I already learned tons of stuff that’s probably obvious to all the veteran Warhammer players around here, but for people just starting out it’s all still strange and new. That’s why I decided to share some of the stuff I learned.

But first, let’s show of some of my work!
Don’t forget to click the picture for a full size image.

Still work in progress, gotta do alot more details on the armour (what a bloody nice model this is by the way; Grimgor Ironhide) and got to finish up the shields and base on the bottom.
Still I’m very happy how his armour turned out. I decided to keep his armour a bit shinier compared to most Orcs, since he is the boss and all and gets the best and latest loot.

Off course the Boss needs to boss around a bit, so I also started painting on the Big ‘Uns, Forgot and Agok:

Basically at the same stage as the boss, got a nice layer of paint on them with some washes, but still need to work out some details and the bases. I also got to figure something out to make the 2 more different from each other, since it was nearly impossible to put this model (Black Orc Warboss) into a different pose. And off course the obvious missing arm, which will b revealed soon(tm).
Thanks to Loek I got an awesome idea, since Forgot has gained stupidity because of a battle wound, I will put an axe imbedded in his skull! That should explain those loose bolts in his puny orc brain. I’m also going to clip one of his helmet horns, also a wound from that battle.

Now what did I learn from all this painting and (minor) sculpting? I’ll tell ya after the break.

Well first of all, Orcs are one of the best warbands/armies to start out with. This is for a very simpel fact; Orcs. Are. Dirty.
If you mess up with painting, half the time it will just make them look more Orcy!

A very obvious one, but one I *bleep*ed up anyway is have patience. Nothing looks worse then two layers of paint mixing up.
That’s why it’s best to work on multiple models at once, so one can dry why you are working on the other.

Washes are awesome! They are the easiest method of adding depth to your model. I started out mixing my own washes, but it always seemed to be either to thick or to thinly mixed, so I really recommend the games workshop washes. They are just perfect and it looked way better with those.

But even with those nice washes you sometimes get a lot of it in a single hole/corner/whatever. That’s why I always had a few paper kitchen towels ready. By gently dipping it on the model I could suck away bits of wash until there was exactly enough. And by smearing it a bit you can get a nice alternative effect.

I haven’t really found a good way to dry brush yet, but it’ll be my next focus point to help with adding more detail to da Boss. It should be basically be dipping your brush on some kitchen towel first until it’s almost dry, but that doesn’t seem to work for me. It just gets too dry too quickly, and it won’t add any colour to the model then. So I could still use some advice on this bit.

Finally modelling. It’s definitely the best way to make models unique and stand out, and it’s not as hard as you might think. Off course when we’re talking about modelling, we’re going to need green stuff. There are really tons of way too use this nifty little putty like stuff, but the easiest application is redoing the joints of a model.

So that’s what I started out doing with it:

Just take a small glob of green stuff and attach it to the limb you’re adding. Press it against the model and put it into the right pose, then scrape of any excessive green stuff with something like a cocktail stick. Also be careful not to leave any fingerprints in the green stuff, it’ll show later when you paint it. And finally, be sure the limb is supported one way or the other, to prevent it from lowering while the green stuff dries.

As you can see, all of this is still *very* basic, but I hope I could at least help out some noobs like me.

About a week ago Vincent and I were just chatting a bit about the Mordheim game. Our entire group agrees that Mordheim is held together a bit too much by random battles, and we’re planning to do something about it. One of these ideas is something I’d like to share with the Mordheim community, because a few opinions about it would be nice.

Ok, so the basic idea is to create a minimap to keep track of your warband’s travels, but to keep the minimap small and portable to be able to take it with you wherever you want. In order to achieve this particular function it is ofcourse required that the minimap consists out of a few separate pieces which you can put together. One of the most ideal forms in order to do that is the hexagon, which GW is also using for their ‘macro-battle’-like game called ‘Mighty empires’ (it’s called ‘planetary empires’ in the 40k game). >link

But instead of using this rather pricy format, I think it might be a neat-o idea to create a couple of hexagons of our own, and then put more and more of them on the field as each of our warbands explores more and more of the cursed city. By making pictures of our ‘war terrain’ for each hexagon on which we fight, we would be able to go back to previous terrain by simply putting our terrain pieces in the same way as the are on the picture. Doing so will create a bit more consistency in the campaign itself. The city will actually ‘exist’, instead of being random every time (As if you’re playing diablo 2).

Another cool thing is that because of this minimap you’ll be able to track the adventures of your warband. This way you’ll actually have a sense of time and effort that your little group of adventurers is putting into this perilous journey for wyrdstone, and you’ll be able to talk in a different way about your battles too. Rather than talking about ‘last sunday I had a battle with Jeroen’, you’ll be able to implement more fluff in the conversation (which we all love, ofcourse). This results in you talking about the battle you had in sigmar temple in the temple district against the mighty orc warband of Jeroen. Apart from that the other player will actually have the opportunity to *go* there, and meet someone else in the process.

Apart from ‘cooler ways to talk about your miniatures to your friends’ , the minimap also has a more practical use. Because the minimap exists, you’ll also be able to place down an encampment, or even allow certain hexagons to contain vendors or your own encampment, in which you can rest and refreshen yourself for the next battle. Unless another player finds your encampment first, ofcourse . These things can be easily implemented using a few simple house rules, and I think they will increase the depth and complexity of the game by a whole bunch, making the entire experience a whole lot more statisfying than just matching up guy A with guy B and fight until someone routes. You will actually somewhat less control over who you’re fighting, if you’re even fighting someone (I mean, you’ll even be able to use ‘empty’ squares for item searches or exploration).

This whole concept is only in a beginning stage. I haven’t given it too much thought yet, mostly because we’ve only started playing Mordheim and I’m already trying to design a whole new game around it before we’re even somewhat familliar with the rules of Mordheim itself. I was however hoping to inspire you, the reader, to enhance the Mordheim experience with more depth and fluff than it has right now. This because I seriously think all those stories around Mordheim and the warbands can be used in better ways than just a bit of background info.

I’d like for you to leave me a note in the comments section, saying what you think about this whole concept. Is it too much in your opinion? Or did we just thought about the coolest thing in Mordheim history?

Thanks in advance! Oh, and RATS RULE!

After a few ales one of the peasants told me what happened. They were looking for Wyrdstone near the old Sigmarite temple when suddenly a band of Orcs ambushed them. The Bretonnians put up quite a fight but during the battle their leader was battered down by an Orc wielding two cleavers. This sight finally made them retreat.

A day later the Questing Knight walked down from his room. Swearing an an oath before the entire inn that he will take revenge on the Orc leader. Never seen so much anger in a man against an orc. Something in Mordheim must have really snapped his mind. Ah well, Mordheim tends to change people. Another ale lads, no Wyrdstone taint, I guarantee it!

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Yes our first battle report on the site! Jerodar’s Orc’s vs Artinam’s Bretonnians (First Campaign battle was Koen’s Skaven vs Jerodar’s Orcs, win for Skaven).
We rolled the mission and got Wyrdstone hunt. We set up the table (temple of Sigmar in the middle), and put down our Wyrdstone tokens.

We deployed and my Brets took the first turn.

Basically the Bretonnians surged forward, entered the temple and prepared the arrival of the Orcs.
My (freshly painted) Squire armed with a bow, climbed a ladder and could shoot trough the (now) broken window at the Orcs, but managed to do little the entire battle.

Jerodar felt very confident, perhaps because of the Fungus brew he had been drinking.

Orcs surged forward to the gap and a single Goblin (the legendary Skystabbah) took up a higher position and also saw trough a gap. He actually managed to take out a single Peasant with his bow proving his Sky dominating skill.

The first squigs and Orc boys surged trough the gap and my Peasants were the first line of defence and charged in, while the brave Knights functioned as a second wave of reinforcements if the peasants couldn’t handle it. The Questing Knight ran to the altar in the temple, getting the Wyrdstone token and preparing to charge an Orc boy, lobbing his head off with a critical hit.
Some peasants get eaten by squigs as such the Knights charge into action. The Questing Knight runs towards the Orc boy and skill-fully dispatches him.
Another boy charges the knight and knocking him to the ground. A squire charges the Orc to save his master but easily gets dispatched by a Big ‘un charging trough the gap.

Seeing half my peasants dead as well as two heroes, I voluntarily root and the Orcs win.
Afterwards my Squire gets an old battle wound, and my Questing Knight gets mentally scarred and from now on hates the Orc Big Boss (could have been much worse). Jerodar’s Orcs win, and an Orc boy is deemed to have leadership talent and becomes a hero. Furthermore he finds a light armour on a corpse. Almost all his henchmen level up, giving all Orc boys WS 4 from now on (ouch).

Last weekend our group (except Koen), met up and worked on our Warbands. First off, my apologies for the quasi bad pictures, I am still finding out how the camera works best and I made some pretty decent pictures while some lack enough light (playing at night doesn’t help).
Vince made some great progress on his Beastmen. he has made some great bases and a very good looking Shaman.

Jerodar finished painting his warboss (Grimgor model),

and I finally (semi-)finished my Questing with Great Weapon on foot.

Furthermore, Jerodar and I played a ‘campaign’ battle. This is our first campaign and is more a lot of random battles so we can learn the rules better. Check the Standing Stone Bar for the Battle report!