Nemesis, Flowers, Blightkings, Ghosts, and Others...

 My order from Fenris Workshop arrived today... 

The primary reason for the order was picking up the third campaign for Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - NEMESIS! We'll be starting this in March - when Amanda gets back from her little vacation... 

Since I was ordering from them, I decided to pick up a BUNCH of flowers for basing. Regular grass tufts and shrubs of all varieties of greens and browns are available at Dragon's Den Games... but not colourful flowers! These should last a while!

and then I picked up a few used miniatures... Some Putrid Blightkings (to fill out a unit of ten that I'm basing on 32mm bases to call Rotswords) a pair of Nighthaunt Heroes (Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed  and a Guardian of Souls), an old metal Dark Elf Sorceress and an old metal Necromunda Bounty Hunter (both minis I've seen and thought looked really cool... but I've only ever seen being sold for $30-60... these were less than $15 each!) 

The metal ones I might strip the paint off of... the others, I'll probably just paint over! 

This puts me at 19 x 28mm foot and 1x 28mm mounted miniatures purchased... and 32 x 28mm miniatures painted. Still ahead! 

Dire Wolves

I picked up these wolves over a year and a half ago when I picked up the Fangs of the Blood Queen Dawnbringers box. I needed the Fell Bats for Night Wars and that was a way to pick them up - and some other Soulblight Gravelords stuff - at a bit of a discount!  I just didn't get to painting the Dire Wolves... (or the vampire that came in the box, for that matter!). Now that I have a copy of Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - Nemesis on the way, I finally found some motivation to knock them out quickly... I think what kept me from getting them done was colours - I agonized over how to to a pack of wolves with some variance in colours... This week I decided, fuck it, they're evil undead fantastical wolves from a fictional realm.... they can all be BLACK!! 

Dire Wolves! 

ALL of my other Soulblight Gravelords models are on flagstone bases, but that felt like it might look odd for these - especially since many of them had large boulders incorporated into the model and I thought they'd look funny just sitting on the flag stones. I guess I could have made them look like rubble...? As it is, I did them all on rocky bases painted the same colour as the flagstone so they could blend in a bit and it COULD be rubble in a city OR it COULD be rocky mountainous terrain!? 

Once I'd decided on just painting their coats black, these went VERY quickly! 

Most of the Vampire Heroes I have are named characters of the Vyrkos Dynasty. The fluff suggests some relationship with wolves - like maybe they're descended from Wolves or something? Belladamma Volga (one that I don't have) can have a meatshield of Dire Wolves. When I have megalomaniacal dreams of possible armies, I sometimes think of an entire Soulblight Gravelords army based around the Vyrkos Heroes and just packs and packs of wolves... It would probably be total crap as a competitive army... but it would look cool and be very thematic! 

(Well now I HAD to math it out... If I picked up Belladamma Volga and Ivya Volga - the two Vyrkos characters I don't have - I'd need another FIVE packs of Dire Wolves to make a 2000 point army... and that would be just a bit under $500CAD...) 

It felt like they were HUGE while I was painting them..probably because, in my minds eye I was comparing them to ancient metal Wolves I had... 

I think the one on the round base is from Westward Productions and the goblin wolf-rider is a metal Marauder Miniature from the 1990s that I still haven't stripped and repainted! 

I'm not suggesting this is BAD thing. I think it is apropos that they be HUGE and TERRIFYING... they are DIRE wolves, after all!! 

Comparing them to modern Vyrkos Dynasty Vampires, though... they're kind of perfect! 

With Radukar the Wolf

With Kritza the Rat Prince

With Lady Annika

Somparing them to the Vampires on their flagstone bases, I kind of feel like maybe I need to hit the bases with another dry-brushing of a slightly lighter grey...? to make them match the tone of the flagstone a bit better - but also seeing them on the game table, it will make a bit better contrast between the bases and the wolves... Will I get around to doing this any time soon...? Maybe...? 

I still have the Vargheists, a unit of Grave Guard, and the Necromancer to finish up for Nemesis, but we won't be playing for almost three weeks, so I'll easily get those done. The Vargheists came with the Soulblight Gravelord Bloodcrave Hunt Spearhead army, so getting them done will get me a bit closer to finishing those as well - I'll just have the five Blood Knights to finish up! (Then we'll see some Vamp-on-Vamp violence versus Orion's Soublights!) 

First Purchases of 2026

Technically, the stuff below aren't really the first purchases of 2026... I bought some stuff on Friday... but that was mail ordered and won't be here until later in the week and I don't really count things that aren't in my grubby little hands yet! 

It is BECAUSE of said purchases that I wandered on over to the Dragon's Den and bought the stuff below. 

Fenris Workshop had a copy of Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - NEMESIS! The THIRD campaign in the trilogy - long out of print and I'd kind of given up the idea that we'd ever play it as the only copies I'd seen available were hundreds of dollars! The copy Fenris had was still in shrink-wrap and not too unreasonably priced! So I bought it! (and since I was ordering from them, I also picked up a BUNCH of flowery tufts for basing and a small handful of used miniatures). 

Luckily, the required miniatures for Nemesis include Varghiests, Dire Wolves, Grave Guard, a Wight King and a Necromancer. I already HAVE Varghiests and Dire Wolves and a Wight King... I just needed a Necromancer and the Grave Guard.... 

So I picked up the Necromancer and Grave Guard at the Dragon's Den. 

I should be able to knock these out pretty quick. I've already started on the Dire Wolves - which is what's distracted me away from the Pestigors. We won't be playing ANY Warhammer Quest until March, anyway, because Amanda is very suddenly off on a little vacation for the latter half of February! 

(I guess if I finished up the Pestigors, I COULD just play through the whole campaign with OTHER PEOPLE while she's away!) 

(I could probably play through it a FEW times!) 

For our Tuesday evenings, however, we'll probably return to play in March with Cursed City Nemesis... and THEN when we're done that Amanda, Finnegan and I will play through Warhammer QuestL Darkwater.

(but, yeah, I might just play it with others - or solo it myself - while she's away!) 

This puts me at 22 painted, 11 purchased for the year so far. Another 8 foot and 1 mounted are arriving with the Fenris Order. I'm hoping by the time it arrives I'll have finished either the Pestigors or the Dire Wolves (or maybe BOTH!?) which would be another 18-20 miniatures (depending on whether I can find some of the old beastmen I have squirrelled away to use as stand-in pestigors or not - to make it a full unit of 10!?) 

In another couple weeks, the Battleforce: Disciples of Tzeentch – Warpflame Cavalcade will be arriving, which will be adding almost another FORTY miniatures!! It's actually thirty-six little Daemons, an Exalted Flamer (which is big enough I'd classify as "Mounted/Small Beastie") and a Herald of Tzeentch on Burning Chariot and a Lord of Change - Greater Daemon of Tzeentch (both of which would be classified as "Vehicles/Bigger Beasties"). This will bring the total purchased/acquired to 55.

Can I get another 33 x 28mm foot miniatures painted in the next two weeks - to keep me "in the black" in that category at least...? Maybe... Maybe not... Regardless, these graveyard should be pretty quick and easy to knock out, so if I could finish these AND the Pestigors AND the Dire Wolves, I'd be CLOSE - and within the next week or so, I'd be able to finish up a few others bringing the painted back higher than the purchased!! 

I am trying really hard to keep from adding too much to the collections this year - and definitely want to keep it lower than the amount I paint. I'd would be nice to paint twice as many as I purchase, but I'm not going to do anything silly like make a proclamation that I will be doing so! 

The Cankerborn

The Cankerborn are some Nurgle Daemons that were included in Warhammer Quest: Darkwater. They are born of despoiling the realm itself, especially place of power (like the Jade Abbey!) 

The Cankerborn

According to the latest Battle Profiles, the Cankerborn are HEROES....?! They can include any Daemon in a regiment they command!? I absolutely DO NOT need MORE heroes to lead more regiments, though! Luckily, these two can be included in Gelgus Pust's or the Great Unclean One's regiments as a "Plague Scion" - or, apparently, in a regiment commanded by Belga the Cystwitch...? So that's where they'd be fielded if ever I was playing with a game big enough I needed to include these! 

(They can also be included in a regiment commanded by Festus the Leechlord or Rotigus... but it's not likely I'll be picking up either at any point in the immediate future!) 

I've also been working on the Pestigors this weekend, but probably won't finish them up until early this next week... I actually have an exam on Monday I need to spend SOME time today studying for!? 

Then it's just Belga the Cystwitch and the three heroes (and familiar.. and a few tokens...) and I'll be DONE all of the Warahmmer Quest: Darkwater miniatures!! 

Pox-Wretches

Pox-Wretches are the lowliest of Nurgle's Rotbringer minions. Human cultists that revel in filth and disease. I imagine they could easily be mistaken for zombies, except that they move faster and slightly better at fighting (The have the same stat profile as Deathrattle Skeletons - except they move 5" instead of 4")

Pox-Wretches 

These came with Warhammer Quest: Darkwater.

I painted them very quickly - just doing my rusty metal mix and then blocking in basic colours and then I sloshed the whole model with Agrax Earthshade. The look a bit of a mess on close inspection... but they're SUPPOSED to look a bit of a mess!! 

The Mire Kelpies were on the same frame, so in Age of Sigmar they are included in the unit as tokens that can be expended to help spread disease against their opponents in combat.

A fun little addition to my growing Maggotkin of Nurgle army and a large chunk of the miniatures I needed to finish to get started on Warhammer Quest: Darkwater! 

All the Darkwater Hostiles stuff so far! 

I still have eight Pestigors that I'd like to finish before we start the campaign! They shouldn't take TOO long as I was trying to get them done for the first time we tried playing Warhammer Quest: Darkwater... but had to abandon them when it became clear I just wasn't going to finish them AND get ANY sleep... 

After the Pestigors, there are just a few more characters and monsters to finish up - Belga the Cystwitch, the two Cankerborn and the three other Heroes; Kelthannor, Drasher Vorn, and Jacobus Vyne (with his familiar, Wisper).

I hope to get them ALL done before the long weekend - just a week away! 

Once I have all the Darkwater stuff finished, it will be back to working on the rest of the Maggotkin of Nurgle and Sylvaneth stuff... and then maybe some Tzeentch stuff, as that is being released a little earlier than I expected!! 

All the Maggotkin of Nurgle stuff, so far.. In addition to the Pestigors and Belga the Cystwitch and the Cankerborn... I have a unit of Rotmier Creed, four Pusgoyle Blightlords, five Putrid Blightkings (which I may put on 32mm bases and call Rotswords) and a Harbinger of Decay to finish up... 

Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - Night Wars 15 - The FINAL BATTLE...?

 In Ulfenkarn, dead is, sometimes, only a temporary state of affairs... 

Despite having decapitated all three Vampire lords, burning their bodies and scattering the ashes to the winds... a rumour caught in our heroes' ears that ALL THREE had been somehow resurrected... AGAIN... and were prowling in the crypts below the city... 

("Plot Armour", Muthafukkaz! You just CAN NOT KILL a named character!!) 

The crypts below Ulfenkarn. 

Kritza the Rat Prince, lurking as far from the heroes as possible... 

(I love that this is where he started, snivelling coward that he is... it was disappointing that his action table always has him moving towards the nearest Hero, instead of trying to flee from them - as he DID in the Decaptiation Journey - and let the constantly respawning minions try to deal with the Heroes!)

Carmilla Du Sang and her Fell Bats and Kosargi Nightguard bodyguard

Lady Annika, the Thirsting Blade, was also lurking in the crypts... I just forgot to take a picture of her... 

The Fell Bats swooped in and snatched Brutogg away carrying him back to their mistress... 

Octren Glimscry ran off after them but encountered a horde of Corpse Rats... He quickly snorted some gravesand and stared at them all menacingly and made the lot of them explode, one by one... 

With the rats out of the way, Qulathis sprinted past the gore-spattered room in which they'd dwelt to aid their beefy friend Brutogg... Her arrows missed the deftly dodging Vampire Lord and couldn't even connect with the Fell Bats! Not wanting to stick around and be a target for the Vampire Lord and her minions, she sprinted back to Octren, abandoning Brutogg! 

Lady Annika swept forward with her Vyrkos Blood-Born minions... the room where Brutogg had been dragged to was so crowded, these deadly foes couldn't even get in to attack the Ogor! 

Brutogg shoulder-barged past the Fell Bats and took a swing at Carmilla Du Sang... and it connected... HARD!! 

Glaurio ven Alten III caught up to his bulky friend and fired his pistols, finishing off the deadly Vampire Lord!! 

Glaurio and Brutogg then pounded and shot Lady Annika who seemed to be frozen with shock at the sight of Du Sang's death! 

Qualathis returned at this point and started shooting arrows into the room 

Octren snorted some MORE Gravesand and then destroyed every Fell Bat in the room... 

Seriously, I think it's beginning to become a problem. They might have to have an intervention soon... 

Brutogg them pulped Kritza the Rat Prince... and... that... that was it... 

The heroes just had to survive the remaining attacks of the Vampire Lords minions until they realized their masters were gone and fled themselves (the end of the Round) 

Brutogg was once again carried away by the Fell Bats, who them failed to even scratch the towering bulk of muscle and menace! 

And there was much rejoicing... 

Seriously, I think it took three rounds...? It probably took longer to set up than it did to play through!

 The scenario LOOKED really tough... again... With Carmilla Du Sang on the table (Carmilla has an ability that shuts down all empowerments - which are one of the things that made the Heroes extremely powerful and, in some cases, kept them alive against these really powerful foes! So, obviously, she was the first priority...)... and some serious damage dealing foes... 

Butogg got a VERY lucky hit in against Carmilla Du Sang on the FIRST ROUND and then Glaurio got in a couple of lucky shots and finished her off... and.. that was about it. It went downhill rapidly for the Vampires after that. With Glaurio's YOU-CAN'T-DODGE-THESE-BULLETS realm stone-empowered pistols, they were quickly dealt with - part of what makes them such powerful enemies is their ability to dodge attacks. About 50% of the time - give-or-take, depending on which vampire - when you do damage, they just ignore it... Glaurio had a weapon enhancement that disallowed ignoring his weapons' damage! 

So... that's it for this campaign! Ulfenkarn is liberated! Huzzah!!

(Actually there was a page to turn to and passage to read among all the crises tables which said Radukar shows up and laughs at the heroes and reanimates the vampires and barges that they did exactly as he wished - put those vampires in their place for them, now they much bow down to his again, thanks a lot, suckaz! this is to set up the second expansion/third campaign Nemesis... which, I have read ends the same... you spend all this time fighting to build up characters to finally face the Boss Baddies.. only to read some narrative fluff that says "Jokes on you, they escape!" which is kind of lame...)

("Plot Armour", Muthafukkaz! You just CAN NOT KILL a named character!!) 

So... I guess I need to finish up the rest of the Warhammer Quest: Darkwater miniatures!! 

Initially we'd planned to start our family campaign next Tuesday, and then on the Family Day Long Weekend maybe play through the campaign - or at least one act - with some other friends... But then Amanda decided to go on a trip with a friend to Vancouver Island for two weeks, starting next week... so... we decided to forego playing this coming Tuesday (giving me a bit more time to paint miniatures, I guess...) and we'll start the family campaign in March when she's back! 

I may still play through the campaign on the long weekend - or, some other weekend in February (I have traditionally held game weekends/Minicons/campaigns in February to celebrate my birthday...?)

If you've been reading along through all FOURTY-FOUR episodes of this campaign, thank-you! Hope you enjoyed the ride and the end wasn't too much of a disappointment. Despite GW's attempt to yank the rug out with the HA-HA! THEY GET AWAY! BS we have all thoroughly enjoyed playing if over the last year! 

I'd hoped we'd be able to do the same with Warhammer Quest: Darkwater, but given the new format of the campaign system, that seems unlikely. We'll likely have played through it (possibly multiple times!) before the end of the First Quarter!? Perhaps we'll return to Warhammer QuestL Blackstone Fortress after that..? Or we could play through Silver Tower... or maybe I'll just focus on Soulbound and try to run more regular role-playing games!!

Also... if you haven't read ALL of the game reports and want to (or just want to look back at some old ones or see where we started: the Warhammer Quest Gallery Page has been updated with links to EVERY Game Report for ALL the (fantasy) Warhammer Quest campaigns:

Warhammer Quest Gallery Page

(I should really do something similar for the Blackstone Fortress stuff at some point!!) 

January Games

I played a few games this past month. Here is what I got up to... 

Saturday, 3 January 2026

For the first game of the year, Amanda and I played a game of Age of Sigmar - Spearhead format. I am less keen on Spearhead these days, but I had recently finished painting all the necessary units for the Nighthaunt Cursed Shacklehorde, so Amanda gathered her Sylvaneth Bitterbark Copse and gave battle. We played in Shyish using the Sand & Bone gaming pack and fought in Dolorum. I managed to squeak out a victory - in terms of victory points... but there was very little left of my force at the end of the game... while most of Amanda's army was still intact and on the field of battle... 

You can read more about the clash here:

Age of Sigmar: Spearhead -  Sylvaneth and Nighthaunt in Dolorum

It was confusing to Amanda to switch back to Spearhead, because so many things are just slightly different than regular Age of Sigmar, which she was just starting to get her head around... We should probably just stick to regular Age of Sigmar... If I finish up more of the Spearhead armies I own... we could just use them for really small games of Age of Sigmar. Or I just play Spearhead games against Orion or others... 

Sunday, 4 January 2026

Sunday we got in our first game of Soulbound this year - carrying on with our What We Do in the Realm of Shadows campaign - where our undead "heroes" were still trapped in the Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch's Silver Tower! 

Saturday, 10 January 2026

On Saturday, Amanda and I walked over to our friends', Shannon and Kevin's, and played a game called Kingsburg - which I have never played before. 

In it you are a noble house and trying to gain influence at court to gain resources and build infrastructure and raise troops... 

The troops are to fight off invading forces that come every winter. Some of the infrastructure you build helps with that as well... but ultimately the game is decided by victory points. Some of which are from infulence gained or buildings and infrastructure built. There are annual awards for who has the most infrastructure built and who beat the enemy the most... 

I kind of felt like I was flailing and had no idea what I was doing most of the time... but somehow did rather well... I think a lot of it came down to the influence roll (3d6) and how you used your dice. I had incredibly average dice rolls. Amanda had more than a few turns with utter crap rolls... otherwise I think she would have done much better...? 

Tuesday, 13 January 2026

Tuesday we were back to playing Warhammer Quest after a bit of a break. Still trying to finish up the Cursed City - Night Wars campaign - this was the last of the Pillage Journeys! Next the heroes would face Kritza the Rat Prince in a Decapitaton Journey, and then, if that was successful... face all three of the Vampires again in a final boss battle!? 

Finnegan and I were both very, VERY tired and had pretty low energy and enthusiasm for this game... I had kind of considered postponing it... but then it would have taken even LONGER to finish off the campaign and I kind of just wanted it wrapped up... so we played on! 

Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - Night Wars 13 - Pillage Journey

Tuesday, 27 January 2026

After ANOTHER break (and cancelling a few other games!), we were back to playing Warhammer Quest. Getting SO CLOSE to finishing the Cursed City - Night Wars campaign! This evening the Heroes faced down Kritza the Rat Prince! 

It was a two-part scenario... first they had to defend Haven against assaults by Kritza's minions... 

Then they had to go hunt down Kritza, himself, in his palatial estate! 

Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - Night Wars 14 - Desperate Frenzy Decapitation Journey

There is only one more Journey to play to finish up Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - Night Wars... but that will have to wait until February - and then it's on to Warhammer Quest: Darkwater!! (If I can get the miniatures finished!!) 

Kind of a slower month... at least compared to DECEMBER!!