Tale of Only Two Gamers: Empire Ready for Paint

 After changing my list again, I now have my first 500 pts of Empire built, based and primed.  I spent some time looking through Empire army book and the Uniforms and Heraldry of the Empire to decide my color scheme.  I am pretty set on the Stir River Patrol, which are always shown with quartered green and white.  While I like the green and white, I think I will just do halved uniforms instead of pulling my hair out trying to quarter the uniforms on these guys.  I have a little over two months to get these guys painted and ready for the table.  I am not building any more Empire models until that goal is accomplished.  Check out my new army list and a few closeups below.

Empire Captain
Engineer
20 Halberdiers with Full Command
Detachment of 10 Handgunners
Hellblaster

That's around 495 pts I think.  Mainly did some switching around to lower the model count for first leg of army completion.

 20 Halberdiers with Full Command

Captain ? - Mordheim model I had in bitz box

 Hellblaster & Crew + Engineer - He is Marco Columbo model released years ago

10 Handgunners - Drilling barrels, not just for 40k

So, that's it so far.  I'm hoping to get the test model completed this week and get my recipe ironed out.  After that I will start batch painting one color at a time, some of this during breaks and lunch at work.  Luckily, for the time being I am actually working 40 hrs a week instead of 50-60 so I have Fridays off, which gives me some family-free time to work on these guys.  

We are also joining funds to get some Fantasy terrain built and painted during the next couple game days we have.  So far we have Temple of Skulls, Tower of Sorcery and Skullvane Manse(going to get Fortified Manor kit soon).  We are also going to make some forest bases and some hills.  Hopefully, we can complete a table full of painted terrain before the first game.  I can't wait to start playing Warhammer with a painted army and table full of great terrain again.

Tale of Only Two Gamers: Empire are here!

I finally sold enough Orcs & Goblins to get my Empire army ordered, at least the beginnings.  I put in this order to the Warstore on Monday and had a box full of goodies on my porch Thursday afternoon.  Awesome.

To get started with the army, I ordered 2 Battallion Boxes(40 State Troops, 20 Handgunners/Crossbowmen, 2  Cannons/Mortars, and 16 Knights(for sale).  I also ordered a Wizard box, a Hellblaster Volley Gun and the new Griffon model, which will be an Amber Wizard on Two Headed Griffon in bigger games.  I just had to have the Griffon, as it is awesome and huge.  I also bought the 8th edition rulebook, a couple army books I am missing from collection and some misc items(mostly Army Painter Tufts and a couple paints and magnets).

I have finalized my 500 pt list and will hopefully make some progress building some this weekend during our first "Monthly Game Day".  So here is the list:

Captain - 60 pts

Warrior Priest - 65 pts

Halberds x 25 with Full Command - 180 pts

Detachment - Handgunners x 10 - 90 pts

Mortar - 100 pts

495 pts

I know I should drop one character and get more dudes, but I purposefully did this so I could get this army together and painted a little quicker.  Our rule of having only painted models during "Tale of Only Two Gamers" will be a tough task if we want to play games this year, haha.  Our current plan is to play our first Fantasy games in August, so I really have to get cranking.  I have about 10-12 weeks, so I'm hoping to get 3-4 models per week painted, which will be tough when I throw in the fact they are all still on sprues.

And I have a small predicament.  I really want to build my Stir River Patrol themed army, easy enough, except I really want to build them as an Undead Stir River Patrol themed army.  I could then use the Core from my Empire army as the core of Skeletons for a Vampire Counts army(which I would really like to have).  This would save me cash for sure and be a cool theme I could carry through two armies.  I think with prices going up, we gamers will need to start coming up with ways to make our money go further, like building an Undead Empire army that doubles as a Vampire Counts army with only a few additional models needed.  So, this means I need to build and convert EVERY model and have painted in 10-12 weeks.  Like I said, tough, especially with 50 hour work weeks, wife, two children(ages 1 and 4), and a garden.

So, what do you think?  Should I just build an Empire army and forget about the VC, or go ahead and convert with Skellie bits(I have plenty of skellie and zombie bits) to make a dual-themed army?  I would love to know what you think about the Undead Empire idea and how you would go about converting these minis.

Tale of Only Two Gamers

In order to kickstart the hobby again for us, reklawsj and I are going to start playing Warhammer Fantasy again.  We haven't played in years, even though we both own a couple huge armies.  We have also decided that a monthly game day is a must.  We are now setting a schedule in advance of the day we will play and game system and points well in advance.  For now, the first couple game days are going to be small games of 40k with some modelling/painting and terrain building.  However, we are both starting to build/paint new armies for 8th edition.

For me, this means I have to get the new rulebook and read a lot.  Also, I pretty much lost interest in my Orcs & Goblins, mainly because they are way to random for me(I have much of it on Ebay now at this LINK).  So, I'm starting a new army.  I have always like Empire, so with the new book and great models I decided to jump in.  We will start playing our first Fantasy, hopefully within a couple months.  We are making self-imposed rules  to only use painted models.  The first game day will be 500 pts with 250 pt increments each month.  I have thoroughly read the Empire book and have decided on a themed army based on the Stir River Patrol.  They are pretty much the Stir River Navy, protecting merchant ships and manning riverside forts.  My first 500 list looks something like this:

Warrior Priest with Great Weapon(in with Halberds)

20 Halberds with Full Command

10 Handgunners as Detachment to above

Mortar or Helblaster

10 Crossbowmen

This is very rough draft so far.  I have no experience with 8th edition or Empire, so hoping to build a solid core in 500 pts and add what I need each month to build nice army.

Reklawsj will be playing his Warriors of Chaos army.  They will be of the mostly Tzeentch variety.  His initial plan is to start with a basic Marauder army and add stronger units with progression, much like a Chaos warband would do in the fluff.  I think this is a great idea and fits what we are going for in the "Tale of Only Two Gamers".

Hopefully, this spur in hobby activity will get this blog kicking again with some actual painting and gaming content, albeit mostly of the Fantasy variety, but with a smattering of 40k, Dreadfleet, Mordheim, Necromunda, Bloodbowl, Warmachine, Hordes, Malifaux and anything else that strikes our fancy that month.

So, this should be the beginning of some good hobby in the future.  I really haven't touched anything hobby related in 6 months, needless to say, I'm getting excited about starting this up.

Coming Soon.....New Laser Cut Terrain Company

Shown are images of a new line of Old West Buildings being produced by my brother.  He operates a laser table for a small company and was asked to develop samples to show what the laser table was capable of.  I mentioned to him that some friends and I had played a series of Legends of the Old West games one weekend.  After showing him some of the terrain owned by a friend, he decided to design his own versions of Old West Terrain scaled for 25-28mm gaming.  All images attached are products available for purchase now, with new items being added every week.  So far, all items are for Old West/Historical gaming, but these will see use at my house for Maulifax and 40k.

All buildings are shown with signs, but they are a separate item and have names etched into them.  Custom signs could be made if desired.  New packs are being developed for obstacles, such as tables, crates, hitching posts, outhouses, gallows, stairs for 2 story buildings, jail inserts for existing buildings, wagons, and anything else we can think of to add flavor to the gaming board.  Check out images below and I'll explain more.

 One of many building front designs.  Flat sign is added with double-sided tape for endless variations.

 All buildings are made to accept signs like above.  Sign packs offer both flat and with tab insert.

 Top View of small building.  Roof has shingle design etched in for easy painting.   All roofs are removable for easy access during gaming.

Side view of small building. 

View of back of small building 

 Sample of two-story building.  Also, with removable signs.

 Front view of two story

 Single story, long building.  Available in all front designs as small buildings above.

 Front View, single story, long building

 Two story with hotel parts.  Includes front balcony with door.  Fancy window shutters, see closeup below.  Also, gap below balcony is fixed in production model.

Window shutter closeup for hotel, note extreme detail available with laser cutting.

I hope you liked the above terrain.  It has been fun helping a little with the designs for this project and hope to see it grow into a full Old West selection and then branch into other genres as time progresses.  I know a very large saloon building will be completed shortly with interior balcony and stairs as well as second story outdoor  balcony.  This thing will be huge, over 12" x 12"(maybe as large as 16" footprint), a true centerpiece for this type of gaming, or the location of a special bar fight scenario.

If you're interested in any of these items, my brother is selling on Ebay for the time being, until their company sets up an online shopping cart site, or you can email me and I can send you a price list.  I am also a distributor, so you can purchase directly from me with Paypal.  My email is ctreleheb AT gmail.com.  Also, email me with any questions you may have concerning details I may have left out above.

As new items become available I will continue to post them to the blog.

Snotling Boxing/UFC Diorama WIP

This is a diorama I built a while back and never finished.  I figured Snotlings have something they enjoy doing when they're not running from Orcs.  I spent some time getting all the bits together and made the rest from balsa wood and wire.  The picture at the bottom shows all the characters that go on the base.  I decided to keep them separate until after painting.

As you can see in the above picture, I have the ring set up on barrels and a couple plank benches sitting on some small pails.  I also put a small ladder on each side of the ring and a spit bucket where the coach hangs out ringside.  I also have a treasure chest with da' winnings.  There are a couple guards below you can see that keep it from getting carried off during the fight.  There's also a gong for rounds and a banner to keep rounds on.  I also put some barrels of fungus beer in there for the spectators to purchase.  There are a couple more pics below showing more angles.

Above are the characters that will be added to the diorama.  The top row consists of the coaches and cheerleaders for each fighter.  The second row consists of the spectators I have chosen to watch this fine sporting event.  The third row has the judge on left, and the bellringer with hammer just to right and the guardians of the winnings on right.  And the two bottom ones are the fighters.  The left one is more of a karate kid martial arts snotling, while the right is more Bloodsport with his bound fists dipped in broken glass.  I guess technically this is more UFC style but with the square ring it can be called whatever.

Well, it's been a little slow on model front for me lately, thus showing you an old half finished project that I wish I had time to finish.  I did however build a Malifaux gang on Friday.  I hope to get pics of them taken this week and posted up.  I started with Bayou Gremlins and have all models except a couple that I ordered today.  I hope they come in so I can finish building everything that is out and start some painting on them.  Maybe after that I'll actually get a rulebook and try to play a game.

And I also put up my Lizardmen army on ebay and it ends tonight.  So, if you interested check the link I added.    Ebay items ending tonight

DreadFleet up for PreOrder

I just ordered my copy of DreadFleet that just went up for PreOrder a few minutes ago.  Didn't even look at all the up close sprue pics yet.  Now off to do that.

For Sale: Lizardmen Army, IG misc, & WM/H misc

Lizardmen Saurus on Sprue x 20

I finally got around to getting some pics of more things I will never get around to painting in my life, so Lizardmen must go, along with a few more odds & ends I found.  Check it out and shoot me an email at ctreleheb AT gmail.com if you're interested in any of this stuff.  It will be hitting Ebay probably early next week.  I have a few items up now, ending tomorrow, if you want to check them out at following link: Mostly Warmachine Mercenary Stuff

8 Older Lizardmen Saurus with parts shown 

11 Old Plastic Skinks with Short Bows as shown 

Skink Priest

Skink Chief

Old Skink Chief Model

Skink Chief

Skink Chief with sweet feather cloak

Skink Chief

Saurus Lord

Kroxigor

Kroxigor

Salamander with Handlers

Salamander with Handlers

Tenehousnreanditha guy?

Commissar with Hand Flamer

Commissar

Catachan with Powerfist

OOP Yarrick

Catachan with Powerfist

Cadian Banner with broken pole

Cadian Banner Guy

IG Techpriest

Lord Solar Macharius

Colonel Straken

pMadrak and Impaler

10 Chameleon Skinks

Slann in box, missing shrinkwrap

Saurus Lord on Carnosaur partially assembled

Skinks on sprue x 24

Skinks on sprue x 24 

Skinks on sprue x 24

Skinks on sprue x 18

Saurus on sprue x 16 

Saurus on sprue x 20

Well, there's a pretty good size Lizardmen army in there.  The Orc & Goblin army I posted earlier will be going on Ebay in the future also.  I am trimming Fantasy down to only one army, for now anyways.  I have a huge Ogre Army I want to add to and then maybe if my interest in the game goes up, I'll add another one later slowly.  I am also wanting to start into some Malifaux, the Bayou Gremlins are to cool to pass up on that game.

Content is slow lately, but that just means real life is busy.  Maybe after getting some models out of the way, I will start getting some things that I have most interest in now and start actually working on something.  Please hurry Chaos Space Marine Codex.