In this weeks weekly waffle I’m going to start off this week with something a bit unusual for me and that is the fact that I actually played a game of WarCry this week on game night. With the exception of Blackstone Fortress or D&D it’s been quite a while since I actually rolled the dice and took part in a game. I used my Cypher Lords for this first game and to be fair was helped at nearly every step of the way. The only thing I did for myself was to build my war band, and in this case that simply involved using the models I had actually built so no thinking involved there. When picking how I was going to put the models together I just went with the rule of cool rather than looking at any of the actual rules and this was going to be a test of how well that worked.
I had my first game of WarCry on Tuesday and I’m happy to report that I got an absolute tubbing from Anna. But, and I think this is the key, I really enjoyed it. The dice gods weren’t on my side with me rolling a lot of ones and Anna at one point getting fourteen hits from fourteen dice. However, I’m not going to try and blame my loss on the dice as was simply out played. As for the game though by the end I was beginning to get to grips with the mechanics, which are quite simple but what I really need to work on the combinations open to each faction. So depending on how many doubles or triples you roll you open up new and interesting options for you war band. Which gives what a relatively simple game the extra layer that means that skill and tactics really do matter. So it’s now time to learn more about my factions and get more games in.
On the hobby front I’ve been really working hard to get the Corvus Cabal finished and keep the momentum flowing. I’ve not actually had to put a great deal of time into getting them done but I have had to be very focused with that time as I have a tendency to get side tracked very easily and if did that then I knew I wouldn’t get these done. I’ve also concentrated on getting these desk top ready and not getting bogged down in trying to make the perfect. Overall I’ve managed to keep my focus and discipline which has resulted in these being ready to share with you today.
I was happy with how everything turned out and I will certainly be making contrast paints part of my everyday painting process going forward. They were a key element in getting these models finished so quickly, or at least quickly for me. When you mix them up with a few normal paints I think the results are really good and they just another useful tool to have in the box. As well as the contrast paints I’ve used some weathering powders to dust up the models and give them a bit more of a gritty look that I think is in keeping with the feel of the game. That coupled with a mat varnish to knock everything back a bit I think has worked and given them a vibrant but gritty feel, if such a thing is possible. Regardless I like how they have turned out and for the first time in quite a while I’m actually looking forward to getting to use them in a game.
With these guys finished I need to find a new painting project to keep the going but in the mean time I’m going to make a start on building the Grot Bots. It’s been a lot of years since I built the last once but the process is not that complicated. The issue really comes in the number of different bits that need to be measured, cut, cleaned and then glued together. For example, a single foot has something like thirteen different parts with five or six different stages to get it completed. Not too bad until you think that to do a full squad you need twenty-four feet. When you think that there are about eighteen different sections to each model you are looking at something in the region of two hundred different elements that make up a single model. Some such as the bolts that add a bit of detail can be done in batches using green stuff and mould. Whilst others such as the springs on the let need to made individually are quite time consuming. So if I’m not careful the time will soon disappear on me.
That’s it for this week. My plan is that I’m going to do some build work on the bots this week so won’t be doing much in the way of painting. That will probably mean lots of tiny aggravating cuts on fingers from cutting and shaping plasticard but as long as I make some progress I’ll be happy. Until then I hope you all have an enjoyable and productive time and I hope to catch up with you all again next week.
