Warhammer Underworlds - Skirmish Fridays at the Warhammer Store AGAIN!

 I made it out to a second Skirmish Friday at the Warhammer Store this month - two weeks in a row!? This Friday was also Game Night at our place... but most of the Alternating Friday Game Nights didn't get going until almost 8pm, so I figured there would be time to ride out to the Warhammer Store, play a game or two, and get back around the time others were showing up... If I happened to be a little late, Amanda would be there and they could get something set up! 

I'd just finished painting Zondara's Gravebreakers a few days earlier, and just started reading through their cards the night before and I was REALLY EXCITED to try them out, so I only brought them along with their Rivals Decks. 

Sean was the first to arrive so I set up a game with him. 

Sean was playing Garrek's Reavers with Void-Cursed Thralls.

It was clearly a well-thought-out deck by a really good player... I don't think he was expecting how nasty the Zondara and Ferlain combo could get... 

At the end of the game he only had one or two of his guys left. It was a VERY CLOSE game, with Sean winning by one point! (I could have probably squeaked out a victory if I'd only properly read one of my 2-point objective cards which I tried to score at the end of the third round and realized I hadn't quite done it right - I was supposed to place three DIFFERENT objective tokens during the round... but I'd only done the same one three times... there HAD been two others that i coud EASILY have gotten to and moved... but I hadn't read and understood the card and... so... didn't... DOH!!) 

While we were playing Orion showed up and started a game with John, the store manager.

For out second game Sean dug out Mollog's Mob and a Nemesis deck built around Hungering Parasite - which was really funny, because just the day before I'd been reading through the cards of the Hungering Parasite deck and thinking; "This would be NASTY with Mollog's Mob!!

The Zondara and Ferlain combo took down Mollog in the end - but not before Felain took a good walloping from Mollog's Giant club. 

Again, really close and really fun to play against! 

The Warhammer Store was a lot quieter than when we played earlier in the week at The Den. So much easier to concentrate on what I was doing and hear what people were saying to me! Looking forward to playing there regularly (but not this coming Friday, as Amanda and I have tickets to go see a show!) 

Maybe it will just be Fridays and Sundays for now... 

I'm really having fun with Zondara's Gravebreakers... I think I need to sort out some sort of Nemesis deck(s) for them, along with Skabbik's Plaguepack... and maybe Grinkrak's Looncourt and Mollog's Mob...? or Wurmspat...? Those seem the most fun right now. 

These were the 48th and 49th game I've played of Warhammer Underworlds this year! I'd suggested in the last Quarterly Game Plan I'd suggested maybe I try playing TEN different warbands, TEN times each through the year! I'm not sure that's going to happen... I think one thing I'd like to try and do is (assuming I finish painting them all...) play ALL of the warbands I have at least once this year... AND maybe pick four (or five) that I'm going to try and play 15-30 times each - to actually get GOOD and playing them, and maybe even start forging a little NARRATIVE with them! 

Warhammer Underworlds - Tuesday at The Den

I've been wanting to play some MORE Warhammer Underworlds - and more two-player games! I love the four-player games Amanda and I play with Nic and Orion most Sundays... but it's really meant to be a two-player game and you can get away with stuff in four-player games that just won't work in a two-player game. 

Orion had been talking about getting a regular game night going at the Dragon's Den on Tuesdays again and now that the weather's nice, I really have no excuse, so we agreed to play on Tuesday night and try to make it a regular thing and get other people out to play. 

Orion was calling it Tuesday Night Nemesis at The Den... So I tried to put together a couple of Nemesis decks... 

At first I was trying to build a Nemesis deck with Skabbik's Plaguepack and Rimelocked Relics... but I just wasn't finding enough that I felt worked better than the stuff in Skabbik's Rivals Deck.... 

Then I tried putting something together with Wurmspat and the Rimewyrms Bite Rivals Deck... and was starting to feel like there was something there... possibly... but I just ran out of time and didn't get anything put together... 

Only Orion was there (to play Warhammer Underworlds) when I arrived. So we set up and started a game. 

There were other people there playing games... like a LOT of other people. There were about 30 people playing games in the back room of the den - most were paired off playing some sort of Collectible Card Game... Maybe Yu-Gi-Oh!? Or Lorcana...? I have no idea. Pretyy sure it wasn't Magic: The Gathering...?  All I know was IT WAS LOUD and I only heard about one in every four words that was said to me that night and my brain tried to autocomplete the rest... but mostly there was a lot of nodding and smiling and not having a CLUE what people were saying!? 

Really hoped it wasn't like that EVERY Tuesday. I mean, I am glad there is a very vibrant community of... whatever it was being played there... because hopefully that means there are a lot of people buying those games still and it will keep the Dragon's Den in business! But wow... I hope it was a special even and not just regular league night... 

Orion played the Crimson Court and I had Skabbik's Plaguepack. 

It was a short and brutal game. In the first round they killed half my warband.

Though I did manage to cornder and take out Prince Duvall before the slaughter began in earnest. 

Unfortunately this was a HIGE mistake on my part... should have just ingnored him and focused on my OWN objectives... Chasing after him meant taking my own rats too far from the objective tokens they NEEDED to get to, to score my objective cards and inspire my warband...

I will partly blame the noise and not being able to concentrate enough to read the cards or formulate a plan with them... 

By the end of the second round, only Skabbik was left. 

At the beginning of the Third round I ran him deep into enemy territory where, hopefully most of them wouldn't be able to reach Skabbik... Alas, only ONE of them needed to reach poor Skabbik... and my leader was taken out with their first activation in round three... 

Yikes... Orion won that game 14-4. 

Dan and Sean had showed up and started playing a game and Orion and I waited on them to finish up to switch things up.

For the second game I played against Sean, which was really fun! I've been hoping to meet him for a while and play games (he is friends with Orion and I'd heard a lot bout their games!) 

Sean was playing with Ironsoul's Condemnors, so I thought I'd pull out Magore's Fiends - because I'd brought it along... I figured it couldn't be too hard to play... charge and hit and kill things... 

It turned out we were BOTH playing with a Nemesis deck built around the Tooth and Claw Rivals deck. So we'd BOTH just be ignoring objectives and trying to kill each other! 

The only problem was I'd very quickly put the deck together for Amanda to play a month or so ago and hadn't really looked at it since... and it wasn't just as easy and "there they are, go get them!" ... and Sean knew what he was doing with his deck... 

He killed Magore in the first activation... and it went downhill from there...

I think I took out ONE of his Stormcast...? In the end he won 19-4.

Still, fun guy to play with. Really hope I can get in some more games with him! 

After I got home I tried again to put together a Nemesis deck and...I THINK I got one sorted out with Skabbik and Paths of Prophecy... I don't know... not sure how it will work out if I'm playing against something like Orion's Crimson Court and they just murder half my warband each round...!? I'll give it a shot... 

(though, right now, I'm more interested in playing with Zondara's Gravebreakers, which I finished painting the very next day!) 

Tuesdays may NOT become a regular thing at the Den, however, as Orion is now playing D&D every Tuesday... We've talked about maybe Mondays... but the Den isn't open late on Mondays, so... we'll have to figure something out!? 

Grombrindal, The White Dwarf

 Wasn't really PLANNING on doing this... buuuuuut.... 

I bought White Dwarf #500 this weekend....

...AND the special Grombrindal, the White Dwarf miniature  

Largely because the White Dwarf had rules (and cards!) for including Grombrindal in ALL THE GAMES: Warhammer Underworlds, Warcry, Age of Sigmar, and Warhammer Quest. All games I am interested in playing right now(though some more than others!) 

(already have him assembled!)

Warhammer Underworlds - Back on Sundays

After missing a Sunday or two, Nic and Orion were back this past Sunday to play some more four-player games of Warhammer Underworlds! 

It felt like forever, but it was really only two weeks since they'd been by to play... but it was two weeks between that and the previous game, too, so...? Maybe that's why it was feeling like we hadn't been playing so much. only two games in teh last month, instead of EVERY WEEK, like the previous month!?

For out first game we played in the Deathgorge. I brought out Skabbik's Plaguepack again. Nic tried out the freshly-painted Skinnerkin (which I had just finished the day before). Amanda wanted to try something totally new and selected Mollog's Mob. Orion played the Chosen Axes with a Rimelocked Relics Nemesis deck! 

I'm not sure WHY I though dashing onto this objective would be safe in the first round...? I mean, that little rat scored NO GLORY... why would they hit it!? 

I was blissfully unaware that Carnskry can just fly over things and deal damage while on their way to somewhere else... 

Ghouls coming after the rats! 

Fyreslayers and Carnskyr and Mollog's minions duking it out.. 

Mollog going THUMP! 

For my final move, I had Skabbik charge Fjul-Grimnir... and I actually HIT him... which only dealt 3... but then I played Rancid Vomit and skabbik puked on him dealing TWO MORE damage which too him out and scored me two more Glory! 

It wasn't enough to catch up... Orion still won with SIXTEEN Glory... both me and Nic had 13 and Amanda had 10... 

For out second game we played in the Mirrored City and everyone kept the same warbands, except Orion who switched out the Chosen Axes for Hexbane's Hunters.

 Spent my first round just trying to avoid enemy and get ONE of the Befoulders onto an objective in someone else's territory. The only objective in No One's Territory was waaaaaaay over on the border between Hexbane's, Mollog's and the Ghouls territory... and Mollog started the game immediately adjacent to it! 

Kind of just let them fight it out a bit... 

While everyone was fighting over on Hexbane's end of the table so I started moving out to seize Objectives! 

Then Mollog charged and thumped poor Itchitt... 

Was this my chance to to a scything attack against two Ghouls and Mollog?! Nope. Rabidious got thumped into skaven-like goo by Mollog before I could act again... 

Starting to feel like Mollog was picking on me... 

In my last activation, Poxlic ran from Objective #7 to that next next closest one (#9? the one slightly further from Mollog and the remains of Hexbane's Hunters in Mollog's territory) and then I had a gambit card that allowed me to push my leader and one minion one hex, which put Skabbik on Objective #7 in my own territory, Skritter onto an objective in Hexbane's territory and that allowed me to corrupt THREE territories at the end of the round and score Bringers of Ruination for three glory! (not that it helped.. Orion still won with 14 glory... but it was a bit closer!) 

It also denied Amanda scoring an objective for a second turn in a row which required no enemies being in her territory... 

Fun times. 

We'll be missing next Sunday, again, because Keiran is performing in a musical! Hopefully Sundays will be more open after that, though! 

Wizard? Artist? Maybe BOTH!?

 

Wizard? Painter? Maybe a bit of BOTH!? 

Sometime ago I picked up four different versions of this wizard/painter from Hasslefree miniatures. All four use the same dolly and are in, more or less, the same pose. The others are all wearing more clothes. Two of them also hold a paintbrush one is in Rennaisance clothes and the other is in late 19th century clothes (I think). The third has a crooked magic wand and looks like he's tooled up for Frostgrave (mediveal-ish looking and dressed for cold weather).

Why did I get THIS one?! I don't know... it made me laugh, I guess... I mean, what is going on here?! Painter just likes to work in the nude in his studio!? Maybe it's a wizard that channels through paint and can channel that power best when he is unburdened by clothes?!

I'd finished it and thought it looked a bit... boring...? and added the paint splashes... not convinced it made it better. But at some time you just have to say, "nope, I'm done with this" and move on... 

Will I EVER use this miniature in a GAME!? I have no idea. while painting stuff like this I often try to imagine situations where the miniature could show up in a scenario of a skirmish game or a role-playing game... but then often the situations don't work out as well as they did in my head and so sometimes I feel like they're probably better left there. 

Do YOU have any ideas where this dude could show up in a game? 

What game? 

What setting? 

WHAT'S GOING ON!?!?

Warhammer Quest - Cursed City Bat Swarms

Cursed City Bat Swarms

The Bat Swarms are one of the basic units of Hostiles - along with the Ulfenwatch, Deadwalker Zombies, and Corpse Rats... and maybe the Vyrkos Blood-Born...? (Though I think they don't show up until you've had a few adventures under your belt...?) Corpse Rats shouldn't be too hard to complete... and there are only three of the Vyrkos Blood-Born and they look easy enough... it's the Zombies I'm not thrilled about... so many ridiculous details... Not looking forward to painting those. 

I have the rats and Blood-Born on the workbench, along with a few more of the Heroes... maybe if I get enough heroes done and the other two units of hostile units I'll be close enough to playing that it will motivate me to push through the zombies!

maybe... 

hopefully...?! 

 (I also just finished up a batch of heroes - but they went in a Separate Post!)

Warhammer Quest Heroes

I FINALLY finished up a few Warhammer Quest Hero miniatures that have been sitting on the workbench for FAR TOO LONG! They're from two different Warhammer Quest sets! Two are from Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower and the others are from Warhammer Quest: Cursed City. 

Heroes of Warhammer Quest!

These two are from Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower. Unlike Blackstone Fortress and Cursed city, the characters in these earlier sets are not named. They are just "Excelsior Warpriest" and "Fyreslayer Doomseeker". 

I previously painted the Stormcast Eternals Knight-Questor from Silver Tower. If I painted up ONE of the others, we'd have enough to play through that one... well.. Enough HEROES... I'd still have to paint up ALL THE ENEMIES?! I do have a few of those painted up, thought... I have painted the Ogroid Thaumaturge, and a bunch of Blood Reavers and Horrors (thought I THINK the Blood Reavers are from Shadows over Hammerhal...?). There are some Kairic Acolytes and Tzaangors and a few little Grot Scuttlings and two Skaven... Then there is a Gaunt Summoner and a handful of familiars, but I think the Gaunt Summoner is the Big Bad at the end of the campaign...?

Finnegan played through the campaign ages ago with my dad (with UNPAINTED MINIATURES!). I'm hoping once the miniatures are painted he might be willing to play through it again with me (and maybe Amanda!) 

Emelda Braskov and Brutogg Corpse-Eater. 

Unlike Silver Tower and Shadows Over Hammerhal, the Cursed City Heroes (and Villains!) are all NAMED! 

These are the first two of the EIGHT heroes in the box that I've finished. Four are used in each mission, so I need at least two more to start playing. 

To get started on this I need to finish up some rat swarms and zombies - at the very least. There might be a few tokens that need painting... and there are The thought of painting those zombies, though... Kind of makes me want to work on the Kairic Acolytes and Tzaangors and  Grot Scuttlings and Skaven... 

We shall see...

(I also happened to finish up the batch of Bat Swarms, but they'll be in a separate post) 

Warhammer Underworlds - Skirmish Fridays at the Warhammer Store

Back in February a fellow named Jared had contacted me through this very blog stating he lived here in Saskatoon and asked if I'd be interested in playing a game. I suggested we try playing at the new Warhammer store (as Fridays in February just happened to be Warhammer Underworlds Game Nights). So we got together and played a few games there. 

Since then the warhammer store has changed from focusing on different Skirmish games each month (rotating betweein Kill Team, Warhcry and Warhammer Underworlds) and now just has a generic "Skirmish Game Fridays". 

I've been thinking a lot about trying to get out and play more games - and, in particular, more TWO-player games of Warhammer Underworlds! Orion and I have also been talking about trying to get a community of Warhammer Underworlds players... so I've been meaning to get out and start playing games on Fridays at the Warhammer store for some time... but Fridays just ended up being busy. 

About a month ago now ANOTHER local person had found my blog and, finding the Linktree on my blogger profile, sent me a note though Board Game Geek, inquiring if I'd be interested in playing a game! I suggested the Warhammer Store... but then the next three or for Fridays ended up being busy for me and it wasn't until this past Friday we both had the evening free and agreed to meet up! 

I got to the store super early, like over an hour early - as the "Skirmish Game Night" starts at 4pm and Dan couldn't get there until 5:30, and I thought I'd be able to possibly get in a quick game with... someone else...? If anyone showed....? 

In the end John, the store manager, and I decided to try and get in a quick game... 

John is a very friendly fellow and seems super keen to play Warhammer Underworlds, but hasn't gotten a lot of games in yet! He decided to play with his Sons of Velmorn and I brought out Skabbik's Plaguepack. 

Set up and ready to go! 

Skritter started things off making a run for an Objective Token deep in enemy territory. hoping he would waste an activation killing it - and getting no glory for it - or better yet, ignore it and leave it there as Skritter is a behouler and, even though it is a beast and can't HOLD objectives, to corrupt a territory a befouler only need to be ON an objective!  

A bit of a skirmish developed near No One's Territory with Velmorn himself. Rabidious took a swing at him, dealing three damage! 

I love the colour on John's bases that kind of match the colours on the Shadespire/Nightvault boards! 

At the end of the first round it happened that THREE of undead warriors were all in No One's Territory, and the King was vulnerable (only one wound remaining)... As I had Befoulers on THREE objectives in three territories I corrupted EVERYTHING and everyone in my warband inspired and beginning round two, staggered all those undead next to my befouler and then Itchitt, for the only time in the seven games I've played with these, read from the BOOK OF WOE.... 

Reading from the Book of Woe is a special action Itchitt has. When Itchitt does so I roll a magic die for each enemy in the same territory as me and if I roll Focus (when unispired - 33% chance of success) or Channel (when inspired - 50% chance of success) one wound is dealt. As Itichitt was now inspired and I had a 50% chance of dealing a wound... I went for it - desperately hoping to succeed on Velmorn, and I DID!! Boom... Velmorn gone! I don't even remember if I hit either of the others!? 

I don't really remember the rest of the game.. 

One thing i DO remember was on TWO occasions my skaven were hit with two successes and I rolled a crit defence on my single defence die (the ONLY roll that could have saved me)! Both occasions were against opponents that would have taken my fighters out with one successful hit! That, along with taking out Velmorn with the Reading from the Book of Woe really won the game for me. 

I'm pretty sure I won with 13 Glory. I remember that because I think I had three games in a row where I scored 13 Glroy with these rats... and there are three objective cards that I very defiinitely never, ever score and need to trash and make a nemesis deck for these stinkers!

In the end I didn't get to play with Dan... 

Orion showed up just after John and I started. The game took a little longer than I expected and Dan showed up while we were only halfway through! Orion offered to run Dan through a game though and the two of them set up on one of the other tables. I finished my game with John, but by the time Orion and Dan were done, there wasn't enough time to play another game before the store closed... 

whoopsie... 

It probably worked out for the best as Orion is SUCH A GOOD PLAYER and is amazing at keeping track of all things going on... I can barely remember what I'M supposed to be doing half the time! 

Dan seemed like a friendly guy and we planned to get together soon to get in a game! 

Though I theoretically have a Boardgame Night every other friday at my place, I think I'm going to try and make it out to Skirmish Friday Nights on the regular - at least through the summer and fall - We rarely get started before 8pm when playing boardgames with Kevin and Shannon and the Warhammer Store closes at 7pm, so I should be able to make it home in time to play boardgames afterwards! 

Work-in-Progress Wednesday - 15 May 2024

If tokens for Cursed City and Zondara's Gravebreakers weren't enough for one day, here's this week's Work-in-Progress Wednesday! 

I was feeling like I'd stagnated the last few weeks and/or lost my painting mojo and wasn't getting much done...But I' feeling a little like I'm back at it now... sort of... 

Anyway, here's what I've been up to lately and what's still haunting my painting desk! 

In the middle of the week last week, I got it in my head to do something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT and something that wouldn't require any THINKING or DECISION MAKING (which are the things that trip me up in painting miniatures so often). So I decided to REBASE ALL THE PICTS!? 

This was done on the spare table in the basement - for "messy" projects... 

There will be a much more detailed explanation of what I'm doing and why when I post some of the finished rebased minis - hopefully in the next week... or so... 

maybe... 

There are a LOT of other things on my primary painting station upstairs... here are a few that might see work in the coming weeks. (Really the OTHER stuff should just be removed... but that would take time and effort and thought... and that takes away time from PAINTING, so... they'll probably stay!?_

Zarbag's Gitz (and the bonus Sqig Herd)... are all very close... Honestly thought they'd all be done before Skinnerkin and Zondara's, but haven't done much on any of them in the last week or so... 

The Exiled Dead HAD actually been removed from the table as I thought they'd be one of the last I'd get to... then I thought since I was going to be working on zombies in Zondara's Gravebreakers, I might as well work on these at the same time... but that didn't happen... so maybe they need to go back into storage. 

Bat Swarms for Cursed City! These are all VERY close to being done... I think some may only need varnish!? 

MORE tokens and such for Cursed City

Domitan's Stormcoven and a hero from one of the earlier Warhammer Quest games - working on them together as they all more or less use the same palate. 

ALL THE RATS! Spiteclaw's Swarm, Skittershank's Clawpack, and two skaven from one of the Warhammer Quest games we have. Once I get going on these again, they shouldn't take too long to finish up... 

Headsman's Curse... 

Honestly, when I picked up Warhammer Underworlds: Wintermaw, I wasn't feeling SUPER inspired by either of the warbands... I was MOSTLY picking it up for the boards and generic rivals decks... AND I knew the Skinnerkin would go with the Ghouls I already had to make a larger force of those for... other games... but I wasn't all that interested in the Brethern of the Bolt. I don't care for a lot of the cultists and fanatics in a lot of the warhammer games. These lookes fiddly and annoying to paint. Just didn't care... 

And then I saw them being played by Dan at the Warhammer Store on Friday and again at the Dragon's Den last night... and I think they may move up in the painting queue. I'm not sure they're going to be all that GOOD to play... but they do look FUN to play!!

Still slowly working away at assorted Warhammer Quest heroes. 

The thing that I think it keeping me from really getting going on all of these are the zombies. They are one of the most basic encounters and really need to be one of the first things I need to finish. I could probably start playing if I had four heroes and the zombies and the City Watch (which are already done!) and then slowly work my way through finishing up the rest of the Heroes and Nemeses as needed... but those zombies look like such a pain-in-the-ass to paint! 

Maybe I just need to set a week aside and say; "doing zombies this week, don't like them but they're holding everything up, so..." 

Random Amber Wizard from ages ago that I never got around to painting. 

Finally, still doing a bit, here and there, on the stand-in Chaos Gargant. 

There are a LOT of other things still on the workbench: Thudrik's Profiteers, the Crimson Court, Hexbane's Hunters, The Shadeborn, Myari's Purifiers, and an assortment of other bits and bobs... Maybe some of them should be put back into storage (along with the Exiled Dead!). 

What are all of you working in this week!?

Which do YOU actually think I'll get done next!?