Lords of WarCry – Da Redfists, Part 1
The WarCry hypetrain is in full throttle in the vastness of the internet and we also heard the call to arms in the Chaosbunker. Personally I'm going to work on parts of an old project and continue with it, because I have a lot of unpainted minis lying around at home for Age of Sigmar, but I didn't play anymore after the release of the second edition. Participating in a group project is a good opportunity to reduce the pile of shame a little bitand still have fun.
Respect da Redfists
Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Sigmarite Dais
Terrain is an important part of any game, and I am always keen to see, what interesting pieces can be added to a gamers collection. The Dominion of Sigmar was introduced earlier this year, as fantasy counterpart to the very well done Sectors already available for Warhammer 40,000. Among those temples and shrines in the name of Sigmar is a round plateau, the Sigmarite Dais, which we are going to take a closer look upon today.
This kit belongs to the Dominion of Sigmar, that covers multiple sets of a similar theme, among them a larger set, the Enduring Stormvault, and an "entry level" piece, the Shattered Temple. Along with the Ravaged Lands for Warcry, we see the Shattered Stormvault as well, a terrain set, that will hopefully be covered in a couple of days here as well.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Azyrite Townscape
To be added to the Warcry terrain, I got myself the Azyrite Townscape. I had my eyes on the kit for a while now, as it is generic set of ruins and as such can be used for multiple setups.
The Azyrite Townscape is part of the Dominion of Sigmar terrain range and accompanied by two other sets, a smaller one Azyrite Ruins and a larger boxed set Realm of Battle Blasted Hallowheart. The name azyrite comes from Azyr, the celestial realm in the new Age of Sigmar.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar WarCry – Part 2
As promised we continue the review on Warcry today, after we've talked about the Warbands and other miniatures yesterday, the second part will focus on the terrain and gaming board you will fight your matches on.
Included with Warcry as part of the terrain is a 22" by 30" folding game plan. It is printed on both sides, but more on that further below. At first I was a bit irritated, as it is rather large, but it just folds one time less than the Kill Zone boards, as you can see in the comparison picture.
Warcry picks up on the folding game boards, that were introduced with Kill Team. If you remember the "buzz" on the size of them when they were released, that they were not orientating on the 4' by 4' or 4' by 6', but 22" by 30". Why is that? Well, that is size that is more appliable in gaming stores, taking up less space and making it possible for more participants to play on the same or smaller amount of tables. It roughly orientates on the dimensions of trading card games while using mats and such.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Warcry – Part 1
Today is the release day of the newest boxed set within the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Universe - Warcry! Warcry is a skirmish game with smaller warbands and is offered as a starter set including terrain and gaming board, similar to what we know from Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team.
The box the starter set comes in is one huge beast, as you can see above and weights around 9 lb / 4 kg. It is quite thick and stable, similar to the Speed Freeks boxed set. It is twice as high as the regular Warhammer Age of Sigmar starter kits as you can see in the picture below. If you have ordered your copy in a Warhammer store or local gaming store, you might be in for treat, as they have several different promotional items, like these buttons and wristbands (as long as stock lasts).
Terrain, Travel and Birthdays!
I am currently working on a couple of terrain pieces, that will follow my Warcry review. Among them is the Sigmarite Dais and the Azyrite Townscape, that will go great with the terrain from the Warcry starter kit.
I started with the Sigmarite Dais, a round temple base, that I primed black and gave a coat of grey paint. I added details and several coats of drybrush, beginning with AP Uniform Grey, Skeleton Bone and Weapon Bronce for the metal parts, that got washed with Badab Black.
Painting tricks for optical effects
In the last article I talked about how my painterly aspirations first developed in such a way that I wanted to reach a pro level. However, this was rather the beginning of my journey as a hobbyist and my preference has shifted a lot in the meantime.
One thought was pivotal at that point: How do I perceive the models when I first see them? In my youth I was strongly influenced by the painting style you could see on the packaging, in rule books, or at that time in the White Dwarfs - most hobbyists call this `Eavy Metal style, after the studio team that painted the models for Games Workshop. I realized that I wasn't really striving for the hyper-realistic style often seen at painting competitions, but rather the `Eavy style, because the models had met my eye in this way and my mind automatically judged whether I liked or didn't like them.
This cartoon-like style is basically quite easy to achieve as long as you learn some brush control. The basic principle remains the same, even with high class paintwork: A midtone, or "the basic color" is chosen. This is shaded and then highlighted with distinctive accents in the more edgy areas.
Age of Sigmar: WAAAGHcry?
When I started my skirmish warband in October, this was done on the premise of creating it based on the original rules of Age of Sigmar Skirmish. Since January, AoS Skirmish is now more of an extension of the Generals Handbook and in general, with a new Warhammer Underworlds version and the forthcoming Warcry game, the trend seems to be headed towards smaller skirmish boxed games.
I'm usually a big fan of little characterful warbands that I can put together myself. For example, I like the combination of Savage Orruks and Spiderfang Grots because they have a nice tribal look. A firm constelation makes the whole thing a bit stiff though.
Age of Sigmar Skirmish: Da Hotpawz – Part 1
Among hobbyists, it has become a bit of a tradition to spoof the name of the eighth month of the Roman calendar with the word "orc". A habit that has also been taken over by the industry giant Games Workshop, which leads to increased painting activity in many forums among the friends of the greenskins. Looking through my own shelf, I noticed that I had stacked up a lot of those models myself, which were still waiting for a paintjob. Since I really love the skirmish expansion, I have decided to organize some of my models into several little warbands.
In addition, the Warhammer 40,000 kill team is currently running very well, and if you take a look at some YouTube videos, it seems to be so narrative that it reminds many players of the old Mortheim in style. It may only be a guess, but I could see a game like this also appear for Age of Sigmar in the upcoming future.
Okay, a new project - so far, so good. Now it is time to get around the usual pitfalls and one of them is that you are often making plans too big and that too fast. So to keep track and motivation, I decided to draw the line at a maximum of 50 renown. This has the advantage that there is always an end in sight and on the other hand, that I can divide the structure into smaller, more pleasing chunks. In the first block I will lay the foundation for the warband and its story with 30 renown:
- (24) Savage Big Boss Grukk
- (2) Morrboy Boss
- (2) Morrboy
- (1) Gitmob Grot Boss
- (1) Gitmob Grot with spear and shield
Even at the time of the seventh edition, I always wanted to put a "wild WAAAGH!" on the table, but the sheer amount of models simply put me off. In AoS skirmish I can comfortably pack everything in that I wanted without making it a Herculean task. I started out with an ordinary Bonesplitter.
Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire – Spiteclaw’s Swarm
The matching counterparts to the Duardins of The Chosen Axes are the Skaven of Spiteclaw's Swarm. The Skaven, almost human sized rat-men, are one of the few (if not the only) faction that kept their name during The End Times and the introduction of Age of Sigmar. As the "existence" of these giant rats is still argued about in the lore (in the records of the human realms the sights of Skaven is continouisly dismissed and the people who saw them simply labelled as insane), they live in the ground, in dens and caves, and sometimes these large underground settlements cross the cities, deep in the mountains of the dwarfs / Duardin, making the two a fitting bundle for this release of Shadespire.
The warband expansion of Spiteclaw's Swarm consists of 4 Skaven clan rats and Skritch Spiteclaw himself. It is set at a price tag of 22.50 EUR and contains two pre-coloured sprues in brown, a card deck and brief instructions on the assembly.
The card deck covers 65 cards, 5 cards for the warband itself, 29 are unique cards for the Orruk warband and 31 universal cards (split across objectives, upgrades and ploys) to be used with any Warhammer Underworlds warband.
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