Empire Troops for Kings of War part 2

The Wizard and the mounted scouts I mentioned last post are done (bar any varnish/anti shine I decide to use).

The wizard got a new staff head from the Empire cannon sprue (I think it was part of the metal work holding the barrel in place).  The figure itself is quite an old one, and the horse is from Battle Masters, an old G.W. MB Games boardgame.  I am particularly pleased with the way the sword blade came out, I was aiming for a blade of obsidian with veins of heat running through.  As the figure was originally one of the Bright Wizards (who specialise in fire magic) this seemed appropriate.  The sword blade seemed too thick for a normal metal blade so I feel this explains it a bit.

The Pistolliers are the old two part metal ones, the leader being a mixture of different parts (including the horse, one of the first G.W. plastic horses).

I am happy with the paint jobs.  In the end they were all pretty much done from scratch, but they were the least painted of the figures I had sorted out for my Kingdoms of Men.  The rest can take to the field for now, though I will do some touching up at some point.

Games Workshop Empire Troops in Mantics' Kings of War

Kingdom and Empire

I have mentioned some time ago that I have plenty of GW's Empire figures and that I intended one day to sort them out into a Kingdoms of Men army for Kings of War.  Well to paraphrase Aragorn, "today is that day".

The reason I have switched armies is Age of Sigmar.  A great deal has been said about this, I don't want to get into an argument over it, suffice to say, it's not for me, and I suspect quite a lot of WFB players are now looking at their armies and thinking 'what shall I do with these?'

I stopped playing Warhammer Fantasy several years ago and switched to Kings of War.  I think it gives me a quicker, more enjoyable game that feels like tactics are rewarded rather than who has the newest monster.  My Kingdom and Empire project is designed to show WFB players with existing collections that KoW very easily works with other figures, and building an army is pretty straight forward.

When KoW came out the humans list was designed to cover many different manufacturers ranges, and you could easily pick out the troop types to represent Empire (and Bretonnia for that matter).  I understand that Mantic are bringing out a book of army lists that cover other fantasy races such as lizardmen, and that the 'Empire of Rhodia' is an Empire analogue, complete with halflings!  However, I am sticking to KoM for this as it covers more of my existing figures.

I finally found my carry case of Empire, lost deep in the 'Loft of Shame'.  First shock; despite foam packing there was quite a bit of damage.  Second shock; did I really used to paint like that?
Anyway, I soon sorted out a regiment of cavalry and two of infantry, with a troop to accompany each regiment on the battle field.  Each regiment allows me to take a hero or a war machine, so a general, a wizard and a cannon later and I have near 1000 points.  A magic item or two will bring me up to a round 1000 points, just nice for quick demo games.

A Bit of a Fixer-Upper
I mentioned some damage; the knights needed extensive repairs, those lances didn't last well.  The wizard had dismounted, lost the end of his staff and his horse had lost its base, otherwise all that was needed was a few fillers in units short of the count.  As for repainting, I decided to completely redo the wizard and the scouts, (pistolliers), the rest could wait.

P.S. Just a quick note; Kings of War second edition is currently being printed, but today (Friday 10th July) they are releasing a pdf of the second edition quick play booklet.  Its free, and certain to be more than four pages long, and is available here.

P.P.S.  I should point out that the army lists are a separate download and are not quite complete.  i understand there was an issue with typos etc, and the full version will be released soon.
That said, the rules are complete, if not yet formatted quite as they will be in the finished book, so go forth and battle.

*EDIT*

The wizard and scouts can be seen here.

Birthday Bonus Sale

Not my birthday I hasten to add.

Heroic Maps, whose products I have mentioned before, are having a birthday sale.  They have some very nice floor plans for small dungeon bashes, and larger geomorphic products for bigger adventures.  

My favourites are perhaps the encounter sized pieces. Try them out while the price is generous.

Deadzone AAR: Enforcers vs Martians!

I haven't posted much about actual game play yet.  I had a game of Deadzone the other week, and whilst I won't post a full batrep, here's a few pictures to show the great scenery.

My gaming buddy (sometimes known as T'Other One) had set up his awesome terrain, all I had to do was turn up with 70 points of troops, in my case Enforcers as that's all I really have painted.  

First problem, I couldn't find many of my Enforcers, so had to borrow some unpainted troops.  Even so, 70 points doesn't buy many Enforcers.  

I was expecting to face Plague, as I knew that was what my opponent had.  I had forgotten that he also had Mars Attacks, and that Mantic have provided game cards and stats to include them in Deadzone.

Second surprise, a Giant Stompy Robot!

Which was big enough to reach characters on tall buildings.

The robot pretty much dominated the battlefield, and the battle

Towards the end of the game the Enforcer sergeant desperately tries to take down the GSR.

The game was hugely enjoyable.  Quite a lot of stopping to look up rules, but if I play more often that should improve.  As neither side knows what the other needs to do to gain victory there is a lot of second guessing.  As it happens I needed to keep more than half of my force alive for as long as possible.  So there were times when I moved troops back rather than forward to maintain this.

I was hampered by the GSR's habit of setting my troops on fire. Although they were quite good at putting out the flames, it wasted time, and the Martian with Freeze Ray kept my heavy weapons troop out of the game for quite a while, (he was the one with the best chance of taking out the GSR).

Once my assault enforcer got behind enemy lines and started cracking Martian helmet domes, I was able to turn things around, but the game was very tense right up to the end.

Now to get some of my huge Deadzone pile painted, perhaps marauders (the orcs of the Warpath universe)

Just had a series of texts from T'other One detailing a solo campaign he has just played using the zombies and the solo 'artificial stupidity' rules.  It sounds great fun, and proof that the solo rules do work.

Reaper Bones 3 Kickstarter Launches

More Kickstarter Madness

Unless you have been living under an Earth Elemental for the last month or so, you are probably aware of Reaper's impending Bones 3 kickstarter campaign.

I like their minis and will be going in for this one, just like Bones 1 and Bones 2.  They have teased some lovely minis on their forum, the biggy this time looks likely to be a five headed dragon.
Happy kickwatching everyone.

*EDIT*
Well its live and funded in around 3 minutes

Painting Mantic Games' Kings of War Goblin Cavalry part 5

Goblin Hood, Goblin Hood, Riding through the Wood

Finished at last!  For a quick army these are taking some time to do.  Maybe if I spent less time reading other people's blogs....

The finished minis are pinned to one of the bases I prepared back in April.

I'm pretty pleased with these, I think the overall effect is good.  I am looking out for some 'leaf litter' to add, but otherwise all that needs doing is sticking magnetic basing on the bottom.

Next up either some trolls, a war machine or some characters, or possibly a re-basing project I need to finish soon for a different game system.

Painting Mantic Games' Kings of War Goblin Cavalry part 4

Matt the Goblin

A quick post of the goblins in all their matt goodness.

I think the shading of the dip looks fine . The process is fast and well worth trying, though I may be tempted to give a quick drybrush just to highlight.

That said, they are supposed to be a quick paint job, so it can wait until everything is based up.