Besides my latest post about the results from "Tides of War":'Blood in the Sand', it has been a very long time (month and a half) since I posted anything regarding my hobbying/modeling. Time to do some catching up.
It's not like I haven't been doing anything, just trying to shuffle all my hobbies around the limited time I do have. Last month my boys and I recently got back into 1/24th Slot Car Racing so that has been taking away most of my Saturday's, and we have been gaming (just not painting much).
LoTR
Last I wrote I was painting some Easterling's for my LoTR and WoTR armies. We'll besides what was posted, nothing else has been done with this army except for re-boxing them and placing them back on the shelf. I have plenty of LoTR armies to play with when I want to have a game, so there is not a need/priority to get these done. Besides the event I was planning on attending (the need to get the army done) we will no longer be attending.
Yesterday we did launch a LoTR League here in the East Valley of Phoenix (more information can be found on Adeptus Arizona). This league was setup to attract new players and to keep the season short and simple so we can all have fun. Well we had 14 players show up for the 'draft' yesterday and many of those were new faces to LoTR. Games will be starting at 350 points and can max out at 425 points. The League will run for 5 weeks and then we will have the playoff's. So with these 5 games coming up, my son and I will be getting our LoTR gaming in.
Warhammer 40,000
Next up Warhammer 40,000. I obviously have enough of these armies done with also to play games with. So my current projects with the Blood Angels have also been placed on hold. The new Dark Eldar codex will finally be arriving shortly. The new models also look awesome, but I have over 3000 points of Dark Eldar in a beautiful paint scheme already. So most likely I'll be picking up the new codex and see what I can play with what I already have.
Along with the LoTR League which just launched yesterday, we are starting to wrap up the Warhammer 40K League at the same time. We are currently starting Week 9 of 10 and again playoff's will follow the season. Currently I am leading my Division, but I do have 2 games to go and all the Divisions are very tight. So far it has been a good time, and the player's are having fun. I will be running another session of the league, but it may wait until I decide what I want to do with Fantasy.
Warhammer Fantasy
When we moved back to Chicago in January 2009, Warhammer Fantasy became our game again (Fantasy is what has gotten me into Warhammer many years ago) we even played in a 10 week League that I was running there. But moving back to Phoenix this past April my son and I had played very little. Even with the launch of 8th Edition in July I was still a little hesitant to play again. Honestly the main reason for getting into LoTR and W40K was that there was less models to paint to finish an army. I enjoy playing with painted armies as much as possible and one unit in Fantasy is almost a whole army in 40K. But my true love still resides in the 'Fantasy' realm over the 'Sci-fi' realm.
The weekend of September 18th-19th I helped a friend of mine (Ian) run his "Tides of War" Warhammer Fantasy GT. After spending the weekend there with him and seeing all the Fantasy armies again, I knew it was time to get back into Fantasy. But I'm only coming back for fun. Years ago I got to competitive with it and it wasnt fun anymore, now I just want to play fun games and be involved in some campaigns. I also really love what Games Workshop did with the rules for 8th Edition and I believe they brought the fun back into the game.
This past Friday night, my son and I finally got to throw down all 6 Turns with the latest 8th Edition rules. We played 2000 points (the point limit I like to play, it makes you think about what units you want in your army). My son was trying his Wood Elves army, and I broke out the Dwarfs. I really enjoyed the game. I tabled my son in the Turn 6, but I hope he also enjoyed game. I know he was thinking about doing a High Elf army next (if I decide to buy IoB).
Painting
So with all that being said what do we currently have on the painting table? I started going through my very first Fantasy army (Empire) and re-doing the bases to match my new standard for my Fantasy armies. At the same time I am also touching up any models that may need it. For now I wont be adding any Empire to the army (I currently have just over 3000 points) I just want to refresh their look a bit.
I also have 3 more units of Dark Elves that I need to finish. 2 Units of Spearmen, and 1 Unit of Black Guard. I'll first be working on the Spearmen because for 2000 points I need these 2 Units completed. The Black Guard is for when I play 2250 and if I decide to expand higher.
My Dwarfs are pretty much complete. I have roughly about 2250 points in newer models, and with the older molds and I can go higher. Some of the older models will also need to have their bases redone, but for now they can wait. I have a very fun playable 2000 point army.
My son's Wood Elves army could use some work to be a bit competitive in 8th Edition. A few more Treekin would be nice to have (but at $20 a model, it may be better to start the High Elves). He has 2000-2500 points currently nicely painted. He can play with what he has.
For new armies, as stated above my son may be interested in some High Elves, and I always wanted a Skaven army. I really enjoy the look of the army. I only have 1 Ratling Gun and 1 box of Clanrats, we'll see where we go from there.
To sum it all up.... I need more hours in a day..... I think priority will be to play more Fantasy, then we'll throw in some 40K games when time allows and finally get some more Fantasy painted up.