Thoughts on the "Death of WFB" and the Birth of the "Age of Sigmar"

I never intended to get into WFB. I got into WFB due to my interest in 40K. I never intended to get into 40K. I got into 40K due to my interest in Mordheim. Mordheim was my introduction to tabletop mini games. Before that I'd used minis for playing D&D, but that was it. I usually borrowed a mini from a friend to be my character.

What made me finally get my own minis and start painting them and play games was a good group of people to play with. It started with one guy. He and I had some absolutely epic Mordheim campaigns, starting with 500 point (GC) warbands and generally retiring them when they got out of hand. I've still got some minis lying around that are missing an arm or leg, or have an extra head or tentacle.

Chauncey (real name, BTW), pretty much stuck to a couple of warbands. he had a pretty nasty witch hunter group, some tough Reiklanders, and a beastman warband that was coming along okay. I had just about one of everything. Reikland, Middenheim, Marienburg, WH, Chaos, Undead, Skaven, Ork, pirate, dark elf, shadow warriors. I had a warband for just about all occasions (most of them unpainted). Most of them I still have.

Part of me is wondering if any of those models might be appearing in an upcoming AoS army. For big games I still have way too many orcs and a whole lot of elves. but for a small game I may come out with any number of things. Who knows.

My wife refers to Mordheim as my gateway drug to miniature gaming. She's entirely right. I'm wondering now if Age of Sigmar will be that gateway drug that GW has been missing for so long.

No rest for the wicked...

Going back to school has shaken up my painting time. I must tap into that reserve of self-discipline that I imagine that I have and quit playing Total War when I get home at 9:00something and use that decompressing time to paint instead. I still need to paint some war machines (and crews), some boarboys, and a couple of characters before Bayou Battles. Making a decent display board would be nice too.

Wolf Riders

Here are the guys I started before our trip to Uganda. I'm running them as two squads of six with the intent of being chaff. After Bayou Battles, I'll likely add command to flesh them out at fifteen total.

 

Today's background noise started with the 1974 Three Musketeers, followed by The Quiet Man,  and finished with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I've seen all three enough that I don't need to see the screen, except when the good parts come up, like the epic fifteen minute brawl at the end of The Quiet Man. Tonight's painting beverage was pink gin & tonics. I never cared for neither gin nor tonic, but while in Africa I learned that combining them with a little lime and aromatic biters makes a tasty beverage.

Throwing Dice Again!

Late April through early may was spent getting ready for a trip to Uganda to visit my brother-in-law. Very little painting got done, and even less dice throwing happened.
Worth it.

We got to see mountain gorillas from about 10 feet away in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

We saw the famous tree-climbing lions of Ishasha.

We also saw rhinos at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, as well as giraffes, more varieties of antelopes than I can remember, zebras, hippos, and some of the most beautiful countrysides I have ever seen.  

That being said, I'm back and got to painting again. Even better, I got to play again. I was planning on playing a big Triumph and Treachery game, but only two of us showed, so we played a regular game instead at 1000 points. 

He brought 10 ogres at 1000 points, 4 iron guts, 3 bulls, and 3 characters (L1 firebelly, l3 slaughter master, and one with a scythe I'd never heard of). I brought 30 savage biguns, a doom diva, two manglers squigs, a L3 savage shaman, and a black orc warboss. 

My plan was to use the manglers to soften up his units and then take them on with the savages by going wide. He set up with both units in the center. and went first. I was hoping he'd stay close together like, so I could manage to keep both units in front of me and not get flanked.

Apparently, bringing two manglers and a doom diva to a 1000 point game is a dick move (I only brought the models I'd planned on using for T&T). By the end of turn three, he had the slaughter master left, One of my manglers was down to one wound. Between the manglers initial hit, the doom diva, and good scatter rolls on the manglers, my savages never moved.

It was the third time I'd gotten to play with the manglers. Now I understand why the reaction the first two times I used them was to kill them first, no matter what.