If you haven't paid any attention lately,. you might not know that Mantic recently released a little miniature skirmish game set in the Kings of War universe called Vanguard. I went big in the kickstarter, so I have the first five warbands that were part of the it - as much because it sounded fun to play, but also as a Pathfinder I wanted to be able to demo and teach it.
However, in order to do this, I had to get them painted - as demoing with unpainted minis is - well just isn't right. One of the purposes of doing demos is to get people excited about a game, and ultimately get them to buy and play it.
However not only did I get some warbands, but I also picked up enough of the new models to make two more Kings of War demo armies. However since that is a bigger task than a warband, I have started with the warbands that I already have Kings of War armies for.
And since I just showed off the new Dwarf Reinforcements (and I showed the resins here) I figured I start with stunties.
(I wanted to mention that my goal here is base tabletop quality - I want to show people what THEY can do, not show off what I can (or can't do). So really not much more than a basecoat, wash and a little highlighting. They are not perfect, and even I can see mistakes in the pictures - but that is actually a good thing. I can remember how intimidated I was when I first started wargaming and seeing the 'simple' paint jobs in White Dwarf (where the basic paint jobs required three levels of layering and multiple shading and highlights). For my personal, tournament armies, I do take more time and try to go a step or two beyond this).
Dwarfs were also a little easier, as I didn't have a lot of extra models. I had picked up the new resins, which I discovered were NOT enough to make a full warband (too many specialists, not enough warriors / grunts), so I went to my extra sprues and put together two ironclad and a levy. (Not realizing at the time that these were soon to come out.)
With all of these, I painted up ALL the vanguard models I had, so that if I wanted/needed to I could possibly re-configure my demo warbands - or even let people work out their own.
The picture above is the warband I'm using for teaching using dwarfs. The goal is to be able to show off the game AND the new models - so the warbands may not be the most competitive out there.
First off is the required command model - a Dwarf Sargent. (I don't have the "Herneas the Hunter" model, which is what they are using for the Ranger Captain). Dwarfs also only have the two command options unfortunately.
Then you need grunts / warriors. Only the one grunt, a levy with spear.
Then a couple of Ironclad. I really like these new models because they finally have decent beards. It is very common for a specific faction to have one prominent feature, and for dwarfs this is often their beards. Unfortunately most of the Mantic line has been lacking here - the plastics being so closely shorn their barely count above stubble. These new metals all large, magnificent beards.
Of course these are fantasy - in real life NO ONE has such cool beards (and I even keep mine very closely cropped), but we don't indulge in fantasy games to live in a practical real world after all.
Dwarfs have lots of warrior options, so I just kept adding in the new models.
The Ironwatch model is great - except he is carrying a gun when the game model only has a crossbow.
The ranger is great, and even better because it is a rare female dwarf (only rare because they don't tend to send their women into battle). Both Ironwatch and Rangers have rules that give them benefits when three of them act at once - so it is a little disappointing that there were no options on these kits to give some variety so such great models.
Shieldbreakers have two handed weapons, giving them more hitting power at the cost of worse armor. I'm not quite sure why this guy is yelling instead of fighting, but is is a great model.
So five warriors and a grunt opens up two special slots - however the new resins have 4 options - so which to pick. Of the choices, there were two must haves that I saw. The first was the Flame Priest. Not only an interesting shooting attack, but when I saw he was carrying a barrel on his back, I instantly imagined him in my old Warhammer dwarf army, shooting beer instead of flames.
The other one was the new Steel Juggernaut - which fills BOTH a special and a Large slot for the warband.
And that gives me 199 pts. I do still have a few extra models if someone wants to change it up a bit.
These are the Ironguard - which is fantastic, and I can see him as a Sargent because he is simply bigger and more imposing.
I also have the Mastiff Packmaster. This was the only resin model to come with options. Unfortunately as I was painting him, the weapon he had on his back broke, and I wasn't able to pin it back together, so I just completely removed it. But we all know it is the dog that does all the damage anyway.
Plus I had the plastic models I made and painted up before the new metal ones came out for a Levy and two Ironclad.
Next up - who ever said a good army has to be have things like freedom?
Because it is all fun and games . . .
However, in order to do this, I had to get them painted - as demoing with unpainted minis is - well just isn't right. One of the purposes of doing demos is to get people excited about a game, and ultimately get them to buy and play it.
However not only did I get some warbands, but I also picked up enough of the new models to make two more Kings of War demo armies. However since that is a bigger task than a warband, I have started with the warbands that I already have Kings of War armies for.
And since I just showed off the new Dwarf Reinforcements (and I showed the resins here) I figured I start with stunties.
(I wanted to mention that my goal here is base tabletop quality - I want to show people what THEY can do, not show off what I can (or can't do). So really not much more than a basecoat, wash and a little highlighting. They are not perfect, and even I can see mistakes in the pictures - but that is actually a good thing. I can remember how intimidated I was when I first started wargaming and seeing the 'simple' paint jobs in White Dwarf (where the basic paint jobs required three levels of layering and multiple shading and highlights). For my personal, tournament armies, I do take more time and try to go a step or two beyond this).
Dwarfs were also a little easier, as I didn't have a lot of extra models. I had picked up the new resins, which I discovered were NOT enough to make a full warband (too many specialists, not enough warriors / grunts), so I went to my extra sprues and put together two ironclad and a levy. (Not realizing at the time that these were soon to come out.)
With all of these, I painted up ALL the vanguard models I had, so that if I wanted/needed to I could possibly re-configure my demo warbands - or even let people work out their own.
The picture above is the warband I'm using for teaching using dwarfs. The goal is to be able to show off the game AND the new models - so the warbands may not be the most competitive out there.
First off is the required command model - a Dwarf Sargent. (I don't have the "Herneas the Hunter" model, which is what they are using for the Ranger Captain). Dwarfs also only have the two command options unfortunately.
Then you need grunts / warriors. Only the one grunt, a levy with spear.
Then a couple of Ironclad. I really like these new models because they finally have decent beards. It is very common for a specific faction to have one prominent feature, and for dwarfs this is often their beards. Unfortunately most of the Mantic line has been lacking here - the plastics being so closely shorn their barely count above stubble. These new metals all large, magnificent beards.
Of course these are fantasy - in real life NO ONE has such cool beards (and I even keep mine very closely cropped), but we don't indulge in fantasy games to live in a practical real world after all.
Dwarfs have lots of warrior options, so I just kept adding in the new models.
The Ironwatch model is great - except he is carrying a gun when the game model only has a crossbow.
The ranger is great, and even better because it is a rare female dwarf (only rare because they don't tend to send their women into battle). Both Ironwatch and Rangers have rules that give them benefits when three of them act at once - so it is a little disappointing that there were no options on these kits to give some variety so such great models.
Shieldbreakers have two handed weapons, giving them more hitting power at the cost of worse armor. I'm not quite sure why this guy is yelling instead of fighting, but is is a great model.
So five warriors and a grunt opens up two special slots - however the new resins have 4 options - so which to pick. Of the choices, there were two must haves that I saw. The first was the Flame Priest. Not only an interesting shooting attack, but when I saw he was carrying a barrel on his back, I instantly imagined him in my old Warhammer dwarf army, shooting beer instead of flames.
The other one was the new Steel Juggernaut - which fills BOTH a special and a Large slot for the warband.
And that gives me 199 pts. I do still have a few extra models if someone wants to change it up a bit.
These are the Ironguard - which is fantastic, and I can see him as a Sargent because he is simply bigger and more imposing.
I also have the Mastiff Packmaster. This was the only resin model to come with options. Unfortunately as I was painting him, the weapon he had on his back broke, and I wasn't able to pin it back together, so I just completely removed it. But we all know it is the dog that does all the damage anyway.
Plus I had the plastic models I made and painted up before the new metal ones came out for a Levy and two Ironclad.
Next up - who ever said a good army has to be have things like freedom?
Because it is all fun and games . . .
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