Painting Shenanigans!!

So I've been experimenting with the "Dip". The "Dip" usually is Minwax Polyshade, a polyurethane wood stain. The stain acts as a beautiful wash, bringing out every tiny pockmark of chain mail and line of plate armour; plus folds of cloth etc. The polyurethane part gives a tremendously durable topcoat to the fig. This wood stain come in a many different colors and can really speed up army painting with good looking results. Army Painter sells a similar dip that's formulated for miniature painting but is a bit pricey. Here's a link to there site, It has a ton of examples of using the Dip. However, while my initial tests seemed to have very positive results, once I shifted into production mode and started to crank out a bunch of models, each batch was flawed. Each Time I tried to paint a dozen or so models at once, the stain would be way too dark, like straight black ink poured over the model, with only the most extreme edges of the models being visible other then glossy black. Each time I thought I figured it out and tried again, this time shaking the models, not just letting it drip back into the can, but same result messed up paintjobs. Then I thought it was do to dipping it instead of applying with a brush. Nope. Turns out I shook up the can nice and good, just before each production session, but just popped the top and dipped when "testing". Once it was shook up it was way too dark, but most the pigment sinks to the bottom over time.

But the good new was in researching why I was having such dramatic variations in results, I found something better then the "Dip". I found a few people expounding the virtues of Future floor wax mixed with colored ink and some water. Awesome.I love Future as a paint additive adding a drop of "magic wash"(50/50 future/water) to paint on a pallet, this makes the paint slow smoother and dry slightly glossier. It also strengths the paint to a degree. Magic Wash is great when painting whites and light colors as brush strokes are often visible, but are almost non existent when using the wash. I had thought about adding Ink to the wash before but had never tried it and had forgotten about it. Now I'm hearing people telling me it's much better then a polyurethane stain for a ton of valid reasons. But before I list the reasons I'll say I'm very happy with the results. I'll post picts soon.

Future vs Minwax
Drying time for Future is between 15-30 minutes, Minwax takes 24 hours.
Future can be cleaned from your brushs and thinned with water. Minwax requires Turpentine.
Future allows you to easily dilute your colors to the point you can really control how dark your stain is and you don't have to shake off excess. Minwax requires a bit of vigorus shaking to remove excess dip, this can be messy getting a polyurethane stain splattered on clothes or surroundings.
Future smells a bit like apples. Minwax smells like oilpaints and is toxic to breath.
Future lets you add any color ink or (maybe paint, I haven't tryed yet). Minwax has a limited selection of colors.
Future is much less glossy then Minwax, while a matt varnish might be preferable, It's not mandatory.. Minwax is extremely glossy and requires a matt varnish.
Future is easyer to control and work with. Minwax is simple but slow, messy, and toxic.
Minwax is probably more durable then Future, but I'm confident Future will protect much better then standard paint and as well as many sealants people use to protect there figures.

I was very hopeful for Minwax and I might have had much better results with Army Painter shades, but I can't think of anything I'd be happier with then Future and what it can do.

Painting table time!

Models I've been working on recently.

Siege is pretty good.

I've played a few games in the last week, playing E-Stryker, P-Caine, and Siege.

I heart P-Caine, he's such a army buffer spamming both Deadeye and snipe twice a turn. This really enables your ranged units. Stormblades with Snipe and Deadeye have a 19" threat on ranged attacks that ignore's the target being in melee penalty, with each hit being a pow 14 and three storm gunners with six inched more threat + auto hitting shenanigans. The fact they rock in melee is a sweet bonus but with P-Caine I take them for the Pow 14 assault move shooting tech. Gun Mages and Trenchers also Luv some Deadeyed Snipe (allows the Gunmages to use other shot types with snipe).

With E-Stryker I ran a max Stormblade unit with JR and Rupert there to buff them. They did good damage and soaked a ton of Winterguard sprays, all while rolling that flank. At Turn three I remember to use Madelyn Corbeau, moved Stryker up and then had my jacks clear a lane to Epic Vlad, spent 2 focus of 4" of movement then walked him though a cloud into Vlad and Killed myself because I rolled three dice and hit the magic roll of 17 on 3d6. Woot, I won the moron Lottery. So we tried it again with 2 dice I gained 6 str and took 8 damage, then realized I had only two focus left and still had not taked my attack. So I boosted to hit, connected and realise a second attack would likely miss because Vlad would be buffed up form the damage, so I boosted damage and one shotted the big V. Rolled 14 on the three dice at Dice +4 I think. Mostly I got lucky. I was a little disappointed with that assassination run, it was a lot more sketchy then I though and requires more resourced then I thought.

The Siege Game was sweet Because of a few things, first I played a returning Mark 1 player and this was his first game of Mark 2, so I'm a douche for talking about the smack down I gave him. Second Siege is awesome, He almost soloed a doomreaver squad with Groundpounder and on the feat turn (last turn too) Hit the Butch for 18 damage past armor thanks to Rheinholdt's lucky charm letting me tune the damage up. A hunter shot later and that was game. Third, after the game I realised I hadn't lost a model, a hunter lost both cortex and movemnt and my Iron clad had a few columns but nothing crippled. He almost killed four stormblades, but thanks to the Piper, I made all the tough rolls. Four, I realized how much I'm enjoying Siege and his feat.

I need to get some games with Kraye in. I've played him about a dozen times about six months ago and I think he's very powerful. I just need to get back in practice with him and Cavjacks.

Siege plus Thunderhead = meh

So I've been playing a lot of games with Siege lately, and while I have a fair amount of experience with Cygnar, I haven't played him much until now. I must say he is a powerhouse, but the gobber is a must buy with him. Getting two shots with his rocket launcher is pretty sweet. I sent a bunch of games with him trying to use a Thunderhead for max carnage on his feat turn. However because I can't find any sweet movement tricks to increase the T-head's threat range, I'm going to drop him from my siege lists. Right now my big issue is whether I want to use Long Gunners or Nyss Archers. Both are super sweet units, the Long gunner can fire twice a turn and can also drop a 5" suppressing fire template against stealth infantry. The Nyss are faster, weapon-masters, pathfinders, and hunters but otherwise shoot about the same, but with out the double shot when stationary. Right now I'm leaning towards the Nyss as I've ran into some stealth heavy lists that really limit the Long gunners, while the Nyss are fast enough to attempt to outmaneuver a stealthed force and alpha with weapon-master charges against heavy beasts/jacks. Long Gunners are just so brutal on Sieges feat turn, if you can hit two different targets with there pow 21 CRA. Dice +11 is good against a Khador Jack or Dice +13 on a Cygnar heavy.

I'm back to Cygnar!

I've been playing Cryx lately because there didn't seem to be much happening with them locally, and I wanted to learn them and teach the locals for events outside Game Kastle, our local game store. But I feel I need to start practicing for Kublacon (the best local game convention) and Lock and Load. So after looking at my Cryx, Cygnar, and Trollkin, I have decided to play Cygnar in both events. I'm planning for the Lock and Loaded Masters, so I'm going to focus on three casters, Siege, E-Stryker, and Kraye. I have decent experience with Kraye, Some experience with E-Striker, but I've only had a few games with Siege so I think he's the guy I need to focus on the most. I have a lot of experience with E-Haley, but Figure everyone and there mother will know her tricks, while Kraye and Siege might have some surprise juice, while E-Stryker is well known, but seemingly underplayed, so people might make mistakes against him.

I'll post some lists some time soon.

Ninjahut still Lives.....

Hey all,

I've been busy with the Windless Wastes league and getting my Pressgang on so I didn't get around to posting here. I'm still going strong on Warmachine and I'm currently playing Cryx. Latily I've been trying to learn Epic Skarre and while I do win with her, I still feel like I'm missing something with how I play her. Her Feat is awesomesausce, but that's pretty obvious, her spells are very cool but to my surprise Admontion never seems to do much, as I'm either getting hosed by range, I forget to use it (because it's not important at the time), or my opponent close enough it doesn't matter.

The last tournament ran well, although I used the Finals Table appendix rule for the first time and received some negative feedback. Apparently people don't like there last game to not really matter because 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place where now locked in for the top four players. In the future, if I run a Finals Table round, all run it as a bonus round for the top four and the tournament is finished for other players. Otherwise I had a good time running the event.

As for event info, P-Doomshaper won the 25 point Tier fight under the brillant command of Lance. Way to go Lance! Rhyas took second place with Lat laying down beatdown for Everblight's glory! Epic Sorcha (Henry) and Gorten (Alan) Battling it out for Third place, with Sorcha pulling out the Win.

Lastly I've been Playing DC universe online on the PS3.

I've been enjoying the MMO on a Console experence.

Here is a shot of one of my earlier characters "American Right"

I play in the Crisis Server, contact me if you want to hang online, yo~

My take on the new League stats

Windless Waste Cards

I think the League model stats are different as apposed to better. 


Menoth's "Chained Prodigal" is interesting. Blizzard seems useful, but cloud effects are not that hard for Menoth to get, however it's one more defensive buff for Menoth, so that's not bad. Frostbite is a magic ability 7 Spray, so that's situational better then the default magic attack. 

I really like the Tempest Wraith and will likely be playing them in the league. While losing Chain Attack Death chill sucks, gaining Snipe will really help this model out in my opinion. Most games I play with Pistol Wraiths involve them getting close enough to attack, getting a few soul tokens, then getting killed before they can use the soul tokens. Snipes extra range show help them load up on souls early game and hopefully allow then to survive long enough to use those soul token. However the Tempest Wraith has pow 10 pistols instead of pow 12, so those soul tokens might be essential to there use, it your attacking anything with a decent armor rating. Thunderbolt and Black Penny just give you more options and are each pretty awesome effects.

I'm also a fan of the Trollkin Cutthroat (this model seems a lot better then the Trolllkin Skinner, but easier to kill with beasts). 

I might also find room in my Cryx list for the Swamp Gobber Fumigators, as 1 point for a rat 6 pow 12, 8 inch spray is pretty sweet.

I think the Karax Skirmishers are pretty sweet for Skorne as they lose Shieldwall for Gang, while still retaining Girded, so they are immune to blast damage and can protect ofter models from them too.

Yahraph is interesting, but with out a few Teraphs to back it up, it's not that amazing. It gains Reach and now has a pow 13 Aoe instead of it's normal Strafe Attack. Flanking a Terarph makes him pretty sweet.

The Navigator seems cool, its a monster at scenario games, as hit can slam with momentum or pull with it's Reach melee attack, so it's pretty sweet at removing a troubling model from the edge of a scenario zone.

I think I'm least impressed with the Gnarlhorn Bruiser. It trades Counter Slam for Counter Charge, and I feel that's a bit of a downgrade, but losing followup and gaining free charges and Chain Attack:brutality is neat, circle has Warp Wolves that hit harder if you just want a melee beater or if you want to mess with your opposition's turns, counter slam is better.

Shadowfall Archers are also interesting but I don't see why I'd want to use them instead of the normal Archers, but I guess with Raven where they speed the game with the Snipe Spell on them, they don't need that option, so having Shadowfire instead is a boon. Otherwise trading the Continuous effect Fire for Corrosion is not a trade I'd normally make. 

The Manta is another model I'm so-so on. If your not a fan of Stormsmiths, it's pretty cool and can lock down Arcnodes and stuff and it's amphibious so that's neat. However the more I think about it, the more I'm liking it, but it's not enough to tempt me to run out and buy a firefly and play Cygnar this league.   

Dmitai Ulchev is cool, but I don't see anyone playing Kayazy latily, so a Character upgrade for them is neato but unlikely to appear in out league.Baring the fact we probably won't see him in play, he's a nice addition of a Kayazy unit, adding Paymaster that allows Pathfinder or Tough on a unit that's already fast and hard to hit. Alswo I just noticed he's a weapon master too.

Overall I like the new stats for the league, but only a few models really look exciting to me. It I had any Troll Skinner's I would be very tempted to play trolls, but I'm currently happy with the Fumigators and Tempest Wraith.

Playing Cryx now and League of Legends

I don't know if I mentioned this but I'm a Press Ganger now, so I'm now Judging the local events as well as organizing then. This means I can't play in tournament as I'm running, which is how I prefer it, but I'm not going to be playing as competitively as I have been. I find that freeing, a I felt tied to my Cygnar and later to my trolls because Warmachine/Horde really benefit experience with models. So I'd been neglecting my other factions. I'm playing Cryx at the moment, focusing on E-Lich and P-Denny. I fell Our meta doesn't have a strong Cryx meta, so I'm going to try to learn these guys and teach the locals about them. E-Skarre is next on the list. After a few months with Cryx, I think I'll hope to Mercs for a while, or Menoth.

I've just recently found "League of Legends" and all I can say is wow. I'm really enjoying this game, it's fast paced, designed for very competitive play and feel a bit like your playing a Warcaster (but with no jacks). If you every played the "Defense of the Ancients" mod in Warcraft 3, this is it's next generation. Defense of the Ancients or DotA was a very popular mod that changed Warcraft 3 into a 1-2 hour epic RPG wargame. In both DotA and League of Legends, you control one Character that's a powerful hero for his army, and the game has two teams, each composed of 3 or 5 players/characters. The players battle it out while a much larger battle rages around them. Each Team need to defeat a gauntlet of Defense Towers, enemy Grunts, and enemy character to destroy there well guarded nexus and win the game. League of Legends is Free to Play and each week all players are given access to 10 random heroes, and you can unlock heroes permintely with real cash or earning points in game. I've played about 8 games and have unlocked 2 heroes so far, so I don't think spending real money is necessary in the least (but it might be fun, there are a ton of different champions, like 40+, so it might take a while to earn a large stable.

This link is to the new users Guide

There is a Referral program, so if you decide to try this game, please click this link, so I get the credit for referring you.