Thursday, 31 December 2015

Tale of Four Oldhammerers, December results.

Leaving it to last minute again!

This month I did as many skeleton warriors as I could squeeze in, plus a unit champion, as January is going to be pretty busy to say the least. I have a mummy prepped for that month so I should be able to maintain things fairly well, fingers crossed!

Level 5 champion (centre) with light armour, 32 points. Six skeleton warriors with spears and shields, 12 points each. 104 points for the month.


The points so far, scored for painting at least one hundred points in a month or maintaining a 100 point monthly average (one point for that) and publishing a dedicated blog post on the project at least once a month (one point for that). This month sees Steve move into second place! Congratulations! I can feel your hot breath down my neck, and it's very motivational.

Paul 8 points.

Steve 5 points.

Chico 5 points. (Updated after Steward's Enquiry!)

James 4 points. (Updated to include a last minute entry!)

Thanks for stopping by! Seasons greetings and see you next year!

Thursday, 26 November 2015

A Tale of Four Oldhammerers, month three.

Month three already, how time flies etc. We have 'a new miniature' arriving in January (by that I mean baby) so I am still concentrating on getting as many of the compulsory rank and file done as possible and staying ahead of the 100 point average. I can then have an easy ride for a couple of months by chucking out a mummy and a carrion.

I struggled to get a decent photo and uploading to the PC was taking forever for some reason (making re-shoots unattractive) but you get the idea.

L to R, three more reapers and the first two skeletons.


I had to add in some grass and foliage to some of the bases to cover up problem areas. The polyfilla sunk into a recess here or there while drying and one integral base was too prominent. I think it has worked out ok and I might look into doing more to make sure the units look coherent. I have ten reapers done now so I can put that unit aside, though I may do two more down the line to have three complete ranks of four. One of the reapers has some weird bobbles under the hood for eyes which I'm not sure about looking at the photo. I painted them to look like flashing red eyes but the effect isn't doing it for me, I might change to green or black them out entirely. Though the shield isn't much to shout about this represents progress for me, I have been struggling a great deal with freehand designs and I am actually pleased to have moved from 'terrible' to 'must apply himself more'.

3 x Grim Reapers at 14 points each, 2 x Skeletons at 11 points each = 64 points.

Monthly average, 110 points.

Next month when I have a few more skeletons done I'll do a shot with everything so far.

My scores tally shows Chico and myself joint top with Steve in third place and James bringing up the rear, but of course, as far as bragging rights goes it all hinges on the final battle at Bring Out Your Lead 2016!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, 29 October 2015

Month two results of the oldhammer 'A Tale of Four Gamers' project.

Interesting project this week, and by interesting I mean in the Chinese sense. A black-robed rider on a black horse. In the past I would have cheated and painted the robes green (I paint everything green) or possibly highlighted them with navy blue or a faded grey. I wanted to stick with black though, so I could double up the uses of the miniature (for those perennial Lord of the Rings scenarios), and I also had the fatal thought 'let's try something new'. Hmmph.


I actually spent a lot of time on this miniature, believe it or not. Once I'd had the foolish thought that having a whole month to paint only one model would mean a great opportunity to experiment I was lost. To begin with, I sprayed it black, painted it brown, highlighted through light brown to cream then built up a series of dark ink layers. I had toyed with the idea of drybrushing some white over the cream but decided against it on a hunch.

Eventually I was left with something that looked ok but wasn't matching photos of black horses or other images online. I also had to come up with a way to matt down the shiny finish of the inks.

This stage was a windy maze of research, instinct and pure chance.

The glossy finish of the inks was in the recesses so shading removed that. I took the horseflesh off toward brown and the horse hair back to black, as per the photos I found. I note with chagrin that you can't really tell from looking at the photo of the mini. I sent the robe very gently toward grey to stop it from looking like an extension of the horse. I highlighted the tack quite a bit thinking that I needed something on the mini to pop; but it really didn't look at all right so at the last minute I painted over it and simplified it.

What I have invented, is a technique that completely disguises hours of work and looks like a subtle, five minute drybrush. I call it, 'Warlording' and I give it to the world as my legacy.

This model will be my level 15 necromancer and general, Naugrim Griefblight. I like an occasional pun but much prefer Dickensian levels of portent in a villain's name. With the addition of an undead steed and magic tattoos he comes to 168 points. After some discussion we decided we could go over the 100 point target occasionally to allow for some discretion but we would stick to the 1000 point total.

I'm now in the market for an identical model by the way, I'm going to paint it green and exorcise a lingering resentment.

Thanks for stopping by!


Wednesday, 30 September 2015

The Oldhammer 'Tale of Four Gamers', month one.

Here we go then, the results of the first month of painting. I'll be honest, I'm posting these now because the deadline is today rather than because I had an easy run this month and highlighted them to the Nth degree. I'm pretty happy with the time/results ratio though.




I fell in love with all of them bar one during painting, as I usually do with the older metal minis. The fellow on the far left of the picture is a post 4th edition monstrosity if memory serves and I had a tough time painting it I won't lie. Now it's done I kind of like it again, at least as much as when I first grabbed it off the slopes of lead mountain.

The outline when we started our Tale of Four Gamers was simple, get 100 points painted a month (no more no less) and show them with a minimum of one blog post per month. At the end of the first month I reckon it is worth keeping a simple points tally to keep things interesting. For that to work I just need to add in a clause that allows for a plus or minus of 5% of the points value, thereby accommodating the vagaries of Warhammer Armies, RoC etc. This leaves two points each month up for grabs with bonus points possible in the future.

Chico did well this month and I scraped in with a few hours to spare so we both get 2 points each. James didn't finish his palanquin as far as I know but he did blog regularly about his progress so he gets a point. Steve was well under the points total but he didn't know about the +/- 5% rule so I'll let him off this once. Having blogged about the progress and results he scores 2 points.

The standings then, in no particular order.

Paul 2 points
Chico 2 points
Steve 2 points
James 1 point

This month we will follow the same format, here's my 100 points.




An 85 point necromancer L10 and another 14 point Reaper (to make 8/10 complete). A necromancer is the only general I can afford (unless we mix things up with a bonus round one month) and having a general is compulsory so this choice was made for me. The sooner I get the reapers done the sooner I can move on to some cheaper skeletons. EDIT I haven't paid the 10 points for the horse, I'll have to rejig things... probably a skeleton instead of the Reaper. EDIT Having spoken to the other entrants and listened to their plaintive cries for mercy, it will be permitted to divide the points total of 1000 up any way you see fit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

A Tale of Four Oldhammerers.

Hi all, been meaning to post for ages but life happened and stuff. I have a tactica centered around what went on at BOYL (the games, not the after-hours stuff, that stays secret I'm afraid) almost ready to go and a whole bunch of updates for my two D&D parties to polish and publish but this life thing, it just won't stop!

As you may already be aware from Chico's and James' blog posts, four of us have banded together to replicate the ever-popular and not-yet-done-to-death formula of 'A Tale of Four Gamers'. James of Realm of Chaos 80s, Chico of Oldhammer on a Budget, Steve of Eldritch Epistles and myself will each collect a Warhammer (fantasy 3e) army of up to 1000 points to be used at BOYL 2016.

Each month we must paint up 100 points and blog at least once about it. No doubt an extra challenge or two (play a game, add a bonus mini etc.) will spice things up as we go along!

Though Steve has yet to post I know he has chosen Slann. Chico picked Hobgoblins and James went for Chaos/Nurgle. I have chosen to do the mighty Undead! I'll be using the venerable Warhammer Armies as my guide.

From the slopes of lead mountain, 7/10 of my compulsory Grim Reapers.


A somewhat motley mix of minis and each one an individual, as is my preference. Equipped with light armour they cost 14 points each so 7 weigh in at 98 points; close enough. I'll concentrate on the compulsory troops while morale is high and try to blast out 10 reapers and 20 skellies as quickly as possible, then reward myself with a general and a (mwahaha) war machine. Christmas to me means Screaming Skulls raining down on my foes.

I have a bit more prep to do but hopefully I'll be back soon with an update on the painting progress.

Before I go, I must mention a very cool project from a friend of mine. Please take a look at the excellent sci-fi mini Kickstarter campaign from Chris at Macrocosm. The total is smashed after less than a week but there are a bunch of lavish stretch goals to aim for now. It is payday after all! Macrocosm: The Next Races.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, 4 July 2015

Social experiment: Age of Sigmar.

Go forth and play a game set in the World-That-Was, report back your findings. The world must know once and for all if the game is:

A Quite good

or

B. Not my cup of tea.

Click me for the full rules and warscrolls for the existing product line.


Credit for this picture goes to the excellent Bitter Old Painters blog, thank you gentlemen.


Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, 31 May 2015

Assassinorum Execution Force, notes on gameplay.

I will elaborate a little further on my experience playing Execution Force last night seeing as there is some interest. First of all, let's take a look at the board and get to know it.

Hello board, how you doin'.


What you see in the picture is the four board sections (three that fit together and a fourth that floats off to the side which needs teleporting to), an event deck, a room deck, the rules, stat cards for the minis of both sides, a few tokens and some dice.

The human players take on the role of four assassins, one from each temple, and the aim of the game is to infiltrate the lair of an infamous Chaos sorcerer and execute him before he can complete a terrifying ritual.

Your guys begin outside the structure represented by the three connected boards. Four of the six entrances will be guarded by a cultist sentry (decided randomly) and all the rooms are blank. After you slip in (through one of the two empty doors) you must get line of sight to unexplored rooms and flip over the room cards from the deck. You are looking for the teleporter that gives access to the sorcerer's ritual chamber and the control panel which is in a separate room.

Each assassin has a stat card which is packed with all the information you need to operate them. Unsurprisingly, the Vindicare is best when shooting from a stationary position and the Eversor excels at melee. The Callidus is sneaky and the most versatile and the Culexus comes into his own when psychic problems arise. A nice touch is the addition of some limited resources such as grenades, frenzon and special ammo. These can be spent during the game to get you out of a fix but are best reserved for use as late as possible!



The game is split into an assassin turn and a Chaos turn. The Chaos forces are not in the same league as the assassins but it is not simply a case of running around rolling twos to slaughter them. It is necessary to plan your advance and your tactics carefully, working as a team by supporting individual assassins and exploring with a degree of foresight.



When a room card is flipped over it will show how many cultists appear and what direction they face. Thereafter they patrol around the board following a number of criss-crossing routes marked by arrows. At junctions the players roll dice to see what paths the cultists take. The Chaos defenders decisions are all decided by either dice rolls or a flow chart printed on the back of the rule book.

Lines of sight and movement both follow straight lines, not diagonals. This and the lack of human agency for the enemy are the most abstract factors of the game, though in reality when you're in the thick of it the overall feel is of a tense, stealthy insertion behind enemy lines, punctuated by short and brutal encounters that can be followed by dangerous periods of frenetic activity as the enemy reacts to your presence. All tied together by a final climactic confrontation!

The best thing about the room cards is that depending on where you are in the complex you draw one, two or three cards and pick the lowest numbered room to encounter. The others go back in the deck. You can use this to your advantage by plunging into the one-room-draw area and hoping for the objectives to appear but the terrain requires much more thought to use effectively. There is also the risk that you don't get both the rooms you need and subsequently get drawn deeper and deeper into the lair searching for the controls, only to have to fight all the way back to the teleporter at the other end.

The little Chaos familiar fellow is used as a turn tracker. The time limit keeps your mind focused and adds an extra element of tension, especially when something goes wrong and things get bogged down for a turn or two.

Combat works on the tried and tested principles that have made 40k such a perennial success. In the assassin turn your guys get to shoot or melee with D6, applying bonuses where applicable, and have to beat the 'resilience' factor of the defenders. There are many special rules that can be brought into play when circumstances allow by a canny player. The Chaos turn then sees the foe (if they survive your onslaught) fight back in the same way.

Cultists feel like an inconvenience and Chaos marines feel like a more worthy foe, while the sorcerer himself is quite the challenge. We lost our poor Callidus along the way, and missed her bitterly in the finale. Fortunately we had carefully hoarded our resources and the sorcerer was slain by the combined efforts of three assassins over two turns.

Hope that has helped better inform the curious amongst you!

Thanks for stopping by!


The man from Del Monte... he say yes!

I played that new Execution force game last night, round a friend's house. It was really good! I don't mean to sound surprised but I've kind of come to terms with not liking the rules output from GW over the last decade or so and just using the minis for other/older versions of the games I play. We both got really wrapped up it in though and loved every minute, can't wait to play it through again, hopefully with one person per assassin to see how that goes.



At £75 it's a little pricey, but board games have evolved so much in recent years that actually, that price is pretty average. If we're going to compare this to board games then really it is having to assemble and paint the miniatures that is the pain in the behind, instead of just snipping them off a sprue.

I'm not one for reviews, as I've stated many times, but I have had plenty to say about certain mistakes I think are being made in the past so I am only too happy to report the fact that something has been done well this time.

EDIT, it didn't take much convincing to expand further on this subject, but it's definitely not a review!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, 17 May 2015

The Albion Adventures II, the scenario explained.

This is a nuts and bolts post about the scenario I ran for a bunch of my Oldhammer gaming buddies yesterday.

My intention with most of the Albion scenarios I construct is to take advantage of the player's knowledge of current affairs, politics, religion or some similarly explosive topic and give them every opportunity make jokes about it. The only thing the average British casual gamer loves more than satire is a bit of pun-fu! To that end the obvious choice going into a big game in May so close to the general election was to riff off the silly circus we know and love.

The general background revolved around the election day kerfuffle in a hotly contested constituency. The player's warbands had traveled there to make a bit of coin working as mercenaries ensuring things went 'smoothly' and the electorate voted 'wisely'. The electorate consisted of only one family, the local lighthouse keeper and his kin. This made Beacon Island something of a Rotten Borough, unfortunately all the candidates were thoroughly rotten too and weren't inclined to leave things to chance!

I set up the terrain to take advantage of one of the excellent tables on offer at our venue, the Wargames Foundry. As the Isle of Thanet (particularly the constituency of South Thanet) was such a focal point for the media coverage I set our game on Albion's 'Beacon Island'. The name Thanet likely comes from a Celtic origin meaning bright or fire island, indicating beacons were placed there to help ships.

In real life Thanet, and Essex in general, is at the centre of a new debate about cultural identity. If you know anything about British culture at all you will understand this makes it the perfect target for our irreverent sense of humour!

I met a girl called Janet, she was from the Isle of Thanet, when I mentioned social justice she said why can't we just ban it?


The rivers formed a natural island with a road and a bridge so I set up a polling station and a Slann-gate I had been working on. I made sure the warbands started a good three feet (as the crow flies) from their objective and besides the river I set up a wood, a secret patch of quicksand and a secret patch of magical mist to act as further barriers, so much so that the swift Elves ended up with at least four foot of table to negotiate.

The river was monster-haunted and one of the players nominated a character to be obsessed with slaying large beasties. Setting up possible opportunities like this is a great way of engaging players in other ways that needn't depend on the main objective. Slaying the river monster would be a personal victory. Each of the warbands was deployed close to each other to encourage interference with each other's plans.

I had had the players choose small warbands of 4-6 models in advance using a Facebook event to guide things along, and I made them all characters or at least 'personalities' with names, good wargear and a bit of background. It's much easier to marshall 10 players or more when each of them has only a small unit each and the greater survivability of minis in Warhammer 3e means they can easily last a day of wargaming.

I lined up the candidates...

Lord McCameron the Bastard
Sir Edward Hatband the Betrayer
Nicholas Haystacks the Disappointer
Lord Far Age the Mad Usurper
Lady Pike the Kingmaker

... and dealt out 'election promises' from a deck of treasure cards I borrowed from a board game. I interpreted rules for the items that suited W3e on the fly and the players had to pick a candidate to back, or risk holding out for more and losing the offer altogether. I would've rolled a 50/50 test for each offer whether to withdraw or deal another card but there were no gamblers on the day!

Once the treasure cards were all handed out and allocated each warband got a voter to look after, one of the unfortunate lighthouse keeper's family. Even young Timmy decided to vote and had used ashes from the hearth to simulate stubble!

I calculated that to occupy the players from 11am to 4pm (with a break for lunch and mini shopping) I would hit them with three enemies or obstacles each. How they negotiated the river with its fords, bridge, currents and monster would also play a part in how they progressed. I drew three imaginary lines around the polling booth objective which would trigger encounters when crossed. As each monster popped out it immediately got a topical pun name, I had a few prepared but pretty soon the players were doing it themselves of course!

We had Hatbands unfortunate brother, locked away after a betrayal. There was the Spectre of Northern Independence, the Ghost of True Socialism and the Shy Tory Zombies roused from their slumber. We had the Serpent of Temptation to Vote with your Wallet. There was even the Social Network Troll with its venomous bile! And many, many more...

Eventually, most of the voters made it in time to cast their vote. The halflings voter was sadly killed but one stood on the shoulders of the other and put on the voters clothes... you can guess the rest! That's GMing on the fly for the benefit of the game!

In case you were curious, the Slann-gate was just a cool piece of scenery I wanted to bring along and use and it offered an excuse to have the final round of monsters pop out close to the polling booth.

And the result? A bizarre Albion Independence Party/Democratic Liberals coalition.... it''ll never last, if only because all that yellow and purple is so harsh on the eye!

TL:DR summary. Set up your 'campaigners' about three feet from the polling booth objective and give them a vulnerable civilian voter to protect. Have the candidates offer some tempting wargear to win the campaigners loyalty. Start them close enough to each other to cause friction from the first turn. Hit them with an enemy every foot or so and offer them opportunities to win personal victories along the way. Let them vote and announce the result!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, 1 May 2015

Back to my chaotic roots.

I first started blogging as a way of recording my progress for the Realm of Chaos game at Bring Out Your Lead 2013 and after being more involved with playing/painting for D&D lately the time has come to start recording my progress getting ready for BOYL '15.

My new warband, ready for a spritz of matt black!


I'm hoping to find an opponent (or two) for this RoC warband on the Sunday at BOYL. I have games of Warhammer 3e booked for the Friday and Saturday this year and it'd be nice to get some RoC action in on the last day before heading home, laden with lead and tales to tell. There are two more thugs in the mail and another beastman in the FPS which I'll add in. I am choosing members and traits rather than rolling this time so I can use some minis as they are.

I'm also working on a baggage train for my Chaos Army, a much neglected facet of 3e.

Turnip cart from Warbases and a current Steed of Slaanesh.


Re-purposed monks from Gripping Beast, to be used as cultist baggage guards.


That felt like a good start, I've been spending too much time on the Facebook pages and not enough time putting the hairy stick to lead! I will soon have a few more painted bits to put up. Really looking forward to this year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, 18 March 2015

D&D Party B Sessions 6B, 7B and 8B.

SPOILERS AHEAD: Our merry band of PCs are on the northern Sword Coast in the Forgotten Realms and we are using a lot of pre-written stuff along the way.

Players:

Stephano di Maturin, a former pirate turned adventuring human fighter. He seeks revenge on a mutinous shipmate and a lost comrade.

Reed Alderleaf, a lightfoot halfling rogue and former member of the criminal Redbrand gang who has returned to bring some frontier justice to those who tried to murder him.

Marker of the Bow AKA Marker of Thundertree, a human archer and folk hero. He seeks to drive out the dragon, Venomfang, from the ruins of Thundertree and thus bring peace and prosperity to his home once more.

Tobrek the Cleric, a human raised by dwarfs who has been chosen to fight as a warrior priest in the coming war against evil.

Chamberlain the Druid, a man that has ventured forth from his hermitage to find a corner of the natural world to protect and nurture.

Harravak of the Moors AKA Harravak Halfblood, a half-orc ranger with a wolf familiar called Grunaver. He has turned his life's misfortune into a life's quest, he tracks the growing horde of his hated enemy (King Obould of the Many-Arrows orc tribe) and sells the information to the Lord's Alliance. As the orcs have gathered to the north recently and seem content to stay put he has taken to a little adventuring on the side to make ends meet.

We go back in time slightly to the point when the over-sized original party splits into two. Party B head after the fleeing Black Spider who has used a small boat to escape from Wave Echo Cave.

Reed finds some tracks that split off in three directions, one set from a handful of goblins another from two heavily laden bugbears and the last from some giant spiders that follow the river. The group swiftly track down the goblins that were left behind to spy on the goings on at the mine and wipe them out. They also manage to track down the bugbears and relieve them of the chest of coins and loot they were guarding but once they try to pick up the trail of the Black Spider it has gone very cold indeed.

Returning, forlorn, to town they spend some time spreading copper coins amongst local urchins hoping to pick up a scrap of a rumour about the Black Spider. In the meantime they are taken aside by Lord Corlynn when they stop by to exchange currency and he asks them to clear out Tresendar Manor for him as it has a few squatters. Along with Sildar Hallwinter he has arrested most of the Redbrand gang and their contacts (including Grista the erstwhile owner of the Sleeping Giant and the corrupt Town Master Harbin Wester) but now there remains a bit of mopping up to do, a task which would suit the party perfectly. They are to look out for information on one Iarno Albrek while they're about it.

Reed makes contact with Halia Thornton who recognises him as a former Red Brand rogue and Phandalin resident so she offers him a place in the Zhentarim. He readily agrees and is given the task of making sure Halia gets a shot at questioning the Red Brand leader Glasstaff before Lord Corlynn. Reed spends his advance on a pair of surly thug bodyguards and an urchin apprentice who can guard his pony.

After a chat with his local aunt and nephew Reed learns of a secret entrance to the manor crypts and eagerly tells the others.

The party go for a stealthy infiltration of the Red Brands stronghold beneath Tresendar Manor using the secret tunnel. The way in leads to a heavily damaged cellar room with a ten foot deep chasm running through the middle. Several openings and corridors exit from this area.



They are able to enter unobserved and choose to use the time and privacy they have been afforded to rig up some traps. They are eventually disturbed, however, by the resident Nothic who live in the chasm. It is one a bizarre race of creatures that each begins life as a mage that has striven too hard for power. The party attempt to bribe the monster who, cackling, seems to accept and shuffles off into the shadows.



The party find two doors near to the tunnel that seem to have enemies behind them so they quietly squeeze a few iron spikes into strategic points on one door while rigging the adjoining corridor with a fire trap. They abruptly open the unlocked door and toss in a glass flask of lantern oil followed by two devastating fireball spells. The resulting carnage wipes out four Red Brand thugs mid-card game (and melted the pile of gambled treasure on the table together, naturally). As the bugbears next door rush to find out what the noise is about (fights over card games are common enough to ignore but tortured screaming caused by a fiery death is harder to ignore) but they cannot burst through the jammed door. Knowing the hastily wedged door won't hold for long the party fall back to the tunnel entrance and the Nothic's chasm lair.



Three bugbears eventually burst from their room and rush furiously down the trapped corridor. They are engulfed in flames and retreat, panicked, back down the way they came. Before the party can follow up this success they are ambushed from behind by the last of the Redbrands led by Glasstaff, who is none other than the Iarno Albrek himself who has betrayed the Lord's Alliance, and accompanied by the treacherous Nothic.

The fight is preceded by Iarno taunting Stephano with a bill of sale for his son who was sold into slavery after the mutiny that changed his life forever; somehow the Nothic had used the power of his eldritch gaze to learn Stephano's secret!

The fight then begins in earnest. Harravak leaps over the chasm and kills one of Iarno's thugs. The three wounded bugbears charge out to take their revenge but Chamberlain and Tobrek work together to ensare the beasts in magic vines before delivering a deathstroke to each in turn.

Before long, all the heroes are wounded and Iarno's magic is causing them a big problem but Harravak leaps to the attack and spectacularly slices open the evil mage's throat with one stroke of his blade. This turns the tide of battle, the Red Brands are all killed and the last, snared, bugbear surrenders while the Nothic flees. After a morale debate the bugbear, Grok, is disarmed and freed so he flees.

Despite the victory Reed is annoyed with the half-orc, Harravak, as he had expressly spoken of his desire to capture the Red Brand leader alive. Harravak is somewhat sheepish and claims to have 'forgotten about that'.

The party spend some time looting the now empty Tresendar crypts. Reed engrosses himself in Iarno's study going through his papers, searching for something that might mollify Halia.

Harravak finds a cell housing a frightened women and her two children. They are at first terrified of him and his harsh appearance but he calms them down and sets them free. The woman, Mirna Dendrar, explains that the Red Brands murdered her husband (the local carpenter) for refusing to pay protection money and planned to sell the rest of the family into slavery.

Reed finds enough important documents to hopefully satisfy Halia as well as information on the likely destination for Stephano's unfortunate son (the orc camp on Wyvern Tor). Stephano having recovered the writ of sale form Iarno's corpse notices a chest in the Nothic's chasm and climbs down to investigate. He is rewarded with the discovery of a fine, magical Longsword inscribed with the name 'Talon'. Both he and Reed then join the rest of the party near the cells.



The last room remains to be uncovered, the Tresendar family tombs. Marker leads the way and almost blunders into a pitfall trap but luckily manages to stagger backwards from the fall. Once in the tombs Marker greedily pops open the lid of the first one, only to unleash an angry skeleton! Two more shift open their graves and join the fight. Tobrek suggests they all fall back before leaping over the pitfall trap and watching the hapless undead as they fall in. Despite this somewhat optimistic plan the others agree and everyone makes it to the other side... except poor Reed who trips and plummets into the trap! To make matters worse, one of the skeletons also falls in on top of him, though the other two make the jump easily enough. The party cannot spread out and use numbers to their advantage in the confines of the corridor so Tobrek uses a spell to blast one of the skeletons backwards and give them more time. Unfortunately this skeleton is blasted back into the pit, on top of the other skeleton and Reed who is by now apoplectic at his comrades. Reed is badly wounded by the struggling skeletons and loses consciousness and the fight becomes a race to kill the three skeletons and rescue the halfling thief. Tobrek makes it in the nick of time and undoes his error with a life-saving healing spell.

The party finally satisfy themselves that they have cleared out the crypts and return, dishevelled but happy, to Lord Corlynn who rewards them well. Reed gives Lord Corlynn enough evidence to prove Iarno's guilt but keeps the juicy bits for Halia, who later proves to be not ungrateful. Pleased with the results, Lord Corlynn offers them another job when they're ready. They are to head over to Leilon and seek out a cursed tower in the centre of the abandoned town that seems to be magically keeping monsters bound there to guard over the ruins, making it impossible to resettle. Lord Corlynn also promises to have his scouts investigate where Stephano's son might have been ultimately moved to as the Orcs at Wyvern Tor were slaughtered recently by another force and no slaves were recovered.

Before darting off to start another job so soon the party decide to indulge in a bout of carousing. This lasts nine days and sees Stephano get married to a local bar maid (who is gifted much of the party's collected jewelry) and has Marker waking up on the fifth day in jail for disorderly conduct unbecoming a citizen of Phandalin. Betsy di Maturin, Stephano's bride, is delighted to be given the recently purchased Sleeping Giant Inn by her new husband and consequently falls pregnant on the short but sweet honeymoon.



As a pair of added bonuses concerning their new mission, not only does some investigation turn up a clue from the local urchins that the Black Spider has holed up in Crossroads Keep (which is on the way to Leilon) but even better the Barracuda (Stephano's old ship) has been sighted very recently off the coast of Leilon running slaves and other contraband. If the party hurry (and ease up on the carousing for a bit) they can potentially kill many birds with one stone. Before they leave town the party pay the local smith a healthy cut to smelt down the congealed treasure from the card game and cast up some ingots.

The party are concerned by Grunaver's behaviour on the road from Phandalin to Crossroads Keep, he is clearly trying to warn them in his canine way of something on the trail behind them. The party set an ambush and lie in wait. A group of sorry looking thugs appear on the road before long and the party are tempted to let them pass without springing the ambush. At the last second it occurs to someone that they may be a diversion but it is too late, an assassin leaps from the bushes and begins his attack on the party! The thugs don't look very capable and react slowly but they get in the way of several party members. Eventually after a tough fight the assassin is defeated but the heroes are unable to take him alive as they had wished, leaving them none the wiser about the reasons behind this.

(Note: the Black Spider had sent the assassin, Renley, to Phandalin to deal with the party as revenge for harrying his soldiers after they fled Wave Echo Cave and stealing his treasure but Renley was forced to move early, hence the unprepared thugs, when he discovered the party was on it's way to Crossroads Keep. This information will likely never become known in the game but I can include it here as an aside for curious readers.)



Once at the overgrown shell of Crossroads Keep the party take some time to use Chamberlain's druidcraft and Harravak's ranger skills to allow them to sneak up very close to the enemy. A bitter and tough fight ensues but the party's careful planning and preparation gives them the edge over what would ordinarily be a deadly foe. Reed in particular shines as he plunges arrow after arrow into the Black Spider's forces from the mezzanine which he had secretly climbed to. Chamberlain succumbs to many wounds from both a human (Jago) and a doppelganger (Vhalak again) assassin but is saved by Tobrek. Eventually the Black Spider is killed, fittingly by Reed's archery, and Jago and Vhalak who are the only survivors flee into the surrounding woods.



This is where we leave off for now, next stop, the haunted ruins of Leilon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, 13 February 2015

D&D: Party A Sessions 6, 6A and 7A.

Session 6 was a bit chaotic due to a large turnout making the party 11 PCs strong (plus a wolf familiar). The split had been mentioned in advance of the session and consequently came about naturally very early on during the session because people were anticipating it, this meant I was simultaneously running two parties 6 and 5 strong in two separate locations. We muddled through, shall we say. Thankfully everyone had a laugh and there were no political problems with forming the new groups.

Relative to other sessions not much actually happened in session 6 so I am combining the events in posts with session 7A and 7B, which are thankfully on different nights!

With the Spectator dealt with thanks to diplomacy the party then try the same approach when they head south and run straight into Mormesk the wraith. The talks go surprisingly well for them once more and it turns out Mormesk is happy to be sealed off in his private apartments and leave the Rockseekers to their peaceful mining.

This turn of events leaves the mine largely in the hands of the party, only one unexplored corner remains which their prisoner has revealed to be the base of the Black Spider, their rival. As they are planning a full on assault back in the Spectator's area a weary and dishevelled looking Nundro appears... hang on a second, we already got one of those!

The new Nundro reveals that the other Nundro is in fact a beautiful young elf maid called Val who the Black Spider was holding prisoner. The Spider was using her (disguised by some polymorphing and one of his illusions) to distract the party and keep them confused, all the while holding onto Nundro as an emergency hostage. This is a terrible load of rubbish of course but I had most of the party at beautiful elf maid and they lap it up. Old Nundro is Vhalak the doppelganger of course and the Spider has had one of his remaining goblins push new Nundro in to create an opportunity for his favoured henchman to escape. New Nundro is the real thing but is under the influence of a suggestion spell.

Pretty established fantasy trope by now and a simple way for the DM to get his doppelganger out of serious trouble. Thanks to Scorch-D and Deviant Art for the image.


Without really questioning what new Nundro is saying and taking the unlikely plot at face value they free 'Val' and discuss their next move. Nundro reveals that he has been released as a distraction while the Spider escapes with his pets. His remaining retinue have also done a runner but in another direction, apparently carrying a heavy chest full of papers and loot.

So here it is that the party decide to split up. One group will take Nundro and Val back to Phandalin to claim their reward from Gundren while the rest pursue the fleeing Spider.

Party A is formed! (I will drag a collective name out of them eventually).

The players:

Tholas Longfeather the Chosen. A barbarian outlander and unparalleled fighter. He searches for answers and the unnatural raiders who killed his tribe.

Fugren Rocksplitter. Fugren is a mountain dwarf of the old Rock clans to the north. He is a former mercenary but has come to work with his cousins, Gundren and Nundro, to help forge a new civilisation from the ashes of the old; in as profitable a way as possible.

Burgem Gabriel, Cleric of Selune. Shepherd to the flock of Phandalin. She seeks to establish a holy Selunite diocese that will bring healing and succour to the folk of Neverwinter's southern marches.

Riardon Silverlight the Wizard, Scrivener of Oghma. Riardon is a high elf and a fellow of the Temple of Knowledge in Neverwinter. He has rededicated the lost altar of Oghma in Neverwinter Wood and a new candle of civilisation and reason, however small, burns brightly in the darkness once more thanks to him.

Varis the Warlock. As a young elf approaching her coming of age she seeks to carry out a mighty deed and earn the right to bear the mantle of adulthood and a surname.

Party A have secured the mine and rescued Nundro, while they mourn the loss of Tharden they are mightily pleased with how their first mission has gone and decide to take on more work. They make it back to Phandalin uneventfully and settle back into some rooms at the Stonehill inn. Val (who has helpfully taken the form of a female elf) is offered the job of party thief to replace Reed but she remains noncommittal for now. She needs to rest up first after her time as a 'prisoner' (she subsequently disappears off to the Black Spiders secret hideout at the earliest opportunity by the way). Gundren and Nundro set up an office for the new mining company in Harbin Wester's former residence. Harbin has been arrested by Lord Corlynn and Sildar Hallwinter (and his property seized) for taking bribes from the criminal Redbrands (it may be that he was simply too weak to stand up to Glasstaff's thugs but frontier justice tends to be harsh and swift). Hallia Thornton, who runs the Phandalin Mining Exchange, is less than happy with Gundren's intrusion on her monopoly but dares not make a move in the current political climate.

The players sell, trade and re-outfit themselves after visits to Lionshield Coster and Barthen's provisions. The Electrum and Platinum currency is exchanged for gold with Hallia. Excess monies are banked with Lord Corlynn.

While chatting amiably with Lord Corlynn he hands them some correspondence which arrived while they were out of town. Riardon learns that his Alma Mater is concerned by visions of a disaster linked to an upcoming astrological event called the Eye of Myrkul but no further details are forthcoming. The next subject to come up is that of Agatha, the elf banshee who lives out in the Neverwinter Woods near the ruins of Conyberry. Burgem had grown close to Sister Garaele over the course of her visits to town and has been gifted the local Shrine and a house by her (as she had been summoned urgently south by an emergency) on the promise that she administers to the spiritual needs of Phandalin. She was also left a silver comb and an instruction to return it to Agatha, a mission Garaele couldn't complete herself. Lord Corlynn suggests that taking the comb now could be useful as the banshee is said to be a powerful seer and could reveal more about the Eye of Myrkul event.

A small glimpse of the future perhaps, a great treasure, and a great enemy. Image from Dungeon magazine.


Having rested and reequipped, the company sets off on a days march to the ruins of Conyberry. They arrive as the light is failing and are concerned to see the ruins are encircled by stakes every few yards with rotting heads atop them. The heads have clearly been prepared with a lot of small fetishes tied into lank hair or piecing flaps of skin, as well as having dark, purplish symbols daubed on them.

The company retreats back up the road for a distance and sets up a late camp so they can explore the ruins in the daylight.

Image is 'Oliver Cromwell's head' from Wikipedia.


When they do they swiftly come under bow fire from four or five hidden archers. The party is lured into the ruins and ambushed by a transformed werewolf and his wolf familiar. All the while the archers keep up a rain of fire at the vulnerable members of the group.

Tholas manages to kill the werewolf and one by one the archers are hunted down and killed. The werewolf corpse transforms into that of a Grey Wolf tribe barbarian. The deceased Uthgardt is very similar racially to Tholas who has come from a very far off land and he wonders at this obvious example of his cultural heritage in such a distant place.

Image from the ERA card game.


With the ruins clear the party sets off north to find Agatha. The trees have other ideas though, the path shifts constantly and though normally graceful as a leopard Tholas suddenly finds himself tripping over every root and being lashed in the face by every branch. It soon becomes so bad that he is separated from the rest of the group. As the party pushes on the opposition to their passage begins to affect all of them. One by one they become disorientated and lost until all are alone. Finally Riardon who bears the silver comb, finds Agatha's dwelling though he has no support from his missing friends. He bravely enters the dilapidated cottage anyway and is permitted an audience with the infamous elf spirit.

Slightly less charismatic elf than previous encounters but still not bad for her age, Agatha or Auglatha in the original elvish. Thanks to Andrew de Felice and Deviant Art for the image.


She reveals that Conyberry and the people there once had her favour but was destroyed by ignorant and superstitious Uthgardt barbarians years ago. No man with the blood of ancient Uthgar may enter this part of the woods safely now and few others ever find the path they seek. She is grateful for the comb, after a fashion, and goes on to explain that the Eye of Myrkul is an ill-omened alignment of certain heavenly bodies that will herald the return of shattered Myrkul the Death God.

Since the Lord Ao rewrote the Tablets of Fate and banished all the Gods except Selune, Lolth and Oghma the world has found a stable balance at last. Lolth seeks to undermine this balance by engineering the resurrection of Myrkul, who lay in dormant pieces in the Mere of Dead Men and thus escaped banishment with the others. In barely two months the Eye of Myrkul will take place and Death himself will once more stride the world in immortal form.

Myrkul by w1tchbones on Deviant Art.


Shocked by the revelations, Riardon takes his leave of the banshee seer and heads back to Conyberry, where he finds all his companions who all seem to have walked in a large circle by accident. Even the barbarian Tholas has made it back with only a few cuts, bruises and a black eye.

The party camps for the night and Riardon imparts his terrible discovery to the rest of them. The next day they head back into Phandalin to prepare for a journey south to the mere. Upon talking to Lord Corlynn and asking for advice they learn that he has a small force in the area based at Iniarv's tower commanded by Sir Nathan the Paladin. Burgem insists on spending a week in Phandalin doing some work on the shrine and organising some staff to take care of things while she is away from town so the remaining party members decide to make use of the time by clearing up a couple of small jobs for Lord Corlynn before they head south. It's a risk to spend this time this way but one they decide to take.

Chatting to Gundren while in town they are introduced to Glim Garrick, a forest gnome thief who works for 10 gold pieces a day. Tholas knows they need somebody with thief skills desperately but is dubious about committing to such a large daily expense so offers 7 gold a day (rolls a nat 20) and Glim appears slightly awestruck by the legendary presence of such a powerful and famous hero agreeing quickly to the deal.

Glim uses the basic spy stats plus a few tweaks for being a forest gnome so he won't drain off any xp from the PC's and is run by Tholas' player. Image 'Gnome Thief' by Cerulean Raven on Pinterest.


While they relax in the bar of the Stonehill inn they are approached by a wandering monk who asks permission to accompany them on their next job. Impressed by a few demonstrations of his martial prowess they agree and are joined by Quinn the monk (late arrival, yet another new player!).

Image courtesy of the community wizards page.


The party, minus Burgem, head back to Conyberry and then cut south to Old Owl Well following the map Lord Corlynn gave them. They do well with the map reading and reach Old Owl Well, and what appears to be an archaeological dig, in good time. As they approach however they are perturbed by the strong smell of death that permeates the area. Proceeding cautiously they start to see shuffling zombies with picks and shovels appear from various parts of the site. The party launches an attack.

The zombies, a dozen in all, fall swiftly at first but then some start to get back up again. At a critical point in the fight one Hamun Kost bursts onto the scene and calls for a halt. As the party are negotiating with the suspicious old necromancer Kost foolishly gets too close to the barbarian. Tholas launches a devastating attack and beheads the Red Wizard. Negotiations over. The last of the Zombies fall eventually though everyone was wounded except Varis (who actually hid in a bush, shamefully). The party pick up some nice loot from Kost's tent and Varis discovers a 'Dream Crystal' on his corpse that appears to project images of the user's thoughts a few feet away once attuned. Kost's digging has uncovered the entrance to some ancient Netherese underground ruins and the party disguise this with some of the materials from the dig site hoping to come back when time allows for some delving.

The erstwhile necromancer Hamun Kost, Red Wizard of Thay. D&D artwork found on Pinterest.


They move south to Wyvern Tor and after a brief detour while disagreeing over the map and ignoring some ogre tracks they come across the party find their objective and climb the narrow path to the summit.

Soon they spy a cave entrance and a lone orc sentry so Varis (keen to make up for the bush debacle) decides it's her time to shine. She uses an illusion to disguise herself as an orc and approaches the sentry hoping to get close enough to take him out. The sentry calmly waves a greeting and calls out in his native tongue. Varis doesn't speak orc. She waves back, smiles and calmly continues walking towards him. Suspicious of the stranger now the sentry calls out more harshly and readies his bow. Varis, sweating, continues closing the distance and smiling. As the orc draws back the bow to shoot Varis unleashes her most powerful spell, missing completely and melting part of the rock face with acid. The orc calmly shoots her and causes maximum possible damage. The party (in their clanky heavy armour) are too far off to do much else but dash forwards and the sentry calls forwards his allies, six more orcs and a lumbering ogre. Arrows rain down on the party as they run up the narrow path causing several injuries, fortunately Tholas gets to the fleeing Varis before the ogre does.

Varis has one more trick up her sleeve, she pulls out the newly acquired dream crystal and concentrates hard. From around the side of the hill comes a huge stone giant, bellowing with rage. Int test, rolls a 2. Unfortunately the giant looks somewhat like a cave painting, two dimensional and with major features missing altogether. The voice is rather high pitched and effeminate too. None of the orcs fall for the poorly realised illusion even for a moment, not even the ogre.

Rarrgh, I is a big mean monster and I is gonna eat your head! Image courtesy of a small child.


Thankfully, Tholas really is a very capable fighter and with Fugren's help they proceed to start hewing into the orcs. Glim shows he is more than capable too as his backstab ability comes into play on the narrow ledge outside the cave entrance. Quinn even gets involved, taking down an orc, despite being only level one and wounded by an arrow.

The party defeats the orcs and explores the cave finding a treasure chest but Glim finds a 1 while picking the lock so Tholas impressively rips off the lid with his bare hands. I didn't like to say afterwards that it was unlocked.

Image from Demon Knights #10.


The party made it back to town without disturbing any nesting owlbears or similar and found Burgem willing to head south to the mere which is where we will pick up next time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, 9 January 2015

D&D Session 5.

SPOILERS AHEAD: Our merry band of PCs are working their way through the 5th edition starter set.

The Players:

Tholas Longfeather the Chosen, a barbarian outlander and unparalleled fighter. He searches for answers and the unnatural raiders who killed his tribe.

Stepano di Maturin, a former pirate turned fighter. He seeks revenge and a lost comrade.

Fugran Rocksplitter, a former mercenary looking to help out his cousins, the Rockseekers, in their hour of need.

Reed Alderleaf, a former member of the Redbrand gang who has returned to bring some frontier justice to those who tried to murder him.

Riardon Silverlight, an elven wizard and fellow of the Temple of Knowledge in Neverwinter. He has rededicated the lost altar of Oghma in Neverwinter Wood and a new candle of civilisation and reason, however small, burns brightly in the darkness once more thanks to him.

Burgem Gabriel, a cleric of Selune and shepherd to the flock of Phandalin. She seeks to establish a diocese that will bring healing and succour to the folk of the Twilit Lands.

Marker of Thundertree, an archer and folk hero. He seeks to drive out the dragon of Thundertree and thus bring peace and prosperity to his home once more.

Varis, an elven warlock. She seeks to earn the right to bear the mantle of adulthood.

Chamberlain the Druid. He has ventured forth from his hermitage to find a corner of the natural world to protect and nurture.

Such the Selunite, a human cleric of Selune. He has come to Phandalin hoping to find inner peace while ministering to the simple folk of the frontier.

Harravak Halfblood, a half-orc ranger. He has turned his life's misfortune into a life's quest, he tracks the growing horde of his hated enemy (King Obould of the Many-Arrows orc tribe) and sells the information to the Lord's Alliance. As the orcs have gathered to the north recently and seem content to stay put he has taken to a little adventuring on the side to make ends meet.

Session 4 begins with new PCs Harravak (with Grunaver the Wolf in tow), Chamberlain and Such locating Wave Echo Cave having been inspired to seek it by some drunken miner's stories back in the Stonehill inn in Phandalin. Drunken miners are obviously a worthy source of information on which to bet your life. Thanks to the occasional echoing crack of spell effects and Reed's careless placement of the party's pack donkey the cave is not actually too difficult to track down, despite it being quite hidden for a few centuries previously. Tharden's body has been stored away in some canvas by the rest and they don't see it.



Once inside the mines the wounded jelly sportingly elects not to wipe them out yet and they arrive swiftly and safely at the main party's location, just as they are emerging from a long rest. After much negotiation, interrogation, suspicion and finally acceptance the three newcomers narrowly avoid being murdered and are signed up to the as yet unnamed company. I told the wizard that the ink and quill would come in handy!

Official D&D artwork.


The party scout out a room to the south-east filled with a strange glowing fungus that gives them a distinctly uneasy feeling. They elect to backtrack and return to the large cavern in which they fought the tough ghoul pack. No sooner do they begin to file in than they are accosted by a large force of bugbears and goblins led by a deadly looking drow mercenary. He announces himself as a representative of the 'Black Spider' and offers the party a deal; they clear out the eastern half of the mine which is occupied by an undead force and then allow the Black Spider full access for a week before taking control of the mine upon his departure. There may even be a little gold as a sweetener. This is a tempting deal for some but for Tholas only blood will satisfy his craving for adventure and the negotiations break down as a melee erupts.

Credit to Anthony Francisco.


The large party are able to overcome their foes despite the level 1 newcomers performing badly against even the lowly goblins ('should have put them on half-shares' was the general consensus) and the wily ex-pirate Stepano was able to capture the drow. After a bit of a struggle the drow was tied up but when the party removed the cloak they had trapped him in they discovered to their shock that their prisoner was very much changed and was actually Fugran's missing dwarf cousin, Nundro. naturally all the PCs are very suspicious but Nundro is able to answer several intimate questions in detail and only becomes vague when asked questions about Fugran's clan, the Rocksplitters. Nundro claims he is half-starved and still groggy from the effects of an illusion spell designed by the Black Spider  to trick the party into killing an innocent which is why he might be a bit forgetful. Nundro remains a tied-up prisoner as a result but is dressed decently and afforded a suit of leather armour for protection.

"Hey, at least lend me some clothes will ya?"
Pathfinder artwork.


Perversely, the party then decide to clear out the undead from the western half of the mine next. They have had no problems against the skeletons they have faced so far but learn a new-found respect for zombies as they head west, especially zombies backed up by a flameskull.

Sony artwork.


The powerful undead entity casts a level three spell at Tholas, the most powerful fighter and the party are aghast when the unfortunate barbarian (actually a level 4 martial champion just out of interest) is dropped in one go with damage to spare! After the ghoul fight tested them so much the party has learned a few tricks in combat and get a bit more out of their abilities this encounter but it is still pretty hair-raising and one last zombie survives several rounds against the entire party which terrifies them about what could happen if a few rolls went awry in future.

Artwork from the Elder Dragon Highlander CCG.


Everyone trusts Nundro a bit more after he was targeted by the undead during the fight but not enough to untie him just yet.

The group moves on into a bone strewn cavern that leads north and back south to the bypassed fungus cavern. The PCs are paranoid about the way the zombies ambushed them earlier and spend some time smashing up complete skeletons and detecting magic etc. After a lengthy search turns up nothing interesting they smash into a nearby locked building to discover a dangerously mentally unbalanced spectator guarding a mysterious green flame that exudes from an ornate, brick-lined hole on the ground.

Originally hosted by the Forgotten Realms Wiki.


Tholas once again almost leads the party into a potentially lethal combat but is stopped short by the others who decide to negotiate with the aberration in their weakened state.

We shall have to see what the result of that is next time! I have warned the PCs that while I am thrilled with the popularity of my sessions the party is simply too big and I will have to split it into two if we are to continue. They will all be together at the start of the next session but by the end of session 6 I will have engineered a reason/opportunity for the company to split up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, 5 January 2015

Epic Eldar.

I'm pretty terrible at remembering to take decent photos of the minis we use in games, concentrating instead on doing a bit of creative writing which is one of my favourite parts of blogging. However, in order to appease the unsatisfied hordes out there I will promise to try and rectify that in 2015! Here are a few posed shots of my 6mm/epic Eldar army, hopefully I will be able to organise some photos or links to photos of the other two armies in action on the 3rd (see previous post).


I use my epic stuff to play Future War Commander more than any other rules set (because if you are going to play in 6mm then it has to be 'go big or go home' and that means the slickest, funnest rules have the advantage. FWC requires you to have command stands, some examples of which are in this photo.


This is a closer view of my army general, Farseer P'aul.


I like my Eldar to be very mobile and tricky to pin down so I use loads of these old Falcon models as APCs in FWC. They are still useful in 'Space Marine' too.


Of course, the APCs require lots of guardian infantry, the backbone of my army, to be effective.


Though artillery and air support can be used effectively from off table it is considered a poor show amongst experienced FWC generals to not have the models painted up and displayed in a corner somewhere. Allowing opponents to use imaginary artillery pieces is a slippery slope and that way lies madness.


My air cover, Nightwing fighters. In FWC you use special command stands as Forward Air Controllers and Forward Artillery Observers and these guys call in the strikes based on what they can see.


It never hurts to have a fast, mobile reserve in any game so I use my Jetbikes often.


These scouts are usually my recce units in games of FWC but can easily operate as snipers if needed.


Swooping Hawks. This unit keeps in with the theme of mobility and speed and are unparalleled when it comes to capturing remote objectives.


Sometimes, even if you're Eldar,  you just have to dig in and weather the storm. These inexpensive anti-tank guns help the infantry do just that.


The hammer to the infantry's anvil, heavy tanks!


I have to choose my specialist infantry wisely as a Farseer because there are never enough points to get everything you want. I make sure to bring as many Wraithguard as possible as the heavy infantry are invaluable when spearheading an assault.


Death from afar. The Dark Reapers have broken up many an enemy thrust without ever endangering themselves which allows my own attack to be pressed home elsewhere.


One of my titans, the cherry on the cake. No game of epic is complete without one of these monsters pacing the battlefield with thundering footsteps!


Thanks for stopping by!