The Axeman!

If you drive a car, I'll axe the street,

If you try to sit, I'll axe your seat.

If you get too cold I'll axe the heat,

If you take a walk, I'll axe your feet.

Axeman!

Cos I'm the axeman, yeah I'm the axeman!

This guy only took me perhaps 3 hours total, spread over an evening, which is blinding speed for me. It is also my favorite mini that I've painted so far, and not just because I have wanted to own a White Lion since I was young.

Everything just kind of worked on this model. The non-metalic metal, which I have been struggling with, is the best I have achieved so far, and in two different colors too! I especially like the side of the helmet pictured above. The axe head is another story...I'm not saying I still don't have plenty to work on.

But it is an encouraging step... so encouraging that I'm now thinking of converting some Mantic elf scouts into a Pro Elf team for the Chaos Cup this year, and that would mean plenty more NMM in this style. I'd better get moving, though. That's coming right up!

I was surprised by just how un-systematic painting this metal was. Sure, I had to plan somewhat carefully (you always do), but the things that really helped were 1) having all of the colors blended on my pallet, and 2) not being afraid to go back in with a color I had previously used. It is a much more 'painterly' approach, very different to the mindset in which you highlight with one color, move on to the next, and rarely go back.

I am also extremely pleased with the face. I don't often achieve that kind of expression, and it is quite gratifying. I think the reason it came out so good (for me) was that I was able to leave the deep shades in tact during the highlighting process, which really helped to define the features.

...Speaking of Blood Bowl conversions, I would also like to welcome a few of the new followers who I haven't formally acknowledged yet. These are Paaor, The One, Fireymonkeyboy, and Sir Skofis. Welcome and thank you for reading!

Firemonkeyboy is a contributor on multiple blogs that I read, and it is an honor to have him following, you should check out the links to his blogs on his profile.

I have only recently discovered Sir Skofis's excellent blog Sir Skofis's Workshop. He has excellent articles on converting and sculpting figures for Blood Bowl (which put my efforts to shame,) as well as astounding scratch-built 40k vehicles. Check him out! He deserves to be followed!

Chaos Cup Fever!

So the Chaos Cup is coming right up, and I am getting super-excited to attend my first ever Blood Bowl tournament.

Of course money's a little tight right now, so we'll see about fielding that perfect High Elf team... and there's no good way to get from Chicago to Palatine in time for the first round every morning. But these are all quibbles, and for now I am pretending with all my heart that I am definitely going to Chaos Cup. After all, I have until August 31st to preregister.

Since I'm still pretty new to the game, I've decided to put in some serious training in preparation for the tournament. To this end, I have decided that from now until the opening of the Chaos Cup on September 15th, I will be playing at least 3 games of Bloodbowl a week on FUMBBL, and posting the results here.

My Team:

 Gorefindle's Gutters

#	Name	Position	Ma	St	Ag	Av	Skills	Inj	G	Cp	Td	It	Cs	vp	Sp	Cost	Op
1	Gorefindle	Thrower	6	3	4	8	Pass, Safe Throw, Dodge, Strong Arm		8	10	1	0	0	1	18	90k (90+50k)
2	Kill-Galad	Blitzer	7	3	4	8	Block, Dodge		8	0	1	0	3	1	14	100k (100+20k)
3	Fellrond Half-Cloven	Blitzer	8	3	3	8	Block, +MA	-ag	7	0	1	0	1	1	10	100k (100+30k)
4	Shmegolas	Lineman	6	3	4	7	Wrestle	-av	7	0	1	0	0	1	8	70k (70+20k)
5	Smellendil II	Lineman	6	3	4	8	Block		4	0	0	0	1	1	7	70k (70+20k)
6	Tearendil	Lineman	6	3	4	7		-av	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	70k (70+0k)
7	Arsil	Lineman	6	3	4	8			8	0	0	0	0	0	0	70k (70+0k)
8	Ensnarion	Catcher	8	3	4	7	Catch		2	0	1	0	0	0	3	90k (90+0k)
9	Gabadriel	Lineman	6	3	4	8			7	0	0	0	0	1	5	70k (70+0k)
10	Scarowen Evenscar	Lineman	6	3	4	8			8	0	0	0	2	0	4	70k (70+0k)
11	Elderdeath Kinslayer	Lineman	6	3	4	8	Block		8	0	1	0	0	2	13	70k (70+20k)
12	Englarion	Catcher	8	3	4	7	Catch		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	90k (90+0k)
Team Name: Gorefindle's Gutters Re-Rolls (100k): 3   Race: High Elf Fan Factor: 3   Team Value: 1350k Assistant Coaches: 0   Treasury: 0 Cheerleaders: 0   Coach: Dieselhorst Apothecary: Yes   Tournament Weight: 1350k Team Wizard: No

Game 1:

My first game was against a Khemri team, They Die! Now, before playing this game, I had only played 7 games with my elves, and my record wasn't good-- 1/1/5 in fact. But I was determined to take the result, whatever it was, and learn from it.

First Half:

I chose to receive the ball in the first half, since I feared having to defend against four mummies for the whole half. This plan looked good at first. I managed to sneak a catcher, blitzer and lineman around his defense in the early turns, and nailed a pass deep into the Khemri zone. Not deep enough though, and my catcher was left unsupported against one throw-ra who managed a one-dice blitz on two GFIs to knock my catcher down and take the ball. All was not lost, though, as I still had a blitzer deep. However, in the next turn I jumped the gun and immediately blitzed the ball carrier and foolishly re-rolled the push result, getting instead.............................................

A defender down. With that turn lost, it wasn't hard for the skellies to waltz in and score.

I did manage to equalize with a quick sprint down the side-line in the last two turns of the half-- but it was a close thing. My ball carrier was once again open to a last-second blitz, only this time it went my way.

Second Half:

 This was where I was nervous. Now I had to kick off and try and prevent the Khemri team from caging up and holding on to the ball for the whole half. We each had one player out, so no advantage there. I was sweating-- probably because I was kicking myself so hard over the blunder with my blitzer and how many players I had left lying on their faces who were then not there to defend the previous Khemri point.

Then a stroke of luck-- I got a Blitz result on the Kick-off table! I was able to shoot a catcher, a blitzer and several lineman right into his half, immediately pressuring the ball. After a little scuffling, I came out with it and managed to stall until turn six before scoring the game winning point! It was a long shot for my opponent to score in the last two turns, and when I got another Blitz result, his fate was pretty much sealed. Back to the vaults with ye!

Learning Points:

 Mostly, stick to the basics. In the first half I ignored some of the most basic principles of beginner play-- namely stand your players up first. Even when I think it would be better to leave them down until after a high-risk play then dodge them away down field, it is much sounder coaching to stand them up in case of the worst. My playing in the first half was sloppy and desperate, and as a result my opponent had the entire field to work with when he got the ball.

I am excited, though, as it is only my second win with High Elves, and the proceeds let me hire another catcher (which I am really starting to value). I also got to skill up two linemen with block, one with wrestle, and one of my blitzers with MA+. And now that my team is finally up to 12 players, I can start retiring some of my injuries. We'll see what that does for me next time.

Until then,
Peace!