It’s been quiet on the release front for Blood Bowl until very recently, in which both GW and Forge World collectively dropped a whole load of new goodness for us. One of the new releases is unsurprisingly the follow up to November’s Death Zone expansion. Is it worth a buy? Here’s my thoughts!
I have Blood Bowl to paint. I still even have Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower to paint…
This happened. I regret nothing! #ageofsigmar#warhammerquest#silvertower
— Circus of Paint ☠️ (@Sharkey2112) February 27, 2017
As the follow-up from last year’s excellent Silver Tower, this naturally is very similar in many ways – namely the bulk of the core rules (albeit tweaked and added to) as well as all the Heroes and Adversaries being cross-compatible between both games. More on that later!
What’s the mean difference then? Why should anyone pick this up when Silver Tower still exists? Well, Silver Tower is a wholly co-operative game, whereas Shadows over Hammerhal takes that co-operative mentality and pits it against an extra player, the Gamesmaster! One of the main criticisms I’ve seen of Shadows over Hammerhal online is that the GM is an essential part of the experience, you can’t play the game without him. Whilst I understand this, Silver Tower still exists as a current GW product for those that still want that pure co-op experience (or uncooperative, depending on your gaming group). 😉
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The GM’s role (unsurprisingly) is to run the game – controlling the various Adversaries as well as placing the dungeon chambers, according to whichever Dungeon the adventurers are currently battling through. Those who can remember the Roleplay Book from the original Warhammer Quest (ah the 90’s!) will get some real nostalgic kicks out of the dungeon campaign included in the Adventure Book. Enemies, traps, danger and glory ahead! Lots of variation between the various floors of the dungeon, considering the limited varieties of Adversaries included in the box. Lots of inspiration for making your own fiendish dungeon designs!
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Speaking of Adversaries, another debated part of the set. In Silver Tower, we were treated to a whole tightly-themed collection of Tzeentch Daemons and Disciples. Whereas in contrast, Shadows over Hammerhal has a more eclectic range of minions picked across the spectrum of Chaos gods; Putrid Blightkings for Nurgle, Bloodreavers for Khorne and (returning from Silver Tower) Kairic Acolytes for Tzeentch. To top those off is the Chaos Sorcerer Lord, reimagined as a Slaaneshi follower.
Whilst at first glance these are a rather disjointed collection of chaotic kind, at the back of the Guidebook is a two-page spread for every hero and Adversary group – combining both a simple yet effective painting guide as well as some background information on what their places are in the setting of Shadows over Hammerhal. It’s these little background tidbits that help to sell the idea that these otherwise-opposing factions would work together, temporarily bonded together by the scheming of the Sorceror Lord Redomir.
I mean, I’ve not even starting reading the 30+ pages of new background material – setting the scene for the city of Hammerhal and of the twisting depths underneath. There’s a lot of new background material to soak in, really mixing the “shiny” fantastic look of the Mortal Realms with the seedy underbelly markets and taverns that encapsulated the Old World so well. I’ll probably post more on that when I’ve actually read it!
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Back to Adversaries, rules are included for the following;
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (Redomir) – now as an Adversary rather than a hero. Sorcerer Lord vs Sorcerer Lord? Why not!
Putrid Blightkings – A fan favourite from the End Times. Same old, same old.
Bloodreavers – Their Weight of Numbers rule can be deadly, so don’t let that happen by them ganging up on your heroes.
Karin Acolytes – Pretty much same as in Silver Tower, except….
Since Shadows of Hammerhal uses full multi-part sprues instead of the single-piece models from its predecessor, the Adversary group now number up to 2d6 (ten models maximum per group). Returning Tzeentchian culprits like the Acolytes have been updated to account for this, as well as full rules options for all the various standard bearer and musical options. It’s almost like they want your Shadows over Hammerhal collection to be compatible with mother game Age of Sigmar. As a friend put it, it’s like Games Workshop are trying to get your to buy more models of the starting point of this set. Obviously, and it works!
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Exotic Adversaries are back too! New ones include;
Blood Warriors – Their No Respite rule means they fight on until the end of their phase, even if they are killed!
Wrathmongers – The somewhat strange red-skinned brutes return with their Wrath-flails(!). They whip up a frenzy for nearby models – friend or foe! Blood for the Blood God!
Plaguebearers – Daemons of Nurgle, their strength comes in several attacks and abilities which can stun nearby heroes. I can imagine that getting frustrating fast!
Tzaangor – Same as in Silver Tower, but with updated group numbers and options for Icon Bearers and Brayhorns
Tzaangor Skyfires – Identical to the rules in the most recent White Dwarf mag (at time of writing). As this has already been covered in such publication recently (along with the Tzaangor Shaman (hero) and Tzaangor Enlightened (Adversaries) , I would of preferred something new instead.
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The best thing about all these thematic variety of miniatures and the more open-narrative in Shadows over Hammerhal, is that one could easily add their own Adversary groups to the mix with existing Age of Sigmar models! Whilst any sort of low-level Chaos seemed to fit the bit nicely, with a bit of imagination one could easily substitute Chaos for something entirely else; Orruks and Gross, Zombies, Fimir, Ogors, Deathrattle Legions etc….
This is one of the definite selling points of Shadows over Hammerhal for me. It makes me want to add some of my other collection to the mix. In fact, I’m in the process of writing my own rules for various Skaven critters to give a go and test one day. Having a lot of existing Chaos / Destruction / Death heroes for Silver Tower makes it a lot easier to write Shadows over Hammerhal Adversary rules for them. I might share them with out sometime…
I’m going to stop for now – still lots to delve into and even more to paint in the meantime, Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts as always!
(Ps I’m on Twitter – catch me there by searching for “Circus of Paint ☠️” or click the embedded link at the top!)
Since 2016 is nearly over and done with, I’d though I’d share a quick teaser for my current project to kick off the New Year with;
Blood Bowl!
First team on the painting table are the Skavenblight Scramblers!
Have a good new year and see you all in 2017!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I haven’t been completely idle. Alas, that’s an update for another time as I though I’d do an unboxing for one of my favourite classics to re-emerge from years past – Tzaangor!
First introduced in the Realms of Chaos tomes in years past, then more recently re-invisioned and actually made as plastic miniatures this year for Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower. Now with this month’s twin-release of Wrath of Magnus and Traitor Legions – followers of Tzeentch can rejoice that we now have a full multi-part kit for the bestial blighters!
What’s in the box?
In the box you get six sprues (2 duplicates of 3 different ones);
(shots of front and backs of sprues)
Interestingly there are a lot of weapon options here. This serves as a duel-purpose kit for both Warhammer 40k as well as Age of Sigmar. You get enough standard pairs of close combat weapons for all ten, as well as the option to swap them all for the chainsword and Autopistol (40k only). In addition, there are also a couple great weapons (I spot an axe and a really long two-handed sword) as well as bits for a Standard Bearer and a Musician (Age of Sigmar only). In fact, you get two copies of the banner and trumpet so those could be great for converting duplicate Pink Horror units!
To finish off the box contents, you get the usual instructions as well as a bag of ten 32mm round bases.
Instructions are simple enough, but however here comes the main critique of this set. The instructions miss out how to assemble any of the Age of Sigmar specific options (shields, great weapons, command options etc.) I can cope with the instructions not telling me how to assemble the special optional head for the Twistbray (it’s two parts. It’s obvious!) but the rest seems rather odd being missing. I did notice how the instructions only mention 40k. Am I missing any Age of Sigmar specific instructions?
Overall Thoughts
I haven’t begun assembling them yet, but reading through what instructions I have makes these seem like a simple enough kit to assemble.
Hobby Plans
I was all set to go with the chainsword and Autopistol combo for the box to go alongside my slowly growing Chaos Marines for 40k.
However…
About an hour before I could leave work, come home and wrote this, GW posted this teaser on social media…
Utterly fantastic news! What a great surprise for my birthday tomorrow!
I’ve been keenly waiting for this Battletome since Silver Tower got Age of Sigmar Warscrolls shortly after release.
That has thrown a spanner in the works though, so now I think the standard close combat weapons option would be best as I could use them across both systems. Whilst I love the aesthetic of savage Gor-Kin with pistols, I’m willing to compromise to greatly expand their usefulness.
I would finish with a comparison picture between this kit and the Silver Tower ones, but I have yet to put clippers and knife to the former. I’m gonna do that right now, so thanks for reading!
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One made from kit on the left, Silver Tower monopose one on the right.
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I’ll just leave these here..
Tzaangor Hero! Tzaangor on Disks!
“Today we stand in the blood of our brothers, for we have been shattered by betrayal.”
Attributed to Obayn Gheist, during the Scourging of Makenna VII [M41]
I started chucking some paint on one of the Shattered Chaos Marines. The red was a doddle as I have that colour scheme locked down now. The silver however proved to be a tad more challenging. Initially I tried my usual NMM but it wasn’t working out so I switched back to true metallics, something I’ve not done in years.
I only had a W&N silver ink to hand, which I found is great to pseudo wet-blend over (it takes a longer time for it to fully dry) as all I was addin to it was varying amounts of black and glazes of brown and blue. Unfortunately, it sucks up a lot of paint so I had to keep going over and over the silver ink, which takes a lot longer to do than my usual feathering thin paint layers over dried paint.
Still, there’s something neat about the contrast between the matte red and the glossy metallics which is something I didn’t consider.
I love the look of it so far, but I certainly need to invest in some GW metallic paints (silver and brass) to really finish these models. The need for the silver is obviously, whereas I need the brass for the leg great times on the Shattered and for the Red Corsair backpacks and details.
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Figured I’d post a quick update on this most dreary and wet of English mornings – can’t get outside to prime miniatures!
As you can see I’ve built the six members of the second squad. I was very excited when my (10-man) MKIII Burning of Prospero plastics arrived!
Since these are supposed to be former Iron Warriors, MKIII armour was clearly a must but due to their outcast status, each one also has incorporated more recent replacement components from MkIV and even the odd loyalist MK VI part.
The middle one in the first picture is the Aspiring Champion (as shown last post) whereas the middle one in the second picture will be the squad’s Meltagun specialist.
Speaking of the Aspiring Champion, aside from his Combi-Melta and (somewhat hidden) chainmail tabard, he is quite to identify him differently from the rest of the squad – hence I made his backpack a bit more ornate;
Hopefully you’ll agree it’s a bit more subtle than the usual unwieldy spiky poles that Chaos Space Marines are quite fond of!
As I said, once the weather clears up I can prime these newly built additions and begin their own colour scheme – something a bit like this;
That subtle blue sheen for the upper parts is something I’d like to emulate (over a more traditionally gritty Iron Warriors dark gunmetal).
Best thing is, this squad of six combined with the five existing Red Corsairs on my desk combine to make a legal 200pt Kill Team! 👌🏻
Painting has begun!
Reds are the only thing that have been completed so far.
The recipe for that is as follows;
Fairly simple in my books. Putting on the final glaze is incredibly satisfying to me, shame it doesn’t dry with the same glossiness it starts off with.
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I received some MkIII “Iron” Armour in the post today, and swiftly added a few components from the kit to a model I build one night;
Built an Aspiring Champion for the beginnings of a second squad of Chaos Marines. I was heavily inspired by an illustration in Black Crusade;
For this second squad, I’m thinking Iron Warrior outcasts with a dirty iron and red colour scheme, with red and black chevrons. I have some background inklings in my head which I need to write up first. Does the Shattered sound like a good minor warband name?
Now to start building the rest of these gorgeous MkIII plastics!
