I recently blitzed some unpainted Cryx models I’d been stockpiling. Cryx is a faction I’ve had for a while, but it’s always been secondary to my Khadorans (and probably in third place if you count my Legion of Everblight). So, I’ve recently started using the faction and decided to start with the Iron Lich Asphyxious to lead them. In the games I’ve had so far he has performed well and I like the way the faction plays. The only problem I have is that on a medium base Asphyxious can occasionally find himself the target of unwanted attention. In steps Gorman di Wulfe and his Smoke Bombs. I wanted to paint him in the same muted tones as the Cryxian force, but also wanted him to stand out a little.


I started by undercoating him with GW Chaos Black and then gave the whole miniature a sequence of increasingly light drybrushes. I started with Scorched Earth, then gradually mixed Graveyard Earth into that for the next 3-4 drybrushes. Finally I added increasing amounts Bleached Bone to this mix for another 2-3 drybrushes. From here I tackled the cloak as it was the most visible area of the miniature. I mixed a 1:1:1 blend of Vallejo Middlestone, Vallejo Green Grey and GW Bleached Bone. I then very, very lightly drybrushed this over the cloak area. This had the effect of tinting the previous layers and left a nice graduated outcome. It is this green hue that is quite different from the other Cryx models and will make him stand out. The highlighting and shading colours are similar though, so he shouldn’t stand out too much. He’s a little similar in colour to my Alten Ashley, who I must photograph.

The gloves were drybrushed with GW Fortress Grey and then again with a small amount of Skull White added. On the shirt I used the same effect with a light drybrush of P3 Greatcoat Grey and then GW Shadow Grey. The edge of the shirt was picked out in Bleached Bone and the face mask was also lightened with another drybrush of Bleached Bone. The gas mask was finished using Snakebite Leather and Boltgun Metal, highlighted with Mithril Silver. The hat was brought up through layers of brown, using Bestial Brown, Snakebite Leather and then dulled using Scorched Earth. The vials were painted with Ice Blue and highlighted in 2-3 layers by adding Skull White. The boot straps were picked out using Snakebite Leather. Metals were either Boltgun Metal or a 3:1 mix of Brazen Brass and Mithril Silver.

All areas apart form the shirt and the cloak were washed with a 1:1 mix of Devlan Mud and Badab Black. The base is builder’s sand PVA glued down and then a very wet mix of Graveyard Earth and water (1:4) applied when dry. Select areas were then flocked. This basing scheme is consistent with my Khador and Cryx armies (except the Cryx also have small patches of snow added).

Photographing this miniature was a little challenging with a single light source as the wide-brimmed hat obscures the face when lit from above. I usually place the lamp about 6″ above and slightly to the front of the miniature at the 1 o’clock position. In these shots I had to lie the lamp almost level with the miniature. This casts a long shadow, but I can live with that. I really must set my lightbox up with multiple light sources.

Anyway, a quick spray of matt varnish for protection and Gorman is ready to include in Cryx army, or the Khador army to help protect the Butcher and Karchev for that matter.

Owen

During the week Phil and I fought a 750pt game over my newly constructed battle board. The last time we played my Cryxian force got the better of his Menites, but this time I would be using my old reliable Khadorans. We rarely play 750pt games, so I took this opportunity to field eIrusk. I really like his non-epic version and have really good success with him. Both versions are support ‘casters that frustrate your enemy and buff your troops and ‘jacks. They can get stuck in when needs be, but you’d want to be sure they get the job done as any retaliation will hurt. I talked about my force construction already for this game, but here’s my list again -

• Supreme Kommandant Irusk
• Destroyer
• War Dog
• Great Bears of Gallowswood
• 8 Iron Fang Pikemen
• Iron Fang Officer & Standard Bearer
• 3 Man-O-War Shocktroopers
• Greylord Ternion
• Widowmakers
• 4 Battle Mechaniks
• Man-O-War Kovnik
• Man-O-War Drakhun (+dismount)
• Manhunter
• Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

That leaves me just a few points shy at 747 points comprising 34 models and 29 VPs. We’re going to play for the ‘caster kill so VPs aren’t going to matter. Phil’s army was relatively ‘jack heavy with four arc nodes, but these were balanced by some solid troop choices -

• Grand Scrutator Severius
• Guardian
• 3 Revengers
• Choir of Menoth (6)
• 10 Holy Zealots
• Monolith Bearer
• 10 Temple Flameguard
• Temple Flameguard Officer and Standard Bearer
• 6 Knights Exemplar
• Reclaimer
• 3 Wracks

That comes in at 25 VPs and 46 models and whilst ‘jack/troop balanced is lacking in the solo area.

For this battle report I’m going to try something different and write it as a fictional narrative. It’ll probably be rubbish, but here it goes.

Irusk had his eyes closed. The wind was picking up and it carried the undulating chanting of the approaching Menites. They had strayed into this newly acquired region of the Khadoran Empire and trespassers, even those who claim to have a God at their side, will not be tolerated. Irusk could sense his men’s readiness. They were a hammer that was poised and he would decide where the blow would land. No one understood the lands and terrain that armies fight over better than he and it would act as his anvil. He would channel the enemy to the point where he wanted them and would then release the hammer, striking them, smiting them.

Even with his eyes shut he could see every detail of the low hill with ruins atop that stood before him. Whilst it might appear to be a strong defensive position to an inexperienced commander, he saw it as a means to divide the enemy’s strength. He committed the Widowmakers forward on his left flank and sent the mercenary Elf with them. He did not trust her, but knew she could slow any opposing ‘jacks that advanced that way. Behind the hill he deployed the Destroyer with whom he had developed a strong bond in the last months. He could sense it’s strength and it’s eagerness to surge towards the enemy. He would have to work to control it as his plan was to use it as a pivotal point in his army, the centre about which he would divide the enemy. The Great Bears had the Iron Fangs under their command and he had ordered them to advance on the right along the dried river bed when the saw enemy in numbers. He was confident that they could deal with any that came that way. He and his entourage, consisting of of a Kovnik, Drakhun, Greylords and the Wardog Ronoyxa, would stay flexible, ready to react to where the enemy sent the bulk of their force, but he was sure it would be the river bed.

On the wind he caught the acrid smell of coal smoke and as he opened his eyes he could see the massive Guardian ‘jack followed closely by spear-armed Temple Flame Guard and possibly Exemplar Knights advancing towards the Widowmakers. So it began.

He barked orders to the Men-O-War to move to the centre, willing them forward with extra speed. His ‘jack held steady whilst the Bears and their Iron Fangs rush up the right. In front of them he could see the smoke of three small ‘jacks in tight formation as they moved along the riverbed. The chanting seemed to be coming from that direction and he knew that the choir of Menoth had strange powers the thwart the efficiency of the Khadoran guns. The Iron Fangs would have no such trouble. A glint of light flashed from atop the hill and amongst a large group of zealots he spotted Severius. He knew the threat range of this old man and his ability to drain magic from the air was disconcerting. He moved his entourage along the river slightly careful to keep the enemy ‘caster in his slights.

The report of the Widowmakers guns caught his ears and he hoped that signified the deaths of Menites. If the Elf did not delay that Guardian ‘jack then he could be in trouble, but the smoke from it did not seem to be closing quickly. In the centre, the Men-O-War were quickly enveloped by the Zealots. Even these maniacs were not foolish enough to use their fire bombs in close combat and the highly armoured Khadorans began wading through them. Irusk ensured the advancing trio of ‘jacks were slowed by turning the previously dry river bed into a quagmire below their feet. The Iron Fang Pikemen charged to engage one of these smaller ‘jacks which now appeared to be Revengers. He would have to deal with all of them as having even one nearby was as dangerous as getting too near Severius. The Great Bears dodged and weaved through the pikemen to engage the second Revenger, but they did not seem to be dealing with it as quickly as he’d expect. More sporadic shots could be heard from the Widowmakers, but they were now less in number. Irusk feared that the left flank would not hold much longer and as if to add insult to injury he felt all the magic surrounding him dissipate forcing a temporary retreat.

The Iron Fangs and Great Bears became enclosed in clouds of ashes as some troopers seemed to disintegrate, but those remaining were slowly dealing with the enemy ‘jacks. Irusk could see Severius focusing his energies towards them. In the centre the Drakhun launched forward towards the third Revenger and totalled it, but the horse fell in the assault. The Guardian appeared on the hill as, almost simultaneously, the depleted Flame Guard and Exemplars rounded its base. This was bad. Irusk only had a few Mechaniks and the Destroyer in that area as the Men-O-War were still engaged with the Zealots in the centre. Without even being ordered the Mechaniks launched themselves at the enemy spearmen, but were cut down to a man.

This bought a little time and he focused his mind on the Destroyer levelling it’s bombard towards the enemy unit. Four fell in the explosion. As they crowded together and began advancing he attempted to halt them, but only felled one. He urged the Greylords forward and they took care of the rest, but were almost wiped out in the process. Eyriss and the Widowmakers were nowhere to be seen, but they had at least reduced the now leaderless Exemplar Knights to three. On the hill the Guardian engaged the Men-O-War over a ruined wall and killed one of them. The others repositioned to engage the remaining Zealots, who had managed to throw some bombs towards the dismounted Drakhun and the Great Bears. Between the bombs and the magics of Severius the right flank wasn’t looking great either.

Urged on by their leader the Exemplars engaged the Men-O-War to the rear and obliterated them as the Guardian rounded the wall in the direction of the Destroyer. A foolhardy Monolith bearer surged towards the Khadoran ‘jack, his attack barely scratching it’s armour. The dog Ronoyxa bounded towards him and lunged at his neck, felling the fanatic and returning to his master’s side. Irusk saw his chance and focused all of his mind on the Destroyer. Through it’s eyes he could see the Guardian become nearer as the Destroyer hurtled at it. He swung hard rending the lance arm from the Guardian’s body and on the backswing took it’s other arm off. The ‘jack wasn’t disabled, but it was essentially neutered. Just as he returned to himself he was nearly thrown off balance by a fire bomb that landed at his feet. He drew his handcannon and dropped the lone Zealot. The Iron Fangs and Great Bears could not be seen from where he was, but there were several casualties lying near the now destroyed Revengers. Again he fired his handcannon, this time killing a Knight. The dog killed another and with an almighty swing of the axe the Destroyer finished the Guardian and the final Exemplar.

It was only now that Irusk noticed that the choir was no longer chanting and that Severius had retreated into a defensive position on the hill. As he surveyed the scene he noticed that there were no other Protectorate troops standing. Severius’ anger caused him to surge forward frying a Manhunter that Irusk himself did not even spot until he went up in flames. This was the chance, time for the Destroyer to Blitzkrieg the enemy warcaster, who would now be finding the ground under his feet turning to thick gorse. The Destroyer swung, but before it could connect the enemy ‘caster dove out of the way and quit the field as quickly as his aged feet could carry him. The day belonged to Khador. Irusk felt every the pain of every man lost, but he was relieved to see the Great Bears pull themselves to standing from amidst the corpses of fallen pikemen. Many good men of the empire had died today, but losing the Bears would have been a severe blow.

So, there it is, my Khadorans emerged victorious when Phil conceded with only Severius left alive (and standing in combat with my Destroyer). I had the Wardog, Kovnik, one Greylord, the Destoyer and the Iron Fang’s Standard Bearer left alive with Irusk. The bit above about the Great Bears is just character fluff. None of them passed tough checks during the game! It was a hard fought battle, but by performing a refused flank and not attempting to take the hill I was able to only fight half of Phil’s force at a time. That said, when the TFG and remaining Exemplar Knights appeared around the hill in good numbers I thought I was in trouble. The ranged ability of the Destoyer and Greylords, coupled with some shots from Irusk and the Kovnik really took care of them. I forget how good Khador can be at range when needs be. Here are all of the photos I took -

That was a epic game!

Owen

One of the great things about Flames of War is that all of the scenarios are objective based, meaning that it’s not just about trying to obliterate your opponents army. Rather you are trying to seize strategically important areas of the battlefield. Having a nicely modelled objective marker really adds to the aesthetic of the game. Here are a few I use -

The first one represents a Command Post that I modelled myself and the next two are Battlefront ones that came in different army boxed sets (representing destroyed Tiger and Cromwell tanks). Really simple stuff, but they look very effective on the tabletop.

Owen

I finished this guy this evening and I think he turned out well. He’s consistent in colour with the Greylord Ternion, so will compliment that unit nicely. I need to reread his rules as other than being a pretty decent ‘jack marshal who has some spells and buffs the Greylords, I’m not sure what he does.

Owen

My Flames of War Panzer Lehr force is growing in size, so I decided to take a few minutes to take some pictures. I have loads of things to paint, but an armoured heavy mortar platoon is probably next on my list.

Owen

I had a great 750 point game against Phil’s Protectorate of Menoth force recently which I’ll post photos from in the next few days. I wanted a chance to field Epic Irusk as I’ve only had a couple of opportunities to use him before. He is still an excellent troop ‘caster and his abilities are geared to buffing his own army and controlling the battle field. In his non-Epic form I’m a big fan of Inhospitable Ground and I was initially disappointed that he didn’t retain it as a spell. That was until I read Artifice of Deviation! At a focus cost of 3 I can cast it up to twice per turn and not only hinder my opponents movement, but also open up difficult terrain for my own troops to move across. Battle Lust is another great troop spell, as is Tactical Supremacy. His feat is quite good in many situations, but I think his most powerful ability is Martial Discipline. He has to be close (within his CMD range of 10″) to his troops for them to benefit from it, but it stops units of troops from getting blocked by each other. This is essential if you are fielding a large troop army and want to funnel your opponent towards it. Here’s the 750 point list I went for -

747/750 points, 29 VP, 34 models
Warcaster

Supreme Kommandant Irusk

Battlegroup

Destroyer
War Dog

Troops

Great Bears of Gallowswood
8 Iron Fang Pikemen
Iron Fang Officer & Standard Bearer
3 Man-O-War Shocktroopers
Greylord Ternion
Widowmakers
4 Battle Mechaniks

Solos

Man-O-War Kovnik
Man-O-War Drakhun (+dismount)
Manhunter
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

I only went with one ‘jack and I think Fire For Effect is a great spell to put on the Destroyer, with his first (and only) ranged attack auto-boosted and the blast damage boosted. This is a devastating combo for even well armoured enemy troops. The War Dog is something I quite new to and it’s role is primarily to screen the warcaster and help hinder anything nasty that gets close to him.

For me the IFP and UA are an auto include. The are fast, can charge across (even if slowed) rough terrain and have 2″ reach. Couple that with Battle Lust and Artifice of Deviation to open up charge lanes and they are a powerhouse. The Great Bears are again new to me and I wanted to see what they could do. On paper they are excellent troop and light ‘jack killers who work very well with an IFP unit escorting them. I have mixed results with the Shocktroopers and it is their lack of speed that tends to frustrate me. Tactical Supremacy (a free 3″ move after all activations) should enable them to get moving. They are a great tar pit unit and can really hold up an enemy on the flank. The Grey Lords are almost an auto include for me too. They are delicate, but the ability to buff the defence and provide concealment is great (for a faction that tends to have poor DEF). Their Frost Bite Pow 12 spray attack is great for clearing out infantry. I’m usually careless with my Widowmakers as they tend to die early. That said they’ll shoot a good few enemy troops before they die and their high DEF means they are not easy to kill, so they can act as a road block. I had points left over, so the Mechaniks were included. In MkII I think I’ll try to include them in any army that has two or more ‘jacks. In this army the role of the Destroyer is to pound the enemy at range until the endgame, so I hope the mechs won’t be needed. They can act as a cheap speed bump to delay inbound enemy troops or ‘jacks.

For my solos I included a Kovnik, but opted not to have him control the ‘jack. He was going to act as further protection for Irusk. The Drakhun has many functions and a great threat range. His role is to take out light ‘jacks and be a fast moving headache for my opponent. Speaking of headaches both the Manhunter and Eiryss are in the army to harry my opponent by skulking forward and getting near the ‘caster, or in Eiryss’ case taking out unit leaders or disrupting ‘jacks.

Owen

The Great Bears are in many ways a very typical Khadoran unit that have several of the traditional colours you might use in painting the Khador army. I painted these guys using pretty straight forward techniques, so hopefully this guide will be easy to follow.

Step 0: Clean, Assemble and Undercoat
I’m not going to detail this step other than to say you should always -

1. Wash miniatures to remove mould release residue
2. Use a hobby knife to remove flashing and venting
3. File back any mould lines
4. Dry fit the components
5. Glue (and potentially pin) the components
6. Apply several light sprays of undercoat (Army Painter’s Black Spray in this instance)
7. Paint a watered down coat of the undercoat colour (GW’s Chaos Black mixed with water (3:1))

Step 1: Faces and Flesh
I subscribe to the “inside to outside” painting approach where you paint the miniature as though it were getting dressed, i.e. do the flesh first, then the next visible layer of clothing, etc. The flesh was base coated using P3 Khadoran Flesh (in 2-3 slightly watered down light coats), highlighted with GW Dwarf Flesh and then a lightly highlighted with GW Elf Flesh. That was then washed with a watered down Devlan Mud. I wanted these guys to look weather beaten so the deep wash and darker flesh colours makes it look like they’ve bivouacked for many years. The finished effect gives a slightly ruddy look appropriate for severely weathered skin. I wanted their hands to be gloved, so I didn’t paint them in this step. For the hair and beard of Volkov I used GW Bestial Brown as the base, highlighted with Snakebite Leather and washed with a 1:1 blend of Badab Black and Devlan Mud (if you only own one wash it should be this blend – it works on almost any colour). I also painted the neckerchiefs at this time using the same technique as for the cloak (see below).

Step 2: Chainmail and Mesh Armour
The next layer is the chainmail skirt underneath their armour. I used GW Boltgun Metal with a small bit of GW Chaos Black mixed in as the base coat. Base coat isn’t quite the right phrase as it is more of a heavy drybrush to pick out the details. I repeat this with pure GW Boltgun Metal, but with a lighter drybrush, i.e. more of the paint is removed form the brush. For the weapons I used the same colours, but instead of drybrushing I painted on a watered down coat and then highlighted by picking out the edge detail. All of these areas were washed with Badab Black.

Step 3: Cloak
Remember to change your water – otherwise you will have metallic flakes mixed into your non-metallic colours. The cloak was based with P3 Greatcoat Grey and highlighted by adding increasing amounts of GW Fortress Grey in 3-4 highlights. The whole area was washed with Badab Black. The fur edge was drybrushed with Fortress Grey and highlighted by adding a small amount of Skull white.

Step 4: Red Armour
Quite a bit of the miniature is covered in red armour and as red is notoriously hard to paint over a black undercoat a bit of patience is required. I use P3 Khadoran Red as my base coat, but I water it down and plan to apply 2-3 light coats. Patience is needed to not put on a very heavy coat that will dry in a blotchy manner and in ensuring the red doesn’t get on the finished detail (the chainmail is easily touched up, but the cloak isn’t, if you get red on them). Next I highlighted the red areas with a 1:1 Mix of Khadoran Red and Khadoran Red Highlight and then a highlight of pure Khadoran Red. All of these areas were washed with a mix of Badab Black and Baal Red (1:5) being careful not to let it run onto finished detail.

Step 5: Bear Pelt
The Bear Pelt was base coated with Fortress Grey in a very heavy dry brush. I had two highlighting stages – the first was a drybrush with a 1:1 mix of Fortress Grey and Bleached Bone and the second was almost pure Bleached Bone. The eyes and nose were picked out with Chaos Black and the visible leather was base coated with Snakebite Leather. All of the pelt was then washed the miracle wash (1:1 mix of Badab Black and Devlan Mud). I wanted the bears fur to look old and well worn. Polar bears (or whatever the equivalent is in the Iron Kingdoms) are not white, but rather a rich creamy colour. I deliberated washed it with a dark mix to make it look dull.

Step 6: Details
There are different metal areas on each miniature to be detailed -

• For the ‘spikes’ I used the same process as for the weapon blades.
• For the brass areas I used P3 Brass Balls mixed with GW Graveyard Earth (1:1) and a very light highlight of pure Brass Balls. This was lightly washed with Devlan Mud.
• The brass buttons were pure dotted with pure Brass Balls and then washed with Badab Black
• The Bottom of the chainmail skirt was painted in Greatcoat Grey and washed with Badab Black
• The weapon handle was painted with GW Scorched Brown, Highlighted with Bestial Brown and washed with the miracle wash
• For the strap on the weapon I base coated it in Fortress Grey with a bit of Chaos Black, highlighted using pure fortress Grey on the edges and washed with Badab Black

Step 6: Basing and Varnishing
I think that’s it for the miniature painting. The bases aren’t quite finished in the picture above (they are now, but I forgot to retake the photograph). I glued down builders sand, which is nicely textured and coloured, using watered down PVA glue. When dry I used a very wet Graveyard Earth to colour it. Being so wet it lets some of the natural colour of the sand show through. I sometimes will pick out larger stones in a grey colour and wash black. I then flock small areas of the base. The is a very basic basing technique, but it is consistent across my whole Khadoran army. All I need to do now is matt varnish the miniatures and the Great Bears are ready to join the rest of the army.

Here is a larger version of the above image.

Owen

Larger image on flickr.com

Many people have difficulties knowing who is who in this character unit. If you have problems identifying the Great Bears – Volkov is the leader and is the miniature in the middle (with a beard); Kolsk is on the right (he is the eldest and is bald); and Yarovich is on the left (he the youngest of the trio). It is important to know who’s who as they each bring different abilities to the unit.

Owen

The War Dog was an ‘in between’ project for me. I always try to have at least two different things on my painting table at once. That way if I get bored/uninspired by one I can fall back on the other. The War Dog was the fall back and it took quite a while to finish. I finally based it a few nights ago -

I haven’t matt varnished it yet. When I do that sheen, caused when you add more than a drop of water to the Citadel Washes, will disappear.

Owen

This is the last of the three Great Bears finished (apart from basing which I’ll get to). He is the leader and is named Volkov. I finished Kolsk and Yarovich over the last few evenings. Here are all three from the unit -

Once they are based I’ll write a quick painting guide.

Owen