A Tale Of This Gamer?

I'm currently painting a whole bunch of bases. We're nearly at the end of the month and my determination to finish things has reaped... some rewards. I've made more progress the last couple of weeks than I have any month this year. It feels good to be getting things done again.

So next month I want to be a bit more directed in my approach. I want to try something I've wanted to for years: a Tale Of One Gamer series. I'll be using the modern version of the article (since miniature prices are rather too hefty to get much out of the old set budget model) which goes a little something like this:

Month 1: Paint a Start Collecting set

Month 2: Paint a unit of infantry or cavalry

Month 3: Paint a monster

Month 4: Paint a mighty hero

Month 5: Free month

Month 6: Bring the army to battle

So, who's the lucky army? I'm still mulling.

I could do the mounted Chaos horde I was talking about a few days ago but for one there's no appropriate Start Collecting set and for another it is an army heavy on conversions which takes time away from painting. I have a High Elves army I have barely touched with a paintbrush (all... that... white...) for which I could easily source an old Battalion's worth of miniatures or “count as” the Island Of Blood models I own. Then there's Bretonnia. Fair Bretonnia, which I do have an unopened Battalion for as well as a fair number of other models I panic bought (and rightly so, as it turns out) during their all too brief End Times reissue.

Bretonnia scares me. They were my first army before I could really paint or even notice that I couldn't paint. These days I am such a perfectionist that I hesitate every time I even look at the sprues. Still, of the projects here they probably offer the most bang for my blog: interesting miniatures in and of themselves, an army I absolutely adore, plenty of chances to experiment with colour combinations (individual heraldry, I will do it, I will) and some interesting potential conversions courtesy of the Warhammer Armies Project's 8^th edition Bretonnia book.

I have, as you can see, all but convinced myself to finally commit to the Bretonnia project I've been psyching myself up to since I started painting again. Indeed, my recent push to better my painting skills has all been in aid of someday, hopefully getting around to this very project.

In all honesty, it just comes down to which is the greater fear: painting white or not being able to come up with enough unique and easy to paint heraldry schemes.

Also, I'd have to work out what could possibly count as a “monster” for Bretonnia. A Grail Reliquae is probably the nearest thing in the official army list though the Armies Project book offers the possibility of Hippogryph Knights. Whereas of course with High Elves you simply have the High Elf Dragon aka the greatest miniature Games Workshop has ever produced.

This is probably going to be a coin flip scenario. 

A Tale of 1 Gamer #2 (army list)

Since budgeting is a big part of this project I dashed off a quick army list in lieu of having any idea of how I actually wanted to paint these models (coming up with my own hold colour scheme is proving a little challenging). The throng, in theory, is composed thus:

Lords

Prince Dammin Asgarsson

Dwarf Lord (145) armed with hand weapon engraved with 1 Rune of Fury (25, +1 Attack) and wearing Gromril armour engraved the Master Rune of Gromril (30, 1+ armour save) and 2 Runes of Fortitude (50, +1 Toughness and 5+ Ward) save. 250 points

Heroes

Master Engineer Hodor Grimmhammer

Master Engineer (70) armed with Dwarf handgun (12) wearing Gromril armour engraved with 1 Rune of Shielding (25, Ward save against shooting attacks and magic missiles). 107 point

Core

20 Dwarf Warriors (160) armed with hand weapons and shields (15) with full command (30). 175 points

20 Dwarf Warriors (160) armed with hand weapons and shields (15) with full command (30). 175 points

20 Longbeards (240) armed with hand weapons and shields (20) with full command (30). 290 points

16 Thunderers (192) armed with Dwarf handguns with full command (30). 222 points

Special

Cannon (120). 120 points

Gyrocopter (80) with brimstone gun (free upgrade). 80 points

20 Miners (200) armed with great weapons with full command (30) and steam drill (25). 255 points

Rare

10 Iron Drakes (150) armed with Drakeguns with full command (30), Ironwarder armed with brace of drakefire pistols (free). 180 points

Organ Gun (120) engraved with 1 Rune of Forging (25, re-roll artillery dice misfires). 145 points

Total: 1999 points

That's a grand total of fourteen kits, four of which I already own. The budget allows me about two kits a month so it should all be over by Christmas, just in time for the new campaign in January.

It's a stolidly generalist sort of army so I can experiment with what works and what doesn't. I've got blocks of close combat infantry, missile troops, war machines and a Gyrocopter. The runic items are pretty much just whatever would fit in the points left over and since they only exist on paper I'll experiment with different combos in some test games. This army also continues my habit of turning every army into a horde with a massive 114 individual Dwarfs to paint.

By the time I'm finished with that I might even have finished a whole lance of Bretonnian Knights. 

Dwarf names are fun!

I doesn't feel like a proper army project until you've named a few characters, does it? Giving the characters names and backstory is one of the things that stop a game from being just a very pretty mathematical exercise.

And these are Dwarfs so I get to be really ostentatious with the naming! You can go one of two ways with these things. The first is to find two names of Celtic or Scandinavian origin and slap '”sson” or “sdottir” at the end of the the second one. The other route is to come up with some medieval title in place of a family name like Grudgebearer or Longshanks.

Thus we have my Thane Dammin Asgarsson of Karak Norn, a poor hold in the mountains by Athel Loren. He's accompanied on whatever mission I choose to send him on once I know what this campaign is about by the Master Engineer Hodor Grimmhammer and the Old Guard of his Longbeards Storr Thunderbrow.

I still haven't worked out a name for the Organ Gun. I'm trying to come up with something better than “Old Reliable” since Organ Guns aren't that old by Dwarf standards.

A Tale of 1 Gamer #1 (Army selection and first purchases)

Now that I've got the Doctor Who watch-through off the ground its time to get on with another project I've been meaning to get around to for some time: doing my own version of White Dwarf's classic Tale Of Four Gamers series.

Okay, so the quick rundown: in A Tale Of Four Gamers a quartet of GW staffers were set the task of collecting an army to a strict budget and timetable. In 2005 they were given £50 to start and £25 a month thereafter. Adjusting for inflation (and the fact I'm not actually trying to simulate a pocket money based economic model) I've decided to go with £75 for this first month and £50 thereafter, paid into the hobby budget on the first of every month.

Now, I do have a big project going on at the same time as this: my Bretonnians. I already have all the models I need for that, unless and until there's a new Army Book, so that wasn't a good candidate for this series. I'm going to be using the Brets in a campaign next year with some friends and one idea that's floating about right now is that we might have secondary factions for each player.

I was going to do Wood Elves, the natural allies of Bretonnia, and I went into the store fully expecting to walk out with some Glade Guard and Wildwood Rangers, maybe order the Glade Lord with great weapon. There is, however, a character in the Bretonnia book that's always sounded interesting.

Well, I say a “character”, he's really just a name and a picture of some heraldry: Graeme, Friend Of Dwarfs. As I say, the Wood Elves are the natural allies of Bretonnia and Dwarfs are more matey with the Empire. Linking Dwarfs and Bretonnia just offers more opportunities to do something different with my background. Right now I'm imagining that Graeme was an ambassador to one of the Dwarf holds in the Grey Mountains and he's gone a bit native: can't stand wine anymore, loves beer, a bit too friendly with the common man and far too technically minded for his fellow Bretonnians.

Thus I ended up leaving the store with a bag full of Dwarfs. So, on to this month's bit of accountancy:

Starting budget: £75

King Belegar Ironhammer (£13)

Grimm Burlockson (£13)

10 Dwarf Hammerers/Longbeards (£30)

1 Dwarf Cannon/Organ Gun (£15.50) (mail order)

Remainder: £3.50

It might not seem a lot but I did buy two characters straight off the bat since they're more expensive pound for pound. A general and a support character should be enough for a while, especially in quite an elite army. I'll build the infantry set as Longbeards just so I'm starting off with a Core choice, an old habit of mine but one I'm not disposed to break. The cannon I'm not sure what to do with except I knew I wasn't going to have a Dwarf army without at least one. Right now I'm leaning towards the Organ Gun because they look cool but I have to wait for it to arrive so I've ample time to ponder and work out what they actually do. Look, I've spent five years playing Vampire Counts, I haven't had a shooting phase in half a decade, okay

Now to build the things and work out how to paint them. They're Grey Mountain Dwarfs which apparently means they're quite poor. Lots of greens, perhaps, which would also offer a nice contrast to my Bretonnians who'll all be in rich colours like reds, blues and golds.

I'm really looking forward to this.