How to: make your Free Peoples Handgunners look unique

Greetings fellow hobbiests/war gamers. Today I’m hoping to give you inspiration if you’ve been on the fence about collecting a Free Peoples Army for Age of Sigmar.

When I first got into Age of Sigmar, I was really drawn to the free peoples. I liked the idea of guns, rockets, and tanks going up against Seraphon, Ironjaws, and Skaven.

I just despised the models, or more perhaps, how they were painted on Games Workshop’s website. I also think the extremely edge highlighted cod pieces on the models were a bit much.


Anyway, I decided to give the Free Peoples a try and bought 3 boxes of handgunners. I decided to put the first 10 together without any 3rd party bits.

I was happy with the paint job. It was less obnoxious, and less obnoxious cod pieces, but after painting 5 or 6 more this way I knew I didn’t like the renaissance look. So I decided to raid my bits box in search of hope.

I found some Pith Helmets and heads from the now out of business Wargames Factory and began head swapping.

I was quite shocked with the results. I thought it would look silly at first, but I think I like the Pith Helmets much more than the plumed slouch hats that come with the kit. 

So my point is, a simple head swap, and or a less obnoxious paint job on these models does a lot for them! I plan on getting some more Pith Helmets and handgunners in the near future. 

Until next time,

-Ben

Warhammer 40K Vindicare Assassin

Today I just wanted to post a picture of my favorite 40K infantry model in my collection, the Vindicare Assassin. I haven’t got to use him much. Mainly due to working on days my gaming group does 40K. 

However, the urge to get back into the 41st millennium is intensifying. Especially with all the cool new models that GW has been cranking out.

I really want to get back into playing imperial guard. I had a huge collection but sold most of it off. I have roughly 1250 points of Militarum Tempestuous and two Catachan themed super heavies left.

I mainly play Age of Sigmar with my wife now, but an idea struck me one night.

What if I used Free Peoples hand gunners as my infantry models?? That’s genius! I can use the models for both gaming systems!

I hope to start this project after Christmas. If I do, I’ll update you guys with project posts.

For the Emperor/Sigmar...
-Ben

How to play: Skaven

Hello again, today I’ll be giving you some pointers on how to play Skaven. I am by no means an expert Skaven player. However I’ve found some units and tricks that have aided me in winning some games with my beloved rat-men.  

This post is about playing Skaven under Allegiance Chaos, not Pestilens/Skryre

As a Skaven player, you have probably noticed your armies greatest weakness is low morale. And that your troops are easy to kill. This can equal a deadly combination during the battle shock phase of the game. So their isn’t a whole lot you can about your troops frailty, but you can fix your low morale with an artifact found in the Age of Sigmar Core Rulebook.

Crown of Conquest: allows units within 6” of the bearer of the crown to not take battle shock.

This is the artifact you should take for your Skaven general. Sticking your general in a massive vermintide of rats takes forever for your opponent to chew through once you’ve made it into combat. This artifact has made my Clan Rats a nightmare for my opponent to move, instead of an easy unit to dispatch.

Giant Rats:

Giant Rats are horrible in combat, but great for holding objectives. They move 8” and are usually always ignored by my opponents.

Rat Ogres:

You should be using them. They are the closest thing we have to a heavy cavalry unit. Use in tandem with a pack master.

Pack Master:

Whips your Rat Ogres to add plus +1 to run, charge and attack rolls for Moulder units. Making your Rat Ogres hit on 3s, wound on 3s, at -1 rend and 2 damage each. Plus, 6s to hit generate extra attacks from your Rat Ogres.

Strength in Numbers:

As Joseph Stalin said: “Quanity has a quality of its own.” Drowning your opponent in bodies, now immune to battle shock because of the Crown of Conquest, is very demoralizing reality for your opponent.

As I expand my collection of all Age of Sigmar armies; I plan on doing how to’s such as this one as my knowledge of armies grows.

Until I post again,
-Ben

Duardin Army Progression

Finally some time for hobby! I’ve been very busy lately. I’ve been adjusting to a new work schedule and have been helping my wife get her blog going. I’ve also been helping my wife harvest everything in our garden.


Anyway, one of the many projects I have wanted to start has been a Duardin army for Age of Sigmar. I was in Missoula yesterday and picked up an Aether-Khemist from the Kharadon Overlords faction.

I got him painted up over the course of the afternoon. I got to test him out against my wife this afternoon, he did a fair job. His Noxious Aether missle attack is nasty at 3D6 attacks! However, it wasn’t enough. My wife’s High Aelves tabled my army.

So far for my Duardin I have a cannon, and now, an Aether-Khemist. I’m in love with the cannon. I bring a Lord Ordinator to add +1 to it’s hit rolls. 

As for how this army progresses, it’ll be slow! Money has been tighter this year but that’s okay! 

I look forward to expanding on this faction. Not sure what I’ll add next, thematically I want to mix Kharadon Overlords, Dispossessed, and Ironweld Arsenal. 

I know I’ve talked about this several times, but one of the strengths of Age of Sigmar is how creative you can be in building your armies. It feels more organic than 40k army building, IF you’re doing multiple factions. It probably helps that I primarily play open play games. I enjoy having a story behind my armies, and having a reason to fight a particular battle; rather than building a list off of points. Granted, I still enjoy matched play games from time to time. 

In closing, it feels good to  be blogging again! Hopefully I’ll have more posts coming soon..

Later,

-Ben

Converting Miniatures 101

This post is for the noobs of converting your minis. Say you have a model you really want to make your own. One you really want to stand out from the rest of your troops, like a squad medic, Sgt, etc. the answer is... CONVERT IT!

What material is easiest to use for converting?

I’d say plastic is the easiest to use, since there are tons of plastic miniature ranges to mix and match from.

What tools do I need?

•Plastic glue (if you use plastic)

• hobby knife.

• files

These will help your pieces fit together and stay together better. Since the pieces you’re bashing together weren’t intended to be put together-together..


How do I make my miniature look unique?

• A good place to start is with a simple head swap. A historical head on a sci fi miniature can give your miniature a really cool look!

• Add extra gear,; a backpack can make your miniature look like he has been on his campaign/quest for a long haul.

• Basing can also add a story to your model. Bloody skulls make great trophies!

• Animal Companions always stand out

•Mohawk head 👍

Here is an example of all I just mentioned..

Converting can actually be quite simple. Yes, there are more complex ways of converting, but simply kit-bashing will help you get the creative juices flowing!

Until next time,
-Ben

Lord Ordinator

Just a quick post today. I finished up my Lord Ordinator. He’ll be leading my Grand Alliance Order forces for many battles to come.  I’m not sure if I’ll add anymore Stormcast to my collection. In fact I’m not sure which direction I want to go with in 2nd Edition.

I’m torn between the following armies:

Adding to my Skaven.

Staring a Free Peoples Army.

Starting a Dark Aelves Army.

Adding to my Duardin.


None of these armies have a battletome yet so I’m not in a big hurry to start up one of these forces. I am excited to see that the Beasts of Chaos Battletome will be launching soon! It gives me hope that some of the older Order armies from fantasy will get a reboot!

Until next time,

-Ben.

Skaven Army Progression

I finally got around to painting this week. I have been working a lot of overtime recently so I haven't had much hobby time. However I ended up having today off! So the wife and I sat down after kids  went down for a nap and started painting. I finished my poisoned wind mortar team and my wife finished her Swifthawk Agents' chariot.

Aforementioned Mortar Team..

Once I post a full showcase of my painted collection; you'll see my Skaven don't have a unifying color scheme. That's mainly due to experimenting with different painting techniques. On some of my clan rats I used a wash only method. On some others I experiment with Games Workshop's Death Guard Green spray can; which I highly recommend by the way.

What I used to tie the army together was the bases. I wanted my Skaven  to look like they were walking through a toxic, ghoulish, nasty sewer. I think they turned out well. I just might do a how-to tutorial, let me know in the comments if you'd like to know how to do your bases this way!

I am really enjoying blogging. It's been enjoyable to just jot down my ideas and share them with the world. I'd have to say what I've enjoyed most about blogging has been the photography. I found this app in the app store called Fotor. It's super easy to use and it really makes your miniature photos stand out in my opinion. Taking photos has almost become a hobby of it's own. Photography has really motivated me to paint my miniatures. I can't wait to finish painting so I can take hundreds of photos of my finished work. Obviously I won't post all of my pictures, but it takes lots of photos to get a good one. Once I find a photo I like, that's when the fun begins for me with the photo editing.







I am so close to finishing my half of the Spire of Dawn Box. I only have 11 minis left to paint. 10 Clan Rats and 1 Skaven Warlord is all that stands between me and blog post showcasing my Skaven collection!
















Until next time,
-Ben