Tuesday 12 December 2017

9th Age Tournament Battle Report

A few weeks we had our end of year tournament so I decided to take a fun aggressive list with the Kadim Titan, infernal engine a decent block of Taurukh Anointed with a subjugator.
In my excitement for the Kadim / engine combo I made a few mistakes on my list with me forgetting to take the ring of desiccation for the BSB and taking pyromancy instead of alchemy for the wizard.  Despite these potential brain snaps I decided since I had never used the Kadim Titan before trying a new magic deck was worth the trial.
This is the list:

Characters

Hobgoblin Chieftain Light Lance, Shield, Wolf

Hobgoblin Chieftain Shield, Wolf

Prophet 3x Add up to 3 Learned Spells, Army General, Pyromancy, Wizard Master
Bluffer's Helm, Sprout of Rebirth, Wand of Stability

Taurukh Subjugator vial of Mercury

Vizier Infernal Weapon, Shield, Battle Standard Bearer Rending Banner

Core
Citadel Guard Full command, Veteran Standard Flaming Standard

22 Hobgoblins Bow, Musician, Shield, Standard Bearer

21 Hobgoblins Bow, Champion, Shield, Standard Bearer

Special
4 Taurukh Anointed Light Lance, Musician, Shield, Standard Bearer

Bound and Binders

Kadim Titan 
Infernal engine

Next up is a brief rundown of each game and a couple of dodgy pics.

Game 1 Saurian ancients.

My opponent was Mark temple-guard running his three Thyroscutus, a couple of units of skinks with the odd priest and a big horde of temple guard with the frog himself, a cuatle lord with lots of magic.


Game 1 Saurian ancients.

My opponent was Mark temple-guard running his three Thyroscutus, a couple of units of skinks with the odd priest and a big horde of temple guard with the frog himself, a cuatle lord with lots of magic.





The purple horde surges forward with the Taurukh intending a sneak attack on the left flank.
The engine rattles along looking to support the charging Kadim.



With the option of the temple guard or the Dinos, the Kadim chose the dino. It was the wrong move!
The Titan fails to take down the dino and cops a flank from the frog horde with a heap of magic buffs.  The bold flank attack of the Taurukh also fails and they are going to be dino skewers.


The Kadim has fallen and the frog temple guards steamroll through the citadel guard and engine.

Everything fell apart here with a second Dino taking down the Taurukh and the aforementioned steamrolling temple guard.

Result - I was massacred.

Lessons learnt - the Kadim should have gone into temple guard and had been supported by the Taurukh.

Game 2 Highborn Elves


My opponent had a mixed arms list with some big infantry units, heavy cavalry and a couple of bolt throwers.  I made the mistake of deploying everything first and ended up only having a couple of targets for most of my army.  Time for some mega wheels.

All of that for a bolt thrower.
The heavy cav prepare to wipe out some hobgoblins.  The Knights pumped through and off the table for a return in the next turn.
The engine gets across the board and is stuck in a tar pit with the spearmen. He eventually fells after grinding up some serious elf flesh.

The Knights return to take out the other hobgoblin unit whilst the citadel guard and the axe elves ended in a stale mate.

Result - loss to me.

Lessons learnt - I could have benefitting from the shorter distance between our respective armies had I not been so keen to win first turn.  
Overall my opponent took most of my heavy hitters out of the game.

Game 3 - Ogre Kingdoms 
Great ogre army with a bit of everything. We would be fighting over a sacred cow on a spit which the infernal dwarfs would bring back to life if we held the centre.

 There would bit little subtlety to this game and we were into it with a charge from the tusker cavalry into the Titan and the engine due to my sneaky movement requiring a charge to hit both units.  With some help of magic missiles prior to the charge they were in a weakened state so the result was the fleeing and catching of the tusker with the Titan pursuing around the scenery in the centre of the board for some rear charges.

With a Titan coming from the rear the ogres turn to face the bigger threat but leave their rear exposed to a charge from the engine.  Meanwhile the citadel guard begin the sacred chant to rescue the cow.

The ogres would flee from the combat but the engine had already acquired the taste of ground ogre meat so was hungry for more. The auroch was also getting ready to take down the now injured Titan who was on his last couple of wounds.

Battle is joined over the objective while the Titan and the auroch go head to head.  The result was the mighty robot falling. These ogres had run through the hobgoblins and made their way around a couple of scenery pieces similar to the Titan had and were now in my rear.


Whilst the Titan is falling the engine chases off the ogres who fled earlier.  On the extreme left, the subjagator having lost most of his bros to a hail of pistol shots stood on the hill shouting obscenities.

Result - win to me

Lessons learnt - pretty happy how things went here with the double attack of the Titan and engine working for the first time.

Game 4 - Warriors of the dark gods

Final game against two Knights units (one with a sorcerer), some dogs, three small units of warriors and a bad ass monster hunter on a disc.


The thin purple line is deployed wondering if these were the north-men who stole their hellcannon.

A lack of pics but the face off began with the Knights with sorcerer charging the Taurukh who lost and fled but allowed a flank charge from the Titan.  The Titan stomped through the Knights who fled (off the board after not rallying) which bought the disc rider into the Titan.  His build with Jack's pick axe meant the Titan fell pretty quickly.

The engine gets hit by the Knights who eventually take it down.


Similar shot for the sake of it with including my feeble attempt to use the immolation spell to protect my flank. The knight's aforementioned slaughter of the engine meant it was not necessary.

Ultimately the battle ended before we could finish each off and the result was a minor win to me (I think as it had been a long day and I forgot to write it down).  The cost of the Knights and the sorcerer who fled were enough as I had lost my Titan and engine but the citadel guard and characters within, were alive at the end.

With Mark from game 1 declining the winner's trophy (he is a top bloke and has run out of room for more) I technically won but chose to accept the trophy for best painted. As the best painted was voted across all four game systems being played I was super thankful to receive so many votes for the big guy below.


The infernal dwarfs remain my army of choice that despite my army list brain snaps performed well.  The double impact of the Titan and engine is truly devastating but requires prior planning and careful deployment (skills which I usually lack in a tournament).  Pyromancy was a fun deck with more aggressive spells than I normally like (I prefer to use magic to buff my dudes) which was an enjoyable change. 

Next version of the army will include both versions of the Taurukhs I have been working on.

A great day with four top games, four good blokes as opponents and a room of friendly dudes (including those playing some skirmish game that had what looked like space marines in a fantasy setting). Well done to Krags for organising.















Wednesday 6 December 2017

Taurukh unit

I have managed to finish a few more Taurukh for 9th Age Infernal Dwarfs.

After to the deletion of the miniatures formerly known as bull centaurs I began converting these bros into infantry.

However, since the dawn of the 9th Age they are back in pride of place in my army along with the potential to take their bigger brothers, the Taurukh Annointed.

I rate these miniatures as some of my favourites evil empire miniatures of all time and I hope to include more of my favourite minis in coming posts.


Tuesday 21 November 2017

Kadim Titan

This is my take on the Kadim Titan.

The base model is a toy war monger from the Iron Man 1 toy range. A few transfers and a custom big hat to make hit fit in with the rest of the big hats.

You can see from the hobgoblins in front which given the rules for this monster seems the appropriate size and scale.




Saturday 11 November 2017

Infernal Dwarf Gunnery Team Golden Hat entry

The always awesome Golden hat competition from Chaos Dwarfs online has produced some awesome entries.

Here is my take on the gunnery team using a blunderbuss and earthshaker crew member.  The chasis comes from one a Russian toy company and required some cutting and moving to turn the stone thrower into a mobile gunnery team.

The base is 60mm but I will likely need to reduce this to a 40mm square in the second edition of the 9th Age.

Saturday 28 October 2017

Guide to alternative Big Hat Chaos Dwarfs 2017 edition

It's been a few years and thanks to the 9th Age chaos / infernal dwarfs remain the scourge of the badlands they always have been.

If you are looking for the first instalment of my guide it is available here.

I won't go over the range featured in the earlier edition but it's fair to say both mantic and Russian alternative have kept the big hats alive which I am sure helped the below fine manufacturers produce some amazing miniatures.

First up is Norba Miniatures.
These two character minis are fine editions to any collection and will fit in nicely with existing big hat armies.
The above bros are about as big hat as their infantry gets but have potential.  Alas the remainder of their miniatures chose the path of the helmet but since Lost Kingdom miniatures have come to my rescue with kits for big hats do yourself a favour and check out Norba.

Lost Kingdom miniatures have indeed heard my cries from the land downunder and produced these truly inspiring big hat head kits: http://lostkingdomminiatures.com/en/3-miniatures


I am confident these will fit on a range of minis and an old set of avatars of war bezerkers will soon lose their vanilla dwarf heads to these to become my Chosen of Lorgar for 9th Age.

Filling out their big hat range is this sorcerer who again can fit across many infernal dwarf ranges.

Perhaps which makes them my favourite big hat range at the moment is this scenery piece with appropriately attired shedu on either side of the entry of the gate.  Truly a centrepiece for any army.
I thought I would also show lost kingdoms' bull centaurs who with the addition of the big hats kits are worth the investment.
Whilst not exactly big hats like we know and love, Titan Forge miniatures fall into my loose definition due to this unique aesthetic by recognising our embrace of machine and magic: http://titan-forge.com/fantasy_miniatures_sons_of_kashan_vra


These guys are truly fearsome looking and their version of the Kadim Titan is also worth a look.
The remainder of their infantry and characters are awesome too. Here's a sample.


Next is a new small company called Werewoolf miniatures: https://hexy-shop.com/product-category/producer/werewoolf/?type=list

Not my favourite of those listed here but fans of Mantic abyssal dwarfs can't go wrong with these dudes. 

Whilst I am not a huge fan of these dudes I recommend their hobgoblin khan which I think fits in with the Classic GW hobgoblin range.

My final recommendation is for a small range from Admiralty Miniatures: http://admiraltyminiatures.blogspot.com.au/p/28mm-fantasy.html

Finally we get a female infernal dwarf with a suitable size (choice of two) hat.  Either of these sets are worthy of your hard earned cash.


Admiralty also produce this animated dwarf statue that I have been thinking would make a suitable Kadim incarnate.  I might have to take to the Admiral about how I can alter the poses so I can get four of them for a suitable size unit.



Finally it's not miniatures but if your need suitable infernal dwarf bits be sure to check out https://www.shapeways.com/shops/carcearion-s-forge for some awesome pieces like this.























More bull centaurs finished

I have finished a couple more baby/ bull centaurs including the standard who is a conversion with a magic mould of the original BC standard that I used on the BC renders.

I still have the BC standard who will have a new weapon or maybe become the musician. The plan is to have ten of these bros ready for when 9th Age 2.0 drops.

As usual the banners are colour copies from the White dwarf presents : Chaos Dwarfs with some touch ups to keep them in line with the purple theme of my army.


Wednesday 11 October 2017

Mordheim lives

After many years of always wanting to play Mordheim I finally had my first game last weekend.

The wait was worth it and starting in a short while my chaos dwarf warband will be stomping the mean streets of Mordheim.

I will be using the fantastic Black Dwarfs list with hobgoblins as informers, a hellcannon crew member converted as a gaoler with the rest pretty clear. 

Updates to follow over the coming months.

The full Black Dwarf warband
The Sorcerer and Gaoler
Bull centaur
Chaos Dwarfs
Informers





Tuesday 10 October 2017

Infernal engine and carriages

After many years I finally finished my dreadquake mortar which sat idle following some shameful performances during 8th edition warhammer and the times of the end (apologies broken Matt Hardy).

Anyway a competition on the mighty chaos dwarfs online for a dawi zharr inspired airship encouraged me to finally finish this amazing miniature.

I am pleased to report I have also found it much more useful in the 9th Age in both its regular and bound daemon form.

Despite the option for the land train not being available (yet?) I am extremely happy with this centrepiece for my infernal dwarfs.

You will note the infernal engine has a rather nasty death roller to represent the steam hammer option. This always gets lots of looks at tournaments as it is moveable up and down.

This is picture to my entry to the CDO airship competition.  The dreadquake mortar formed a major part of my entry as well as the great Taurus who helped the airship take flight.
The winning entries are truly inspiring and I am pleased by all the positive feedback I have received on my entry: http://www.chaos-dwarfs.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=17076


Taurukh Annointed / bull centaurs renders

With the evil empire killing off the old world I have embraced the 9th Age.

The infernal dwarfs are their equivalent of the mighty dawi zharr and with the option for both Taurukh Annointed and the regular Taurukhs I have been busy finishing off as many of my unpainted artists formerly known as bull centaurs.