On the Painting Desk 275

 And so it came to pass, the first warband for Underworlds has been completed as you could see earlier this week.

Which means it is time to start the next one, which are of course the Idoneth Deepkin of Cyreni's Razors, a band I know I'm gonna love with the ping damage of the leader.

And this will also mean some minor progress will be made on the Akhelian King as I work on first Cyreni herself.  Cyreni is already halfway, hoping to finish her (bar base) this week AND get a good start on the two thralls as well.

Check back next week to see where I've gotten!

The Haul Report 394: TSA Bring and Buy loot

 Past sunday my local wargame club, the Tin Soldiers of Antwerp, ran a Bring and Buy event.

And while I went there to offload a heap of stuff, I ended up scoring nicely as well.

One of the members sold this large lot of Beastgrave era Warhammer Underworlds.  While I have the Beastgrave box already as well as the Rippa's, which where in there twice even, I had my eyes set on the Dreadfane box.  The whole lot was 50 euro, and the deck boxes and sleeves are nice bonus additions to my collection, but basically the Dreadfane box alone made this purchase worth it for me.

I'll flip over the Beastgrave and Rippa's as such on some second hand sites, meaning I'll in all probability end up with "my stuff" all for free.

I also finally collected my TSA custom dice, a group order from the club from the beginning of the year, in order to be able to lose in style!

I'd love to say I'm now "ready" with purchases and can start focussing on liquidating some other stuff, but alas, I have began talks with a clubmember for every set of Underworlds from Shadespire to Beastgrave... so yeah, expect another huge haul in a few weeks...

Warhammer Underworlds Battle Report: A double dose of Ephilim's Pandemonium

 A hatrick, as for the third week running I managed to go and play a game of Underworlds in The Outpost!

So that means another opportunity to get the grips with my warband and deck for the upcoming tournament in Halle, now less then two weeks away, and obtain some much needed points for my T3 placement.

 

 

And what more brutal training then facing Peter not once, but twice with his Ephilim,s Pandemonium, a really scary warband with ranged magic all along the line, and pretty accurate Hammers attacks to boot.  Past Adepticon, 5 or 6 of those ended up in the top-10 as well, so this would be a serious test for my little fish.

 

 

Setting up for the first game, we went through the whole motion of the Pandemonium's pre-round sequence, before I took first turn.  Fuirann immediatly charged in, but failed to hit on Spawnmaw, as Tammael and Duinclaw followed suit.  They had more success however, taking out Flamespooler and first blood to the Soulraid.  The first round ended with a 2-0 on the board for Elathain's.

Peter immediatly restored the balance though in the second turn, as Fuirann was taken down by a combined assault of two Changers.  Teaming up on the two smaller Changers however, Tammael and Elathain scored some more points though on his half.

But Elathain himself was the next to fall, hammered by a magical barrage from Ephilim, who I must say failed every gambit spell he undertook this game.  This definitly had an impact, as you will see later on in the second game.  But even with that, the Pandemonium overtook the Soulraid, putting a 7-7 on the scoreboard and a very empty looking battlefield to go into round 3.

In that final round, Spawnmaw was swiftly despatched, putting a heavily boosted Ephilim against a wounded Tammael, Duinclaw and the Spinefin.  

As I knew I couldn't take the wizard out, a dance began to set it up for scoring some other objectives.  Ephilim downed Tammael, and then assaulted the brave Duinclaw.  Duinclaw survived though, and as such I could play Doom and Gloom to score heavily, and ended the game with a 14-10 victory.

On to the second game, where knowing what that wizard could do, I placed the boards and deployed hyper aggressively, gunning to take down the wizard before he started boosting up to much.  The plan was to take out the two smallest one immediatly to play some upgrades myself, then rush Ephilim early in the second round.

It started well, with Elathain himself rushing Kindlefinger and taking him out, but on the other side an already boosted Fuirann failed her starting line charge once again, and basically the plan stalled right there and then.  Especially as Ephilim brought his minion back in play, and froze Fuirann to the spot after wounding her with magic.  If she moved, she would die, simple as that.  Never the less, the Soulraid led by 5-4, but this would be the end of my glory parade against the Tzeentchian's.

The second round saw Elathain swiftly fall to shots of magical lightning, as at least Fuirann managed to take out Apo'Trax in front of her, one activation to late.  She herself quickly followed suit though.  Next, Tammael was magicked down, meaning I would need to take on a wizard and three demons with only my menagerie, and with all their ranged powers nowhere to run.  The score now read 10-12 as there was a lot of points gained by both sides this turn, but I couldn't imagine what more to do then some damage control.

A last desperate assault by Duinclaw failed to make a dent though, and with only a single wound on him my only hope was that he would survive two more activations of the Pandemonium.  I had Doom and Gloom in hand again, so if Duinclaw survived I could put that down as Spinefin would park himself next to Ephilim, a Shifting Currents in hand would guarantee this even if the wizard would move.

But alas, the final attack was the attack to many, and the brave crab fell to the demonic horrors, leaving only the sole little fish as a witness to the magical barrage, ending the game at 10-19 as I didn't manage to score a single card in the final round.

Still, I think with these guys, especially when they are combined with Force of Frost, it is a good plan to try and take out Ephilim as soon as possible.  Sadly, fickle Fuirann decided otherwise on this, but one up and one down wasn't to shabby for the evening.

I doubt I'll make it to the weekly gathering next week, so this is how it will stand for Halle, high hopes of not finishing last at least, and hopefully boosting my T3 rating again a bit as my points from 2020 are melting to a low point now.

Warhammer Underworlds: Skaeth's Wild Hunt

 The first Underworlds warband for 2024 has been painted up, hoozaaah!

And the choice fell to Skaeth's Wild Hunt, a band of savage Kurnothi (basically the only ones in the whole Age of Sigmar setting so far) out to brave the Beastgrave.

These models came as part of the third season core box, and I always liked Wood Elves so no wonder they are pretty high up on the list of warbands to paint.  So with Elathain now nearing his "climax" as he will be taken to a tournament, it is time for another warband to be readied and played, probably being ran on weekly gatherings until the event in Ekeren, should I be required to step in as the TO due to an uneven number of players.

Being aelven, they are fragile but agile, bit like Morgwaeth's that I played, but have a more guerilla style of play, so that will be another adaption in playstyle that will be required.  For the colour scheme, I went rather "sylvaneth" in style, using browns and greens mostly, with a deep red-brown for some contrast.

For the bases, I opted for a muddy brown mixed with pale green for leaves and coverings, this contrasted by stark orange and purple flowers.  And I admit, I went for the pale foliage as a "testbed" for when I start painting the Flesh eater Courts warbands to see what it does for a skintone (which, after this test, I will use).

Looking at their Rivals deck, these guys actually seem fun to try out.  Their Inspire is super easy (have them charge) and their objectives are mostly revolving around occupying Objective Hexes.  I think I'll be taking boards along when I play them with a lot of letal and / or blocked hexes, in order to have their mobility and range be more of a factor.

Well, in a few weeks I'll be fielding them as such for the first time, let's see how it will go!

Mato Seihei no Slave

 A fantasy series with an ecchi touch, count me intrested!

And so we started watching this Winter 2024 season anime, in the hopes for some decent story apart from potential fan service galore!

Yuuki finds himself suddenly trapped in the Mato dimension, a place where men fell to the bottom of society.  About to die, he is saved by a girl called Kyouka, a member of the Seventh Unit of the Anti-Demon Corps.   But she has a strange power, and in order to have it manifest to the fullest, Yuuki has to become her personal slave...

He agrees to this, becoming a big beast after he licks her fingers, quickly dispatching of the enemies, only to transform back to his own form after the battle.  Her powers do force her to reward her slave every time he does a task, her body losing control as she has to hand out the rewards.  He becomes the girls dorm everyday housekeeper, while being the slave to Kyouka when combat arises.

He settles in in the dorm house, getting to know the girls a bit better and their personalities.  He learns what drives them and why they became demon hunters, as well as what their peculiar quirks are, including being severly beaten in "strip Streetfighter". 

Yuuki learns that Kyouka hunts a Unihorn, a monster that killed her parents.  Tracking it down, it is oddly ridden by a humanoid itself, which Yuuki seems to feel is her missing big sister.  On a mission with another one of the girls, Himari, in a duel against her older sister, he learns more about his corps companions.  He decides to help Himari to overcome her sister, showing he can devote himself to multiple mistresses in the team if he puts his mind to it.  Himari figures out the technique how her sister fights, but she holds one more card with her ultimate technique.  But together with Yuuki she gets back up and breaks through the technique with a daring move, clinching the victory.

As the duel continues, Shushu faces sahara, a sleepy girl from the other squadron.  Both boosting physical powers, it quickly becomes a slugfest.  But when Sahara unleashes her full power from the brink of defeat, she defeats Shushu, and seriously denting her confidence.  Yuuki gets to check on her, being kissed by the topless girl, as she actually developped a crush on him.  But the duel is interrupted as the Shuuki launch an attack, breaking the protective barrier.  Both squadron's team up, combining their powers to oppose the threat.  

Managing to hold them back, he gets a reward of two girls, before they go visit the 6th squadron's dormitory.  As he helps there as caretaker, Shushu keeps pondering on him and their kiss.  He learns at the dormitory that Himari's elder sister is really fond of her little sister, her room covered in pictures of her.  The 6th squadron commander declares she wants Yuuki as a commodity for her own team, going as far as trying to seduce him, but he is saved by Shushu as she barges into his room.

As the squad prepares to battle the humanoid Shuuki, they all get to see their effects on Yuuki, like when Nei uses him he becomes a fast scouting form... with X-ray vision showing through the other girls clothes.  While when Shushu mounts him, he becomes a true brawler, but not insanely powerful meaning her ability won't be used in combination with Yuuki to her distress.  As he escorts Nei to school, he learns she joined the force to find her missing parents again.

 

The battle begins against the Shuuki, as they take Yuuki along with them, snatching him from Kyouka in the fight.   He finds himself surrounded by three girls, including one that is indeed his missing bigger sister Aoba.  Together with Coco and Yuno she runs a hidden village of people that still have human souls inside their Shuuki bodies.  She explains the reasons of why they have enimity towards the Demon Defence Force to Yuuki.  She tells him what happened and how she became in the form she is now, being used as a lab rat with the promise of a cure.  

In the meantime, the two Defence Force squadrons mount a rescue, being opposed by Coco, and being faced by Shushu and Sahara.  The sisters face Yuno, as both commanders move on to free Yuuki.  As Kyouka and Aoba engage in a discussion with Yuuki about their viewpoints, they realise peace is not an option and Aoba binds Yuuki to keep him out of the fight.  Tenka faces Aoba, as battle commences.  But as the girls find themselves in a tough fight, the Shuuki upper echelon prepares to make their appearances on the battlefield.

 

The girls battle with all they got, some managing to overpower their opponents, while others have a tougher time.   As the big three arrive, the commander and Yuuki manage to ward off danger for now.  Allowing Yukki's sister to leave with her people, they decide to go look further into the stories of the genetic manipulations.

So, this was an okay if not great show, and I will probably watch season 2 when it comes out, if only for Shushu and her assets.  But to say it was awesome is pushing it for me...

Damsel

 So a fantasy film starring Eleven from Stranger Things had hit Netflix, and to mixed reviews online.

Now I am going to say this upfront, I enjoyed the little film for what it is: a good movie for a lazy saturday evening on the couch, nothing more, nothing less.  Not everything put out there can be a blockbuster mega-budget movie.

Centuries ago, the first king of Aurea leads an attack on a dragon residing in his new founded lands, but he and his men are defeated, leaving him at the dragon's mercy.  In the current time, Elodie, oldest daughter of Lord Bayforth who rules over a poor, barren land, is set to be married to the prince of the rich country of Aurea.

While at first unintrested in this marriage of reason, they start forming a bond as they travel the land, but Elodie's stepmother begins thinking something is wrong and that the royal family aren't good people, unsuccesfully asking Elodie to cancel the wedding.  After the wedding, Elodie is to partake in an age old ritual of the lands, bonding by blood as the pact of a tale of the first king and a dragon from centuries ago.  However, as soon as it is made, she is subdued and thrown into the chasm leading to the dragon's lair.

Elodie quickly realizes she is the actual sacrifice to be made to the dragon, and escapes the beast after it burns her leg.  She finds a cave with glowing slugs, and reaches a chamber that says "Safe here she cannot reach" as she experiences a vision of the previous girls sacrificed here.  As she passes out, the slugs heal her leg, and soon after she finds a map of the cave.  

She follows this map to what she thought was an exit, but proves to be an unsafe dead end after all.  As a rescue party by her father arrives, she discovers the true reason behind the ancient tale and the sacrifices: the king of old had the dragon's three hatchlings slain, and as a vengeance the king must sacrifice three princesses every generation.  By binding their blood into the girls, the dragon smells them as royalty.  Even though her father and his men are killed in their rescue attempt, Elodie manages to get out of the mountain. 

As a revenge, the queen has her younger sister thrown in, and Elodie goes back in the mountain to save her, creating a diversion for the dragon and incapitating it by having it burn itself.  She reveals the truth behind the deception of the royal family, before using the slugs to heal the beast.  She returns to the castle to stop the wedding for the third sacrifice, before the dragon arrives, burning down the castle and the royal family with it.  Days later, she returns to her homelands, loaded with supplies for her people and the dragon accompanying them.

So yeah, not the thickest of stories, though it has that nice hatchling plot-twist.  As I stated in the beginning, it is just a fun evening movie, it won't be remembered long, but it isn't a waste of time either unlike some other Netflix 'hyped' productions.

On the Painting Desk 274

With some amazing progress this week, compared to the past months!

 

As you see, Skaeth, whom I started last week, has been getting a lot of attention.

 

And the above clip shows the result, the warband already in it's final stages and probably ready by next week.  Though this weekend, I'll be barely touching a brush, as it's the TSA bring and buy, as well as the birthday brunch of my mother in law.

 

 

Never the less, I already assembled the next warbands I'll tackle, Cyreni's Razors and the Crimson Court, as I really want to give them a try in Rivals.  And they where easier to assemble then I read and heard online.  And the benefit of starting on Cyreni first soon, is that quite a lot of colours will be added to the Akhelian king as well.

 

But first Skaeth's will get finished, and used on casual weekly meet-up's as well as, if I'm required to play, on the TSA Underworlds tournament as my warband.

 

Let's see how far we get by next week!

The Haul Report 393: More than Meets the Eye!

So, a big haul for this week, though the mainliner is purely for flipping purposes.

Through a local Facebook group, I obtained this lot of 25 Transformers models, with weapons and all, for a measly 65 euro including shipping.

So that is less then 3 euro a toy... definitly some profit will be able to be made of these to fund my Underworlds addiction!  I'm aiming at flipping them for between a realistic 5 to 7 each, so that looks promising.

 

Talking my Underworlds addiction, with the Grymwatch now in my collection due to that large lot I obtained, I also found their dice for a measly 4 euro on Vinted, nice! 

So a good loot set, and now off to a wargame Bring and buy, so expect another hefty loot report next week (because I already 'pre-bought' from there)!

On Tour to the Frituur part 1: Cafetaria Happy in Putte - Kapellen

 In a brand-new, occassional series here on the channel, I will be talking of little frituurs (a belgian term for a place where you by Belgian fries and snacks) that I visited during my drives across the country.

In every place, I will be ordering the same thing if possible: a small fries package, a sauce, something to drink, and a preferably speciality of the house snack... and tell about my experience here.

Starting off the series is Cafetaria Happy, located at the Antwerpsestraat 18, 4645 BJ Putte, Netherlands which is about 50 metres across the border.  While it doesn't look supermodern, it gives of this real authentic vibe of a local small eating place, where I can imagine a lot of take-out is happening.  Behind the corner was a friendly young guy of chinese heritage, and their menu cart both had traditional take-out chinese food as well as the usual suspect for a frituur.  They had a good selection of snacks, so you can find something to your liking there for sure.

My order:

I went for a small fries with Joppy saus, a cola and a gehaktstaaf (minced meat bar) Wilhelmina, something I didn't now but has a bit of a spicy taste to it, not bad at all.  The total order came down to 8.00 euro as such.  

The fries where well baked and not greasy at all, a clean and crisp yellow and the portion was just fine for a quick snack.  It also came nice and smooth, though I was well before traditional rush hour so that might differ of course during peak time, but I had my order in about 7 minutes after ordering.  

Conclusion:

While the interior is out of fashion, the fries where very well done, and the service was friendly, so I will rate this at a 7 out of 10, and setting it as such as the benchmark to compare future places against.

Onwards to the next journey and wherever a frituur shall be visited!

Warhammer Underworlds Battlereport: Elathain's Soulraid versus The Thricefold Discord

 Yesteray I went back to Outpost Antwerp for another game of Underworlds, as the tournament in halle draws ever closer.

And now, with the full power of the Spinefish at my disposal, as during last week's game I finally got it together how to use the little fish, and more importantly, the pressure it's shoal counter generates on an opponent.

Facing me was Johan, the TO for the Halle event and present to seduce more souls for Slaanesh, I mean Halle, and the demon band of the Thricefold Discord.

The boards are set-up, the warbands deployad and off we went!  The fist action of battle came with Tammael and Lascivyr exchanging blows, or stab at air might perhaps be a better description, as neither landed a hit on the other.  Fuirann charged off in the farthest reaches, attacking Vexmor.  He failed his defence, taking two wounds, but this also resulted in Lascivyr inspiring as a result.

 

Vashtiss moved in and attacked Tammael as well, surrounded by friend and foe alike.  But as she didn't take anyone out, she moved off to harass my warband with magical attacks later on.  The first round was also riven with a heap of critical defences, resulting in turn one ending in a 3-3 on score, and no casualties so far.

The second round picked up where round one ended: critical hits being negated by critical defence rolls, but this couldn't last and Tammael was in the end the first model to fall.  However, combined efforts from Fuirann and Elathain saw Vexmor himself fall, meaning Tammael duly returned to battle.  As Vashtiss kept plunging damage around, Elathain fell in the barrage, and the Discord went in the lead after the second turn with a 7-6 on the scoreboard.

The third turn as such meant I needed to score big, though I had some scoreable cards in had, beginning with sneaking a glory to the score with Fury of the Storm and as he discarded getting Smothered Memories.  Duinclaw kept chasing Lascivyr, managing to bring him down to a single wound before being taken out of action himself.  

But on the other side of the board, Fuirann, supported by the ever present Spinefish, took down Vashtiss.  With two more activations to go, only Lascivyr remained... and I forgot to take a picture of Spinefish's moment de gloire.  Appearing next to the assassin, it's Spinefish Toxin took out the assassin of it's final wound, and made me score three cards as a result in the end phase: one for managing to get three warriors on his half (thanks to relocating in his final two activations), one for taking out two enemies at the end of a round (I had discarded the one for being within two hexes of the same warrior and got this one) and one for having no models on the board adjacent to others.  The Discord couldn't put enough glory in the final end phase against this, so a 14-10 victory for Elathain was the result.

Okay, so the fish was without a doubt the MVP, dropping assists, making an objective of the Discord in the final round a 'dead card' and even taking out an enemy.  I was also amazed that (albeit upgraded) Fuirann for once lived to tell the tale.

The Discord are a special cookie, and with the Force of Frost deck Johan used as well, have some dirty tricks up their silk sleeves, but in the end I guess they fell mostly due to the combination of the ever present supporting fish to boost my attacks / defences and their leader not having been able to take a strong role in this game, as he was rushed pretty fast.  With fast being relative, considering his wounds and boosts he had to mitigate damage.

But a good fun game, and I look forward meeting my opponent again in Halle.