Ulthuan Rallies for War

[Prince of Spires]

They certainly look ready to charge

With those models, it's no wonder they got the impetuous rule...

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Finished an entry into the WHFB Discord's Little Waaaaagh! competition and forgot to post it here! Time to go back into hibernation again until I muster the energy to paint ten more Sea Guard, a Skycutter and maybe another dragon with magnetized Dragon Mage, Archmage, and Prince (hoping to model him after Imrik using some handy bits.

[Prince of Spires]

Those are great. Very crips and clean. I like how the mage both matches the units in his color scheme and also stands out as an individual character.

Please don't hibernate too long, since I want to see more!

[SpellArcher]

I especially like the Dragon Princes. The standard centres the unit beautifully.

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Wellp, those base adapters finally showed up and they were a wash. They printed them in hard plastic as opposed to the soft plastic they advertised in their video. I was hoping for something that would be easy and damage-free when placing on my old bases. I'm also realizing how different GW 20mm bases are in terms of actual size. I may find some kind of spray on rubber to achieve the effect I want, but not sure. This was a huge let down.

[SpellArcher]

Wellp, those base adapters finally showed up and they were a wash. They printed them in hard plastic as opposed to the soft plastic they advertised in their video. I was hoping for something that would be easy and damage-free when placing on my old bases. I'm also realizing how different GW 20mm bases are in terms of actual size. I may find some kind of spray on rubber to achieve the effect I want, but not sure. This was a huge let down.

Bummer.

[Prince of Spires]

Wellp, those base adapters finally showed up and they were a wash. They printed them in hard plastic as opposed to the soft plastic they advertised in their video. I was hoping for something that would be easy and damage-free when placing on my old bases. I'm also realizing how different GW 20mm bases are in terms of actual size. I may find some kind of spray on rubber to achieve the effect I want, but not sure. This was a huge let down.

I have a friend with a 3D printer who is printing me some movement trays to get to the correct base sizes. I'll see how that goes. It does sound like a good enough option, since I'm not looking forward to rebasing my entire army...

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Wellp, those base adapters finally showed up and they were a wash. They printed them in hard plastic as opposed to the soft plastic they advertised in their video. I was hoping for something that would be easy and damage-free when placing on my old bases. I'm also realizing how different GW 20mm bases are in terms of actual size. I may find some kind of spray on rubber to achieve the effect I want, but not sure. This was a huge let down.

I have a friend with a 3D printer who is printing me some movement trays to get to the correct base sizes. I'll see how that goes. It does sound like a good enough option, since I'm not looking forward to rebasing my entire army...

Yeah, I may go that route, the only problem then becomes getting the proper foot print when you redress wider or longer than your movement tray. I suppose just having a lot of different trays for different configurations would be the answer. I'm gonna see if there's anyway I can easily apply something like a gasket to the inside of the adapters so they create enough of a friction fit without damaging the paint on the rim of the base. Hope you post pictures of your army all set up on the new movement trays!

[Prince of Spires]

Yeah, I may go that route, the only problem then becomes getting the proper foot print when you redress wider or longer than your movement tray. I suppose just having a lot of different trays for different configurations would be the answer. I'm gonna see if there's anyway I can easily apply something like a gasket to the inside of the adapters so they create enough of a friction fit without damaging the paint on the rim of the base. Hope you post pictures of your army all set up on the new movement trays!

Indeed, redressing means a whole bunch of work. It doesn't happen all that much in my games, so I'll be fine I think. And in the few instances where it does happen, then having one or two models not the exact correct width is good enough. I'll put up some pictures if I get some.

Have you considered using magnets to attach your models to the adapters if you don't want to glue them?

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Indeed, redressing means a whole bunch of work. It doesn't happen all that much in my games, so I'll be fine I think. And in the few instances where it does happen, then having one or two models not the exact correct width is good enough. I'll put up some pictures if I get some.

Have you considered using magnets to attach your models to the adapters if you don't want to glue them?

The problem with these adapters is that they have an opening through the bottom. But now you've given me an idea. I may just magnetize my 20mm bases and glue steel sheet to the bottoms of the adapters. Guh, that sounds like so much work though, and I'd have to find someone that can cut like 200 25mm squares of thin sheet metal. I could apply steel sheeting to the movement trays, but that kinda leaves me with the same problem as just using adapter trays and not dependably be able to redress the ranks accurately. I'm gonna try some experiments in the coming month.

[TyrrenAzureblade]

I put the army on the base adapters, and holy hell, it's so much bigger in terms of its footprint. I think the solution I'm going with is magnetizing the bases, then gluing metal bases from Shogun miniatures to the bottoms of the adapters so they can just stick on with the miraculous power of magnets. I guess I'm going to have to put the paintbrush down for a bit while I get those all glued... jeeeezus... and then paint and flock them all.

[Prince of Spires]

That's a pretty looking army alright

And I agree that the footprint increases a lot. It doens't sound like a lot, but increasing both the length and the width by 25%, increases the size by over 50%... And you're not even skirmishing the sisters yet, which can easily double their footprint again.

Good luck with magnetizing them all. That's a lot of work ahead.

Any plans for taking the army for a fight?

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Any plans for taking the army for a fight?

They've been in quite a lot of scraps already, mostly on their old bases, some on spaced movement trays (which I ultimately abandoned because of all the redressing and reforming I was using), but haven't gotten a chance to battle on the new base adapters yet. Hopefully this weekend I can get in a game. So far I've been able to face off against Beastmen, Dwarfs, the Empire, Skaven, Warriors of Chaos, and Wood Elves. I wish I had more photographs, but I always end up getting way into the game and forget to get photos.

[Prince of Spires]

I know that feeling. Remembering to take photos is hard

How did they perform for you?

[TyrrenAzureblade]

I know that feeling. Remembering to take photos is hard

How did they perform for you?

I'm happy to say I am currently undefeated. There was almost a draw in a battle with a Warriors of Chaos army, but I realized after the battle that my opponent hadn't counted the points for captured banners, which comfortably put me ahead by enough to call it a victory.

[SpellArcher]

That's a pretty looking army alright

Looking as fine as ever.

Skaven

Does their list seem good and full-featured for play Tyrren? Given it's not from the core books.

I'm happy to say I am currently undefeated.

Doing Ulthuan proud!

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Skaven

Does their list seem good and full-featured for play Tyrren? Given it's not from the core books.

Yeah, I'd say so, they've got a very strong caster in the Grey Seer on Screaming Bell, an anti-infantry monster in the Hell Pit Abomination, and with how combat works now, they have decent cheap core with the Clan Rats with shields and Stormvermin that don't immediately break and flee when you field less than 50 of them in 10 ranks. My opponents didn't field a lot of shooting so I didn't run into Gutter Runners with poisoned thrown weapons which I hear are a very strong skirmishing unit, or Jezzails, but they did field Warp Lightning cannons and those were strong when they rolled super high on their range and strength. Daemonology seems to be the lore of choice, I ran into a unit of Plague Monks that were enchanted with Daemonic Vessel. Thankfully they flubbed their roll, but each model in base contact had four S4 attacks!

Definitely have some ideas for how I want to build out my own Skaven force in the future.

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Played a very interesting 1250 point match versus Dwarfs. My opponent had a King, a Thane (non-BSB), Ironbreakers, Longbeards, Irondrakes, Rangers, Ogre mercenaries, a Gyrocopter and Organ gun. I had 30 Spearmen (Shieldwall, Veteran, War Banner), 20 Swordmasters (Rampaging Banner, Drilled, Cloak of Bears), a lv.4 Warden of Saphery Archmage (Loremaster's Cloak, Silvery Wand, Seed of Rebirth) and a BSB on Griffon (Dragon Helm, Full Plate, Lance, Shield, Seed of Rebirth, Pure of Heart). So two blocks of infantry (Mage was with the Swordmasters), and a noble on Griffon. One anvil. And one hammer.

My main strategy was to get them into close combat as soon as possible to avoid the shooting from the Gyrocopter, Irondrakes, Rangers, Organ Gun and the Cinderblast bombs from the Ironbeard. This strategy worked fairly well, and Walk Between Worlds basically kept my Swordmasters whole until the one turn I miscast a Fury of Khaine and got a Power Drain. My big block of Spearmen got pretty lucky with some bad rolling for my opponent's shooting, but managed to make it into the Longbeards, I managed to charge them while they were in a Marching Column which really helped out. But once they Fell Back in Good Order and reformed, my Spearmen lost steam. But they did hold the right flank long enough to have my Swordmasters cleave through the Ogre mercenaries, the Irondrakes, and then reformed them to be in the Longbeard's rear while they pursued my Spearmen. My opponent's Organ Gun kept rolling 2s and Misfires on his artillery dice, so thankfully it wasn't too impactful. My Griffon wiped out the Rangers that deployed in my zone on my right flank, and then moved to support the Swordmasters against the Longbeards. Ethereal and Fury of Khaine on Swordmasters was just absolute misery for my opponent since they had opted to forego a hard magic counter for more bodies and shooting. In the end, I lost my Spearmen, but my BSB, Archmage General, and about 33% of my Swordmasters were still on the board, while I had wiped out the Rangers, the Irondrakes, the Ogre Mercenaries, the Gyrocopter, the King, a lone Longbeard fled off the board, and the unit of Ironbreakers fled from a failed Terror test against my Griffon, but managed to rally in their last turn right before running off the board.

I think having the big block of Spearmen helped get them into combat against so much shooting, but the real MVP was Walk Between Worlds. It kept my Swordmasters untouched until the miscast. That with Fury of Khaine made them absolute blenders. And definitely took advantage of Drilled to get as many attacks as I reasonably could.

All in all it was a fun game, but I was white knuckling it from the start with just two blocks and a flying monster. Oh, and Cloak of Beards was great for reducing leadership and forcing Terror checks. Don't think I'll leave home without that one.

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Small update, I finally got metal bases from Shogun miniatures, they're absolutely top notch quality, and I've started tests for my adapters. I've started with cavalry, and unfortunately just two magnets alone aren't strong enough to keep the assembly together, so I super-glued the adapters to the metal bases and it works pretty well. It has the added bonus of really adding weight to the bottom of the model so I'm hoping the top heavy BSBs and standard bearers will stop toppling over when they're climbing the side of a hill. I used an adapter and metal base on an infantry model and it worked well without gluing, but it did already have two magnets on it from a previous owner's attempts at magnetizing. I'm hoping I don't need to have two magnets per infantry model, it feels a bit overkill (and expensive). Basing the really thin tops of the adapters is proving to be a royal pain, and it's going to be a lot of work. Hopefully I can think of ways to streamline the entire process.

[Prince of Spires]

They do look pretty on their new bases. I actually think the move to the bigger bases is a good one, given that models have been growing and there are always lots of things sticking out everywhere. However, rebasing an army is a pain...

[TyrrenAzureblade]

They do look pretty on their new bases. I actually think the move to the bigger bases is a good one, given that models have been growing and there are always lots of things sticking out everywhere. However, rebasing an army is a pain...

You're not kidding, I'm glad I'm going to be doing adapters, but it's probably going to take about the same amount of time as rebasing entirely. I finally found the solution for my loose adapters: sealing foam tape. Just a short strip of 1mm thick foam tape on one of the inside faces of the adapter keeps the 20mm bases nice and snug.

I've been too busy to be able to get in some hobby time, so I've only got a handful of adapters fitted with the foam, and only a few cavalry bases based and flocked. I've been able to get a game in against Wood Elves that unfortunately for my opponent snowballed in my favor in turn 4 as he committed his on-foot Glade Lord to a challenge with my Prince on Moon Dragon. My Prince had managed to eliminate his Treeman the turn prior to that and overran into his Great Eagle which offered up a flank to his Glade Lord in a 20 model unit of Eternal Guard with a High Magic lv.4 Spellweaver. He was banking on Walk Between Worlds going off and hoping to win the combat with static res. My unengaged Archmage managed to dispel this critical spell so I challenged. He had also stealthily taken a Dragon Slayer Sword, but didn't manage to roll any sixes to wound. With max overkill the momentum of the game kept increasing in my favor. It was bloody and he managed to eradicate my 20 Phoenix Guard with BSB, 5 Ellyrian Reavers, 8 Silver Helms and about 10 of my 19 Archers, but my Archmage with 20 Swordmasters was untouched the entire game, and there wasn't anything left to challenge my dragon, so he conceded.

Even with just a Moon Dragon and no magic weapons, the Prince proved to be a tough nut to crack, although my opponents dice are decidedly haunted and are cursing him. His Treeman managed to hold the dragon for two turns, but he couldn't roll a hit or a wound to save his arboreal life.

[BeardyMaestro]

Finished an entry into the WHFB Discord's Little Waaaaagh! competition and forgot to post it here! Time to go back into hibernation again until I muster the energy to paint ten more Sea Guard, a Skycutter and maybe another dragon with magnetized Dragon Mage, Archmage, and Prince (hoping to model him after Imrik using some handy bits.

These are all absolutely stunning and clean! What do you do for the whites? So crisp and nicely shaded.

[TyrrenAzureblade]

These are all absolutely stunning and clean! What do you do for the whites? So crisp and nicely shaded.

Thanks, I appreciate that! I prime black, and use Citadel's Corax White, which is a heavily pigmented chalky mess of a paint, but it gets a very nice and smooth cool white-grey. It takes a while to get used to working with it, it dries fast, and hardens in the pot if not kept closed and cleaned properly leading to dried bits in your pot. I used to just spot wash with Nuln Oil (the older formula) when I started, but now I do three parts Lahmian Medium to one part Nuln Oil (new formula).

[TyrrenAzureblade]

I participated in the WHFB Discord's Little Waaaaagh! competition again this year, and unfortunately I didn't make the deadline due to my wrist just giving out. I was short a character (it was either going to be a Handmaiden or Prince Althran on foot) and didn't get the gems done, but here they are, sans flocking and tufts. The Sea Guard were batch painted over the course of three days which is what contributed to my wrist outright quitting on me. I'd have quit too if I weren't getting paid to paint these detail-saturated bastards on such a tight deadline.

[TyrrenAzureblade]

Had a 3500 point battle against Bretonnia last night. 6 hour game, five turns, I can absolutely understand why tournaments tend to stick closer to 2000 points. I won't give a blow-by-blow account because 1) I didn't get a lot of pictures and 2) by turn 3 it just turned into a slog we kept trying to speed up so we wouldn't be at the shop past closing time.


Deployment

I'll point out some key moments though:


My Dragon Princes in Marching Column all the way on my right flank absolutely skewered a five model unit of Pegasus Knights with a countercharge in their turn 1 which meant after overrunning were deep into my enemy's left flank. This meant I ran havoc in his back lines and meant he had to reform a lance of Knights of the Realm into a wide formation due to the cramped deployment. The Dragon Princes were too potent for the knights and countercharged them as well, but were ultimately halted from finishing off the remaining Peasant Archers and Trebuchet by a timely Green Knight manifesting in the wood behind them and receiving a charge.


The Virtue of Heroism made me rethink my Dragon taking the center, so I moved it to my right flank to try and bait out his Duke away from infantry, but also attempting to force him to have to deal with my Silver Helms. He ultimately made a mistake that I think happened because we were just so overwhelmed with the amount of models and units and special rules: he overran the Silverhelms eventually, but didn't reform his Duke leaving a flank open to my Dragon. Thankfully he didn't roll a dreaded natural 6 in combat so I didn't need to use any Opal Amulets, and I won the combat handily on the charge. I unfortunately overcommitted the Dragon to the right flank to attempt to bait out a single character, so by the final turns, I was so out of position (not to mention the damn Falcon-Horn) that the Dragon didn't do much else except charge the Green Knight in the rear to challenge him and tank the hits (no magic weapon) and win through combat resolution.

I think I've come around to an Illusion mage in Swordmasters now that I can't cast Walk Between Worlds on the charge. Glittering Robes and Spectral Doppelganger with a Sword of Hoeth helped delete a unit of foot Knights, and a Paladin and a Baron.

Overall, magic was a nothing burger. Lots of fails to cast and lots of successful dispels, and about four miscasts between the both of us. He had a lv.4 and a lv.2, I had two lv.4 Archmages and rolls to cast were comical. The only real casting that mattered on my part were two big casts of Spectral Doppelganger.

30 Spearmen did a great job of holding up against multiple charges from the Green Knight (won their first combat against him from sheer static combat resolution, and his whiffed attacks), Pegasus Knights, Knights of the Realm and a Duke on Royal Pegasus. They eventually broke from combat and made it past two lone Reavers which managed to cause a pile-up of a pursuing Baron and Knights of the Realm. They rallied the next turn and turned to face their grim duty. The Reavers and Spearmen were killed to a man but held the flank so that the Pegasus Knights, Baron and Knights of the Realm didn't have anything to charge in the final turn.

My BSB ended up tied up by that blasted Green Knight and I kept losing combat (no magic weapon) and Giving Ground. The Green Knight eventually decided to restrain to teleport across the field and my BSBultimately opted to flee from a Pegasus Knight charge because he was on 1 wound, and figured I'd try and deny points. It worked for a turn, but he didn't rally in my turn and continued to flee off the board (womp womp). But helped to ensure the Spearmen were hearty enough to keep holding that flank.

By the end of all the bloodshed, the Asur had prevailed, ~2200 to ~1200.

I think I'm going to attempt to field a High magic Archmage as a lone character next game to spread around more buffs and Fiery Convocation. Having him in the Phoenix Guard allowed them to have Ethereal a couple of turns and managed to give some Spearmen some Fury of Khaine, but I was severely limited by the front arc targeting and being hampered by being in combat. Not sure how I keep the Archmage safe without committing to a unit of Sisters or Shadow Warriors, maybe in the Reaver unit with Skirmish.

[Prince of Spires]

That looks like an epic game. Also, the Bret army looks so small for 3500pts... Congrats on the win.

Magic has been a bit hit or miss for me. I've had a game recently where I failed almost all my casting rolls, and all my dispell rolls. Which meant that my lvl4 was useless, but my opponent's lvl2 mages actually managed to do some work. But I've also had a game where it was an absolute game changer.

[TyrrenAzureblade]

My opponent went very character heavy with a Duke on Royal Pegasus, a Baron on Royal Pegasus, the Green Knight, a Prophetess on warhorse, a Baron on foot, a Damsel on warhorse and a Paladin. After all the magic items and virtues he used to tool them up, he had 1700 or so points in Characters, so it definitely was light on bodies.

This was the first game in TOW for me where magic was almost non-existent. It was for sure an odd feeling to have fielded so many wizards and have them not matter for the majority of the game.

[Seredain]

Tyrren,

What a magnificent collection! You are my hobby hero. Beautiful. Also thank you for the battle report. I've yet to try a game that size but it reminds me of the floorhammer games of my youth: so much excitement descending over 8 hours into headache-inducing suffering. I hear lots of people online complaining about the Falcon Horn. Well done for overcoming!

Cheers,

S