5,000 point 3rd Edition Warhammer Battle report (preview).

This weekend myself and my old friend Justin (the author of 'The Masterwork Guild' blog) fought a 5,000 point aside battle using 3rd Edition Warhammer Fantasy battle rules. I used Slann and Justin used Wood Elves.

All of the models used were painted, and all of them were 1980's Citadel ( a few were 1980's  Grenadier). I myself used over 200 Slann!

It has been over 20 years since we fought using these rules, and we had a great time fighing the battle.
What follows are a few photographs to preview the battle. I will be doing a full battle report in a couple of days time, as will Justin.

Justin's preview can be found on his blog here:  http://themasterworkguild.blogspot.co.uk/

Enjoy :) 

 The opposing armies facing one another.

 Slann and a Pond Dragon crossing the lake, with a Wood Elven Treeman in the distance looking on!

 The battle progresses!

 Slann Spawn Band vs Wardancers.

Slann Mages!!!

5,000 point Slann army ready to march (well, hop off!) to battle.

It is a bit of a late post this week as I have had a very busy week and weekend.  I have also not made much progress with painting the Skaven, but fortunately they don't take very long to paint, although I want to finally get them finished soon they are taking long than planned (mainly becuase I have'nt been painting them!).

Anyway, the 5,000 point Slann army is all painted and ready for the game at the end of this week. The actual amry list can be found on a previous blog update here: http://goblinlee.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/all-projects-on-hold-for-return-of.html

I am happy with the army compostion, although I would have liked to add Pygmies, and maybe some Troglodytes and Cold One Riders. The overall look of the army is a lot brigher than I thought it would be, and is going to look a colourful sight on the gaming table, and I think I have picked a good mix of coloured regiments, with a mix of blues, greens, yellow, orange, and mottled.

The battle is next weekend, and will be over two days (unless something goes really wrong with panic tests on either side! ). I intend taking lots of photographs and writing up a turn by turn report on the battle, but this might require a little time to write up, so the next blog update will be after the weekend. Justin and I are working on a back story for the battle as well.

Other than that mixed news concerning wargames/model shops in the South of England. Onslaught Games in Hove has closed, due to personal reasons of the owner. However in Portsmouth a new shop called Fistful of Dice has been opened up by someone I knew from  Portsmouth University. They don't as yet have a website, but it will be coming soon I have been told.

Here is the Slann army, ready for battle.
Enjoy :)

 5,000 points of painted Slann.

 Gurggle Greenwake, Army General, escorting Level 20 Wizard. 

Before the weekend I am going tothink up of names for the Wizards, in true poor punning 1980's style! :) 

 Level 20 and Level 15 Wizards.

 Level 1 Bound Pond Dragon.

 10 Warrior Priests, +4 Shock Elites, with Bane Banner.

I re-painted the Bane Banner green as I was not happy with it.

 War Altar on a litter with Warrior Priest Guards.

 20 Eagle Warriors, +3 Shock Elite.

 20 Jaguar Warriors, +2 Shock Elite.

 20 Aligator Warriors, +1 Shock Elites in Heavy Aligator skin armour. 

The regiment is made up of the C32 Slann model 'Pintamilkada'

 Bull Slann regiment, +1 Shock Elite Slann garrison soldiers.

They are made up from the solid based C32 Slann 'Palace Guard Officer'. 

I have painted them up slightly different to other Slann giving them new-fangled steel armour and edged weapons.

 Another 20 Bull Slann +1 Shock Elite. 

Made up from C32 Slann model 'Ethelalco'ol'.

 10 Venom Tribe, +1 Missile Elite, made from solid based Slann 'Brave Leader'.

 10 More +1 Missile Elite Venom Tribe, made up C32 solid based model 'Brave'.

 20 Spawn Band, normal profiled Slann warriors made up from a selection of C32 models.

  The second regiment 20 Spawn Band, normal profiled Slann warriors made up from a selection of C32 models.

 15 Jungle Braves.

Slann levy, made made up from the C32 Slann blowpiper model 'Akabylk'.

 15 more Jungle Brave levy, armed with hand weapon, shield, and darts. The regiment is made up from the C32 Slann 'Naxlatl', and I have re-postiooned the arms and legs of many of them to avoid a 'cookie cutter' look of bland uniformity.

 5 Slann Scout, er, scouting. 

The model is C32 Slann model, but is unlisted.

I think it is quite appropriate to have the more independent minded Slann represnted by a 'Slann with no name'. :)

 5 more Socuts, blending in to the jungle.

They are a mix of models, the leader being the Slann Lieutenant Blowpipe (sometime listed, wrongly, as a Musician), one ofthe models being the C32 Slann 'Lep'nluni', and the other 3 unlisted Slann.

 Slann Animal Handler, with 2 1980's Citadel Giant Spiders.

I really like the Giant Spiders, however.....

.... these arrived in the post today from e-bay. 

They are a pair of old Grenadier Scorpions, and I might paint these up as soon as possible and swap them for the Giant Spiders as they are both 45 points.

As I mentioned earlier in the blog the next update will probably be after next weekend, with lots of battle news to report. :)

Busy Slann week!

This is a very much briefer update than I had planned. This week I have finished painting the last of the Slann needed for the upcoming 5,000 point battle.

The army is now tabletop ready. However, due to a series of problems I have encountered this weekend I have'nt been able to assemble the whole army for photographing. I plan to do an army photograph mid week (wednesday or thursday). I will also have to postpone the examination of all the Slann ranges until my next proper update, which will be this Saturday as I am out all day on the Sunday.

On the plus side, I have painted 22 Slann this week, varnished them, and based them, as well as varnishing and basing the 20 Jaguar Warriors, the War Altar and Guards, and 40 Spawn Band Slann. In addition I varnished 187 Skaven and 6 Rat Ogres.
Enjoy :)

 10 Warrior Priests with Bane Banner.

The banner is an Aztec 'Smiley Demon' banner from Outpost Wargames, with a collection of GW skulls on the pole.

EDIT: I have now repainted the banner here: 

http://goblinlee.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/5000-point-slann-army-ready-to-march.html

 Close up, front and rear.

I went for a golden dagger rather than obsidian as I felt it stood out against the black warpaint of the Slann better.

 All the the Warrior Priests.

 I do also have a converted Priest model sitting on a Palaquin but I have not painted him yet as he is not needed for this 5,000 army list.

 The last pair of  Jaguar warriors needed for the regiment. I painted the Jaguar Warrior suits either, tan, red, green or blue as the Aztecs used to use different coloured suits issused acording to a warriors experence and the number of captives they took for sacrifice.

 20 Jaguar Warriors.

I thought different coloured suits would break up the bland uniformity of the regiment and add extra colour. I have kept the shields and some of the details the same, just varied the suits colour and the flesh of some of the Slann. 

The banner is an Aztec one from Outpost Wargames. 

 Slann Spawn Band Warriors. 

Both miniatures are the 'Nahuatl' model. I already have a Jungle Brave Regiment made up of this model, and it's one of my favourite Slann miniautres as it's face is full of character, and it's really quick and easy to paint!

 2 more 'Nahuatl', one blue and the other with a slightly re-positioned arm and orange eyes. 

Incidentally, Nahuatl is the Meso-American language which the Aztecs and other groups spoke (and still do) in Mexico.

 Fan bearer from the Palaquin set pressed into service as a Standard Bearer. 

Right is the 'Unlisted Slann with club' which I have converted to hold a small horn so as to act as a musician for the regiment.

 40 Slann Spawn Band, ready for war.

As I mentioned, I will aim to do the 5,000 point army update mid week, and then hopefully the full Slann ranges update next weekend. Painting wise, despite the temptation to carry on painting Slann, I shall return to the Skaven.

Slann War Altar, Slann Spawn Bands, and a bit of Gnoll-ing about!

It's been a bitty week for painting. I am still working to complete the painting of the odd and ends of the Slann army ready for the 5,000 point encounter in mid September. At the start of the week I managed to paint the converted/scratch built Slann War Altar with Guards.

Mid week painting was slowed due to work, but I re-focused my time on the Gnolls/Great Goblins. With all this business with the Skaven, Nipponese, and Slann, I have'nt forgotten the Goblins. As I have been working a lot of overtime recently, I have been buying some more of the old FTG Fantasy Tribes/C12 Gnolls/ Great Goblins as I really do love the models, and if I see a stray Gnoll/Great Goblin (or two) on e-bay I feel they need a good home. In addition to buying the little critters, mid-week I have also been repairing broken ones I have bought over the years, although restoring them might be a better verb as I have been trying to repair any damage and return them to their original state rather than converting  them.

Later in the week and at the weekend it has been back to the Slann. I have been re/painting Slann Spawn Band models and tidying up thier general appearence. I have done this for 30 of them so far, with only 10 left to do. Concerning the Slann army this means I have 10 Warrior Priests also left to paint, 2 Jaguar Warriors, and then some varnishing and basing. As the battle is mid September I should be fine, and back to painting the Skaven in a couple of weeks at most.
Enjoy :)

 Slann War Altar with Warrior Priest Guards.

 The War Altar itself is a normal Slann Wizard Palaquin with a C39 Treasure Chest placed on the front (I had to remove the little bowl of grapes from the front of the Palaquin), and then with an Outpost Wargames Aztect 'Fire Banner' on the back. 

I painted the Palaquin gold to give the idea of a guilded platform for the chest, which I consider to have the magically charged remians of a long dead Slann Mage inside.

 War Altar banner.

 2 Warrior Priest Guards using the Slann model 'Lumholtz', and with the addition of a shield from Crooked Claw Miniatures Goblin range, complete with a flayed Dwarf face!

 20 Spawn Band Slann.

The Spawn bands are the normal profiled Slann in any army, and the only compulsory part of the Slann army in Warhammer Armies. Background wise they are a miltia, and so I have tried to use a varied selction of models, skin tones, and paint schemes to relfect a greater degree of individuality.

What follows are a selection of a few of them:

 Left to right, Slann standard bearer (made using a fan bearer from the Slann Wizard Palaquin set); the regimental leader using the Slann Warrior from the Magnificent Sven Scenario range; and a Talsiman Toad as a stand-in Musician model.

 Left is an unlisted Slann with club, and centre unlisted Slann with Sword. On the right is 'Allda'. Is it just me or does he remind anyone else of the actor Alan Alda?

 'Cuppacocoa', 'Quinine', and 'Lep'nluni'. I never noticed the casting line on Quinine until the blog update, so I shall fix that asap.

 A 'Lumholtz' model without an added shield, a solid based C32 'Herald', and 'Nanuazin'. 

 The second Regiment of Spawn Band so far. 

 'Huastecan',one of the Lieutenant's from the Magnificent Sven Scenario range, and 'Hacienda'. With a name like Hacienda he should own a club ;) .

 'Toltec', a converted 'Quinine' model, and a bright red unlisted Slann with club.

  Before I get to the Gnolls I manged to buy another one of Tom Meier's awesome CP3 Troglodytes, 'Troglodyte with Halberd'. It is a beautifully detailed model, the runes of the halberd are excellent, as is the lizard grin of the Troglodyte itself.

I only have one left to find now. 

 Gnoll/Great Goblins infantry. 

These are not all of the ones I have aquired from e-bay, only the ones I did'nt have. I have bought about the same again in number of doubles (and triples!). I have managed to bang a few bargins recently, as well as paying a little more for the odd one or two here and there.

It would be insane to try to collect all of them as it is not known how many variants there are, and some of them go for a pretty penny now a days! I am happy to collect the range as I go, and in a way in which I am not paying a crazy amount for each one.

 I love the miniautres range, and that's the reason I collect them. :)

Newly bought Boar rider variants which I had'nt owned before. I have also aquired a couple more doubles as well, bringing the total number of Boar riders up to 20.

For the Boars I am using both the 'running open mouthed version', and the 'standing closed mouthed version'.

 FTG1 Gnolls/Great Goblins with Pole Arms.

 FTG2 Gnolls/Great Goblins attacking with hand weapons.

 More  FTG2 Gnolls/Great Goblins attacking with hand weapons.

 ...and yet more  FTG2 Gnolls/Great Goblins attacking with hand weapons.

  FTG7 Gnolls/Great Goblins with hand weapons.

 Rear view of the Gnoll above on the left showing his shield; centre a FTG6 Gnolls/Great Goblins Halberdier, although he is'nt listed on the CMM Wiki page; and a broken  FTG11 Female Gnolls/Great Goblin. I will sculpt an new arm for her, and maybe 'shave her' as I don't like the idea of the Female Gnolls/Great Goblins having whiskers!

  FTG6 Gnolls/Great Goblins on Giant Boars, variations 6 and 3.

FTG6 riders seem to be the pointed eared version of the Gnolls/Great Goblins, whilst FTG9 are the other, more bigger nosed version.

Left an unlisted FTG6 Gnolls/Great Goblin on Giant Boar. On the right a  FTG9 Gnolls/Great Goblin on Giant Boar, variation 6. 

 FTG9 Gnolls/Great Goblin on Giant Boar, variation 2, and is also a one piece casting. 

 Repairing Gnolls/Great Goblins. 

On the left is an undamaged FTG1 Gnolls/Great Goblin with Pole Arm, variation 3. 

Centre is a repaired one.

On the right is a halberd from Wargames Foundry used to repair. I have found that these are nearly identical to the ones used by the Gnolls, and only a little shaping is required. 

Citadel used the same basic weapons for a lot of thier weapons, so the weapons used by the Gnolls/Great Goblins are often used in other ranges.  

 2 More repaired Gnolls/Great Goblins.

 Left is an unbroken Gnoll/Great Goblin with a Pole Arm (a sort of Boat Hook/Bill).

Centre is a Fiend Factory Red Orc/Goblin with the same weapon.

Right is a repaired Gnoll/Great Goblin repaired using a broken off spear from another Red Orc/Goblin. I need to file down the green stuff  little, but it was added as the pole shaft was slightly thicker. I am aware the pole arm is facing the 'wrong way', but it is like that on this actual model. 

The broken, pole arm-less Red Orc/Goblin will be converted into a standard bearer.

Two Gnoll/Great Goblin repaired using Essex Miniatures parts.

Finally a FTG 7 Gnoll/Great Goblin with Hand weapon. 

He's not damaged or repaired, nor is he a model is did'nt have before. 

I just posted him as he's cute, look at those ears :) 

Next week's update should be more on  painting Slann. As I am painted Slann at the moment, I am also considering doing a focused update on the Slann ranges of models, with front and back photographs and a detailed analysis of the design and sculpting.