Salute 2020/21

Salute was a bitter sweet event this year. My main motivation for attending has always been to be impressed and inspired by the gaming and display tables, with shopping opportunities as a bonus. This year I had a shopping list, consisting largely of new rules systems (Oathmark, Stargrave, Gaslands Refuelled), a box of Fireforge peasant zombies for my necromancer to summon into his Warhammer 8th edition army, plus the obligatory new KR case to carry the latest forces I managed to paint.

All that purchasing luckily distracted from the lack of photo opportunities. For some years now the number of jaw dropping displays has been steadily declining, and this year they fell off a cliff. My respect goes out to anyone who manages to build and bring a table full of terrain and opposing forces to a wargaming show, especially as a club effort without any related rules or miniatures to sell. Still, the amount of empty floor space due to missing traders, and worse, tables that had been set up but remained vacant on the day, didn’t inspire my photo journalistic fervour of previous years. Therefore I only took some snapshots of two displays in attendance.

The first was created by the Loughton Strike Force, who are consistently bringing amazing looking games to Salute. Their ‘Stalingrad – Fire on the Volga’ was played using the new ‘O’ Group set of battalion level WWII rules. You can see many more photos of it on their website.

The second display that stood out to me featured World of Twilight. The creators have been attending Salute for many years, and I always enjoy looking at their unique miniatures and terrain. I believe this year was the first time they brought a ‘full size’ table, with lots of buildings and little vignettes.

I guess next year, with the show scheduled to be back in its regular April slot, will tell what the new normal for Salute is going to be.

Doubling Up

The second mob of 35 Night Goblin spearmen is complete and joining the fray. As before, I have added netters and a Fanatic to the ranks for maximum mayhem.

A thicket of spears greets any attackers

I have more Fanatics to paint up that are not included in my starter army list. In battle, each mob will be lead by a Big Boss, turning it into a respectable fighting formation. A standard, full rank bonus, five extra spear attacks, a 5 in 6 chance of the attackers losing a point of strength – as long as they don’t have to take a leadership test, these guys are doing alright.

You don’t want to play catch with this ball

The battle line is drawn

Bad Moon Rising

It takes a lot of Night Goblins to make an army – 132 to be precise, according to my army list. There are three large blocks of infantry in the horde, two with spears and shields, the other with short bows. The whole army has base colours on already and the command groups are finished, but that still leaves a lot of rank and file to be completed.

I managed to get through the first mob, five figures at a time. The plan is to keep this up, while also working on other projects for variety. We’ll see how that goes.

A mob of Night Goblins marching to war

The fun (and most of the effectiveness) of a horde of Night Goblins lies in the whacky special weapons they can bring along. I’ve added netters to the regiment, which reduce the strength of attackers (if all goes well and they don’t entangle their own side).

The old snare and stab trick

In addition, there is a Fanatic hidden among their ranks, drugged up on mushroom brew and wielding a massive ball and chain, who will be shoved in the path of a charging enemy at the right moment.

Now he just needs to keep going the right way…

This is about a third of the army completed, leaving two more regiments and an assortment of squigs. I could also do with some more mountainous terrain, so I might give building foam hills a try.

The Bad Moon banner flying high

Striking the Anvil

I have all the figures lined up for my Warhammer Fantasy Battle 8th Edition Dwarf army, but there is still a lot of painting to do on them. Among the units that I started a while ago are the Ironbreakers, who are clad in steel from head to toe, wielding compact axes or hammers for close quarters tunnel fighting. As Captain Darling put it, they are “one of the best anvils in an army of anvils”.

I managed to complete this unit of 15 models over the course of a few days, and I’m very happy with how they turned out. The steel is Citadel Ironbreaker (fittingly) with a thinned down wash of Nuln Oil and a dry brush of Runefang Steel, while the gold trim was painted in Gehenna’s Gold with a wash of Reikland Fleshshade.

Marching out to repel any invaders

Weapons raised to smash their enemies

Obviously I had to get some Night Goblins out for the Ironbreakers to face off against. I think both of these armies are going to get some love over the next couple of months, I am really in the mood for this epic clash on the battlefield.

Yet another Night Goblin incursion to be fought off

Warhammer Armies – Tomb Kings

After having revived my Tomb Kings back in 2016, I just completed the first 1,000 points under Warhammer Fantasy Battle 8th Edition rules. The core troops of the Tomb Kings offer a range of tactical options, from archers to spearmen and cavalry, so the army should be entertaining to field.

The Tomb Kings call to war

The Tomb King was the final model I completed, while the Liche Priest is a second hand model that fits well into my paint scheme and only needed re-basing.

Once I had all troops lined up, I found the archers and spearmen to look a bit flat, so I went back over them, adding highlights to shields, weapons and bones. This ties them in better with the cavalry models as well, which were individually highlighted rather than drybrushed.

Martial might and the necromantic arts combine to lead the army

A squadron of chariots takes the lead

The royal cavalry gallops to battle

Spearmen form the backbone of the force

Two units of archers rain death down on their enemies

There are still a lot more regiments and constructs buried in the sand, waiting to be resurrected to march forth and conquer an eternal empire for my Tomb Kings. Some horse archers and Ushabti might be next, though for now I am going to direct my gaze towards the living. Or maybe the daemonic…

The infantry wing of the army

The cavalry wing of the force