13 - Portal, 10th Metal Objectives and Bases...Oh My!

The annual Birthday Bash at Lords of War is just around the corner.  This Saturday to be exact.  As true to form, I will be running another custom Batman Megabattle (4 Years running!).

This years scenario is inspired from the Batman: Metal story-line.  The Dark Knights (evil twisted versions of Batman) have invaded earth.  The heroes and villains must compete against each other, to control the rare 10th metal artifacts scattered through the city.  However as people fall in battle, they are reborn in the darkness and fight with the Knights.  I will place a link to the scenario HERE.

There will be a portal in the center of the table.  Any victory points scored within 6" are doubled.  I made a quick portal out of a spare ring from a Seraphon  Engine of the Gods and a clear blue base insert that I had in my desk for a few years.

There will also be three 10th Metal Artifacts on the table, a Sword, a Warhammer, and a Suit of Armour.  Each one gives a special bonus.  I made the 3 markers out of some spare GW bitz I had floating around.

I have been following the Terrain Tutor on Facebook and Youtube for a little while now.  I got a great idea for basing material from there, using caulking are a medium for a textured rolling pin.  I tried it out on some spare bases.  I applied a thin layer of caulking and smoothed it out with a sculpting tool.  I then dipped my roller completely in a bucket of water.  Then I just rolled it over the caulking. 

I have to say it worked really well.  The material is very cheap.  It held the details well (at least the cobblestone texture) as it dried.  It even paints great and appears to be fairly resistant to wear.  It was a little rubbery for a few days.  I was able to press my finger nail into it and leave an impression, however it did bounce back after a bit and I cant see any of my marks now.  After a few days it dries really hard. 

I will definitely be doing this again.  You could base a whole army for under $10!

Kevin

Batman: Metal Scenario

Scenario:  Dark Knights Metal

Overview:  The Dark Multiverse has invaded!  Barbatos and his most loyal servants, the Dark Knights, are trying to drag this world into darkness.  Every time a hero or villain falls to the Dark Knights, they are reborn in the dark, an evil twisted parody of their former selves.  The only thing that can stop Barbatos are several Tenth Metal artifacts scattered throughout the city.  The remaining heroes and villains are competing with each other to retrieve those artifacts and control the fate of the world!  

Sides:   This will be a 3 way game (heroes vs villains vs Dark Knights)

Game Length: 6 rounds or when we run out of time

Victory Points:  No Objectives will be used during this scenario.  Victory Points will be earned in the following ways:

-          2 VP for the first time an enemy model is KO’d

-          3 VP for removing an enemy model as a casualty

-          4 VP for controlling a Tenth Metal Artifact at the end of a round (Heroes and Villains Only)

-          4 VP for each Tenth Metal Artifact not controlled by a Hero or Villain at the end of a round (Dark Knight Only)

-          3 VP at the end of the game for each model that has been turned to darkness that is still on the table (Dark Knights Only)

-          1 VP for restoring a Consumed by Darkness model (of either side) (see Special Rule: Driving Back the Darkness below)

Special Rules: 

Consumed By Darkness:  The first time a model is removed as a casualty (by any means), the controlling player immediately replaces their model anywhere within the Dark Knights deployment zone.  The powers of the dark multiverse have corrupted the hero/villain and brought out their most evil side.  The player and the model are now part of the Dark Knights team.  This model may not activate during the turn in which it is placed.  Models will can be consumed by darkness even if the original Dark Knight are removed as casualties. 

Tenth Metal Artifacts:  There will be three artifacts made out of Tenth Metal on the table: a Sword, A Warhammer, and a Suit of Armour.  If a hero or villain controls (just like a regular objective) a Tenth Metal Artifact marker during the end phase they may equip the artifact.  Remove the marker from the table and take the corresponding equipment card from the organiser and place it beside your character card.  That model now gains the benefit of the Tenth Metal artifact for the rest of the game, or until it is removed as a casualty.  If the model is removed as a casualty the player will place the artifact marker in base to base contact before removing their model.  Once an artifact is equipped then that side counts as controlling it at the end of the round, even if engaged with an enemy.  Artifacts cannot be passed from player to player (eg. The Flash equips it, he cannot then run over to Batman and give it to him). 

-      The Tenth Metal Sword:  Damage (2 Blood), Special Rules - Handy, Sharp, Magic

-          The Tenth Metal Warhammer: (1 Blood, 1 Stun), Special Rules – Heavy, Crushing, Magic

-          The Tenth Metal Armour: Heavy Armour and the model is Immune to Crits. 

Driving Back the Darkness:  If a model that has been Consumed By Darkness (See above) is wounded by a Tenth metal Weapon, it immediately reverts back to their original team (hero models re-join hero team, villain model re-joins villain team). 

Barbatos Rises:  At the centre of the table is a portal to the falling dark multiverse.  Barbatos feeds off chaos and darkness that is drowning this earth!  Any victory point that is scored within 6 inches of the portal marker is doubled.  (eg.   If the Dark Knights causality a villain within 6” of the portal, the Dark Knights will score 6 VPs or a villain has one of the Tenth metal artifacts within 6” of the portal at the end of round would score 8 VP).

9 - Clayface

I was able to plug away this week and finish the last model I needed for the DCU tournament at Adepticon, Clayface (now just a few more owls left to paint).  I honestly cannot remember the last time I had so much fun painting a model!

It is a clean, simple model with a limited colour palate.  I started it off with a base-coat of Rhinox Hide.  Then I used the airbrush to spray a zenithal highlight of white.  Still using the airbrush I applied a glaze of Skrag Brown.  I then went back by hand and did the final two highlights stages of Deathclaw Brown and Deathclaw brown with Birch.  To help with the shadows I then gave the model a light glaze of watered down Agrax Earthshade.  I then did spot shadows in the darker areas with more Agrax Earthshade. 

I played around with the base a little bit too.  I added some Green Stuff to the back foot to make it look like the clay was sticking to the ground as he was stepping.  I then used some more Green Stuff to make a clay puddle around his feet to hid the slot on the base.  Once everything was painted though it did not look finished.  It was just grey stones and brown clay, it needed something else.

I made a road sign out of an old base and spare plastic tube.  I then though about trying to use some hot glue as dripping clay.  I added a few drops to the sign and around his feet to give some more depth to the Green Stuff clay.  After a quick coat of paint I was very happy with the results. 

Clayface is really the top tear of the top tear Free Agents in BMG.  He has a good stat line of mostly 3 and 4.  At first glance it looks like he has a surprisingly low Endurance with 6.  However once you read the "Upgrade Card" rules you realize he is a beast!  Clay face has two body forms, Mud and Solid.  Each gives a bonus to his endurance and some traits. 

At the beginning of his activation Clayface can exchange his body form upgrade card.  So with the Solid body Clayface has endurance 10 and with the Mud he has endurance 9.  Normally when a model with an upgrade cards takes damage equal to the endurance bonus, it is destroyed.  Not so with Clayface, his just becomes disabled.  At the start of his next activation he can swap it out for the other form and get the bonus endurance again.  Once a card is swapped out, you discard the damage that is has accumulated.  So each round Clayface is gaining 3 or 4 Endurance!  (Plus he also has Regeneration -1SC to heal one wound).  He is one tough sucker to bring down.  The first game I played against him I eventually killed him but it took me 5 rounds and 4 Owl Henchmen to do it though!

On top of the clay body, he still has Adaptable (+1 to your Attack or Defense each round, giving him a defense 5!).  Sturdy (loose action counters for every 3 damage taken instead of 2) keeps him effective as he takes damage.  Undercover (deploy up to 8" outside your deployment zone) gets him up-close early.  The Hugh trait gives him a good move distance and the Claybody trait allows him to make the Charge attack for only 1 special counter.  He is fairly fast, with a reliable weapon and can take a tone of damage...what more could you want! oh, he can also soak up some damage for your leader since he has Bodyguard too. 

While in his Mud form, he gains the Roots trait (2SC, an enemy model within 8" must pass an agility test or become Pinned Down).  He also gains Mud (models in base to base must spend 1SC+1MC to move away, and Clayfaces attacks gain the Slow/2 effect).  While in his Solid form, Clayface gains Tough Skin (-1 to wound) and his attacks are Overwhelming (-1 to block).

Clayface just brings so much to the table.  I really cant wait to try him out with my Militia or Joker crew.  However I really want to try him in a Bat-family Team list! mainly just because I can.

Right now I am putting the finishing touches on some objective markers for the BMG megabattle at Lords Of War for their birthday bash this Saturday!  Then it is back to the Owls for Adepticon...

Kevin

8 - King Shark Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo

If you are a parent with a small child then you probably understand the title, and I am also sorry that that song is now stuck in your head.  I finished painting King Shark this week.  I never really knew much about this character (except for his brief appearances on CW's The Flash), but I loved this model as soon as I saw it!

I went back and tried some more of the painting techniques that I learned recently, mainly Glazing and Layers.  Most of the paint I used was from Citadel (except where noted).  The blue skin of the shark was achieved with a base Incubi Darkness.  Then a series of very thin layers of white.  The whole model was then glazed a few times with thinned Stegadon Scale Green.  I then shaded the recesses with watered down Incubi Darkness, and again with Incubi Darkness and black.

The lighter skin on the abdomen was a Baneblade Brown basecoat.  Then built up Rakarth Flesh through multiple thin layers.  I did a final highlight with Birch (Scale 75).  I finished off with some spot shading with Seraphin Sepia.

I wanted to try something new for the base too.  I made a cast of a resin base to get the a sewer lid.  I then surrounded this with green stuff and used a cobblestone textured rolling pin.  I also wanted to try and paint some of King Sharks shadow on the base.  I did this through a few layers of very very watered down black. 

King Shark is a killing machine in BMG.  At 95 rep he is a higher cost free agent (but still lower then some that do the same job!).  He has a good stat line (although the Defense 3 and endurance 8, without desensitize or sturdy hurts).  To help off set this, King Shark also has "Meta-Skin" (counts as Bulletproof Vest - firearms wound on a +4) and "Regenerate" (1 special counter to heal one damage)

His movement of 2 is not great, but he is deceptively fast.  Since he is "Huge" his base movement is 7.  "Swift" gives him an extra 6 inches if he spends 2 Movement Counters (instead of the usual 4").  Which gives him a threat range of 13 inches.  He also has "Amphibious", since there is rarely water terrain on the table, the real benefit is going through sewers for only 1 movement counter. 

A Blood and Stun attack with "Devastating" (roll 2 Collateral Damage dice) is great.  That is made even better with his "Brutal" (re-roll the Collateral Damage dice).  More chances to knock enemies to the ground and a potential 2 criticals. 

This model can dish out a devastating amount a damage in close combat.  If there is a damage marker on King Shark he gains a free counter to put into attack (due to "Bloodthirsty").  If his target has a damage marker on it already, King Shark gains +1 to Hit, +1 Strength and Bleed 1 (1 blood damage on a crit - even better when combined with Brutal and Devastating!) from his "Blood Scent" trait.  Then to make him just that much more powerful he has "Combo with Claws and Teeth" (gain an extra attack for every 2 attack counters spent).  So King Shark can make up to 7 attacks, dealing 14 damage (7 Blood, 7 Stun) with a potential to do an addition 2 stun or blood on a crit...

I really like King Shark, cant wait to try him out on the table!  Up next on the painting block is another huge model, Clayface. 

Kevin