Great War Russians vs warlord Chinese

These are some pics from a game today of warhammer the Great War using British late war rules for the warlord Chinese and a draft Russian list.

As usual it was a bloody affair with both units of cavalry decimated and a desperate struggle for control of the strategic pagoda on the Russian right flank. Much like most of the battles of WW1 this ended in a stalemate.

We will tweak the Russian list with the core infantry reducing their WS and BS to 5+ from the current 4+ in the draft. Having larger infantry units with poor skills seems appropriate along with our soon to trial vodka rule and summary executions for units who fail morale.

Usual blurry pics to follow.

The Russians move towards the pagoda tower knowing the will be exposed to the wraith of the Chinese HMG.

The warlord Chinese seize the pagoda tower.

The warlord Chinese emerge from beyond the safety of the walls and prepare themselves for the charge of the Russians.

Although a few of their comrades are lost to rifle fire from the Chinese, the remaining cavalry charge into them to extract bloody revenge.

The cavalry command joins into the charge.

The cavalry charge is complete with the target fleeing after losing half of their platoon.

The consolidated cavalry command consolidate only to be gunned down before they can take down the battalion command.

Russian infantry charge and occupy the pagoda removing the incumbent Chinese. 

The remains cavalry troop take out the Chinese warlord and his entourage but likewise leave themselves exposed to the warlord battle line.

The Chinese counter arrack on the occupying Russians is swift and brutal.

The occupiers numbers are less than ideal with the veterans of the warlord Chinese closing in.

The Russians are soundly defeated and flee the pagoda.

The infantry command make a final turn desperate charge to retake the pagoda.

The veteran Chinese and infantry command battle it out high above the battlefield.

The battle ends in a stalemate with both sides unable to control the pagoda and with a heavy heart return to their respective HQ to plan their next mission.

Overall although the Russian list needs some tweaking and a few rule oversights by myself the game was a blast and I still am hoping GW or forge world release the eastern front supplement.  If not, we will continue to tweak our own rules and enjoy this tragic theatre of war. 

First Great War / WW1 Russians

Thanks to copplestone castings these are my first Great War Russians.

These are fantastic miniatures to paint so please check them out and buy yourself a sizeable stash.

First Native American Indian

So here is my first attempt at a Native American from the renegades set from dead man's hand.

Probably will form a part of my soon to be purchased native Americans for waret historical Wild West.

Usual blurry pics to follow:

New French WW1/ Great War cavalry

This is a couple of old glory dudes who i have been meaning to paint for ages.

They are a little smaller than the renegade  cavalry I have so I have raised their bases a little higher so the size difference is not so noticeable.

As usual the pics are pretty crap but I am happy with how they have come out.

I play warhammer historical Great War rules which usually means if these dudes are not charging by the second turn they will be shot to pieces.  With the bonuses for charging I recommend an aggressive attack on enemy cavalry or if you can, those dreaded machine guns.

New lizard men/ saurian ancient army

This is my first mini for a new lizard men/ saurian ancient army.

The them will be all the non temple guard troops will have painted on their heads skulls to replicate the protection that the temple guard get from their skulls.

The slann has decided to adopt a punisher style skull which I am looking forward to painting.

Don't forget to support the ninth age crew in their quest to keep ranks and flanks in fantasy gaming.

Napoleon dwarf from scibor miniatures

This is my dwarf napoleon from scibor miniatures.

Since I have sold my squats this dude will be the little known heir of napoleon who led a force of French soldiers during the early days of World War One.

Historical accuracy aside I am looking forward to getting him into the mud of blood of Flanders and push back the Hun menace.

New dwarf BSB and Helga

This is my latest dwarf BSB.

He is a slight conversion from the so called fine cast dwarf who kept breaking his right hand fingers.  Thanks to our old friend Dremel the hand was removed and replaced with a dwarf hammer hand.

I usually equip him with the master rune of valaya to keep the magic protection up for my dwarf bros.

Next up is a slight repaint on an old Helga mini I picked up from one of my bros. It's a classic mini and well worth hunting down.

She has had her clothes slightly repainted to match the blue of my other bros and a shield from some of the other black tree design dwarfs.

New dwarf lord and shield bearers

Here is my new dwarf lord on keg with drunks aka on shield with bearers.

The lord is the Bugman mini from his bar at warhammer world one of my bros bought me back from his visit there.

The drunks are from the best dwarf range that still comes in metal, black tree design: http://eoeorbisuk.com/collections/fantasy/products/fa0917-drunken-dwarves-3?variant=4539064323

 it's not a crime to stomp elves whist drunk

Hurray for Bugman's 6X

For all of those gen x's that remember when dwarfs were short, stout, hairy and drunk, black tree keep the dream alive compared to GW's rather lacklustre non plastic range.  Although I am a fan of the new GW plastic hammerers, nothing beats an army that not only hits like a tonne of bricks but also weighs a tonne of bricks.

Therefore my dwarf army is made up of mainly black tree dwarfs who fit in nicely with most dwarfs from 4th to 7th edition before GW sent them to be "man-scaped" - seriously when did slayers drop the barrel chests and beer bellies for abs to grate cheese on!

Check out the rest of the black tree range of dwarfs here: http://eoeorbisuk.com/collections/fantasy/range_dwarves?sort_by=price-descending

Is this the most aggressive dwarf list you have ever seen?

My enjoyment of 8th edition has not been dulled by the attack that has been the Age of Sigmar and after re-reading the dwarf army book I was inspired to make a new list based on the fluff and new rules from this short lived army book.

Unlike most editions of the dwarf army books, the 8th edition seemed to emphasise that after many years of being on the back foot as one of the dying elder races, the dwarfs were reemerging to take back what was theirs.

The resolute (+1 strength on the charge) and shield wall (+1 to parry saves) rules and to a lesser extent ancestral grudge, plus the fluff pointing to the dwarfs taking the fight to their various assailants plus the new Strollaz rune (unit gains vanguard) meant I could put together a dwarf list that would overcome their short but stout legs.  No longer would I have to be 24 inches away at the start of the game and rely on war machines to whittle the enemy down in preparation for their inevitable charge on me.

As you can see from the below list, every unit that can take the Strollaz rune takes it whilst the miners invest in a steam drill to help with those important ambush rolls.  The only war machine is the gyrocopter that is upgraded to have the vanguard rule too.

Although I do not expect to get off the first charges, I do expect most of the units to survive a charge and then drive the enemy back ready for counter charges by me with the strength bonuses.  

The characters all have their roll to play.  The lord is with the longbeards and is tooled to survive most attacks with the bsb also there for magic defence alongside Bugman and his trusty booze to help out and regain wounds.

The rune smith is with the hammerers to protect flanks and/ or charge as their staying power is legendary.

The dragon slayer is with the slayers whose plan is to target and bait the big nasties to die in the most glorious manner possible.

The gyro is used to surge forward and where possible cause grief and whew possible disrupt enemy lines, steam burn war machine crews etc.  Expectations are always low but they are useful for drawing out fanatics which I will talk about in my summary of the first game with this list.

The miners will disrupt the enemy from the sides or rear whilst the glorious dwarfs surge forward.  What could go wrong?

The list thanks to battle scribes: http://www.battlescribe.net

Lord (263pts) [Shield (3pts), Shieldbearers (40pts)]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Relentless, Resolute, Shieldbearers, Shieldwall

Ancestral Heirlooms and Runes (75pts) [Rune of Cleaving (1st rune) (10pts), Rune of Cleaving (2nd rune) (25pts), Rune of the Furnace (5pts), Rune of Warding (1st rune) (15pts), Rune of Warding (2nd rune) (20pts)]

Rules: Rune of Cleaving, Rune of the Furnace, Rune of Warding

Dragon Slayer (140pts)

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Deathblow, Dragon Slayer, Relentless, Resolute, Slayer, Slayer Axes, Slayer Cult, Unbreakable

Runes (70pts) [Rune of Fire (1st rune) (10pts), Rune of Might (1st rune) (25pts), Rune of Might (2nd rune) (35pts)]

Rules: Rune of Fire, Rune of Might

Josef Bugman (165pts) [AB - Bugman's Tankard, AB - Ol' Trustworthy]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Bugman's Rangers, Liquid Fortification, Relentless, Resolute, Scouts, Stout Courage

Runesmith (103pts) [Shield (3pts)]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Armour Piercing, Forgefire, Magic Resistance (*), Relentless, Resolute, Rune Lore, Shieldwall

Ancestral Heirlooms and Runes (40pts) [Rune of Spellbreaking (1st rune) (25pts), Rune of Warding (1st rune) (15pts)]

Rules: Rune of Spellbreaking, Rune of Warding

Thane (158pts) [Ancestral Heirlooms and Runes, Shield (3pts)]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Relentless, Resolute, Shieldwall

Battle Standard Bearer (90pts) [Master Rune of Valaya (65pts)]

Rules: Master Rune of Valaya

+ Core (620pts) +

Longbeards (620pts) [Champion (10pts), Musician (10pts)]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Immune to Psychology, Old Grumblers, Relentless, Resolute, Shieldwall

37x Longbeard (555pts) [37x Great Weapons (74pts), 37x Shields (37pts)]

Standard Bearer (45pts) [Strollaz' Rune (35pts)]

Rules: Strollaz' Rune

+ Special (949pts) +

Gyrocopter (100pts) [Steam Gun, Vanguard (20pts)]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Armoured Copter, Dive Bomb, Fly, Relentless, Vanguard (FAQ'ed)

Hammerers (385pts) [Champion (10pts), Musician (10pts)]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Kingsguard, Relentless, Resolute, Shieldwall, Stubborn

19x Hammerer (285pts) [19x Shields (19pts)]

Standard Bearer (80pts) [Rune of Battle (1st rune) (35pts), Strollaz' Rune (35pts)]

Rules: Rune of Battle, Strollaz' Rune

Miners (205pts) [15x Miner (150pts), Musician (10pts), Standard Bearer (10pts)]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Relentless, Resolute, Underground Advance

Champion (35pts) [Steam Drill (25pts)]

Rules: Steam Drill

Slayers (259pts) [Musician (10pts), 17x Slayer (204pts)]

Rules: Ancestral Grudge, Deathblow, Relentless, Resolute, Slayer, Slayer Axes, Slayer Cult, Unbreakable

Standard Bearer (45pts) [Strollaz' Rune (35pts)]

Rules: Strollaz' Rune

Created with BattleScribe (http://www.battlescribe.net)

Photos from recent WFB game

A few weeks ago me and a couple of bros had a team game.  2000 points each.

I took the mighty chaos dwarfs:

Sorcerer-Prophet (420pts)  Armour of Bazherak the Cruel, Blood of Hashut , BRB - Talisman of Preservation, Level 4 Wizard, Lore of Hashut, Pistol

Hobgoblin Khan (80pts) Potion of Toughness, Giant Wolf , Light Armour , Shield , Spear 

Hobgoblin Khan (64pts)  Potion of Strength, Light Armour , Shield  

Infernal Castellan (207pts) The Mask of the Furnace, Battle Standard Bearer , BRB - Ironcurse Icon, Great weapon, Shield

40 Hobgoblin Cutthroats (232pts) [Musician, Standard Bearer, Bow, Shields

22 Infernal Guard (331pts) Deathmask, Musician, Standard Bearer War Banner 

Iron Deamon War Engine (340pts) [Hellbound, Skullcracker] 

Hellcannon (210pts) 

7 Hobgoblin Wolf Raiders (116pts) Musician , Standard Bearer, Wolf Boss] Spears 

My bro Simon was rocking a fully mobile beastmen army:

2 x Minotaur lords.   One on magic carpet and one with 1+ rerollable armour save who gains an extra attack for each successful save.

8 x chariots, 1 with BSB

2 units of 2 razorgor

2 units of scouting harpies. 

Lvl 2 wizard on foot. (Dispel scroll)

Our armies were kind of opposite but we up against a mobile empire and ogres with a couple of stone horns, mournfang and a couple of ogre blocks.

The chaos dwarfs and a couple of chariots ready to roll - well the chariots and the iron daemon anyway.

Hobgoblins get some brown pants when they see the size of he inner circle knights in front of them.

The beast chariots start their engines in the target rich environment of mournfang, demigriffs and bulls.

Hobgoblin wolf raiders prepare to control the extreme right flank.

And promptly fail their animosity test and flee of the board- at least they look good

The hobgoblins go long range on the stone horn who is already wounded thanks to the hell cannon needing 6s to wound.

The stone horn dies to the hobgoblin horde bow fire

The iron daemon smashes into the empire bowmen leaving a bloody mess




Later on the iron daemon crashes into the knight bus who held but the next turn saw the hobgoblins rear charge the knigts who flee from the combat.

Overall we had a blast with the slow moving chaos dwarfs letting the beatmen chariots charge and soften up the empire and ogre.

True to the dawi zharr way the beasts were slaughtered before we moved in for the kill. 

A fantastic game with a great bunch of bros.