Monday, April 27, 2009

Nemesis Crown Campaign: Battle 5

Vampire Counts
Having dealt with the Elven menace, Byron Manfred was free to continue his search for the crown. Finding it would be his only chance to regain some measure of his former life, whether it be the power to bring back the one he loves or simply being allowed to return to his home.

Byron continued to travel with Duke Tepes, a blood dragon vampire thrall who is out to prove himself in combat. Byron has also become the apprentice of a more experienced necromancer who had heard of his exploits. Under this new dark wizard's tutelage, Byron's skills in the dark arts began to improve.

Their search brought them to an ancient burial site where Byron could sense some powerful ancient magic. Shortly after discovering the site, they came upon a Bretonnian force in the area to clear out any threats to the local populace. The Bretonnian's, led by the noble Sir Edwin Hammel of Parravon, formed up to attack the band of undead. Byron prepared his shambling troops to defend themselves.

Seeing an opponent that might actually be worth his time, Duke Tepes immediately led his small unit of black knights charging right across the middle of the battlefield toward Sir Edwin, the magic wielding damsel with him, and the unit of peasant spearmen they lead. The sudden onslaught greatly unnerved Sir Edwin and his men. Edwin bravely accepted the challenge of Duke Tepes to face him in single combat, and was wounded by the charging vampire. The damsel was slaughtered by the black knights, but the peasants held their ground.

More peasant soldiers joined in the combat, as did some hungry ghouls. The single combat continued between Duke Tepes and Sir Edwin. Due to Sir Edwin's powerful magic armor and the obvious favor of the lady of the lake, the Duke was unable to finish him off. Sir Edwin managed to strike back and wound Tepes, enraging the proud vampire. The knights continued to cut down the peasants until they could take no more. They all broke and ran for their lives directly into some fell bats waiting to finish them off. In the chaos and confusion of the rout, Duke Tepes lost sight of Sir Edwin. But he will not soon forget the insolent human who managed to harm him in combat.

Meanwhile, Byron's undead forces were successfully outmaneuvering and defeating the rest of the Bretonnian army piecemeal. Byron and his new master were able to raise many new allies from the corpses in the ancient burial site. But Byron stretched his powers a little too far attempting to cast a powerful spell he was trying to learn. This nearly cost him his life, as a demon ravaged his mind. It was an important lesson in the dangers of trying to gain power too quickly.

After driving off the attackers with fairly minimal losses, Bryon set about searching the ancient burial site. It did not turn out to contain a magic crown. Byron did, however, discover a different magical artifact with considerable power, which may aid him in his continuing quest.



Bretonnians

Blessed Lady, I pray to you from a grave I have dug with my own hands. Sir Bertrand, my loyal standard bearer, struck down by an evil cursed weapon. The plan was good. I was to lead the peasants through the clearing, bring the undead hordes to battle, and hold the line as Sir Betrand led his knights around the left flank, and even more brave knights sped around the right flank. When this trap was sprung, no one could stand before the might of Bretonnia. The vile creatures of the undead seemed to be playing right into the trap. Blasphemous knights of the undead thundered down upon our line, a mighty vampire amongst them, his lance pointed directly at me as he bellowed a challenge. The dead began to rise from the ground just before the impact of the charge and, Lady forgive me, this sight filled me with fear. Despite my moment of weakness, the line held. The first strike from the vampire’s lance struck me with unholy power, knocking me to my feet. As I stood up to face him I saw the Lady Arianna struck down from an evil knight. I turned to face the vampire…I knew I must defeat him to quell the fear of my men. More peasant joined the battle, hacking down the walking dead where they stood, though more appeared faster than they could be killed. Still more peasants joined the line as the battle raged on between the vile vampire and myself. Shambling creatures stumbled from the forest and joined the battle as the vampire hacked at me. Desperately trying to ward of the blows, he finally caught me off guard. I was out of position to defend the killing blow, and my eyes happened upon the dead body of the Lady Arriana, and I knew the blow would not harm me. The Lady protects. Rejuvenated by this blessed event, I launched myself at the vampire and struck him. He roared in terrifying anger, as if I was not worthy to wound him. The rest I do not remember. The line broke. I was caught in the rush of peasants running from the battle. Giant bat creatures swooped down upon us, killing as we ran. I was dragged down to ground.

“He’s alive!” were the next words that I heard. The few surviving peasants pulled dead bodies from on top me. The survivors had managed to get away from the battle, and where back looking for survivors. Many of the knights survived, but almost all of the peasants were killed. The messengers have returned. They have located some fellow knights of Bretonnia. I have taken into my care Sir Bertrand's warhorse and we are riding to join some fellow knights of Bretonnia. When we meet them I intend to rally together an army to hunt down these vile creatures and end their reign of terror on this world. Blessed Lady give me strength, for I turned in the face of fear. Blessed Lady give me guidance, for my mind is a sea of fear, confusion and rage. Blessed Lady forgive me, for I have failed.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Nemesis Crown Campaign: Battle 4

High Elves
"At Last! Commander, the vile Necromancer has been found!", the runner gasped. Cilliriel gazed at the elf panting at his feet. The messenger was badly wounded, he'd only just escaped the wolves sent after him. The commander laid a hand upon the Elflings shoulder and gazed directly into his eyes. Images flew through his mind.. Beastmen.. Dragon Ogres.. Hordes of undead.. A battle.. a massive army sent forward.. an ambush.. a narrow escape.. the scouting party found out.. the chase. "th-thank you Commander!" The Newly healed runner knew what he had to do and left the tent. When Cilliriel left his pavilion, his retinue was prepared. They departed at once to join the forces of Commander Asurai Durnal.

Passing almost out of the region of Vragthar's Monolith, the shout came.. The mighty Waaaggh! of the Ork kin. It was an ambush! Cilliriel had his battle line drawn before the first ork crested the hill. The elves marched to war. The commander's equerry, the young, but talented Necromancer Elquianna, broke out in cold sweat and nearly fainted from her chariot as the powerful waves of Orkish magic crushed her wards she was able to hastily erect. The contingent of silverhelms bore the brunt of the storm as over half of them fell to the onslaught of the Orcs' heathen gods. The coordinated charge of the elven line proved too much for the goblins however, and the orc line broke. The Elves began to reform their line, Cilliriel turning to meet the rush of a unit of Boarish Cavalry. Elquianna, her chariot destroyed by the combined assault of the goblin archers and the fanatic hidden in their midst, dizzily rushed to join her commander, and was knocked aside by a unit of spider cavalry charging into the flank of the Phoenix Guard, The counter charge by the spearmen proved successful, and both armies retreated from the field. Commander Cilliriel did not have time for another battle with the orks today. His silverhelms were gone, and his equerry was badly wounded, but his retinue was mostly intact, and off he continued to deal with the vile Necromancer. to end his reign of terror. The Orcs will have to wait until tomorrow.


Orcs
Dem pointies ‘r mak’in Urgwart ANGRY! Me fink’s dey learned somf’in from us, dey had lots of boyz wit’um dis time, an’ even some charoits. Musta seen ‘ow orcs fight, now dey try’in it out demselves. Dem gobbos ran like gobbo’s like do’in. We lost some boyz too, but Urgwart not bovvered by it doh. Da big orc “Grimgor” is com’in down from da mountains. All kinds ‘a boyz are in da forest now. Urgwart gonna get a bunch more boyz togevver and show ‘dese pointies where dey belong. If Grimgor is Gork reborn, ‘den Urgwart is Mork reborn! WAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Nemesis Crown Campaign: Battle 3

Orcs
Urgwart started 'is Waaagh deep in the forest. We started putt’in up some big rocks for Mork, and big Orcs and lots of 'itty gobbos from deep in 'dese trees came to the power of Waaagh Urgwart. ‘Dem pointy 'eads finks dey can sneak up on us and get us in our sleep. Dey don't know Mork watches over us! ‘Dem pointy 'eaded arrer's toss 'dere arrows at us from duh trees. Urgwart was angry and tried to wake up all the boyz for the Waaagh, but my boyz kept squabbl'in. Lots of boyz died and ran, but 'dem were da weak'uns. Urgwart knows them pointy 'eads can't fight up close. So dat's what we did. Once the boyz got in close, 'dem soft pointies got 'dere 'eads bashed in! 'Dem chariots crushed lotz of pointies, and even 'dem 'itty gobbo's stomped a bunch of 'em. 'Dem pointy magik wenches did nuff'in to stop Urgwart! Now lots of new boyz 'r show'in up, now 'dey know who Urgwart is! Urgwart is gett'in a big ol' army togevver, we gonna show 'dese pointies who's boss in ‘dese woods! WAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

High Elves
The orks were much more organized than expected. The attack was a complete failure dispite the valiant actions of the Shadow Warriors of Nagarythe, the green tide quickly overwhelmed us. The Death of Commander Anlec Drannagh was sorely felt by the warriors of Nagarythe, a commander of such pure heart is rarely found among our shadow kin.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Nemesis Crown Campaign: Battle 2

High Elves
As the patrol group crested the hill, a messenger was spotted flying from the woods. It had been days, and still no signs of the Necromancer's vile army. And today would be no different. The messenger brought word from none other than Commander Korhil of the White Lions! A detachment of Orcs has slipped past his screen, and assistance was required.
The elves met the orc horde on the field and quickly initiated combat. The sound of Eagle Claw bolt throwers raining death upon the orc mobs was beautiful to behold, but the true honour of the day went to the Shadow Warriors of Nagarythe, who not only held the Arcane Ruins for much of the battle, but further destroyed the warbosses favorite chariot, drawing him and his mob of Black orks into a deadly cross charge from the silverhelms. In the end, the orks were held at bay, but at much cost from the patrol party. Leaderless, the Orks will need time to regroup, time that the elves are happy to give. Word was sent speedily to Commander Cilliriel of the situation.


Orcs
Dat big dumb orc tinks he was the baddest orc to walk dis world. Thought he was Gork 'imself. Now e's dead, 'en it's Urgwart's WAAAGH!!! 'Dem pointy 'eads are good fur somf'in. Would've taken Urgwart longer to kill off dat idiot warboss. All 'ese orcs tink dey can just stomp everyone to the ground. Dey tink like Gork does. Not Urgwart...Urgwart know's Mork is best. 'Dem pointy 'eads better be ready for us now that Urgwart is in charge! WAAAAGH URGWART!!!!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Painting 10mm Great War Germans

In a previous post, I wrote a tutorial on Painting 10mm Great War British. But since they'll need someone to fight, in this post I'll go over a step by step method I used to paint some 10mm Great War Germans.

The miniatures are all made by Pendraken. You can see a review of many of the World War 1 figures here. I'm not an expert in the Great War period, so the colors may not be perfect. In fact, I had a lot of trouble trying to replicate the slightly greenish-grey color of the uniforms, but I think I came up with a method that gives decent results without too much extra effort. All the paints I used are Games Workshop/Citadel, and I'll give the specific colors I used in case you want to replicate this method.

First step is to prime the miniatures white. I used Smelly Primer.
Great War German Great War German

Then paint the uniforms Camo Green.
Great War German Great War German

Paint all the belts and pouches with Scorched Brown.
Great War German Great War German

The paint I used on the helmet no longer has a label, so I'm not sure what color that was. Perhaps Snot Green. Any kind of dark green should be okay. Also paint the boots Shadow Grey.
Great War German Great War German

Paint the rifle and the base Bestial Brown.
Great War German

Paint the bayonet, rifle barrel, canteen cap, and metal ring on the back with Mithril Silver.
Great War German Great War German

Paint the face and hands with Bronzed Flesh.
Great War German

Wash the entire thing with thinned down Black Ink. Yes, I know it still looks green, not grey. That's okay.
Great War German Great War German

Paint the bayonet sheath Chaos Black. Now drybrush the uniform with Codex Grey. This part is a bit tricky, since you have to try not to get any grey anywhere else on the miniature.
Great War German Great War German

The end result is that the uniform is mostly grey, with some green showing. Up close it looks odd, with areas of grey and areas of green. But at a little bit of a distance, the colors blend together and look grey with a greenish tint, which is what I was going for. Here are some pictures of the finished results.
Great War German Great War German

I tried drybrushing the Codex Grey right after painting the uniform Camo Green, before painting anything else. That way there is no danger of getting the Codex Grey on other parts of the model. But then the black ink made it turn out too dark. Next time I might try doing that but with a much lighter grey color, and hopefully that will turn out okay and make the process much easier.