Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - Night Wars - The Abhorrent Swarm

 This evening we are starting the first of the Pillage Journeys to take down Kritza the Rat Prince in Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - Night Wars. (Sorry... Spoiler for those following the campaign; Last week's Decapitation Journey was successful!). These are similar to the Deliverance Journeys in the Ulfenkarn in Peril campaign - running through the streets of the city, randomly generating tiles as you go... but instead of shouting warnings to the citizens of the city to get out of the way of the Suffocating Graveside... the object here is to smash shit and steal as much loot as you can from Kritza, all the while keeping ahead of The Abhorrent Swarm!

The Abhorrent Swarm is a literal Tide-o-Rats... and is represented by  a diminutive cardboard counter in the game - much like the Suffocating Graveside in Ulfenkarn in Peril. 

As there WAS a Suffocating Gravetide miniature that did look imposing...

I tracked one down and added a lot of flagstones - to match the bases of miniatures and tiles of Cursed City and... 

It DID look a lot more terrifying to have that chasing the characters around than... 

The diminutive cardboard counter... 

So I thought I'd do the same for THIS campaign... even though it would only be used in about three games (assuming all were successful!?). There isn't, however an Abhorrent Swarm miniature, like there was with Suffocating Gravetide... The Skaven do have an Endless Spell called "Vermintide"... 

But is is hardly the WAVE of a thousand rats - as described in the Night Wars book... but it was rats... scurrying over rubble and ruins... and, if put on a flagstone base and with some EXTRA rats... I though it could look the bit. 

A few months ago Fenris Workshop had both a used set of the Skaven Endless Spells AND a full set of Cursed City Rat-Swarm models... I briefly thought about buying those and cutting the Cursed City rats off their bases and adding them to the Vermintide base... I probably would have cost about $80 to put that together... which seemed a bit ridiculous... but I could use it in the future for other massive rat-swarms in other games - or with my shaven as an extra-ratty vermintide!? Unfortunately I took too long thinking about it and they BOTH sold out..

So, the other option I'd been considering was just getting some greestuff world rats and trying to stick them ALL onto one base... when they arrived... they were small...I'd have needed many more packs to fill a BIG base like the Suffocating Gravetide! So I did what I could with the rats that I had and assembled all the rats onto an oval cavalry base... Then never got around to painting it until THIS WEEK when I finally NEEDED it!?

The Abhorrent Swarm!

(Now that I'm' looking at this photo I've posted... I feel like I need to go back in and make the ears a little pink and touch up a few noses and paws I'm now noticing I've missed... and... maybe lighten up the rubble, to create a bit more contrast between the rubble and the rats!? GAH!? Or... maybe I'll just leave it all be...) 

It isn't nearly as imposing as the Suffocating Gravetide was... 

Ah, well... I only need it for a 3-4 games.

Hopefully it's at least a little more interesting/impressive than the cardboard counter included in the game... 

Still need to finish up the latest Cursed City Game report (in which the Abhorrent Swarm was used!), and the Ravaged Coast campaign wrap up, AND a game of Spearhead DOUBLES we tried playing on Sunday, AND the latest episode in our What We Do in the Realm of Shadows campaign... Mind you, I'm going to be painting minis like a mad bastard for the next four days trying to complete enough of the Warhammer Quest: Darkwater minis to try out the game with some friends on Tuesday... so... don't hold your breath thinking they might be done before then! 

Vengeful Skullroot and Gladewyrm

I finished up the Vengeful Skullroot and Gladewyrm this weekend. Both are endless spells for the Sylvaneth.  

Vengeful Skullroots manifestations of the forests' fury brought to life during the Necroquake. They can be summoned to battles by talented Sylvaneth mages. 

Gladewyrms are subterranean spites of pure life energy that travel along the realm roots and spirit pathways. Like the vengeful Skullroots they can be summoned to aid the Sylvaneth it times of need... 

The Vengeful Skullroot

Not only is it just a cool model that can float about the table bashing into enemies or just denying them movement... it also counts as another Awakened Wyldwood, for he purposes of ‘Endless Growth’ (the ability that heals EVERY Sylvaneth wholly within 6" of an Awakened Wyldwood), and ‘Walk the Hidden Paths’ and ‘Strike and Fade’ abilities (which allow the Sylvaneth to effectively teleport around the table!).

I expect we'll see just how useful it can be in my new game against Amanda! 

The Gladewyrm

The Gladewyrms seem good for going after wizards. They have Anti-Wizard (Rend +1) and a wizard they are in combat with can be given -1 to casting AND BANISHMENT rolls (making it harder to banish the Gladewyrm!) 

There is a third endless spell that came in the box (as there always is with Faction Endless Spells).. but it seems less useful (as one of them usually is...) it is immobile, and no attacks, and gives a unit within 6" +1 to run or Ward 6+... none of which are AMAZING... 

I do have the other endless spell and the five  Gossamid Archers to finish up - and, ideally, I'd like to do that BEFORE next weekend - when I'll be picking up the Outcast Spitegrove Battleforce box and have a new pile of Sylvaneth to paint!! (also I'd like to get the Gossamid Archers finished so I can play a game of Age of Sigmar with Amanda this week!) 

Quicksilver Swords (and the BIG SUMMER PREVIEW... and PLANS!)

The Quicksilver Swords are an endless spell from Age of Sigmar. They are part of the Aetherwrought Machineries manifestation lore along with Chronomantic Cogs and Aethervoid Pendulum. They can be summoned onto the battlefield and, until destroyed of banished, can fly around slashing units to bits. Fun little bonus that they have is that there are no ward saves to reduce damage against them... so... maybe fun to use against undead or chaos...? 

Quicksilver Swords 

I have to admit, I didn't paint these because I have any sort of immediate use for them... I painted them because they were among the quickest and easiest of the endless spells and this one, in particular, has been haunting the periphery of my workbench for FAR TOO LONG and I needed a break from Khorne things and I figured this would be quick and easy to knock out in an evening... so... 

The scale is a bit off.. or they are GIANT swords! 

The Aetherwrought Machineries are a generic manifestation lore that can be used by ANY army... I'm not sure who I'd ever have use these...? I guess if I ever had a Cities of Sigmar force... Or, I guess, If I had a wizard in a Stormcast Eternals force, they could use it..?

I should probably dig out the other two (Chronomantic Cogs and Aethervoid Pendulum) and get them done so I have all of the Aetherwrought Machineries ready, should I ever need them. I think they were pretty simple and would be easy enough to crank out! 

In other news... 

I have come up with a bit of a list of Next Things To Do, to help keep me focused:

1. Skullreapers (5)
2. Spearhead Sand & Bone terrain bits (6) 
3. Radukar the Beast (1) 
4. Fell Bats (3) 
5. Claws of Karanak (8) 

Skullreapers because they are SO CLOSE to being done... The Spearhead stuff because I'm planning to play some games in the upcoming weeks. Radukar and the Fell Bats are for Cursed City: Night wars (which we are taking a break from and won't be starting for 3-4 more weeks because Amanda is away) and the Claws of Karanak because it's the last unit I need to finish to complete another Spearhead army (which I don't have the rules for yet, and won't until the first week of August when the Blades of Khorne Battletome is released!)  

After that...? Well, I guess it depends on how long these take and what I've been doing in the meantime. I've made plans to get in a bunch of games of Spearhead over the next three weeks while Amanda and Morgan are away. If that works out and I get excited about spearhead I could try and knock out one or two of the other Spearhead armies.. Which ones? The Stormcast Eternal one is half painted and it's only TEN MINIATURES... so I feel like THAT should be a priority (because MORE THINGS DONE!!). After that...? Maybe the Daughters of Khaine or the Soulblight Gravelords...? The former could possibly entice Amanda to try playing, the latter being useful if I get the role-playing game I've been planning this last week off the ground... 

Also, Games Workshop had their big summer preview yesterday, which was full of fun stuff... They announced a new faction joining Age of Sigmar in the fall; Helsmiths of Hashut - Chaos Dwarves! They look kind of fun. IF I were to ever finish up ALL the other Spearhead armies I have and start playing regularly, I could see myself potentially picking up a spearhead army for them (just to have as a little side force) - but only if there were Bull Centaurs in the Spearhead army, because those are probably my favourite minis from the bunch. 

They also previewed the new Warhammer Underworlds box - Spitewood - which looks really interesting - and has a Chaos Dwarf warband... but... I haven't played a single game so far this year! (I did play nine games of the new edition last fall, though... and I didn't HATE it!?). But I don't know if I can justify buying the new box if I'm not actually PLAYING the game anymore. 

They also announced they'll be rereleasing another sixteen of the older warbands in four Grand Alliance boxes. Like last year, they're also releasing a set of the cards for those warbands separately for those that already have them - like me - in THIS set of sixteen, there is only ONE warband that I don't have... so... maybe worth picking up those cards while they are available... just in case?Although i was a little horrified when the last set turned out to be $75CAD!? 

The also announced the new Flesh-Eater Courts (Ghouls) and Nighthaunt (Ghosts) Battletomes and Spearhead armies. The Nighthaunt Spearhead army looks interesting - in that I HAVE over half the units that it is made up of! AND they're even painted! The two additional units I'd need, however, is another $100, purchased separately... and I still have a few Nighthaunts to paint up. So, I'd have to say I need to finish painting the Scriptor Mortis and five Craventhrone Guard that I already have (which shouldn't be too hard, they're fairly easy to paint and all over 50% done!) AND I'd have to be regularly playing Spearhead AND have finished up a few more of the Spearhead armies I already have. 

I still have five full spearhead armies I need to paint... Stormcast Eternals, Soulblight Gravelords, Daughters of Khaine, Slaves to Darkness - Darkoath Raiders, and Skaven. I have one miniature painted for two of them (the General for the Soulblights and the Daughters of Khaine), but otherwise all still need to be painted. I also have MOST of the stuff required for a Disciples of Tzeentch army (I'd just need to pick up some Flamers of Tzeentch, which kind of makes a sixth I need to paint. And then there is the second Blades of Khorne Spearhead army (Fangs of the Blood God), though for that I only have the one unit to paint... 

Suffocating Gravetide

I finished up the first of the Endless Spells in the Malign Sorcery box I picked up a week or so ago... 

I wish I could report that this is because I am starting work in earnest on my Soulblight Gravelords army - as planned for the first quarter of this year... but truthfully, it was mostly for use in Warhammer Quest: Cursed City. (Which was also part of the Game Plan, so...) 

Suffocating Gravetide

All of that flagstone around the edges was added by me and not part of the original model... and was a HUGE pain in the ass... I wanted to do it partly because most of my Age of Sigmar models are on flagstone bases... 

But also because one of the main reasons I got this was to use it in Warhammer Quest: Cursed City for the Deliverance Journeys - where the heroes are rushing through the city trying to stay ahead of the Gravetide and warn citizens of its approach! So, I wanted it to look like it was ravaging through a city - with organize flagstone before it, being torn up, tumbled about and left in a mess as the Gravetide passes... 

I DO plan to make use of this (and many of the other Endless Spells from the box... when I get to painting and playing Age of Sigmar again... I've been a little distracted by other things at the moment.