Being on a real Impetus kick painting up my HYW miniatures from Corvus Belli, I realised last night after posting that I haven't shared my intended army list. I've roughed out a 500 point list, and then sub-selected a 300 point list from that. There may be some tweaking (I may swap out the Hobilars and the Levies for some Cannon), but for now, here goes:
Command:
Average CS, Fair Commander
32 pts
Cavalry:
1 x King and Household
1 x English Men-at-Arms
1 x Hobilars
82 pts
Missile Troops:
5 x Longbowmen
115 pts
Melee Troops:
2 x Dismounted Men-at-Arms
1 x Welsh Spearmen
1 x French Levies
71 pts
Total = 300 points
On a side note, I probably won't get much further on those archers for a few days as I'm off to another Blood Bowl tournament this weekend. Given the lack of a podium finish with a super-competitive team, I'm going to go for the ultimate joke team - goblins. I had fun painting these guys up a couple of years ago, and will be aiming for the Stunty Cup instead of 'real' victory.
In fact if you look here, my team is in the gallery on the Stunty Cup site. Scroll down to the seventh picture, I think.
30 June 2009
29 June 2009
Green and White
Beautiful wife was sorting through photos of beautiful son (18 months tomorrow!), so I got started on a base-worth of archers. I've chosen a green and white colour scheme in honour of the archers raised by Edward of Woodstock, the 'Black Prince', from Cheshire in the mid 1300s.
Just a quick snap from the workbench:
"But Stephen, one of those archers has a hammer, not a bow!"
"That's right, Skippy, but someone has to drive the stakes in to keep those naughty French aristos at bay!"
I was sorting through the great pile of sprues of CB figs in my lead pile and found him in the 'Armed Peasants' pack and thought "Ah-ha!" I hope it works out...
Just a quick snap from the workbench:
"But Stephen, one of those archers has a hammer, not a bow!"
"That's right, Skippy, but someone has to drive the stakes in to keep those naughty French aristos at bay!"
I was sorting through the great pile of sprues of CB figs in my lead pile and found him in the 'Armed Peasants' pack and thought "Ah-ha!" I hope it works out...
24 June 2009
In harness, and ready for action
I'm a happy geek! I got my first base of English dismounted Men at Arms / Knights / whatever you want to call them completed and based tonight (thanks, Jet, for the basing advice).
It's late and real world work is going to be heavy going tomorrow, so that's it for now, I just wanted to show off my handiwork. Not perfect by any means, but for a first go, and as a gaming piece, I'm pretty chuffed. Just another couple of hundred to paint!
These are Corvus Belli miniatures and are 15mm scale, based for Impetus.
From the front:
and behind:
and an crossbow bolt's eye view:
A little bizarre, perhaps, but my favourite is the trumpeter; I really like the linen colour I got on his coif.
It's late and real world work is going to be heavy going tomorrow, so that's it for now, I just wanted to show off my handiwork. Not perfect by any means, but for a first go, and as a gaming piece, I'm pretty chuffed. Just another couple of hundred to paint!
These are Corvus Belli miniatures and are 15mm scale, based for Impetus.
From the front:
and behind:
and an crossbow bolt's eye view:
A little bizarre, perhaps, but my favourite is the trumpeter; I really like the linen colour I got on his coif.
17 June 2009
GT photo
I couldn't find any pictures of any of my games from the GT, but I did find a photo of me taken by my last opponent, Frank. I grabbed it from his website, so here I am looking particularly snazzy (read: knackered after two days solid gaming and liquid refreshment) in my spectacularly geeky club BB gaming shirt:
Over my shoulder you can even see a girl!!!! She was geeking away with the rest of us. It may not surprise you that out of 170-odd coaches, there were probably fewer than half a dozen ladies. You can also see the cod-medieval way the hall is set up. I'm only gently mocking, because it does add to the atmosphere hugely.
Oh, and I fixed my last post with the proper results from my games.
Over my shoulder you can even see a girl!!!! She was geeking away with the rest of us. It may not surprise you that out of 170-odd coaches, there were probably fewer than half a dozen ladies. You can also see the cod-medieval way the hall is set up. I'm only gently mocking, because it does add to the atmosphere hugely.
Oh, and I fixed my last post with the proper results from my games.
13 June 2009
Back in the saddle
After all that painting (every evening for a couple of hours) to get Mike's team finished in time for the GT (more on that in a few lines), I haven't felt like doing any active geeking until yesterday. I've sent off for a few supplies for basing miniatures etc, but no more than that. So yesterday evening I got the brushes out and painted up a squig (think toothy, psychotic space-hopper allied to orcs and goblins) as a turn counter for my Bloodbowl goblin team. It's not finished, was kinda rushed, and is pretty functional so I haven't bothered taking a picture, but it's got me back in the saddle.
So, the GT. Or, to give it its full title, the Blood Bowl Grand Tournament held in Lenton at Games Workshop's eagle-clad centre for world domination. I didn't take my camera (again - I'm rubbish, sorry), and all the ones I took on my phone came out as vaguely orange blobs. There were six games, three per day, and I took a team (Skaven) that I thought would be pretty good as a tournament team. Didn't quite work out like that, but I did finish 48th out of 170-odd, just outside the top quarter. For those not used to BloodBowl, the number in brackets is how many Casualties caused. I'll put my result first, then my opponent's.
Game 1
Opponent - Dwarfs
Score - 0(0)-2(3)
A nice bloke (Simon) as my opponent, so in that sense a pleasant start to the tournament. However, all my team got beaten up or killed, leaving me no way to defend. I was down to three players by turn 5 (of 8) of the first half. My notes for the game trail off at this point and just read 'oh dear oh dear oh dear'.
Game 2
Opponent - Norse
Score - 3(5)-1(3)
Incredibly random. BB is meant to be a game of barely controlled chaos, and this lived up to that billing. Every possible random event happened at least once and we laughed our way through those two hours. On top of that my team which had proved so fragile in game 1 came back with a vengeance - take that! Kerpow! My opponent Steve proved to be a top bloke, so the tourney continued well.
Game 3
Opponent - Lizards
Score - 1(2)-2(3)
Although highly amusing, every other dice-roll I made failed and led to a player of mine being sent off for fouling or breaking their neck while trying to dodge between enemy team members. Sigh. Dan (the other guy) played the advantages the dice gave him well, and we spent a chatty couple of hours across the table.
End of day one, and 1 win to 2 losses. I tried to be grown up about it, but couldn't help feeling a little frustrated over the way the (mis)fortunes of war(gaming) had conspired against me.
Game 4
Opponent - Halflings
Score - 1(2)-1(3)
I was delighted to see I had drawn 'flings as my first game of the day. They're basically a joke team, so I felt my luck had turned for the better. Not quite. For the first half I rolled a 1 or skull on over 2/3 of all dice rolls. I've blotted the horror from my mind, but I do know it ended with me 1-0 down after having received the ball at kick-off. The second half started in the same way but, turn by turn, it swang back to me and in the dying moments of the game, when it seemed I was fated to drown in a shallow muddy puddle of failure and self-pity, there came a spark of possibility. Knocking the ball free from grubby Halfling hands as they steam-rollered towards my end-zone, assisted by their treemen, I snatched at the ball, frantically pelted across the width of the pitch before launching a last gasp pass over half the length of the field. A fingertip catch, a scamper, lung bursting, and the draw (Draw?! Against 'flings?!) was mine.
Game 5
Opponent - Orcs
Score - 6(1)-2(1)
Now that is how skaven are meant to play. Every sniff of a ball, and I snatched it and speeded away to another touchdown. The balance of that speed is a certain fragility, but the greenskins obviously had forgotten their knuckle-dusters, and so I escaped almost unharmed. It seemed so unfair, in a way, and he took it in such good humour, that we took a longer break at half time and went to the bar so I could buy him a drink. Huge fun, great gaming companionship, and a much needed victory.
Game 6
Opponent - Skaven
Score - 3(3)-2(2)
I was paired up against Frank, a rather well-known BB figure, a German who designs and produces the most incredible scratch-built stadiums for the game (and scenery for every game he plays). I was intrigued to see how a skaven-skaven game played out. In the end it was a bit one-sided (he grabbed a last turn TD which makes it look less one-sided than it felt in the game) as my bad luck from earlier in the tournament now struck my opponent, and I was (if I say so myself) 'in the zone' and seemed able to see how the game was going to play out better than him. He took it really well, and I think still had fun. I thanked him for the game, commiserating when things didn't work out, but underneath I was taking a savage delight in my triumph. Does that make me a bad person? Or overly geeky? Both?
I had umm-ed and ahh-ed over the pretty high fee for the weekend, but in the end it was worth every penny. Even in the games I lost, and the moments when I had to overcome an internal pettiness over failed dice-rolls, I loved the whole thing - the good-natured, easy comradeship that sprung up even more than in any other tourney I've been to. Hurrah for geeking, and bring on the next tournament at the beginning of July.
So, the GT. Or, to give it its full title, the Blood Bowl Grand Tournament held in Lenton at Games Workshop's eagle-clad centre for world domination. I didn't take my camera (again - I'm rubbish, sorry), and all the ones I took on my phone came out as vaguely orange blobs. There were six games, three per day, and I took a team (Skaven) that I thought would be pretty good as a tournament team. Didn't quite work out like that, but I did finish 48th out of 170-odd, just outside the top quarter. For those not used to BloodBowl, the number in brackets is how many Casualties caused. I'll put my result first, then my opponent's.
Game 1
Opponent - Dwarfs
Score - 0(0)-2(3)
A nice bloke (Simon) as my opponent, so in that sense a pleasant start to the tournament. However, all my team got beaten up or killed, leaving me no way to defend. I was down to three players by turn 5 (of 8) of the first half. My notes for the game trail off at this point and just read 'oh dear oh dear oh dear'.
Game 2
Opponent - Norse
Score - 3(5)-1(3)
Incredibly random. BB is meant to be a game of barely controlled chaos, and this lived up to that billing. Every possible random event happened at least once and we laughed our way through those two hours. On top of that my team which had proved so fragile in game 1 came back with a vengeance - take that! Kerpow! My opponent Steve proved to be a top bloke, so the tourney continued well.
Game 3
Opponent - Lizards
Score - 1(2)-2(3)
Although highly amusing, every other dice-roll I made failed and led to a player of mine being sent off for fouling or breaking their neck while trying to dodge between enemy team members. Sigh. Dan (the other guy) played the advantages the dice gave him well, and we spent a chatty couple of hours across the table.
End of day one, and 1 win to 2 losses. I tried to be grown up about it, but couldn't help feeling a little frustrated over the way the (mis)fortunes of war(gaming) had conspired against me.
Game 4
Opponent - Halflings
Score - 1(2)-1(3)
I was delighted to see I had drawn 'flings as my first game of the day. They're basically a joke team, so I felt my luck had turned for the better. Not quite. For the first half I rolled a 1 or skull on over 2/3 of all dice rolls. I've blotted the horror from my mind, but I do know it ended with me 1-0 down after having received the ball at kick-off. The second half started in the same way but, turn by turn, it swang back to me and in the dying moments of the game, when it seemed I was fated to drown in a shallow muddy puddle of failure and self-pity, there came a spark of possibility. Knocking the ball free from grubby Halfling hands as they steam-rollered towards my end-zone, assisted by their treemen, I snatched at the ball, frantically pelted across the width of the pitch before launching a last gasp pass over half the length of the field. A fingertip catch, a scamper, lung bursting, and the draw (Draw?! Against 'flings?!) was mine.
Game 5
Opponent - Orcs
Score - 6(1)-2(1)
Now that is how skaven are meant to play. Every sniff of a ball, and I snatched it and speeded away to another touchdown. The balance of that speed is a certain fragility, but the greenskins obviously had forgotten their knuckle-dusters, and so I escaped almost unharmed. It seemed so unfair, in a way, and he took it in such good humour, that we took a longer break at half time and went to the bar so I could buy him a drink. Huge fun, great gaming companionship, and a much needed victory.
Game 6
Opponent - Skaven
Score - 3(3)-2(2)
I was paired up against Frank, a rather well-known BB figure, a German who designs and produces the most incredible scratch-built stadiums for the game (and scenery for every game he plays). I was intrigued to see how a skaven-skaven game played out. In the end it was a bit one-sided (he grabbed a last turn TD which makes it look less one-sided than it felt in the game) as my bad luck from earlier in the tournament now struck my opponent, and I was (if I say so myself) 'in the zone' and seemed able to see how the game was going to play out better than him. He took it really well, and I think still had fun. I thanked him for the game, commiserating when things didn't work out, but underneath I was taking a savage delight in my triumph. Does that make me a bad person? Or overly geeky? Both?
I had umm-ed and ahh-ed over the pretty high fee for the weekend, but in the end it was worth every penny. Even in the games I lost, and the moments when I had to overcome an internal pettiness over failed dice-rolls, I loved the whole thing - the good-natured, easy comradeship that sprung up even more than in any other tourney I've been to. Hurrah for geeking, and bring on the next tournament at the beginning of July.
1 June 2009
Da London Eye
Yay for me - I finished a project! With a mere 15 minutes before I had to set off for the BBGT, the varnish on Mike's team was dry and I could pack them up to hand them over. He seemed pleased with them (and promptly played them against Malc, leading them to a crushing victory), and I was satisfied with the result.
Rush job photos, but they're gone now, so this is the best you're gonna get:
lineorcs
throwers
black orc blockers
blitzers
troll and goblins
Team photo
I promise you that the red has more subtlety than it appears in the pictures.
18 May 2009
Recruitment drive gathers pace
I got the remaining three blitzers painted for Mike's team last night, they just need their team 'eye' transfers adding - I'll varnish the whole team in one go once they're finished. We're heading up to the Blood Bowl Grand Tournament (BBGT) a week on Friday and I hope to have the whole lot done by then. Apart from anything else it means I'll be able to afford to pay for my room!
Once they're all done I'll put up a team photo and then I'll actually have completed a project!!!
Once they're all done I'll put up a team photo and then
11 May 2009
New recruits for Da London Eye
Mike's team (currently known as Da London Eye) got its first regular players completed yesterday. Not varnished yet, but everything else is finished on them, I think. I won't varnish them until all figures are finished in case any touching up needs to be done.
I'm still playing with camera settings, and these have come out with the red looking a bit funny, and the rest a little dark. The quest for decent photos continues....
Black Orc Blocker, Thrower, Blitzer
Lineman, and the two goblins allowed
BB Skaven
I got home early from work tonight (it was too windy for the kids to do any archery, so I cancelled the club shoot), and knocked up a crude light tent out by cutting windows into a cardboard box and covering the holes with tissue paper. Here are the pictures of my initially victorious, but now a little battered, skaven team; the Cheesemongering Vermin...
Score marker, Apothecary, Turn marker, Reroll counters
Linerats (aka, cannon fodder)
The Gutter Runners - super speedy scoring machines
Thrower, Rat Ogre, Blitzers
I don't like the way I've done the bases (I painted these about four years ago when I was just getting back into gaming after a long hiatus), and may at some point strip and repaint them all. I do love these models and think I could do the sculpting much more justice now.
2 May 2009
The bitter dregs of defeat
Like that last mouthful of coffee from a cafetiere with a dodgy plunger, today's gaming was a bitter pill to swallow :(
The Cheesemongering Vermin were confident after their triumphant last outing, but today was a different story. It turns out that relying on your opponent to fail the rolls needed to dump-tackle your ball-carrier is not a sufficiently tactical approach and I was punished for it, losing two of the three games and only just edging the third. Hey, ho.
Pictures of my team (not the games - left camera at home again) to follow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)