Sam's Corner: WIP: Patlabor Tau

Reposting for Sam our resident Modeller Extravanganza! 

I've went on to paint a test model for my Tau counts as Pathfinders. I tried to follow as closely as I could to the original uniform colors in the Patlabor cartoon.

Above is the pic of the original crew.

My rendition using em4 Miniatures soliders from their plastic range :)

It was a quick paint job this morning. I largely used Regal Blue and Blazing Orange colors from Citadel range. And Dark Angels Green with Scorpion Green highlights for the helmet visor.

The Real Deal
I managed to get my hands of the real Patlabor models thanks to Comet Miniatures from the UK. This means I no longer have to cut up the original Tau Riptides.

I bought 2 Alphonse Specials as they can make 3 different patterns and the Type X-0 for another variety. Its just nice to proxy as 3 Riptides.

The original Labor is just slightly taller, but with its articulation, it is easily modeled to be the same height as the Riptide. This Alphonse is a really nice model but the arms and legs are a bit of a challenge to assemble.

I wish everyone a great weekend and a super fruitful week ahead!

Batrep: Dark Elves vs Orcs & Goblins

After finishing our 500 point Border Patrol, Tet Hong and myself redeployed for a 1500 point game. I had brought a list and the minis. Most of them are at various stages of repainting/rebasing so you will see a few units with strange bases. Simple scenario, we went for Pitched Battle to keep it simple. 6x4 table and we ended up playing only 4 feet wide. LOL! 

Here is my 1500 point list:

Savage Orc Warboss 

-Sword of Anti Heroes

-Potion of Strength

-Obsidian Trinket

Savage Orc Shaman

-Lucky Shrunken Head

Savage Orc Big Uns x28

-Second Choppa

-Standard

-Musician

Goblin Wolf Riders x5

-Musician

Goblin Wolf Riders x5

-Musician

Orc Boyz x30

-Standard

-Musician

-Second Choppa

Mangler Squiq x2

Doom Diver

Night Goblins x20

-Spear

-Musician

-Fanatics x2

Night Goblins x20

-Spear

-Musician

-Fanatics x2

This is Tet Hong's Dark Elf list:

Sorceress lvl 4, Pendant of Khaleth and Sacrificial Dagger.
Master, Armour of Darkness, Crimson Death
Master, BSB, Banner of Hag Graef (ASF), Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak

22 SpearElves (I think I made a mistake here. I don't have Full Command I think, only Musician).
23 Corsairs, FC, Sea Serpent Standard (Frenzy)
10 Repeater Crossbows, Musician
Hydra
Chariot
RBT

Deployment: I vanguard 2 of my Wolfriders up the left flank to threaten his missile units while the rest of the army gears up to beat face. Savage Orc Big Un's take the centre field with both the characters. 

Vanguard move brings them really close to the DE lines. I was betting that one unit would make it through the fusilade of fire

Deployed one unit of Night Goblins into the forest on my left

First round of shooting and both my Vanguard unit of Wolves are gone. In my Turn 1 I moved the rest of my units up. Night Goblins in the middle rolled a squabble for Animosity

Love the Hydra that Sam painted for Tet Hong. Doom Diver picked off 4 wounds from the Cold One Chariot

Crest the hill and let's get into combat! Gotta keep working on those Savages. That's the awesome thing about smaller battles, it allows you to focus your painting effort and actually see it all come together. 

I send my Savages as far as possible. The Night Goblins on the left panicked from shooting from the RBT and Repeater Crossbows. My Doom Diver managed to pick off 4 wounds from the Hydra. That Doom Diver is on FIRE this game! I have to reward the crew by painting them! 

Dark Elves send the Hydra up and charges my Savages on the left. He then used massive magics to kill off 15 of my Orc Boyz. Thankfully they held due to the Warboss. 

As the Hydra charged in, I was forced to release the Fanatic. I chose to let it go through my unit and then contact the Hydra. The Fanatic then proceeded to remove the last wound from the Hydra. Nice

In Turn 3 DE turn, he sent in his Corsairs who had the Frenzy banner into my Savages. Casting his Mindrazor on IF (this was the 2nd IF roll and due to the Pendant of Kaleth, his Sorceress escaped unscatched. I wonder if you can take the Pendant Save from miscasts).  I lost 12 and he lost only a few. My Savages broke combat and fled only to be outrun and destroyed. There goes my General

The Dark Elves had to pursue as they were frenzied

Missed another couple of pictures here. Basically the Orc Boyz got hit by another round of magic and shooting reducing them to less than 2 ranks. The Dark Elves then charged into my thinned unit and they fled, leaving me with a unit of Night Goblins and Fanatics.

Launched the Fanatics through this unit of Corsairs only removing 4 Elves

It was Turn 6 and I had only the Doom Diver remaining. Looks like a solid victory for the Dark Elves.

Lessons:

1. Vanguard works best for largish units and even then, you need to stay as much as possible out of LOS from heavy missile units. For the Wolves, I am inclined to include a Goblin Hero in a unit of 10 for 1500 points. This would be ideal for war machine hunting
2. I need a BSB. Orcs depend on it more than any other army out there
3. 20 Night Goblins are throw away units - I need to learn to throw them away and delay the main force a little. More artillery will force the opponent to play on my terms. 
4. Killing off their missile units early game may help me control the shooting game

I hope you enjoyed the report. 

Also, can someone tell me if the Pendant of Kaleth can be used to save against Magic Miscasts (IF).

BREAKING NEWS: Eldar Spotted

Information is coming in from every where. Eldar incoming. Looks like a robot wars is becoming real.

I really love the Eldar vehicles and have loved the Wave Serpents, Falcons and Fire Prisms for a long time. The recent models are no different. Beautiful sculpts. Looking forward to seeing them in the flesh. I will be getting the books. 

I am not too sure about the Iyanden Codex Supplement though. Really love hate since they could have easily bundled this ruleset with the main Codex but keeping it separate meant that other Craftworld users don't have to look at Iyanden stuff all the time. It also would mean that there is scope for other Craftworld supplements and possibly Space Marine type Supplements.  

The Riptide now has a friend

Gotta love the flyer in the corner

Maybe time for me to break out the Eldar again. 

Batrep: Border Patrol High Elves and Orcs & Goblins vs Dark Elves and Tomb Kings

It has been a long while since the members of Anything But Ones got together to play a game. Since the launch of the High Elf book I have been dying to get a game in. So to refresh our minds, we decided to have a 500 point Border Patrol between 4. My wife was playing my High Elves and I was controlling the Orcs and Goblins. YouCai was playing Tomb Kings and Defeng was playing the Dark Elves. Simple Pitched Battle. 

Deployment had our centre shored up, YC's Ushabti on my right flank

Orcs and Elves, strange alliance but this is Fantasy!

Put these Wolf Riders on the flank hoping to get his RBT early game

YC and DF moved up in their first turn. We respond in kind. Silver Helms failed their charge

Skeleton unit fail the charge on 4, leaving the Dark Elves to fight the Night Goblins. Fanatic killed a few Spearmen

Silver Helms got into combat this turn but failed to do enough damage. Lost 2 Elves in return

Rolling a 5 for the Break Test Goblins stay in the fight, allowing the Savages to charge

We missed a few photos here but the Savages destroyed the Dark Elves and had to pursue. The Skeletons then charged me in the rear. The High Elves Spearmen then got charged by the Cold One Chariot

YC's Ushabti destroyed the Silver Helms and moved midfield

Archers on the hill sent as many bolts as possible into YC's Skeleton unit with his Liche Priest

DE Chariot broke through the Spearmen and proceeded to charge the Night Goblins in the flank. Savages failed to combat reform and had to slowly grind the skeletons down

After a heavy crumbling roll, the Skeletons opened up a path to allow the Ushabti to charge in. This time my Savages could not pass the Break Test and opted to flee and was destroyed by a lone skeleton. 

Victory to the Dark Elves and Tomb King alliance. Well played. I have to redesign both lists to capitalize on each army's strength rather than to build a super flexi list. At 500 points, I realised that you really have to bring your army's character to the fore. For example, High Elves should have brought a Mage and not a fighty Noble. Back to the drawing board.

WIP: Border Patrol

Work continues on the Savage Orc Warboss. I have invested quite a lot of time on his skin and I hope the camera captures the work I have done. 

I have gone back in with Knarloc Green to highlight the muscles again. I then start work using Goblin Green in streaks to create the illusion of tightly strung muscles. I used a brush with a really sharp bristle (0 and 1 grades work well, choose sharp bristle) to create almost streaks. 

For all the bones on his body I have gone back in with Dheneb Stone to highlight it back up. I have also used Blood Red for his top knot washed with Baal Red. 

Goblin Green for skin. I will be further highlighting this with a mix of yellow and Goblin Green as a final stage

Waaaaaagh! Better angle to catch the light

You can see the muscles and bone bits

GET OVER THERE AND WAAAAGH

Rebased all the Night Goblins to match the army

Took me about 20 minutes but their bases are all done up now!

More Goblinssesss

500 point game this Saturday. Let's see how this tiny force works.

WIP: Painting the Savage Orc Warboss

So I got around to painting my Savage Orc Warboss and thought I would expand on my tips from my post yesterday. 

Bear in mind that this miniature will get the full treatment, going up to Level 4 (Hero Level). I have defined this to include full shading, multiple levels of highlights (minimum 3 layers). However, I intend to use it also to show you how you can get an army ready to Level 2 quite quickly and put the miniature to the table fast. 

Here are the quick steps: 

Glue up the model and stick sand to the base. Prime model black

Work in the base coats. Always start bottom up, i.e. dirty work like drybrushing of the base and then skin. I used Knarloc Green for the skin, Scorched Brown for wood/bone/straps and Codex Grey for stone

Pick out bone with a layer of Dheneb Stone but leave some of the Scorched Brown showing near the joints

Wash the entire mini with Devlan Mud to organic parts and Badab Black wash to stone

Leave your miniature to dry. We are effectively at Level 1 now. You can actually start gaming with this miniature. With the base done and the mini looking like it has shading, this is all you need to get a game in. This took me about 15 minutes minus waiting time for paint to dry.

Stay tuned for more and as always Follow to get regular updates!

WIP: Border Patrol

With the release of the High Elf book, I have fallen back in love with Fantasy. There is an element of Fantasy that I really enjoy, and that is deploying a full army painted and nicely ranked up in their formations. It takes me back to those days when I first spotted through the glass panel of a store in Bangsar Shopping Centre, Malaysia a full Empire Army with the original steam tank.

Saw a unit very similar to this fully ranked up. I was 14 years old and that seed stuck in my head

A fully painted steam tank of the 90's

This idea stuck in my head for the longest time so I started Warhammer Fantasy in 1994 with a few friends. My first army was of course the High Elves which was part of the starter. In my mind I wanted to collect an army that I could lay out similar to this picture:

Ranks and ranks of men, fighting for their lives

When I first played the High Elves I realised that I could never really get a horde going at the 2000 point level. Thankfully, Fantasy has escalated to 2700 points these days. With the starter that Sam generously gave me back in 2004, the Orcs and Goblins were assembled. If you have been a follower of this blog, you would have seen other previous posts getting my army ready for the Blood for the Badlands campaign last year. Unfortunately that campaign suffered the same commitment issues most game groups encounter and was not able to go beyond 2 turns.

Nonetheless, the recent High Elf release has brought me back to Fantasy in a long about way. My wife loves them. The High Elves are beautiful and some say a little girly. I was more than happy to share them with her and take the ugly Orcs to battle once more!

To start, I wanted her to learn the basics so have built two 500 point armies. Coincidentally, our gaming group is keen to get back into Fantasy so have all agreed to build 500 point armies to clash.

I am using the blog to again keep track of my progress and serve me targets and reminders to get me to finish this army up.

This is the full 500 points, assembled and in various stages of completion. 

I went with 3 main units, one to distract, one to hold and one to hit.

Have just started base coating the Savage Orc Big Boss

Distraction unit ready to go. Just completed their rebasing

Working on this unit in tandem with the Warboss. I have completed majority of the miniatures to Level 1 while I work to get them to Level 3 for the front ranks. I have loads to do but I love the detailing bit, working in the colours to the raised muscles and teeth.

On the subject of time and effort, I believe many of us are busy adults with children and work. I find that I work best when I allot myself a fix amount of time, say 1 hour to hobby. I called it Hobby Hour. In this hour I make the best of the time and never procrastinate since I know I only have one hour. As I paint the first guy, I ask myself, what is the next step and what is the step after that - ensuring I never waste one precious moment. It also helps that you build the army list as that becomes your target.

Remember, you want to get the army on the table. Here are my top tips to get them ready fast:

1. Base all your minis with sand BEFORE you basecoat your minis
2. Basecoat your mini black - it will save you a lot of time shading
3. Go in with the a lighter colour and then use WASHES. They are every gamer's dream come true. These washes save time and make you look pro fast. 
4. Paint in batches of 3 to 5, depending on how much you can finish before the first mini dries out - this is important so that you can feel the sense of completion
5. Break down your levels of painting - tabletop quality (Level 1), detailed (Level 2), full highlights (Level 3)
6. Reward yourself with characters and unit champions, musicians and standards to break the monotony of painting 30 men. Every 5 men rewards you with the right to paint a unit champion. 

Hope the tips above help. That's how I got through the unit below! 

Remember to come up with a simple scheme that you can work quickly to raise the army of your dreams