Wednesday 27 February 2013

URGENT APPEAL

I don't do this very often but i am today.

This is an URGENT APPEAL from F.A.I.T.H Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk.

They have an 8 year old Mastiff named max (we walked him when we adopted Ellie).

He suffers from arthritis and the constant cold weather is taking it's toll on this gentle giant of a dog. Unfortunately the vets don't hold much hope for him unless he can be found a foster/forever home soon as he is suffering more and more pain.

What can i say about Max.

He is a big ol boy, with a bigger heart. An absolute gem of a dog, gentle, loving and affectionate (we got this from just a few minutes with him). He was perfect with our little 6 year old girl, showed no aggression when being offered a treat and having it removed. He would require little exercise as he cant manage to walk more than a few hundred metres without suffering from his arthritis.

So please, if anyone has a max sized hole, then give this wonderful boy a chance to live out his days in happiness and love like he deserves. He has so much love to give in return.
FAITH are willing to let max out to a home as a foster, meaning they will meet the costs of his treatments, as long as max can be take to their vets.

If you can help please contact F.A.I.T.H Animal Rescue

either by phone on (01692) 598 312
twitter  @FaithAnimalRescue
Facebook www.facebook.com/faithrescue
e-mail  faithanimalrescue@hotmail.com

Or in person between 10am and 3pm everyday except Thursdays, by visiting the rescue centre at

FAITH Animal Rescue
Stubb Road
Hickling
Norfolk
NR12 0BW

Even if you can't help directly, please please help by sharing this post, or faiths own post on facebook!.

Sunday 24 February 2013

Been a while

As the title says, it has indeed been a while.

In my previous post i was talking about us trying to adopt a gsd named Ellie, our approval was though but we had to wait for a final nod.

Well as the time between posts probably indicates, we got a yes and we have spent the last 2 weeks settling our gorgeous new addition into the family. What a beautiful, wonderful dog she has turned out to be.
Hand on heart she hasn't given us a single reason to regret adopting her and is everything we hoped for and more.

Here she is, posing it up in the woods a few days ago!
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/oldwolf76/Ellie/elliewoods1_zps49b9ef04.jpg[/IMG]

Aside from that the hobby has ground to a halt. Not through anything other than a lack of time due to work and settling Ellie in.

I have managed to acquire the Sigmar series of books and must say, 100 pages in, its awesome and well worth the read.

I have also nailed down the paint scheme for the empire army. Altdorf it will be, i have all the paints and will soon set about the models i have with brush and gusto.

So that's the little and late update.

Enjoy your evening :)

Wednesday 6 February 2013

What once was..wont be again.

Strange days and endless waves....

Got approved to adopt our doggie today :) then got told the need to check with the rescue centre if it would be ok for the dog to be left home alone for a whopping 4 hours one day a week. Sigh  :( so back to waiting another 24-48 hours for an answer.

But another few hours of painting pondering and general hobbying. It's kinda addictive this stuff.

The post title says it all. I tried to recreate the colouring i got on my empire test mini, on the witch hunter I'm working on. F.A.I.L.
If' it's going to be that difficult to pull off then the main army scheme needed reviewing. After pondering reikland or hochland. I settled on Hochland, though it wont be 100% set in stone until some basic models are painted up.

But without much ado..here he is.

Sebastien Von Reinstag (very much a wip)
 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/oldwolf76/BCc6gZWCAAE6F5rjpglarge_zpsea96adb4.jpg

Aside from a little work on the above model. Inspiration via outside sources struck like a hammer blow. I have an itch to make a gaming board....of an empire village square.
Cobbled road sections, a main central feature with a few of the local houses and buildings dotted about. Open enough to allow for a game of warhammer, fair enough to be fun.

Initial inspiration credit goes to the guys at  http://www.tabletop-world.com/

That's pretty much it for tonight.

Monday 4 February 2013

whatya mean i need to lose 600 points off the army...sobs

Ok so i went back to the drawing board on the army as a whole after finding out that the local tournament scene runs at 2400 points. There is no point playing above that as both myself and my partner would like to eventually try the tourny scene.

So after much to-ing and fro-ing i have trimmed the list down to 2400 points exactly.


LORDS

Arch Lector, fpa, shield, talisman of protection, Warrior Bane (Joins halbediers)

Wizard Lord lvl 4 with dispel scroll (joins hand gunners)

HEROES

Witch Hunter with paired pistols

Master Engineer

Captain, BSB, FPA, Shield, Great weapon (joins great swords)

CORE

39 Halbediers, shields, full command
5 man archer detachment
8 Knights, musician
10 handgunners

SPECIAL

Great Cannon
Great Cannon
29 Greatswords, full command, Standard of discipline.
5 man archer detachment
5 Demigryphs, full command, Gleaming Banner

RARE
Celestial Hurricanum
Hellblaster Volleygun.

Please feel free to comments and leave feedback on the list. I think i may go grey and senile before this list is right sigh

Sunday 3 February 2013

who let the dogs out woof woof woof

Well we didn't let them out per se...but we did take some walkies.

Random statement unless you follow me on twitter @ghostwalker0299 or on face book as Mark Peel.

Today has been a bit of a mish mash though.

My army list crumbled...not because of perceived flaws, but because i discovered the local meta game outside of my own 4 walls....runs at 2400 points and not 3000. That's 600 points to lose from an army list that i was already screaming 'there ain't enough points' at.
Ho hum back to the drawing board.

Then there is painting....
After lots of inactivity, there was the guardsmen and i was happy with them.
Now add to that there is the test mini hand gunner for my empire and i have started work on my witch hunter too. In real life he is a little less yellow...poor lighting.







Witch Hunter wip



Busy eh....but it all got rounded off nicely today.
We have been pondering getting a dog for a while. But we wanted to get a rescue dog that needed a loving home. With that thought in mind today we set off for the F.A.I.T.H Animal Rescue centre on hickling broad in Norfolk. We had an idea of what sort of dog we would like but wanted to be open minded. our only ifs and buts were our considerations of home size, children and what we wanted from the dog.

So first off we met samson..
o


he all but threw himself through the pen gates to us. You cant argue with that and we took him for a walk. Here the highlight of the day was had, as carol knelt down to look samson in the face and he lunged up knocking her onto her backside in the mud and proceeded to wash her face with big wet doggy kisses.
A real live wire we thought lots about samson. But with children in and around 6 we felt he might be just a tad too lively for the kids.

Next up was Max.


Max was a bit older at 7 years old and slightly arthritic. But he was an absolutely lovely dog and sooo big. Despite his size he didn't once pull on the lead and he was very affectionate. Though he wouldn't let another dog named ellie, get anywhere near the gates to meet us (more on that in a mo). We both loved max and he is such a lovely dog. If we were older and wanted a less active dog, then this fella would have been the one for us. But we still have a lot of life and want to go for long walks with our pet pooch. Its a sad way to choose, but it wouldn't be fair on this lovely old boy as he struggled with the 600 metre walk we went on. He really deserves a loving home. I know if my step dad didn't already have a rescue dog from faith, then max would have been going home with him. Heartbreakingly hard decision to make.

Finally came Ellie.


Now people would say i was biased. I saw ellie on the centres website and loved her. After making some enquiries i felt she would be a good choice. But open mindedness was the order of the day. On seeing ellie she was being butt slammed by big ol max. Her response was to growl a bit and my initial reaction was to say..no.
However this was unfair as she was trying to get to the gates to see us and just frustrated and the man mountain of a dog hogging the attention.
So after walking max we asked to see ellie. I had no expectations at this point and genuinely thought we would end up with samson or max.
Ellie was having none of it. A complete joy to walk, affectionate and responsive she showed positive signs. As with the other dogs i fed her a few treats and fussed her whilst eating to see if she would react. Just like the other she showed no reaction.
As with the other we introduced her to our little 6 year old. Here Ellie scored her first check over the others. She wasn't so full on in her face and in turn this gave our little girl a little more confidence.
On return to the centre we stood talking with the centre staff and amongst ourselves trying to figure out which dog to go for. It was mentally and emotionally tiring and heartbreaking (i would have taken all 3 if i could have).
Eventually one of the centre staff brought out the info on the dogs. Samson was a rescue from Romania, with no known background. Max was rescued after his owner died, apparently the poor dog had nearly strangled himself after spending 2 days trying to get to his owners body. This made things harder.
But alas Ellie stepped in here for the Take me home moment. She was bought into the centre at 10 months old, had lived with children, dogs and had never shown any sign of aggression and had responded well to training. At 18 months old she was still young enough to train easily, sprightly enough to go for long walks and play. But unlike samson she wasn't quite so madly bouncy.

Decision made we have now reserved her. Pending a home visit and approval we should hopefully be giving this beautiful dog a loving forever home.

A long day, a tired hobbyist and blogger, but a happy one.

If you have the chance to give a dog a home, please do consider a rescue. The centres do fantastic work and every dog deserves a loving forever home.

Saturday 2 February 2013

For the empire.....errr again mk2

So after some helpful feedback via the empire forums and twitter, i made some changes to the list. I still get to keep the lovely warrior priest, he just gets a pimped out ride lol

I was thinking about dropping the great swords to free points up for the arch lector and running something like this.

[u][b]LORDS[/b][/u]

Arch Lector, armour of meteroic iron, talisman of protection, sword of swift slaying, shield
War alter, horn of sigmusund.

Wizord lord, lvl 4, dispel scroll, Lore of light
Luminark of Hysh

[u][b]HEROES[/b][/u]

Captain of the empire
FPA, Shield, bsb with war banner.

Witch hunter, brace of pistols, ring of volans (fire)

Master engineer, light armour.

[u][b]CORE[/b][/u]

10 Hand gunneRS
10 Handgunners
39 Halberdiers, shields, full command, joined by Bsb. 5 man crossbow detatchment.
40 Swordsman, Full Command. 5 man crossbow detatchment.
12 Knights, full command.

[u][b]SPECIAL[/b][/u]
Great Cannon
Great Cannon
6 Demingryphs, full command, lance/shield
5 Outriders

[u][b]RARE[/b][/u]
Hell Blaster Volley Gun

The general idea being that the war alter sits between the halbediers and swordsmen and uses prayers to aid both. The knighs and demigryphs deploy either on each flank or in response to opposing units of threat. Cannons pair up protected by a unit of hand gunners, hellblaster goes to anchor a flank and is babysat by other handgunners. Witch hunter wanders alone if suitable or joins swordsman for a ride. Luminark deploys beside either of the main blocks depending on opposing warmachines.

Thoughts on the changed list more than welcome.

Friday 1 February 2013

For the Empire.....

So i finally got around to writing out an empire army list today. The main objectives were to make a fun balanced list that included in no short order....A luminark of hysh, demigryphs, a warrior priest, a witch hunter and some greatswords. These are the models that i like the most in the empire army book and pretty much are a must in the basic list.

LORDS

Battle Wizard Lord lvl 4
Dispel scroll.
Lore of life
Luminark of hysh

HEROES

Witch Hunter, Brace of pistols, great weapon. (Joins Halbediers)
Warrior Priest, Additional hand weapon, Shield, Ring of volans (joins swordsmen)
Captain, FPA,Great weapon, shield, BSB with Griffon Banner (joins Great swords)
Master Engineer, light armour

CORE

10 Crossbowmen
10 Hand Gunners, champion, hochland long rifle
39 Halbediers, Full command, shields
39 Swordsmen, Full command
12 Knights, Full command

SPECIAL

5 Demigryphs, Halberds
29 Great Swords
5 Pistoliers
Great Cannon
Mortar

RARE
Hellstorm Rocket
Hellblaster Volley Gun

I make the army a total of 3000 points broken down as
731pts on lords/heroes
1110 on core
919 on special
240 on rare.

If any of you have any thoughts, feedback or advice, its more than welcome as i haven't played warhammer since 5th edition.

Are we there yet....

As many of you may have guessed from the last post...all is not right in the head of this demented wargamer.

But sometimes you need to smash head first into the brick wall to find the way around it. And so was the case the other night. Completely bored and not enjoying any of my hobbying I crashed into the wall....or more appropriately I sat wistfully watching my other half happily painting her tomb kings whilst I sat and pretty much surrendered.

The changes and flit flat from project to project has taken its toll and finally the straw broke the camels back and I got to a point where I was just about ready to quit the hobby out of frustration. So much money and time spent picking and putting down bits of armies that really didn't work for me.

But i'm here now...so something must of happened. In truth it was a bit of a hobbyist heart to heart with my better half. A long process of looking back of the last 6 or 7 years at whats gone wrong and where it went wrong. I wont bore you with the details... but suffice to say I had wandered into the land of being a collector rather than a gamer.
I don't know how many of you read white dwarf but this months carried an article that rang true with myself. But unlike the article, my desire to game was being killed by the collector in me, and the perfectionist painter.

So I executed the perfectionist painter, I know how to deal with that. Tabletop standard rank and file, top quality on the characters and centre pieces.

Dealing with the otherside was a little more difficult and for any of you suffering similar, here is what I did.

The 2 primary games I want to play are 40k and fantasy battle.
In 40k I fell out of love with the whole game. But conversations via twitter, with other people always leave me wanting to do a guard army. I think its the fact I can really get down into the mindset of a guardsman due to my own time in the army.
My forays with forgeworld models had left me very frustrated. So the only answer if I was to move forward was plastic.
So the decision made, I got a box of cadians and well...their all painted and based. A wow moment for me of late! Pics will follow when I can get better light.

Fantasy on the other hand...doesn't relly allow a person down into the mindset of the model from an experience point of view...well not unless you know your reincarnated from a medievil knight or the likes.
The process for dealing with this was a bit more painfull.
Dragged kicking and screaming through every army by my other half, she made mental notes on things like, my play style, which models I liked more and which armys I either wrote off, hmmm'd and haaaa'd about and which I was more positive about.
Then she showed my an empire hand gunner I had painted months ago, to be honest I loved the model and the colour scheme. At the time I wrote it off as well....I just do that to myself a lot.

So that decision was made too. However the fantasy army was decided with one stipulation. Due to my tendancy to get...bored... The army must be purchased, assembled and used and then painted as I go along. The idea, playing should inspire enthusiasm to paint.

You know...it might just work.