One Elf to save them all......

So I have been playing a few games of Lord of the Rings recently, it has been great to get back into it after spending the majority of my time with other systems. Being away from a certain system for a while can be a good thing, when you go back to it again it makes you realise how good it is and reenergises you again to do some new models.

Some of the guys at the club I play at in Hemel are going to the LotR GT in a couple of weeks so I have been helping them out with some practise games. The Dwarves of Durin have had a run as have the Goblins and next week I will be rocking out the Ents for the first time in a few years. The system really is great and the models are awesome, although I think the guys at the club maybe regretting asking me to play some practise games as I haven't lost a game and have been ruining hobby :-) not what you want when practising for a GT.

One of the guys is trying a Fellowship/Eleven hero army but was struggling to get them completed so I painted up a Celeborn to help him out and its a model that has been sitting in my "to paint" box for a few years. After getting back into the system after a year or so away has inspired me to paint up some of those models that are still in boxes, I might even get round to the Mumak that has been looking at me half built for several years. So if your hobby is getting a little dull, go back to one of those game systems you haven't played for a while, it can give you a great new perspective.

Hobby wise work continues on the Ogres, the BSB is complete along with a Bellower for the Ironguts. I have also started on my new project, its a secret project that might take a while to complete but when it hits the table its going to look awesome.

Mournfang Complete

So the first Mournfang Unit is complete, and if I do say so myself looks awesome. As I mentioned in the previous blog I wasn't that keen on the models when they were released but in the flesh they look really good.

I used two units in a game at my local club in Hemel against a Chaos Warrior army, I lost the game but only because I couldn't shift his massive horde of Chaos Warriors, the two units of Mournfang pretty much destroyed the rest of the army on their own. The best charge was both units of four hitting a unit of 30 Khorne Marauders with fails, the Marauders went first but after the dust had settled 6 Marauders were left for the cost of 4 Mournfang, not bad. The Mournfang also accounted for 10 Maurader Horseman, a Chariot and a Warshrine. I backed them up with a Thundertusk, and in the first fight the Thundertusk ability of making other units strike last was awesome, but that was all. After the first turn it got bogged in combat with a chariot and then died to a fireball so I am still not convinced it's worth the 250. Going to try the Stonehorn in the next game.

The Scrap-launcher was bad......

We all have "that model" the one that is impossible to put together, for me it was the Ogre Scrap-launcher. Mine took me the best part of five or six hours to put together. Several swear words were uttered, fingers were superglued together and on several occasions it nearly went out of the window. When the new plastic kit came out I assumed things would be different. The new kit can make either a Scrap-launcher or an Ironblaster. I went with the Ironblaster; now the kit is awesome but its still very tricky to put together, I spent a while trying to hold bits together to find out what the best combination of bits should be stuck together before painting.



But the effort was worth it, the Ironblaster is a really great looking model, its big, but not too big to look stupid. Everything does fit together really well even though it is a pain in the butt to put together. I am looking at getting two into the army at some point, but only when the memory of putting together the first one fades.

One in the army can be put down, two gives you some redundancy and if you get first turn then the opponents big monster or artillery has something to worry about as these are the most accurate cannons in the game. Roll two bounce dice, pick the highest, whats not too love? It's also strength 10 shooting normally and with grape shot... oh and its a Chariot, a tough one at that. It is 170 points which isn't cheap but when you take into account the accuracy, the fact that its a chariot and it also looks really cool its a model that is fighting for its place in the army, and if you are going to have one, why not double your fun with two? 

Cryx - a new addition.

So Warmachine, a game I am really in to, but not had much opportunity to play lately. My Cryx army is coming along really nicely and I have now acquired all the elements and units that I want, most recently I have added a Wraith Engine which is in the process of painting and have finish off my unit of Bane Thralls  by adding a Commander and Banner Bearer along with the Solo Bane Lord Tartarus. The only thing left to paint will then be the Deathjack and a unit of Bile Thralls. After this I will probably move to my other factions. Attached is a picture of Mr. Tartarus himself, the paint job looks really nice but was very easy, basically I base coated and then drowned it in Black Wash and then picked out all the highlights. This gives a dark look which is what I was after and is truly befitting the Bane Lord.....

So since the new Ogre book was released I have been busy painting up.... well Ogres. I first got my Ogre army when they were first released vowing to paint them straight away, and I failed epically. Now the new book is out I have vowed to get them up and running ASAP.

One of the first additions to the army was a unit of four Mournfang Cav, when these first came out I wasn't that impressed but the models grew on me and once I tried them out in a game I was hooked. They can be insane, especially when armed with an Iron Fist (for a 2+ save) and the DragonHide banner for breathe weapon goodness, it also allows you to re-roll 1's on your to-hit, to-wound and save rolls on the turn you charge, this doesn't sound too bad, but when you see it in the game it can add four or five extra wounds which really help and combined with the breathe weapon can turn a combat in the Mourfangs favour, even against a ranked up unit of infantry.

The next addition to the army will be a second unit, mainly because I have a bunch of the Forge World Rhinox riders and want to use them, and the only thing better than one unit of Mournfang is two units of Mournfang.

The first unit is nearly finished, just the banner bearer to go. After this I will probably try and get the Stonehorn painted up. I have a Thundertusk done but in the two games I have played it in it hasn't really performed, so am going to try the more simplified approach of Mournfang + Stonehorn, point them in the general direction of the opponent and charge. Either it will hit and destroy or they will get bogged down and die, but if that happens its fine as there will be a bunch of Ogres following up. The Stonehorn is also less likely to get taken out by Cannons before it reaches the opponent due to its rule of halving wounds taken from multiple hit attacks, it won't get taken down in one hit which means it will get into combat (assuming it doesn't get hit by two cannons of course).

This model is the Mournfang Cav leader, I have tried a new skin tone technique on the Ogre and I am pretty pleased with it. The unit to all together looks really nice on the table. I'll post a unit picture when they are all done.