Nuport's Mariners

Nuport's Mariners and some objective markers

 This weekend, I finished up painting my second Arkanaut Company.  This completes my 1,500 point army.  I did some minor conversions to the Company Captain to turn him in Kris Nuport.  Captain Nuport has some relics from before the the Kharadon's took took the sky.

This week, I am starting on the Novamarines Repulsor.  Part of this is in the vain hope that GW announces that a unit other than the Arkanaut Company is a Battleline unit before I work on my last 500 points up to 2,000 points.

Captain Nuport, surrounded by his Mariners

Captain Nuport's antecatalysm axe head

Kemist and Riggers

The Mistress's Endrinriggers

Aether Kemist Bob Boyl

This past weekend, I finished up the two new units I adding in my 1,500 point army.  The Aether-Kemist Bob Boyl and the Endrinriggers of the Mistress.  The scheme I have going for my Kharadon's has turned out to be both rewarding and straightforward now that I have painted a bit more than 20 individuals and 2 ships.  Next up is a unit of 10 more Arkanauts to round out the 1.5k list.  After that, 10 more Arkanauts and either an Ironclad or Frigate and another unit of Endrinriggers.

I also played a 1.5k point game Saturday night.  For that I turn to Drakeslayer's log.

The Harlot Lets Fly

The Harlot

This past weekend, I painted the Screening Harlot, a Gunhauler.  This completed my 960 point Kharardon Overlords army.  It is illegal under Matched Play due to not having a second Arkanaut Company (my only Battleline).

Painting the runes on the ships I think gives them a lot of character that they would be lacking otherwise.  It breaks up the blue on the hulls nicely.  It went pretty quickly, thanks to knowing what most of the scheme would be.  I also showed off the completed army at my FLGS, Lost Planet and got lots of compliments.

Next up is increasing Hawkjn's Spears (Skywardens) to a total of six and giving them a Grappling Hook to make them even speedier, better enabling an alpha strike against a threatening unit.  I intend to follow those three up with a second Arkanaut Company, making the army legal!  This will leave me with 320 points for 1,500 points.

My intent is to add an Ather-Kemist (140 pts) and possibly a three-balloon unit of Endrinriggers (120 pts).  This again leaves me with 60 points remaining at 1,500 points.  Going up to 2,000 points is morphing as I consider my options.  Another unit of Arkanuts is necessary for RAW Matched Play, leaving me with 440 points...  maybe an Ironclad or a second Frigate and more balloons and be down 40 points.  🤔

Admiral Drake, Navigator Kouk, Kilpford's Gang aboard the Mistress, Hawkjn's Spears, and the Harlot

Dead Crew and Colors

This past weekend, I got in two more games and spent most of Sunday painting up the Dwarfs.  I really only have the ships left before moving onto the 1,500 point list, which may morph based on lessons learned at 1,000 points.

Admiral Frank Drakeslayer

Yet more demons and this time with corrupt men. We were overwhelmed by their numbers yet again. We couldn't keep them at cannon range for long. Between their lord and warriors we became tied up and unable to secure the treasures on the field. Our starboard flank collapsed as Hawkins and his spears were swept from the field by warped knights of Tzeentch. Navigator Kouk found himself surrounded by them! I need a larger squadron for these expeditions!

Admiral Drakeslayer

Failing against Angels and Demons

Capt Nuport of the Righteous Courtesan

This past week, I continued to work on painting up more of my Barak-Mhornar crewmen and on Saturday evening played two games.

I settled into the paint scheme and completed 9/10 Arkanauts.  I also steadily base coat more Duardin minis (including those on ships), getting them up to the state of the Skywardens.

Lastly, I assembled my second Arkanaut Company, Nuport's Mariners.  Capt Nuport carries anteruina axe of his ancestors.  He and his crew are aboard the Righteous Courtesan - ᛕᚻᚱᛅᚦᛋ.

I also named out all the ships, characters, and units up to roughly 3000 points of minis (~1000 points in battalion warscrolls).

Game and Build

I have switched gears to building out stuff for Age of Sigmar instead of Warhammer 40k for a little bit.   My 1,000 points Tempest's Eye list is steadily coming together and I am getting paint onto some of the core stuff.  I have some solid ideas for adding 500 points, but the second set of 500 points (total of 2,000 points) is still being thought out.

On Saturday, I played a game against Seraphon (lizardmen) using most of what my final list will be.  It was a good game that came down to playing the objectives.  In turn 2,  I thought I had no chance when I lost 400 points in a single turn.  However, I managed to steadily decimate my adversaries stuff and my flanking maneuver with Skycutter and Gyrocopter managed to capture objectives and put pressure on his back field.  Afterwards, discussing the game, we realized areas where we took liberty with the rules. Despite this, overall fun and only way to learn is to play more.

I also built out three more Handgunners, these three are the Dwarf members.  Now to find human figures to convert.

Dwarfs in Age of Sigmar

I mentioned in my first impressions of the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar rules, that I would take out my Dwarf collection and build some armies from the models I have.  I am going to focus on three ways of building an Age of Sigmar list.  The first I call the "Rule of Cool."  I went through my collection and pulled out some of what I think are the coolest models (and thus models that others will likely purchase).  The second will be fielding a War Scroll organization, maybe two!  The last I will walk through and build a list using the Azyr Composition guide put out there by the Louisville, Kentucky wargaming community.

In discussions with my local group, the opinion has been expressed that the old armies/modelsare likely to be under powered and even with well-intentioned carry-over rules are likely to not perform or be as fun as playing Age of Sigmar with models and forces designed for the game.  Initially, this really only is the Stormcast Eternals or Khrone Bloodbound. I suspect there will be a steady release of forces over the next six months.

Dwarf Nobles

The nobles of Odinfir's Throng

Tonight, I have completed all the Dwarf Lords and Heroes, except for the Dragonslayer/Demonslayer.  Tomorrow, I will seal them with Purity Seal.  I have not gone to the n-th detail on these models; my evolving painting style means the large areas of armor and beards do not get a lot of individual detailing.

One of my disappointments is that the images are just not as sharp as I would like.  After the break, I have pictures of the four newly painted lords/heroes.

Odinfir, Dwarf Lord & 2 battles in M41

Odinfir taking a swing

For my FLGS Fantasy campaign, I am fielding Odinfir as my main character.  He is a Lord on Shieldbearers with a shield and a great weapon to start off.  No magic items, argh!  Sadly, I did not get the opportunity to field Odinfir and his throng against Chaos Demons this weekend.  My opponent never got back to me.

The last step the the Dwarf Lord will be sealing him, but that may wait until I have a few more characters to seal.  I am thinking my next model will be either a Runesmith with great weapon or a Thane with the Battle Standard.  After those two, it will leave two Thanes to paint up.

In other news, got in two games of Warhammer 40,000 this weekend.  A game Friday night, my Eldar (1,000 pts) allied with Astra Militarum (1,000 pts) against Chaos Crimson Slaughter (2,000 pts).  My game Sunday was 2,000 pts, Ultramarines vs Nurgle Chaos Space Marines.

Gyrocopter & Lord

Odinfir throng vanguard

This past week and weekend I worked on my Dwarf Gyrocopter. It was a fun model to paint with nice detailing that the paint really reveals.

My FLGS has just begun a Warhammer Fantasy narrative campaign and for my forces, the Gyrocotper is a critical scouting unit.  In the lead up to the first game, the daring pilot sighted an area of interesting ruins.

I settled a few months ago on red as a unifying color for my Dwarf throng.  I used blue here to more closely associate the Gyrocopter with the sky.  I think I will eventually get at least a second one to run a two ship.  I really like the models and they may just fill the need for Dwarf cavalry.

Cannon Crew!

I hand painted the main cannon featured here months ago.  It was an opportune time to paint up its crew and base the cannon as well.  The crew was painted using basic techniques outlined in "How to Paint Citadel Miniatures."

Cannon and Crew

Gunpowder Core and Beyond

Second Regiment of Thunders

Just finished painting up my second Thunder regiment.  These are from the Battle of Skull Pass and will not be used WYSIWYG.  In games, this unit will have shields and the veteran will not have the handguns.

Runesmith & pseudo-Bachelor

I spent the day at my FLGS painting a Runesmith for my Dwarfs.   For the next 10 days or so, I am a pseudo-Bachelor and have a bit more me-time.  This means more opportunity to paint, just have to be motivated to, spending time at the store does that.

Also, I need to make a "new" list, because no-artillery list was just not doing it. Warmachines really are critical to a Dwarf army.  Where other armies can forgo warmachines, relying on monstrous creatures and magic to weaken hard hitting units, Dwarfs lack both options.  Time to add back in the Organ Guns and Cannons.

Taking Back the Dark

Had a nice long weekend of gaming!  I spent Friday evening (8 to midnight) at the store hanging out and painting Irondrakes.  I followed it up with a 2000 pt game and finishing Irondrakes on Saturday (2ish to midnight)!  My Taking Back the Dark list (after the break) was utterly destroyed by the Dark Elves I faced (Dark Elf Sisters of Slaughter negate a lot of the advantages that Dwarfs get).

Irondrakes, The Red Embers

Irondrakes

This weekend I put in some time on my new Irondrakes.  I have used them twice now in 1,000 pt games and they have been superb!  I really enjoy playing my "Taking Back the Dark" theme, I probably needs a better name. I may theme it as an Eight Peaks force eventually.

Birthday & Taking Stock

Today, I turned 30.  This means a few gifts and is a good time to review the projects in the list.  Since the release of the new Dwarf armybook, I have picked up a box of Longbreads/Hammers and Ironbreakers/Irondrakes.  For my birthday, I received a new Runesmith/Runelord (pictured) and a Gyrocopter/Gyrobomber.  This all adds to the long list of unpainted Dwarfs I have allowed to languish, nascent Eldar Alaitoc, and the numerous auxiliary Space Marine vehicles.

Runesmith

Narrow Defeat and Motivation

Yesterday, I played a 2,000 pt Warhammer Fantasy game against Dark Elves (sorry no pics, list after the break).  The Dwarfs performed admirable. The Organ Gun earned Most Valuable Unit for me, letting loose somewhere around 15 shots per turn on average and cutting down pointy-eared cavalry and infantry alike.  A unit of Slayers also took to the field, but found itself under withering fire from Repeater Crossbows followed by facing Sisters of Slaughter.  As I discussed with my opponent, playing games inspires painting and modeling and so I need to paint up the second cannon (below), Slayers, Runesmith, and then figure out what follows.

Dwarf Cannon (sans basing)

New Dwarfs & Regiments of Renown

Exciting weekend of Warhammer Fantasy!  Got in three games of Regiments of Renown (2-1) and picked up a box of the new Hammers/Longbeards and ordered the Limited Edition Dwarf Army Book.  This meant late last week I was busy updating some older dwarfs and even starting up some Slayers (pictured).

Howarth's Bar