Reaving in the Marshlands

I've not had much opportunity for painting/modelling recently as I was in another play. However, with that finished I have found a few moments to spare. Whilst I've been focusing a bit more on my Black Templars and trying to get a couple of those major characters painted, I didn't want to neglect WFB completely, so I've painted my Marsh Reavers. I've been looking forward to painting these models for quite a while now - I just love the Bog Beasts they are riding, crawling out of the swamp, and I'm so happy with how I managed to get the Lizardmen Cold One Rider bodies to fit around, with the kilts billowing in the wind. I must admit that they were a real pain to paint fully assembled (I paint everything fully assembled largely because I'm too excited and want to build/play with things straight away; if I didn't I'd have really small armies to pick from to play with). They are modeled with a musician and two normal Reavers, so at some point I might have to see if I can get my hands on three more lizards to make a champion, standard bearer, and one more Reaver to round out the unit fully.

I started making some river sections for terrain, but that plan has been on hold for a little bit as I'm rethinking some of what I'm doing. I will get back to it though as I think it'd really nice to have a river running through the marsh. Also, none of the friends that I play with have any river section, so we've never played over one - it's always good to have some variety in the terrain available.

Having nearly finished the Black Templar characters (The Domus Crusade page will be updated soon), I'm going to spend a bit of time on my Dwarves - they have been quite majorly neglected this year. I have a few half-painted models to finish, then lots of regiments that I haven't started; I think the Hammerers and Irondrakes will be next on the painting table. However, I would also love to get painting the Daemonmaniac for my Fimir - I am just so looking forward to having such a large sized Fimir striding through the marsh. So keep your eyes peeled!

The eyes...the eyes!

Whilst I am working on the Marsh Reavers at the moment, as well as various 40k models, and trying to make some watery/marshy terrain (which will be in my next post), I have got around to completing the Eye Tyrant. I am really pleased with how it has turned out.

I was slightly apprehensive when I first started - a grey undercoat, washed with Carroburg Crimson, and drybrushed with Lothern Blue - it looked far to much like a novelty from a West Ham United souvenir shop. But a few dry brushes of different shades of purple eased the effect really nicely.

I wanted to get blue into the design so that it matches with my other Fimir models - blue kilts, shields, banners, etc. So I made sure the eyes started off with a coat of Kantor Blue, then a brush of Lothern Blue, a brush of Bleached Bone, and finally a pupil drawn on using a micro pen. I think the colours of the eyes give a piercing effect, rather creepy really - after all, it is a daemon summoned from a realm that it really is best not to think about!

Lords within the marshes

Over the Summer I had aspirations to get a reasonable chunk of my Fimir army painted up, but I spent a large part of the holidays in Canada, touring along the East Coast. It's a lovely country and my wife and I had a fantastic time there. Now it's September and that means back-to-school and consequently less hobby time, especially as I'm also in rehearsals for another play. I have, however, managed to do a little bit of work over the last couple of weeks . I have finished the two lord choices in my Fimir army - a Meargh and a Fimm Mistmor - Magella Wisestone and Drust. Really quite happy with how they have turned out.

Magella is mainly a Malifaux model, but with her face cut off and a Lizardman one attached in its place. I really like the pose of the base model, holding a doll with a knife poised to cut like she's using voodoo against someone. The serpents on her base are also from a Lizardmen kit; this helps tie all of my Fimir magic users together as they all have some form of animal familiar.

Drust is based on a Forgeworld Fimir model. I have sculpted a helmet for him with the face of some form of animal/daemon figure. I think this helps to separate him from the basic Forgeworld models. The weapon is also rather key - I run him wielding the Vile Branch Crusher magic weapon, multiplying each hit into d3 hits. As such he needed a rather imposing weapon that needed to look like a tree and root ball. I started off with a piece of twig and then used two paperclips bent around each other into some form of root shape. I used green stuff to form the shape around this armature, sculpting some texture on them to hopefully give a good effect. I then painted this brown first of all, before drybrushing progressively lighter to begin to give it a grey, dead and bleached look.

I have started to paint my three Marsh Reavers and the Eye Tyrant, but I think progress will be quite slow.

Age of Fimir and Summoned Daemons

With Games Workshop having dropped Warhammer Fantasy Battle and introduced Age of Sigmar, I have had a bit of a thought about the continuation of my Fimir project. I've played a quick trial game of AoS and, whilst I think it might be quite fun for quick small-scale, it is not going to replace 8th edition of WFB for me. However, my friends and I might play some AoS games if we have a spare hour or want to try something a bit different. Therefore, I still want the Fimir to have a part to play in the AoS, so I've sat down and drafted some warscrolls:

Take a look and tell me what you think.  

I must acknowledge Mathias Eliasson from warhammerarmiesproject.blogspot.co.uk as the rules I've written are based from his Fimir Army Book that I use for WFB. I haven't had a chance to play test these Fimir AoS rules yet, so if you play with them, please do let me know how it goes.

In other news, I haven't really made much Fimir progress recently. With GW releasing a new Space Marine Codex, I've been paying my Templars a bit more attention. However, the time has come to return to the marshes and reinforce the clan. Whilst there is plenty left to do with the models I already have, both painting and modelling, I am always a sucker for a new project. Consequently I started to think about a few monster elements for my force. In the Fimir Army Book (and now in my Fimir AoS warscrolls) there is a daemon that the Meargh sometimes summons which can add some much needed ranged support - the Eye Tyrant.

On top of the Eye Tyrant’s hovering, one-eyed body is a ring of eye-stalks ending in smaller eyes which can unleash different gaze attacks at enemies. A gaping maw set with many sharp teeth splits its body. In other words, it is the Beholder from Dungeons and Dragons. Being a D&D geek as well, I thought it would be quite cool to include one of these as a daemon summoned by the Meargh of my clan. I found a nice model on ebay manufactured by Reaper Miniatures. I haven't started painting it yet, but thought I'd share what I think is a really well sculpted model.

The other model/unit that I've been getting quite inspired about is the Daemonomaniac. A Daemonomaniac is the product of a powerful daemon being successfully bound within the body of a Fimir of the warrior caste. It has a huge cleaver blade grafted onto one arm, a great axe of Fimul in the other, and its giant tail lashing about crushing whole files of troops.

I love the idea of having a giant-sized Fimir included in the army, I think it just sums at a level of craziness with the Fimir and their daemon summoning. The problem was - how do you construct a Fimir that is the size of a giant? I have scoured the internet for different miniature manufacturers for a suitable base model, yet I kept basically coming back to either the GW giant or the GW Beastmen Cygor/Ghorgon.

These are some fantastically characterful models, but none of them are quite right. All three would need an impressive tail, some work on hands and feet, some head sculpting, etc. I was puzzled about how to progress for quite a while, but eventually made a decision - I'd use the Cygor/Ghorgon kit as the base, not gluing on hair where possible, carving off the rest of the sculpted hair, splitting the hooves to have three toes, using the cygor head without attaching the horns (I originally wanted to use the GW Carnosaur head, but couldn't get one from ebay or a bits site), carve off a finger on each hand to leave three and a thumb, construct some form of giant axe, and use the GW Kharibyss tail. I decided that my Daemonomaniac would have three arms to further individualise the silhouette - afterall, a daemon being bound within is likely to cause some horrendous mutations. It has taken quite a while to piece it all together and carve away the hair, green stuffing over the scraped areas, but all in all I'm rather happy with how the model is progressing.

Triumph and Treachery surround the marshes

A few weeks ago I played a Triumph & Treachery game with some friends. We really enjoy these games as the mechanics make the game really unpredictable as you never know if someone is going to play a card to help themselves or screw you or someone else over. Along with that vendettas quickly come to the fore.

So this time I wanted to try out a few things, so I modified my Fimir army list slightly:

Fimir Army List

• Rictumal - Dirach
• Level 2 caster, Miasma of Malodorous Mists, Lore of Beats, Deployed with Fimm Warriors
• Marroar - Fimm Finmor
• Battle Standard Bearer, Heavy armour, Runic Bellyshield, Froidrach's War Hatchets, Luckstone (that I completely forgot to use!), Deployed with Fimm Warriors
• 28 Fimm Warriors
• Additional hand weapons, Fimm Fian, Musician, Standard Bearer, Fimul's Hatred banner
• 3 Fiana Fimm
• Fimm Fiarach, Standard Bearer, Banner of All-seeing, Great weapons
• 3 Marsh Reavers
• Musician
• 20 Fir Bolg
• Great weapons, Crypt Keeper

Total = 1494 points

Dwarven Mercenaries

• Nurbere - Master Engineer
• Rune of Stone
• Organ Gun

Total = 195 points (allowing me to start the game with two bronze coins, totalling 100, in my paychest)

My forces were facing off against:

• Warriors of Chaos, with Skaven mercenaries
• Chaos Dwarves, with Orc mercenaries
• Wood Elves, with Lizardmen mercenaries

The Meargh had given Rictumal strict instructions, to take the warband and protect the edges of their domain from the incursions of the approaching forces. She had not told him the full story, however, but his daemon friend scouted ahead and informed him. Wood Elves had come pouring out of the forests to the North of the marshland, Chaos Dwarves trudged belligerently, and the brutal chariots of the Warriors of Chaos were quickly rushing to the scene. Clearly this region was of greater importance than the Meargh had let on. Rictumal tried to cast his magical senses to scry for a reason that such forces would converge on this point, yet his magic was not sufficient to explain the intricacies that fate weaves in this world. He looked at the forces arrayed around him and against him, this day would be hard on the Fimir, but they had a few tricks and might of their own.

I didn't take full details to write a complete battle report, but what follows are the notes of significant events in the game for me (obviously there were significant events for the other players, but I'm clearly an innately selfish person and didn't write them down. I do remember a large unit of Chaos Dwarves getting destroyed by the Wood Elves as a result of marginally losing a combat that they had charged into, failing their break test despite a reroll, and getting run down!):

• The Fimir forces destroy three units of Chaos Warhounds, causing the Warriors of Chaos general to swear immediate vengeance upon the marsh dwellers. Consequently the Skaven engineer fired his unpredictable Doom Rocket, aiming for the regiment of Fimm Warriors facing off against the Chaos battle line. Somehow his calculations were uncannily accurate and it exploded in the centre of the unit, killing 22 unfortunate Fimir.
• The unit of Fiana Fimm were charged by the Skull Krushers, killing two of the mighty Fimir. As a result the Fimm Fiarach decides that this is not a combat that he wants to partake of much longer, so he flees.
• The Giant recruited by the Chaos Dwarves was bearing down on the Organ Gun, the Dwarves rushed to shoot the vile beast, but were sabotaged in their attempt, leaving them unable to fire. However, as the Wood Elves used their ranged superiority against the Chaos Dwarves and Orcs, the Fimir's Dwarven mercenaries were able to take advantage of the distraction and, having resolved the effects of the sabotage, were able to unleash all barrels of the Organ Gun to blow the Giant to oblivion before it had a chance to reach them.
• The Chaos Demon Prince was hassling the Fimir lines, laying waste wherever he landed. Marroar, the Fimir Battle Standard Bearer bravely stood up and challenged the demon, putting his faith in the swirling mists around him and the powerful Runic Bellyshield to protect him, and that Froidrach's War Hatchets would give him the might to slay this fiend. Unfortunately the Demon Prince took full advantage of the narrow gaps in defence and cut Marroar down before he could strike.
• The Demon Prince sets his sights on the Organ Gun which had been a thorn in the side of Chaos for the majority of the battle. Charging headlong at the Dwarven warmachine, he failed to spot the cunningly deployed caltrops which caused him to pull up short of his target, sparing the war machine for the time being. Outraged by this failure, the Demon Prince summoned the winds of magic to cast a Purple Sun of Xereus at the unfortunate Dwarven mercenaries. Nurbere, the Dwarven engineer, quickly succumbed to the magical tempest, but the crew of the Organ Gun stood resolutely in defiance.
• A solitary survivor of the Marsh Reavers unit charged boldly to attack the Chaos Dwarf Bull Centaur Taur'ruk, bringing him down with an exemplary display of defence and combat prowess.
• The Demon Prince continued his assassination attempt of the Organ Gun, finally making it into combat and summoning the power of his mighty demon blade. However, his skill was lacking and the Dwarven crew were well entrenched, so the onslaught left one of the Dwarven crew still standing. Further to this, the cursed magic within the demon blade betrayed its master and saw him cut himself down, much to the relief of the solitary remaining Dwarven warmachine gunner.

All in all the game started quite well for me, but led to an almost instant vendetta from the Warriors of Chaos which resulted in very heavy casualties. By the end of the game all I was left with was the Organ Gun with 1 crewman left standing, and 1 Marsh Reaver (and even that I'm not convinced about!). However, the kills had been totting up, especially in the final few turns as I received the points for the Demon Prince and the Taur'ruk. It was a really fun game and just goes to show that despite how badly things can look early on in the game (I thought that I'd be wiped out by the end of turn 3!), if you keep on persisting you can turn things around.

Final paychest totals:

1. Warriors of Chaos - 2150
2. Fimir - 1350
3. Wood Elves - 1150
4. Chaos Dwarves - 700

The Warriors of Chaos charged around the battlefield, collecting grisly trophies of their dominance from this battle. Rictumal's spirit had been collected by his daemon friend and escorted through the shadow land back to the Fimir camp for the Meargh to revive. Gold had been collected and borders defended, but too many Fimir had fallen that day. It would be necessary for the raiding parties to step-up their search for suitable human females if the clan was to survive. The Dwarven slaves had performed excellently, but with no Fimir around to shepherd them back to their hovel they would shake off the enchantments they were under and seek to return to Dwarven society. It would be necessary to hunt them down once more.

Dirach prepares his casting

Just the quickest of updates here, merely to show the other finished dirach model.

I've got a Triumph & Treachery game on Sunday that I'll be taking my fimir to, hoping to redeem themselves from the last debacle against the Wood Elves. T&T games can get a bit bewildering so I probably won't do a full battle report, but I'll certainly make a few notes to pass on the highlights and the fate of the Blade in the Mist.

Forces gather

I had another game with the Fimir the other day, verses a friend's Wood Elves. It was the first time he was using his new army, so I felt that it would be a bit mean to take the Banner of the Mists to completely nullify his shooting. Instead I took this list:

• Meargh
• Level 3 caster, Lore of Fimir (Swirling Mists, Daemonic Possession, The Eye of Balor), Miasma of Malodorous Mists, Channelling Staff, Deployed with Fimm Warriors
• Dirach
• Level 2 caster, Lore of Shadow (Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma, The Withering), Orb of the All-Seeing Eye, Deployed with Shearl
• Fimm Finmor
• Battle standard bearer, Heavy armour, Runic Bellyshield, Additional hand weapon, Deployed with Fimm Warriors
• 28 Fimm warriors
• Fimm Fian, Musician, Standard bearer, Fimul's Hatred, Additional hand weapons
• 24 Shearl
• Shearl Finn, Musician, Standard bearer, Spears, Shields
• 5 Moor hounds
• 21 Fir Bolg
• Crypt keeper, Great weapons
• 3 Marsh Reavers
• Musician 
• Eye Oculus of Balor

We were playing the 'Battle for the Pass' scenario where you're battling in a gorge and I thought at the time that deployment was pretty standard. I had my Fimm Warriors and Fir Bolg on the left flank to support each other against his one combat unit and then hopefully deal with the Treeman. The Moor Hounds vanguarded forward to harass one of his archer units and screen the advance of the Marsh Reavers, who in turn would be supported by the Shearl and Oculus. However, his two units of scouting skirmishers deployed behind me and would just be a nuisance - no shooting makes it very difficult to deal with skirmishers! Also, charging the monstrous cavalry through the dangerous terrain of the forest isn't a brilliant idea, nor are they good for assaulting a building as the mounts can't participate. So all in all, reflecting on deployment, I made some errors right from the start.

Through out the game nothing seemed to quite go right - my dice rolls were very poor, I chose one of my spells poorly, he was dispelling my magic, I was failing to dispel his, I kept rolling a misfire for the Oculus, I didn't realise his combat unit were strength 5, one of his characters negated my flank bonus in the first round of a combat, I forgot to make my tail attacks, thought that you couldn't try to reform if you lost a combat, etc.

In case you couldn't guess, I lost.

...rather badly.

...in fact I got wiped out on turn 4!

In other news, whilst I have been neglecting the painting and modelling of the Fimir for a while as I'm spending time on my Black Templars instead for the ETL 4 painting challenge at bolterandchainsword.com, I have managed to do a few Fimir bits. One of my Dirachs is finished, and the other just needs a bit of work on the base.

Also, the Blade in the Mist have been bolstered by the might of some Fiana Fimm, determined to wreck any foe they encounter. These have been made using the Forgeworld Fimir Warrior models, but modified slightly so that I have a standard bearer (the standard provided by the GW Dwarf Hammerers/Longbeards kit, the banner top is from the GW corpse cart kit), and a Fimm Fiarach (unit champion) who will now be able to stand out from the unit (axe heads again from the Hammerers/Longbeards kit). In game these will likely run alongside Drust, my Fimm Mistmor character. I think I might need to order another set to take the unit up to 6 models, especially as they can make 3 supporting attacks each, then I can convert a musician for the unit as well.