Warhammer Fantasy Battle Tabletop Gaming

the best WFB Special Character - voting has started

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:50:00 +0000

A debate to find the most powerful and influential (on a point for point basis) Special Warhammer Fantasy Battle characters.

You have a week to debate and vote and then change your mind and re-vote ! I thought it could be tough deciding so you can vote for up to 10 of them (by Saturday 4th Feb 6pm GMT).

We have 22 entries covering most of the armies, I just can't believe everyone's favourite Everchosen, Archaon and the mighty head-butter himself Grimgor didn't get nominated !

Karl Franz
Teclis
The Green Knight
Wulfrik
Khazrak
Skarsnik & Gobbla
Krell
Kairos Fateweaver
Chakax
Grombrindal
Mannfred
Thorgrim
Drycha
Greasus
Eltharion
Volkmar
Vilitch
Nagash
Alith Anar
Ikit Claw
Settra and
Crone Hellebron

Image of Emperor Karl Franz is © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Warhammer Painting & Modeling Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:52:00 +0000

A free-for-all fantasy miniature painting / conversion competition which might help to get you to finish your army ! Look no further because we're even accepting 40k, LoTR and others - booo !

Everyone's invited, we're just looking for some more forum members to "Hammer" with :)

It's dead simple, post pics of the minis (up to 3) that you plan to paint here :-

Warhammer (and other Fantasy mini) painting & conversion comp

You have until March 11th to post pics of the finished article(s).

We don't have much to offer other than a friendly atmosphere, some good debate and a place you might enjoy returning to. Lots of the guys have been around for years now and we're very appreciative of new members.

Here are the previous winners:

Images used with the permission of the respective painters, thanks guys,

Warhammer Special Character tactica debate

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:22:00 +0000

So, which is the best Fantasy Battle character in the Warhammer world ?

It might sound a bit of an impossible question to answer because, of course, it relies on so many factors but we're going to have a crack at it :)

This is one of the Battle Reporter Master Tactician debates and it's very simple :-

name the best Special Character and explain why.

After we have a few entries and have enjoyed plenty of friendly debate, we vote on it.

Easy heh ?! Errr... probably not, I expect blood, sweat and tears to be shed in the forum over this one at some point - ok maybe not but possibly a bit of perspiration ;)

Image of Tyrion miniature is © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Join the best Warhammer forum?

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:17:00 +0000

A Friendly Fantasy Battle forum with no trolls - we have troll slayers instead ;-), no flame wars (the Nautican's extinguish them) and no nonsense that you find on larger forums.

We're seeking new members to try to boost our activity and hammering fun.

We only have one important rule... to be friendly.

If you're a friendly kind of Ogre, Orc, Elf, Daemon, Vampire, Skaven, Human or even Dwarf (!) and you're looking for a friendly WFB forum, we might be what you're after.

We:-

Cover all Warhammer Armies
Host 15 unofficial Warhammer Army Book PDFs that are free to download or view online
Have a dedicated Painting forum, painting contests and award winning painters
Host tactical competitions and debate
Have many veteran and tournament winning players
Have our very own text based Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay forum
Post the latest news for your opinions and comments
Have an awesome slideshow containing member miniature pics
Have links to hundreds of battle reports and an amazing model gallery
Cover all of the other Games Workshop products
We even have an arcade with browser games for when you're bored !
Have our own Facebook Warhammer Battle Reporter's Group

You'll need a valid email address to authenticate your account to stop the spambots posting adverts!

Be part of the creative community and get more from your hobby.

Miniature painted by our forum member and award winning painter named "Dims". Used with permission.

Best and Worst 8th Edition Armies

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:10:00 +0000

The strongest Warhammer Fantasy Battle Armies under the 8th edition rulebook - poll results. We had over 500 people voting and here's the outcome.

Note that: new Orcs & Goblins, Tomb Kings, Ogre Kingdoms and Vampire Count army books were released during the vote (so some people will have voted before seeing the new armies).

Voters were asked to choose the 5 best and worst WHFB armies.

Which armies are the most powerful under the 8th edition rules ?

% of all voters / army

46% High Elves
45% Skaven
40% Warriors of Chaos
32% Dark Elves
29% Chaos Daemons
28% The Empire
20% Lizardmen
20% Dwarfs
19% Vampire Counts
16% Orcs and Goblins
10% Ogre Kingdoms
9% Tomb Kings
7% Bretonnia
6% Wood Elves
4% Beastmen

Which are the weakest fantasy battle armies under the WFB 8th ed. rulebook ?

% of all voters / army

65% Wood Elves
45% Bretonnia
40% Beastmen
37% Tomb Kings
27% Ogre Kingdoms
24% Vampire Counts
16% Orcs and Goblins
14% Dwarfs
11% The Empire
10% Lizardmen
8% High Elves
7% Chaos Daemons
5% Dark Elves
3% Warriors of Chaos
2% Skaven

and if you rank both lists (from best to worst) and add the ranks up and then sort them in order of best 8th edition army to worst 8th edition army then this is what you get...

The overall best to worst Warhammer Fantasy Battle army...
(ranked in order of best + least worst)

1st / Skaven / 3 pts
2nd / Warriors of Chaos / 5 pts
3rd / High Elves / 6 pts
4th / Dark Elves / 7 pts
5th / Chaos Daemons / 9 pts
6th / Lizardmen / 13 pts
7th / The Empire / 13 pts
8th / Dwarfs / 16 pts
9th / Orcs and Goblins / 19 pts
10th / Vampire Counts / 19 pts
11th / Ogre Kingdoms / 22 pts
12th / Tomb Kings / 24 pts
13th / Bretonnia / 27 pts
14th / Beastmen / 28 pts
15th / Wood Elves / 29 pts

I'm sure you'll want to draw your own conclusions, I'm just sorry for the poor old Beastmen because their army book wasn't released that long ago and yet they still come in second bottom in the ranking.

I think anyone who has played against the top 5 know they are disgustingly good, especially Warriors of Chaos (in my opinion).

A note to Games Workshop: I think it's time to bring on those Bretonnian and Wood Elf army books.

Images are © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

The best Warhammer Allies - time to debate & vote

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:14:00 +0000

Master Tactica #6 is underway - time to vote for your favourite allied commander combinations (most importantly, those Warhammer Allies you think would be strongest on the battlefield). Feel free to join in the debate and support or argue against the entries.

Part I of the Grand Alliances competition; the entrants:-

Thorsten Carbide leading an army of Dwarfs with Luthor Huss leading the Empire allies.
Zec'Lot the Lizardmen Lord accompanied by the High Elf Ensekeos and his allied force.
The Dark Elf Lord Malus Coldheart in a fragile alliance with Sir Joseph Blackbeard's cannons.
Infamous Golgfag Maneater in a suspicious alliance with an Empire Sigmartie Warrior Priest.
General Max Paiment (a Dogs of War commander) allied with Gak Marrowslurp an Ogre Butcher.
Beautiful Camilla (Empire Engineer) and Magnar Copperglove the health & safety Dwarf inspector !
The Union of Ancients; Tomb King Liche Priest Sakhotep & Scar Veteran Zepotek
The enchanting Lady Skyla Deepwater and rune clad Dwarf Runesmith Thane Red Stockleg or
Newklia Fishon the Dark Elf assassin trained Chaos Lord and his gobbo mate Khips.

Pistoliers are the best WFB Cavalry unit

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:17:00 +0000

It's official (as far as the Warhammer Battle Reporter community is concerned) - Pistoliers are the best cavalry, closely followed by the Kislev Griffon Legion and Chaos Knights.

We had a good turnout with almost 100 votes, thanks to everyone who took part and contributed to an excellent debate. The next Master Tactician Warhammer Alliances debate will begin soon.

The results...

% of votes / Army / Forum Member

11% Pistoliers - WhiteWolf14
9% Kislev Griffon Legion - Coinsmith1
9% Chaos Knights - Fingolfin
8% Knights of the Realm - Telepfenion
8% Black Knights - Lord Bob
7% Bretonnian Grail Knights - Dalara
7% Blood Knights - Lawrence1981
6% Marauder Horsemen - tubelcain
6% Empire Knights - Big Gav
5% Empire Outriders - MrSeb
5% Dark Riders - Sigmar
5% 30 Inner Circle Knights - Noble Korhedron
4% Cold One Knights - pippin_nl
3% Goblin Wolfriders - teclis
3% Boar Boyz Big Uns - jaggedjaw

Images are © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

The Sea Creatures re-Group...

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:38:00 +0000

Storm clouds are gatherin',
'n the waves are a crashin',
the Old Worlde will weep,
when they come from the deep...

Part of an old Empire sailor's song foretelling the rise of the ocean dwellers.

The time is coming, follow their ascent from the depths...

The Nauticans (an unofficial WFB army)

Best Fantasy Battle Cavalry Unit - Voting has started

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:50:00 +0000

The debate and voting to find the best and most influential Warhammer cavalry unit has begun.

This competition will run for a week (poll closes 15 Jan 2012 5:38 pm GMT). You can select up to 5 of the 14 entries (and change your votes at any time) :-

Dark Riders - Sigmar
Knights of the Realm - Telepfenion
Empire Outriders - MrSeb
Kislev Griffon Legion - Coinsmith1
Chaos Knights - Fingolfin
Black Knights - Lord Bob
Empire Knights - Big Gav
Blood Knights - Lawrence1981
Cold One Knights - pippin_nl
Boar Boyz Big Uns - jaggedjaw
30 Inner Circle Knights - Noble Korhedron
Pistoliers - WhiteWolf14
Goblin Wolfriders - teclis
Bretonnian Grail Knights - Dalara

May the best Hammerer win ! Enjoy the debate.

Best Warhammer Battle Cavalry Unit

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:46:00 +0000

A quick no nonsense Warhammer tactica debate about the best Fantasy Cavalry unit (excluding Monstrous Cavalry). Voting begins in a day or so.

Enter the competition or just have your say and cast your vote.

This is just a one week quick forum filler before the big Warhammer Allied Armies competition begins.

The entries so far...

Black Knights
Bretonnia's Knights of the Realm
Reiksguard Knights
Empire Outriders
Chaos Knights
Kislev's Griffon Legion Winged Lancers
Vampire Counts Blood Knights
Cold One Knights and
Boar Boyz Big Uns.

...and I might add Dark Riders myself if we're a bit short of entries.

Warhammer Fantasy Tactica Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:30:00 +0000

We now have 6 entries into our Warhammer Battle Character & Army Selection competition and there's still time for you to join in the fun.

Deadline extended:- Sunday 15th January 2012

The competition has two parts, a quick entry one (where you enter two characters) and a full army selection where you list all of the other units in addition to the 2 characters you chose in part I.

It's all completely free and there are no catches - we just want more forum members for more hammering fun !

There's lots of forum reputation on offer for the top rated armies (we all get to vote for our favourites) and you'll receive the adoration (maybe) and respect (much more likely) of your fellow forum members.

So far we have a great mix of characters and their associated armies in some suitably Warhammer Fantasy-like alliances :-

Thorsten Carbide leading an army of Dwarfs with Luthor Huss leading the Empire allies.
Zec'Lot the Lizardmen Lord accompanied by the High Elf Ensekeos and his allied force.
The Dark Elf Lord Malus Coldheart in a fragile alliance with Sir Joseph Blackbeard's cannons.
Infamous Golgfag Maneater in a suspicious alliance with an Empire Sigmartie Warrior Priest.
General Max Paiment (a Dogs of War commander) allied with Gak Marrowslurp an Ogre Butcher.
Beautiful Camilla (Empire Engineer) and Magnar Copperglove the health & safety Dwarf inspector !

Also, I will be entering either a Dwarfs + Wood Elves alliance or a Warriors of Chaos + Goblins one.

Here's the original post with all the rules and links :-

WFB Tactics - Character & Army Selection Competition

Image is © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Mortis Engine & Coven Throne Rules for 8th Edition Vampires

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:39:00 +0000

Vampire Counts 8th edition Rulebook extracts for the Coven Throne & Mortis Engine from, I presume, White Dwarf - from a Facebook member.

I'm not sure what to make of these yet (although the presentation is, as always excellent). You can join the discussion on our Facebook page here:-

new 8th edition Vampire Counts Mortis Engine & Coven Thrones discussion

So far, there has been a mixed reaction about the miniatures although it's generally positive and deservedly so (from what I can see in the images). I think the new large scale models could take some getting used to on the battleground (and some large foam trays for transportation!) but there's no denying that they make for very tasty modelling projects !

Please join us and let us know what you think of the rules which I've also posted for discussion as separate subjects in our forum :- Coven Throne Rules and Mortis Engine Rules discussion.

New Vampire Counts Army book and miniatures

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:05:00 +0000

Games Workshop will be announcing a new Vampire Counts rule book and quite a few new models in the January 2012 edition of White Dwarf.

I'm sure that Wood Elves and Bretonnia were meant to be the next army books released, or at least that has been the rumour for a long time. I suppose we should have taken the hint when GW released the new Terrorgheist, Cairn Wraith and Banshee rules. Let that be a lesson for us !

Anyway, these pics come courtesy of the Warhammer Battle Reporter Facebook Group (thanks guys).

I have to say that some of these miniatures seem quite a departure from the norm for the usual "boots (and torsos) on the ground (or slightly above it)" approach of Vampire Counts armies. When I say "miniatures", I'm really referring to the Mortis Engine and the Coven Throne (the same kit) which looks like quite a new concept. I suppose we always had the Black Coach which was a very original and unique unit (and awesome if you managed to "max it out") so I guess GW reckoned that there was room for some further experimentation without completely changing the feel of the army.

It's all very exciting if you're a VC player (I have 3,000pts of them) and, in particular, if you like large dominating units (monsters / war machines) that require a lot of glue and painting ! (it's only a shame they didn't come out in time for the Christmas holidays).

With these new Vamps and the recent-ish Ogres Games Workshop really seems to be breaking the mould and spreading it's batty wings. The models these days are definitely more exciting than they've ever been. I'll see how the army book reads before giving both thumbs up but so far it all looks very promising and I really love the Wight King and the ethereal "monsters" (although, they appropriately look like a painting nightmare for someone like me!)

click to enlarge photos in a new window

One million Warhammer hits !

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:43:00 +0000

My humble Fantasy Battle blog just hit 1,000,731 page views :O

One million was my original objective (yes, I am that shallow !) and, while I suspect GW gets that number every week, it has taken me 4 years !

Anyway, I was going to quit all this after the big 1 million but I'm kind of still enjoying it (I think!) so here goes some more promotion...

Join our friendly, no strings attached (!) Warhammer Fantasy forum - please !

So, that was it, one million hits. Wow, you really can do anything with the internet (not quite anything !)

Thanks for listening guys, Sigmar

Tactics Master - Warhammer Allies Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:28:00 +0000

The Battle Reporter Master Tactician #6 Competition - "A Grand Alliance" is open for entries.

It's a Christmas Special (for extra festive Hammering !)

I've tried to create an character design / army unit selection competition that everyone can enjoy irrespective of how much time you can spare. You can put in an entry which just meets the basic requirements or go all the way and post a full 2,000pt competition winning alliance army list.

The Rules (click links to open the competition threads)....

Part I - Commanders of the Alliance

Choose two different Warhammer Armies and name one as your main force and one as the allies (don't select any of the army units, just name the 2 army books they would come from).

Customize or choose a Special Character (using the normal rules) to represent :-

a Lord or Hero Level Character (up to 300pts) to lead a 1,200pt main force
a Hero Level Character (up to 200pts) to lead a 800pts allied force

Explain why your alliance would be unbeatable* !

* you could talk about the special army traits that make your combination of allies so effective, the army's deployment, how your characters would support your units, your tactics, use of magic items and spells or any other reason you can think of.

** Feel free to add any fluff to accompany your characters, people look kindly on this extra effort and you're likely to win more votes.

You will be judged on your arguments in favour of your army.

Use the forum thread to debate the armies and to attempt to elevate yours above all others !

If you entered part I then you can enter Part II below:-

Part II - Armies of the Alliance

This competition extends Part I (in a new forum thread)

Select all of the units for a 1,200pt main army (which must include the Lord level character you selected in Part I) and a different 800pt allied army (which must include the Hero level character you selected in Part I).

Note: all normal army selection and Allied Army rules apply (see pages 136-139).

Please do NOT post individual pts costs of units (it upsets GW). Just post a list of units/characters and a total points value for Characters (Lord + Hero level), Core, Special and Rare.

The Prizes (a Christmas and New Year give-away !) :-

- mainly respect from our Facebook and forum members plus some forum reputation (rep pts).

Competition 1 - Commanders of the Alliance

Winner +10 rep
2nd +7 rep
3rd +4 rep
All entries get +1 rep

Competition 2 - Armies of the Alliance

Winner +10 rep
2nd +7 rep
3rd +4 rep
All entries get +2 rep (extra rep because it requires more effort)

By entering both competitions you will receive at least +3 rep.

Entry Deadline & Voting :- There are no deadlines right now, we're going to see how things go and how many entries we get. I guess you can expect the competition to remain open for entries for at least 3 weeks. We will start voting when we have enough entries for a decent match. Debate can continue during the voting so people will be able to change their vote if someone can persuade them with the strength of their argument.

You can bookmark the Rules Summary in the Battle Reporter forum here.

Dwarf Cannon voted best artillery piece

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:42:00 +0000

If you like gunning your enemy down form a distance in Warhammer Fantasy Battles then go for a Dwarf Army.

The Master Tactician #5 competition results are in and the Dwarf Cannon crew just snatched the prize (and are now holding it tightly to their rotund and beard covered chests !)

The debate was detailed, enthusiastic, friendly and very informative.

It was a really close competition but MrSeb (the Dwarf Cannon "sponsor") won the day with his debate although at time it looked like the Doomwheel, Trebuchet, Empire Cannon and even the humble Goblin Spear Chukka could sneak a win. It really was a close thing.

The results in order :-

1) Dwarf Cannon - MrSeb (with 12% of all the votes)
2) Doomwheel - Telepfenion (11%)
3) Empire Cannon - Lawrence1981 (9%)
3) Helcannon - whitewolf14 (9%)
3) Halfing Hotpot - Coinsmith1 (9%)
3) Trebuchet - Josh Austin (from our Facebook page) (9%)
7) Malakai Makaisson's The Spirit of Grungni - pippin_nl (7%)
7) Steam Tank - Fingolfin (7%)
7) Ogre Ironblaster - Kefka (7%)
7) Salamanders - cargils02 (7%)
11)Goblin Spear Chukka - Telepfenion (5%)
11)Dwarf Organ Gun - Waldo (5%)
13)Thundertusk - Kefka (4%)

Thanks again to everyone who took part and contributed to such an excellent debate.

The next "Christmas Special" Master Tactician debate will be online by Dec 17th. I'll post details here, in the forum and on our Facebook Page. It should be a cracker but be warned it could end up eating your holiday time like a squig on a Christmas Turkey ! - ie quickly :)

Image is © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Best Warhammer Artillery - Tactica Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:01:00 +0000

Number 5 in our Fantasy Battle Master Tactician series of competitions - choose the most influential artillery piece (that is, any Warhammer Warmachine with a ranged attack).

The Competition ended on 15th Dec 2011 you can find the results here.

Debate has been raging in our forum and it's got very interesting. The contenders :-

1) Empire Cannon - Lawrence1981
2) Malakai Makaisson's The Spirit of Grungni - pippin_nl
3) Dwarf Cannon - MrSeb
4) Steam Tank - Fingolfin
5) Ogre Ironblaster - Kefka
6) Goblin Spear Chukka - Telepfenion
7) Doomwheel - Telepfenion
8) Salamanders - cargils02
9) Helcannon - whitewolf14
10) Thundertusk - Kefka
11) Dwarf Organ Gun - Waldo
12) Halfing Hotpot - Coinsmith1
13) Trebuchet - Josh Austin (Facebook member) - just sneaked in !

Vote for the best Warhammer "artillery" war machine here.

This could be a close call (watch out sir !)

The largest Fantasy Battle Army ever sold on eBay ?!

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:25:00 +0000

20,000 pts worth of Beastmen for $1k USD ! WFB Sale of the century ?!

Some lucky bargain hunting gamer just bought the mother of all Warhammer armies including no less than 51 Minotaurs, 2 Giants, 3 Cygors, 3 Ghorgons, 2 Jabberslythes and let's not forget the 254 Gors, 72 Bestigors, 100 Ungors and 9 Tuskgor/Razorgor chariots! (and a lot more besides!!)

HUGE Beastmen WFB Army on eBay

What an incredible deal! Even if you only want to keep 5,000 pts of the army you could sell off the rest for double the price if you broke it up into manageable units. I wish I had spotted it - although I'm not sure I would have had the bottle (or the money) to go in with a $1k bid !

Blood in the Badlands a new Warhammer Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:28:00 +0000

Games Workshop are really pushing Fantasy Battle this year. The rate of army releases and what with this supplement and the excellent Storm of Magic we've never had it better in terms of new content and miniatures (plus Finecast for the connoisseur).

I have no idea what this campaign supplement is like because it's only just been announced as an Advance Order - released on 3rd Dec 2011. It looks like a pretty cool Christmas present to me which is why I've already asked my wife for it (and it's only £20 GBP - a smart pricing move by GW for Xmas!)

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCats.jsp?catId=cat440004a

Here's what GW have to say:-

"Blood in the Badlands is a campaign system for Warhammer that enables you to unleash your army against your foes and carve out a corner of the notorious Badlands for yourself. As well as the campaign system itself, the book contains rules that can be used in any Warhammer game, form massive multi-player scenarios featuring new magic items and spells, rules for underground battles and a complete siege expansion. Blood in the Badlands also features the tale of eight intrepid hobbyists as they play the campaign, including detailed battle reports, glorious army showcases and turn-by-turn accounts of their expanding empires.

This 96-page full-colour hardback Warhammer Supplement contains rules for siege battles in Warhammer, underground battles, new scenarios, magic items and Cataclysm spells. It also has a full set of rules that can be used with the Mighty Empires expansion set."

I notice that GW make a lot of effort these days to loosely couple all their products which is nice because it means everything integrates nicely but is also optional (except for the core rulebook that is !)

The Mounted Chaos Lord takes pride of place...

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:29:00 +0000

...as the new Battle Reporter Facebook logo.

Thanks to everyone for taking part (we had 32 entries and 134 votes) and special thanks to "Dims" (Pascal Rooze - one of the expert GW award winning painters from the Battle Reporter forum and winner of our competition). Check out that amazing "chrome-effect" !

Image used with permission.

New Finecast Mangler Squigs

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:16:00 +0000

A very Goblin-esque themed Squig Mangler unit (the French "Broyeurs" translates to "Crusher" or "Grinder" apparently, in fact it almost translates to "Garbage Disposal" - which I prefer :)

It looks like a superb model - although I have to say I hate the damned things - very broken rules ! - can you tell that they recently slaughtered a unit of my beloved Weresharks and some Wavebreakers to boot :(

My friend actually brought his disgusting Goblin army around to my house last weekend - next time his entry will be blocked by The King of the Seas with a metal detector - bloody balls and chains ! Real (fish)men fight with tridents :)

Anyway, the models really have come on, they look extremely sneaky now days which fits their gaming style perfectly - something Jervis Johnson kind of alluded to in one of his White Dwarf Standard Bearer columns recently (about fitting the rules to the fluff).

Anyway, I suspect this model will prove very popular with our greenskin buddies and will be snapped up ;-) thanks to it's profile and special rules as well as it's looks ! (I love the five goblin "hangers on")

Cygor, Ghorgon, Jabberslythe - Official GW models

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:09:00 +0000

It looks like White Dwarf is show-casing some long and eagerly awaited Beastmen Rare units - hurray :) (Games Workshop finally got around to them!)

From the look of it, the Ghorgon and Cygor are alternative assemblies of the same boxed set (although I could be wrong so don't take my word for it !). I reckon we can expect to see a few more Beastmen armies in future with these new units (which are kind of essential to the Beastmen army and must have have been missed by regular Beastmen players).

The Jabberslythe looks quite similar to the one sculpted by the...
Miniature Painting Group (who also do an excellent Ghorgon and Cygor).

New High Elf Finecast miniatures

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:41:00 +0000

Korhil (the almost there), Caradryan (the mostly there) and Tyrion (the absolute kick-ass there !) have just been released as Finecast models.

I used to be a big fan of High Elves and, I guess, I still quite like them. Korhil once tried his best for me against his Wood Elf kin, Caradryan did somewhat better and Tyrion totally kicked butt by killing 2 Treekin and a Treeman Ancient and turned the game from a loss into a massacre win (not bad heh ?!) Flaming swords aren't only for Ulthuan barbecues ! :)

Anyway, Games Workshop have re-released the miniatures as Finecast and they look very neat indeed but there again they always did :) Some pics... (Korhil is especially tempting this time round !)

(click image for larger images)

Korhil & Caradryan Miniatures painted by Alexi_Z
(featured in the Warhammer Fantasy Miniatures Gallery blog here)

Battle Reporter's Logo VOTING

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:48:00 +0000

Please help us to choose the next WFB Reporter Facebook logo to replace this one...

We have 32 entries in the WFBR forum please vote for up to 8 of them, thanks fellow Hammerers :)

The poll numbers for each entry:-

Images used with permission of WFB Reporter Facebook group members.

Tribes of Norsca - a new WFB army PDF

noreply@blogger.com (Sigmar) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:24:00 +0000

The Army of Midgard is the second Norse Warhammer book that we're supporting in the Battle Reporter forum.

To summarize; it's a really well thought out army list with plenty of original features, a lot of character (it really does feel Viking-esque) and the presentation is to be applauded.

Please note that this army book is completely unofficial and is NOT endorsed by Games Workshop in any way at all.

The Army Book is an impressive 139 pages and covers the history, background and tribes of the Norsemen. There is a description of their lands, the climate, a map of the "Uncivilized North" and a story of the Norse peoples in their eyes and in the eyes of the Old Worlde. There are some excellent short stories covering the sagas of individual Norse characters.

click the army book cover to download and leave Norsca feedback here.

The Viking theme proves very popular among Warhammer gamers possibly because they have had their appetite whet by the excellent Norse miniatures that Citadel produced many moons ago. Or, maybe because the Old Worlde just seems to come to an abrupt halt a bit too far South!

It's a bit of a lost opportunity really because bordering on the dreaded Chaos Wastes and separated from the Old Worlde by the Seas of Chaos and Claws, Norsca must be under constant siege and forever fighting off new Chaos incursions. These factors should provide the perfect backdrop for some great Chaos vs embattled defenders battles. Sadly, GW has long since abandoned the Norsemen to their fate but thankfully the community has filled the void with a couple of excellent army books (here's the other equally superb Norse army book PDF).

The Ejsgard Army list comprises 8 lord level characters, 7 heroes, 4 core units, 8 special units and 4 rare units. The first thing to note is that if you're into cavalry you might want to mount up and ride on because by and large the Norse don't bother with beasts of burden to carry them into battle !

Initially, I though this would be a major drawback but a lot of the units have an army special rule named Barbaric charge which means they use the swiftstrider rule for charging so you won't wait long before the blood starts to flow. In fact, the army as a whole feels quite bloody and close combat oriented. Grim Squeaker (the author) has done an admirable job with the special rules that lends the army a furious, fremzied and fearless character. The background, stories and unit rules are heavily influenced by Viking mythology and they are so well written that the army book is quite an inspirational read and you start thinking about army lists, miniatures and where you're going to get them from - a worrying sign !

There are a couple of interesting special rules that will enable you to customize some of your characters with "gifts" and mutations.

The unique Ejsgard Mutations will set your characters apart from one another from giving them a massive frame (+1 toughness) to having frozen skin (+1 scaly skin) to being cursed with daemonic horns (d3 magical impact hits) - plus several other interesting qualities.

The Gifts of Olric can be granted to your Ulfjarl - werewolves who have mastered control over their form. These half-men half-werewolves will always strike first with 4 strength 5 attacks (which can be turned into killing blows with the Natural Predator rule) and are made more resilient with the ability to regenerate.

There are also a few (but not many) magical items to choose from (plus the ones in the Warhammer rulebook of course).

The strength of the army lies in it's fury (more supporting attacks), frenzy and ability to close down on the enemy once in charge range. You will need to rank up units because they are still puny toughness 3 humans at heart and most do not have much of an armour save (except for the Ravensworn that have a 5+ ward (increased to 4+ if they successfully augment it with their innately bound Call to Glory spell).

The army list encourages the use of some of the more exotic units like the Morkewerenar (effectively Were-Bears), The Ice Mammoth, Blood Maidens, Snow Trolls and the Apparition of Cadavers to make up for the relatively low toughness and movement rate of the human element of the army.

Even though Citadel stopped making Norse miniatures a long time ago I don't think there will be too much of a problem finding them for this army, there are bound to be other companies making Viking models. Most of the special and rare units can be taken from the existing GW range, such as the giant, trolls, mammoth, norse spawn, blood maidens and so on.

Also, if you really must use Citadel models then you'll probably find some old Norse Warriors on eBay if you;re patient and are prepared to pay (quite a bit) for them. All-in-all, I don't really see why someone couldn't go ahead and collect the army right now.

Also, with this army you have the added benefit of being able to use the models with two army books ! Not just this one but the Norse Army book written by Mathias Eliasson (see link at the top of this post) - so you're getting two armies for the price of one :)

If you love close combat and think missiles, war machines and horses are for girls and cowards then this might just be the army for you. It's an in-your-face, march them forward as fast as you can go type of force. Also, you'll have great fun getting drunk setting fire to your hair and running around the gaming table with a double handed axe to get into character :)

Just like the Norse Army book from Mathias, Grim Squeaker's Tribes of Norsca is packed full of soul (which is surprising because you'd think most of them would be in Valhalla by now!)

I think people will have great fun putting a Norsca army together. It's an army you can really love for it's fearless warrior code where death is inevitable and to be welcomed (providing you put up a good fight first !)

Please check out all of the other unofficial WFB army books here.