Sunday, April 05, 2009

Druids in ur woodz...





A few shots of work in progress. The druids are actually pretty simple to paint, and they're great sculpts, very characterful. I'm nearing completion on the unit, and after that is a unit of Sentry Stone and Mannikins.

Kromac is also still being worked on, and he's got enough detail that it may take a bit to get everything covered, but I love the sculpt, and I'm getting a decent hair color on him; Thin coat of Bloodtracker Brown followed by a thin coat of Khador Red Highlight. Good stuff.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Oh LGS, how we love thee.

A few weeks ago(13 days, if you want to get technical) I ordered a unit of Druids and some Sentry Stones from the LGS(local game store). Usually when you order stuff it'll be in within a week, unless of course the owner forgets to place the order. Which happened in this case, and kind of sucks a little bit, since I'd been looking forward to painting the Druids. I can understand forgetting to order a solo or blister of infantry. But $50 worth of stuff that I prepaid for? Kind of a let-down. Don't get me wrong, I usually don't mind the LGS owner, and I've been trying to support the store with my Circle army a wee bit more than with the lots of Khador I already own. After all, we game there at least once a week. But it's incidents like this that make me understand why people would rather order from the internet, where you can usually find stuff at 20% off. Gah!

Anyways. The Nyss have been finished and handed off to their owner. Now on my painting desk is Krueger, Human Kromac, and the rest of the stuff I still need to finish. And a Talon. And soon, one should hope, some Druids.

I've been on a big Privateer Press kick lately, and spend more time on their forums than on my usual ones, but the past week or so the Circle Orboros community has been full of nothing but whine, and it's a bit disappointing. I understand that MkII will change things, but come on guys... don't be such downers.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Painting Log, Oh Boy.

Right now the list stands as follows:

Gnarlhorn - last details and loincloth

Argus #1 - last bits of armor detail

Argus #2 - just basecoated. lots of work

Warpwolf - basecoat on the smooth fur done. lots of work left

Woldwyrd #2 - about 60% done, need to wash the stone with badad black, paint the ropes

Nyss Elves - too many fiddly details. going to be a pain



Incoming/Unpainted:

Druids of Orboros
Sentry Stone and Mannikins
Shifting Stones
Krueger
Kromac


Oy. There goes my plan do stay Fully Painted with my Circle army.... damn internet and all its distractions! What I really need to do is go and finish the models that are 90+ percent done, and then move on to the halfpainted stuff, and then I can focus on the unpainted. It just takes time, and a willingness to switch paint pots every few minutes for fiddly details.

Random Thoughts:


I just got a chance to read Brun and Lug's entry on Battle College. Holy shit. My Circle army may hire the dwarf beatstick and his pet bear at some point in the future, because it gives me the brute force to handle heavy warjacks with impunity.

There's a long thread on the forums about Kromac, and after getting excited about him after every reading, I broke down and ordered Kromac and Evolution from the Warstore. I'm trying to support my LGS on most of my Circle purchases, but I can't justify $30 for a two-model warlock when the Warstore offers him for $22. I don't feel terribly guilty - after all, I'm still going to buy the bulk of my army from the LGS, which so far includes the Warpack and those Druids I just ordered.

Wrong-eye and Snapjaw - still "oooh"ing and "ahhh"ing over the models, and they have some nifty sneaky abilities, but so far we don't have a release date, which makes me a sad hippie. Oh well - it'll give me a chance to get some core army painting done, and plan the army a bit more.

Wolfriders will probably be picked up at some point, just for the sheer annoyance factor - last game they distracted a Behemoth for a good three turns, which I consider points well spent. Plus, it occurred to me that moving the unit, then casting Cloak of Mists on the single 'rider standing by Kaya would make them just icky, and a very aggravating unit for the opponent to deal with.

And that wraps up this edition of Dirty Hippie Druid News(DHDN). Off to work.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Hordes Goodness

Picked up Shifting Stones last night at the LGS, and placed my March order - Druids of Orboros and a Sentry Stone. The LGS gives you 10% off if you pay when you place the order, so it came to just a few cents over $50; perfect, since that's what I'd planned on spending each month.

A quick note: a buddy of mine is having me paint some of his minis in exchange for Circle Orboros solos and miniatures, which is how I got the Shifting Stones. It's a system that works for both of us, since it saves me a bit of cash, and gets me utility solos and such. Current work for him is a min unit of Nyss Hunters, and after that a light merc jack - the Talon, I think.

I had a game yesterday against a friend who was playing Khador, a bit of a weird list.

Vlad
Behemoth
Doomreavers
Kovnik Joe
Winterguard (10) and UA

vs.

Kaya
Gnarlhorn
Warpwolf
Shifting Stones
Gatormen (3)
Druids and UA
Wolfriders (3)



I was a bit worried, because I know that so far I've been concerned with how well Circle handles heavy heavy armor, like the Khador jacks usually have. He started the game with the Doomreavers almost in my face, so I countered with the Warpwolf, hoping that enough Doomreavers would fail to hit that the WW could then rip them apart. Alas, they dismembered it pretty quickly... and then got butchered by the Gatormen and the Druids, who charged into hand-to-hand combat.

After that, I charged the Goat at the Winterguard, who lost 2, and then pulled him back with Spirit Door. The Druids advanced and cast the Devouring at Vlad; I rolled boxcars for damage, and Vlad promptly took 8 damage! The wolfriders had been doing a good job of distracting the Behemoth, keeping him from firing at my troops.

The end of the game came after most of the Winterguard had been wiped out, and I made a crucial mistake. Kaya was in a position to walk up to Vlad and enter melee with him, but she only had 2 Fury on her. I'm still new to the army, and I forgot to cut her for 4 Fury during the Control Phase - my Goat had been taken out by Vlad the previous turn. Opponent was nice enough to let me go back, but I'd already completed a few other moves, and declined. With Blood of Kings up, she needed to boost every attack roll, and with 2 Fury there was no way I could kill Vlad.

So far it seems to be a pretty decent army list - I almost hit on the wolfriders by mistake, and including them was a bit of a "let's see how these play!" thought. But they work for distractions, and their mobility is very worth it. I'm not sure I'll be picking them up anytime soon, because they're expensive, but I like the potential they have. The gatormen as well, and three attacks at MAT 6 can be pretty brutal against most infantry. There's a Kromac discussion on the PP forums right now, which makes me want him even more... but $30 for a single warlock is pricey, when it could be better spent on a 3-man Gatorman Posse, or a unit of Bloodtrackers, or any number of actual troops.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Dirty Hippie Update

It's been a bit since the last update, and I haven't gotten much painting done - Kathryn was able to visit for her spring break.

I've been asked by a buddy to paint his Nyss Hunters, which I'm currently working on. In exchange, I get full use of all his paints and a unit of Shifting Stones. Seems like a decent deal; it's a minimum unit of elves.

....soooo much detail! I gave them all a wash of thinned-down black, and I think I'll take the armor from there - maybe do the metal bits and add another wash of Badab Black on top, and call it done. They're to be table-top quality, not display... The bases will get a simple flock-and-snow treatment, appropriate for the climate. So far, the quivers and scabbards are done in Bloodstone, with Coal Black on the ribbons. Looks alright, and it's fairly quick so far.

Circle-wise, I've got a bunch of things that are almost-done, but nothing except Kaya that's really finished. Even the Gnarlhorn needs more finishing touches, an armor wash here, some bronze there, etc. But there's slow progress, at least...

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Dirty Hippie Druids

So, a few weeks ago, after seeing the Shadowhorn Satyr and reading a friend's copy of Primal, I finally gave in and started a Circle Orboros army. I'm playing this one by ear, and trying to stick to models that I like, rather than ones that are "must-haves" just because of borken rules. Sorry Gorax, that means you'll stay far away from my army transport. The initial purchases consisted of lots of warbeasts... and two warlocks.

Circle Warpack
Krueger
Gnarlhorn Satyr
2x Woldwyrd

I'm also going to try my damnedest to keep Fully Painted, which means trying(my damnedest) to space out purchases and limit myself to around $50/month. Yeah, I know I cheated with the first batch, but the warpack was the simplest way to get Kaya and a Warpwolf! Totally justified.

I've gotten in two games so far, and lost both. I'm not going to make excuses; I've been playing Khador for years, and I know the game. But I did end up making tactical errors that I'll chalk up to inexperience with Hordes. Either way, I'm looking forward to learning the faction, and being Circle, it'll teach me to be much more aggressive than I usually am. With Khador I can take a beating until I need to give one, but with the dirty hippie druids I need to dictate where and when I fight, and the faster I can do that, the faster I can lock down my opponent and make him react to me instead.

Painting:

It's Circle. That means lots of browns, greys, neutral colors.

Random comment: Kaya's weapon arm is a bitch to fit on there properly, and it needs pinned, which makes it even worse. Kaya's done, and her arm is on there, with a pin... but there's a visible gap at her shoulder that needs greenstuff. Or I could rip the arm off and try again... which frankly, I'm not too excited about. Other than that, she looks great.

The Gnarlhorn got painted in Cryx Bane Highlight, thinned with glaze medium. I'm going for a grey goat, and so far I'm happy... I then took Greatcoat Grey and mixed it with the rest of the CBH on my palette with a bit more glaze medium, and covered his mohawk and the fur on the rest of him. And found that it's a wonderful compliment to the CBH, and works incredibly well as a subtle shade. So I went back and painted the valleys in his musculature, and again, I'm very happy with him. Thing is a beast, and probably heavier than some of my 'jacks, so holding him for long periods of time is a trial.

Collecting:

Next up will probably be the Druids and the Overseer, to add some infantry support to the army. I'm proxying right now, and they're probably the most versatile unit I could get - like a Swiss army knife. The Overseer adds way more than 28 points worth of utility, and I'm glad he's so cheap, for all the extra options he gives.

Bloodtrackers are another core infantry unit that I'll be picking up at some point, but I'm leaving out the Wolves of Orboros - part of that "collect only models I like" thing.

And with Wrong-eye and Snapjaw out soon(my guess is May), I'm very tempted to get a full unit of gatormen as my heavy hitters. Expensive points-wise, but with three attacks each, combined with Krueger, they're melee monsters.

And that wraps up this edition of Onii's Circle ramblings. Stay tuned for further updates.