Hobby Update – Lizards and Dwarves

The blog has again been a bit quiet recently. That’s not to say I’ve not been doing anything, no sir-ee.

I’ve played a couple of games of Kings of War in the club competition. I’ll do a post about these at a later date but it won’t be my normal detailed faire as although I like the game, I just don’t enjoy writing about it as much and if the inspiration isn’t there, then it’s harder justifying putting in the time to write about it.

On the painting front, it’s one of those months where a number of things just seem to be coming to fruition.

Dwarf Adventurer – Zealot Miniatures

The below is one of the 4 female adventurers from the Zealot Miniatures Minotaur KS, in this case the dwarf. I really like the model and although the picture is pretty dark (seriously I need an external lamp to help brighten the light box further), the model is also painted fairly dark to represent the fact she has been trudging through dungeons. With the adventurers pack on the model, I felt it is only fair that she should replace the current dwarf model I’m using for our DnD adventure (the one I use on the title page). This will necessitate a certain gender fluidity for the character I’m using…

On the Lizardmen side, I’ve continued to tackle the bigger gribblies I’ve purchased, mainly as the aim of the army is to run a monster mash list, that is to fit in as many larger creatures as possible.

Kroxigor – Games Workshop

The first of those completed were 6 Kroxigors. I struggled to paint these as I just wasn’t feeling the models. When I often struggle to paint anyway, to hit a block means they will sit on the board for a good deal longer than usual. The final drive to finish them actually came curtesy of someone from Instagram, which was nice. In general that platform seems to have a good community (though it is more transitory in nature than most of the others).

Game wise, these guys are big hitters. They only have weapon skill 3 so will tend to hit only on a 4+ (very average) but with a natural strength of 5 and great weapons (that give +2 Str), they will pulverise anything they do hit and impose a whopping -4 to armour saves. They get 3 attacks as standard and the supporting rank also gets their full 3 attacks (due to the monstrous infantry rule).  On top of that, any natural roll of 6 to hit, will grant them an additional attack. They then also get a Str 5 bonus auto hitting ‘stomp’ attack at the end of each combat. That is some good damage output. They also cause fear.

The drawback is the great weapons means they strike last, so they have to weather any damage in order to actually attack. How do fair on that front? Not bad. They have an OK toughness of 4. In a game where high strength is rife, it won’t help too much but it isn’t shabby and at least helps against normal bow fire of Str 3 (meaning 5+ to wound) and Str 4 crossbows and handguns (4+ to wound). The 4+ Scaly skin armour save is decent too and having 3 wounds each, again helps soak up damage before you have to remove models.

Ideally you want these guys against high armour, low model count opponents, where their high strength will really make an impact. My favoured unit size is 6 run in a 3*3 formation. They are 50 points each (so probably 5-10 points more expensive than they should be) and so a unit of 6 will set you back 300 points (310 with a champion).

Paint wise, they had a base of Liche Purple (the old hex GW pot), a wash with Drakenhof Nightshade and then dry brushed with Stormfang. The scales were Averland Sunset highlighted with Yriel Yellow. The clubs had the handle painted with Tuskgor Fur. Warpstone Glow for the heads and Balthasar Gold for the detail. For washes, Nuln oil was used on the Gold/Brown and Athonian Camoshade on the club heads.

Basildon with Solar Engine

Compared to the Kroxigor, this model was an absolute joy to both paint and build. It might have helped that it was plastic (rather than the finecast the Krox’ came in) or just due to the detail on it (not something I normally rave about). Either way, I finished this in a week which is pretty good going for me.

In game, there has always been a debate on whether these things are worth taking. As a monster, they are fairly weak on the attack with only 3 attacks at weapon skill 3 (4′ to hit normally) and a strength of only 4. All it’s attacks have the always strike last rule (so the same as the Kroxigor due to the great weapons). One of it’s attacks (nominate before rolling) does strike at Str 10 (which is huge) and if an attacker is in the rear arc you get +1 to hit (I can’t see that coming into play often). He does also get 3 Str 3 poisoned attacks from the crew but again that is pretty meh. He does cause Terror (so a slim chance of an opponent running if you charge them).

So if the attacks aren’t great, what do you take him for? Well for defence he has 4 wounds (not bad), is toughness 5 (pretty good) and has a 2+ scaly skin armour save (excellent). On top of that, he has the Impervious Defence rule. This means he doesn’t count as having a flank or rear for working out combat resolution. This makes him ideal for putting on the end of your lines.

He also comes with the Solar Engine mounted on him. The minor bonus of this is that all friendly cold-blooded models within 6″ get +1 to their initiative. As most of your army has low initiative (Saurus warriors have 1!, Temple Guard have 2!) it can help their survivability vs the initiative ‘test or die’ spells and having Temple Guard strike at I3 actually makes a big difference as it brings them on par with most humans so they srike at the same time rather than last.

The Engine also gives a bound spell (casting value 3). A, flaming, magic missile with a 24″ range. If successfully cast roll a D6. On a 1, it causes D3 Str 3 hits. 2-3 D6 Str 4 hits. 4-5 2D6 Str 5 hits and on a 6, it causes 2D6 Str 6 hits. In addition the target suffers -1 to their weapon and ballistic skill until the Basildon’s next turn.

The 4-6 roll is very good but the joy of this is you can roll one magic dice to try and get it off (2 will almost guarantee it).

Paint wise, the belly was painted with Lothern Blue and given a wash of Drakenhof Nightshade. The shell was Genestealer purple with a wash of Druchii Violet. The engine was Eshin Grey with Administratum grey for the lighter areas. Detail was done with Teclis blue and Balthasar Gold and the whole engine washed with Nuln oil (man i’m starting to love that as a cheats wash). The Crystal was painted Averland Sunset with highlights of Yriel Yellow and then flash gitz yellow. The skinks were kept very traditional with the main being temple guard blue washed with Drakenhof again. They got a Khorne red crest (with Carroburg crimson wash) and the spears were Mechanicus Standard grey and balthsar gold points.

And because the rain actually stopped for 5 minutes, the shots were taken in the garden!