Forrix

I think its entirely possible to mix your own Contrast paint given the plethora of miniature paints, pigments, and mediums available nowadays. From the videos they look most similar to an ink to me and inks are what is normally used in sketch style miniature painting which is what the contrast system basically is. That all said, it is probably far, FAR easier to just buy Contrast paint rather than mix your own. I think people have said this before but you can totally make your own washes but even pro-painters will generally just buy Nuln oil or whatever it is they want. The thing I'll put out though is that I don't think Contrast is some sort of super advanced new-age paint that no other company could ever replicate (which I've seen a couple of too excited people basically say). Its basically an ink with its medium adjusted (Haven't worked with it myself yet). If Contrast is successful (which I think it will be) I fully expect Army Painter, Scale 75, and the other miniature paint companies to come out with their own version relatively soon. I.e. still might be a year or two to get the formula exact and then put into production and distribution.

I tried voting but it seems like you have to pick an answer for all the armies and I definitely don't know enough about some of them to comment. I'll note that with Fyreslayers I feel the Hermdar lodge is noticeably better than the other lodges and your only hurting yourself competively if you don't take a lodge as non of the command traits and artefacts feel strong enough to justify the loss of the lodge rules outside of like 500ish point games. For Blades of Khorne I feel far too much of the army's power is tied up in Slaughterpriests with their terrain piece and the Bloodsecrator. Nurgle I feel is actually pretty good internal balance wise. Blightkings are too strong and a couple of units like Beasts of Nurgle and the 2 new plaguebearer heroes are weak but its not too terrible internally. Externally the battletome is pretty weak though and winds up making you lean very heavily on the stronger units just to stay remotely competitive. In general, I think the lodge/slaughterhost mechanic leads to internal balance issues since it creates opportunity costs that need to be very precisely balanced. Though they are also very effective at creating multiple ways to play a given army and can really add flavor.

Battlesmith is now listed as web-store only. Looks like it was an error of some sort.

Yeah, it has the icon on its webpage. If your browsingits on the bottom left side where the webstore only icon normally is. If your on the actual battlesmith page its the bottom right.

I'm really hoping a resculpt is coming... It seems completely insane that they would start canning Fyreslayer models 2 months after their new battletome. Not to mention Gotrek (who isn't a Fyreslayer technically but is heavily associated with them) is having a model released.

Soo... The Battlesmith just went Last Chance to Buy. Has there been an instance of them listing a model that's switching to web-store only or being repackage as Last Chance? It seems completely insane that they would eliminate a key model for a faction only 2 months (ish) after it got a new Battletome. Maybe a new sculpt?

Thought I'd create a thread for Gotrek since he isn't confined to just one army (well, hopefully). I'm loving his new model and can't wait to pick him up. What rules are you hoping he'll have? I'm hoping he'll be allowed in any Duardin army and have some sort of command ability or aura that effects Fyreslayers, Dispossessed, and Kharadron Overlords differently. Like Fyreslayers effected by it are immune to battleshock and KO can run and shoot. Dispossessed could reroll ones to wound :P. I don't think he should be allowed to be the army general though unless he gets some major lore updates in the new stories. Obviously he should be a beatstick hero too. It would be cool if he got angrier at being alive each battle round and powered up kind of like the old Skarbrand. I also hope Tom from Warhammer Weekly forces Vince to do a 6 hour Gotrek special episode of Warhammer Weekly where they discussed every conceivable list he could be included in...

I thinking your right about the supply issue. The only other thing I can think of is that this period would have been soon after the original brexit dates and they went light with their scheduling anticipating other shipping issues.

Basically yes. Only thing I've seen played that didn't use match play was Path to Glory but even then you get bonuses if their points are 2x more than yours. Narrative games still use the match play points and rules as a balancing mechanism. I think the "3 ways to play" as advertised by GW really only exists in their head. The matched play system serves as the bedrock for everything else rather than being its own separate distinct thing.

I feel like sometimes they are really conservative about things in a battletome then go "F*ck it" in the next tome or so. For instance, comparing fanatics to other attack at the start of the combat phase units they seem overcosted. Or the big one for me is how constrained summoning is for Maggotkin of Nurgle then in Legions of Nagash they went hog wild with it. I know there's always other factors and you can't just directly compare two units or abilities but it really feels like sometimes they readjust the points cost of abilities in whatever points calculator they use.

I think they were fine before the activation wars started but nowadays they're only meh.

I've got a bunch of armies but am currently focusing on Fyreslayers and getting a Gloomspite army going. I've got a Khorne army but I haven't been liking how much power seems focused into the Slaughterpriests. I'm looking at trying a Daemon focused build but am kinda burned out on painting them. Nurgle was my main army last year but I've shelved them for the time being. Pretty much played them ad naseum so I'm waiting for the new GHB to see if it makes some alt builds more viable.

I saw some of the honest wargamer coverage on Youtube but haven't seen any breakdowns or reports on the finished tournament. Anyone have the results?

I think that has to do more with its meta % increasing probably due to the time/money investment needed for the army resulting in a slower build up (i.e. people who started Gloomspite Armies when they came out are finally finishing them up). I'm sure Looncurse is bringing in a lot of players (I just got a squig army thanks to it). I think Flesh Eater Courts exploding in popularity was due to its affordability and ease of painting as much as its power level.

TOMB KINGS COMFIRMED!!!111!

Kharadron Overlords has claimed multiple new players in my area. I swear its like some sort of death trap if you're trying to build a community. It has super cool models and is perceived to be supported because it has a battletome but then discourages them with atrociously bad rules. Especially when the player is using all the different special weapons and loading up on boats. Cherry on top is the shooty but super squishy nature of it leads to the double turn mattering more and that's already the #1 core rule that detracts new players (in my experience).

Yeah, it focuses on that command trait but it also states magmic invocations = prayers then makes up a new rule limiting prayer attempts. The more I read it this seems like bizarre FAQ that ignores the currently written rules and then just starts making things up.

Yeah, my issue with that is they're doing that without an errata. There is zero support for that in the actual rules of the game. An FAQ just clarifies things, it doesn't change the written rules of the game (difference between errata and designer's commentary). I guess my real question is what to do when the rules team issues an official FAQ that is directly contradicted by the rules of the game? That said, I did want to make sure I didn't miss something hence my writing out my reasoning. To be blunt, this FAQ answer seems to be hastily written by someone isn't familiar with the rules in the battletome. By its reasoning Magmic Invocations are prayers even though that's not the case in the book. It could also be reasoned then that Judgements are prayers too even though again, the Blades of Khorne battletome treats them differently, i.e. specific wording for Judgement rolls as opposed to prayer rolls. Balance wise, it mostly makes sense (it does significantly worsen that command trait though prayers are already very strong).

I don't mind people with professionally painted armies. They tend to me rare and really fun to check out. That said, it bothers me when they're allowed to compete in painting competitions with them.

I'd encourage people to actually watch the Honest Wargammer's stat show on YouTube/Twitch. He and LLV go over the limitations of their data and what can and can not be taken from it. LLV in particular seems very knowledgeable about statistics. Short version- don't taken them as "omg nerf everything about faction x" but you also shouldn't just discard them.

I posted this in the rules forum but thought I'd post it here too. I feel like the Designer's Commentary question on Prayers ignores part of the text on the prayers themselves. What do you all think? Bear in mind that the commentary is not an actual errata. Q: Is there a difference between knowing a prayer and being allowed to attempt it? For example, the Magmic Empowerment 'Ash-beard' says the general "knows" 2 prayers from the Zharrgrim Blessings table instead of 1. Contrast this wording with the artefact 'Volatile Brazier', which says the bearer can "attempt to summon" 2 magmic invocations in the same turn. Does Ash-beard just allow the Priest to know 2 prayers but still only attempt 1 of them in each hero phase? A: Yes My issue with this is that Zharrgrim Blessings have the rules for chanting a prayer written in them. The first sentence for every blessing is as follows: "At the start of your hero phase, 1 friendly model that knows this prayer can chant it." My understanding of this wording is that if a model knows the prayer they can attempt it. The only limitation is in the paragraph above the blessings table that states "Each Zharrgrim Blessing can only be changed once per turn, regardless of how many Priests know that prayer". Based on these wording I find it very clear that if a model knows two Zharrgrim Blessings they can attempt both of them provided they are different blessings and no other model has attempted one of them that turn. However, the designer's commentary says this is not the case as knowing a prayer is not the same as being able to attempt it. To my understanding this ignores the first sentence of each Zharrgrim Blessing. Is there something I'm missing or does this require an errata? My understanding is also that this could be used to prevent a Runesmiter or Runemaster from casting both their warscroll prayer and a Zharrgrim Blessing each turn. It effectively removes that first sentence from the Blessings as well as from the warscroll prayers and replaces them with a new universal rule that says a model can only attempt a prayer once. I feel like both the person asking the question and answering it are considering Magmic Invocations to be prayers though at no point due the rules refer to Magmic Invocations as such. The reason the Volatile Brazier uses that terminology is because the rules state "A Fyreslayers priest cannot attempt to summon more than one magmic Invocation in the same turn (even if they are different models)".

So one of the question and answers in the recent Fyreslayers Designer Commentary seemed to directly violate the RAW of prayers and have strong implications for prayers systems in both Blades of Khorne and Fyreslayers. I'll cover it below, bear in mind that the Designer's commentary is not an actual errata. Q: Is there a difference between knowing a prayer and being allowed to attempt it? For example, the Magmic Empowerment 'Ash-beard' says the general "knows" 2 prayers from the Zharrgrim Blessings table instead of 1. Contrast this wording with the artefact 'Volatile Brazier', which says the bearer can "attempt to summon" 2 magmic invocations in the same turn. Does Ash-beard just allow the Priest to know 2 prayers but still only attempt 1 of them in each hero phase? A: Yes My issue with this is that Zharrgrim Blessings have the rules for chanting a prayer written in them. The first sentence for every blessing is as follows: "At the start of your hero phase, 1 friendly model that knows this prayer can chant it." My understanding of this wording is that if a model knows the prayer they can attempt it. The only limitation is in the paragraph above the blessings table that states "Each Zharrgrim Blessing can only be changed once per turn, regardless of how many Priests know that prayer". Based on these wording I find it very clear that if a model knows two Zharrgrim Blessings they can attempt both of them provided they are different blessings and no other model has attempted one of them that turn. However, the designer's commentary says this is not the case as knowing a prayer is not the same as being able to attempt it. To my understanding this ignores the first sentence of each Zharrgrim Blessing. Is there something I'm missing or does this require an errata? My understanding is also that this could be used to prevent a Runesmiter or Runemaster from casting both their warscroll prayer and a Zharrgrim Blessing each turn. It effectively removes that first sentence from the Blessings as well as from the warscroll prayers and replaces them with a new universal rule that says a model can only attempt a prayer once. I feel like both the person asking the question and answering it are considering Magmic Invocations to be prayers though at no point due the rules refer to Magmic Invocations as such. The reason the Volatile Brazier uses that terminology is because the rules state "A Fyreslayers priest cannot attempt to summon more than one magmic Invocation in the same turn (even if they are different models)". What do you guys think?

I've had good results with AK Interactive Ulta Matt varnish and Army painter matt varnish. You can apply them via brush or airbrush. I'm not their target audience though I'm used to varnishing minis because Airbrush layers rub off easily if you don't. If this stuff works though I've got a couple hundred clan rats and plague monks I know will never be finished via my regular painting methods.

There's a guy in my area who runs Ironjawz with the pig battalion and a bunch of command points that always does extremely well in tournaments. Its a super strong alpha strike that can easily table you top of turn 1 if you don't deploy well. I always roll my eyes whenever HWG talks about how poor Ironjawz are. I get what the stats show but its so utterly different from my personal experience I have a hard time accepting it.

I wonder if they'd make the Gobbapalooza guys heroes but without the leader role and allow them to be added separately for 40 to 50 points a pop. It wouldn't actually be a sweeping warscroll rewrite but would make them much easier to fit into lists and fit what they've done in the Blades of Khorne and Fyreslayers books.