Just a quick update before going to bed. November 30th has come and gone, and needless to say I didn’t finish my (Un)Impossible Dream Challenge. I was unable to finish painting 15 pts (19 figures) worth of Skorne in a month. It seemed easy enough when I started out, but I just couldn’t do it. Meh. I should have gone with the 15 pt Tyrant Xerxis List I made; it only had 10 models in it…

You guys must have no life at all…

Over two weeks since I posted an update on my (Un)Impossible Dream Challenge, which is turning out to be impossible after all. Of the 19 models I needed to paint for my 15 pt Archdomina Makeda list I have finished a total of…

wait for it…

wait…

1 model. Just one model. And that is the Basilisk Drake who was already finished before I started my little challenge. So, basically there is no way that I can finish all 18 of the remaining models before November 30th. Not unless I take the remaining 6 days off of work and spend almost all of that time painting (which I honestly wouldn’t really mind doing). I don’t know how anyone could possibly paint 100 pts worth of models in only 30 days.

Wait. Let me correct that. I don’t know how anyone could paint 100 pts worth of models in only 30 days and be proud of the paint job they did. As I said in my (Un)Impossible Dream post, I planned to paint these models to the highest standards that I could manage. I don’t like looking at something I made and knowing that I could do better. It bugs me. However, looking at some of the pics of the models posted in the Impossible Challenge thread of the Privateer Press Forums, it is painfully obvious that not everyone feels the same way. Some of those models looks like they were painted with a friggin’ paintball gun, or simply took a bath in the paint pot.

Just an aside here, I am not trying to be a jerkoff when I say that. I realize that not everyone is a master painter, nor even a good painter for that matter. Some of my first models actually did simply take a bath in the paint pot (though it embarrasses me to admit that). I am not trying to make fun of anyone or ridicule their painting skills. There are loads of mini painters out there (a fair number on the PP Forums too) that make my stuff look like 2-week old garbage. If you can look at the model you just painted and honestly say to yourself “I am proud of that.” then I congratulate you. Whole heartedly. However if you just slapped paint down in an effort to cover up the bare metal on 100 pts worth of models in a month, then I have no problem making fun of your so called “skillz”.

Anyway. Anyone who managed to paint 100 pts worth of models to a respectable level in only 30 days must have no life. Or they work for Privateer Press and had their job on the line. Heh. I didn’t paint as often as I could’ve I suppose, but I wasn’t going to force myself to paint either. That was a sure way to have my stuff come out looking like crap. So even though I seriously doubt I will even be close to finishing, here is the state of my models.

1x Archdomina Makeda – gold armor trim and skin finished, red armor basecoated
1x Basilisk Drake – done (from before the challenge)
1x Cyclops Brute – red armor basecoated and highlighted

1x Praetorian Swordsmen Unit – 6 out of 10 red armor basecoated and highlighted

1x Venator Reiver Unit – 5 out of 6 red armor basecoated

Apart from the 4 Praetorian Swordsmen and the 1 Venator Reiver that are simply wearing a black undercoat, the models don’t look all that terrible. Roughly 75-90% of the surface area of a Skorne model is it’s armor, so once that has been laid down the model looks noticeably better. I should at least have all of the models armor done by the time next Tuesday rolls around. I won’t have met my (Un)Impossible Dream Challenge, but I will be satisfied with what I did manage to achieve.

Red Leader, Return to Base

A couple of days before I decided to start my (Un)Impossible Dream Challenge, my friend and neighbor was over, just hanging out. I forget exactly how it came up, but we started talking about the paint job on my Basilisk Drake (the only finished model of my Skorne stuff). He remarked that it’s base looked like “brown stones in red mud” rather than a dried out riverbed. I was kind of disappointed at first, because I had thought it looked pretty good. Not exactly what I was going for, but close enough.

He said that the color showing through the cracks was too red; it made the ground look like a different material. I pulled out my Vallejo paint color chart and asked him to suggest a new base color. He told me to try Beasty Brown, which I laid down on a small section of the base. After it dried, I painted Earth over the raised portions as the first highlight. I could see absolutely no difference between the two colors. At all. Despite that, my buddy said it looked good. I was skeptical, but repainted the whole base (carefully avoiding my Drake’s feet) with his new color choice. After I had put all the highlight layers on, blended them a little around the edges, and let them dry the thing looked fantastic. Much closer to the dried, cracked earth I had envisioned my Skorne marching across as they come to subjugate Western Immoren.

Here are the new colors I will be using for my desert bases. As you can see, Beasty Brown and Earth are much closer in color to one another than Terracotta was. Looking at them now I can’t understand how I didn’t see that before. That’s one of the good things about the miniature wargaming hobby – if you don’t like something (or make a mistake) you can just paint over it.

Here are some 30mm bases, done in the new (improved) color scheme and just waiting for the 10-man unit of Praetorian Swordsmen that will be standing on them. You can just make out two of the PET bottle caps (see, I do recycle) that six of my Swordsmen are currently mounted on in the upper left corner of the picture. I tried to take a pic of them, but it came out really dark and blurry. Meh. I guess I’ll post a picture after they’re all finished.

The (Un)Impossible Dream

Wow. Over a month since I last posted an entry. Perhaps that’s because I haven’t done anything related to Warmachine/Hordes since my last entry on September 3rd. “Shame shame” I can hear you all saying, and I totally agree. The pieces of my female Brute Thrall conversion are sitting on the shelves next to my painting station/work desk/computer stand covered in a month’s worth of dust. I should be arrested by the M.P.A (Miniature Protection Agency) for my gross negligence.

I still made a point to visit the Privateer Press website and the Painting\Modeling Forums during my month long break, just to see what other people have been painting and to ogle the new minis that will be coming out soon. Some of the new and upcoming releases look really nice, even the ones that aren’t for either Skorne or Cryx. (I’ve got my eye on you, Nuala the Huntress!) This is why people with addictive personalities shouldn’t play miniature games – you eventually end up wanting to collect all the factions available for the game. Usually all at the same time too. God damn it. Anyway, on to my point. Back on October 25th, the Privateer Insider feature laid down the Impossible Dream Challenge. Basically the goal was to assemble and paint a 100 point army. Sounds doable, right? How about doing it all in just 4 weeks! Excuse me while I spit out my green tea in an exaggeratedly comical manner. A very aptly named challenge, if I do say so myself. A number of people people with questionable sanity, lots of free time, and (presumably) bucket-loads of expendable cash have taken up the challenge, posting their progress on the Forums.

Now, while there is absolutely no way that I could paint up 100 points worth of Skorne stuff in only a month (hell, I probably couldn’t do that even if I took a month off from work) the challenge did inspire me somewhat. I’ve set myself my own little personal contest – The (Un)Impossible Dream Challenge. Que thunderous applause. Thank you. Thank you. My goal is to assemble and paint a 15pt Archdomina Makeda list. So, without further ado, here is the list I plan to build and paint.

15 pt Archdomina Makeda Escalation List

1x Archdomina Makeda – +5 WB pts
1x Basilisk Drake – 4 pts
1x Cyclops Brute – 5 pts

1x Praetorian Swordsmen Unit – 6 pts
(Leader and 9 Grunts)

1x Venator Reiver Unit – 5 pts
(Leader and 5 Grunts)

Total – 15 pts (+5 WB pts)
Model Count – 19

It doesn’t seem like that much actually. Just 19 models. But if I pull this off, it will most likely be the largest number of miniatures that I have painted in a so short a time. Except for that one time long, long ago when I stayed up all night with my brother painting about a billion of his Cadian Imperial Guardsmen for some WH40K Bring-and-Battle event at the GW store in the Franklin Mills Mall. I couldn’t unclench my fingers for about a week after that night. And that only entailed slapping 3 flat colors so he wouldn’t be playing with bare metal minis. (As a total cosmic kick in the teeth, when we got to the event the next day, I with my nicely painted Dark Eldar and my brother with his painted Cadians, we found that 90% of the stuff other people had brought was unpainted. Some of the models weren’t even fully assembled. Disgusting.) The Skorne models I plan to paint this month are going to be up to the best standard I can manage (which can be pretty darn good, I’d say).

As a reward to myself if I finish everything by November 30th (and all contest have to have some kind of reward or else they aren’t a challenge) I plan to get something from Maelstrom Games. Maybe a Skorne Rhinodon. Or perhaps a Wolves of Orboros unit… I know I know! Those Wolves are from the Circle of Orboros faction. Not Skorne or Cryx. But I already have the Circle of Orboros Warpack, and if I add the unit of Wolves to the contents of the Warpack the total comes to exactly 15pts. Coincidence? Maybe. Will I get them anyway and add them to the (already massive) mountain of unpainted metal sitting on my shelves? Do you really have to ask?

Onward! To battle my trusty paintbrushes!

Attack of the (Undead) 50-Foot Woman (with Giant Steam-Fists and a Necrotite Boiler)

So along with my Skorne Mk2 Faction Deck that arrived on Tuesday, I also got the Brute Thrall model destined for my 15 point Warwitch Deneghra list. The model has an absolutely tiny head that is cast as a separate piece, and it got me thinking about doing some sort of conversion. As I’ve said many times before, I always have to do something different to my models, just for the sake of being different. It’s both a blessing and a curse.

Don’t ask me why (no… seriously, just don’t) but for some reason, I’ve gotten it into my head to make my Brute Thrall a woman. And why not? It’s obviously built from a collection of different corpses , ala Frankenstein’s monster, so why couldn’t the Lich Lord or Necrotech who constructed it use parts from a female cadaver? It’s possible. Plus the model is going to be lead by a female Warcaster, and I rather like the idea of having a big, hulking female brute as part of the force.

Just a quick aside here. Most people who know me fairly well know that in addition to being a zombie and a pirate, I’m also a giant perv. That’s the real reason for the gender-swap operation I am about to perform here.

Enough pointless rationalization! On to the procedure! Bring me my tools!

Brute Thrall pieces

Here we see the pieces of the standard Brute Thrall model, roughly arranged in their proper places. Note the tiny head (indicated with the red circle). For decency’s sake, I will most likely reposition the tubes that normally run from the backpack to the steam-fists. Instead they will run from the backpack to the model’s chest, covering up the nipples, similar to the tubes on my Warwitch Deneghra. I’ll probably have to sculpt little metal plates on the breasts where the tubes connect, complete with little rivets to avoid possible confusion. But that’s still a ways off.

The head-donor model

Here is the model that will so kindly offer up it’s head, all in the name of experimentation. It’s a Female Demon model from the Dark Haven Legends line that I picked up at my LGS this morning. I chose the model for several reasons. First, the head was pretty far away from the chest. That was important as I have to lop her head off. No neck would mean all kinds of problems trying to get her head off. The horns were the second reason. They sort of make her look like a Satyxis. Lastly, I can use the ponytail and wings for other conversions. I have no idea where the wings will go, but I plan to add the ponytail to the back of my Ashlynn D’Elyse model.

Denogginized!

Here’s the first step. I used my flat-sided clippers to carefully separate the model’s ponytail from the rest of her hair and the two points where it touched her tail. I also used my clippers to make an incision (heh, doctor talk) on either side of the hair just above the shoulders so that my saw wouldn’t move around. My X-Acto saw went through the model’s neck pretty quickly, though I had to use a regular X-Acto knife to cut through the last little bit at the back of her head – sawing on a flat surface, like a table, can be pretty tricky. I set the ponytail aside for use at a later date and started work.

That's alotta hair!

When I turned over the head, I saw that getting rid of the hair and making a clean attachment point was going to be more difficult than I had first though. There was more hair on the back of the head than I originally thought there was. Too bad I didn’t get a clear view of the rear of the model while it was still in the package back at the store. Oh well. I used my clippers again to remove as much of the hair and the neck as I could. As the Brute has it’s head jutting forward and the demon’s neck was directly under the head, I needed to get rid of everything below the chin line.

Haircut

Here is the (rather blurry) result. I removed the hair from both sides of the head, and flattened the back. That will make pinning the new head to the original body much easier. I’ll have to use Green Stuff (two-part epoxy putty) to sculpt the hair along the back of the neck, as well as the the lose strands to either side. After that I used my pin vise to drill a .7mm hole into the back of the head and inserted a small pin. A dot of black paint onto the pin that was then lined up and pressed against the neck showed me where to drill the matching hole.

The rough fitting

Here we see the final result of the first stage – a freakishly small horned female head on a massively muscled body. I realize that it looks strange, but so do most projects while they are still being worked on. Also, what exactly is strange in this case? The original model is a like an 8-foot tall zombie with with a boiler on it’s back and pipes jutting into it’s rotting flesh wielding giant mechanikal fists that are the size of a guy’s torso. If that’s not already weird, than I don’t know what is. The next step – using Green Stuff to model the hair and… *cough* augment the chest area. I won’t be able to start that until Saturday though. Stupid work schedule. See you then.

Cryxlight – Progress Report

Wow. Two posts in a single night. Don’t worry though, I am sure this will not become a habit. I thought about including this in my previous post, but the topics were simply too different. I have an update on my progress with Warwitch Deneghra. Here she is, though she’s not done yet, as I still have to finish her loin cloth (or is that leg cloth?) and maybe do one more highlight layer of the green OSL.

Here’s a little breakdown of the colors I used. I stared with her skin and laid down a coat of Dead Flesh – the same thing I did with Pirate Queen Skarre. I think it is an appropriately named color, even though Deneghra is not actually dead (yet – she becomes an undead model when she becomes Warwraith Deneghra, the Epic Warcaster). To achieve a sickly pallor (even though you can’t see it all that well in the photo) I mixed Ghost Grey into the flesh color for the highlights, eventually using pure Ghost Grey as a final step. Instead of highlighting the raised parts as I usually do, I carefully thought about what parts would catch the light emanating from the vents on her spear. Normally I paint my models as if there was a uni-directional omni-light hanging somewhere above them – in other words I highlight to bring out the detail in the model and not for realism. This time was different. As I said in the original post Cryxlight, I am going to paint my Cryx models as if the only light hitting them is coming from their green glowing necrotite furnaces.

The boot (?) on her exposed leg was painted Leather Brown, and then washed with watered down Black Ink and then again with Green Ink. Her armor was painted Scurvy Green, which is a pretty dark color when it’s wet. Thanks to my partial color-blindness I had trouble seeing if I had missed any areas while painting. Thankfull it dried a bit lighter and I was able to see things more clearly. After that was a wash of Black Ink to bring out the detail, followed by Scurvy Green again. Then the first highlight of Jade Green went down, again with careful thought about exactly which parts would be catching the light. The pipes, Soul Cages, chains around her waist, and spear were painted either with Tinny Tin or Gunmetal Metal, then washed with Black Ink (really tricky to not mess up when washing the chains) an then highlighted with the base color again.

Then came the first layer of OSL paint – a watered down coat of Escorpena Green. This went down on the edges of plates and in little pools on flat areas that would catch light. You can’t really see it in the photo, but some of the areas are a bit too dramatic. I am going to have to use a 50/50 mix of Escorpena Green and Jade Green to soften the edges of some of the “light areas”. After that I’ll probably do one more tiny application of Livery Green on the highest points to really make the lighting pop. I am a bit unsatisfied with the lighting on her flesh – it looks like green blobs on her skin rather than green light. Maybe I need to mix some “skin” color into the “light” color to soften the glow a bit.

Oh. Someone asked about this on the Privateer Press Forums, so I’ll post the answer here too. Yes, she is topless. Well, sort of. Way back when she was still bare metal I used an X-Acto hobby knife and some little files to remove the top “lip” of her mechanikal breastplate. Like I said, I always have to do thing to my models just to be different, and this seemed to fit the bill. So while she is sporting a lot of exposed breast, the pipes of her mechanikal backpack are in exactly the right places so as to not actually show anything.

He shoots. He Skoooornes!

I just got my Skorne MkII 2010 Faction Deck in the mail today. Yes! That was a lighting fast shipping job on the part of Maelstrom Games – they sent the order out on the 26th of this month (August) and I got it on the 31st. I wasn’t expecting my package full of WarmaHordes goodness for another week at least.

I now have stat cards for all my Skorne models and can start building lists for them. Whoo! As an added bonus, there were stat cards for all the Minion models that could be included in a Skorne list. So I have cards for units like the Bog Trog Ambushers, Farrow Bone Grinders and Farrow Brigands (the latter of which I have thought about adding to my Skorne force to increase their ranged attack ability), and the Feralgeist (the Hordes equivalent of the Cryx Machine Wraith). More interestingly, I also now have cards for the Minion Warlock and Warbeast pairs of Rorsh & Brine, and Wrong Eye & Snapjaw. Both of whom will work for Cryx. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I can now include Warbeasts in my Necrotite-powered mechanikal zombie horde. Weird, but I’ll take it.

I was also able to total up the points cost of my Skorne horde now that I have all their stat cards – I have 198 points worth of the red death. Thought I guess that it should really be 196 points, as Saxon Orrik isn’t technically part of the Skorne faction.

Cryxlight

Just a quick post tonight while I wait for the superglue on Deneghra to dry (I noticed her arm was a bit loose as I put her down on my painting table). As I said in my previous post, I am more motivated to paint up my stuff now that I’ve broken it down into manageable, playable 15 point chunks. And what better model to start with than the leader of the list herself, Warwitch Deneghra.

While walking home from work tonight, I decided that I am going to try something rather ambitious – I plan to highlight her using only object source lighting (OSL). I did a little of that on Pirate Queen Skarre, but it was only on the back of the model where the vents of her backpack were producing light. The rest of the model was highlighted “gamer style”, meaning I just used highlights to bring out the detail of the model. I didn’t actually think about where the light source was coming from.

With Deneghra, I will paint her in such a way that the only light hitting her will be from the vents on her mechanikal spear Sliver, the Soul Cages around her waist, and the vents on her backpack. An easy thing to say, but probably not that easy to actually do.

Escalation Lists

I posted previously that I had recently developed an extreme fascination for the Retribution of Scyrah. While this is still true, I found out what a large portion of that fascination was – list building. Writing up an army list renews your interest in whatever faction you are writing the list for. Case in point, I put together a little 15 point Cryx list led by Warwitch Deneghra and hey, presto! Instant motivation to get those models out of their blisters and onto the painting table. Truth be told, I have more motivation to paint up the Cryx list than the Scyrah one, since I already own all but one of the models in the Cryx list. And the one model that I don’t have should be here soon, as I already ordered it a few days ago. Sweet. Last time I said that I wouldn’t bore people by posting the Scyrah list I put together, but I have some bad news. I am posting my Deneghra one. I’ll use it to keep track of what I have finished and what still needs to be done. So here it is.

15 pt Warwitch Deneghra Escalation List

1x Warwitch Deneghra – +5 WJ pts
1x Defiler Bonejack – 5 pts
1x Defiler Bonejack – 5 pts

1x Bane Thrall Unit – 5 pts
(Leader and 5 Grunts)

1x Mechanithrall Unit – 3 pts
(Leader and 5 Grunts)

1x Brute Thrall – 1 pt
(Attached to Mechanithralls)

Total – 14 pts (+5 WJ pts)
Model Count – 16

Before you say that I can’t count, and the the above list totals 19 pts, be aware that Deneghra gives me 5 “free” points that I can spend only on Warjacks. That’s what the notation (+5 WJ pts) next to her entry means – plus 5 Warjack points. Those 5 pts are precisely enough to buy a “free” Defiler Bonejack, though as I have 1 point remaining (I’ve only used 14 of my 15 pts) I could replace one of her Defilers with a Slayer Helljack. I’ve got the model assembled, undercoated, and ready to paint. But the Slayer doesn’t have an Arc Node, meaning that Deneghra can’t channel spells through it, and that is what I really want to do. The spell Venom only costs 2 Focus allowing me to (hopefully) lay into an enemy unit/model with 4 SP 8 ranged attacks – 2 at POW 10 from Venom and 2 at POW 12 from the Defiler’s Sludge Cannons. Or I could channel either Crippling Grasp or Parasite through the Bonejacks before firing their Sludge Cannons, thereby lowering the DEF and ARM of the target and making it easier to hit and damage.

Besides, that’s why I put in the unit of Mechanithralls with the Brute Thrall attachment. Those little zombies (and the one not so little zombie) can do a lot of damage if they hit something with a charge attack. I plan to use them as my “heavy hitters”. It’s sort of an experiment in efficiency - the Brute Thrall can hit with a POW of 19 using his Combo Strike. If he gets in a charge attack, that’s an extra die when rolling for damage meaning he should get an average result of 29-30 (if you assume that the average roll of 3D6 is 10-11). Even the Khador heavy Warjacks only have an ARM of around 20. The Brute’s little zombie buddies should get an average result of 24-25 with a charge Combo Strike. If they all hit (which is unlikely, I know) they are churning out 33-40 points of raw damage (meaning damage in excess of the target’s ARM) even to an ARM 20 target. Which is just about enough to completely wreck a heavy Warjack. And the whole unit only cost me, what? 4 pts. When you compare that to the cost range of a heavy Warjack, which is anywhere from 6 to 10 points depending on the faction and Warjack, I have come out ahead. If they actually get to do their job that is. But if they do manage to do their job you can be damn sure I am buying another Brute Thrall with that 1 pt I have left over.

The scatterbrained shame of Scyrah

Anyone who knows me reasonably well knows that I am a scatterbrain. Not in the “ditsy blonde, can’t finish a thought” sort of way (well, not usually), but more in a “have a million projects going at once, bouncing back and forth between them, and starting a new one before finishing the old one” sort of way. That’s just who I am. I’ve tried to fight it in the past, but I have finally just  learned to accept this fact about myself. On the one hand, it is incredibly frustrating to never actually finish a project. Taking something all the way from the initial conception through to it’s final completion would be a truly momentous personal achievement for me. Maybe that will happen someday. But on the other hand, I know that I work in “cycles”, and therefore plan accordingly. Meaning that I always try to carefully organize and store my ideas and projects in such a way that I can simply pick them up again at a later date. Hopefully with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and purpose, and possibly even with new ideas to overcome any problems I had run into previously.

Anyway, the whole point of that long, rambling monologue was this; I have fallen in love with Scyrah (pronounced SIGH-rah, for those of you who don’t know). Please don’t tell Cryx or Skorne. They will be absolutely heartbroken. Plus, I haven’t completely broken up with my undead pirates or desert-born, red plated horde, and never will. I’m still keeping them around. I still love them both. I’m just more interested in Scyrah right now. I’m sorry, but the truth hurts sometimes.

Of course I’m talking about the Retribution of Scyrah, the youngest (though they’re about two years old by now) faction for the Warmachine tabletop game. I always thought they were kind of lame, and that everyone was just jumping onto the popularity bandwagon and playing them because they were new. I still think that so some degree, but they have started to grow on me over the past few days. A lot.

It all started when I… *cough* acquired some digital copies of the Warmachine MkII Stat Cards back towards the end of July. Among the cards was a copy of the Retribution faction book. I almost deleted it out of spite, telling myself that I had no interest in being a bandwagoner like everyone else. But I didn’t. A couple of weeks later I opened up and briefly scanned the .pdf file. And I saw something interesting. It turns out that the ancient Empire of Lyoss that the predecessors of the Skorne fought against are the direct descendants of the current Warmachine elven nation of Ios. I could have guessed that from the similarities of the two names, but it was still interesting enough for me to read the rules for the Retribution Warcasters. Some of their Feats look pretty overpowered. But I digress (as usual).

A few days ago I put in another order from Maelstrom Games, the same shop that we ordered my Cryx stuff from earlier. I found out that they accept PayPal as a form of payment, meaning that I would have to rely on my friend using his credit card to place an order and them me paying him back in cash. So I put in another small order (the most important items of which were the Cryx and Skorne MkII Faction Decks) but when I went to check out, I saw that if I added £12.40 more to my order I would get a slightly higher discount. So I browsed around the store, but didn’t see anything that I really wanted in that price range. Until I got to the Retribution of Scyrah section. I noticed that two of their Warcasters were only £6.25 each; both the perfect price to trigger my discount and nice looking sculpts to boot. So I added both Kaelyssa, Night’s Whisper and Ravyn, Eternal Light to my shopping cart.

Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper and Ravyn, Eternal Light

Just an aside here, but after confirming the order and having the money taken out of my PayPal account I realized something else. Almost all of the Warcasters and Warlocks that I am interested in playing with are women. Odd.

Of course as I was going to be getting those models in the mail rather soon (hopefully) I of course wanted to know what the did rules-wise. So I printed out the relevant pages from the Scyrah faction book so I could read up on them. PDF files are great because they don’t take up any physical space, but they do get hard on the eyes after a while. I am also, unfortunately a perfectionist, and so just had to pint out the rules pages on all of the Retribution Warcasters, Warjacks, Units, and Solos. I’ve spent the past two days reading them all, as I haven’t had much else to do (both of my neighbors are busy training for their new jobs, leaving me alone on my days off this week), and wouldn’t you know it, but the xenophobic, terrorist elves in power armor just started to grow on me.  So much so that I started writing up “escalation” force lists.

For those of you who don’t know, “escalation lists” are army lists that grow over time. You start out with a small but playable list, and then plan several expansions to add to the original list allowing you to play bigger and bigger games. The sizes of the starting forces and the expansions will be different based on what game you’re playing as the all have a different points costs system, but to use Warmachine and Hordes as a example, you’d start with a 15 point army, then expand it to 25 points, 35 points, and maybe eventually go up to 50 points. It is quite a smart thing to do as it allows you to play with your army several times before you add to it, meaning that you will always be adding something useful, something you needed, or something that shores up a weak point in your army. If you buy your 50 point army all at once with out playing with it first, you might realize (after the fact) that the units you bought don’t have the synergy you thought they’d have, or that the army just doesn’t match your playstyle. Incidentally, that’s what happened to me when I first started this game and bought the Cygnar Battle Box. Plus, you don’t get overwhelmed by seeing all that unassembled, unpainted metal all at once.

Meh. I’ve lost my train of though, and don’t really want to bore anyone else by posting  my lists. Plus I just cued up some Battlestar Galactica. So I’ll end the post here. It’s cone on long enough anyway, and I’ve made my point.