Kommander Sorscha

Allright, well my Sorscha model is complete sans basing, and making the little front 180 markers neater. I'm debating whether to use matte varnish on the model, as I have no idea how it affect the color/gloss of the paint, and I want her armor to be red and shiny, not just red, heh.




















If you're wondering whether there's a system to the progress box on the right, yes, there is. Here's the breakdown:
5% - Model trimmed and assembled (may be not fully assembled if that's the preference for painting).
10% - Model undercoated.
50%~60% - Main colors on model completed. Minor shading and highlighting and no detail or error fixing done yet.
80%~89% - Minor touch ups remaining.
90% - Painting completed, basing remains.
If the model is a 100% complete there will be no percentage next to the name. I may do little head shots where Div currently resides of complete minis.


Comments on painting or this blog in general always appreciated!
~Max

PS: Sorry for the crappy layout, but the post creation utility is not very image friendly.

First Blood!

So yes, I played my first ever Warmachine game at PAX this weekend, and it was great. The depth and complexity of the gameplay were instantly seen upon actually playing and, most importantly, I think I had more fun in the battlebox game than any 1000 point 40k game I've played, but I digress.

My opponent had actually not brought his Menoth force to the con, but he said he'd been eyeing Trollbloods for a while, so bought em and we played as soon as the glue was dry (everyone else was playing league games, so, yeah.)

We followed setup rules, and I won the initiative roll, choosing to deploy and have my turn second, which didn't end up making much difference. Initially I wanted to keep some distance from him to utilize my Destroyer's Bombard, but then I got slammed by a couple of his spear crits, so that was definitely a bad decision.

My 'jacks shrugged off a lot of damage, and the worst of it was a disabled open fist on the (I'm the) Juggernaut (bitch!). His trolls took quite a beating from me, but were resilient as hell.

We traded some blows, I was a bit too forward with Sorscha which resulted in her getting some damage, while he kept Madrak towards the back. Finally, I popped her feat and got his warlock, one Impaler, and the Axer frozen! (Yup, I remembered the new LOS rule). I rushed in with the 'jacks and Sorcha, killed his Axer, and did an enormous amount of damage against his warlock, killing him.

We thought the game was over, but then he read the rule about skipping a damage source on Madrak, and after a failed last attack by Sorcha (Damn you regeneration!), he was still alive.

I thought next turn would be uneventful, as he only had one Impaler able to activate. The Impaler threw his spear at my Juggernaut, rolled a crit, slammed him on top of Sorcha and the other Impaler.

And so, Kommander Sorscha was crushed by 9 tons of iron.
The game was a back and forth, and definitely had an exciting climax, so thanks to my opponent, Piratey. Unfortunately I won't get to play him until next PAX, but then he'll have an expanded Trollbloods force, or his Menoth army, but similarly I will have a larger force and some experience, so the battle shall be epic. After this awesome gameplay experience I am definitely coming down when my LGS finishes moving so I can play more games.

~Max

362 Days!

And so, the great PAX '07 has come to an end. I won't be putting up any of my own pictures because I lost the damn camera. Go me.

I played an awesome Battlebox game against a brand new pack of Trollbloods, and lost, but it was glorious, especially for a first game. Battle report to follow!

~Max

38 Hours!

PAX is drawing ever closer and unfortunately due to busy real life stuff, neither Sorscha nor the Juggernaut is at 100%. I will have some time to paint tomorrow morning, after that it's Pre-PAX dinner, night of sleep, and PAX!!! Can you tell I'm a little excited?

Also, I visited my other local hobby store Orboro Games, and was greatly pleased - the guy there was very friendly and cool, played lots of WM/Hordes himself, and it seemed like they had the biggest WM/Hordes following than other stores. IE, last Call to Arms league had 20 players in total. Speaking of which I will not be participating in this season, but the next one, because I want practice in playing the game, I don't want to blow a lot of money on miniatures all at once, and I want to field a decently painted army to league games.

The only bad thing is they are closing down and relocating next week, but moving only about 10 minutes away, to a much better location, but I can put up with that. Gives me more time to paaaaint!

Another unfortunate thing is Khador seems to be the most popular faction in Western Washington. Now, with only four (five for Mercs?) factions this isn't too bad of a thing, but I do enjoy being different :P Well, I'll just accomplish that with my paint scheme, army lists, and maybe a Skorne army someday. But not for a loooong time.

~Max

Lady In Red

So I sat myself down and worked on Sorscha a lot more today, and oh boy, I need lots of practice with flesh and faces and eyes. It looked better before the really really good lens zoom (click them for better resolution)...

The Frostfang is off again, but it came off during painting, so I kept it off - I'll pin it eventually.
But anyway here's some pics of the other work in progress stuff, and pretty much what will be my 350 point force.


Planned forces after I'm done painting these:

Army: Khador 'Jack Heavy
Army Points: 500/500

Kommander Sorscha Kratikoff
-Kodiak
-Juggernaut
Man-o-War Kovnik
-Destroyer
Manhunter
Winterguard Mortar Crew

Since I have never actually played, (not until PAX anyway, whoohoo, so soon) my decisions are pretty much based off the following:
1. Aesthetics
2. High amount of warjacks
3. Reasonable leadership/support of said warjacks

Juggernaut is still under construction, but I'm trying to do several models at a time as it keeps me motivated and helps keep the army theme together. Speaking of which, Sorscha's scheme stands out from the 'jacks, but I can't decide if it's too much or not. I guess I'll find out when more are done!

~Max

Your Reinforcements Have Arrived!

So said the box from The WarStore that came today. And indeed, my Manhunter and Winter Guard Mortar Crew blisters are here!

I've got my hands full, with PAX only 5 days away. I won't be able to field a fully painted army at the standard I have set for myself, but I want to at least have a warjack and Sorcha completely done.

Speaking of, with some clever trimming and gluing I have reattached her Frostfang, and dare I say it looks better than ever before. I've started base coloring the model and working on the face, the latter of which is grueling. I haven't painted faces for two years, and I have NEVER painted them well, so it's proving to be a bit tough. Got some Red Ink to glaze her pretty Blood Red Armor, and will try to make a lot of progress on her tomorrow.

I promise pictures in the future will be better, as I finally got a hold of a DSLR. Of course a paint quality increase is not guaranteed :P

~Max

Juggernaut - WIP

Finally got the paint scheme down as I've been painting, and now there's just some stuff left to fix, to improve, etc. I'll probably base when I've done all the current models I'm working on. Anyways, progress is progress.

Project Fortnight

So, in finding out my LGS doesn't have as well scheduled game nights as I thought, and that my friend won't be able to start the game till September, I am going to try and put together a 350 pt force before PAX on the 24th.

Here's the planned list:

Faction: Khador
Army Points: 349/350
Victory Points: 15

Kommander Sorscha Kratikoff
Destroyer
Juggernaut
Manhunter
Winterguard Mortar Crew

The progress log for the models is right in the upper corner and updated frequently. I'll post a pic of the Juggernaut when it's done, and then start doing WIP of other models. I have plans of what models I want up to 500 points as I picked up the Khador Faction Deck to check out all the units, but I've gotta focus on being battle-ready for PAX right now.

~Max

PS: Do leave me a comment with any advice on the list/playing in general, or hell, if you're just reading this.

Hello? Who's there?

Hey! This blog is intended as my personal dumping ground for thoughts, rants, ideas, photos, etc. related to tabletop wargaming, Warmachine and Hordes in particular. I got the idea from Clawshrimpy's blog, which is essentially the same thing, except he'll probably take it more seriously, and he's got more stuff to show off.

So read it if it fancies you, I'll make somewhat regular updates and post pictures of WIP and finished models.

If you're reading this you've most likely come from Penny Arcade Forums, so, uh, hi.

I have just recently (read: a couple weeks ago) discovered WM/Hordes, and well, I'm in love. I have purchased Warmachine Prime: Remix and a Khador Battlegroup, and I'm working on it right now. I love that all the races in both games are interesting and unique, and the models are top notch. Also because I really, really can't stand Games Workshop.

I picked Khador because I'm Russian and have a softspot for Soviet/Czarist inspired fantasy stuff, as well as because the models are badass, and the warjacks really are walking tanks.

In a bit of misfortune, my dear Kommander Sorscha has broken the head of her Frostfang, so I'll be trying to find a tiny drill bit and getting a pin vise now. At least these models deserve it, heh. Let me know if you have any tips.

~Max