Tomb Kings Test - and the Return of the Old World?

Much of the gaming world been rocked this week with the announcement from Games Workshop that the Old World would be making a return...
...and with square bases?

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/11/15/old-world-new-warhammer/ 

Be still my desiccated (Tomb Kings) heart.  
That would mean that I could dust off those square-based armies I have like High Elves and Skaven, and use them in all their ranked-up glory. 

That isn't to say that I wasn't prepared to use what I could from their ranks in Age of Sigmar (a game that I didn't get into because I really DIDN'T want to rebase all the hundreds of models I have) because I have just started renovating Tomb Kings with AOS in mind. However, IF GW really does bring the Old World back AND with square bases, then life would be a LOT easier for me. That is especially the case if old armies like Tomb Kings and High Elves are viable again.

Despite my excitement (and that of others out there) there could be a fair bit to worry about (or reasons not to get too excited.)

1. This is a couple of years off at least - so maybe 2021-22?
2. Who is to say that GW will keep the rules in a way that makes simply using your old models...easy? (After all, simply using all those old armies you have with a new rules set wouldn't bring any major profits. Would it?)

Still, this is interesting news that has already prompted miles of ink and countless YouTube videos.

In other big news, a Sisters of Battle limited edition box set sold out within minutes. I definitely want some of the Sisters to join my Black Templars crusade, but now it looks as though that will have to wait for another day (or year) or at least until some of new individual packs come out.

As for my current gaming, today I finished off a test model for Tomb Kings that could count as Grave Guard/ Tomb guard in games of Warhammer or Age of Sigmar. Here he is - a musician.

This old fellow was painted mainly using GW contrast paints to save a bit of time. Tomb Kings are pretty good for this as they are a lot of bone, cloth and textured surfaces (wood, leather, etc.) Although this is a very "classic" Egyptian-style scheme I think it works well for a this kind of army. 

One secret to working with this amount of gold is to keep things simple. In this case I drybrushed gold over brown (Gore Grunta Fur) to give a feeling of gold leaf or gold that was fading away. The shield works well because of this (IMHO). 

I'm going to sit on this test for a couple of days and see how I feel about it. As weird as this may be, I really like to take a quick look at models I paint the morning after they are done. That gives me a chance to see them under natural light (I usually paint at night after work) and to see how the colours that looked SO WONDERFUL the night before actually look.

If on reflection I still like the look I'll then move on to the other 9 in the unit. 

Best wishes for happy hobbying!

+Squeek Vermintide+

Finding Tomb King Treasure for Age of Sigmar.

After finishing up the Warcry Starter set (two warbands and terrain) I decided to delve into my Warhammer box and see what I could pull out as a next project.  This box consists of armies that I purchased over the years from ebay, and bits and pieces that ebay sellers had thrown in with other purchases as I got into painting High Elves and Skaven some years ago.

Lo and behold, from the dusty sands of the back of my closet (actually just...dust) emerged an army that I always thought was really aesthetically pleasing, but which I never got around to painting...

Tomb Kings!

Now that Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition is no longer (officially) with us, what would I have that could be used for Age of Sigmar? (I know that there are warscrolls for TK units, but they aren't going to be updated). Would I have anything that could be used for Legions of Nagash?

With the very kindly help of multiple people on the Warhammer group in Reddit, it appears that yes, I have enough to make a small army that could be fun to play. As I only play friendly games, I could probably also stay on square bases (ducks for cover...)

Here is what it looks like (sorry for the bad pictures). Note that there is plenty of conversion work to be done (and no shields are attached as I will paint these separately for convenience.)

Skeleton Charioteers - use as The Sepulchral Guard

x10 TK Tomb Guard - use as Grave Guard.

(Back) x3 blocks of 10 skeletons - combine into a blob.

x2 blocks of 5 skeleton cavalry - use as Black Knights.

x10 Ghouls and x1 Tomb Banshee.

(L-R) Necromancer, Tomb King (use as Wight King?), Necrotect (use as ???)

Summary:

• X3 blocks of 10 skeletons. (Two of which have musicians and standards).
• X1 unit of 10 Tomb Guard - counts as Grave Guard.
• X2 units of (5) Skeleton cavalry - counts as 10 Black knights.
• X1 unit of Sepulchral Guard - 7 assorted skeletons made from Skeleton charioteers models.
• X1 Tomb King. Could put on a spare skeletal horse and use as a Wight King on Steed OR I have a High Elf Star Dragon I could put him on? (Counts as Lord on Zombie dragon?)
• X1 Necromancer
• X1 Tomb Banshee
• X1 unit of 10 Ghouls.
• x3 TK chariots that could act as grave site markers.

I also have (but can't use for AOS): 
X1 metal screaming skull catapult (metal, unassembled) 

Finally I have an additional X4 skeleton horses x4 skeleton archers and X1 metal skeleton barricade model from an old limited edition release (Harry the Hammer) that I came by. If I can get the bits for another skeleton horse I could probably kitbash the archers into riders and replace their bow arms with spears/ lances.

I'm looking forward to taking these on in a time-saving fashion, so will probably go with spray undercoat and Contrast paints. Already my mind is turning towards seeing how I could get up to 1,500 points relatively easily and add some Oooomph:

-Arkhan the Black?
-Another necromancer and a block of skeletons?

Thanks for looking!

*Squeek*

Hobby Update - More "Garden of the Damned" details

Yesterday I shared some work I'd done on a graveyard over the weekend, which I'm calling "The Garden of the Damned". This evening I did a little bit more to it, but with just a little work on some details I think it looks a lot better.
So what did I do?

1. Dry grass. A few tufts of dry grass effect, pushed into watered-down PVA glue. Simple but looks good! (In the example below, note that the glue isn't dry yet, but it will dry clear.)

Tufts of dry grass added to the tomb.

2. Horizontal rails added to the railings. The railings look a lot better and more authentic now compared to just having the posts. I haven't added rust to these yet, but they will blend in once I have.

Cross pieces added to railings (foreground)

3. "Freshly" laid graves. I sprinkled some dark brown flock with a little green onto some PVA glue painted in the shape of a grave in front of some of the headstones. This adds some visual interest due to the dark colour and also some "atmosphere" (I must remember to add a skeletal hand too!)

Freshly dug grave effect in front of headstone.

Earth effect in front of headstones adds some variation to the board.

Watered-down PVA glue before adding brown flock.

With these simple details I think the overall impact is much better! I hope you agree!

Cheers.

Update - Garden of the Damned

After yesterday's Necromancer update, I started today determined to do more on my scratch-built graveyard. I originally got going on this as I thought it would be useful for Frostgrave or Warhammer, and also because my local GW didn't have a Garden of Morr in stock (which is a lovely looking terrain piece - in a depressing, haunted, sort of way!)

Here's what I did (and then more photos):

1. Very quick and dirty Russ Grey drybrush on gravestones.
2. Made metallic railings from cocktail sticks:
• Grabbed 30 cocktail sticks from the kitchen drawer...
• Painted cocktail sticks with Leadbelcher (metallic).
• Clipped off sharp ends of cocktail sticks (Approx 5mm - don't throw them away!)
• Poked post holes into the board (to seat the railings.)
• Made a rust wash
• Painted rust wash then Drybrush Ryza Rust.
• Filled post holes with glue and then pushed the cocktail sticks into the holes.
3. Took the sharp end of the cocktail sticks and glued them to the top of the tomb before adding more rust. 
4. Said "Voila" and had lunch.

There is actually a bit more I'd like to do, like add some dry grass effects, and maybe some details (skeletal hands coming out of the ground?). Also, the railings look weird without cross pieces, but for now, here come the undead!

Cheers!

Top Tip - Painting Rust.

This blog started as a way to keep myself motivated to paint large numbers of Skaven and hopefully, to also help other new Skaven players. One way I have tried to do that is with the "How to paint" blog entries, and I hope that some people will find them useful. Another thing I can do is to share any tips that I learn(ed) along the way as a beginner.

I'd like to focus today on something that might be easy to do for the beginning painter, but which makes the final product look a lot better on the tabletop.

RUST!

CC0 Public Domain Image
https://pixabay.com/en/rust-metal-steel-texture-old-872456/ 

This very simple technique adds a lot of character to an army. ANY army that is composed of the (un)dead is a good candidate for this, but it will also add a lot to armies that represent decay, evil, or cunning (or just a lack of discipline). Case in point, Skaven, but other likely candidates include:

• Nurgle
• Anything Chaos(y)
• Tomb Kings/ Skeletons
• Vampires
• Poorly armed peasants

A quick Google search will give you lots of techniques for creating rust effect on your models, for all desired levels of mastery. Companies like GW have created rust effects (Ryza Technical Paint) that you drybrush on and these can look good too (Modelmates have another I think). Scroll down to the bottom to see some examples of this.

In this case though, I'm going to show you a DIY Rust wash

What you need:

One or two colours:
x1 Brown (e.g. GW Mournfang Brown. I used to use Calthan Brown.)
x1 Orange (I used to use Blazing Orange. The closest GW orange is now called "Troll Slayer Orange") I don't think anyone has the old colours now, but if so, here is a conversion chart.

If you don't have that though, even just an orange will work.

What you do:

1. Mix 25/75 Brown/ Orange, very, very watered down (or just the single colour) 
2. Brush onto metallic areas so the wash collects in crevices, around joints and nails etc. 
3. Immediately after applying, dab or wipe away excess using a tissue, leaving the rust wash gathered around the metallic area where rust would probably occur.

TIP 1: Before starting, have the tissue(s) ready, because you will have to work quickly. The longer the wash is left, the stronger the effect.
TIP 2: Twist the tissue into a point, so you can wick away or dab away precisely.

OPTION: Using a very fine brush, paint rusty streaks downwards onto the metal, to show where the rust has washed down or accumulated through exposure to rain.

Rusty streak.

Here are some other examples of how this can turn out:

Rat Ogres (armour):

Warplightning Cannon blades (front)

For comparison, here are some examples using Ryza Rust on some Tomb Kings skeletons from last week or so. I've only just started using this, so I haven't mastered it! I think it will look better if you stipple it on, rather than use drybrushing. Multiple stipplings will look better.

 

 Cheers!

Skaven v. Tomb Kings Battle Report (Intro)

*Squeek*

Grey Seer Nemo rubbed his paws together and sniffed nervously at the air.

"The Great Horned Rat watches" he muttered, "...so this challenge must be answered".

The "challenge" he referred to was the alarming proximity of many, many, dry-dead things around the fabled Great Green Stone. 

He could see it now, a huge chunk of warpstone on the battlefield where it had fallen many hundreds of full-moons ago. The Great Green Stone held a dread fascination to the Grey Seer (as it did to all his kin). Long had he coveted it - aside from the unfortunate fact that it was located next to an Elf-thing's tower, he felt sure that he and the local Warlord would have carried it into their tunnels moons ago (at which time the Warlord would surely suffer a mysterious accident...leaving the great stone to Nemo alone!)

Although finding it difficult to turn his eyes away from such an enormous potential source of wealth and power, the Seer managed to drag his gaze to his enemy, arrayed in silent (VERY silent) ranks across the battlefield. The seer had never fought these dead-things before (in fact, he avoided fighting wherever possible) but the twitching in his whiskers and the fur standing up on his back told him there was much dark and powerful magic at work among the enemy.

Hearing a sudden increase in the squeaks and critters from the Clanrats gathered round to protect him, he looked again across the field. The enemy was moving as one, in perfect silence, and in perfect step, towards them.

Closing his beady eyes, he began to recite a prayer to the dark, horned Lord...

XXX

This was my second ever game of WFB. It has been a long time coming, as I really only painted models the last couple of years and I had much more opportunity to play 40K. As you will have guessed from above, this was a Tomb Kings match-up at 2,000 points. My opponent has 3-4 games under his belt so like me had little experience. This made for a fun game, with lots of chances to review the rules - although with both of us checking all the time it was quite slow (fine by me!)

My list: Warlord Squeek Vermintide's Horde

Lords:
Grey Seer Nemo (265 pts, Dispel Scroll)

Heroes:
Chieftain Faderife of Black Chasm (72 pts. BSB, Shield)
Warlock Engineer "Boom Boom" Vilekin (95 pts, Level 1 Wizard, Doomrocket)
Plague Priest Pestilich Seep (254 pts, Flail, Plague Furnace)

Core:
x20 Clanrats  - Sness Fellbite's Stabbaz (110 pts, full command)
x30 Clanrats  - Kreep Kraktooth's Kritters  (220 pts Full command + PWM Weapon Team)
x49 Skavenslaves - Tos Bonegibber's ladz (100 pts) (Musician)
x49 Skavenslaves (100 pts) (Musician)

Special:
x30 Plague Monks (255 pts, Plague Banner) 
x5 Gutter Runners - Stabstab Backstikka's gang (90 pts, Slings, Poisoned attacks)
x6 Gutter Runners - Stabstab Backstikka's gang (108 pts, Slings, Poisoned attacks)

Rare:
x1 Warp Lightning Cannon (90 pts)
x1 Warp Lightning Cannon (90 pts)
x1 Doomwheel - Pilot Madcackle (150 pts)

Total Cost: 1999

My opponent's list: Tomb Kings


Lords: (330 pts)

Grand Heirophant Khatep (330pts) (Scroll of the Cursing Word, Liche Staff, Lvl 4 Wizard)

Heroes: (346 pts)

Tomb Prince (192 pts) on Skeleton Chariot. (Spear, Biting Blade, Glittering Scales)

Tomb Prince (154 pts) (Great Weapon, Armour of Destiny)

Core: (665 pts)

x14 Skeleton Archers (84 pts)

x15 Skeleton Archers (90 pts)

x5 Skeleton Chariots (295 pts) (BSB - Banner of Eternal Flame)

x49 Skeleton Warriors (196 pts)

Special: (659 pts)

x1 counts as Khemrian Warsphinx (210 pts)

x3 Necropolis Knights (210 pts)

x19 Tomb Guard (209 pts)

Total Cost: 2000

Not having much experience as a general, there isn't much I can comment on in this list, aside from to say that I believe it was purchased as a set from another player. That might explain the lack of some of the more common items one might expect to see in a TK list, such as a Casket of Souls, and the relatively low number of archers?

Also, doesn't the Sphinx look awesome?

Next time I will post the battle itself, so come back again!

*Squeek*

A Bargain with Chaossss!

*Squeek*

I was sad to hear a couple of weeks ago of a friend deciding to move back to the States from Japan. One of the downsides to being a long-term resident of a country not your own is that seeing people you know and like leave is a bit of a downer - you know chances are slim that you will see them again...

...the upside however was that this friend decided to shift as much wargaming stuff as he could at a very reasonable price.

In light of 40K 6th edition coming out and my recent interest in Warhammer Fantasy armies I was naturally very interested in this particular collection. Here is what I picked up:

WARHAMMER 40K: Chaos Space Marines.

• CSM Defiler (unassembled)
• CSM Rhino (assembled and partially painted)
• CSM Bikes x2 (assembled and unpainted)
• CSM Khorne Berzerkers x8 (assembled and primed black)
• CSM Basic troops x40 (9 heavy weapons, 6 special weapons, 25 basic guys) (assembled with a mix of unpainted, primed black and partially painted)
• A CSM plastic bits grab bag. Enough to make 8-10 basic guys and spruce up vehicles.

Got to be honest, I have never necessarily been a huge Chaos fan - it is exactly the opposite ethos to the philosophy of my beloved Tau after all ("For the Greater...Bad!"?). 

However, with the 6th starter set including a Chaos army I thought I might be able to pickup that side of the starter kit at a later date. This would fill out the army with some leadership (Chaos Lord), manpower (Chosen), cannon fodder (Cultists) and a bit more close combat ooomph (Helbrute). Just one problem I already see is a distinct lack of vehicles in the stuff I picked up and the starter set stuff. That means a lot of footslogging...

...any remedy or recommended options for this issue? Any Chaos Space Marines players out there care to comment?

WARHAMMER 40K: Other

• Old school Eldar grab bag (10 models all partially painted)
• Tyranid Carnifex (assembled and partially painted. Arm sockets are magnetized)
• Enough Tyranid bits to kit out the Carnifex with a bunch of different configurations.

WARHAMMER FANTASY: Tomb Kings.

If it wasn't Skaven that I chose for WFB, it probably would have been Tomb Kings. I like the back story and the fact that these guys are wordless, totally disciplined, and neutral!? 

• Tomb Kings battalion box. (NIB) 
• Tomb Kings Tombguard (NIB) 
• Tomb Kings Screaming Skull Catapult x1 (metal, unassembled) 
• Tomb Kings Necrotect x1 (NIB)
• Tomb King x1 (Finecast)

WARHAMMER FANTASY: Chaos Warriors/ Orcs

• Chaos Warriors Archaon (NIB)
• Chaos Warriors Chosen x12 (metal, unassembled, unpainted)
• Black orcs x4 (metal, unassembled, unpainted)

WARHAMMER FANTASY: Armybooks (current run)

• Beastmen 
• Warriors of Chaos

TERRAIN:

• Plastic hills x2 (partially painted)
• Warhammer fantasy tower (assembled and primed)
• Warhammer fantasy temple (assembled and primed)
• Warhammer 40K downed flyer terrain from the battle for Maccragge box (unassembled and unpainted)

BEST OF ALL?

2 big Bitz boxes of Fantasy and 40k bits!

To my gaming colleague and friend who is leaving: THANK YOU and SAFE TRAVELS!
*Squeek*