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Warhammer Fantasy Battles: Gesundheit; Sneeze of Mystery
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I had fun with it when I got in way back when, I'm sure it's even better now.
I'd love to see Warhammer come out with a turn-based skirmish game with armies and a persistent map and all that junk, and then let me play it on my iPad while I'm pooping. That'd pretty much be the best thing ever.
GW settings are too big to try to shovel all the crazy, iconic elements. What we need are slices of the settings that map well to game mechanics.
That's why I also didn't like the Ultramarines movie. It tried too hard to be 40k, instead of just be a story told in the universe. I'd even have been happier if they didn't try to explain everything at the start - it's not needed. Look at Alien. Were we told everything about that universe? Predator? Good movies don't spend the first 10 minutes badly summarising the back story.
GW really needs its Avi Arad. Merrett should go.
My initial plan for the model is to swap the staff out for a second axe and then equip him with Light Armour, The Steel Claws, Talisman of Preservation, Potion of Speed, and Gnarled Hide.
My dilema comes two fold; How important are magic weapons (primerally vs Skaven) - could he get by with just a normal Additional Hand Weapon and save 30 pts?
Secondly, armour - On one hand he looks (IMHO) to be in "light" armour, and with his current set up I get a 4+/4+ save. However for only a couple points more I could get Heavy Armour and bump to a 3+/4+. Should I stick to what feels "right" for the model (light), or what would be better on the battlefield (heavy).
Second Question: That's really up to you, and whether or not you think everything should be based on what the model looks like it has.
As mentioned, whether to go for battlefield effectiveness vs. fluffiness is up to you. I'd just throw heavy armor and say he's thick skinned in addition to his armor
HPA can be really gross for Skaven, so if you know you're going to face one it's not a bad idea to have some flaming attacks on hand.
There is a pretty standard netlist option for Beastlords that I use that is pretty amazing and works well to keep your army together. I guess I shouldn't classify it as 'netlist' - it helps get rid of some of the dumb things they chose to do with the latest Beastman army book.
Really it boils down to giving him a Crown of Command, some kind of ward save and armor so that he doesn't die. You need him to stay alive for the LD he provides. I'd just go with a hand weapon and shield personally.
EDIT: Should probably add I play Von Carstein.
They're also pretty good against cavalry (which Skaven don't have) and war beasts (which I think they might have) due to causing fear in such creatures.
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in terms of modeling, GW themselves are totally inconsistant as to what on a model constitutes light / heavy / full plate armor.
The Beastherd, 999 Pts
General, Heavy Armour, Additional Hand Weapon, Ramhorn Helmet, Talisman of Preservation, Potion of Speed, Uncanny Senses
Wargor (139)
BSB, Heavy Armour, War Banner
Gor Herd (265)
30 Gor, Full Command, Additional Hand Weapon
Ungor Herd (115)
20 Ungor, Full Command, HW & Shield
Bestigor Herd (246)
18 Bestigor, Full Command
I am pretty sure my opponent will end up going for lots of units that are only 20 strong. I am hoping to be able to get better positioning, keep my units pretty tight, and pick fights one by one rather than spreading out. Gor / Bestogor would charge in, with the Ungor holding back to be a counter charge (or even a suicide unit if needed).
I could drop the Lord and have a Wargor General at 143 pts, remove the magic banner from the Wargor BSB to take him down to 114 pts, and then squeeze in a Lvl 2 Bray Shaman with Lore of Beasts and the Shadowhide for 115 pts?Scratch that... that gives me 35% Heros
Also 20 ungors will not really accomplish much before they die and run away. Those points could be spent for a lvl 2 wizard, or perhaps some razorgors.
saves me on two boxes of Skeletons and a Box of Grave Guard, which for me would have cost about 45 quid.
OK, reworked the list a bit. Am still including the Beastlord but with much less equipment, the BSB is dropped to a normal Wargor, and finally a Bray-Shaman added in;
The Beastherd #2
General, Heavy Armour, Additional Hand Weapon, Talisman of Preservation
Wargor (93)
Heavy Armour, Additional Hand Weapon
Bray-Shaman (75)
Lvl 1 Wizard, Hand Weapon
Gor Herd (265) (Beastlord goes here)
30 Gor, Full Command, Additional Hand Weapon
Ungor Herd (115)
20 Ungor, Full Command, HW & Shield
Bestigor Herd (246) (Wargor goes here)
18 Bestigor, Full Command
The Shaman is weak... but if nothing else he can hide and help with dispelling.
Carnosaur cavalry and some other big dinosaur dual kit, and better Cold One models like the Dark Elf models (I realize they're meant to be different animals, just named similarly, but the Lizardmen Cold Ones look retarded) would basically make the Lizardmen range perfect.
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I was trying to figure out how BTP made their censor bearers linked in that video; looks like the Stormvermin bodies with the halberds sniped at the end to have chains and censors on the end (I don't know where that bit came from); the heads I want to say much be from the Plague Priest kits, although they do seem slimmer.
Then look at the Skeletons, Ghouls and Grave Guard. They're fantastically proportioned. The Skeletons and Grave Guard are probably the best proportioned skeleton models on the market, and actually look like they could fit inside a human sized Fantasy model as its skeleton. They have massive poseability for rank and file models, and are just in general awesome sculpts. The Ghouls lack the poseability due to how the arms connect, but they're still really good models.
The issue comes from GW not updating the older plastic kits, which I understand. It's not cheap. But you mention it being jarring with different types of Skaven, how about different models of the same type? The Corpse Cart has fantastic zombies. And when sitting next to the older zombie models, that's jarring.
It's a bit of a shame that GW didn't go back to revisit the Nightrunners and Plague Priest kits not only to help those 2 units match the range, but the latter could have been useful in adding some extra bits in the kit to make Plague Censor Bearers (obviously the Nightrunners could have easily doubled up to make Gutter Runners and Assassins). The metal models just seem a bit rubbish in terms of looks and cost.
Sidenote, I have made / painted a Skaven bloodbowl team out of the Stormvermin kit for the Linerats / Blitzers / Thrower while I used the Nightrunners kit for the Gutter Runners. It isn't quite so bad, because the nightrunner skaven help make them look like the strength 2 runts that they are. Obviously I'm upset there isn't a more recent ninja rat kit and really should just suck it up
If you don't have the new Screaming Bell (or you do and you still have the leftover bits from it), you can take the Plague Priest from the Plague Engine sprues and stick him on a base. Just make sure to point his staff carefully if you ever want him to rank up well in a block of dudemans.
It's worth noting that Nightrunners are in the exact same situation as Empire Free Company. They're the Skaven and human warbands from Mordheim, respectively. If they haven't gotten a new box for this long - and Empire Free Company didn't get a new box with their 8th edition box - GW probably just don't want to do a real box for these regiments.