7 - "They Watch you at your Hearth"

I finished the owls only sidekick midweek, the High Court Lady.  This model was really fun to paint.  It is fairly simple in its design (just a lady in a fancy dress), but it is very sharp, especially when she is surrounded by the other owls.  It was also fun to paint some bright colour after all those dark browns.

I tried switching up how I painted the red a little bit for this model.  Usually I start with a base of Mephiston red, then a wash of Carroburg Crimson.  Then add some highlights with Mephiston red, Evil Sunz Scarlet and Wild Rider Red.  This was how I painted Batwoman's cape oh so long ago. 

This time I started with the base coat of Mephiston red.  I then jumped right to the highlights with Evil Sunz and Wild Rider.  Then at the end I went back and used Carroburg to add some spot specific shading.  It was one of the methods that Dai Vet showed me a few months ago.  I was really happy how this turned out, the colour transition was much smoother then usual. 

The High Court Lady is amazing in the game.  She probably has the worst stat line for any Sidekick though.  Her gun is decent but only has one ammo (if you need to use it, better make it count!).  "Boss's Orders" (friendly henchmen within 8 inches gain +1 to hit) can be really great, but with such a short range you will have to make sure she is protected.  Since she also has "Invaluable" (worth and extra victory point if killed) you want to make sure she stay healthy ("Protect Me! can help here). 

However, the rule that makes her so sought after is "Enemies of the Court".  This rule awards an addition victory point whenever your crew kills an enemy model.  This is especially important in a crew where everything is designed to kill something!

I finally got to play a game with my Court last night.  I was playing against a new player to BMG, who was trying his first game, Zimmer.  He was using the Riddler Batbox.  We only played 4 rounds (had to call it due to time constraints).  It was a good close game (23-18ish when we ended it) with a lot of back and forth.  The talons did fairly well.  They where able to go toe to toe with almost anyone on the table (Irish was a problem).  However due to my sucky roles and no handy weapons, I had a very hard time cutting people down.  I was usually one or two wounds from KO/killing something.   

The last round of the game was very dramatic.  I was stupid and left the High Court Lady alone and under a lamp post.  She was first shot by Quary then mushed by a rampaging Irish.  I did get a little revenge a few moments later when a very wounded (one endurance left) Brandon O'Malley chased down the Riddler, hit and wounded 3 times with a critical (5 Blood, 3 Stun).  With Riddler unconscious on the ground,  Brandon's son walked over and finished the job. 

Looking forward to learning how to use this crew more!

Kevin

6 - "Behind Granite and Lime"

The last two O'Malleys where completed this week; James and Nathaniel.  Like the other O'Malley, Brandon, these models were fun to paint. They have very defined muscles which were easy to highlight and they let me play around with the light source.

Nathaniel O'Malley is the cheapest model in the Court of Owls.  He come in at 30 reputation and zero funding.  His stat line is not quite as good as some of the other Talons, but are still that of an elite henchman.  Martial Artist (cannot be outnumbered in close combat) is nice to have on him, since most Owl crews are probably going to be outnumbered.  Distract (-1 Defense to an enemy withing 4 inches) is probably the best thing he brings to the table.  Anything that can help land a hit to this crew is gold.

James O'Malley is the second lowest reputation in the Court.  Like Nathaniel, he has the stats of an elite henchman.  He is a little slower then all the other owl henchmen, but that is not really a problem.  James is a Bodyguard (1SC to take a hit for a leader or sidekick within 2 inches), so I imagine he is going to be staying very close to the High Court Lady or High Court Member (neither of which are speedy models).  James is also a Martial Artist and has Veteran (relocate 2 counters when activated).  Veteran really make James more versatile.  You can drop some counters in special in anticipation of body-guarding for someone, but if no one takes a shot he can then move two counters in to attack or movement.

Both Nathaniel and James have the Owl henchmen special rules, Reanimated Owl and Weakness to Cold.  They also carry the same weapons, which are pretty good in their own right.

I imagine that James will see more table time then Nathaniel.  I plan to use the High Court Lady in most of my lists, and having a personal Bodyguard near by will help keep her alive.

Speaking of which, the High Court Lady is next on the paint table.

Kevin

4 - "Ruling Gotham from a Shadow Perch"

I had a great day at Lords of War running a few Batman intro games.  We had some great new players come out and try their first game.  Hopefully we will see them again soon at one of our Batman Sundays!

I managed to squeeze a little bit of painting in each night this week and was able to finish up two more models for my Owls crew, the High Court Member and Henry Ballard.  The nice things about the Court of Owls models is that each model has its own distinct look.  You never get board painting them. 

The High Court Member was very different to paint, he is wearing a suit and not a costume.  I wanted him to fit in with the rest of the crew colour wise, so I used the same brown pallet.  I was happy how the red turned out on my 1880's Talon last week so I thought I would use red as my highlight colour for the tie.  I did end up making the suit a little to bright but was able to tone it back down with a glaze of sepia. 

I am not really sure how to use the High Court Member in a game, he is very different from any other leader I have ever used.  To start with, his reputation cost is that of an henchman.  His stat line is also nothing to write home about.  His gun is also very average, not great but not crap.  He does have a few special traits that can help support his crew.  First he has the leader rank so he can "Inspire" for the extra action counter.  "Discourage" allows the HCM to lower an opponents willpower by 2 until the end of the next raise the plan phase.  Which could be really nice if the target is something your heavy hitters (Strix or Damian) are going after next round (less counters for them to block and counter attack with). 

If the HCM does get close to the enemy he can use "Demoralize" which makes enemy henchmen with in 6 inches loose one action counter (of the HCM choice!).  Good for getting rid of those defense dice too.  However I imagine that the trait that I will use the most is "Distract" (-1 defense to a model within 4 inches).  Anything he can do to make the enemies a little easier for the talons to hit.  He also has "Scheming", but I find that rule very situational. 

Henry Ballard is a little more straight forward.  He has a good stat line like most of the other talons.  "Invulnerability: 1" is a nice rule (ignore the first damage he takes each turn).  He has a owl Knife that does a single blood and is "Handy" and "Sharp" (rerolls to Hit and to Wound) as well as Claws (unarmed attacks cause 1 Blood and 1 Stun).  He also the "Reanimated Owl" and "Weakness to Cold" like all the talons. 

I think that if you upgrade Ballard with "Ancient Training" equipment to give him "Master Fighter" (+1 to hit with unarmed attacks) he could be a fairly good hitter.  4 attacks with +1 to hit would be great at taking out any henchmen.  If you need to go after something more difficult you could always switch back to the Owl Knife for the re-rolls but less damage.  The Invulnerability also increases his durability.   

I have got some work cut out for me to get this crew done in time for Adepticon but I am very excited to get it done! 

Kevin

2 - "That Watches All the Time"

I had a few days off at the start of the new year and was finally able to pick up a brush and get back to my Court of Owls crew.  I went into Lords of War last Friday for a few hours and got the browns done on two Owl henchman, the 1880's Talon and Brandon O'Malley.  Over the weekend I picked away at the smaller details, and finished both models early this week. 

The 1880's Talon was fun to paint.  I blocked out all the colours then started with the multiple layers of brown.  I then used some watered down Abaddon Black to shade it.  I redid the inside of the cape twice.  The first attempt turn out very splotchy and there was not a good smooth transition.  The second attempt is not perfect but it is a definite improvement. 

This model is a good mid range Talon.  She comes in at 50 reputation and no funding.  She is Fast and Acrobat, so has a base move of 7 inches (with 3 Movement counters, she would be going 13 inches on foot!).  The Gladius sword is great (2 Blood damage, Sharp and Overwhelming).  With an Attack value of 4, 4+ strength (with a re-roll from Sharp) and Martial Artist, she should be able to handle most henchmen and some lower defense free agents. 

While I was working on 1880, I started on the first of my O'Malleys.  I was a little worried about painting this model.  He is essentially just wearing a one-piece leotard, not alot of details to break up the brown.  However with the good muscle definition it was fairly easy to highlight.  I did make the browns a little two bright, but was able to tone them down with a black shade. 

Brandon is a good hunter model in the crew.  The first thing that jumps out to me is the Bleed 2 on his Katar and the Brutal special rule (re-roll the collateral die).  It he gets a critical hit, he is dealing 3 Blood and 1 Stun with one shot!  If he can do this too a weakened boss he also scores 2 additional victory points from his Assassin trait.  Team him up with Styx or Damian and you have a deadly one-two punch combo.

I also found out that I am going to be able to attend Adepticon this year (I got my vacation approved today!).  I have registered for both the Battle for the Cowl and the DCU Superhero Smackdown. 

I will probably play Suicide Squad for the DCU.  I hope to get a few new models painted to add to my existing team.  For BMG I want to bring my Owls.  Time to get painting and play a few games so I can figure out how this crew plays! 

We are also having another Batman beginners day at Lords of War this Sunday!  Come on out and try a game for free, even if you have never bought a model for it (yet lol). 

Kevin

2018 Recap and 2019 Going Forward

It has been a heck of a year.  Life does not slow down, it only speeds up it seems.  Even with being a new father, paternity leave and family vacation, it has been a productive year hobby wise.  I managed to hit my goal of 100 models near the end of December.  I updated this blog almost once a week all year long (hit a lull when I started my paternity leave and when I went back to work).

The vast majority of what I worked on was for the Batman Miniature game.  I was able to paint 2 new crews, a Brave and the Bold crew and the Jokers Elite Cosplayers.  I also started a third crew, the Court of Owls right at the end of the year.  I build four tables worth of terrain for the BMG tournament at the Sword and Brush event (I am looking forward to 2019th Sword and Brush).  I even entered my Joker Cosplayers and two of the amusement park stalls that I built into the painting contest at the Sword and Brush.  I was very happy and even more surprised to walk away with a Silver Metal. 

With BMG I also ran an escalation league and two themed megabattles at Lord of War.  Crisis on Infinite Earths DCU for Lords of War's birthday celebration, as well as a holiday themed BMG game called the The Holiday Heist.  We also saw our local game group that meets every other Sunday grow as well. 

I picked away at my Age of Sigmar Legions of Nagash army.  I got a few Spirit Hosts and a Vampire lord finished.  I also fixed up and rebased about 100 models for the army.  Just got to start painting them now...

I did not fully complete some of my targeted goals. I did finish over half of the dwarves from Thorins Company from The Hobbit. I also got just over half of my 1000pts Undead Warmaster army completed.  I plan to finish them both this year.

I expanded my hobby tools this year.  I build a custom gaming table in the spring.  I put it to good use over Christmas playing some Tanks! and Discworld board games with my brother and my wife.  2019 was also the year I finally broke into the airbrush scene.  I have a bare understanding of what I am doing, but I am slowly getting the hang of it.  I got some good painting lessons from some awesome local painters (Chris, Jay, Dai Viet and Patrick).   

All in all it was a good hobby year.

Now time to set some objectives for 2019:
-no set model count this year.  I want to keep painting and trying new things (having said that, I would be happy with hitting 100 again)
- get a new unit for my Legion of Nagash Army painted (a 2000 pt army has been on my list for 2 years, time to re-evaluate my goal lol)
-more BMG (probably a new villains crew and expand on existing crews)
-build 12 feet worth of raised highway or train tracks for my tournament BMG tables
-finish my 1000pts Warmaster and play a game
-finish my hobbit display boxes
-make two discworld display boxes
-do some more writing; probably BMG battle reports in different styles (narrative, dramatic etc) and a How To guide for some terrain projects. 

Here are a few of my favorite pieces for 2018:

 

 Kevin