What I did over spring break

I've had two weeks off for spring break and I've managed to get a bit done.  I've read a few books, I've been pecking away at my dragon and I got a bit of Warmachine painting done.

To take a break from what seems the never ending highlighting that I've been doing on my dragon (that thing is huge) I decided to paint up half of my Exemplar Errants.  I finally found a Choir of Menoth to order as well.  So, I will be able to start playing games beyond the battle box size.

I also had a game against the new Orc and Goblins.  It looked grim at first, when I got hammered by a rock lobba and Foot of Gork (or Mork) in the first couple of turns.  The foot spell is wicked.  If the big foot spell gets cast, it keeps stomping on a 4+.  Well, I got stomped on four times before the spell ended.  I lost half a unit of spearmen and half a unit of White Lions.

I had taken the Lore of Life and luckily that kept the remainder of my White Lions alive so they could wreck his black orcs and another unit of orcs.  However, my 20 spearmen couldn't take care of a giant that ended up chasing them down.

The game ended up in a draw.  He only had his war machines and a unit of night goblins left.  I only had my  BSB, bolt thrower and unit of White Lions left.  It was lots of fun and lots of things died.

More gaming on Saturday, and I'll try and remember to take pictures this time.

On The Table

Well, I've been working on my dragon over the past week or so.  This thing is so massive, it's taking a really long time to get even the smallest things done.

I managed to get the base painted and and a base coat on the skin of the lizard.  I used the P3 paint Sanguine Base for the skin.  It has an almost wine colour to it.  Also, the rest of my elves are painted with GW purples and this colour is different enough to make it stand out from the rest of the army, but not stand out like a sore thumb.

I put a Leviathan Purple and Devlan Mud wash on the scales.  Then I repainted them Sanguine Base. I am in the process putting on the first highlight of Sanguine Highlight.  I'm almost done that step.  I'll be putting on a second highlight in the near future.  I have two weeks off for March Break, so I'm hoping to get those highlights done.  Then I may have to take a break and paint some Warmachine guys.

Feel free to comment on the progress of the beast.  I am always open to suggestions.

The Shadow King

You may be asking yourself why I bothered to read The Shadow King, when I thought Malekith was so crappy.  Well, I wouldn't have if I hadn't bought both books at the same time. I am notoriously cheap, and couldn't stomach the thought of getting rid of a book without giving it a try.

As it turns out, my frugality turned out to be to my benefit.  The Shadow King is a far superior book to Malekith.  This book follows the prince Alith Anar from his days as a happy youth through his fight against the Dark Elves as the bitter and vengeful Shadow King.  The story moves along much more quickly and the characters (actually, mostly Alith) are developed into much more interesting and compelling "people".  There is an appropriate amount of action, that doesn't seem like it was just plopped in because there hadn't been a fight in a while.

I found this book very compelling and spent the majority of a weekend reading it almost non-stop.  I would recommend this book to anyone that has managed to power through Malekith.  Although, I don't think it is absolutely necessary to read the first book, because most of the salient facts are repeated through Alith Anar's point of view.  Save yourself a few bucks and skip the first book and go straight to The Shadow King.

Elf Books

I recently read Malekith and The Shadow King from The Black Library's Time of Legends series.  They are the first two books in the trilogy telling the story of the Elven civil war called the Sundering.  Both books are written by Gav Thorpe.

Malekith tells the story of the son of Anearion, the elven hero that defeated the deamons and saved the elven nation at the expense of his soul basically.  Anearion was the first Phoenix King and Malekith and his mother think that he should inherit the throne when Anearion dies.  The rest of the elven princes disagree and this leads to Malekith taking to adventuring over the seas into the new world.  Eventually, he comes back and tries to rid the elven homeland of the destructive cults that have taken over his home province.  It turns out his mother is behind the whole thing.  In the end, Malekith takes his mother's side in secret and sets to taking the Phoenix throne himself.  He fails and war ensues.

This book was sooo boring.  The story plodded along at a snail's pace.  The character development was poor considering the amount of time that was taken to do it.  Black Library books are generally known for their action, as the books are intended for a younger audience.  Well, it was pretty light on the action too.  So, a fail on the story progression and a fail on the action quotient.  The descriptions are long and not particularly original or insightful.  Thorpe does not do a very good job of immersing the reader in the Warhammer world.

This was a story that could have been told in 200  pages or less.  Instead, I slogged through twice that many to get to the somewhat interesting ending.  I cannot in good conscience recommend this book to anyone who likes good or even mediocre literature.

I'll review The Shadow King in the next post.

In the Queue

I started into the hobby/game of Warhammer Fantasy about a year and a half ago.  I just recently started delving into Warmachine.  I play High Elves and Protectorate of Menoth  respectively.

Menoth Knights Errant

Generally, I have built and painted as I went.  I did not have much of a painting or building queue to speak of, unless I had built a unit of something and I was working my way through that.  My painting mojo has been a little weak lately, so I've been building.  The result is a bit of a backup in the painting booth.  Luckily, March Break starts in two weeks and I just finished my report cards, so now I can start to paint in earnest.

Here's some of the stuff I've got on the go.  I also have 30 HE spearmen in the box and a few more Warmachine minis on the way.

High Elf Dragon

HE Lord on Griffon

  

In the Beginning

I've decided to start a new blog to cover my nerdiest of passions.  I think it's a bit unfair to subject my family and friends to this stuff on my regular blog.  Nerd stuff is really only interesting to nerds.  Most of my friends are not nerds.  The other blog is for them.  This blog is for my nerd friends or whichever nerds out in the wide world choose to come and spend some time here.

At this point in time, my nerdy pursuits include Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warmachine and games for the Xbox 360.  I also read fantasy novels, which may make an ocassional appearance here as well.

With that said, let the adventures begin.