Trollkin of Erehwon: More For The Kriel!

Edit: Huzzah!  I was going to post this yesterday but Blogger wouldn't let me upload the pictures for some reason.  Apparently things are working normally now so on with the Kriel!

Yeah, so I was a bit of a slacker this week.  Well, not really but one of the things that I was working on I can't post yet.  I did make some time to work on my Trollkin though and I've got to admit that I'd forgotten how much fun they are to paint!  Of course I didn't have time to break out my light box for the photos, but still think these give an idea how they are coming along.

First up is my chieftain with his bodyguard.

I'd originally planned on using Borka as my chieftain but I had Madrak done so he will do for a stand in.  The two bodyguards are champions that I'm using for now.  I might switch them out for Warders eventually, but for now these guys will work perfectly.

Next are my stone scribes.

Yeah, still only two of them are painted but I added some finishing touches to them.  I was going to wait on these ones in favor of filling out the basic kriel warriors but I think these guys will be amusing to play so I think I'm going to but them up in the cue.

And last but not least is the first of my two impalers.

Just the base drybrushing done on him but now his two buddies are by his side to give an idea how the unit will look.  The whelps are just a riot and remind me a lot of the snotlings of old, though I think that a whelp would probably kick a snotling's butt!

Next week, my BrushFu order should arrive so I'll be digging into those minis ASAP.  On top of that, Black Star Rising is supposed to arrive on Wednesday so even more goodness to get into!  Plus, a friend of mine just gave me some minis to paint up for his D&D game so even more for me to paint on top of wanting to keep pushing on with my Trollkin!  Definitely looking forward to see what I can knock out this week.  Until next time...

Trollkin of Erehwon: They're Impallingly Bombastic!

All of the minis that I have for my trollkin are some variation on foot soldiers.  Be they warriors, gunners, or guard, none of them really fit the bill for an artillery unit.  Of course, there is actually an artillery piece in the Hordes trollkin mini line, but I'm trying to be thrifty (aka cheap) so I decided to see what I could cobble together from what I have.

Part of the plastic kriel warriors box is three caber throwers.  The models are pretty cool and full of character as is typical for the Trollkin, but I had no idea how I could use them.  A caber is thrown, so a ranged attack of some kind makes sense.  It should hit like a ton of bricks because... well, it is a stone caber after all but this also means that it shouldn't have too much range as that would be silly.

It took some digging through the dwarf list but I think I managed to find a way to slot them into my army, complete with a crew.  In the dwarf list is the bombard which has a minimum range and a relatively short long range which seems like a really good fit.  It is also overhead attack and does d4 hits, which again seem to line up nicely.  It is a giant piece of stone that the trollkin is chucking after all.

To represent the piece on the table, I'm going to field one caber thrower with two of the old metal kriel warriors.  This gives me a crew of three, and having them move as a unit while maintaining base contact will turn them into a large miniature.  This also gives me something to do with my original kriel warriors since they are a bit runty compared to the plastics.

One artillery piece is good, but two?  Well, that sounds priceless doesn't it?  Again looking at minis that I already have, the impaler is a light beast armed with giant javelins.  Looking at the dwarf list, I can see two options that this could line up with nicely.  The large bolt thrower and the small cannon are virtually identical in their stats, except their ranges are quite different.  The bolt thrower goes all the way out to 60", while the cannon only goes out to 40".  Personally, I'm thinking the bolt thrower since literally that is what he is doing and it gives me a longer range artillery option which could be handy.  As for representing the unit, this time I'm thinking use the impaler with a couple of the trollkin whelps.  These little guys are adorable and would look great next to the oversized beast.

With these two options, I'm pretty sure that I've bumped my available points to over 1,250 which means I've got a lot of options!  Just need to keep on plowing through them with the painting while I make a list, then I will be good to go.  Until next time...

Trollkin of Erehwon: And Stuff Was Done!

This is a holiday week in the States (Thank you for your service, veterans!) which means that I have slightly less time for hobby.  I could have packed up my paints and brought them home but... to be honest, I'm usually pretty busy at home so I don't know how much I would have gotten done.

That said, I did grab my Trollkin kriel warriors and scattergunners so I could work on their bases while I'm home.  Rather than just glue them down and leave the giant gaping slot in the base, I use Procreate to mold a ground and hold the feet in place.  Oh course I don't have a lot of Procreate floating around since I haven't used it since I did the Trollkin for my Frostgrave warband, but I had just about enough.  Maybe?

Since I had three scattergunners that were assembled before, I decided to base two more of them and then a full five kriel warriors.  Ideally I'd prefer to have two units of five warriors, but I'm not sure I have enough to base them all.  Then again, I do have the original metal minis but they are pretty small compared to the plastic ones.  They will work to fill the ranks but I'm glad I picked up the plastics.

Something that I did find surprising is that Privateer Press used the same bodies for the gunners and the warriors, just with different arms and bits.  Now I've just got to make sure that I don't mix up which bodies go with which sets.  Not sure how well they would swap so I'll just keep them separated until I get the arms on.

This also leaves me in something of a conundrum.  I like the plastics more than I thought I would, so there are two more sets that I've got my eyes on.  Then again, I've actually got a good number of points already so... not sure how that will play out.  Suppose I'll figure it out once I actually get the minis I have finished.  Until next time...

Frostgrave: And Then There Was One...

 That's right, I've actually finished my Trollkin warband for Frostgrave, and in what feels like record time as well!

This is the original mini for Madrak Ironhide.  I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of this figure but he will work great for my enchanter.  I'm also really pleased with how his grey sash turned out.  I feel like I was really able to accent the depth of the folds which I was worried about initally.  He does feel like he's missing something to make him pop more but I'm not sure what it is.  Still, he will definitely work for now and I can always add more later if I want.

Now with this said, I do still need to base all of them.  Usually I do just a basic brown gravel with green static grass as I feel like this is the most versatile coloration, but I really think I'm going to explore a winter base theme for this group.  They are meant for Felstad after all, so it would be fitting.  Time to start researching winter basing techniques!  Until next time...

Frostgrave: The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Kriel Songs...

One more done for my Trollblood warband as my apprentice joins the Kriel!

This is the original mini for Grissel Bloodsong from... well, a long time ago.  I really wanted my apprentice and wizard to be unique looking so either solos or warlocks were the place to look.  Unfortunately I hadn't picked up many of either for the Trollbloods which limited my options but it also help shape my warbands story.  My apprentice and wizard are both sporting massive two handed weapons... making them the perfect enchanters!

I never even dabbled with the enchanter spells when I played 1st edition but it's the perfect fit for this foray into 2nd edition.  That said, there is still one more mini left to paint...  But before I go I've got to mention Stargrave.

Slated for release next April, this takes the Frostgrave system...  INNNN TOOOO SPAAAAAAAACE!!!  Seriously though, this looks really good!  Joseph McCullough has a post about it on his blog, the Renaissance Troll, and I highly recommend checking it out.  There isn't a lot of info yet, but just from what is there I am already set to buy into this game.  There will be more information as we get closer, but at least now I have have a reason to dig out all the sci-fi minis I've got scattered about waiting to be painted.  Until next time...

Frostgrave: An Avalance of Trollkin!

Well, this week has been ridiculously productive and I've finished not one mini, or even two, but five minis for my Frostgrave warband!  First up, there is my man-at-arms.

This mini is from the Kriel Warriors set, just your basic badass warrior with a big old sword and shield.  I might pull in a couple more of these troops in the future, but for now my starting budget has put that on hold.

Thankfully the next three little runts are free, which is good since I don't know how long they will survive.  After all, you can't have a warband without some thieves!

These figures are from the Trollkin whelps pack.  Small and completely unarmored, they seem like the perfect mini to represent thieves as they run around and (hopefully) manage to grab the treasure first.

And last but not least is my only ranged trooper so far.  Why?  Because marksmen are stupidly expensive when you are first starting out!

This figure is from the Trollblood scatter gun unit.  I'd originally planned on using these minis as crossbowmen to represent the slow reload with their blunderbuss but then I realized just how much plate armor he is wearing. I could just hand wave it but I'd rather go closer to WYSIWYG than cause any confusion.  This also meant that I could only field one of them to start with because they are a good chunk of your starting gold as well!

"Everyone smile for the family picture!"

All that is left now is my wizard and his apprentice, then my warband will be ready to go!  I want to give these two a bit more attention since they are the leaders of this group, but I'm still hoping to be able to knock them out pretty soon.  Until next time...

Frostgrave: Another Trollkin for Felstad!

Still more minis done for my Trollblood themed Frostgrave warband.  This time, it's my second infantryman.  This figure is another stone scribe and man does he have an axe to grind!

For this figure, I decided to splash in a bit more color to really make his stand out from his fellow scribe.  I did decided to keep the grey hood though and I think I will try to pull that through to the rest of the warband as I progress.  Another thing that I did change up was his skin tone.  I tend to keep with one tone when I do my painting but this time I decided to mix things up.  Between that and the different colors on the clothes under his hood, I really like how much this figure pops and think they will go well on the field together.

Two down and seven left to go!  Up next is the man-at-arms for the group which I'm hoping to wrap up over the weekend, plus there are some more Marauders for Deadzone in que as well.  Not as ambitious a pace as I'd originally planned at the start of the year but it's still progress!  Until next time...

Frostgrave: For the Kriel!!!

With Frostgrave 2nd edition coming out, there is talk of it starting up at my LGS again.  Not sure when exactly but I picked up a copy of the book and I'm already started looking at minis for my warband.

At first I was going to pick up some new Reaper Bones dwarves because they've got a few that are packed full of character!  I mean a butcher as one the thugs?  Perfect!  But I decided that I should do the responsible thing... and I'm going to field my Trollbloods instead.

I've been sitting on most of these minis for years now and it will be great to be able to use them.  I had initially gotten into them back in Hordes 1st edition but they were really just a ho-hum faction at that time.  Tons of character in the models but gameplay was pretty blah.  Then they went to Mark II and yeah, that was enough for me.

Still love the minis though and I'm looking forward to finally having a reason to get some paint onto them!  I had planned on painting up the lot and then posting but considering how slow they've been progressing I've decided to show them off one at a time.  So without further ado, here is the first of my Trollblood warband!

This model was a test and also let me knock the rust off the painting gears again.  Given the size of the typical Trollkin mini this is a really good use for them!  This particular figure is one of the stone scribes that come with the krielstone bearer though in this case he will be filling the role of man-at-arms in my warband.  I'm happy with how the figure turned out overall and I'm looking forward to moving on to the next one soon.

Plus I might even start working on some terrain pieces as well.  Our LGS is very GW centric so I'd like to bring in some pieces that are all skulls and gothic architecture just to mix things up.  I'll have to see how it pans out but think it will be fun.  Until next time...

Sin City Dispatch #16: Brothers in arms with the Walking Dead

Hey everyone and welcome to the latest and greatest issue of... the Dispatch!

Mental note: need to get out more...

Where was I? Oh yeah, this issue we are going to be doing the first faction overview in the Intelligence Report. Then we will head over to the parade ground as we Review the Troops, where we will look at what I am now thinking is one of the nastiest units in the game. So sit down and strap in because we are about to hit the ground running!

Intelligence Report
Taking a Closer Look at...
The Cryx from Prime: Remix

Spreading from their island home like a disease upon the mainland, the walking dead of the Dragon Lord Toruk come. With every battle they add to their ranks, bringing them closer to their goal of conquering the Iron Kingdoms and ultimately destroying the rest of the Dragons.

In a world where the motivations of some factions are portrayed in shades of grey, the Cryx are nothing but black. With the legions of undead, there is no question that they are clearly among the villans of the Warmachine world. Still, enough with the fluff. The real question is how do they play?

The Cryx are unique in the Warmachine universe when it comes to some of their units, at least with regards to Prime (which is my main focus here). They can field some of the fastest units and 'jacks in the game, not to mention the cheapest and in some cases perhaps the most versatile. For infantry units, they have both ends of the spectrum with two of the cheapest and two of the most expensive units in the book. Even so, their cheap units are very effective at what they do and are not to be taken lightly. From a 'jack point of view, Cryx is the faction with the most arc nodes available to them. Equipped with light armor (for a 'jack at least), the Cryx warjacks make up for this by having a high defense and speed.

With spells that focus on weakening and damaging their opponents, the Cryx warcasters are geared toward lightning quick attacks leading up to the final assault on the enemy warcaster. More than any other faction, virtually all the troops in a Cryx army are expendable as they are simply tools for clearing the way for the 'caster to move in for that final kill.

All of these elements come together to create a faction that excels at one thing: assassination. Their troops plow into your army as the arc node equipped bonejacks move into position to channel spells where they are needed most. As this deadly ballet of carnage is playing out, the warcaster is moving forward, getting closer and closer to its final target. Once a path has been cleared, they strike with deadly accuracy.

Their style of play is not for everyone, especially since they have some combinations that you have to puzzle out the most effective uses for. That said, if you enjoy an aggressive play style with some sneaky combos and don't mind losing your entire army in the process, the Cryx might just be for you.

Reviewing the Troops
The Trollkin Champions

Heros of kith and kriel, the Trollkin Champions are the elite melee unit for the Trollbloods. I recently had a chance to field these killing machines against Matt and I think that we were all amazed at just how deadly they can get.

With a base Melee Attack score of 7, the Champions can hit most units in Hordes on average rolls but it is after this that they truly become powerful. For every model in their unit that makes a successful melee attack against, the next Champion gets a +1 to its attack and damage rolls this turn. The first Champion starts at a 7, the next at an 8, the next at a 9... And this does not reset, so if one of the Champions misses, the next one will still receive the same bonus. To make this even more damaging, try fielding them with Madrak and use his Crusher feat. This will allow them to move and make another attack if they destroy their original target, and since this all happens in the same turn, the bonus continues to stack.

As if they weren't "offensive" enough, the Champions are also multi wound models. A regular champion has eight wounds while the leader has ten, plus they are all tough. Their one weakness is the Defense which is only 12... unless they are in base to base contact with another member of their unit, which gives them a +2 but only against melee attacks.

Ringing in at 106 points, they are one of the most expensive units in the game but having seen them in battle, I am more than happy to pay that cost. I'd even pay double, which is handy because they are field allowance two. Ya gotta love Champions!

The Parting Shot

And that wraps up another issue of the Dispatch, but have no fear as there is more on the way! Up next will be another special report as we take a closer look at some of the changes made in Mark II (wait, it costs how much?!?!?) and later this month will be Issue #17: Hardcore Terrain! I am finally getting my gaming room set up and I decided to make some Iron Kingdoms style terrain so I figure I might as well do some step by steps to show how I did it. If you have any comments or questions, I'd love to hear them! You can leave them on the blog or you can email me at sincitydispatch@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

Sin City Dispatch #15: Asphyxious has a little head!

Hey everyone and welcome to the latest and greatest issue of the Dispatch!

In this issue, we will start things out with a little bit of a flashback in Incoming!!! as we look at the striders for the Cogs. That's right, back to my roots with some AT-43 though there is a little bit of Warmachine thrown in to keep things current as well. Next we will head to the Workbench as I try a little bit of proxy modification as well as a look at what I did to make the man of the hour get an ego boost. Also from the Workbench, we will take a look at a proxy that has actually turned into more of a conversion, and we aren't talking about Menoth here. So sit down and strap in because we are about to hit the ground running!

Incoming!!!
A Look at Upcoming Releases for AT-43 and Warmachine

Last year, the first pictures of the Cogs came out and though the sculpt of the minis was not bad, the paint job left a lot to be desired. Does anyone else remember the cybernetic construction crew of doom?

Since then, Rackham appeared to reconsider this incredibly bizarre paint scheme and went with a more traditional red for the regular troops while it looked like the leaders would be in black. Recently I found these images of what the Cog striders will look like and just had to share my thoughts.

The smaller strider honestly looks like something right off of a loading dock while the larger one seems to have some kind of a bizarre looking cape kind of thing going on. And they are orange. Grrrr!!! While I admit that I haven't played AT-43 in months now, it is really disappointing to see that this is the direction that Rackham decided to stagger off in. With the release of the Cogs, they really had a chance to create something different for the sci-fi genre but this is just a major disappointment in my opinion.

On the Warmachine front, the big news is the first pictures of the upcoming plastics! First out the door will be the Exemplar Bastions for the Protectorate of Menoth. Here is a picture of one next to a Temple Flamguard to give you an idea of the size.

As you can see, these guys are big! No idea what the are like in the game but the miniature looks pretty sweet, especially considering these will be PP's first real foray into the world of plasic minis (not counting their CMG Monsterpocalypse). I have seen some criticism of the price since these are currently listed as being $44.99 retail for five of them but when you compare to the other medium base mini boxed sets they really aren't that bad. The Trollblood Champions are the same price while the Khador Shocktroopers are $49.99 just for three!

Overall, I think that this will be a good move by Privateer since plastics are easier to work with from a modeling point of view and they have said that they should be able to avoid the price increases that have been plaguing the metal minis lately. Only time will tell, but I have to give credit to PP for breaking out of their heavy metal obsession to keep the game more affordable.

From the Workbench
The Lich Lord says... "I have a little head!",
The Mauler says... "Growl! err..."

This issue we will be looking at two different mini modifications that I have done for Warmachine and Hordes. The first of the two is an easy one but I just don't understand why I had to do it. I recently bought Lich Lord Asphysious for my Cryx army in Warmachine and the first thing that I notice is that his head is ridiculously small. Comparing it to a regular Mechanithrall, the Lich's head was about 2/3 the width! I instantly thought, "This just won't do!" and set to work to fix the problem. Taking the previously mentioned Mechanithrall, I was able to chop off all but the jaw bone of his skull and attach it to the Iron Lich's hood, while the Lich's original head went right onto the Mechnithrall. A nameless steam powered zombie can have a little head, but the Iron Lich? I don't think so.

The other project was a little bit more ambitious. I have some Trollblood minis but not enough to field a full 500 points worth. I wanted to bloster their ranks a little but as I am playing in the League with my Cryx, I decided to see what I could do with proxies instead. I already have Boomhowler and Company (giving me a good Scattergunner proxy) but I really wanted to field something to represent the Dire Troll Mauler. I could just use another heavy mini and call it good but then inspiration struck!

Before his days at Privateer Press, Matt Wilson worked on a sci-fi miniature game called Vor. One of the alien races, the Growlers, actually bear a striking resemblance to the Trolls and I happen to have two of Bull Growlers laying about. I showed them to the guys at Battlezone and I got the impression that they thought I was crazy. If you don't know what miniature I am talking about, here is a picture of one next to a Khador Juggernaut for scale.

As you can see, there are some similarities between the Troll and Growler but there are enough differences to tell the two apart. Still, basic size and build of the figure was pretty close IMO (not to mention the pose; just look at the cover of Hordes Primal), so I decided to convert one of them so that it resembles a Dire Troll a little bit more.

One of the big differences between the two is the row of spikes starting on the forehead of the Growler and running down its back. The one on the head is an easy fix; cut it off. A few seconds with a saw and off it comes. The ones on the back are a little more problematic. When you look at the picture of the Mauler, there is what looks like a spiky mane of hair that runs over its head but I am not sure how far down its back it runs. To make my life easier, I decided to just go ahead and take it right down it's back so that I could cover the spikes on the Growler. At first I had thought about trying to use epoxy to sculpt the hair over them but I quickly decided to just add the hair to it instead, one piece at a time. Crazy, yes, but I really like how it turned out.

The Mauler is also wearing a loincloth while you could say that the Growler is feeling a little bit more free. Some more putty work and BAM! Instant loincloth, complete with a rope tied around his waist.

Next, I took a look at the teeth. The Dire Troll has some very distictive tusks that jut out of his lower jaw while the Growler just has a mouth full of spiky teeth. I had thought about just lengthening a couple of the teeth but the Troll's teeth actually seem to flip down like tusks so I decided that it was time to break out the Dremel. I cut out two of his teeth, drilled a couple of holes where they had been and tried to insert a couple of brass rods to make a solid frame for the tusks to go onto. This didn't quite work out so I decided to just build them up using putty instead and I have to say that I like the result.

And there you have it! While there are still some definite differences, I think that overall this conversion is pretty close and it will definitely work as a stand in Mauler. I'll still be buying the real thing in the future but at least this way I can start giving this beastie a try instead of having to wait until I buy it. After all, you don't have to be afraid of proxying in friendly game. How do you think Privateer playtests their new rules in the first place?

The Parting Shot...

Well, that about wraps up another issue of the Dispatch. In our next issue, I will be taking a look at my latest army for Warmachine/Hordes, the Trollbloods! By then I should have a couple more games under my belt with them, so I figure that I might as well take a look at how they stack up compared to my Cyrx army. Man, talk about night and day... Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!