my wargroup to a healthy size.

Enter the Carnivean

Having put together my Legion of Everblight starter box, painted my way (mostly) through Lylyth and a couple of Shredders, I was really looking forward to giving the monstrous Carnivean the attention his stature deserves.

I knew it was going to take a long time to complete. I had done his skin in the same way as the Shredders – highlighted to white – but the mass of armoured plates was intimidating and his weight was not making things easy.

I basecoated the armoured plates with a mix of Black and Coal Black. I then worked up highlightes using Coal Black and then by adding some white to the mix. This was washed with Asurmen Blue then Black to dumb down these highlights and add some depth. I also painted some Black into the gaps between plates to add shadow. The whole process took several hours spread over Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon and, to be completely honest, got a bit tedious in the end. However, I'm pretty happy with the end results even though some of the painting is quite clumsy.

The drybrushing and washes applied to the armoured plates pretty much destroyed the painting on the skin, so I had to go back in and repaint the body in Sky Blue, to effectively start this part again. As you can see in the photos, his skin needs re-highlighting back up to white then washing with blue and purple to match the Shredders' scheme.

I decided I wanted to finish the head before calling it a day, so concentrated on the tooth-filled maw for the last couple of hours. The Carnivean's claws need completing as well, and I will use the same palette for them as I used for the teeth – Black, Burnt Umber, Ochre and White.

This has been quite a change from the norm. I haven't painted something this large since the days of my Khorne Bezerker army. The weight of the metal model was inconvenient – I was in some danger of dropping him on a number of occasions while I painted details. Having said that, the added weight of the metal does give him a sense of gravitas appropriate for his station that a plastic alternative just does not have. I'm pretty happy with him so far, ask me again once I've finished his skin.

Looking forward to seeing him finished with the rest of the crew, but I won't be in a rush to paint another heavy warbeast anytime soon.

Plans for the weekend

So I'm finally back in the land of sanity after my few days away. The exhibition stand that took 5+ hours to put up came down in 15 minutes, I kid you not. We managed to jump the queue of waiting vans at GMEX too, thanks to a nice (if grumpy) man at the security gate and a cheeky request by yours truly. It meant we were on the road very quickly and got back to Folkestone around 11pm, which wasn't bad at all.

Having had no access to my miniatures for the past three days (though it feels like longer) I have plans for the weekend. My wife also has plans for the weekend, that involve me doing jobs so that's going to be an interesting negotiation! I have managed to stay in touch with things, my iPad being the lifeline that sustained me – except when I lost the 3G signal and was left playing Solitaire.

Anyway, the plan for me this weekend is to paint the Carnivean. There is a queue slowly building up behind him of Legion models wanting to be painted and whilst it was nice to get The Forsaken to jump the queue and painted to completion, the big fella needs some attention.

My thinking is that with a few painting sessions of 1-2 hours each he can be done quite quickly. The main issue will be painting the scales as there are quite a few of these and it is time consuming.

So keep an eye out for some lovely photos of a finished warbeast next week, or possibly photos of a trimmed lawn and hedge if negotiations don't go well!

The Forsaken Lady

We had visitors this weekend so painting time has been limited. However, I couldn't let the beautiful weather go by without taking advantage and getting some models spray undercoated. Lylyth alt, Epic Lylyth, The Forsaken and a Warwitch Siren all got their undercoat sorted.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to press ahead with The Forsaken as it would be an 'easy win' – she is a human sized version of the warbeasts I've been painting for the Legion of Everblight, so the paint scheme was the same – straightforward and in this case quite quick to complete.

Not one of my better paint jobs (or indeed one of my favourite models) but it's ticked a box. Looking at the photos, the last couple of washes to the scales has dulled the highlights so I should go back in with a final off-white to the edges. I may also do the same with the skin, to the front of the model at least. In the photos there's a little too much blue and not enough purple.

Having said that I am quite pleased with the final result – especially the snow on the base.

Ready Shreddie…

Rather than finish Lylyth, which would seem the more sensible thing to do, I spent the little painting time I had this Bank Holiday weekend painting Shredders. With four of them to complete I wanted to get a couple done before tackling the monstrous Carnivean model.

The skin had been highlighted already to almost white, in time for my tutorial Hordes games, so needed little attention – it was onto the details. After painting all of the scales and spines Black, with some Coal Black mixed in for good measure, I set about highlighting with two stages simply adding more white each time. These were coated in an undiluted wash of GW Asurmen Blue, using the wash to add shadows to the skin as well.

The gums were painted GW Lich Purple (I forget the name) before being highlighted with added white, then washed in GW Leviathan Purple. Teeth and claws were given a Black/Burnt Umber basecoat followed by a Burnt Umber highlight. Additional highlights were done by adding Ochre to the mix then adding white to that mix. The teeth were given an additional highlight with an off-white mix of the same colour. Both teeth and claws were given a GW Devlan Mud wash once complete.

The base was given a Black/Basalt Grey basecoat followed by highlights of the Basalt Grey and additional white. Once all this was done I got to use my new snow flock. After doing some reading online I found my technique of choice – for this first outing at least. I mixed my GW Snow flock with PVA glue then added it to the base with a tooth pick. It's very thick so needs some coaxing into place. I found adding a bit of water to the base first made life easier. Once it dried I did lose some of the coverage and vibrant white colour, so I may add some white paint to the mix next time.

Yesterday I decided to try and get a second Shredder finished before the extended weekend was done. I thought I'd have a go at the one-legged Shredder as a bit of fun. The painting technique/palette was the same as the first critter but obviously with the added interest of the amputated leg.

As you can see he still needs his base repainting in line with the first Shredder and snow added. Now I see the two Shredders side by side it's clear this second guy needs another highlight on his teeth as well as a couple of other places.

All in all it took a couple of hours to paint each Shredder. The question is, can I transfer this technique and palette successfully onto the much larger Carnivean model?

Reinforcements…

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you Lylyth, Lylyth and… Lylyth.

Yes, I love this character so much I bought all three poses.

Lylyth far left is from the starter box, middle Lylyth is the alternative sculpt and Lylyth far right is actually Epic Lylyth, who has a different set of skills and spells.

I have started to accumulate reinforcements for Lylyth's Legion of Everblight warpack. Unfortunately the rain has stalled any painting progress as I can't spray undercoat anything. For those unfamiliar we have, from left to right, Raek (light warbeast), Forsaken (solo), Nyss Shepherd (solo) and a Nephilim Bolt Thrower (light warbeast). There are also some Harriers (lesser warbeasts) still in their packet but I need to clear space on the tray before starting on them.

My fledgling Cryx army has not been idle either. After the disappointment of the 'plastic' Deneghra model, I bought a new warcaster as well as some other stuff at Salute. Again, from left to right, we have warcaster Iron Lich Asphyxious (or 'Gaspy' as he's know on the net), a Warwitch Siren (solo), the plastic Slayer (helljack) and the two plastic Deathrippers (bonejacks). There are also some plastic Nightwretch bonejacks that need building but, again, space is at a premium and Legion have to take priority.

With any luck the sun will come out at some point over the bank holiday weekend and some of these models will see paint!

Painting tutorial test…

Earlier in the week I had a go at shooting a painting tutorial. Well, I say tutorial… it is in fact just me painting – no voiceover, no captions or descriptions.

Here it is…

So what was the point?

I actually needed to test whether I could get my iPad to sit still long enough to film it, what the quality was like and how comfortable it was to paint around the thing (not very!). In the future I shall speed things up significantly (it gets rather boring watching me paint for 15mins!), I will also add a voiceover or some sort of guide – I will also choose something more visible to paint, the bow is difficult to see I think.

If you can get anything out of it then great – even if it's just to see my messy hobby tray.

Comments welcome as always…

Post 200: Painting Lylyth's Cloak

This one is a bit rushed today – pics aren't terribly sharp – but I am overdue a post. I've also had a report that my blog throws up a malware warning, so if anyone else experiences this please do let me know.

Ok, on to the post.

This lovely lady, as you may have gathered from recent posts, is Lylyth – warlock of the Legion of Everblight. After she was given a quick paint job in time for last weekend's tutorial games I wanted to go back and lavish some time finishing off the details. Not too long mind you as I have TWO alternative versions of this character, both better sculpts, waiting in the wings.

Today I will concentrate on her cloak, which was a joy to paint thanks to my recently acquired pot of P3 Coal Black. Now let's be honest, it's not black at all. In fact it's a gorgeous deep sea blue/green. With the plethora of paints I currently own I never thought I'd need to buy paint again, or rather I couldn't imagine a colour I'd be missing or couldn't match. Coal Black is the colour I've been missing – it's amazing, and it gives great results.

I have made today's photos a bit bigger to retain the original colour as much as possible. The camera doesn't catch it exactly but it's pretty close.

Lylyth's cloak was given an undercoat of Black then a thin base layer of 60/40 Coal Black/Black. After that had dried thoroughly I went back in with several layers of 100% Coal Black, thinned with a lot of water so I could build up highlights slowly and gradually.

Once these layers had reached a point where they weren't having much more impact I started to add white to the mix, still very watered down. It tends to look very harsh when first painted on but dries to almost transparent.

This process continued until the mix was probably 70/30 White/Coal Black. At this point I mixed some white with a small amount of Coal Black – probably 90/10 – and watered it down a lot to add a brighter highlight to key edges. I then went back in with a thicker version of the same mix (i.e. less water) and added tiny amounts to the same key edges. In this instance I didn't feel a final highlight of pure white was appropriate as it is meant to be a cloth surface.

Under normal circumstances I would probably have spent more time getting the layers smoother, and it could do with some shadows re-applying and then a wash to unify the layers. However, as I said earlier, this is a quicker paint job than normal and I'm happy as it is.

As you can see she still needs a few details finishing, and I'm due to get my delivery of snow flock today, so she should be complete by the weekend.

I have made another test video, this time showing me painting the wooden bow on this model. It didn't make it into today's post as it takes an age to upload to YouTube and the wife needed the internet for work today – keep you eyes peeled for that any day now.