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  • Riot Quest: The stunner – Stonecold Black Bella

    Posted on March 24, 2021 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    I will freely admit, when I first saw that Black Bella was getting a new  model for the Wintertime Wasteland block, I was trepidatious. Not because I was scared of playing against her, not because I was nervous to figure our how to use her in either Riot Quest or Warmachine, but because the Duchess of Dread’s model from the Mayhem block had for some inexplicable reason been a huge mental stumbling block.

    I was nervous about painting another Black Bella.

    I was wrong.

    Stonecold Black Bella was a lot of fun to paint, but we’ll get to that in minute.

    In RiotQuest, Stonecold Black Bella os a Rpgue class hero, complete with the Sneak ability to help her get around the board. Given that her earlier incarnation was a Fighter, apparently it’s just too chilly in the Wintertimd Wasteland for her to fence with her dueling blades, so now she’s armed with a Telescoping Whip for melee attacks, and she’s made friends with Frostwing.

    The… owl? I wanna say owl… harasses opponents from afar, forcing them to drop their bounty tokens with the Snatchability,

    Stonecold Black Bella doesn’t have anywhere near the damage potential of Black Bella, Duchess of Dread, but that doesn’t mean she won’t be impactful. With Frostwing forcing opposing models to scrabble to pick up dropped bounty tokens and the Flankability to help allies, she’ll find room in more than a few rosters.

    For Warmachine, Stonecold Black Bella is a mercenary who’ll work for most of the Warmachine factions. Even the Protectorate, despite her filthy Thamarite tendencies (Where’s a scrutator and a wrack when you need one?).

    Frostwing is a basic POW12 ranged attack, and the telescoping blade – while still limited to 1″ melee range – is a P+S10 Weapon Master Chain Weapon attack. In and of itself, solid, but not about to one-shot a warcaster. The real value of our avian airborne assault is that while he’s flapping about the target’s head, he’s also picking their pockets for loot tokens, which Bella can then use to boost attack and damage rolls.

    Stacking with this, Dual Attack allows Frostwing to attack in melee, ignoring the target-in-melee penalty thanks to Black Penny, looting a token which Bella can then use to boost the attack or damage roll on her Telescoping Blade.

    Given that the blade also extends to 4″ reach thanks to Chain Strike, that’s now a 13″ threat range with a boostable MAT7, rolling 4d6 damage with a chain weapon (buh-bye shield bonus),  and potential boostable attack and damage on any other targets in melee range since they’ll be targeted by Blood Reaperas well.

    This means you can charge Model A, launching Frostwing with a boosted attack roll for a little nibble (and to replace the loot token you just used), swing wildly at your initial charge target, and then potentially boost the attack and damage roll on Model B, who you couldn’t see to charge at the start of the activation.

    Having spent a lot of time throwing Mage Hunter Assassins across tables in my Retribution days, it’s a fun thing to do, and Bella can bring it to every Warmachine faction as a mercenary. Granted, she brings it with an active threat to every model in her melee range, be they friend or foe, so she’s less of a Mage Hunter Assassin scalpel, and more of a Stonecold Black Bella blender.

    The last piece of the Bella puzzle is Call To Sacrifice. While the Mage Hunter Assassin has Stealth to keep her safe as she runs up the board, Stonecold Black Bella is a target. The solution isn’t cheap, but let’s face it, you’ll get plenty of utility out of a unit of Sea Dogs, especially with a pair of Riflemen and a selection of the other piratical solos that usually come to port with them.

    And then there’s painting the model. In hindsight, the job may have been easier if I’d left the telescoping blade off while working on the model, but I’m occasionally a glutton for hobby punishment.

    Painting Black Bella, Duchess of Dread, brought my table to a standstill for some time, as I struggled to get the studio scheme white armor down. Changing tack to blue armor was the trick in the end, but I’m pleased to say that Stonecold Black Bella gave me no such headaches.

    I tried for the pale armor again, and while it’s not as crisp and neat as I usually like to get my white armor, I’m happy enough with the end results, layering up through light blue/greys to the white. I am absolutely chugged with the rich blue cape, the purple hair, and while Frostwing isn’t pure white as in the art, I’m still pretty darn happy with his flappy self.

    Stonecold Black Bella was a challenge, to be sure, but a very satisfying model to work on in the end. Stonecold Black Bella is one of the five heroes in the Riot Quest: Wintertime Wasteland starter box, available through your FLGS and online retailer.

    Stonecold Black Bella, by Gdaybloke

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    Mercenaries Riot Quest Warmachine
  • On hallowed wings: The Death Archon

    Posted on March 22, 2021 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    The Archons have been a very popular addition to Warmachine and Hordes for Privateer Press. Is it the idea of divine manifestations soaring across the battlefield, the literal power of deities made tangible form to smite thy foes? The Menite, Morrowan and Thamarite Archons led the charge, only to be followed by the Dhunian, Primal, Blight and the Defiled Archon of the Grymkin. Now the Death Archon has taken flight.

    The troublesome ponderance here is, who is the Death Archon beholden to? Each of the other archons is bound to a specific deity or cosmic being. Menoth,  Thamar, Everblight, etc – but the Death Archon materialized at the battle of Henge Hold over a pile of corpses, perhaps drawn into being by the massive carnage of a conflict bigger than any the Iron Kingdoms had seen before.

    An embodiment of the concept of death itself, perhaps, or a cosmic counterbalance. The Death Archon didn’t appear until the other archons had entered the field. For every action, an equal and opposite reaction. If the gods of Caen were going to make themselves manifest, perhaps the universe has filled the void on the other side of the scales with bone and blades…

    Continue reading → Post ID 20917

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    Mercenaries 📎and tagged Archon Death
  • Riot Quest: Black Bella, Duchess of Dread

    Posted on September 11, 2020 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    As we continue to shelter in the Gdaycave, I continue to slowly work through the Silver Mountain that shames me for my lack of painting speed. I picked up Black Bella, Duchess of Dread, at Gencon 2019, one of the Riot Quest heroes that was available for purchase, and it wasn’t long before she found herself on the painting table, but for lack of a better term I stalled.

    The studio scheme for Black Bella is white leathers, and something I started painting her accordingly but I just wasn’t happy. White is a challenging colour to paint smoothly on a good day, but even though I’ve had plenty of experience with it on my old Menites, it just wasn’t working for me on a character named Black Bella. I contemplated redoing her in black leathers, but then this happened, and I’m much happier with it. In deference to her name, she does have black lipstick.

    One of the characters that is making the journey to Riot Quest Season 2, Bella is one the fastest heroes in Riot Quest. Her base speed of  6 means she moves faster than Helga On Wheels, and her 4/5 defensive stats put her on par with Eiryss and Scythe. 3 Stamina is pretty standard, but her Dueling Bladesroll one action, two boost, and two power dice, making her one of the deadliest melee combatants in the game.

    As a Fighter class hero, she gets Charge as a standard, adding an extra power die to her attacks. If an opponent tries to run away from her blades, Dirty Fighterlets her roll a power die for bonus damage as she stabs them in the keister. Should they choose to stand and fight, Side Step means if they miss, she gets to reposition. All in all, she’s very stabby and highly mobile.

    Now, should you pick up Black Bella as a mercenary for Warmachine – and yes, she does play for the Protectorate – 4pts gets you a MAT 7 Weapon Master with sword and dagger attacks, DEF 17 in melee thanks to Duelist, she can murder her way through a unit like the Whitemane used to thanks to Killing Spree, Ripostewill let her utter a pointy rejoinder should someone try to hit her, and just for fun she’s functionally MAT 9 on a charge with her sword thanks to Brutal Charge.

    I’m now picturing Bella and a pair of Allegiants of the Order of the Fist running down a flank toward an opposing flag…

    Black Bella, Duchess of Dread, is available from your FLGS or preferred online retailer. Whether you’d like to stab opposing looters in Ironhead Fortress or to add her to your ranks on the tabletop, if you’ve got the coin, she’s got the blades.

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    Mercenaries Riot Quest
  • WMH: Resolute Souls… the Legion and the Order

    Posted on March 25, 2020 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    As the Infernal invasion causes dramatic upheavals on pretty much every level for the nations of Caen, the best and the worst are brought out of people, weird alliances are forged, and the strangest of bedfellows unite on the battlefield to challenge a common enemy that threatens the future of all humanity. And Iosity, Rhulity, BogTroggity, Trollkinity, so on and so forth. Today we’re opening up some undead avengers, raised by the power of the Witchblade, and Morrow’s magnificent ghost-busting man-o-war…

    The Legion of Lost Souls, and the Order of Illumination Resolutes.

    Continue reading → Post ID 20917

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    Mercenaries
  • Glyn Cormier, Morrowan Battle Priest and the Thamarite Advocate

    Posted on March 11, 2020 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    Three Humans walk into a bar… promptly declare the entire place to be tainted by Infernals, and burn it to the ground.  Well, that was a quick story, what shall we talk about now? Oh, fine, we’ll talk about the actual three models in question. As the Infernal invasion ravages the Iron Kingdoms, the militant arms of the faiths of the Iron Kingdoms are mobilizing in full, with priests and demon hunters casting aside their age-old enmity with the followers of Thamar, in the interest of, oh, I dunno, the survival of humanity as a whole. It’s a thing. There may be a lesson there for all of us…

    First up, the Morrowan Battle Priest and Glyn Cormier.

    Continue reading → Post ID 20917

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    Mercenaries Warmachine
  • Alexia and the Vigilants

    Posted on November 13, 2019 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    Aside from sounding like an 80’s alternative band of some sort, Alexia the Undying and the Order of Illumination Vigilants may be just what you need to thwart the Infernal incursion in your local meta. On the one hand, arguably the Iron Kindgom’s most power necromancer. On the other, a strike team of zealous soldiers that can roughly be equated with overly religious ghostbusters.

    Continue reading → Post ID 20917

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    Crucible Guard Cygnar Khador Mercenaries Warmachine
  • A Gabe of Throne(s)

    Posted on November 11, 2019 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    Grand Master Gabriel Throne has totally had enough of all those Infernal shenanigans, and he’s come out retirement to send the netherspawn howling and screaming back through their infernal gates to lick their wounds and otherwise think about their life choices. As a Grand Master of the Order of Illumination, Throne is a skilled tactician and commander, with an array of abilities to boost those serving. He also gets a sweet horse.

    Seven components make up the Grand Master, and frankly, it’s one of the nicest cavalry models I’ve had the pleasure tinker with from Privateer.

    Continue reading → Post ID 20917

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    Crucible Guard Cygnar Mercenaries Warmachine
  • Sides of a Coin: The Void and Primal Archons

    Posted on November 8, 2019 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    The essence of creation, the primordial urge that pushes the axlotl out of murky soup with an urge to go bipedal and take up chartered accountancy, wars with the inevitable advance of entropy. Where there is life, their is death. With the other-dimensional Infernals breaking through the walls of reality, both aspects are manifesting alongside the deific Archons of Menoth, Morrow and Thamar, to fight not just for the souls of humanity, but for reality itself.

    Alright, that’s just my persona take on the Void and Primal Archons, but hey, I like it.

    Continue reading → Post ID 20917

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    Mercenaries Minions
  • Dark Relections:The Morrowan and Thamarite Archons

    Posted on November 6, 2019 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    The Infernal Incursion has led to strange bedfellows as the war for the souls of humanity escalates. After decades of conflict, and still with no love lost between them, the Morrowan devout and Thamarite sworn have shelved their enmity – if not their prejudices – in the face of a threat greater than either can face alone. Evidence of the approval of their deities, archons from both Morrow and Thamar join the fray…

    Continue reading → Post ID 20917

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    Mercenaries
  • Swab the Poop Deck! The Swabber

    Posted on June 7, 2019 7:00 am by gdaybloke Comment

    Alright, you got me, I really just wanted an excuse to say Poop in a post title.  Even though the term Poop Deck doesn’t actually refer to poop (originating with the Latinpuppis, and making it into naval parlance via the French la poupe – lookit, you learned something today!), there’s definitely something being swabbed by the newest heavy warjack to join the Talion Charter and other privateers of the Iron Kingdoms, the Swabber.

    The deranged engineer lovechild of Captain Ahab and a Llaelese refugee who was really keen on guns that poke through shields (see the Vanguard) , the Swabber is armed with both a harpoon and a shield cannon, making for an interesting proposition. It harpoons its target, drags it into melee range, and then… bashes it with the shield? I mean, it’s P+S15, so the shield’s not exactly a light thwack.. but with the Shield Cannon and the Harpoon as its two primary weapons, the Swabber definitely wants to be standing up on the Poop Deck, firing on its targets from on high.

    A sturdy complement to the Freebooter and Mariner, complete with full amphibious capacity, the Swabber adds some heavy firepower and a measure of board control to the warjack stable for the Privateers. Also two beautifully rounded kneepads,

    Continue reading → Post ID 20917

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    Mercenaries

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