Goblins 1, Warriors 0

It’s been a week since the Trickster’s Blade Tournament has been announced and the Players Pack released to the eagerly awaiting masses.  Those who wish to participate in this Tournament can sign up on the Facebook event page that can be found here (insert URL here).  After reading the restrictions, I quickly wrote up an army list that I hoped could be used as a basis to bring death and destruction to all that I meet during those two days of gaming.  During the last gaming day, I put this army to the test and was quick to pick up two things –

1. Goblin Armies are a very solid army that can grind like the best of them
2.  I need to play more games of Warhammer

The first point is a bit of a given if you’ve faced an all-gobbo army before.  Cheap characters and even cheaper troops mean that you can field an army that usually outnumbers you at least 2 to 1; possibly 3 to 1 if you’re an elite army.  I shudder to think what the odds are when it comes to Ogre Armies.  As it was, my opponent Jamie fielded a mass of Goblins that looked as little like this:

2 Units of 40+ Night Goblin Spearmen	20 Goblin Archers
A sizeable unit of Squig Herders	6 Trolls
2 Bolt Throwers	1 Stone Thrower
1 Doom Diver	1 Mangler Squig
1 Giant	1 Orc Shaman
2 Goblin Lords	2 Goblin Shamans
1 Night Goblin BSB

The single Orc Shaman was a surprise, though definitely a sound tactical choice.  One can only imagine the series of unfortunate events that resulted in this Shaman being stuck leading such a horde of crazy and vicious Gobbo’s.  When deployed on a battlefield, this army looks quite imposing.  Large blocks of infantry supported by all manner of squiggly beasts and other horrors recently evicted from dank, dark caves, poked with sharp sticks in very tender places before being unleashed upon an unsuspecting opponent.  My army comprised of the following:

1 Chaos Lord	1 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Exalted Champion	1 Exalted Champion BSB
20 Chaos Warriors	36 Chaos Marauders
2 Units of 5 Warhounds	1 Unit of Knights
18 Chosen	1 Warshrine
Unit of 4 Ogres

When fielded against the Goblin army, my Chaos force looks a little under-fed. At the time, I was feeling a little cocky, confident that my elite infantry would make mince-meat out of the tiny greenskins.  I believe the words “They’re just Goblins, what are they going to do really?” echoed through my mind at one stage...

Turns out, Goblins are evil, evil bastards whose ability to punch each and every one of my men in the crotch with a rusty blade exceeds even my wildest expectations.  My Chosen were killed to a single man; my BSB fell after rubbing himself all over with Poison Ivy; my Marauders and Sorcerer played catch with a Giant who was using my Exalted Champion as the ball; my Hounds were annihilated by crazed Fanatics (Knights too); while my Ogres became squig chow.  The Warshrine, while doing very little when it came to blessing my units died in a very undignified manner after being run down by Goblin Infantry.  The most memorable part of the battle was when Jamie cast ‘Gork’ll Fix-It” on my Chosen unit just as my dice ran hot, ensuring that both my Chaos Lord and BSB killed about 3 Goblin Archers between them.  All in all it was a well-fought battle, with blows traded back and forth.  As a General, Jamie is highly skilled, out-manoeuvring my larger units before striking at my weaker elements with his hammer units.  For me it was a great learning experience, allowing me to learn some of the weaknesses of my list while giving me ideas on how to improve the list as a whole.  I’m thinking I’ll drop the spare Exalted Hero and take a couple of units of Marauder Horsemen to add a little more speed to my army, while also giving me something to throw at units like Mangler Squigs.

Thruug WIP Front

Thruug WIP Back

This fortnight’s hobby progress centred on getting my Warshrine up and operational so that I do not have to constantly substitute something for it during games.  Originally pushed into battle by a team of Marauders, I felt that Thruug deserved something a little more ergonomically sound (damn OH&S requirements) and have him being pulled into battle by a team of slaves.  Combine this increased horse (or is it man?)-power with a pseudo-sled contraption that will allow the Warshrine to traverse those hazardous mountain trails and cross snow-covered plains, getting Thruug to where he needs to be shouldn’t be much of a challenge.  Using plasticard, I’ve added more bulk to the shrine, making it look more likely to carry his weight.  If nothing else, Thruug  Over the top of that, I’ve layered 1mm Balsa wood to add a bit of detail to keep me interested when painting and some supports to make the body look more realistic.  With the wood work done, I’ve added some accessories from the Ogre and Giant kits to pimp his ride a little.  As a living shrine to the Gods of Chaos, it’s understandable that the more superstitious members of the tribe may ply him with gifts such as food, wine etc in exchange for his blessing.  With the body of the Shrine completed, it was now time to find something to drag him into battle. 

It seems having slaves is good for a wide range of reasons.  Rummaging through my bits box, I quickly discovered that due to the very little space I left on the front of the base, horses weren’t going to cut it (should have made his giant-sized butt hang off the edge of the base).  Instead, I’ve made do by tethering an Ogre slave to the front of the shrine; condemned to drag Thruug across the old world until he expires.  I’ve decided that the Ogre will be painted to resemble yet another captive taken from the lands of Ostermark in a bid to enhance the ‘captives’ theme I hope to have running throughout my army.  The idea was originally suggested by my mate Mark who has also graciously provided me with the Ogre that now resides at the head of Thruugs base.  How the Ogre is chained to the Shrine was ‘inspired by’ (or stolen from if you prefer) my mate Daniel’s Empire War Altar he recently built and painted.  Pictures of it as a WIP can be found here, and pictures of the finished product here.  As can be seen, he’s used flagellants incredibly well here, enhancing the fanatical nature of the Sigmar Cult while creating something that is utterly unique on the tabletop (at least until I’ve finished my Warshrine that is).  Once finished, the Warshrine will act as my first army centrepiece, giving my army something that catches the eye of on-lookers and draws them in during painting competitions.  As the centrepiece, I am hoping it will also unnerve my opponent enough to make it a priority target when it comes to shooting, allowing the rest of my army to close without taking too many casualties on the way in.  That’s the theory anyway, now it’s time for me to learn how to use my new army.  Like any general, one must learn how to correctly deploy the weapons they have at their disposal.  For it is only through constant practice and familiarity that one can master their use; executing attacks with deadly efficiency all the while slaying one’s foes with sublime grace.  Wow, that sounded incredibly smarmy didn’t it?

WIP Marauder Horseman

Thruug’s altar is not the only work I’ve been doing this fortnight however.  As well as working on completing my Warshrine, I’ve also been busily assembling Marauder Horsemen that will accompany my army.  Armed with flails and Javelins, these insane horsemen of the Northern Wastes will protect the flanks of my army, hopefully engaging other light cavalry units and war machines.  I’ve recently received cavalry bases to arrive from Back to Base-ix, that will allow me to base these fellows in the same was as the rest of my army.  While we’re on the topic, Back to Base-ix is a great Aussie company who has been supplying me with textured resin bases for the last 5 years or so.  They have an amazing selection of designs and base types to choose from and I heartily encourage you to check them out here.  Added to that, I’ve also received the bits I needed to build my unit of Chosen, which were en route from the USA.  After receiving the bits however, I quickly realised that I miscalculated, and as a result I’m about a rank short of a full unit.  Never mind though, using some of the unit fillers from my Warrior Unit that aren’t being used and adding in a couple of wolves, my Chosen are now at full strength , ready to cut down all that face them in the name of their dark gods.  All that is left for them is to dedicate some time to green-stuffing their butts so they look like they actually have hips that allow them to walk rather than just having legs that connect to their stomachs.

So with that, here are my stats for this week:

Number of Days until Trickster’s Blade: 31

Number of Units Completed: 5

Number of Points painted this fortnight: 0 (assembly doesn’t count unfortunately)

Catch you all later

Trev