Some of you may well remember with fondness the seminal 'Tale of Four Gamers' series published in White Dwarf some years previously. I cannot quite remember when, and I am sure there are readers out there better informed on this period, exactly these went out, but I do recall some rather poor later attempts to create the same magic, when prices of miniatures were far higher and the word limit in the magazine was far, far lower!
Well, four of us Oldhammer old timers have got together in an attempt to do something similar on the blogosphere, with the intention of meeting up at next year's Oldhammer Weekend for a four way 'clash of the titans' between the forces we create.
My fellow conspirators are: Chico Danks (Oldhammer on a Budget), Steve Casey (Eldritch Epistles) and Warlord Paul (The Black Hole).
Now the rules are very, very simple. They have to be, as I am taking part! The force you build must not exceed 1000pts and you need to write about your endeavours at least ONCE a month, attempting to spend (roughly) one hundred points every 30 odd days. The ruleset we selected was (of course) Warhammer Third Edition and its associated supplements.
Initially, I thought of doing an Orc and Goblin force, as it would tie in quite nicely for the miniatures that I am putting together for Glen Woe, but the idea of being stuck painting the same types of models for weeks on end put me off that track. I need to have variation in my painting life (which is why I have so enjoyed doing McDeath) otherwise things grind to a halt.
My next thought was a Tzeentch force. This blog was born out of my desire to create a large Third Edition army for all four powers, and I have a Khorne and Slaanesh aplenty, so attempting an additional chaos power seemed obvious. After getting hold of the Lost and the Damned and flicking through its blasphemous pages, I realised that my hefty collection of lead better represented the forces of Nurgle. There was also create variation of model types in this list.
So Nurgle it is.
Reading through the armylist led me towards this rather random tool. It's a D1000 chart to create an instant champion of Nurgle, and should provide a quick, and easy, way of creating the leader of my army. As with all things chaotic, some rolls would be far better than others, but I am committed to sticking to what the dice gods allow and doing any necessary conversion work. The cost for each champion is 100pts.
I have included the chart (it's three pages long) below. Right, let's roll...
Initially, I thought of doing an Orc and Goblin force, as it would tie in quite nicely for the miniatures that I am putting together for Glen Woe, but the idea of being stuck painting the same types of models for weeks on end put me off that track. I need to have variation in my painting life (which is why I have so enjoyed doing McDeath) otherwise things grind to a halt.
My next thought was a Tzeentch force. This blog was born out of my desire to create a large Third Edition army for all four powers, and I have a Khorne and Slaanesh aplenty, so attempting an additional chaos power seemed obvious. After getting hold of the Lost and the Damned and flicking through its blasphemous pages, I realised that my hefty collection of lead better represented the forces of Nurgle. There was also create variation of model types in this list.
So Nurgle it is.
Reading through the armylist led me towards this rather random tool. It's a D1000 chart to create an instant champion of Nurgle, and should provide a quick, and easy, way of creating the leader of my army. As with all things chaotic, some rolls would be far better than others, but I am committed to sticking to what the dice gods allow and doing any necessary conversion work. The cost for each champion is 100pts.
I have included the chart (it's three pages long) below. Right, let's roll...
So I rolled 15. Not particularly high considering the possibilities, but there you go. I haven't checked what that means yet and I am feeling curiously nervous as I reach across the table and pick up the book...
I get...
Human: Brightly patterned skin (squares), Scaly Skin (+1SV) and causes Fear.
M
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WS
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BS
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S
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T
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W
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I
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A
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Ld
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Int
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Cl
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WP
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4
|
4
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4
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4
|
4
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1
|
4
|
2
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7
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7
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7
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7
|
Not too bad I suppose, but hardly the stuff of legends is he? But it's a starting point. His two attributes will be fairly simple to paint directly onto the skin too, though I am not sure about applying squares to the skin - but we shall see.
Onto the equipment then.
Our Nurgle champion is most definitely NOT a wizard, so no familiar seems justified, nor is he powerful enough to be granted a palanquin surely? Again, I will let the whims of the dice gods decide what his mount is to be by rolling on the chart above. Each roll is going to cost me 25pts.
I get 74. So its a chaos steed. I don't have access to an Army Standard as this character is the general but I shall pick up my FREE Death Head of Nurgle and Staff of Nurgle here.
Next up are the gifts, again these are FREE, and I managed a respectable 5 on my D6. So 5 gifts my human shall receive. Again, I am nervous...
23 = Palanquin of Nurgle!
89 = Rune of Nurgle
96 = Daemonic Name
62 = Plague = Crook Bone S-1 T-1 (great!)
07 = Daemon Weapon = Bound Plaguebearer
A pretty good start, but I am frustrated by the loss of strength and toughness, meaning my stats are even more basic now. Hardly a great champion, eh? But with the addition of the Palanquin, I at least can pass the chaos steed to an underlining who actually can do some serious fighting!
No need for a weapon as he has the daemon blade instead. So on to armour, which costs 25pts a roll. Let's see what he gets on a D100. Well, with a 63 it's chaos armour, which I am pleased about as he only has a single wound and poor fighting skills. So he has a saving throw of a 4+.
So we have:
Nurgle Champion of Chaos 150pts
Human: Brightly patterned skin (squares), Scaly Skin (+1SV) and causes Fear.
M
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WS
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BS
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S
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T
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W
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I
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A
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Ld
|
Int
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Cl
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WP
|
4
|
4
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4
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3
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3
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1
|
4
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2
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7
|
7
|
7
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7
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Palanquin of Nurgle, Rune of Nurgle, Daemonic Name, Plague (Crook Bone) and a Daemon Weapon (Bound Plaguebearer).
Right then, by the end of September I need to have completed this champion model to meet my required output for the month.
I better get started!
Orlygg
I'm very much looking forward to seeing this develop, should be a lot of fun. I have used the Staff of Nurgle and Death's Head once before in a game and they are very powerful, but very characterful. Have fun.
ReplyDeleteI have never used them and have yet to look up what they actually mean in game terms. I may not use them eventually, depending on how the army develops (it will be done randomly) but its clear that this diseased fellow certainly needs the extra support!
DeleteNow that looks like a real challenge to do - not cheap either unless you have a palanquin lying around. I must admit when I was reading this it reminded me how frustrating the RoC books are. They are brilliantly written and illustrated but to actually play a proper game using these rule you need all sorts of figures that you probably don't already have when you roll up your champion/s. Then if you want these champions to look the part you have to convert your figures - and you might only use them once. People who are skilled at conversions can deal with this - and one might be able to find plastic figures nowadays that one could hack into but this wasn't really an option when the RoC books came out.
ReplyDeleteI started with the RoC book when I began retro Warhammer about five years ago, before there was an Oldhammer. Previously, I collected a vast array of unusual miniatures from eBay for very little money, so I have plenty to dip into so I am not worried. Personally, I love this type of collecting and gaming - its brilliant to do, but risky if your purpose is just to game. I like to tell a story, and the tale of this particular champion is bound to be a interesting one.
DeleteAs for conversions. Yes, they are harder with metal models - and harder still when you are dealing with classic models and the need to cut them up. I buy up broken models quite often and have them to work with, though the Citadel range was so varied its usually possible to find something.
A good start, my first 100 points is 20 Hobgoblins... I forgot how cheap they were...:-/
ReplyDeleteYou love it cheap Chico!
DeleteGreat to see you sticking with the dice results – suitably entropic! Statwise he might seem disappointing, but the great things about random results is that you often create very distinctive images. Here, perhaps he's an old petty King or freeblade Knight, withered by age or disease, who turned to Nurgle. Ensconced in his throne, and with the blessing of Grandfather Nurgle upon him, he's survived the crookbones plague... Perhaps the underling you mention might be his squire, or son?
ReplyDeleteSince Chaos armour is sometimes mentioned as non-removable, perhaps you might regard the armour as the skin? That would be a great way to get the chequerboard onto a significant area of the figure, rather than making the hands/face too fussy.
I thank you for these ideas. After rolling the general up this morning, it was clear that he'd need a second in command to do the actual fighting. That model already has a chaos steed and will cost me an additional 100pts to add to the army, so not too risky. here's hoping he comes out higher than the last.
DeleteI love your idea about this second model being the squire or son, and I shall definitely be stealing that suggestion as the background grows. I like the idea of a well-loved old knight and his devoted followers all turning to Nurgle for some reason. Unlike the other chaos gods, Nurgle is generally very caring of his worshipers so I can imagine this weaken leader being much the same.
And that is a great suggestion about the armour, those I will probably work the squares into the personal symbol of the champion in some way.
DeleteI will be following this with interest, might use it to get my mates going for some oldhammer goodness :)
ReplyDeleteIt will certainly make it a very persuasive argument.
DeleteThat's quite a start to the project. Looking forward to seeing the painted mini, as well as watching his retinue grow.
ReplyDeleteI have the palanquin model (luckily enough) are its in the dettol as we speak. It is really quite a model when you look at it closely. So many fine details and little quirks. To be honest, I am a little intimidated about tackling it! But life is about the challenge - is it not? (:
DeleteOne can never have enough random warbands in the internet! have you consider a rolling a minor chaos power once?
ReplyDeleteNo, but the idea of an independent daemon has always interested me. But that would take quite a lot of work!
DeleteThis is going to be a lot of fun to follow. It's a real shame that no other participant has access to such a resource to their army forces and will only be using warhammer armies.
ReplyDeleteI mean you got cause fear, a natural save and a daemon weapon! Holy crap! Hopefully it all evens out in the end, but the real name of the game is having fun and from following all your blogs I can see that's what you are all concentrating on. Good luck.
I have never thought about it that way to be honest, but Warhammer armies has some pretty useful magical items, weapons and other treats - and the magic system has plenty of decent spells to through problems into the mix. Ultimately, things will work out brilliantly because none of us are silly powergamers obsessed with winning (well, apart from 'Mr Giant' Casey I suppose (;) and enjoy a proper, zany game.
DeleteI am glad you are alone for the ride my friend.
Bloody power gamer... ;)
Delete