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Welcome to Idle Hands, my weekly segment where I discuss conversions, painting, and strategy for the Warhammer tabletop game…
THIS WEEK
To say life has been interesting in recent weeks would be a massive understatement, my son was born as I mentioned last week. Both he and my wife are both still at the hospital, he was a month early so an extended stay wasn’t exactly a surprise. Eventually, things settled into a routine and it was apparent that my wife would be staying and that I was going to go back home. I’d like to mention also, my son is doing quite well. They’ve taken him off of the IV, he’s eating well and improving daily. He’s off of phototherapy and digesting fine on his own, he’s shaping up to come home before long, and I’ll be happy to have him and his mom here finally.
While I’ve been flying solo there have been some things I’ve had to take care of, paperwork for the boy for example (and for the wife for that matter). Finishing the nursery has also been a consideration, as well as getting the house in order, eventually I reached a point where I decided to tackle the office. Now, my wife and I have agreed that I’d move the roll top desk into the living room. My computer is now the family computer, and this desk makes a great space for it as well as work for both me and my wife. The office however is now my studio and library.
SRS Studios
I went on a cleaning rampage in the studio and added some new furnishings to keep things tidy and efficient. Most notably, I now have a project table. It’s a simple folding table from Wal Mart, identical to the one I use to paint on. However, it makes a perfect place to store models as I work on projects. It’s also an ideal location to take pics of armies and single miniatures. I plan to add a light box over here for future use, I’m also adding a paint carosel to my desk to keep things tidy. Initially, I didn’t want one but things are starting to get cramped with just the organizer racks. I’m also in the process of altering my lighting situation.
Below are some pics of the cleanenning in progress, I’ll have a better looking tour of the studio once I feel satisfied with it. But you can see the bits bin, the project table (with my army in progress), the airbrush table, my supply cabinet and project board. And of course, books. Like all of the books.
SRS NEWS
Since making the leap into real commission work, I’ve decided I needed to increase my digital footprint a bit. So, I’ve added both a Twitter account and a Facebook page for SRS Business. The Twitter account is primarily for events, updates from tournaments and similar such “small” updates. These will be real time reference for readers as well as material for any post mortem analysis of said events/tournaments. Since I had already planned on doing Battle Reps this should be a perfect solution for tracking events in short hand for later work.
The Facebook page however is a different beast entirely, it acts as a way to easily connect with potential customers and colleagues. Additionally, it will act as an organized repository for my work (both for my own armies and for clients). Links to both the Facebook and Twitter pages will henceforth be at the bottom of each post for ease of access. And now, in other news…
THE SLAUGHTER
There have been a few developments since the last time I mentioned the Shiloh Slaughter, first there’s a website for the event now. There are already 30 participants registered, we’re expecting somewhere around 50 though there should be room for more if there’s actually sufficient interest. I’ve been working on my army diligently for months now, and I’m near the end of the painting, converting, etc. But then the November issue of White Dwarf happened.
Ninety and nine quandries, but a lady is surely not one.
This month we have two additions to the Warriors of Chaos army, the Hellstriders and the Skullcrushers. Both have an impact on the Ravenhost of Norsca, and both for different reasons. First, there’s the Hellstriders. They’re basically more very mobile Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh with some special rules and no possible ranged attacks. I won’t be using these in my list, I like them quite a bit but they’re a bit pricey compared to the standard Horsemen. So, why do they have an impact on my army? Back in August I made a unit of Marauder Horsemen that were converted using parts from the Seekers of Slaanesh box, the result was a 5 pack of Marauders on Steeds of Slaanesh with spears and mutations. Conversely, the Hellstriders are Marauders on Steeds of Slaanesh with spears and mutations. See, there’s you’re problem.
I’ve already had people confusing my Horsemen for Hellstriders (this has been happening for several weeks, basically since the Hellstriders were announced). So, I had to make some generic Marauder Horsemen. I’m short on time at this point, so I’m not putting the pizazz on these guys like I normally would. But I am trying to give them a good paint job. Today, I painted the horses and tomorrow (barring anymore craziness) I’ll get the riders finished. Which brings us to the Khorne side of things…
Gotta have that funk!
The problem with the Skullcrushers is simply that they’re just too damned good. First, I’ve always wanted a unit of Juggernaut riding Knights, the Juggernaut is one of the things that drew me to Chaos in the first place. But moreover, after three test games all I can say is George Clinton would be proud of them, because Skullcrushers bring not only the noise, but also the funk. Not only do they wholesale amounts of whoop ass to the table, they also do it at a discount. Seriously, this is one of those units that I just can’t see people playing without. The only reason to do otherwise would be to run double Hellcannon or something. To be honest, I actually felt kinda bad by game three because I knew there was about to be a lot of killing done by these guys and not much of anything my opponent could do.
For an MSU list you almost couldn’t ask for a better unit, a single unit clocks in at just 190 points! For that you get 3 of the Jugger Knights with a Musician, the Riders get 3 attacks each, at Str 5 (that count as magical attacks, because screw Ethereals that’s why). They have 2 Wounds each, and are T5! They have a Leadership of 8 which isn’t bad, they cause Fear, and have MR (1). Oh, and they also have an Armor of 1. Well, mathematically speaking 0, but there’s more than a little forum debate on that topic right now. Either way, roll a 1 and you fail. So, it’s all the same. So, it’s effectively Armor 1. But, depending on the way this is ruled, you may end up keeping your awesome armor tests even against higher Strength attacks. Oh and the Juggernauts get to attack too, 2 St 5 Attacks each is nothing to sneeze at. So, for those 190 points you’re getting a whopping 15 Str 5 attacks in a single round of combat.
In terms of potential damage output, this puts them on par with my Halberd wielding Warriors. However, they’re more mobile, they have magical attacks. They have magic resistance. Unfortunately, the Warriors win out in the total number of wounds available, and the fact they have a Ward Save. But the unit of Warriors I’m running also cost a whopping 340 points, almost twice as much as the Skullcrushers (I can only imagine the awesome of a second rank of these monsters). One other thing the Skullcrushers have going for them is Stomp. So there’s that…
The Shiloh List
With the above in mind, changes to my Shiloh list were inevitable. I’ve gone through several iterations since last week before settling on the list below. There are a few distinct changes that have been made, first I consolidated my two previous units of Marauders into a 40 man horde. They now all have Great Weapons, Mus, and Std. The numbers mean they’re more likely to get some damage in on something before they die, and since they have GW it’s more likely to be actual wounds. I also added a third unit of Warhounds as well as the new unit of Skullcrushers.
In order to make room for these changes I dropped a Chariot and 2 Chosen from my list, I also of course dropped eight Marauders in total from the list when I combined the two units. In my experience, the Chosen are rarely dealt with. People are far too often afraid to come near them. Or if they do, they end up in a protracted pillow fight with me killing some chaff every turn and them failing to wound again and again. The Warriors are just the same as I’ve had them since I made the list, as is everything else. Loss of the second Chariot is a little annoying, but I’ll take the staying power of the Skullcrushers over the impact hits any day of the week. Also, as an after thought I added a Tormentor Sword to my Wizard. Not for any specific reason other than had 9 points to spare, so I dropped 5 on a crap weapon. Anyhow, here’s the list as it currently stands…
2500 pts, 90 models, 11 units (+2 independents).
Esmer the Living Flame, Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch (Level 4 Upgrade, MoT)
■ Charmed Shield
■ Infernal Puppet
■ Dragonbane Gem
■ Third Eye of Tzeentch
Hinge the Mad, Exalted Hero of Tzeentch (BSB) (Shield, BSB, MoT)
■ Disk of Tzeentch
■ Warrior Bane
■ Talisman of Endurance
Damien the Twice Blessed, Exalted Hero of Tzeentch (Shield, MoT)
■ Disk of Tzeentch
■ Biting Blade
■ Talisman of Preservation
■ Bloodcurdling Roar
5 Chaos Warhounds
5 Chaos Warhounds
5 Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh (Flails, Spears, Mus, MoS)
5 Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh (Flails, Spears, Mus, MoS)
14 Chaos Warriors of Tzeentch (Halberds, Shields, FC, MoT)
■ Banner of Eternal Flame
15 Chaos Warriors of Tzeentch (Halberds, Shields, Mus, Std, MoT)
■ Banner of Rage
40 Marauders of Khorne (Mus, Std, Great Weapons)
Chaos Chariot
Chaos Chariot
3 Skullcrushers of Khorne (Mus)
3 Skullcrushers of Khorne (Mus)
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Still played and put together very much in the spirit of Hinge’s MSU list, but it definitely has some get up and go that was missing before.
MALEVOLENT CREATIONS
With all of the excitement the past couple of weeks I haven’t had nearly as much time as I’d normally like to work on my hobby, however I have gotten a few things started. Here’s a look at some of the stuff that’s in the works.
You can expect more in depth shots of some of the stuff I’ve been working on in the future as things settle down closer to normalcy here.
COMING SOON
As if all of that wasn’t enough, I got my copy of the new CSM Codex. I also got a box of used Space Marine bits from my buddy Will at Warpig. I’ve started converting them for the honor of Nurgle. I’m doing a Death Guard army with a strong core of Nurgle Bikers, a pair of heavily converted Heldrakes, and a lot of infantry. So, stay tuned – there’s lots more to see!
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