Exemplar Errants on the Painting Table (9 Weeks)

Mark Evans — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:46:36 +0000

The Exemplar Errants have been on the painting table now for nine weeks. All of the miniatures have been based coated and the bases are nearly done. The shields are also nearly done. got the crossbows still to do.

Not picked up the paint brush this week, so one more week of my planned ten weeks to go. Still have some shading and highlighting to do and some tidying up.

Next its going to be the Daughters of the Flame and Nicia, Tear of Vengeance.

Steamroller 2012 – Grand Exemplar Kreoss

Mark Evans — Mon, 07 May 2012 09:32:30 +0000

Lists in Steamroller 2012 are very different for me than last year. Firstly I have a lot more painted, and planning on getting even more painted. Secondly the character restrictions and reinforcements have meant I have had to shuffle my lists around. So onto my choice of warcasters which are Grand Exemplar Kreoss, Thyra, Flame of Sorrow and Hierarch Severius. Thyra is mainly my anti Hordes list, I have had a lot of joy with Thyra against Hordes factions. But onto my first list and Grand Exemplar Kreoss.

Grand Exemplar Kreoss is the warcaster I have been playing the most with recently, so this list is more set in concrete more than the others. I mainly wanted a high number of weapon masters in this list. The Daughters of the Flame aren’t weapon masters, but they do benefit from the feat. I nearly opted for another unit of Knights Exemplar, but included High Paladin Dartan Vilmon and a Paladin of the Order of the Wall for taking control of flags. High Exemplar Gravus is included for some anti-knockdown with the Covenant being restricted. Finally two character solos. Eiryss, Angel of Retribution and Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord. Eiryss for stripping focus of a warcaster and disruption, and Rhupert for giving out tough and pathfinder.

50 Points

Grand Exemplar Kreoss (*6pts)
Reckoner (8pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Daughters of the Flame (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Exemplar Errants (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard Bearer (2pts)
Exemplar Vengers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts)
Knights Exemplar (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Exemplar Errant Seneschal (2pts)
High Exemplar Gravus (5pts)
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon (3pts)
Paladin of the Order of the Wall (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

Reinforcements

Vanquisher (8pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

35 Points

Grand Exemplar Kreoss (*6pts)
Reckoner (8pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Daughters of the Flame (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Exemplar Errants (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard Bearer (2pts)
Knights Exemplar (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Exemplar Errant Seneschal (2pts)
High Exemplar Gravus (5pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

Reinforcements

Exemplar Vengers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts)

Current Focus

Mark Evans — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:45:15 +0000

During May, June and July I have no tournaments planned, even though the big three (Welsh, Masters and ETC) will all be taking place. However from September it starts to pick up again. In September I have on the 2nd Iron Wrath IV at Maelstrom Games, on the 9th its another Hardcore Heat at Chorley (possibly if Tyler wants to attempt qualifying for the final) and on the 22nd its the London Steamroller Series at Harlow. In October on the 6th & 7th its Scrap Metal VI at Maelstrom Games. In November its Blood and Oil in Leicester and December the Hardcore finals at Maelstrom Games.

So my current focus is to pre-build three 50 & three 35 point lists with character restrictions in mind, also considering the miniatures I can have painted in the next four months. This is with a view of playing all the lists constantly over the coming months, before attending these tournaments at the end of the year. Also every game I play will be with a Steamroller scenario. Hopefully this will improve my tournament playing performance!

So what needs painting? Of course the Exemplar Errants are nearing completion, so after those its the Daughters of the Flame, Nicia, Tear of Vengeance, Exemplar Vengers, Holy Zealots, Monolith Bearer and High Exemplar Gravus. This is a lot of painting to complete in four months, so had better crack on!

April Update

Mark Evans — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:46:13 +0000

Compared to March when I played twenty six games, I only played a lowly eight games during April. However I did win half of those games.

The painting of the Exemplar Errant is progressing. I should just be able to hit my ten week target for painting this unit.

On the playing side I have built three 50 point lists and three 35 point lists for character restricted Steamroller. These are the lists which I will be playing in tournaments later in the year. I will post these lists in the next couple of weeks.

The big three tournaments (Welsh, Masters and ETC) are coming up over the next couple of months, all of which I am not attending. This has seen a fall in the number of smaller one day tournaments over the next couple of months, so can’t see me attending a tournament any time soon.

I have seen myself rise in the UK rankings for Hordes and Warmachine to 74th. This has been due to the York Grand Slam tournaments being added. However because I am may not be attending any tournaments in the coming months, then I will probably drop down the rankings a little.

Still Painting Exemplar Errants (6 Weeks)

Mark Evans — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:18:31 +0000

Yes I am still painting the Exemplar Errants, its been six weeks now and not painted anything else but Errants. The base coat on the bodies are almost done, then its onto the base, followed by shading and highlighting. Some how not looking forward to painting thirteen bases with my usual method.

To give myself a break and to stop me going mad, I have made a start on the shields over this weekend with a view to hopefully having these complete. Then next I need to concentrate on the crossbows. So with only four weeks remaining I think I can stick to my original plan and hopefully stay on target.

I did mention that Gravus would be next, however I think the Daughters of the Flame may be next. I have a week off work soon, so may keep Gravus for that week and to have the miniature as a back burner project. Therefore I can paint something different when going mad with my current painting project.

Errants on the Painting Table (4 Weeks)

Mark Evans — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:43:25 +0000

The Exemplar Errants have been on the painting table now for four weeks. However over the last two weeks I have hardly picked up a paint brush. With six weeks remaining on my plan, I think I can just meet the target of ten weeks. Just need to get the turso’s painted which I am struggling with at the moment.

On another note I have decided that High Exemplar Gravus will be next on the painting table, followed by Daughters of the Flame and Nicia, Tear of Vengeance.

York Grand Slam Tournament – What a day !!!

Mark Evans — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:00:07 +0000

On Saturday both myself and Tyler spent a day in York at the Grand Slam Tournament. It was a 32 player Hordes & Warmachine Tournament, two events held over the course of the day. A 5 round 35 points Steamroller and a 4 round 15 points Mangled Metal. The 35 point steamroller came with a twist, Shrinking Kill Box artifice. Round by round the Kill Box shrinks by a further 2″ each time.

I took Grand Exemplar Kreoss and Thyra, Flame of Sorrow for the 35 points Steamroller and High Exemplar Kreoss along with Thyra, Flame of Sorrow again for the 15 points Mangled Metal. Here are the lists I used during the day.

Grand Exemplar Kreoss – 35 Points

Grand Exemplar Kreoss (*6pts)
Reckoner (8pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Knights Exemplar (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & 2 Honor Guard (4pts)
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon (3pts)
Paladin of the Order of the Wall (2pts)
Paladin of the Order of the Wall (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Taryn di la Rovissi (2pts)
Vassal Mechanik (1pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow – 35 Points

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow (*6pts)
Reckoner (8pts)
Vanquisher (8pts)
Hierophant (2pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Knights Exemplar (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan (2pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)
The Covenant of Menoth (2pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

High Exemplar Kreoss – 15 Points

High Exemplar Kreoss (*5pts)
Revenger (6pts)
Crusader (6pts)
Reckoner (8pts)

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow – 15 Points

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow (*6pts)
Revenger (6pts)
Crusader (6pts)
Reckoner (8pts)

35 points Steamroller

First game at 9 o’clock in the morning against Adam and his Legion of Everblight. I never play well first game of a tournament and especially this early in the morning. So resulted in a lose to me.

Second game and bottom table against Luke and Circle Orboros. Getting to sound familiar, losing the first game and bottom table game two. Anyway Thyra got a caster kill on Krueger, so a win to me.

Third game against Legion of Everblight and Martin. And another win with Thyra killing the Warlock. So after three games all against Hordes factions I was on two wins and making progress up the tournament placings.

Next Andy and his Minions. And again I bring Thrya to the table! This time Thyra bites me, like she has done in so many times in the past. Failing to hit Barnabas needing sixes on three dice (yes I even boosted) and again needing sixes to hit. Will the fire damage do the job, I needed 11 on two dice, and rolled a 10! So close to a win, if I had rolled the sixes to hit on the initial two attacks I am sure Thyra would have won.

Final game and another Hordes faction. So I had gone the entire tournament and only faced up against Hordes factions. This time it was Skorne against Gavin. But I needed to play Epic Kreoss at least once in the tournament, so Thyra sat this one out. I lost this final game. But felt that if I had remembered Epic Kreoss had Armour Piercing, then a Bastion would have had a charge on the Warlock under the Feat to win me the game.

I ended the tournament in 17th place out of 32 player. Really pleased with this and how I played during the day. Still made some mistakes, but overall a big improvement. Playing more aggressive with Thyra in this tournament and the Hardcore heat has proven to be a hit.

15 points Mangled Metal

First game and Andy (who I played in the Steamroller), but this time Trollbloods. And a win, this time with Prime Kreoss. Next up against Luke and his Circle Orboros again, only this time it was a lose with Thyra. Third game against Graham and his Cyrx and a win with Prime Kreoss, only because Graham forgot the Mosh Pit scenario. So final game and up against Tyler and his Khador. A Narrow lose, all because Kreoss a Reckoner and a Crusader could not kill Beast 09.

I ended the Mangled Metal in 17th place out of 28 player. Again really pleased with this.

An excellent days gaming. What a day !!!

March Update

Mark Evans — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:25:10 +0000

I played a massive twenty six games during March, attending four tournaments. In the last three tournaments I have placed mid table, close to being in the top half. This is a big improvement over usually being placed last or close to last. So very happy seeing some progress in my playing ability.

Having played this amount of games during March it means that I am only nine games from being on target for playing 175 games this year, and three up on this time last year.

Painting wise progress has slowed down on the Errants. I have hardly picked up a paint brush in the last week. So need to make some progress. No tournaments planned for April, so its concentrating on painting all of those Errants.

Errants on the Painting Table (2 Weeks)

Mark Evans — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:10:37 +0000

The Exemplar Errants have been on the painting table now for two weeks. The picture show my progress. I usually paint all the same colours at once when batch painting a number of miniatures. However this time I decided to take a different approach.

This time I am painting an area of each miniature at once, before moving onto another area. I painted all the chain mail first, then the helmets and shoulder armour. Next moving onto the upper body. Having tired this method I have to say I much prefer this method of painting.

Next update in another two weeks!

Dissecting my Thyra Hardcore List

Mark Evans — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:03:19 +0000

This is my 50 point Thyra Hardcore list which I qualified with at the 2012 Hardcore Series heat. Even though I did qualify with this list I think it could be tweaked and made a little better.

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow (*6pts)
Reckoner (8pts)
Hierophant (2pts)
Avatar of Menoth (11pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & 2 Honor Guard (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon (3pts)
Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan (2pts)
Paladin of the Order of the Wall (2pts)
Paladin of the Order of the Wall (2pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)
The Covenant of Menoth (2pts)
The Wrack (3 wracks) (1pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

So before I start swapping in and out miniature, these are the miniatures which I deem as a must have for Thyra at Hardcore.

Reckoner (8pts)
Hierophant (2pts)
Avatar of Menoth (11pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan (2pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)
The Covenant of Menoth (2pts)
The Wrack (3 wracks) (1pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

Here is my reasoning on each of the miniatures. The Reckoner with Assault giving a 20″ threat range. The Hierophant, Avatar of Menoth and The Wrack help Thyra manage her low focus. The Choir of Menoth enough said. Madelyn Corbeau for the extra 3″ charge threat on Thyra. Saxon Orrik giving Thyra Pathfinder. The Covenant of Menoth to keep Thyra on her feet, or continuous fire on a charge. Both Vassals of Menoth to Enliven both the Reckoner and Avatar of Menoth, or an Ancillary Attack on the Reckoner.

The Exemplar Bastions I still have in question, they are a very good unit to hold up my opponent, yet they lack in speed. Still considering the Exemplar Vengers, but for the moment the Bastions are included.

This leave these miniatures which are up for replacing with another Reckoner, possibly Nicia, Tear of Vengeance and may be the Exemplar Vengers.

Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & 2 Honor Guard (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon (3pts)
Paladin of the Order of the Wall (2pts)
Paladin of the Order of the Wall (2pts)

Therefore by adding another Reckoner I remove Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & 2 Honor Guard and both Paladin of the Order of the Wall (2pts). So this leave only Eiryss, Angel of Retribution. High Paladin Dartan Vilmon and possibly the Exemplar Bastions in question. However High Paladin Dartan Vilmon can help keep Madelyn Corbeau alive with the use of Sucker and he has reach, with I like.

So it’s possibly going to be swapping Eiryss, Angel of Retribution with Nicia, Tear of Vengeance. Both are 3 points so a straight swap. If the Exemplar Bastions are swapped out for the Exemplar Vengers, then I have a point spare for a Vassal Mechanik. However with out the Exemplar Bastions then Thyra could be exposed early on in the game with the Exemplar Vengers being a lot more killable than the Exemplar Bastions. So here is what the list possibly looks like

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow (*6pts)
Reckoner (8pts)
Reckoner (8pts)
Hierophant (2pts)
Avatar of Menoth (11pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
or
Exemplar Vengers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts) and a Vassal Mechanik (1pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
or
Nicia, Tear of Vengeance (3pts)
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon (3pts)
Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan (2pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)
The Covenant of Menoth (2pts)
The Wrack (3 wracks) (1pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

The final is not until December, so plenty of time to play test the list and paint the new miniatures. I may take the list to another qualifier to test it, as Tyler will probably also want to attempt and qualify also.