Jaakko and Rugluk - Rank & File month #3

Act 3

Rugluk Backstabba stood on the edge of a valley, surveying a mob of orcs, goblins, and whatever else had been dragged along in the valley below. Gronk was dead and the warboss’s name was already half-forgotten. The tribe had come round quick once Rugluk bashed enough heads together. A few warlords needed “convincin’ ”, but after a couple of suspicious “accidents”, no one argued much.

Now, they marched "to da stunties’ fort" while Rugluk looked at the troops he had gathered.

The ground shook as a snotling pump wagon rattled ahead, the little runts cackling as they crashed through anything too slow to dodge. Rugluk watched as it flattened a goblin who didn’t jump quick enough.

“Least dey'r keen,” he muttered.

To their left, a mob of orcs marched, their armour clanking. They were big and as cheerful as a hungry wolf. They only followed Rugluk because he was bigger - and because the last boss who questioned him had been found missing a head.

In front of the main force, a pack of Wolf Riders scouted ahead, their mounts snarling. One of them tried to show off his riding skills - right before his wolf sent him head first into the mud. The rest cackled as he limped after them.

Rugluk smirked. It was a proper mob alright.

Still, something nagged at him. The wyrm’s words slithered in the back of his mind. It promised he’d be da biggest, da best… but did it say fer how long?

Rugluk shook his head. “Ain’t no git strong enuff ta take me down” he said to himself. But he wasn't sure if he was convinced.

 

 

Welcome back! Another month has passed and another group of painted models joins the ranks of Rugluk's mob. I wanted to avoid painting another large unit and decided to paint some war machines. That's enough enough talking - let's move on to the miniatures!

I managed to finish two Lead Belcher Goblin Organ Guns and two Snotling Pump Wagons. I misestimated my energy levels and the time taken to paint a Pump Wagon and failed to finish a third one. I try to paint the rest of it next month.

I'm pretty happy with how the Pump Wagons turned out. I could have jammed more snotlings into the big one but I think they are good enough as they are. Also, I'm a bit limited with non-duplicate snotlings that fit them.

 

 

I mentioned the plan of painting war machines every month and I try to stick to it from now on. These Lead Belchers were an obvious choice after a busy February as they have such a small crew. 

 

In the original backstory the face is flayed from a Troll but I went with a skintone more compliant with a Giant. I had forgotten about it but the other gun was incomplete. I dont mind it though, as the chances of these guys killing and skinning two Giants are slim.

 

I wanted to have some variation in the skintones (and painting routine) and decided to paint Snotlings with a colder green. I have previously used this with some Blood Bowl Snotlings and enjoyed painting the scheme.

 

This month in points:

 

 

 

 

I am not sure if the crew in the Snotling Pump Wagons should have been taken into account in the model count but I decided not to. (But I did make a mental note that there are 12 of them for a later tally.) I also separated the siege themed models from the regular models and present them in the siege section from now on. If I stay true to my plans there will be many more siege models to come.

SIEGE

I wanted to include something siege themed to this month and decided to pick a low hanging fruit. These ladders I painted are from the Mighty Fortress and hold the promise of a mighty Wild Card month for season 9 (I have other plans for this season).

Ladders might seem simple but the rules for using them are three pages long. In short, you need a group of 2-6 models to carry them to the wall, and they are erected once your models hit the wall. Then you may climb up (and fight) on the next turn. The long ones reach from the ground to the parapet of the ramparts, and the short ones can reach between levels in a tower or from the courtyard to the rampart.

 

 

 

I end this section with a fitting quote from the Warhammer Siege:

"It is a brave commander who decides to storm a castle. Many troops will be killed as they push lumbering machines towards the walls, and many more will be cast from the battlements or slaughtered as they try to hold crumbling ramparts against determined defenders.

Of course, some troops are simply ideal for this sort of tough, demanding and generally fatal work - Goblins, for example! After all, why waste time having your Goblins build complicated and probably ineffectual machines when they can be doing what they do best - dying in droves!"

That's it, I think I'll rush to paint some Goblins!