maanantai 11. huhtikuuta 2016

More Mean Green?

Greetings once again!

It seems that once I start talking (or typing) I just can't make it stop. After my yesterday's post I found out that the Orruk-faction is getting some sweet new models, so I decided to round up a few pics and personal opinions about these "leaked" images for you to wonder and ponder about.

Let us start off with some artwork:



That's some badass-looking greenskins right there, battling the Khorne Bloodbound apparently. There are three main things to point out in this particular piece of art: The massive monster, the strange colour theme of the orruks' armour and finally the orruk leader on top of the beast.

The massive monster on the top left, ridden by an orruk cathes the eye. That is far too bulky to be a Wyvern, although it has wings and some kind of a scaly hide... its head also looks quite beastly compared to the older orc mounts.
Luckily the pics have a new Warscroll among them, giving us some insight on what that creature might be...



It appears to be a Maw-Krusha, and the orruk riding it appears to be a Megaboss! The original pic from natfka was a bit blurry so I did my best to sharpen the text for you readers. You can now make out most of the words and numbers in there if you click the pic to enlarge it and zoom in closer.

The model appears to be the incarnation on doom & death, just look at those weapons and abilities! This cutie keeps on grinding opponents under its bulk on the charge, until none remain. The command ability "Mighty Waaagh!" also seems to be quite powerful, giving extra attacks for those nearby, although it only affects units with the Ironjawz keyword. At the moment only Black Orcs and Black Orc Bosses have the keyword, but perhaps there will be new units added to the Ironjawz category now that a powerful model like this has a buff to give them.



Yup, seems like the Ironjawz are getting some sweet treatment this time. The orruk infantry on the pic might be some sort of a new heavy infantry unit, judging by their size and armouring. The regular Orc Boyz were re-packed and re-released in the Start Collecting! Greenskinz -box as well as in their own individual unit boxes, so the common green footsloggers aren't getting replaced or anything. I believe this is just an addition to the "Black Orcish" side of the greenskin race. Let's take a closer (and more blurry) look at the above pic:


Wow, that's some pixelated models! Despite this absolutely horrifying picture quality we can see the model for the Megaboss on Maw-Krusha, two of them in fact. They don't look that big, especially with their wings (believe me, they have them) folded in that queer stalking pose they all posses... until you look at Archaon on the right. Holy Sigmar is that model huge, and just look at how close to its measures the Maw-Krushas are! More prone models perhaps, but certainly more bulky that Archaon's daemonic pet.

Now look at the middle of the picture... see those mounted orruks right there? There are more on the top left corner, next to the green Maw-Krusha. You know what these are?
Correct, they are BLACK ORC BOAR BOYZ!

Well, of course I'm not familiar with their real name, I just see them as such for being big and armoured and riding something resembling gigantic boars. The greenskins already have Savage and Regular Orc Boar Boyz, so why not Black Orc ones?

Cool stuff, really cool stuff.


Then what about this? A Megaboss on foot of course!
Seems like the tankiest of tanks to me, with 7 Wounds and a 3+ Save, and an ability to permanently gain +1 Wound and +1 Attack for each Hero model it slays during a battle. That's just brutal.
His Boss Choppa has an amazing statline, with 6 for Attacks and 2 for Damage... ouch!
Not to mention his extra fist-weapon which just adds to the hurt this meanie greenie can dish out.

To say something about his appearance, he indeed looks like a heavily armoured Ironjaw but there are also some savage touches on him; he looks like a mix of Black and Savage Orc Bosses, except that he is bigger, stronger and meaner than the two combined.
The yellow and black (or is it dark blue?) colour theme doesn't sit well on my eyes, but I'm looking forward to seeing some hobbyists painting these with a more metallic touch!



Very interesting and cool-looking stuff, my regular Greenskinz opponent will lose his mind.
Who wouldn't?

sunnuntai 10. huhtikuuta 2016

Ludsen's Lumberjacks

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since you've heard of me, but I have a veeery good reason this time! You see, I moved to live in a nearby city and establishing a new home (read: dwarven stronghold) has eaten A LOT of my time lately, along with my studies.

To once again contribute something to the community, I decided to show you my second unit of Warriors and some WIPs!



These beardy little badasses are of the older kind, and a bit smaller than their more recently molded brethren. Nevertheless their axes are as sharp as ever and cut as deep as any other!
I put their shields on their backs instead of their hands to better differentiate them from the other Warrior unit (armed with axes and shields). I usually play these fellows with Great Axes and Hammers, so I represent their heavier weapons by leaving their hands free to wield them. Luckily Dwarf/Duardin Warriors may opt to take shields no matter what their weapon of choice is, and I really like that -1 Rend the Great Axes posses.

Throw in a blessing from a Runepriest and you have a decent infantry unit capable of chopping through tough armoured foes with their -2 Rend!



Here's the unit from the side. To mark them as a mixed bunch of dwarves from all the three clans of the Iron Company I tried to paint an equal number of blue, red and green stunties. I think I ended up painting a bit more blue than other colours, but that's fine as the blue fellows are the most numerous of the clans anyway.

The hammer of the unit's champion, Ludsen, comes from an old Runepriest model if I remember correctly. Looks suitably different and massive for a unit leader, although it isn't much help when cutting down trees.



A more spread out formation. Their bases are still awfully black, but I intend to base my entire Duardin army in one go, to make sure they come out nice and unified.
The assortment of weapons in this unit is quite diverse: hammers, axes, bigger hammers and bigger axes. They look suitably rag-tag for being a group of thrown-together dwarves from different clans and professions, acting temporarily as mercenaries under the command of Ungrim Ironhelm, the commander of the Iron Company.

Very enjoyable models to paint up to tabletop quality fast, their chainmails especially were a pleasure to work on. The beards were beautiful and varied, although not as bushy as the ones the other Warriors (from the Battle for Skull Pass boxed set) had.



A final pic from behind the unit. Here the shields can be seen, attached to models here and there to further push the point that they're not soldiers by profession and each of them has to afford their own equipment.
Lastly I want to point out their shield desings: eagle/griffon head for Clan Helhein (green), winged hammer for Bronzebeards Clan (red) and hammer&anvil for Karak Izor (blue).

Now this regiment of sturdy warriors is ready to face the enemies of the Iron Company and to bring salvation and peace to the Mortal Realms!
...unless someone pays them more to do just the opposite.

As an added bonus, I give you a sneak peek at the upcoming battle report and a WIP pic of my new Slaves to Darkness unit.



Here are the Marauder Horsemen! I got 10 of these for cheap as I recently bought reinforcements for my Tzeentchian Warband, and now I've started on five models. They are heavily Work In Progress as they only have the first layers of colour on them completed with a wash, and they still lack the second and third layers as well as highlights.

I'm so caught up in painting the Sisters of Twilight on Forest Dragon for a Community Challenge (I must finish the model by the end of April) that I have completely abandoned these guys for now...



Sneak peek!
A random pic of a recent game that I will soon write up into a Battle Report, featuring Exile Aelves and the Seraphon. This report is a direct sequel to the story started in Seizing the Spellglass Sphere and it looks like the narrative throws us into something snowy, with stone-cold castle walls looming in the background...

Wait and see!