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Warmaster 28mm: Vampire Counts versus The Empire

Posted by Toco

24 Mar 2018

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

Away with boring miniature paintjobs, I want to play a game! So I draped my desk in green cloth and started constructing an nice little village somewhere in the province of Altdorf. There were stables nearby, a windmill present and offcourse they had an old cemetary in the neighbordhood. Now that's exactly where things went wrong for the innocent villagers... Vampire Count "Red Duke" raised a small army of shambling zombies and raised some more when in the vicinity of our subject village. Deep in the woods they could hear the eerie howling of a pack of Dire Wolves running towards the cottages.

No worries, an Empire brigade bravely envelopped the village in order to defend it and to destroy this evil undead threat. A brigade of Halberdiers entered the battlefield by road while a Cavalry unit shielded by a unit of Crossbowmen protected the willage square. The crossbows immediatelly started shooting their deadly bolts towards the horde of Dire Wolves, succesfully halting them.

The wolves seemed hesitant to blindly storm through an avalanche of steeltipped bolts. This actions shows that the Warmaster rules for shooting does not inflict many casualties but can be tactically positionned to halt certain enemy units.

The small brigade of Halberdiers charged the incomming Zombie unit and hacked into the undead round after round, gradually gaining ground and capturing the center of the battlefield.

With a little help from the Empire General the Halberdiers managed to hack down the first wave of skeletons in close combat.

The Vampire Lord himself tried to tip the balance by joining combat. With succes! He killed the Empire General rendering the entire Empire army useless and filled with fear. The village is lost. Victory for the Undead! Soon the place will be crawling with undead servants...

2 Comments

Sat Mar 24, 2018 6:00 am

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Blood Bowl Match 3: Skaven versus Humans

Posted by Toco

13 Oct 2017

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

In this Blood Bowl match report we'll be fielding two 600,000 credit teams. The other players remain in the box.

Match highlights:

Kick-off!

Mighty Reserves

Going for it. Went for it.

Ball-bearer pushed back, but still standing!

Humans pass to safety but fail to catch...

Skaven retrieve the ball and paaaaaass!

Run 7 squares, going for it, goiiiing...

TOCUHDOWN!

Score: 1-0.

Sneaking past defenders

RAM! And K.O.

The Human defender runs all the way from the endzone towards the rat with the ball and rams him hard. Both attacker and defender go down. The Skaven is K.O. and sent off field. Unfortunatelly for the Humans, another Skaven picks up the ball and scores a touchdown.

Two fight. Third runs (and scores). Score: 2-0.

To keep this blogpost interesting I'll refrain from posting too much pictures of the second half. Here are the second half's highlights.

Strong Human breakthrough at the right.

The Skaven box the ball-bearer in but to no avail. The Humans throw a qiuick pass, catch the accurate pass, going for it, and score their first touchdown!

Accurate pass and TOUCHDOWN.

Score's now 2-1. After this touchdown by the Human, the Skaven try a long bomb pass but it is out of bounds. The throw-in is in favour of the Humans. They knock out 3 skaven. Then 4! That's a lot of wounded rats leaving the field. Then comes a quick pass, but the Humans fail to catch. A rat picks up the ball, but fails its dodge. Retrieved by the Humans, a second touchdown follows. Ending the match with a 2 - 2 score. What an awesome game this was. Thank you for ~~viewing~~ reading!

Addendum: Rough notes made during play.

first half
1
kick off scatters off field, touchback for humans
block human, roll 9 > AV, injury = 7 stunned
2
skaven assisted block = pushback
skaven going for it, trips, scatter
pick up ball, run
block fails -> turnover
3
3 skaven push back ballbearer
throw fails
4
block x2 / run, pick up, throw!
touchdown! 0-1
pick up, run, short pass, catch
5
skaven surround human with ball
...
7
skaven take and run!
ram ballbearer, rat KO!
8
pick up - run - touchdown! 0-2

second half
1
all skaven pushed and knocked
2
skaven box ballbearer in
qiuick pass, catch accurate pass, going for it, touchdonw! 1-2
3
LONG BOMB! out!
4
fail pick up, reroll success
3 skaven knocked out allready!
4!
5
humans: fumble quick pass
skaven: dodge, fail!
6
pass to empty square
get ball, fumble
7
going for it - fumble
no dodge
8
touchdown 2-2 !

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Fri Oct 13, 2017 6:00 am

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Warmaster 28mm: Empire versus High Elves ( REVENGE )

Posted by Toco

12 Feb 2017

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

After the succes of my first Warmaster 28mm battle I am now slowly building up speed. This next battle is between two 700 points armies. Each army now has two characters to issue orders and each army received extra basic units.
The inclusion of a Hero character in each army guarantees more mobility to the army. Added regiments to the bulk of the army makes the combats heavier and more succeptible to lethal tactical mistakes.

Here we go again. In the yellow corner:
The Empire: 1 General (with a Sword of Might), 1 Hero, 3 Halberdiers Units, 2 Handgunners Units, 2 Knighty Order Cavalry Units.
Aaaaaand in the bonecolored corner:
High Elves: 1 General, 1 Hero of Chrace, 1 Silver Helms Cavalry Unit, 2 Archers Units, 3 Spearmen Units.

Looking at the current setup I estimate my table can decently host two 1000 points armies. More points per army will force me to add an extra panel. (The gaming surface in the pictures consists of two polystyrene isolation plates of 60cm by 120 cm.)

The Elves wanted to attack with the core infantry units but had to rearrange them first. After a couple commands they were still unable to launch the attack and charge. That's when they released the Silver Helms to start doing some damage. The Lions of Chrace unit (counts as Spearmen) followed their lead, ready to support the cavalry in combat.

Meanwhile I wanted to test ranged combat. Both units of Archers were targeting an Empire Handgunners unit. Their hits forced the unit to retreat 14cm. With their retreat path blocked by a stone wall, and being wedged in between two enemy units, they were wiped out! The poor men were pinned to the town's wall... A grim reminder of a vicious battle.

The combined might of the Silver Helms and Lions of Chrace with the joined High Elf Hero destroyed the first Knightly Order unit and then advanced into a new combat against Halberdiers and a second Knightly Order unit. This last combat destroyed the High Elf units and the only remaining Empire cavalry stand courageously picked their next target: the pesky Archers. Joined by the Empire General they managed to win the battle! Hurray for the Emperor! Hurray for The Empire!

Very important to mention: this game can be played in under 1 hour!

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Sun Feb 12, 2017 6:00 am

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My first 28mm Warmaster battle is a fact!

Posted by Toco

07 Feb 2017

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

My first 28mm Warmaster battle is a fact! For this maiden battle I selected two armies worth 500 points each. The High Elves will have to fight against The Empire. I have chosen these two armies because: (1) they are generally considered to be standard armies, and (2) because I have painted miniatures for these armies. (Yes, yes, I know, it's only an undercoat...)
After some measuring and redecorating I managed to deploy a gaming surface in my small man-cave. (The room is only 2,65 meter square AND holds my entire boardgame and miniatures collection.) The scenery was quickly gathered to start playing fast. Nothing fancy.

Warmaster is a miniatures game based on command structures and mobiltiy and less on combat itself. Therefor my tutorial 500 points armies are not ideal to represent the game.
There is only one character to give orders (the General) and there are not enough units to perform decisive tactical movevent. However, these tutorial armies will show me if the Warmaster 10mm rules can be used for heroic scale battles (i.e. 28mm). Small armies are also very usefull to learn the game to new players.
My 700 points armies will provide more tactical options and my 850 points armies add new strategies like the deployment of Warmachines and the addition of magic.

The story goes that a small High Elf army landed in The Empire with plans to wipe out a certain Orc Warboss his warband. The local Empire authority took it as an aggresive act and decided to stop the High Elves crossing their lands. The defensive blockade took place nearby a smal town.

1 High Elf General, 2 Archers Units, 1 Spearmen Unit, 1 Silver Helms Cavalry Unit. (Bone color.)

VERSUS

1 Empire General, 2 Halberdiers Units, 1 Handgunners Unit, 2 Knightly Order Cavalry Unit. (Yellow color.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Empire army deployed with a strong left. All cavalry was positioned for a flank attack.

The High Elves army was spread out along a thin line with the ranged units targetting the center. It would take only one Archers unit to reposition in order to hit targets on either the right or the left flank.

The High Elves take advantage of the hesitation and blunders of their opponent and charge hard. Combat commences when the Spearmen and Silver Helms engage the Empire units.

The battle was fierce and deadly. Only one stand (2 miniatures) of Silver Helms made it out of combat alive. The High Elf General joined their unit and they made a heroic charge on the remaining Empire force.

They Elven cavalry cut down a stand of Empire infantry and took three hits in return. The cavalry was wiped out and so was their unit-joined General. A victory for The Empire!

After the battle I realized that I didn't use the armour saving rolls. But this tutorial game was a succes. Gaming with 28mm miniatures by using the Warmaster rules provides a swift and eventful game! The gameflow is not clogged by skirmish fights between regiments. And the streamlined rules prevent endless reading through rulebooks filled with tables. So, Warmaster is ideal for occasional gamers, like me.

PS: I have added Warhammer to the blogtags because the miniatures and scenery are in fact from/for this 28mm game.

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Tue Feb 7, 2017 7:13 am

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Burn that Witch!

Posted by Toco

26 Mar 2016

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

Working with the guys in the picture above made me change my plans for my Mordheim Mercenary warband. While building a regiment of Flagellants 15 strong, I really wanted to add some in my skirmish games. So that's where I abandonned my plans for a Mercenary warband and started designing a Witchhunter warband.

Here's the Reaper Witchhunter:

And his hired Ogre Bodyguard (on a 40mm base):

Witchhunter warbands have trackers and dogs. And trackerdogs... Adding dogs as tiny base fillers adds to the witchhunting atmosphere. Mantic Games has a grumpy plastic bulldog on one of their Dwarf sprues.

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Sun Mar 27, 2016 5:50 am

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Mordheim 'Human' Warband

Posted by Toco

23 Mar 2016

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

The plastic sprues from the Warhammer Free Company regiment box are perfect for Mordheim. Here's my creative output.

McLooney the heartbroken, Zealot:

Scurvy the Henchman:

"Stabber" Hawknose the Swordman:

Bold Bolt Bart the Crossbowman:

Mordheim: City of the Damned

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Wed Mar 23, 2016 10:10 am

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Great Swords

Posted by Toco

11 Mar 2016

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

My Greatswords from The Empire are based on round 25mm slottabases. After an inventory I counted 7 of them, including a drummer. To use them in Warmaster 28mm games my regiment has to be 10cm wide and three rows deep. That's why I added a plastic skirmisher from the Warhammer Empire Free Company box. He brought the total miniatures to 8. So all I needed was a regiment filler of 5cm by 5cm.

I took a square GW 50mm base and glued one plastic miniature with a greatsword on it. To fill the rest of the base I've choosen a young Griffin from the Mage Knight collectible miniatures game.

The Griffin is associated with the Royals of the Empire. Greatswords are counted as elite troops because they are wealthy individuals, able to own such an expensive weapon as a decorated greatsword. That's why this unit filler suits the regiment well. The Griffin also accentuates the "great punch" this regiment can deliver.

To elevate the Griffin miniature I glued two square 20mm slottabases on top of each other and then covered it all with black TEC-7. I also punched some pebbles and stone chips in the glue.
This regiment filler saves me quite some pocketmoney because those metal Greatswords are not cheap these days.

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Fri Mar 11, 2016 6:00 am

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Steampowered Metal

Posted by Toco

05 Feb 2016

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

In Warhammer, one of the most iconic miniatures from The Empire is ... the Steam Tank! An armoured great cannon, powered by a steam engine. Great to blow up all enemies while still being mobile.

I scored a damaged miniature in an auction. Three of the four axles to hold the plastic wheels were broken off. And I only had three plastic wheels.

I have cut one of the plastic wheels in two halves. Then I filed it a little bit flatter to achieve the perfect height.

Because this miniature is completely metal, it weighs A LOT. It has no rear axles to hold the complete wheels. Simply glueing the rear wheels would no hold out very long. That's why I added two plastic studs underneath. They'll be hidden from sight, but they will keep the heavy miniature in balance.

No-one will notice the small studs supporting the tank when completed.

I also did some minor conversions to other miniatures. "Variation by combination!"

This vintage plastic skeleton chariot had no rider. I added an old metal Wight by using TEC-7. Great sticky stuff!

When I won this Griffin on eBay it came without front legs. I gave it a claw transplant from the Lizardmen Ripperdactyl sprue. I also added a new tail and upgraded the rider to a general from The Empire.

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Fri Feb 5, 2016 6:00 am

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Budget Blood Bowl

Posted by Toco

06 Dec 2015

Toco

(tocoking)

Belgium
Oost-Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen

www.tocoking.be/hotspot

From time to time I need a break. Away from WFB, Epic and Necromunda. Well, Blood Bowl is a pleasant distraction from the usual set of miniatures I'm working on.

I don't want to spend too much money on Blood Bowl (Third Edition) teams. Blood Bowl is not expensive if you're only buying one team. You can buy one team for around 25,- Euro's. But I do have the tendancy to collect ALL teams, armies, etc...

That's why I scavenged various miniature lots over the years. Now's the time to gather them into playable teams.

First inventory: The Empire.

- 2 Human Catchers @ 140.000 Credits
- 3 Human Blitzers @ 270.000 Credits
- 9 Human Linemen @ 450.000 Credits
- 1 Ogre @ 140.000 Credits
= 1.000.000 Credits --> TEAM ASSEMBLED!

TO DO:
Convert one Ogre from my bits box into a Blood Bowl player. And add a left arm to one of the Catchers.

Second inventory: Orcs.

- 2 Orc Throwers @ 140.000 Credits
- 3 Orc Blitzers @ 240.000 Credits
- 6 Orc Linemen @ 300.000 Credits
- 4 Black Orc Blockers @ 320.000 Credits
= 1.000.000 Credits --> TEAM ASSEMBLED!

TO DO:
I only have 2 official Black Orc Blocker miniatures. For the other two I will be using the first edition Orc players. And I will sell 1 Hobgoblin, 3 Orc Lineman, 1 Orc Thrower and 2 first edition Orc players on eBay.

Third inventory: Dwarfs.

- 7 Dwarf Blockers @ 490.000 Credits
- 1 Deathroller (yesss, I have that one in my collection) @ 160K Credits
- 2 Rerolls @ 80.000 Credits
- 3 Fan Factors @ 30.000 Credits
- 1 Dwarf Runner @ 80.000 Credits
- 2 Blitzers @ 160.000 Credits
= 1.000.000 Credits --> TEAM ASSEMBLED!

TO DO:
Covert 1 Runner and 2 Blitzers from my Mantic Dwarf sprues. I still have plenty of those.