Bretonnians for sale!

It’s with a less heavy heart than I’d anticipated that I announce that I’m selling the majority of my unloved Bretonnian army.

I decided to jump back in to Warhammer Fantasty Battle in the early days of what would be the final edition of the game.  At the time I had a real struggle chosing an army but the idea of massed ranks of heavy cavalry carving up the table really appealed to me, and I thought that as they’d not been updated for a considerable time that a new Army Book was imminent.  How wrong I was!

After it was clear that this army was not going to make a proper transition to Age of Sigmar, I considered for quite some time keeping the models and using them to practice new painting techniques.  Lets be honest, that was never going to happen.

I also considered whether or not to look into the Oldhammer or Kings of War scene, but I have little enough time for the games I play and armies I collect and starting something new just to keep going what little models I had was not attractive.

So here we are.

Here’s what’s currently on offer on eBay. Click the links below for more details. 

Bretonnian Army

This is the bulk of my force, it contains 12 Men at arms, over 40 Bowmen, a Pegasus Knight and 22 Knights.

Lord with Great Axe

This is the metal version and apparently quite rare.  It’s a shame that he’s not technically legal in the 8th edition rules but it’s still a cool model!

Army Standard Bearer

Again, this is the metal version, I pinned the standard’s arm to the model for added stability.

Grail Knight Champion on Foot

As you can see, this one’s still in its blister pack.  Genuinely forgot I had this one!

Knight of The Realm Hero on foot

Like the previous one, a happy rediscovery.  This chap could potentially find a home in the AoS skirmish or board games.

 

If anyone has questions regarding these, please drop me a line in the comments section or via ramblingsfromthetrenches@virginmedia.com.

 

New Bretonnians Sooner Rather Than Later (or Never)?

A while ago I got all excited by the now-false rumour that GW would be updating my Warhammer Fantasy army of choice.

Recently there has been chatter hinting at the worrying possibility that my beloved knights’ days as a full army may be numbered. I took this with a grain of salt (as one must do with all rumours) but I was worried as no other Fantasy army really appeals to me.

These rumours have been in part fuelled by the recent withdrawal of key models from the GW website, their absence meaning that now new players cannot easily build legal armies.

Today I popped into my local GW during my lunch break to pick up the latest White Dwarf and got talking to one of the staffers about this situation and was told not to worry as the whole Bretonnian range is due for an update ‘soon’. He also hinted that there are new plastic knights on the horizon.

Again, what does ‘soon’ actually mean? We were told for years that the Dark Eldar were coming soon and look how long their second completely new codex took to arrive.

While this doesn’t completely allay my fears, at least it gives me some (hopefully not) false hope that the most noble of all the armies may one day soon bring truth, justice and honour back to the Old World.

2013 In Review (Part 2)

Now that I have a bit of breathing space, it’s a good time for a more personal look at my hobby year.

Compared to 2012, last year was comparatively quiet hobby-wise. This was for the most part due to Real Life getting far too much of a look in. January saw me starting a new post at work which required a significant amount of training and retraining which was bookended by yet another move to an even busier area in November! Alas my pay as remained the same so you can’t have everything, but I’m just grateful I have a job I usually enjoy and am halfway competent at.

Coupled to this was our protracted and somewhat stressful purchase of our first home. After months of prep our offer was accepted in early October but due to legal shenanigans at the seller’s end we were unable to move in until December 20th. Needless to say, we’re still unpacking! Also, I’d like to once again pay tribute to our many wonderful friends who helped us out with the move:

Norma
Ged
Charlie
Martin
Suzy
Tim
Elizabeth
Ben
Richard
Steve

We could not have done it without you.

Right, onto the actual hobby stuff.

For me this was the Year of Chaos. I finally got my Heralds of Desolation into a fighting (but not winning) condition. I’m particularly pleased with how my Chaos Lord and Terminators turned out, and am very pleased with my converted Hellbrute. I’ve wanted to build a Chaos Space Marine army since the release of the second edition’s Codex Chaos in the mid-nineties but I knew I could never do the army justice, while there are thousands of better looking Chaos forces out there, I’m really happy with the progress I’m making with them.

The next army that I’ve been working on, although not nearly as much as I’d hoped, has been my Bretonnian force. Now, I say ‘working on’, I really mean undercoating and gaming with as I participated in a few more rounds of The Rock in The Badlands campaign with my mates. Unfortunately due to more Real Life reasons, the campaign’s on a bit of a hiatus but we’re optimistic that it’ll restart sometime soon (*prod, prod*).

I also, completely by accident, started a Dark Angel allied contingent for my Imperial Guard army. In truth, this was inevitable since I picked up the Dark Vengeance box set upon its release but I admirably kept temptation at bay for almost a year until a slightly drunken perusal of the iPhone eBay app in July. I now have a solid foundation of core units which I hope to paint up soon.

Finally, and as I direct result of the development above, I entered my first painting competition at my local Games Workshop. Even though I only came third (out of three…), I thoroughly enjoyed the process and would love to repeat the experience at least a couple of times this year. I don’t think I’ll ever be worrying the likes of Golden Daemon, but I think such things will help me improve as a painter.

As for my plans for 2014, well I’ll leave that for a later post. I still have so many boxes to unpack!

What I have planned for December

Please note, this is called what I have planned for December, what I actually end up doing is another matter entirely.

Right, now with that excuse proviso out of the way let’s get started.  Obviously there are important Real Life matters that annoyingly get in the way like moving house and the whole festive merry-go-round but I’m leaving those off this list and concentrating on the really important stuff.  So, in no particular order I aim to:

• Complete painting my Imperial Bastion
• Complete the last three mutated Chaos Space Marines
• Complete the Khorne Berserker Rhino
• Experiment with some knightly liveries for my Bretonnians
• Finally finish building my Dark Eldar Ravager and Razorwing and get them basecoated
• Paint a couple of Dark Angels to see how they look

See, not extensive and if I can get through a third of that I’ll be really happy.

For The Lady! New Bretonnians this year?

 

I can barely type I’m so excited but there’s a chance that my beloved Gallic Knights might be getting a new army book and models this year!  This evening Bigred posted this on the Bell of Lost Souls forum:

Viewing a retailer order sheet, Bretonnians are no longer able to be ordered from Games Workshop at this present moment. Following the usual cycle , this indicates that there is a new rulebook on the horizon with some new models to come. We assume this would be in the November/December release slot after the Inquisition Skirmish game is announced in October at Gamesday UK.  

Distributor sources verify the upcoming WHFB release shipment, described only as “a human race”, with but would not confirm a release dates.

While this in nothing concrete (i.e. take with the implied truck-full of salt), this army is crying out for an update because they just don’t work in the 8th edition.

You can find the whole thread here, I’m keeping my fingers crossed 🙂

Massacre in Lustria

Believe it or not, I haven’t played a game of anything involving little plastic men since last October so I jumped at the chance to take part in a six player, Good versus Evil 4,500 point Warhammer barney today.  I got together with the other chaps who make up the Rock in The Badlands players and spent Sunday afternoon fighting over a ruined Bretonnian Chapel in deepest Lustria.  The rules were simple, three players a side and a basic victory point tally would decide the winning team.

The Armies

The Forces of Good

Me – Bretonnian

Tim – The Empire

Sam – Lizardmen

 

The Forces of Evil

TMG – Vampire Counts

Ian – Chaos Daemons

Steve – Chaos Daemons

 

My army

Grand Army of Parravon (1,501)

 Lord (252 pts)

 Sir Redemond of Parravon – Bretonnian Lord (110pts)

– Vow of Questing (+12pts)

– Barded Warhorse (+21pts)

– Shield (+3pts)

– Great Weapon (+6pts)

– Insignia of The Quest (+30pts)

– The Ruby Goblet (+30pts)

– Virtue of Knightly Temper (40pts)

Heroes (319pts)

Eleanore – Damsel (70pts) 
– Level 2 Mage (+35pts)
– Warhorse (+10pts)

– Silver Mirror (+40pts)

Sir Ectorde – Paladin (60pts)
– Valorous Standard (+50pts)
– Barded Warhorse (14pts)
– Virtue of Knightly Temper (40pts)

Core (930pts)

Sir Michael’s Fellowship – Knights Errant (181pts)
– Cavalier (0pts)
– 8 x Errants (160pts)
– Musician (7pts)
– Standard Bearer (14pts)
– Special Rule – Faith Against Adversity

Sir Hugues’ Brothers in Arms – Knights of The Realm (312pts)
– Gallant (0pts)
– 12 x Knights of The Realm (288pts)
– Musician (8pts)
– Standard Bearer (16pts)

Jacques’ Cronies – Men-At-Arms (87pts)
– Halberds (0pts)
– 12 x Men-At-Arms (601pts)
– Musician (5pts)
– Standard Bearer (10pts)
– Yeomen Warden (12pts)

Filthy Eric’s Lads – Peasant Bowmen (175pts)
– 22 x Peasant Bowmen with light armour (161pts)
– Musician (5pts)
– Standard Bearer (10pts)
– Villein (5pts)

Old Victor’s Boys – Peasant Bowmen (175pts)
– 22 x Peasant Bowmen with ight armour (161pts)
– Musician (5pts)
– Standard Bearer (10pts)
– Villein (5pts)

The Battle

Well, it didn’t go so well for the good guys!  We botched a lot of our deployment and struggled to make any headway against the enemy for half of the game.  That said, my Knights of The Realm and Lord along with Sam’s Saurus Cavalry and Oldblood managed to hold the right flank for the entire game however it was far from enough to win the day and we stopped tallying the score in the final turn when we realised that the bad guys were leading us 1,184 to 525!

However, we all had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with some of the lads I hadn’t seen in a while and I learned a heck of a lot about how my fledgling Bretonnians work in larger numbers.  That and the fact that Lizardmen cavalry are scary hard.  Oh, and that Terrorgheists are quite capable of screaming nine Knights to death in a single turn!

Stupid dead bat.

Lost in The Warp

As you can probably see, much to my frustration this blog’s not been that active in September.

Mainly this was because I’ve been putting in far too many hours at work due to a number of boring Real Life reasons (Autumn Budget Review, Non-Current Asset Register amalgamations etc); normally this would not stop me inflicting my mundane and petty ramblings on you, dear reader, however during the precious moments I’ve had away from my desk I’ve actually been doing things far more useful.

I’ve actually been hobbying!

Yes, I know it’s strange but after my recent lament about losing my way I’ve actually found it again!  Over the past few weeks I’ve been mainly working on getting my long suffering Chaos Marine project up to speed in time for the new codex, my kitbashed dreadnought (Project: Audrey if you follow me on Twitter) is at the painting stage, I have a couple more squads built and undercoated and my bike squad is coming along nicely.  I’ve also been working on their background, it’s in draft form but I’m waiting to see if there are any fluff changes in the new codex before I put it to bed.

I’ve also been slowly chipping away at the massive backlog of Bretonnian and Dark Eldar minis, while they’re not as far on as the Chaos stuff it’s still encouraging to see a bit more progress every time I put down my paint brushes.

In short, I’m back and I look forward to inflicting more articles and finished projects on you in the near future 😀

The Rock in The Badlands – Eleonore’s First Letter

Excerpt from the records of the Dukedom of Parravon. Correspondence dated c1550 (2528 Imperial) to Sir Redemond of Parravon, from Eleonore (a damsel of The Lady, attached to the court of Sir Redemond).

 

 

My Noble Lord,

 

I write to you with heavy heart, for events have not been kind to your kin. We entered the Badlands ahead of schedule and accordingly made camp at the foot of the Dragonback Mountains. From there I took a small detachment of knights and men and proceeded towards the area highlighted in The Lady Madeline’s prophecy. We were however not the first to arrive in this benighted realm.

 

On the third day we encountered a small force of undead ransacking a small settlement. I took advice from your nephew, Sir Eldred, who claimed that these creatures posed no threat to those whose cause was just and carried The Lady’s blessing. How wrong we were. Unbeknownst to us they were lead by a Wraith of considerable power, no matter what casualties we inflicted by blade or by arrow, his magics continued to swell the enemy’s ranks. We were overcome and, to my everlasting shame, had no choice but to leave the field.

 

If only this was all I had to report. That night we made camp about half a league from the site of battle. While I slumbered a vision of The Lady came to me, imploring me to return to the village to make amends for my failure. Had only I known what was awaiting me there I would have fallen on my sword and spared you and the Kingdom further shame.

 

We returned at first light and found the village deserted, of the undead we encountered the day before, nothing remained bar the stench of evil and decay. As we were making preparations to advance towards our objective I fell to the ground as a wave of pure malevolence swept through the aether.

 

As I was returned to my mount I saw creatures of pure evil coalescing on the village boundary. Quickly we formed a battle line to meet this dire threat however once again we were cruelly outmatched. The daemons outmanoeuvred our forces with merciless ease and we had no choice but to retreat. As we were disengaging I saw in the distance that a unit of bowmen had been cut off by the vile creatures. I am proud to report that they sold their lives dearly, taking many of these aberrations with them on their final journey.

 

We marched at speed back to our camp to resupply and two days later we again set out to our objective. This time I decided to guide our forces through a forested area farther south to our original fateful route and, for a time, the fates were kind to us. On the fifth day our outriders reported a small force of armed men who were also heading, albeit on a different trajectory, to our destination. After hearing the scouts’ description of their livery, Sir Hugues (who as you no doubt recall has spent must time with our Imperial neighbours) concluded that they were most likely members of the Averland State Army.

 

While I was sorely tempted to parlay with the Imperial troops, as our armies drew closer I senses a disquieting presence emanating from within their ranks. This person or thing within their army was shielding himself from me, I could not ascertain his intentions and with the deepest regret I ordered our forces to make ready for battle.

 

To my dying day I will never forget the ferocity of what followed. Battle was joined in earnest with both sides trading missiles of arrow and shot while our respective warriors manoeuvred for position. Our Knights struck first and inflicted a terrible toll on the servants of Karl Franz all the while our bowmen mercilessly cut down all that their arrows could find.

 

The men of Averland did not stand idly by met our charge with a steely resolve one cannot help but admire. We were evenly matched; all it would take would be one singular moment or individual to break this bloody deadlock. 

 

It was at this point that a unit of spearmen appeared led by formidable warrior, evidently the man in command of the army. Our Knights and I charged this unit and each side inflicted terrible casualties, all of a sudden your nephew was thrown from his horse by this captain and before I could draw breath I was fighting him for my very life.

 

With one stroke of his sword he broke my blade and as he prepared to strike again I made myself ready to meet The Lady. However death did not find me today, he turned his blade at the last moment and instead delivered a blow to my head with the side of his blade and I fell into darkness.

 

I woke in the Imperial camp to find my wounds dressed and my body unsullied. At my bedside was the warrior who bested me who introduced himself as Captain Helmut Gerstein. He told me that he and his men had respected our code of honour and those Knights who survived the battle had been treated for their wounds and were residing in the tent next to mine.

 

Captain Gerstein told me that he and his men were here at the behest of a mage called Emmanuel Gant who is travelling with them, I am certain that this Gant is the source of the presence I sensed just before the bloodbath. The Captain proceeded to tell me that once I felt strong enough he would escort our survivors back to our camp under a flag of truce, seeing true honour in his heart I accepted.

 

Three days later, as good as his word, we were taken back to our camp. It pains me to tell you that of the knights that I left with only Sir Hugues of Quenelles, Sir Jacques or Lyonesse, Sir Aldebald of Montfort and Sir Hrodbert of Carcassonne survive.

 

Upon the return to our camp I received news that your son has encountered difficulty on his journey to meet us. Sir Aymeric reports that upon entering the Forest of Loren they encountered a sizeable force of Beastmen intent on pillaging the realm. Honour bound to assist he dispatched your younger son, Sir Ectorde, with your standard, thirty brave knights and as many men as could be spared to continue the journey to meet us. Once the Beastmen are vanquished, Sir Aymeric and the rest of his force will complete their journey.

 

I pray to The Lady that they are not too late

 

 

I am your humble servant,

 

Eleonore

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parravon Expeditionary Force Men-At-Arms

The first round of The Rock in The Badlands was played at the weekend, more or that in a later post.  Anyway, while I hadn’t got the whole army ready in time I had at least managed to get some of my peasant scum ready.

I chose to keep the colours fairly simple by sticking to colours available in the middle ages, mainly dark green and brown for the clothes with red and yellow used for the Lord’s livery.  Thus far I’m really happy with how these are turning out, hopefully I’ll have more for you next week.

The Damsel Eleonore

I’ve finally finished my first major model for the first round of The Rock in The Badlands campaign.

This is the first Warhammer Fantasy miniature I’ve painted since ’94 and in truth, while I really enjoyed the process it’s very obvious that some more work is required on the face. Unfortunately since I want to have at least half my army ready in time for this weekend I’ve had to swallow my pride and move on for now. After my gallant knights have crushed all before them I’ll add some more detail and soften up the skin tone.