Learning to airbrush.

A few months ago I picked up a cheap airbrush on ebay. I tried using it one time with near zero effectiveness packed it back in the box and let it sit. Since then I have moved across the country and set new goals to get my models painted. Last week I was working on a unit of MoW Shocktroopers. The majority of their color is red. I have spent forever trying to paint them. Probably 10-15 hours just on getting a nice smooth red. After reading Airbrush Week on The Painting Corps blog I got mine out and tested some red on a couple jacks. It’s hard to tell from the picture because these were just real quick photos, but the paint I used was Khador Red Base. I worked on both these models last night and with setup and cleanup I spent probably an hour. Mostly I just wanted to show how smooth and even a paint job you can get with an airbrush, even if you brand new at it. You can see more pictures here.

Tips for the budding Khadoran

It seems that Khador is a very popular choice for the simple rules of the jacks and some casters plus they just look super tough unlike those wimpy other factions, but after going to the game store and playing a few games where the opponent brings twice as many jacks including arc nodes, and models, and spells, the khadoran player gets overwhelmed and has a hard time picking and prioritizing targets. Then the game starts and they get their butts handed to them. They think, “What the heck why can’t my faction do any of that cool stuff that just happened to me.” Then they come on the forums and ask why we don’t have this or that. Then we tell them to “shut up and play like they have a pair” (which is the correct response for a fellow khadoran). However I have a few tips.
#1 Just stick with it.
It takes time to figure things out. Khador is a very deceptive faction in real life. There aren’t very many ideas to grasp. Move forward and beat their face in, well good luck getting there. Because we don’t have the arc nodes ,or the speed, or the amazing spell list, or the huge gun line, we have to find other ways of making it to the the fight. We have to take tactics to a whole new level and play several steps ahead of our opponent. Make him move where you want him to go.

#2 Use terrain.
Before the game begins pick terrain you can use to your advantage either to block line of sight or slow down your enemy, or to create points you can use while traveling up field to gain cover from. Don’t be afraid to spend a turn or two running through a forest at half movement. If you are playing against an infantry horde you can even place terrain to funnel them down to a more manageable size just like the Spartans did when they fought the Xerxes horde army in the movie 300. I think terrain is a highly unused portion of the game. It gets sacrificed because we want to play so bad we just willy nilly through a few pieces out. Taking an extra 5 minutes to strategically place terrain can mean the difference between winning or losing.

#3 Study the models you are playing
More than half the times I have lost was because I didn’t know my army well enough and I missed an important move or misjudged something I thought I could do but couldn’t or vice versa. One good way to do this is to pick a series of models and play lots and lots and lots of games with them (like 25 – 50 games). You will soon have their cards memorized and can play a lot faster and will be able to focus on what is happening during the game instead of trying to figure out what models can do. After so many games you will be able to tell if it is the model that is not working for you, or if you just don’t know how to play them.

#4 Think outside the box
Lastly don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. Try new combinations. What works at Sci-Fi Genre in Durham, NC, won’t necessarily be the same thing that works at Phoenix Games in Logan, Ut. Like wise what someone says works amazing for them on the forums may not work well against your local meta. Also there is a high chance that we have undiscovered tactical combinations that no one has thought of yet. Find ways to manipulate the rules. Like staggering officers and leaders to maximize control areas so you can cast spells to units from long distances (kind of like an arc node). Take winning tactics from other factions and figure out how you can do it. Then not only can you do what they can do but you are genetically superior so you will be better at it.

Never forget, whatever faction you choose to play, you can win with that faction. It just takes patience and practice. Soon you will discover for yourself that we really are better than everyone else. FOR THE MOTHERLAND!

2 weeks in under 8 minutes

I am trying something different. Kind of following the example of Clayton and Tinman-XL. That means I have attempted to video myself. EEEEEKKKK! I have to admit that I liked it. It seemed easier to get my thoughts out.  I think I would like to film some cool stuff like changing the Pikes on IFP’s to brass rods. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below. Let me know what you think and/or what you would like to see next and/or what you think I could do to improve the video’s. So with out further ado the video.

Trollblood army for trade.

Hey guys, thought I would post this in case some of you are looking for some trollblood figs. I have a small army I would like to trade for a few Khador models. I will try and make this worth your while.

I have these models for trade

Madrak – Painted
Grim Angus
Axer – Painted
Impaler – Painted
Impaler – Painted
Dire Troll Mauler – Painted
Pyre Troll
Champions – Partially Assembled
Scattergunners
Fell Caller

Mercenaries
Swamp Gobbers

This is what I am looking for as a trade.

Winterguard Unit + UA
Koldun Lord
Kovnik Joe
Winterguard Mortar Crew
Assault Kommandos Unit

Anyone the is interested please email me at allenacity@gmail.com. Thanks for looking.

The Kodiak

I finished my Kodiak today. It was a little past my week deadline but I only worked on it for two days about 4 hours each time. I really tried to take my time and with a lot of coats of watered down paint to make the paint look really smooth. So here you go. Let me know what you think.

Latest league game.

Wow, what a fun time. This week was a team game. I played with Jeff of the Legion. I my opinion it was the perfect match up. He had a lot of speed and ranged attacks. I had a little less speed but amazing melee power. The first couple of turns he hid behind my meat shield and would move out of cover, shoot, and move back into cover. Then we split up and (oh yeah we were facing Cryx and Circle) he went after the cryx guy and I went after the circle guy. In a game breaking move he was able to use a warbeast as an arc node and take out the Cryx caster. Kaya ran a beast and spirit doored to take out Jeff’s legion caster. Which he did but in doing so left Kaya wide open to a charge from the Butcher. All in all I loved this game. Just bunches of fun. Winnings good too, my updated record for the league is 4 wins and 1 loss. Next week will be another 4-5 player free for all, and I will start working on Beast ’09.
Thanks for stopping by.

Things are looking up.

I know last week I had a pretty depressing post. At least for me it was. After, I went and read some of the new mark II rule book, page 5 proceeded to put me in my place. This really isn’t a game to play if your going to whine about how you want to win or your models suck, or what ever. So I started to think about my games lately and decided the biggest reason I haven’t been winning as much as I would like (every game), was because I don’t know my opponent. Not the actual person but the faction that I am playing against. Therefore when I am moving my very slow models forward I am just hoping that i can get the charge first and there for smash face and win. Well that can’t really happen with Khador. I am always going to be out numbered, and out matched in speed. SO I decided that I needed smarts. If I know what my opponents and what they can do then I can prioritize my targets and have a much better chance at winning the match.

To start this out I asked one of the local players after our league game, McCryx who happens to play Cryx :), if he would help me out and describe what his models did and help me prioritize targets. He was very gracious and said sure. He also ahs been playing war games for basically ever and gave me some help with tactics as well. The game was great. I can’t believe how much I didn’t know about Cryx and facing arc nodes.  I going to continue these kinds of games when things are slow or after the regular games.

My league game went well, I managed to pull off a caster kill against Trollblood Scrum. He had attempted to rush Mulg 13 inches and kill Butcher but it turns out Butcher was 2 inches too far away. When he did that it left Doomshaper wide open so I threw Fury on my shocktroopers, feated and charged. 3 hits and 1 push later Doomshaper was dead. That puts my League record at 2 wins and 1 loss. Not too shabby I think. It’s definately good for my feel goods.

This week for my painting I decided to paint The Kodiak instead of Beast 09. So far all I have done is prime him but I should be able to make some good progress tomorrow night. I will post some pictures when I finish him up. I am really excited to paint some of those browns and greens. I think he is one of my favorite jacks too. He almost has a hordesish feel too him. His stats really remind me of the Dire Troll Mauler.

Anyway until next time. Play like you’ve got a pair.

The Butcher

I completed my weekly painting goal. This week was The Butcher. There are still some more highlighting and shading things i would like to do, but i am waiting for my P3 painting DVD to come so I can learn how to do that kind of stuff.

Now for a question. How do you guys stay motivated to play? I have been playing for quite some time and have switched factions that I play quite a bit so I know that I have lengthened my learning curve by a lot. However I am starting to get pretty discouraged. Tonight, i got on Vassal, and a guy invited me to play a game with him. He was new to Warmachine, he said he had started playing around Christmas. Well I got my butt kicked bad, either game I didnt kill a single model and he wiped me out.

I don’t really know what to do anymore. I am just tired of losing. So anyone that feels they have a really good grasp on the game and is really good at teaching and has some free time, I would love to play against you. Help me figure out how to win. If you would like to play a vassal game with me my email is allenacity@gmail.com. I am available most nights and MWF mornings until 12:00 PM.

Until next time.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Game night went well, the roster was

1. Me – Khador
2. MenothJohn – Protectorate of Menoth
3. Mike – Cryx
4. McCryx – Cryx

I am excited to say that I won. I don’t win very often so it is nice to add another tick to the win column. However, it was really a fluke that i won. So for a quick run down on the game. Turn 1 Mike moves out of his corner, Geoff moves out of his corner, MJ goes for Mike, I move my speed 4 out of my corner. Turn 2 Mike responds to MJ and charges also protects himself from anything from McCryx, McCryx goes for mike getting ready to clean up the mess left from Mike and MJ, MJ continues fighting with Mike, I start running trying to keep up with everyone so i don’t miss the game. Turn 3 Mike continues his fight with MJ also notices McCryx’s caster out in the open so he kills McCryx. McCryx upset he left his caster out packs up his things, MJ continues his fight with Mike, I run up field to clean up mikes caster kill. Turn 4 Mike continues to fight MJ also reels in my caster with I think it was the reaper, The butcher was sitting on 6 focus making him armor 24, he didn’t take any damage. Turn 5 Mike finishes off MJ, I finish off the reaper and prepare for the end of the game. Turn 6,7,8, MJ cleans up his beautiful models, I having taken chase Mike down and use my feat to charge and one shot his caster with Butcher.

Minus missing half the game because I am so slow I had a great time. I really like what Butcher can do to Beast 09 and the Kodiak, two already amazing Jacks. For my next game I am keeping the same list basically. I will have the following for my 35pt list.

• The Butcher
• Beast ’09
• Kodiak
• War Dog
• MoW Demo Corp x5
• MoW Shocktroopers x5
• Mow Kovnik

Also following along with Clayton at IK Adventures if anyone would like to get a game in on Vassal let me know. I think it looks cool and I would like to get into that scene.

Until next week.

League of Extra Ordinary Gentlemen

Last Thursday marked the first day of Logan’s warma/hordes league. It is nice to have something else to look forward to rather than just a pick up game. I am playing Khador in the league and am excited to try out a few new things. I really like to jump around with the faction I play and what models in the faction I play. So during the league I am picking one caster and a basic theme of units and jacks that I will be playing depending on the point level.

My basic list of models I will be choosing from are

• The Butcher
• Beast ’09
• Kodiak
• Man O War (all makes and models)
• Widowmakers/Winterguard Riflemen (if they come out during the league)

These are my most favorite models Khador has to offer. Hopefully by using exclusivly these models  I will become intimately familiar with them. Last week for the first game I did not follow my list of models so I will start reporting the games this next week. I am playing tomorrow, its going to be a 4 player free for all brawl 20 pts each.

My list will be

• Butcher
• Beast ’09
• Kodiak
• War Dog
• Man O War Demo Corp x3

This comes out to 20 +6 warjack points. I decided to throw in the War Dog because I need 1 point to fill up my list.

Hopefully things will turn out well.

Hostile Takeover

Denizens of Ios kneel to your King! Kapitan Khador demands your respect. In the coming days you will all swear fealty to me or die by the sword. The lands that you now possess are rightfully ours, taken from us by your grandfathers. Have you forgotten so quickly who it was who protected you from the Titans? Have you forgotten still who protects the borders now? You will pay for your ignorance and arrogance. You will learn who it is who possess true strength. So kneel I say! Bow before your master!

Hey everyone, after using blogspot for a while I have found a better blogging service (IMHO). I will be migrating my old blog entries here once I figure out how to. Until the. Welcome to my new site. I don’t plan on writing anything revolutionary. I plan on writing about my experiences with warming/hordes, a weak or grande as they are. I hope you all enjoy your time here and find something worthwhile.

Thanks
Dustin