Herd WIP

I completed (for now) my Varangur project about a month ago. Since then I have kept on hobbying... but unfortunately, not in a really coherent manner. Scatterbrained hobbying and not posting seems to be my default state for 2017. I am starting to regain a little focus, so hopefully I'll reclaim some desk space and post more as these numerous projects are completed. For now though, I have an update on my Herd, one of the larger projects I have been working on.

I started on the Herd last year, and then quickly abandoned the project. I was overwhelmed. I didn't know what units I really wanted to run, or at what unit sizes... and eventually just let the project sit while I moved onto other things.

With the Varangur done, I now have a much better idea what I want to do with the Herd. Like the Varangur, I want to do up a small army now to loan out for intro games, and then add to the army over time in the hopes of using it in a big group mega battle. Whereas the Varangur are fewer in number and more elite, I decided I wanted the Herd to be more of a swarm of numerous, relatively cheap troops.

Everything in the army is still in a WIP state. Nothing at all is table ready, but I've made good progress over the last few weeks.

Guardian Brutes

While perusing the army back in September, these guys jumped out at me. Sure the lose the special Pathfinders rule, but they hit like trucks and have a great defense among the Herd. I figured they could anchor my lines well. The models are Farrow Slaughterhousers from the Hordes line. While they are metal models, they weren't as difficult to deal with as I was anticipating (I have had some terrible luck with metal minis in the past). Each model has only one way to be assembled, so there wasn't a lot of room for customization, but I added some horns to do a little something. 

They are furthest along, but still need some work, mostly with basing. The blue swirl is a test for an ice-like effect... and I need a clear shiny effect to get it to where I want to be. Additionally, the base could use enough layer of snow, and probably a plant or two, so that the base has more going on. These piggies will be my test unit for all the basing extras. I've got some things in the mail, so we'll see how they turn out.

Beast Packs

These were painted almost to completion last September, since troops of Beast Packs were one of the only things I knew I wanted to run for sure. 

While I have yet to play with or against the Herd, they seem like the work horses of a Herd list. They are dirt cheap and very quick. At worst, they serve as speedy chaff, screening and protecting more important things, like your tribal infantry. At best, they could be utilized as light cavalry, running around to flank your opponent, or harass shooting units or war machines.

I am only doing up four troops right now, though should have enough old Chaos Warhounds to make six additional troops, should the mood strike me. Right now, the units are all painted, I just need to finish painting the last two bases, and spruce everything up. These are closer than they look to being table ready.

Tribal Hunters

I decided to move these units back into the WIP stage in order to redo the basing. Unfortunately, I discovered my old snow effect does not hold up to time, and eventually the glue turns a yucky, crusty looking yellow (can't even pass it off as yellow snow!). For the Varangur, I tried a new snow approach, using a mixture of glue, baking soda, white paint and water... and really like how that turned out. These guys should be table ready soon.

Not much to say on their theoretical roles in-game. The shooting isn't good, but it's about all the Herd has. With their Vanguard move, they can be very aggressive; grabbing objectives early, or drawing enemy fire in the early turns. I think they will work surprisingly good in objective-based games, as they can grab Loot or whatever and then scamper away without negatively impacting the combat effectiveness of the rest of your list. I am interested to see how these guys perform.

Tribal Longhorns

One of my main reasons for starting the Herd last year was the 30+ Gor models I already had. One of the main reasons for abandoning the Herd last year, was my inability to decide how to run those models. As larger models, designed for 25mm bases, should I run them as Warriors? Longhorns? Spirit Walkers? Tribal Spears? What if I ran different units? Would similar models used for different units look good on the table, or would that confuse my opponents?

Ultimately, I decided everything would just be run as Tribal Longhorns. The army would not have as big a toolbox, but just running all the Gor-sized models as Longhorns will save me a ton of effort and energy. I finished priming two troops of models tonight, but no real work has been done on them yet, so no picture.

I'm excited to be making real progress on these guys. Hopefully they will see the table sometime this year!