Hardcore: Down to the Wire

ByDankelzahn

With just a couple days left before Privateer Press Weekend at DieCon X here in St. Louis, I’m still scrambling to finish a few last minute figures before Saturday’s Hardcore event.  Surprise surprise, it’s down to the wire with me scrambling to finish a everything up in time.  It really shouldn’t be a surprise, though.  🙂

I also have to clean up a few models and finish assembling my Exemplar Errant Seneschals in case I want to use them later in the weekend.  They definitely won’t be painted for Hardcore but I might toss ’em in another list to give them a go in one of the other formats.

Despite being behind, I’m looking forward to the event.  Last two years have been fantastic, and this year promises to be no exception.

The Crunch Time Cometh

ByDankelzahn
Hierophant WIP
Hierophant WIP

It’s already that time of year again. In a few short weeks  Privateer Press Weekend at DieCon X will be upon us.  This year the event will feature another Hardcore event again – the first ever official one for Warmachine MkII.  There’s not much time left, but I’m behind on getting prepared.  This feels oddly familiar.

I have a few lists I’m tossing around to play, but I haven’t even really settled on if I’m playing the Protectorate or Legion.  The Legion models I’d want to use are already painted, but there’s still a few key Protectorate ones – like the Hierophant and Covenant – that I needed to get to.

It’s been a while since I last picked up the brush; maybe even a couple months.  Painting has always been an enjoyable hobby for me, but lately it’s always seemed like there’s something else I rather do with my free time.  Still there aren’t many chances to play in a Hardcore event, so it’s time to buckle down and get to work.

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St. Louis Privateer Weekend III: June 4th – 6th, 2010

ByDankelzahn

Ye be warned… For the past 2 years the best players from around the nation have descended on St. Louis to participate in one of the most intense and grueling Warmachine and Hordes competitions known to man and beast, including the first official MkII Hardcore tournament. The St. Louis Riverdogs are pleased to announce our third annual Privateer Weekend at DieCon X June 4th through the 6th. This will be the premiere event for the Midwest prior to Gen Con 2010. Privateer Weekend consists of 3 days of spine crushing, cortex smashing fun coursing over more than 7 events. The terrain is amazing. The competitors are top tier in both skill and personality. Here lies the ultimate in gaming. Featured events over the weekend include a specially designed train event by the Iron Agenda podcast, two Steamroller 2010 competitions, an ongoing Tide of War competition, Iron Kingdoms knowledge tests hosted by Capt. Saultydog, and our main event, the first official Mark II Hardcore tournament on Saturday. If this wasn’t enough, the weekend will also feature various painting competitions and a diorama competition.

Complete schedule and details are available on our site,  or keep up to date by following us on Twitter. See all the fun-filled convention activities and preregister at the DieCon home page. Registration for DieCon X is only $26.00 until April 15th. After that, registration increases to $31.00 – still an amazing bargain. Online payments will be accepted via PayPal. Those particpating in Hardcore will have an additional 5 dollar fee which goes towards a personalized 2010 Official Hardcore dogtag. Remember to select “PP Hardcore” under the list of Saturday events to reserve your spot today and enter your requested personalization at that time. Our schedule is listed below…

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Ride the Blightning! – A Hardcore Tourney Report (Part 2)

ByDankelzahn
Ride the Blightning!
  • Thagrosh, the Messiah
  • Carnivean
  • Seraph
  • Nephilim Soldier
  • Raek
  • Shredder
  • Harrier
  • Forsaken
  • Shepherd
  • Strider Deathstalker x2
  • Warmonger Warchief
  • Warmongers x4
  • Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

This is the second and final installment of my Hardcore Tournament report from Privateer Weekend 2 at DieCon 9.   You can find my list-building discussion here and the first part of my Hardcore coverage here.

I started Hardcore with a loss to the Protectorate of Menoth, but they say if you fall off the Blightning, you get right back on and try again.   After a round two win against Khador I was hoping it was the start of a streak.

Once again I’ve included the list I used for reference and have tried to recreate what each of my opponents were running to the best of my recollection.   I can’t guarantee what I have for my opponents’ lists is 100% accurate but it should give you a rough idea of what I faced each round.

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Ride the Blightning! – A Hardcore Tourney Report (Part 1)

ByDankelzahn

Hardcore is a lot like riding a bicycle; you never forget how to fall off.

At least that’s how I felt preparing for Privateer Weekend 2 and my second Hardcore. I knew what to expect from the time clock and how to handle the short turns, but the competition at Hardcore is a notch above your standard Steamroller event.   So I needed a secret weapon…

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The Frostfang Brood Gets Hardcore

ByDankelzahn

At the first Privateer Press Weekend at DieCon 8 I assembled my Protectorate of Menoth forces to take a stab at the Hardcore tournament format.   I was happy with my army’s performance and would have been happy to run it again but I wanted something different.     This year I turned to my Legion of Everblight forces, the Frostfang Brood, to see if I could lead them to similar success but first I had to build an army.

For me the first step in building a Hardcore list was to decide what I wanted to accomplish.   Every round of a Hardcore tournament is an assassination game so there’s no building lists for scenario victories but it’s not uncommon for players to gear their lists towards winning one or more of the four Hardcore medals:

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Impending Painting Burnout

ByDankelzahn

Miniature Painting Burnout.   I can already feel it coming on but there’s nothing I can do about it.   The same thing happened last year leading up to DieCon so I shouldn’t be surprised but I was holding out hope that this year would be different.

The army I want to play for Hardcore still needs a fair bit of work, either touching up old models or finishing new ones.   Right now I think I’m happy with about half the pieces for the army but time’s quickly running out.   And if I really want the army I envisioned in the beginning that means one more big project in the last month before DieCon 09.   I really want to try it but I look at how much time I’m going to have and wonder if it’s really possible.   I know, I know… that’s not very detailed.   I’m really trying to get the whole project done as a relative surprise so I can reveal it with full-army pictures here after the Con.   You’ll just have to bear with me in the meantime. 🙂

On top of that I still have the miniatures that will be given away as part of the Privateer Press Weekend that I need to complete.   I ran into a similar problem last time I did commission work – after a while it just gets harder and harder to stay motivated to paint something I’m not going to be keeping while my own unpainted models start piling up.   I made a commitment though and I’m not backing down, but it means pushing through the burnout.

I guess this is my biggest hurdle with miniature painting.   Typically I enjoy it very much because it’s a casual hobby – I paint whatever I want at my own pace.   If burnout strikes on my own models I can just set them aside and take a breather.   Then when I get interested again I can come back to the piece in question and work on it some more.

But commitments come with deadlines and deadlines mean not stopping just because I’m tired of working on something.   If time gets short (like it is now) painting on a schedule can start to feel less like a hobby and more like work and that’s why I do it.

Still though like I said I made commitments to people and I intend to keep them.   I’m going to keep pushing through to DieCon and finish off everything I can between now and then.   It won’t be the most fun I’ve had painting but I’m determined to complete the commission to my usual standards.

After that I’ll probably put the brushes away for a while to recharge.   Maybe I’ll take that time to catch up on my online miniature gallery.   Either way it will be disappointing because I already have a backlog of miniatures I want to get painted for my own armies (in addition to some figures I just want to paint for fun) but they’re for my own collection and they’re not going anywhere.   It will be far more satisfying to wait until I can enjoy the painting process again.

In the meantime… time to buckle down and get to work!

Privateer Press Weekend 2009 Mercenaries Update

ByDankelzahn
Orin Midwinter
Orin Midwinter

As work on my Legion forces progresses I’ve also been putting some work in on the Mercenaries I’m painting to be given away at Privateer Press Weekend this year.   I still have a lot of detailing and a little bit of re-working   to do but things are looking good as far as meeting my deadline.

First up is my Orin Midwinter, who I think is coming together well.   I shaded his robe by adding black to P3 Skorne Red and left him on the dark side to fit his fluff.   The trim, sash, and shoulder pads still need some work but I went with black to keep a sinister feel on the model.   Orin’s staff is P3 Brass Balls shaded with brown and black inks and highlighted by mixing in just a tad of GW Mithril Silver.

After I finish the the rest of the model I think I’m going to do some source lighting on the end of this staff and his left eye.   I have some P3 Arcane Blue that I’ll probably use – it’s an interesting greenish blue that looks like it’s good for this sort of effect.   I’ve tested it on some other models and I think it would look good applied to Orin.

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St. Louis Privateer Press Weekend II: June 5th – 7th, 2009

ByDankelzahn

ppw09-reznik

ppw09-rhyas

The St. Louis Riverdogs are pleased to announce our second Annual Privateer Weekend at Diecon 9.   This will be the premiere event for the Midwest prior to Gen Con 2009.   Privateer Weekend contains 3 days of spine crushing, cortex smashing fun over more than 8 events.   The terrain is amazing and includes specialized scenario tables.   The competitors are top tier in both skill and personality.   The gaming will be second to none.   Featured events over the weekend include three steamroller competitions, an ongoing Tide of War competition, Iron Kingdom knowledge tests hosted by Capt. Saulty Dog, and our main event, an official Hardcore tournament on Saturday.   If this wasn’t enough, monsters will also be running loose throughout the city as we host 3 monsterpocalypse events over the weekend.

Check out http://diecon.gamestlouis.com for our complete event schedule and follow the link to Diecon 9 to see other convention activities and pre-register.   Or check out http://www.diecon.com for a summary of all convention events and to preregister.   Preregistration can be done by paypal for $26 for the entire weekend!   Those wishing to participate in our Saturday’s official Hardcore tournament should select PP Hardcore under the list of Sat Events. There is an additional $5 fee for the Hardcore event that will be paid on site but those who play in hardcore will receive a specialized dog tag for participation.   A summary of our event schedule is below.

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WIP – Mercenaries for Privateer Press Weekend

WIP – Mercenaries for Privateer Press Weekend

ByDankelzahn
Experimenting with a quick wash
Wash Experiment

As I mentioned before, the local Warmachine community held Privateer Press Weekend at DieCon 8 last year here in St. Louis.  This year we’re going to be doing it again.  And like last year I’ve been tapped to paint some miniatures to be given away as door prizes to attendees.  Last year I painted up a Broadsides Bart but this year I signed up to do a trio of Mercenaries – Dougal McNaile, Thor Steinhammer, and Orin Midwinter.  Given how much of my own stuff I’d like to have done by the convention it may be a tall order but I’m going to give it a shot.

So far the work I’ve done on Dougal and Orin has been mostly preliminary stuff.  I basecoated their skin with P3 Midlund Flesh  and washed them with a diluted mix of GW Brown Ink, P3 Flesh Wash, and some glaze medium.  From there I’ll start highlighting the skin back up, but before I do that I’m going to get Thor caught up so I can do all three at once.  Dougal also got his pants based in Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone, then I washed them with the same shade I used on both models’ exposed skin.  With a little cleanup I think it’s going to look pretty nice.

GW's Red Foundatin's Performance
GW Foundation Red

The red on Orin is from a pot of GW Foundation Red that I was given a ways back.  It’s a little thick but even watered down the paint has excellent coverage and really helped get him started.  I plan on washing his coat with a dark red/black to help define the shadow areas before I start doing any actual blending.  I plan on blending over the wash but it’ll help give me a reference point on where to start.

I’ve already mentioned the GW and P3 paint lines that I use, but they’re not the only paint lines I use.  My paint organizer has bottles from both Vallejo’s lines, Reaper Master Series, some artist paint additives and even some craft paints that still see use on my models.  Some painters will  swear by a single line and stick with it but I’m a big fan of picking and choosing to find the tools that best work with your style and your palette needs.