Epic Kaya's - 15, 25, 35, 50 pt escalation theme list

I'm planning to attend my first organized tournament at the end of this month and it's an escalation format. Four rounds, the first two are 15 and 25 points, caster kill objective. The last two rounds are steamroller scenarios at 35 and 50 pts. Each larger list has to include all of the models in the previous list.  A theme list already has some constraints on it and adding the additional escalation parameters really adds another dimension to the list building.  I'm surely not up to the challenge, but I thought I'd write it up anyway.

I'm not taking this too seriously, and have low expectations considering my experience, but at the same time, I want to do my best.  I'm pretty new to the game and I'm still building out my Circle army. eKaya's theme force, compared to other casters, lets me get away with painting the fewest models, and given my time constraint (3 weeks) that's going to be important. I'm pretty much settled on the final 50 pt list, but I may still tweak the progression from 15 to 50 pts.  I want my army to be playable at all point levels, since every match matters in the standings. To start, here's my final list:

50 Pts (Tier 4):

• {00} Kaya the Moonhunter (0 / 3 WB)
  
  • {00} Laris (Companion)
  • {02} Druid Wilder
  • {07} Gnarlhorn Satyr
  • {08} Feral Warpwolf
  • {08} Pureblood Warpwolf
  • {09} Warpwolf Stalker
• {07} Druids of Orboros
  
  • {02} Druid of Orboros Overseer
• {02} Shifting Stones
  
  • {01} Stone Keeper
• {02} Shifting Stones
• {05} Warpborn Skinwalkers (2 grunts)

Learning the Ropes

The Woldwarden is the first construct warbeast for a Baldur themed army I'm building.  I don't know what that list is going to consist of yet, but I know it will have a Woldwarden!  This gnarly guy was a breeze to paint.  I started with a black basecoat and added progressively lighter shades of grey starting with thornwood green and ending with trollblood highlight.  As I'm learning the ropes, I'm following PP's painting guides where-ever I can.  I figure that emulation is the first step of learning to do something new.  Once I've built the skills, then I can afford to branch out and start experimenting.  Until then, I'm sticking with the copy-cat method.

Woldwarden

Dire Troll Mauler

Dire Troll Mauler

This guy turned out better than expected.  I struggled a lot with this shading, and had to repair it a couple times with a wash of trollblood base.  Overall, I'm pleased with him.  The stones on his back were easy.  A basecoat of battlefield brown with a dry-brush of rucksack tan was all they needed.

Dire Troll Mauler

Dire Troll Mauler

Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain

I'm putting together a 15pt Trollblood army starting with the battlebox and Madrak is my caster.  These are also the first photos I've taken with the new light box setup.  They turned out pretty nice.

 

Madrak Ironhide

Madrak Ironhide

What I've Learned about Painting - Part I

I've been painting Warmachine/Hordes miniatures for about six months now.  I thought it would be a good time to stop and capture some of my learning process.  I don't consider myself  a great painter, but perhaps a decent one.  The yardstick I'm using is whether I'm able to achieve the results that I set out for myself.  I'm at the point now where I can do this more often than not.  So, personally, that's a milestone.

In the past six months, I've watched videos, read tutorials online, and scoured the "Forces Of" painting guides.  In that time I've painted 30-40 models.  During my limited experience, I picked up a lot of tips and tricks that helped me work faster and more accurately.  Here goes:

• Thin your paint - forever and always.  Even if it's just a drop of water, or a slightly loaded brush of water.  Thinned paint flows better and dries slower. 
• Don't thin your paint too much - whaaaat?  There's a happy medium.  Too much water and you don't get good coverage, the paint runs off the brush and pools everywhere in addition to where you want it.
• Use flow-aid, especially with metals.  Flow aid reduces the surface tension of the paint and helps it flow off of the brush easier.  It also "smooths out" the paint on the mini surface and helps get more even coverage.  It's also supposed to retard drying time, but I may not use enough to make a difference.
• Surface tension sucks - the only time it helps  is with washes, when you want the paint to settle in the cracks.  This is another reason to reduce it with flo-aid, or other means.  
• Who decides how much paint is on the brush?  I do! - Deliberately load the brush with just the right amount of paint.  I've learned that the amount of paint on the brush is just as important as how thin the paint is.  Too much paint and it runs everywhere, too little and it doesn't flow onto the model and tends to dry on the brush.  I load my brush, then wipe off excess on my palette.
•  Ceramic palettes rock - ceramic palettes are soooo much easier to clean than the cheap plastic ones.  Soak them in hot water for a few minutes and the paint sloughs right off.  I use a ceramic palette for making washes now.
• Wet palettes are neat  - I use it for everything but washes now.  The paint won't dry on the palette as quickly, which is a real big deal.  It also means you don't need to put as much paint on the palette to keep it wet - so I save paint too.
• Making washes is hard - I've constantly struggled with making washes that do what I want them too.  I've tried to emulate the wonderful GW washes, with limited success.  I have seen some improvement lately, when I backed off on the amount of water and leaned towards a darker, but thinner, paint. 
• Brush ferrules hate paint - don't get paint in the brush ferrule! 
• Synthetic brushes are good for metals and drybrushing.  I find I get better results with synthetic brushes and metal paints.  I suspect it's because the bristles are thicker and there's more space between them to allow the metal flakes to flow.  When using natural brushes, the flakes don't flow out along with the pigments as well.  Also - use flow-aid!

This is just part one but I think I've covered the fundamentals that I've learned in the last six months.

I finished my first Trollbloods last week.  I think they're my favorite models I've painted so far.  This is my first attempt at a rusted look.  The armor came out a little over the top, but I got the result I was looking for on the axe.  For the trolls I'm going to use foliage for basing.

Troll Axer

I really love the Pygmy peeking out of the sack.

Troll Axer

 The Impaler's food of choice is processed turkeys.

Troll Impaler

Troll Impaler

Domination Event

This past weekend was the first time we played Warmachine/Hordes in a public forum.  We traveled to our NLGS (not-so-local-gaming-store) about 50 minutes away to play in a Domination Release event.  I had a great time and got to play with some new people with different styles of play that I hadn't experienced yet.  I also faced some new factions that I'd never seen before.  Up until now, I'd played my Circle and Cygnar with Protectorate, Cryx, Legion, and Trollbloods.  I went into it expecting that we were playing for points and needed a 35pt army, according to modified Domination event rules.  However, due to turnout and people's army composition, the event was changed to a 15pt tournament.  This had some impact that I'll get into below.  Overall, it was a blast and I'm planning to go back in two weeks for some more casual games.

Event Prep:

Here's a picture of the additional guys I painted for the event.  The plan was to add another 20 pts to the 15pt army I already had.  Most of the painting took place the week between Christmas and New Year's.  I had the whole week off and painted for a good three days of that.  It was a luxury that I won't have again in the for-seeable future and I really enjoyed it.

It turned out that we only played 15 point games.  Of the guys above, I did get to use the Gobbers and Shifting Stone UA.  Also, I won't have to stress about getting to 35 pts again... in this faction.  

The event also called for some bring-your-own terrain in the form of boulders.  The ones below were made from 3 pieces of 1/2" insulation sandwiched together with construction adhesive.  I covered them with spackle, then epoxied them to the 50mm bases.  A little dry-brushing after that and they were done.  Total time, about an hour.

 

The Army:

I ended up bringing mostly the Circle starter warpack with a few exceptions. 

[00] Kaya the Wildborne (0 / 6 WB)
[09]  >> Feral Warpwolf
[04]  >> Argus
[04]  >> Gorax
[02] Shifting Stones
[01]  >> Stone Keeper
[01] Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

I replaced an Argus with a Gorax for the empty hands and added the stones and UA, and the gobbers.  The stones and gobbers worked out well, but I didn't get much more utility out of Gorax.  I never used his animus and there was nothing to throw with his hands.  I should have brought the other argus for his paralyze spray. 

The Games:

We played three 15pt games using the Domination event scenario.  Instead of using the deeds to score points, we played a standard tournament. I played Cryx the first game, Legion the second, and Skorne for the last game.  I won out against Cryx by scenario points but lost to Legion and Skorne from caster assassinations.  Legion, running non-epic Thagrosh, pelted me with ranged attacks from his winged beast.  Skorn, running the new Domination caster, ran into melee with Kaya and spent 7 attacks killing her. 

 

Learnings:

These games were really good experience.  Many mistakes were made, but they were valuable lessons.  I will remember to use Spirit Door to slingshot my vulnerable heavy beasts (I'm looking at you, Feral Warpwolf) back with Spirit Door.  I'll remember not to fill up a warbeast with fury if I hope to transfer damage to it.  I will remember that stealthed models do not block LOS and that Shifting Stones, while immovable, can still be trampled over. I will remember that when faced with heavies, that I should focus enough firepower on them to kill them if I can't disable them another way.  Don't send a light against a heavy and expect to kill it.