Darkness gathers - a prelude

With a thoughtful smile, Kenko ducked through the archway that led to The Master’s inner sanctum. He always loved being summoned to this particular part of the Temple, his joy at walking through the lush grasses that carpeted the floor of Master Akari’s wooded retreat reinvigorated the young monk after travelling so far and so fast over the last few days. Small woodland creatures rushed to greet him, chittering away before darting back through the gnarled boughs of the ancient trees surrounding the clearing, presumably to inform the Master of Kenko’s arrival.  The tranquility of the moment brought a much needed balm to his turbulent thoughts.

Kenko, the North Tree

Kenko reached a familiar patch of soft heather and kneeled down to wait, eyes closed he reached out with his Ki, tapping into the natural spirit energy that flowed so freely around the glade. The young monk, drew upon the strength of the earth to soothe his soul and calm his mind in order to provide the Master with a coherent and detailed report. The Ki flowed through and around him, giving him clarity and focus as well as a sense of inner peace and slowly but surely his physical body began to relax as well.  Only when Kenko had reached a state of inner calm was his meditation brought to an end, interrupted by the measured voice of the Master as he slowly made his way into the clearing.

“You have returned from your foray into the hills young Kenko, you have much to report no doubt.”  Master Akari padded across the glade, the diminutive Tanuki leaned heavily on his ancient staff despite his famed agility, the mantle of responsibility for the Temple initiates and young monks weighing on him in the absence of Ekusa. “Do you require refreshment or rest before you tell me of the woes that clearly mar your face?”

Master Akari, the Tanuki

Kenko smiled ruefully at the canny Master who had so easily pierced, what he had thought to be a calm, collected expression - nothing was hidden from Akari! “I’m fine Master, but I have seen terrible things in the lands of the Hill tribes, a darkness gathers and we must act fast if we are to maintain the balance of the Isles.” Kenko blurted the last in a rush of words as if he meant to jump up and race out to meet the darkness head on. Looking over at the venerable monk, seeing the wisdom and patience glittering in his dark ringed eyes, Kenko calmed some and continued. “The playthings of Yurei have been spotted, Master. They gather in the shadows before descending on the most  isolated villages and sweeping away the living, disrupting the flow of the sacred Ki and blighting the land.” Again Kenko could feel his voice rising in pitch, angry and frightened in equal measure of the wanton destruction of the balance. Once again he looked over at the Master and drew upon his strength, his calm and thoughtful gaze steadying the usually unflappable monk.

“What do the ancient ones do young one? Have the Tengu descended from their eyries to check the spread of the foul Cult, do they now protect the tribes who worship them and look on them as faithful allies?” The Tanuki glided across the clearing until he stood in front of the steadfast monk, gently cupping his chin and peering into his eyes as if to read his mind. “No, they do not!” He exclaimed,  “The birds cannot rouse themselves from their isolation, even for the sake of their allies, this is troubling, very troubling.”

Kenko swallowed hard, he was not surprised that the Master had deduced the majority of his report, stories of Akari’s intuition and power run rampant through the dorms of the younger initiates and he had grown up with the stories of the Master’s supposed mind reading, but there was more and Kenko knew that the implications were grave. However Akari wasn't finished yet as he carefully watched the minuscule movements in the monk's face, deducing the greater worry that seemed to be building up in the young man like a geyser ready to erupt. “Ah I see pupil, they are headed for conduits, are they not?” The Tanuki nodded his furry head slowly as the full horror of the report played out in his mind's eye. The conduits, three loci of power that channeled vast flows of spirit energy and maintained the balance. If the cultists were to alter the flow, they would gain tremendous power and at the same time reduce the ability of their enemies to respond to their attacks. By the blessed Kamis they needed to protect the conduits and return the darkness back to the shadows.

Kenko lifted his head to regard the pondering Akari and raised a question that was troubling him. “Who can we send to stop the abominations Master.  Riku, Yumi and Kira are accompanying Master Po on the diplomatic mission to Ryu and Master Ekusa has taken Seiji and most of the others to protect the fisher folk from the Jung raids on the coast. We two alone cannot face the Yurei worshippers and hope to win.”

Master Akari stared back at the young monk, his soft, intelligent Tanuki eyes glittering with mischief and power. “Kenko, my most promising student, you are young but were younger still when you first fought those that would disrupt the balance, were you not?” Kenko sat back on his heels at the question, the Master surely couldn’t be serious? They were just children, no more than initiates really. “Yes Kenko them, children yes but strong and more importantly pure and innocent. The filthy Yurei are evil and of the supernatural world, so must be opposed by the purity of the natural one.” Akari paced slowly forward and tapped sharply three times on a particularly vivid green patch of moss with his staff. “The children are accompanied by their animal companions, Aiko’s Guardian is most protective of his little charge” Kenko nodded as he pictured the 500lb silver backed mountain gorilla standing over the young girl it had chosen to bond so strongly with. “Koji’s macaques will be useful too” continued the Tanuki as he strolled passed Kenko, just as the earth beneath his feet began to rumble.

Kenko stumbled back as the moss patch began to pulse and then erupted in a flurry of raw earth and rocks, slowly forming into the rough simian like shape of a minor Earth Kami.  Kenko shook his head in wonder at the power and majesty of the blessed avatar, as he heard the chittering laughter of the Master “besides who said I don't have a trick or two myself, young student”

to be continued, with the first battle....

dGG

Tales of a winner! part 2

Hi all

here is the concluding write ups of Rulez' winning run through our recent tournament..

Game 3

Scenario: Ichi No Riten

Opponent: Tengu

Another faction I haven't played against before. I chose Sanjakubo to spirit block but decided to do this in turn 2, this was also Luke's ViM. My ViM was Shizuki despite her being killed in the first two scenario's.

Turn 1

Again being outnumbered by 2 models I used my pass token's up before I started to activate. I made Shizuki my soulless model and kept her soulless the entire game so that her Ki feat mirage would work when needed. Katsumi was made slow, this is an awesome ability from a theme card. Literally turning katsumi from a killing machine to a lumbering lumux. Being only 4 models I decided to head straight for my own zone, as you score scenario points in this one if you outnumber and out rice your opponent every turn. Luke places his terrain piece which allows him to give an extra ki to a chosen model.

Katsumi moves forward just 8” this turn with both of his activations. Puts him in the bottom part of my zone. Shizuki does the same moves forward into my zone but I keep her to the left of it away from the Tengu. Bikou and Kouhui take out one the scouts of the Gale with their 'Hail of Steel' Ki feat. Wounding the other scout too. Bikou is in the middle of the table behind a tree not in either zone using her camoflage trait to good effect. Kouhui is using a tree for cover that is in the left part of my zone.

The Zephyr guard moves into the Tengu's Zone. The air kami uses its first move to get into the Tengu's zone. The other Scout of the blue gale is in my zone. Sanjakabu moves forward but is out of my zone. Tarobo is also in my zone.

At this point I have one activation left with Shizuki and he has two. One with the air kami and one with Kotenbo. His Air Kami moves over to Katsumi and does a ranged attack which is successful and allows him to move katsumi 2”. So he moves him closer to Kotenbo and turns Katsumi's back to him. So I use one of my smoke bomb's and place it in front of Katsumi, wull behind him as he's facing me. This gives him instant cover and his camoflage trait stopping him melee Katsumi. So Kotenbu moves a bit closer.

The smoke bomb disapears in the end phase and we both score a single scenario point each this turn.

Turn 2

I spirit block Sanjakubo at the start and katsumi is made slow again and recieves a stun marker. With the smoke bomb gone I really need to win this tactical roll and I don't.

No surprise that Luke's first activation is to melee Katsumi with Kotenbo. So being surprised and stunned I am down to 2 dice. I roll a 4 in defence and he gets a 10!! and causes 6 wounds. Katsumi is dead. Unknowingly this puts Kotenbo behind Bikou. Only just we got the tape measure's out and Bikou was about 2mm behind his line of sight line. So it has to be Bikou Hail of Steel ki feat, with being surprised I only need to hit on 3's and I get to roll 3 dice to wound and choose the highest two. 2 shots kill him and the third shuriken flys at Sanjakubo wounding him, I then move Bikou behind the tree in the middle of my zone.

My 3 models are in cover and more than 2” away from the Tengu but Tarobo has a 6^th sense and shoots Bikou causing 1 wound. Kouhui using Hail of Steel kills the other scout in 2 shots and wounds the ViM again with her third shot.

Having moved the Zephyr guard out of his own zone towards mine, not expecting the losses he suffered I actually had 3 models in my zone and Luke had only his air kami and Tarobo. So I scored a scenario point. 2 scenario points to 1.

Turn 3

Kouhui kills the VIM (Sanjakubo), who hasn't done much this game as this was the model I spirit blocked, with Hail of steel and wounds Tarobo. The Zephyr guard melee's Kouhui and wounds him. Bikou wounds Tarabo and Tarabo wounds Bikou. The air Kami does attack and survives and takes an activation away from me.

No scenario points scored as we both have 3 models each in my zone. Sceanrio points still at 2-1 and I win the first VP.

Turn 4

I lose the tactical roll again. That's four times in a row. Shizuki gets a stunned marker and slow but she mirages away when entered into melee by the Zephyr guard.

Tarobo kills Kouhui. Bikou kills Tarobo.

The turn ends with Bikou on one wound and Shizuki on full health and the Air Kami and Zephyr guard on full health.

No scenario points scored so scenario points still stand at 2-1

Turn 5

I actually win the tactical roll and I move Bikou away from the Zephyr guard and score the first wounds on him. The air Kami and Zephyr guard attack Shizuki and score no wounds despite being exhausted and stunned.

No scenario points scored so scenario points still stand at 2-1 and I score the second Victory point.

Turn 6

I lose the tactical roll again and Shizuki is slow and stunned again.

The Zephyr Guard moves into combat with Shizuki again who mirages away. I then decide to shoot the air kami and remove it with Hail of Steel. My Thinking was that if I didn't I would probably lose Bikou who has managed to survive on just one wound for 2 turns. The Zephyr Guard melee'd Shizuki again and she side stepped away.

The turn is over and I score the third VP by having my ViM closer to the oppents table edge.

I was totally shocked to win this game 3-0. It is something I have never achieved before. In fact I was so shocked that I had to take my asthma inhaler. This game although was won 3-0 was the closest and nail biting game of the 4 I played at the tournament.

Game 4

This was how the final game of the tournament went;

Scenario: The messenger

Opponent: Jack using Temple of Rokan with a peasant list using Bastions of the Mountain theme.

Turn 1. Traps aargh!!

At the end of this turn, I truly felt I was on the back foot. Katsumi gained 2 wounds from a trap and moved 3 inches away from my deployment zone. Shizuka and Kouhui both failed their size tests and got held and I decided to spend an activation removing the held marker. Bikou managed to move just one inch thanks to her 1” starting phase move, she too failed her size test for the trap and spent her second activation removing her held marker.

The Rokan moved across the table towards my deployment zone as a whole group except Kitsune in her fox form, she headed down the left flank on her own. Having looked at my opponents cards before we started and noticing that he had given Kitsune the Elixor of Vigour, I gave her the 2 spirit block tokens that my Theme of the North Star gives me guessing she would be the VIM model and thus keeping her in Fox form. I was hoping to get the fox in melee before turn 3, but after not moving at all in my 1st turn I now knew that wouldn't happen.

Turn 2.

I use my pass tokens again first and having won the tactical roll The Rokan activate 4 times before I decide what to do. He moves his main guy Tenaga forward along with both his rock Kami's and the peasant with the 2 Axes. I try to move Kouhui again and fail the move test for the trap and suffer 2 wounds. Kitsune moves to my bottom left corner.

I move Shizuka twice towards the Rokan but to my left. Whilst the two blow pipe models move forward. I have made Shizuka soulless this turn (and she is my ViM) so that if I get charged I can mirage away and if in trouble I can use a smoke bomb and then shadow walk another 3” away if needed, but it wasn't as she wasn't melee'd.

I next make a ranged attack with Kouhui, I move him forward to the tree and in cover and using “hail of Steel” I rapid fire Ashinaga Tenaga leaving him with just 1 wound but 3 poison(1) counters so he'll die in the end phase.

The Rokan player then moves the peasant with 2 axes within 2” of Kouhui. I'm guessing ready for the next Turn. I move Katsumi up behind Kouhui and he runs a Kami further forward. I enter melee with the peasant with 2 axes with Katsumi and kill him in his exhausted state.

He then moves his other Kami forward towards Shizuka. I make a ranged attack against Kitsune with Bikou but I am out of range by about 4 inches I guess. The poisoned Tenaga goes into melee with Katsumi and even though I roll all defence I am beaten and he causes 4 wounds. Enough to kill Katsumi.

Then the winning moment of the game, as I make another ranged attack against Kitsune with Bikou. I move her forward and use the ki-feat “Hail of Steel” and shoot 3 times at her with shuriken at medium range and even though I need a six to hit on 3 dice, I manage 2 success level's 3 and a level 1 success and score enough wounds to kill her. The expression on my opponent's face confirms my suspicions that she is his ViM.

Turn 3

By the end of this turn, the Rokan player is down to just his 2 blow pipe people after Bikou and Kouhui take out the rock Kami's. I run Shizuki away from them to the left of the board and slightly towards the opponents deployment zone. Kouhui has taken a further 2 wounds from one of the blow pipes and the other has moved after Shizuka and tried to shoot her but she was out of range. He activates Last Stand with his theme card and try's to melee Shizuki but she mirages away as she is my soulless model.

Turn 4

I go to move Shizuka and he plays his trap card and for the first time in the game, I pass a trap card. Run her into the opponents deployment zone and reveal her as my VIM. My opponent concedes as admits I've won all 3 VP's.

This game was over so quickly and I think it was all due to Jack not having played the KKZ before. We spoke after the game a little and he said he'd never had such success with his traps before and he had left Kitsune out in the open because he wanted to get into my zone on turn 2 to get the victory point as I had said using cover would have prevented her death, but then she couldn't have run into my deployment zone.

If I hadn't killed Kitsune in turn 2 and Jack scored the first VP in Turn 3 and I went on to win the game 2-1, we would've have been on the same points for the tournament standings, but going back to our previous results he would've won the tournament.

Bikou kills Kitsune in fox form and Kills the game and Jack's chance of winning the tournament

and that's Rulez reports on his games, my thanks to him for writing these up for you to read.  Next time I'll post up a series of narratives that will attempt to describe my games.  

hope you enjoy

dGG

Tales of a winner! part 1

Hi all

First things first, just to let my Secret Santa know, I have received a package from you! It is now sitting in da Grotto under the games table waiting to be opened on Christmas morning, thank you in advance.

Now, as you know Rulez and I went to a Bushido tournament recently (and we're still buzzing from it!). We did pretty well considering our relatively newness to the game itself and the tournament scene as well.  I came a respectable fourth place and managed that with a balanced "fluffy" list using my favourite models in the Temple of Ro-Kan faction.  Rulez went even further and topped the leader board.  But you know all of this from my previous post, so why am i banging on about it again? Well I asked Rulez to write up his games for the blog as he had taken notes following each game.  These notes he used to analyse how he was playing and take away with him to see how he could improve, they're also mighty handy for writing up as small AARs! After reading through his reports I was disappointed that I hadn't written up notes for a more detailed report myself, however I do remember the broad strokes of the games and obviously the outcomes as well as having some pictures so what I will do is write up a narrative of the games as a story and let you pick the details out of it if you want. I hope you enjoy them.

First I'll hand you over to Rulez and he can take you through his games.  There is an assumption by Rulez that you know a little about the game although you might not know names etc. The photos are taken from his FB posts regarding the tournie....

Rulez sets up his first game, with a familiar looking Gobbo in the background...

Scenario: Idols

Opponent: Pirates of Jung

Going into the tournament I thought this would be my hardest scenario with three idols in the middle of the board and not normally any cover close by, with only 4 models scoring the first VP would be almost impossible. So here is how it went.

Turn 1

I put the two spirit block tokens on the Temo (a pirate Pygmy with a blowpipe) as I wasn't sure who to put them on as I have never played pirates. I made Bikou souless. I can't remember who won the tactical roll but I did use all my pass tokens up first as the Pirates advanced towards the middle of the table.

By the end of the turn Shizuka was at the base of the idol on my left. With Bikou slightly behind in cover providing ranged support. She had already killed Sho with Hail of Steel. Kouhui had wounded another Pirate but I cannot remember who. The Pirates had a model in BTB with all 3 models. The middle idol had just one model beside it and I was hoping to remove that with Kouhui's hail of steel ki feat in Turn 2. Turn other 2 idols towards me with Shizuki and katsumi and hopefully remove another model with Bikou's Hail of Steel.

Turn 2

Pirates play an event card where no ranged attacks can be used this turn. There goes my plans. He also wins the tactical roll and does the ki feat Lure from Suien(I think thats the models name, I can't find it on the website) on Katsumi, which menas I have to activate him next and move towards her. She runs towards my deployment zone. I then have to move Katsumi towards her. This now means I won't be able to turn the idol on my left. With 3 models in BtB with the idols, Zephr by the left, Korusea by the right and kohanin in the middle, I decide I have to let this VP go the other players way and focus on dwindling the pirates numbers.

By the end of the turn all 3 idols are facing towards my opponent. I have removed a Kohanin and wounded Korusea with Shizuki. Katsumi has moved back towards the centre idol. Kouhui removed the kohanin at the centre idol and was in BtB with it, but not before the Kohanin turned the idol. Took both activations to kill him. Then after turning the idol on left Zephyr went into melee with Kouhui and she was exhausted and surprised, causing 2 wounds.

VP to the Pirates and as all idols had been turned once the Pirates player wisely chose the idol on my left to remove.

Turns 3 & 4

I've put these two turns together, as you can imagine its from memory, as there is no time to take detailed notes due to being on the clock.

A lot happens in these two turns. I lose Shizuki in turn 3, can't remember who killed her. I killed the Korusea and Zephyr in turn 3. Suien dies by Hail of Steel after revealing herself after meleeing one of my ninja's in Turn 4. Temo wounds 2 of my ninja's with his bow but I can't remember which ones. I turn the middle idol towards me so the VP is not rewarded to either of us, as we have an idol facing each other. The middle idol is removed as it has had most interactions.

 

Turn 5

By the end of this turn the remaining kohanin dies leaving Just Temo left. He try's to tie up Katsumi and Bikou with his ZoC but Bikou uses her push attack to push him away and Kouhui and Katsumi Turn the remaining Idol to face me.

Turn 6

With just Temo left facing 3 ninj'as I declare that I'll just tire him out in melee as I won the tactical roll. My oppent says you might aswell kill him then the game ends and you'll still get the VP so tha'ts what I did.

I pulled what I thought was going to be a loss into a 1-1 draw. I was pleased with that. I can tell you. Scoring 5 points a piece.

Game 2

Scenario: Keii

Opponent: ITO using the Lords of Izu theme

Going into this game I was on the 5^th table meaning I was 9^th or 10^th in the standings after my 1-1 draw from my first game. I spirit blocked Satoshi straight away, as he was the main man in Ben's warband. I didn't know at the time that this model has a Ki feat that allows him to refresh 3 of his model's one state better, effectively giving 3 more activations.

Turn 1

Again I start this game using my pass tokens up. I have made Bikou soulless this turn. Shizuki didn't pass a ki test meaning she couldn't use ki feats this turn, which was a bummer as the terrain on this table would let me easily use her Ki feat shadow walk.

The ancestor channels ki to Satushi this turn and he focuses to gain Ki and I see what a bummer it is to play aginst the ki feat “battle stations”. I also realise being outnumbered by 2 models and battle stations effectively gives my opponent 5 more activations than me. I again have to face the reality that I will lose the first VP and decide my best chance like in idols is to whittle down their numbers and sacrifice the first VP. Kouhui lets fly a shuirken and misses and on her next activation uses hail of steel to no effect. I hit but unable to score wounds. My dice rolls were awful. Bikou had no targets as the Ito player moved up my left flank and held back on the left.

I move up the left side of the table, this was always going to be my tactic as with 4 models I can't control all 6 idols but as its prayer 5 tokens I don't need to. Just need to pray at the enemies idols by turns 4 & 6.

smoke bomb!

Turn 2

Kouhui again is useless and Bikou can't use ki feats this turn as she failed the ki test this time around. I make Shizuki soulless this turn. Ben pray's with one of his Ito at my friendly idol on my right. I do not pray this turn just try and whittle down some models. Also going forward I have one more prayer token now so hopefully I get the next VP in turn 4. I'm sure I remove one model this turn from my Ito opponent but I can't remember which one. The ancester also melee's Shizuki this turn and I say I'll mirage away but my opponent points out that his player is soulless too so it'll go to a tie breaker and he will win so I don't and suffer a wound for trying to sidestep away. Bikou moves up the table and shoots a shuriken at Satoshi scoring one wound and as Ben ran his bodyguard model behind satoshi her back was turned towards so couldn't use that to protect him. More positioning goes on this turn.

VP to Ito.

Turns 3

A lot happen's in this turn. Firstly I try to disenage Shizuki from the ancester and I roll one dice in attack and 2 dice in defence. I roll 3 one's!!! Shizuki dies instantly. Kouhui Kill's 2 model's with Hail of steel, the second thanks to poison in the end phase. This is the model that prayed last turn and this turn prays twice at the idol before he dies, scoring 6 scenario points. Bikou again not able to use ki-feats this turn manages to pray at an idol. Katsumi moves to the other enemy idol this turn and Ben moves Satoshi within 2” of him ready for next turn.

Ito Bushi vs Bikou

Turn 4

I win the tactical roll for this one and I make Bikou soulless and Katsumi loses his ki test so can't use Ki feats this turn.

My first action as active player is to put a smoke bomb on Satushi. This allows Katsumi to surprise attack him. With his powerful attack he kills him in one go. Bikou takes out Chiyo with hail of steel and prays again at an enemy idol. Making it 6 scenario points a piece. This makes Ben move to a neutral idol and prays to score 8 points but I run Kouhui to an enemy idol and pray with him.

Scenario points 9 to Ninja's 8 to Ito. VP to Shadow Wind Clan.

Turn 5

Time was running out fast so with Ito only having 2 model's left I pray this turn. Twice. And moved around the board avoiding his models.

Turn 6

Turn 6 starts just before time runs out and we stop play as Ben can't beat or match my scenario points of 6 so admits defeat.

With Kouhui's poor start I thought I was heading for another draw to be honest especially after losing Shizuki so magnificiently. But Kouhui came into his own again and removing Satoshi swung things in my favour and I managed a 2-1 win.

Game 3 and 4 will be in the next post...

hope you enjoy

dGG

Hammertime!

Hi all

firstly, my apologies for you now having the MC Hammer song in your head for the rest of the day....

Recently I was very fortunate to win one of Bryan "Vampifan" Scott's fabulous prize giveaways.  If you can't remember what the prize was, the link is here.  Among all that 2000AD goodness was this awesome dude.



Sergeant Hammerstein of the ABC Warriors, I lifted this straight off of Wikipedia to save myself writing a ton of stuff....

Hammerstein is described as a Mark III war droid and was commissioned in the early 21st Century to fight in the Volgan Wars. Hammerstein's right hand is a hammer that is used in hand-to-hand combat while on the back of his left he has a missile launcher. There are tank tracks on his feet to aid mobility. Hammerstein also has two sockets in his waist to attach auxiliary arms but he finds these embarrassing. During combat operations his head has a grim human like face but after he was decommissioned this was replaced with 'civilian' head that features a single square 'eye'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerstein_(comics)

The ABC Warriors are/were in my top ten best thing about 2000ADs universe.  I loved the characters especially the sarge and his human consort Terri - who believed she was a robot! They were also involved in the plot lines of one of my favourite comic characters of all time - Nemesis the Warlock. Fab times!

So imagine my delight then when this 55mm monster blasted his way into da Grotto and demanded to be painted first!

Sgt Hammerstein unbased at the back, you can see the size of him compared to the 28mm figs.

First of all though he needed to be based, originally he comes as a single piece with a integral metal base, but considering the size of him this was woefully inadequate and he couldn't stand up unaided.  So rooting around in my bits box revealed a lovely 60mm round mdf base that I'd bought for my Bolt Action medium machine gun crews.  As it is a really big base I didn't want it to be too plain, so I found some scraps of foamcard that I had used in previous projects and with the judicious application of sand and cat litter produced this...

Knowing that the primer spray I use would melt some of the foam, i covered parts of it in PVA leaving some areas exposed to produce a ruined masonary look that is fairly generic looking.  I then covered the grey primered base in a home made black ink and drybrushed it with Vallejo "Medium Sea Gray" and then again with a drop of white added to the gray.  I then painted Sgt. Hammerstein in a mix of GW's "Runefang Steel" and "Mournfang Brown with a drop of GW "Averland Sunset" to create the golden brown colour.  Then picking out the joints and feet/tracks in black and drybrushing with runefang steel.

base colours and drybrushed joint/feet

after that I used Army Painter's "Strong Tone" and washed the whole model in a really heavy coat. Once that was dry I highlighted with the base mix and then gradually lightened it up with successive tones by adding more "runefang steel".  I picked out the ABC markings in pure white and finsihed the base off with some yellow sector markings and one of Bryan's wanted posters that he'd sent me months ago as another gift!

no gold paint was used in the painting of this model

he's massive!

does my butt look big in this?

are you sure?

As for use for the Sarge, I've got loads fizzing about in my head! from generic robot for almost every futuristic setting to the boss level beastie in a Judge Dredd RPG encounter to finding more of his ABC buddies and running them as a skirmish faction for the JD miniatures game!

What ever I use him for you know that he's gonna be a big hit.......groan, I'll get my coat....

hope you enjoy
dGG

The Nerd Herd expects every man do his duty....

Hi all

"The Nerd Herd expects every man to do his duty..."

With these words of encouragement from Rich aka "Nerd4Life" ringing in our ears, Damon aka "Rulez" and I headed off to Bushido-Autumn Tournament at The Warboar Store, Bromley.  Wearing our Nerd Herd T-Shirts that I had printed up for when the Herd hit the shows, we drove the hour and a bit with our factions packed safely away in their various travel cases, i.e ice cream tub for Rulez' plastic KKZ and my metal ninja that I'd lent him for the tournie safely wrapped in foam. My completely metal warband was worrying as it was a long trip, but i used my anniversary gift for my transport and I took some superglue just in case.

Speaking of Warbands this is mine...

L-R Master Akari, Aiko, The Guardian, Koji's pack and Koji, (front) Earth Kami, (rear) Kenko-the North Tree

So my list was taken from the Temple of Ro-Kan faction and is lead by Master Akari, taken for his speed and agility, he is the defensive master! I took him along to frustrate my opponents heavy hitters and duck away to steal objectives, plus he's a f***ing fighting racoon!!.

an old photo hence the base is different now

Aiko was taken to provide support, her "blessings" are used to buff my other fighters, she was also to be used to distribute "Ki" (spirit energy) during the game ensuring those who need it most can fuel their "Ki feats".

again old photo

The Guardian is a 500lb Gorilla, who has formed an attachment to Aiko and can only be fielded when she is taken.  The Guardian is a bit of a gamble as he looks like he should be a front line fighter but he isn't!, he really needs to be used to back up an already engaged model and then he really shines with his huge damage bonus and ability to toss enemies about like rag dolls.  Although you don't need to take him when you take Aiko, I do because it feels right to have her unusual bodyguard with her. To give him a bit more survivabilty I gave him a couple of enhancements one which gave him some ranged protection and the most important one - Silverback, turning my big gorilla into an even bigger, more fear inducing monster!

i love this guy

Aiko and her Guardian

Keeping with my animal theme, I took Koji and his Pack the newest addition to da Grotto.  Koji would be used to focus and give all his "Ki" to Aiko to distribute, he also can be used to Scout and I would be using him to grab early objectives.  As for his Pack I wanted those cheeky monkeys to frustrate my opponents, sapping activations, getting in the way and using their sixth sense to spot ninjas and other sneaky fiends trying to creep up on my warband.

again the bases have been redone for the triangle and stripes

Next up is the Earth Kami, taken to provide a little bit of armour to my rather vulnerable fighters who tend to shun such heavy rainment. He can pass on some of his rocky properties by touching bases with my monks in the starting phase. He's also not a terrible fighter and can lend a rocky paw if need be.

not a great mini or photo, the Earth Kami none the less is essential 

Lastly is my main fighter Kenko, the North Tree. I love this model, he is just so Shaolin its unbelievable! plus he provides some much needed muscle to a nicely themed but a little vulnerable faction.  He's tough, can boost his melee, speed, and damage and can buff nearby companions with one of his "Ki feats - Inspiration", he was an absolute must have!

Kenko caused so many problems

So that's my Warband...

Rulez took the Kaze Kage Zoku - Shadow Wind Clan, a ninja faction.  I'm gonna let Rulez take over and give you his reasoning behind his choices, but here's a picture of his warband

L-R, Bikhou, Katsumi, Shizuka and Kouhei

and words from Rulez himself, written before the tournament...

Why I choose the following models for KKZ to use in the tournament.

Well with only being able to field 4 models I need to be able to level the playing field numbers-wise against my opponent. So my first choice was easy, Bikou. At only 9 rice with shuriken and the Ki Feat Hail of Steel letting you fly of 3 shurikens at once will hopefully get rid of a few models. Proning models with her Kusari is also useful. Her other Ki Feat distraction is invaluable to use the Ninja's assassin trait.

My second choice was Shizuka. For the ViM scenario's I thought who better to be my ViM. With shadow walk she'll be able to move closer to the enemies side of the table to score VP's and with Mirage being able to take her away from danger, she's a no brainer for me.

My third choice was Katsumi. I needed a heavy hitter and he's quite badass with Brutal(1) and powerful attack. He has before taken out a powerful adversery in one round of melee! Also he's tireless and will hopefully soak up a few activations.

My fourth choice was a little harder. It was between Rin and Kouhei. Rin because she's another tireless model and has MS of 4. Kouhei as she also has the ki feat of Hail of Steel and working alongside bikou shooting out 6 shuriken in rapid sequence could prove fatal to even the most hardy of adversaries. So after play testing both models I went with Kouhei and she also brings a sixth sense model to the table.

This brought me to 40 rice leaving me 2 rice spare. This was easy to spend. I gave a shuriken to Kouhei along with poison weapons.  I also chose the House of the North Star theme, this gives me 2 further special cards which I decided would be Hotai's coin for Katsumi and an event card Smoke Bombs. Instant cover for my Ninja's when needed and also would allow the use of Shizuka's ki feat Shadow Walk when most needed in ViM scenarios. This theme card also gives a soulless model making Bikou's Distraction feat or Shizuka's Mirage an automatic success. Lastly but not least, once per game give out two spirit block tokens to a model of my choice.

I'm really looking forward to my first tournament, hopefully, I can get a couple of good results for the Shadow Wind Clan.

So those were the factions and the reasons why we chose the models that we did!  So how did we do? well the day started at 07:00hrs with Rulez picking me up for a journey should that only take an hour and a half.  The tournament was starting at 10:00 but we had no clue where it was or where the parking was hence the early start.

Nerds on Tour!!

As it happened we made good time and was there by 08:30 which meant we were at a loose end for an hour and a half - luckily for us Games Workshop are launching their return to the light side starting with BLOOD BOWL. One of my all time favourite specialist game from the big bad corp back when they had a soul. The GW store was two doors down from Warboar stores, a little close for comfort so we dropped in on the launch just as the store opened and managed to be the first to unbox the new game which looks absolutely stunning.

Rulez tears into the new boxset with glee!!

gorgeous miniatures

Maybe it's time to return to the fold especially when you see that the humour is back in the old girl...

jut behind the sign is a can of body spray!! 

The manager of the Bromley store clearly has stepped up  to the challenge that has plagued games clubs since the dawn of time - the inexplicable fact that a percentage of gamers seem unable to master basic hygiene, one of the reasons why I have left numerous clubs in the past and had to game with a smaller group of folks, hand chosen who share the same values.... Sorry if that is offensive but most of us have experienced it and i'm glad someone has tackled it (plus I found it hilarious).

Anyway back to the tournament....

We arrived and registered with Mr Stu and made our way upstairs to the event room and let me just stop to digress again by saying just how brilliant a games store Warboar is.  It is just what you would want, clearly designed and staffed by gaming enthusiasts, the store is heaving with miniatures, games and board games of all kinds. Tables downstairs were filled with players of all types, playing scratch games and inviting people to sit down and join them.  D&D was being played next to Magic, next to some independent board game that I just didn't recognise, it was heaven - just a shame its so far away!  There is even a cafe on the premise so you don't even need to leave your seat.

Anyway back to the tournament.....

There were 14 players of all different ages and levels of ability and experience in the game. Everybody and I do mean everybody was friendly and welcoming and genuinely wanted to help and talk about the game.  What I have noticed about the Bushido crowd as well, is the openness and the honesty involved, no hidden army lists with awful surprises and spammy lists of filth.  You were allowed to read the cards of all of the factions, the theme cards, the special items everything!  This meant that the onus was with the player to use his tactics to win! And with the balance that Bushido has within the game, no faction has any real advantage over any other they just play differently - perfect!  Mr Stu has to be commended for the efforts he has put into his tournament, below are some of the boards he built for this and his first tournament, i'm so jealous as they are excellent.

 and he's still wanting to do more!!

I was a little overwhelmed by the experience to take proper notes of my games, of which we all played four and I will let Rulez tell you about his games when he submits his report, but I will show you the pictures I took and give you a broad stroke of what happened.

My first game was against a really nice fellow from Hampshire - Rick.  He was playing a Cult of Yurei warband.  The Cult as you may remember from my post here, are a group of supernatural monster intent on destroying the delicate balance of the Jwar Isles. I have never faced them before, although I have played one game with the starter set, none of which featured in Rick's band, which was beautifully painted and actually won the painting competition.

preparation for my first battle!

The board was filled with four large yurts that worked totally in my favour and Rick's poor deployment aided the Temple cause as he was bottled up in the corner and was funneled into certain areas that I could control with Kenko and the Guardian, while my other characters could complete objectives and although the first scoring turn (turn 2) was a draw so no VP gained by either side I was able to score a much needed VP in the 4th turn.  In fact so bottled up was he that if the game would have made it to a 6th turn (the final scoring turn) I would have scored a 2-0 victory, as it was the game ended in turn 4 as we ran out of time with a 1-0 victory to me! Amazingly I had won my first competitive game, a very happy Gobbo I was! Rick was a lovely opponent and was a joy to play so I went onto my next game not worried what the result was to be as I had won one game (that was my highest aspiration for the day to win a single game!).

Next I played Luke, I'm not sure where Luke is from but again a thoroughly pleasant guy and a real pleasure to play against.  Luke bought a Tengu force, a bird like race of beings who live in the mountains of Jwar.  This faction was new to Luke, it was his second ever game with them although you wouldn't know it as he handled them really well and beat my boys to a deserved 0-1 loss to me.  The low point was when my Guardian charged his support model, who he should have creamed only to be killed outright by a well timed counter-charge by his powerful bird samurai. Luke had managed to paint one of the figures and it looked really good so it will be nice to see the warband when they are all finished!  This game could have been a whitewash for me so I was glad when Mr Stu called time on it before Luke could finish the job and it mean I lose more tournament points.

During lunch we had to decide on the "Best Painted Warband" competition, there was a lot of really well painted miniatures but the winner, well deserved was Rick's Cult.

Ashley's Ashigaru force

Rick's Cult of Yurei

Jack's Peasant Temple of Ro-Kan 

Pirates - not sure who's

Ninjas, again not sure who did it but the ninja on the right is in disguise which is one of his traits, the disguise was custom made and it looked brilliant!

After lunch I faced off against Ashley, again from Hampshire and got my nomination for best sportsman of the tournament, a real gentleman. Ashley had bought with him an Ashigaru warband from the Prefecture of Ryu, with only a single Samurai.  This game was absolutely nail biting as it was zonal control and it all kicked off big time in my zone as Ashley pressed really hard. Fortunately for me my big "man" stepped up! my MVP had to be the Guardian as he scared the bejezzus out of the majority of his force as they failed fear test after fear test and refused to charge into melee with him and when he took the fight to them he tossed them about like rag dolls throwing the Samurai into his soldiers time and again. My favourite moment was truly grizzly as he chucked the corpse of one of Ashley's ashigaru into another one, bowling him over.  The game was heading for a 0-0 as neither of us seemed able to break the deadlock until we both remembered the final victory condition which was that a nominated model needed to be closer to the opponents table edge than the other.  Almost at the same time we both made the realisation and darted our VIMs (Very important Models) toward each others edge.  I sacrificed Aiko, who is a dreadful fighter and was going to get slaughtered, but crucially meant that Ashley's VIM couldn't progress any further.  My VIM was Master Akari who is a lot more agile and using a huge amount of "Ki" he darted through the press and dashed for Ashley's table edge and with his last activation got closer winning me the VP, 1-0 to da Gobbo!!

So I had two wins and a loss and was looking at placing! what?!? I just had to do well in the last game, dare I dream??

Well first I had to face Paul's Cult.  I was hoping to face a different faction just to get more exposure to them but Paul's force was different to Rick's so it was still good.  Paul was a terrific opponent and he looked to be cruising to an easy victory when he destroyed the Guardian in one shot and wounded Kenko to within an inch of his life. However the last game was "The Messenger" and it centres around a hidden VIM.  That VIM has to get into your opponents deployment zone which is a six inch square in the opposite corners, so it wasn't about killing your opponents models - although it doesn't help!  With the crippling of my main fighters I had to play a hail mary, now in this particular game you can gain a VP by revealing your VIM in your opponents deployment area before they do and this gets you a single VP, what happens after that though is that your VIM gets targeted because he is now open, not hidden and the remaining 2 VPs are acquired by killing the opponents VIM while keeping yours alive.  My hail mary was to gain that early VP and the try to keep my VIM - Master Akari again, alive.  Using an extraordinary amount of "Ki" I ran Master Akari nearly the length of the board and using his agility sneaked through is blocking fighters to score.  What followed was a cat and mouse game with his scary monsters trying to catch and kill the elusive Yokai. Thankfully he held out against the odds and I scraped a 1-0!!!

Kenko surrounded by monsters, but still fights on bravely

even Koji's tiny monkeys played their part fighting back the darkness and distracting the Cult from Akari

So the day ended with three 1-0 victories for me and a 0-1 loss giving me 21 points.  However I was pipped to third place by a very lucky win in the last game by Matt, a really nice bloke who was gobsmacked that he had placed. So I finished fourth... but how did Rulez do well he finished first!! after two very amazing 3-0 wins, a 2-1 and a 1-1 he scored a terrific 30 points to take top spot in his first ever tournament!  The Nerd Herd wins!!!

third place Matt with Prefecture of Ryu

second place - Jack with his Temple

Damon "Rulez" of the Nerd Herd - first place with his KKZ

Rick who won Best Painted

Ben - Best Sportsman (joint....)

Rick won Best Painted Warband with his beautiful Cult of Yurei and Ben - above, won (joint) "Best Sportsman" pictured with his prize, as there was only one prize Mr Stu rolled a dice to see who would get the prize and it was Ben, who literally helped his opponents during the game so that they could more enjoy the experience.....

so who was he joint with? yep you guessed it, it was me!  As we received the same amount of votes and there was only one prize Mr Stu rolled a dice to see who would get the prize and..... I was beaten to it by a dice roll, story of my gaming life - hahaha. Ah I thought he was a good guy too so who can be cross with that, I must admit I was flattered though that people thought enough of my playing style to vote for me.

And that was that, my first comp in about 20 years, Rulez' first comp ever and a ball was had.  We finally rolled home at 21:30 so it was a long day, but what a day!!

hope you enjoy
dGG