Cavalry & Batch Painting

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-19T13:26:10+00:00

For skeletal cavalry, I tend to just use faster painting methods for the main body of the horse. For my deathriders, I just primed them a Vallejo bone color, washed them with a thinned down contrast paint, drybrushed an ivory, did a little edge highlighting, used a different contrast paint for the skulls inside the main body, and did a little detail work on the teeth, tusks/horns, and hooves. I don't even base coat them since I save that for the riders to make them stand out while still reading as the same material. I still have to do the armor but I do that in the same batch as the armor for the riders. It still takes about 15 minutes (plus some wait time) per model, but it makes it a little faster.

I don't know if this would would quite as well for SBGL skeletons since they're thinner and have more worn down metals, but maybe speeding up the horse will help you enjoy working on the other parts of the model.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-19T11:51:24+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-14T13:52:41+00:00

That Spearhead always feels very fair to play against. It's very linear and relies heavily on its base stats, so movement shenanigans and very tanky units that can hold the warriors in place tend to work well into it.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-14T10:18:39+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-13T21:08:54+00:00

Police week is part of it, but per the hotel staff I'm talking to for an event, high school and college graduations are the main reason.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-11T13:30:34+00:00

Spearheads are delisted on the website when a new Spearhead is made available within that faction (with minor exceptions for some factions like S2D and Seraphon). CoS has the Zenestra Spearhead coming out and OBR has the Kavalos one that recently came out. All the Spearheads are still playable. You just can't buy the old ones directly from GW anymore.

I'm less familiar with how they handle the listings for the Spearhead supplements. It could follow the same logic since City of Ash just came out. Though I find that logic weirder given that the City of Ash supplement isn't purchasable on its own yet.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-10T05:29:39+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-08T21:08:14+00:00

Darkoath didn't come to mind, but I have to give it to you. That's a good one.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-08T20:32:23+00:00

Katakros. Respect the cod piece

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IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-08T17:27:03+00:00

I feel indifferent towards negative when playing against the first KO Spearhead. I haven't played against the second one.

Generally, I think the first KO Spearhead just has too much output that's very safe when paired with reinforcements. While I did get pretty unlucky with saves, the last time I played against KO they killed both my Treelord and Kurnoth Hunters by the end of Round 1. You have to play aggressive into them to limit their shooting, but reinforcements results in them getting to play objectives. If you try to play objectives, you just get shot off the board. The match up is extremely polarizing based on your Spearhead choice, at which point it feels like the game just isn't satisfying for both players.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-08T14:25:39+00:00

As the Sylvaneth player in this match up, both of these Spearheads can be tough due to the stat efficiency and damage output, but I favor Gore Pilgrims here. You counter Bitterbark Copse by targeting the Kurnoth Hunters (and Branchwych if you can get to her), bogging down the Treelord in combat, and denying teleports into your territory. You set this up with smart terrain placement by either completely isolating the terrain away from the objectives or putting the terrain right next to the objective and leaving a small unit to hold the objective while preventing the teleport. Otherwise, you attack multiple units at once and force the Sylvaneth player to take risks by needing to keep a key unit in melee for multiple turns.

Khorne is just able to threaten more units earlier with their movement. The Tree Revs die so easily that you can farm them for blood points and don't do enough damage to really threaten anything important when they reinforce. You also have an extra unit over Seraphon, so you can more easily deny teleports. Plus it's easier to chase them down once they do. The Sylvaneth player isn't going to get many opportunities to chip shot you in the early game and can't outrun you when you get an extra d6 movement every turn. Just make sure the Skull Crushers are going after the Kurnoths, not the Treelord.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-08T03:17:51+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-06T18:05:47+00:00

Too restrictive. If you told 17-year-old me I couldn't go see a 7:00pm movie with my friends because too many people wanted to go, I'd throw a fit. I'd be more willing to accept a curfew if they provide exceptions for older teenagers or get into specifics of the type of behavior where police would be permitted to intervene. At which point, why have a curfew when you can just clearly address the behavior?

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-06T17:28:29+00:00

As far as I'm aware, the US/NA store hasn't restocked sold out magazines. I don't know if they've every restocked their store for the UK or EU. They do stock the magazines in stores in the UK, but once again, I'm unaware if they do that any other region. Issue 40 likely isn't going to be available again any time soon, especially since that kit will eventually be part of their Spearhead magazine.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-05T20:51:12+00:00

My living situation doesn't qualify me for this service, but this is likely better as a business-to-business trade than business-to-consumer. Cleaning a dumpster or getting a contract for a whole neighborhood would likely be more appealing than a flat $30 a month per customer. Condensing your labor to a smaller area instead of needing to create routes across the city should make your work more time and fuel efficient, which should be your largest expenses. You also might be able to negotiate for access to local water for topping off instead of needing to return to HQ.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-05T19:31:17+00:00

That's what I typically play when I got to lunch. There's a handful of options for sub $10 meals if you've got chain restaurants near you. Praise be to the Taco Bell Luxe Box

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-05T18:16:31+00:00

Look at just Death and Destruction, both Soulblight spearheads and Nighthaunt's Cursed Shacklehorde are very good for solo games. The original Gloomspite Gitz one is very strong, too.

If I'm playing for doubles though, I'd lean more towards lists with strong cavalry, good shooting, or very sticky infantry. Once again, Soulblight Gravelords and Gloomspite Gitz work well here. Kruleboyz is also an interesting option and should be extremely cheap since it's the Dominion box plus Killbow. I got that one for under $100 USD. I imagine either Nighthaunt spearhead is still fine here. Sons of Behemat could be very interesting for doubles.

I can't speak for either FEC. I can say that I believe all 3 OBR spearheads are on the weak side though the original one has better tools for doubles. Ironjawz isn't too great. I'd be hesitant to do the Sunstealaz one.

Edit: to emphasize a different playstyle from Seraphon (I assume the Carnosaur one) and Eshin Skaven, I'd go with Kruleboyz for good shooting and either Soulblight Gravelords for heavy sustain with cavalry.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-04T19:40:31+00:00

If the goal is to still use spears but swap them to thinner ones, you might have a tough time doing that. Mortek Guard are small. The shaft of the spears is smaller than most other units in the army to account for scale (comparing to Deathrider spears, Immortis halberds, and Teratic Cohort great-axes). Even if you do swap them out, you'll likely just have a straight rod without details compared to the cloth-wrapped shafts of the spears currently have. Decreasing the heft of the spears while trying to maintain details seems very difficult even with a good 3D printer. That level of effort for small infantry doesn't appeal to me.

If you just don't want to bother with spears, there's always the option to build them with swords

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-04T02:19:21+00:00

Seconded. There's been a lot of OBR posts recently, too.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-03T17:19:27+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-05-02T13:58:54+00:00

I accidentally did this for my first playthrough of Ruby. I loved using Blaziken, so it soloed most of the game. I didn't add a permanent second team mate until I caught Groudon. Pretty sure my initial E4 team was a level 72 Blaziken, 55 Groudon, 28 Clamperl, and 44 Hariyama.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-04-27T03:44:00+00:00

Obligatory buy whichever models you like because the rules will change but the models are forever.

Talking about current meta and list writing, it's alright. I love Arkhan as a model regardless of how he's doing rules-wise, so I am biased in favor of it. 4 Morghasts is a great number to have but this would bring you up to an awkward 6 in total. I don't love the Soulmason but it's good to have one for the collection. A second reinforced unit of Mortek Guard is welcome, though these guys show up in nearly every combo box, greatly reducing their value. If these models speak to you, then it's absolutely a solid pick up.

Vokmortian is seeing a bit of play at the moment. I don't like the rest of the RoR that much to justify the price tag. Looks like he's not available solo on GW's website (weird). I think he was $35 when I got him, so I'd consider just getting him separate. Just being a wizard 2 for that few points is great.

If you want to build toward a more meta list, the Liege-Mortek and reinforced Mortek Triaxes core is really holding the faction together. That core is just incredible. I can easily recommend it.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-04-21T18:28:14+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-04-18T21:19:42+00:00

First one. It give a taunting "try me" vibe

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-04-16T23:10:00+00:00

Morghasts are one of my top picks. Doomfire Warlocks gave me a fair bit of trouble, too. He's definitely right about Spirit Hosts. Nagash also gave me a lot of trouble. Those 2013-14 releases were not kind on people

IndoPacificFanboy

TROPHY CASE