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So a few years ago I really became interested in Warmaster. Something about the tiny figures all ranked up and the mass battles really appealed to me. I started with an Averland Empire army (http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?198305-The-army-of-Averland-a-Warmaster-project-log). I quickly realized that if I ever wanted to play a game of Warmaster I'd need to purchase and build a couple of armies for my gaming group to use. So like any good miniature gamer I purchased another pile of metal in the form of a Vampire Counts army and had plans drawn up for Dwarfs, Dark Elves, Skaven and Bretonnians. Then GW killed off specialist games and stopped selling the figs and I thought that my dream of hundreds (if not thousands) of little men bashing away at each other had died.

So the skeletons and zombies sat in a drawer for years, hopelessly stuck in the "I'll get to them eventually pile". Then, while looking up suitable figs for a 10mm English Civil War Army I discovered that other companies had stepped into the niche left behind by GW, companies like Pendraken, Kalistra, and Magister Millatum all had fantasy figs for sale in 10mm, suddenly my dream was reborn. So the 10mm pile of metal has started to grow again, mostly in the form of a Dwarf army from Pendraken. I also realized that it was time to start chipping away at the pile.

The deathless minions of the lords of night called to me from their drawer and I answered, resolving to paint them in a quick and easy fashion so as to get them on the table as soon as possible. So far the skellies and dire wolves have painted up nice and easy. I managed to do 4 regiments in about a week and a half.











Up next are two units of Fell Bats, and then on to some cavalry

I finished the next two units last week. two regiments of Fell Bats.











I've got two regiments of Black Knights, a unit of Ghouls and a unit of skeleton primed and ready for paint.

Another unit done, this time three stands of Black Knights.

Finished up another batch of units. Ghouls, skeletons and another unit of cav.















Next up are Grave Guard, zombies, more skeletons and character figs

It's about to make a huge come back...in my basement...with the friends I force/bribe into playing with me.

Finished up a unit of zombies



I don't love these sculpts, but some of the details were cool, like the pumpkin and bird on the dead tree

I'm trying to keep it simple. It's a base color, one hard highlight and then a wash to tie it all together.

So I managed to get the boys on the table for a quick game of Dragon Rampant last night. We played 33 points each with the Undead vs the Empire. The Empire army was very shooty but slow and the Undead tended to be lighter armoured but faster on their feet. The rules are easy to learn and explain and despite it being the first game for both of us there was a minimum of rule book referencing. We played a strait up encounter battle. Here was the initial deployment:




We both pressed our main forces forward through the farm fields




The Undead sent their warbeasts (Fell Bats and Dire Wolves) around the flank



The Empire gun line began to deliver some punishing volleys early



While the Dire Wolves tried to roll up the flank



The Empire light horse managed a parthian retreat, peppering the advancing skeletons as they came forward



In the end it was a pretty lopsided victory for the Empire. the Empire heavy foot formed a defensive formation called a wall of spears which the Undead player just wasn't able to break through. The game moves fast with a failed ordered activation ending your turn and you really have to think about what you want to do with each unit and what's important and what's not. I'm playing again on Wednesday with us switching sides, we'll see if I can handle the Undead a little better this go around.

I haven't had a chance to play warmaster proper yet, but what I've read it's similar to Dragon Rampant in that a failed activation ends your turn but also very different in the sense that unit facing is important (in addition to many other things).

I need to finish a few more units to have a proper warmaster game but it should look impressive when I'm done with 35-40 units per side.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Managed to finish two vampire character models today. I've got a nice little scene planned for the necromancer figure.

Finished up some more of the character stands. Two Necromancers to raise the forces of the dead.

Finished up another unit today, Grave Guard this time. I didn't love these sculpts when I was painting them up (the weapons are too small, and skeletons look weird in armour at this scale) but I'll have to get over it because I've got 5 more units of these guys to finish.



I think they look better from the back





They look pretty good as a unit, not as good as the normal skeletons, but they get the idea across.

All the Vampire Counts figs are from GW's original warmaster line. I'm planning to start mixing in a few units from my next warmaster army, which will be dwarfs, into the painting rotation as I'm running out of unique VC units to paint. I've got to do something to break up the long slog through skeleton and zombie stands after all.



These figs are from Pendraken. One of the big differences from GW's warmaster figs is that these guys don't come in strips but as individual figs. It's a little inconvenient to paint them this way but I like how it allows you to play around with the basing.

Finished up the Winged Nightmare today. Sometimes I miss the heft of metal models, but this guy reminded me why I hate putting together multi part metal figs.

Finished another unit of skeletons so time for an army shot.





Still have a TON to do, 5 more units of skeletons, 5 more units of grave guard, 2 more units of Black Knights, numerous Ghoul and Zombie units plus a black couch and ethereal host. The plan is to start working in some dwarf units to keep up the variety. Still hoping to get all this done in 2016.

I managed to get in another game of Dragon Rampant using the 10mm figs. Much larger game this time (possibly too large) but it was fun seeing everyone laid out on the table.

Both armies laid out ready to go



Lots of skellies implacably moving forward





Empire guns ready to lay down some lead



War Altar being judgmental





The zombies never stood a chance

Took a little break to finish up some Dark Eldar and then my daughter was off school for the summer, which really ended up killing painting time. Despite all that I managed to start on the next 10mm project, Dwarfs! All of these figs are from Pendraken. The big difference between these and the GW Warmaster figs is that these come as individuals, not strips. It's a nice change as it allows for some more dynamic basing.

First up a unit of warriors











Next, the guys who never miss arm day but always grab a beer (or 20) after, the Slayers







Finally, a unit of Thunders