Mercenary Tendencies 1.1 : MCBAAAAAAAIN!

I finished these babies last night, and just wanted to throw 'em up

From left to right; Rustbucket, Reinholdt, Crash, McBain, Clanky (also pictured, my Mage Hunter Strike Force that I've been putting off 'cos I hate infantry.  Not pictured, the parts to make up the legless War Hog just off to the left).  While these babies required vastly more cleaning than any of the Ret kits I've got, they were also vastly more fun to put together - the Merc kit comes with haulage to add on and the arms and heads are infinitely more posable.

Plus it feels far better when you start hacking it up and painting it as covered in rust and oil!  More Merc kits may come after I've finished this McBain list...

Iosans Unbound

So, I finally got a full 150 point army painted, and that means one thing, and one thing only...  SHITTY PHOTOS!

 

This is the full army - it contains all the minis needed to field Rahn, Ossyan and Vyros' Theme Forces up to Tier 4 with a few other minis for support (and because I PAID for the damn Force Generator so I will use it).

The "Core" of the army - Vyros, 2 Hydras, 2 Aspis, Halberdiers +UA, 2 Heavy Rifle Teams, a unit of Stormfall Archers, Epic Eiryss and a Mage Hunter Assassin (who I've just noticed was more than 5" from the camera.  Stoopid Stealth...) - plus 4 Arcanists who can be scattered around the army as needed.

This part of the force could also be referred to as "everything not in the other two bits".

The Artillery section - Ossyan, Hypnos and a Banshee, 2 units of Riflemen + UA, another unit of Stormfall Archers and the Arcantrik Force Generator.

These are the elements that will cover the main force.  While I'm still pissed about my Arcantrik Waste of £60, it may be useful in an Unbound game and at least won't need Focus to be effective.  Of course, it also can't use, say, Chronomancer to further boost the damage...

Lastly, the Shyeel contingent.  It's what it looks like - it's a Rahn Tier 4 theme force with an additional Artificer.

Oh yes.

The Artificer should move up with the Halberdiers to keep them safe before they charge.  Halberdiers charging kicks ass too much to let them die before they do it.

Now, I'm well aware setting up an Unbound game is a statistical impossibility when you could play approximately eighteen million regular 50 point games in the same timeframe, I'm just very, very happy that I've finally got to this point, and now I feel confident I could at least participate if the option ever comes up so...  Yeah.  Yay!

And I got to show off some minis - not the best work in the world, but admit it, all black looks better than iElf white!

Badasses? But they're elves!

So here it is, the first in what will hopefully be a long line of blogs about my new and hopefully ever-expanding Retribution of Scyrah army, along with news and previews ripped straight from the main PP website! I figure it'll help if I start with a quick overview and plan for my particular Retribution forces, as well as how I see myself heading out from this point.

Firstly, my confession - I hate the Dawnguard models.  The Sentinels are slowly growing on me, but the oversized thigh armour leading down to tiny shinguards make them look like their ankles are going to snap at the slightest provocation.  I know a lot of people enjoy bitching that the Destors aren't released yet, but seeing as they're Dawnguard and therefore going to look so ridiculous I'd never use them the Retribution line is, as far as I'm concerned, entirely released for this year.

Secondly, the models I've ordered.  Now, at the moment, they're only on order and I have to use my Cygnar, but when I get them, I'm looking at the following;

Adeptis Rahn
2 Heavy Myrmidons (Which are going to be made up as Phoenixes)
An Arcanist
A Box of Battle Mages
3 Magisters.

The idea is that this will make a 25 point list that also happens to be a Tier 3 Rahn list.  As much as I love the models, I don't think I could get the 24 Battle Mages needed for Tier 4 without wanting to kill myself or, worse, hating the sculpts so much I'd never want to look at them again.  I also, after I've got this little lot painted up, plan to get another few batches of models in no particular order;

All the character solos.  Eiryss, Narn, Nayl and Fane Knight Skeryth Issyen.  The reasons for this lot should be obvious...

Ravyn and a complete Houseguard Rifleman unit with UA.  I was originally going to try for a Ravyn Tier list but a combination of Vortex of Destruction and War Tempered put paid to that.  Plus the Rifleman Officer is one of the nicest models PP have ever made, so awesome that it's still not allowed in the gallery...

Kaelyssa and a complete Mage Hunter Strike Force with UA.  This will get me on the start of Kaelyssa's Tier list, as well as give me a decent unit for if assassinations prove too hard with Rahn and his boys.

Garryth, two Mage Hunter Assassins and two Ghost Snipers.  This'll get me two of each combat solo that isn't a Dawnguard.  Garryth is also awesome, so having his lot just that bit cheaper makes it easier to justify buying him quickly!

A bunch of Myrmidons.  My Primary goal is to get two of each Heavy and one set ready for the Discordia (oooh, the Discordia...).  To be honest, I've been utterly underwhelmed by the Light Myrmidons, especially seeing as we have the ultimate in beauty - a Heavy with an Arc Node, but I may pick up some Griffons if I get some 'jack Marshals later on.  At some point during my Heavy binge, I want to get a second Arcanist, because the Retribution's solos are amazing.

You'll notice that Vyros isn't on that list.  He won't be on that list until I can decide what I want to do with him, because that model continues to piss me right off.  See the Dawnguard rant above for details, and add in that stupid sword and bird for good measure.

As far as painting goes, I can honestly say that I hate the official Retribution scheme more than almost any other paint job I have ever seen.  It's more sci-fi than most science fiction armies, and has more in common with Storm Troopers than fantasy soldiers, even ones that fight alongside robots powered by arcane energy.  To this end, I'm going to do what most people seem to have done with their Retribution (and I thought I was being so original...) - use black instead of white.  More specifically, inspired by Gdaybloke from the PP forums, I'm going for a dark, smoky grey armour and lighter blue-grey cloth.  It'll look like SWAT team members, but it's still slightly closer to the time frame than far into the future (or long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, depending on your point of view).

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough, and I've got to do...  Anything else.  Coming soon...  When I actually get my first Retribution models, and hopefully their first game!