Along came Nurgle Chaos, and what a weapon it is.

My first game with my Nurgle Chaos didn’t go too swell. I squared off at 1,000 points with a High Elf army, and I came out with a minor loss. Some poor tactical decisions along with some cruddy luck with my magic left most of my army impotent until the last turn of the game.

Last Saturday, I met up with that same High Elf army for a rematch. The results were much different.

Deploying Differently

I was using the same list as the first time. A level 2 Sorcerer, a block of Warriors, a unit of Knights, two units of Marauder Horsemen, and a unit of Dogs. A little beef, a dose of speed, and some magic for fun.

I split the army up into two parts. The Sorcerer, the Warriors, and a unit of Marauder Horsemen occupied the left portion of the battlefield, while the rest of the army came up the right flank. My opponent deployed most of his army opposite my Warriors with his Bolt Thrower on a hill, but there was a lone unit of Seaguard waiting for my Knights.

I went first – allowing everyone to march forward and close ground quickly. He flew his Eagle over to march block the Knights for a turn, and his first volley of shooting decimated my Dogs. The next turn, the Warriors were able to keep marching, while the Knights slowly walked across the field.

With this second march, my Sorcerer was in the perfect position. For his two spells, he had the #1 spell (Magnificent Buboes, 5+, 1 wound on a single model) and the #6 spell (Rot, Glorious Rot, 12+). As it turns out, that #6 spell was going to be the deciding factor in the game. It’s effect reads:

Each enemy unit within 18″ of the caster takes D6 SD6 hits with no armour saves allowed (roll separately for each unit). This spell can even effect enemy units in close combat.

I threw three dice and the spell went off easily (Irresistible Force ftw!). When I measured out the range, almost the entire army was hit. I caught the Eagle, the Knights, the Swordmasters, the Spearmen, the Seaguard, and the hero on foot (standing by himself).

I initially read the spell wrong and resolved each hit at S6. I couldn’t believe the utter destruction that befell the High Elf army, so I read the spell over a few times – and I eventually noticed that it was a SD6, or a strength of D6. We went back and resolved the wounds a second time – rolling for the strength of each volley – and it was still pretty devastating. The Knights and Swordmasters were almost wiped out, and the character was killed.

From there, it quickly went downhill for the High Elves. A unit of Marauder Horsemen was wiped out by shooting, but the Knights managed to crash into the line. They wiped out the Archers with ease, and they pursued into the Bolt Thrower.

After a turn of moving up, the Warriors engaged the Spearmen and the lone remaining Knight. The High Elves didn’t pack enough oomph in that first round to break the Warriors, and they slowly whittled down the Spearmen. Warriors with hand weapon and shield and a Mark of Nurgle are very sturdy against strength 3 attacks. It’s laughable the amount of spear-pokes that simply bounced off the unit with minimal wounds.

By the end of turn 6, the battle had turned into a massacre. It took a few rounds of combat, but the Warriors broke the Spearmen and pursued them. The Knights had easily taken care of their side of the field – the Archers, the Bolt Thrower, and the Sea Guard – and the magic had done the rest.

What Worked

A lot.

The clear winner of the game was magic. Rot, Glorious Rot is a ridiculous spell. If your opponent is bunched up in one area, do whatever you can to get your wizard in range of a handful of units. It wouldn’t be as effective against swarms like Skaven or Empire, but against highly armored, expensive units… it’s a dream come true. No Armour Saves. Woot!

The Knights survived a couple rounds of shooting (with only two or three guys alive) and smashed into some small units. They did their job well – however I think I might beef them up with an extra Knight or two. Starting with only five Knights quickly takes them down in fighting strength, making them less effective against sizeable troop blocks.

The Warriors did great in combat. Their armor stood up to the puny spear attacks, and they slowly fought back. At first, it was a close combat – due to the Dragon Prince charging, the Spearmen ranks, and the High Elves outnumbering. It quickly turned the other way, though, when almost none of the Chaos Warriors died. Hooray survivability!

Lessons for Next Time

At full points, I’m definitely taking a Sorcerer lord, and I think I’ll take the magic item (gift?) that allows him to get a fifth spell. Along with Rot, Glorious Rot, there are several wicked spells in the Nurgle arsenal – and getting five out of six for the Lord should be very helpful.

At full points, I’ll also beef up the Knights a bit. I had thought about taking a second unit, but there probably won’t be enough points. Adding 2 Knights to the initial unit will probably be more cost effective – allowing them to reach the enemy with almost full fighting strength (4-5 Knights alive, 2-3 casualties).

Keep the Knights and Warriors split up. By putting them on opposite sides of the board, the Eagle was only allowed to march block one unit. It’s kind of daunting to look at a block of Warriors and a unit of Knights, but it’s not so scary if they’re stuck in place. Split them up, allow one of them to go full speed ahead, and force your opponent to make some tough choices.

That puts my record with the Nurgle Chaos at 1,000 points at 1-1. I suppose that’s acceptable. We’ll have to have a third match soon as a tie-breaker.

In the meantime, I need to paint some stuff. I did finish a Warrior (which I’ll photograph and post about over the weekend), and I think my next painting project will be to start the Dogs.

Chaos Sorcerers are pretty beefy, and if they get into combat they have to issue a challenge. It’s pretty important, then, to take some magical items that beef up their survivability as well as (or instead of) their magical potential. A dead sorcerer is no good.

There seems to have been a lot of argument around the internet as to whether or not a Chaos Sorcerer can equip a magical shield, and I think I’ve finally come up with the definitive answer.

Why Should Chaos Sorcerer’s Be Able to Wield Magical Shields?

There is one major justification for the argument.

In the Warriors of Chaos army book, the section titled “Using Chaos Magic” states:

The term ‘Sorcerer’ is used to describe Wizards who follow the Chaos Gods. Sorcerers are unusual in that they wear Chaos armour and use magic shields or magic armour just like other Champions of Chaos. (p. 106)

Many people have interpreted this to mean, quite literally, that Chaos Sorcerers can use magic shields. Since this accompanies other “rules” text, like the fact that a marked Sorcerer must use spells from the Lore of his chosen god, it should also be deemed “rules” text.

Why Should Chaos Sorcerer’s Not Be Able to Wear Magical Shields?

Most of the arguments against the use of magical shields by Chaos Sorcerer’s rely on this statement in the Warhammer Fantasy Rulebook, in the section titled “Magic Armour“:

A character that is not allowed to wear ordinary armour cannot be given magic armour/helms (unless differently specified in the Army book). A character that is not allowed to carry ordinary shields cannot be given magic shields (unless differently specified in the Army book). This includes many kinds of Wizard whose natural magical harmony would be seriously affected by the armour (p. 121).

Following this logic, the Chaos Sorceror is allowed to wear magical armor because he normally has a suit of Chaos Armor. However, there is no option on the Sorcerer profile to upgrade to a shield, so therefore it was not intended for Sorcerers to wear magical shields.

If the Sorcerers are intended to be battle wizards (of a sort) that wear armor, why would they be allowed to take a magical shield but not a mundane one? Makes little sense. If that was the intent, they would probably be able to wear a shield so that they could wear a suit of magic armor and still benefit from a shield’s protection.

Furthermore, they state that the descriptive information in the “Using Chaos Magic” of the Warriors of Chaos army book is simply descriptive text and not rules text. Therefore, it does fulfill the requirement in the rulebook: “unless differently specified in the Army book.” Presumably this would come in the form of a rule attached to the character’s profile, which specifically stated that the character could take magical armor and shields.

Is There a Definitive Answer?

There have been several discussions online (and I’m sure many more in gaming stores) about the correct answer to this question. There seem to be proponents for each side and little common ground to stand on. Either you believe the descriptive text is a rule or you believe it isn’t.

There has been, however, some indication from Games Workshop that it is not intended for Chaos Sorcerers to use magical shields. In his article “Eye of the Gods, Favour of the Ruinous Powers,” Adam Troke said:

Oh, and despite the scurrilous advice I’ve given in the past, you can’t equip your Sorcerers with magic shields… and apparently no amount of wishing, arguing or whining on my part will make it true.

While this is not an official FAQ, it is published on the Games Workshop website and it comes from someone within the company. Adam seems to state unequivocally that Chaos Sorcerers cannot use magical shields.

Unless someone has a more definitive answer, I’m with troke: no magical shields for my poor little sorcerers.

I thought it was a great idea, but I didn’t like the idea of a $9.99 price tag for each unit. Even with my 50% employee discount, that’s a steep price to pay for bases in my opinion, especially if you play armies with lots of units (I used to play Skaven and Empire).So I went in search of DIY materials to make my own magnetic bases and movement trays.

I forget where I purchased it, but I found a roll of self adhesive magnets that I thought would work great. The roll was 25′ long x 6″. I figured I would trim small magnets for the bases and slap a larger piece in the bottom of the movement tray. Initially, this seemed to work out great.

However, I soon noticed a problem. Sometimes models next to each other would repel each other and sit about 2-3mm apart. Other times, one model’s base would rise off the magnetic surface and hover a mm or two above the ground. This became particularly troublesome when I took the models off the movement tray and put them back in – it seemed that they fit nicely if they were in the perfect formation but not if you switched the models’ positions.

For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why they were so troublesome. I’d used a few of the GF9 magnetic bases and tray inserts, and I never had that problem. I was meticulous in lining up the orientation of the magnetic strips (after the first couple incidents), and still some of the models would act funky.

To make things more confusing, I placed my models on a GF9 tray insert, and I had no trouble. Huh?

GF9 Movement Tray Inserts Aren’t Magnetized

When we first got the GF9 magnetic basing system, I noticed something odd. The tray insert wasn’t magnetized.

It looked like a self adhesive magnet strip, but if you stuck two of them together they just fell apart. I never looked into why, and I figured it was irrelevant. Turns out it isn’t.

This morning, I poked around the ‘net and found out exactly what those movement tray inserts are made of – rubber-coated steel sheets (see GF9 store page). The rubber coating makes the inserts look like a magnetic strip, but the insert itself is not magnetic. It’s a ferrous metal that attracts other magnets.

I’m thinking that my problem is I have magnets sticking directly to other magnets. The magnetic models don’t seem to be interacting with each other, they’re revolting when they interact with the movement tray insert. If I use the GF9 insert in a movement tray, I could drop in my magnetized bases and have no trouble.

Grr!

So What Should You Use for Tray Inserts?

This means I need to peal out the magnetic strips in my movement trays and look for another solution. One solution is the GF9 inserts, which you can order separate from GF9 or through a hobby store. They come in packs of 3 x 4″ x 10″ sheets – enough for roughly six infantry movement trays. At $10.99, that’s an investment of ~$2.00 per unit. Not too bad – I might do this in the short term for my tiny Chaos army.

I’ve found a similar product at MagnetValley. It’s sold by the linear foot (2′ wide), at $9.99 per foot. The minimum order is 2′, so you’ll be investing $19.98 for 2 square feet. That’s a little more than twice the amount of material you get in the GF9 pack. However, when you tack on $10+ shipping, it’ll end up being slightly more expensive. Boo.

You can get another similar product from Magically Magnetic. I think it’s the same material, per-cut into 3″ x 5″ strips. You can get them for $0.75 each of $6.75 for 10. Two 20 packs with shipping comes to just under $20. That’s somewhat more cost effective than the GF9 inserts and they’re the perfect size for a 5 x 3 unit of 25 mm models (Chaos Warriors). Unfortunately, they’ll be too small for larger blocks of troops (you’ll need 5″ x 4″ for 20 Warriors or 25 x 20 mm models). If you could find these things locally and not pay for shipping, it’d be the best solution, IMO.

I’ve also heard of people using thin metal sheets (like tin) to line the bottom of the movement trays. I’m not sure how expensive these are, but I plan on investigating.

Any other ideas for what to line movement trays with?

The High Elf player has a bolt thrower. It’s maximum range is 48″. If it fires at a target more than 24″ away, does it suffer a -1 penalty to hit due to long range?

Both my opponent and I haven’t played in many months (probably closer to two years), so we were a bit fuzzy on the rules. Some of the simple things, like the situation above, puzzled us – and we either asked for help or resolved to look it up later.

In this case, someone told us that it did not suffer from a long range penalty. I wasn’t so sure, though, so we accepted that ruling for the moment and I decided to look it up when I had some more time to peruse the rulebook.

Do Bolt Throwers Suffer a -1 Penalty to Hit from Long Range?

 Yes, they do.

According to the rulebook, some war machines (presumably including Bolt Throwers) operate just like regular shooting. Specifically, it states that the only way Bolt Throwers are special is that they don’t suffer a move-and-shoot penalty if they pivot in place.

Otherwise, the usual negative/positive modifiers should be applied as per the chart in the Shooting section.

Relevant quotes, from the large hardcover rulebook:

“For now it is enough to know that some war machines are fired like normal missile weapons and so make use of the crew’s Ballistic Skill…”  (p85, “Shooting”)

“To determine whether the bolt is on target, roll to hit using the crew’s BS in the same way as bow shots, crossbows, and other missile weapons. The usual modifiers apply, except no penalty is imposed for turning the machine, as it is designed to be used in this way.” (p90, “Firing a Bolt Thrower”)

Unless there is a special rule in the specific Bolt Thrower’s army list, the general rule is that a Bolt Thrower’s shot is most definitely affected by long range. If the target is more than 24″ from the Bolt Thrower, the crew will suffer a -1 penalty to hit.

In this case, I don’t believe there is any such rule in the High Elf book – so next time I’ll know that the Bolt Thrower’s shooting should be penalized. It could mean the difference between a hit or a miss – a big difference when you’re talking about a bolt that will likely pierce two or three ranks of Chaos Warriors.

On one front I won: painting. I had one fully painted model to his none. Woot!

In the areas that matter, though, the game tipped in his favor. It ended up a minor victory in favor of the High Elves, although an extra turn or two would have swung the pendulum back in my favor.

Game Summary

I was playing the Nurgle Chaos list that I posted earlier in the week. Level 2 sorcerer, Warriors, Knights, 2 units of Marauder Horsemen, and some dogs.

My opponent was fielding a hero, a unit of Dragon Princes, a small unit of swordmasters, a unit of archers, a block of spearmen, a unit of sea guard, an eagle, and a bolt thrower.

In hindsight, my biggest mistake was in deploying. I placed my Knights and Warriors together on one side of the board, partially shielded by trees and screened by the dogs. My opponent was able to drop an Eagle behind them and march block for two turns until the Marauder Horsemen killed the Eagle.

That slowed me down a lot and kept the Knights and Warriors out of combat for most of the game.

The dogs were instantly mowed down in shooting, and one unit of Marauder Horsemen was quickly killed as well. The bolt thrower had some success whittling down my Knights – 2 of the 5 were dead when the got across the board – but they and the Warriors fared the arrow storm pretty well.

I was looking forward to some magic supremacy, since I had a level two and my opponent had no wizard. I managed to pick Plague Squall for one of my spells, and although I successfully cast it five turns in a row, I only hit an enemy unit once. The scatter die was not my friend! I guessed perfectly at a large block of troops each time, and the shot scattered 8+ inches in the wrong direction. /sigh.

My Knights eventually made it into combat on the fourth turn. They decimated the unit of archers and over-ran off the board. They re-entered the next turn, turned towards the Bolt Thrower, and proceeded to make mince meat of the crew. Unfortunately, the game was over before they could engage any of the other units.

The Warriors were bogged down for most of the game, and they only made it into combat on turn six. They charged the unit of Spearmen, and all those pointy attacks bounced off my armor. Unfortunately, my Sorceror got killed in a challenge (High Elves always attacking first is so not cool) and I had lost a rank due to shooting. I lost combat by a couple points but held my ground. The next turn, they took a hit to the flank by the Dragon Princes, sustained almost no casualties, and managed to wipe out my opponent’s hero before the game ended.

What Went Well?

Combat. With the exception of my Chaos Sorceror, my units did splendid in combat. The Knights and the Warriors both held up their ends of the bargain. I think I’ll spread them out a bit more next time, and just march them up the middle. I tried to gather some cover from trees, but this – along with the damn eagle – kept me out of combat.

Fast Cavalry. I love them. They are awesome. I deployed a unit to watch my Warriors, and they quickly chopped up the Eagle. They quickly got into position to harass and march block the enemy – if only they had a unit to support, they would have been more effective.

What Didn’t?

Magic. I was attracted to the instant gratification of the Plague Squall, but I was disappointed with the bad scatters. I also rolled Curse of the Leper, but I never cast it. I’m thinking that was a mistake. Since my opponent had no dispel dice, there was a decent chance that it would remain in play for a couple turns and wipe out an entire unit. Oh well.

Surviving Shooting. My unarmored units went splat. Perhaps that’s to be expected, but I think they would be more effective if the big armored units were marching straight down the pike. By trying to finesse the Warriors and Knights around some woods, I gave my opponent no choice but to chop up everything and then turn to the Warriors last. Time is important, so next time it’s right up the middle.

The Sorceror. In combat, that is. He got his ass handed to him. I’m going to reconsider what I give him as far as magic items, and I might pull him out of the unit to ride around on a horse.

I was a bit rusty this game, to be sure, and hopefully I’ll do better next time. In the meantime, I’ve got some painting to do!

I love FAQs because I love rules… and FAQs are a great time to see some bizarre rules that people have pushed as far as they could until GW closed the loophole. I’d suggest you at least skim through the entire thing, but here’s a highlight of a couple of the more interesting points that I noticed.

Magic Lances and Dead Horses

Q. If a character using a lance in close combat has his chariot/monster mount destroyed/killed can he continue to fight in subsequent rounds of the same combat, as lances are ‘mounted only’?

A. If this happens, the lance effectively disappears and the character must start using a hand weapon (which he is assumed to carry). Note that this happens even if the character was equipped with a magic lance, which is now lost.

This is an interesting rule that makes perfect sense to me, although some Brettonian players may not agree. If you’re talking about a mundane lance, that’s no big deal. Throw it away and yank out a hand weapon.

That’s a pretty nasty blow to someone who’s wielding a hefty magical lance, though. It also clears up any rules issues where someone would argue that a magical lance isn’t really a lance – it’s just a one handed weapon that looks like a lance.

Note: There’s a similar question about magic weapons with the “Mounted Only” special rule. These, too, are lost and converted into regular hand weapons.

Base-to-Base and Challenges

Q. Do characters engaged in a challenge only count as being in base to base contact with one another? Or are they considered to still be in base to base contact with other friendly/enemy models around them?

A. Characters engaged in a challenge are still in base to base contact with other friendly/enemy models. Thus the challenge participants may be affected by magic items/abilities originating from outside the combat (and vice versa).

This one interested me because my Chaos characters will no doubt see their fair share of challenges. It’s good to know that everybody is still in base contact, for the purposes of items like the Warrior Familiar and Word of Agony.

I’m wondering, however, whether items that trigger at the “start of close combat” are resolved before issuing challenges. For example, if my Sorceror is in base contact with a unit champion, can he have a Warrior Familiar kill the champion and then not have to issue a challenge? Conversely, if the two characters aren’t in base to base contact initially, can items like the Warrior Familiar be used during the challenge?

Brush Up on Your Rules

There are a lot of rules in Warhammer, and it’s easy to forget or overlook them. Take some time to flip through the rulebook every once in a while and definitely look through that new FAQ.

You don’t want to be that guy that tries to do something ridiculous because you didn’t read the rules closely.

We’re starting an escalation league at the store in February, and I think the first stage is 1000 pts. I hope it is – because that’s what I wrote a list for.

Here’s the list I’m considering so far:

Characters

• Chaos Sorceror (210 pts)
  • Upgrade to Level 2 (35 pts)
  • Mark of Nurgle (20 pts)
  • Warrior Familiar (20 pts)
  • Rending Sword (30 pts)
  • Soporific Mask (20 pts)

Core

• Warriors of Chaos  x 14 (284 pts)
  • Shields (1 pt)
  • Full Command (30 pts)
  • Mark of Nurgle (30 pts)
• Marauder Horsemen x 5 (92 pts)
  • Throwing Axes (2 pts)
  • Shields (1 pt)
  • Champion (12 pts)
• Marauder Horsement x 5 (92 pts)
  • Throwing Axes (2pts)
  • Shields (1pt)
  • Champion (12pts)
• Chaos Warhounds x 5 (30 pts)

Special

• Chaos Knights x 5 (280 pts)
  • Full Command (50 pts)
  • Mark of Nurgle (30 pts)

General Thoughts and Strategy

At 2000 pts, I plan to beef up the core of the army to include two Warrior units. The rest of the army is highly mobile to engage shooters and flank the units that the Warriors bash into.

At 1000 pts, the Core seems a bit lonely with only one unit of warriors and four cavalry units – so we’ll see how that goes. The only feasible way to get 2 Warrior units would be to drop the Knights – but I really want some Knights in the army. I guess at 1000 pts, it’s ok if things look a bit askew.

The Sorceror is going to travel with the Warrior unit. I gave him the Familiar and the Rending Sword so that his combat potential will be respectable. The Soporific Mask seemed like a good combo with a unit of foot troops, too, to help them run down the enemy. He may also not be too effective magically, since I can only afford one character. I’m including him in anticipation of the 2000 pt list, where I plan on taking a level 4 Sorceror Lord.

The Marauder Horsement don’t have commands because they shouldn’t be engaging blocks of troops on their own. They’ll most likely hunt down small skirmisher units or harass rank and file troops until the Warriors can reach them. The throwing axes are Str 4, so it’s likely that they can take out a few models throughout the course of the game while they wait for an opportune time to flank.

One change I’m considering is dropping the standard on the Knights. I read the suggestion on a forum and it kind of makes sense. They’re unlikely to engage large blocks of troops alone, so static combat resolution points aren’t too important. Sheer brute force should carry them through most combat. If I drop the banner and the champions on the Marauder Horsemen, I can take a second unit of dogs.

Worth it? Not sure.

I need to assemble a few more things (second unit of Marauder Horsemen, character, a handful of Warriors), but the army is mostly together. Looks like I’m almost all set for Saturday.

Once I see how it goes, I’ll post some thoughts and tune up the army list… probably on Sunday.

Yesterday, that wood arrived. Guess this is the weekend to get started! In the meantime, I thought I’d share where I got the wood and how much it cost.

I found two online sites that I liked: MisterArt and AMainHobbies. They had similar prices, and I opted to shop through MisterArt.

The Order

Instead of plain balsa or basswood, I got craft plywood. This thin plywood, made by Midwest, is made of three thin plys of basswood. In theory, these thin plys with alternating grain directions will help prevent warping and give the wood more stability.

Flatness is definitely something I’m interested in, since warped movement trays and paint racks are no fun.

I ordered a pretty large lot so that I’d be sure to have extra materials. Here’s what I ordered and how much it cost:

• 7 x 1/8 in. x 24 in. x 6 in. boards @ $3.62 per board
• 24 x 1/8 in. x 1/8 in. balsa stick @ $0.35 per stick
• Total: $33.74

The package was shipped UPS. I could have opted for FedEx and it was around the same price. I’ve had trouble with FedEx before (like when the deliveryman left a package out on the front steps in the pouring rain, instead of undernearth the covered walkway), so this was a definite plus.  Shipping was an additional $9.48.

The grand total: $43.22.

That’s probably about what it would have cost me to purchase one paint rack, and hopefully this will be enough supplies for a nice customized paint rack and a few dozen movement trays. A good investment, in my opinion.

I inspected the wood when it arrived, and I’m pleased with the product. It was well packaged, and the wood is very flat. The planks show a slight warp in them, but I didn’t expect them to be perfectly flat across the 2 ft. x 1 ft. surface. I think once I trim them down to size (4 in. x 5 in.) they’ll the warp will more or less be unnoticeable.

I couldn’t find any place cheaper than MisterArt, and the service there was terrific. If you’re looking for balsa wood or craft plywood, be sure to check them out.

Building the Paint Rack

That is a job for tomorrow.

First I need to draw up some plans. I drew up a few sketches last week, but I haven’t decided the best way to put this together yet.

Once I do, I’ll publish an illustrated guide to how I built the paint rack. Hopefully it turns out well!

I’d expect to see that guide published this weekend or next, so subscribe to the Nerds at Play feed or check back in a week or so.

The picture to the right shows you my modeling station. Not horrible, but not too great either.

I threw the Games Workshop painting station down on my desk, but there’s no place to efficiently store my paints. In the picture, I’ve sorted all of my Vallejo paints on the paint station – but I can tell you right now that it no longer looks so neat.

I’ve always wanted a rack to organize and display my paints in a more efficient way. I found a few on the internet that I liked, but ultimately I think I’m going to build my own. Once I receive the order of wood for building movement trays, I’m going to use some of it to build a paint rack.

That’ll clear up a lot of real estate on the painting station, allowing me to leave out multiple units of models as I assemble and paint them.

It’ll also faciliate the storage and sorting of paints. As it is, they almost always end up clumped in a group on the left side of the paint station. Once they leave their homes in the neat and orderly row, they never go back.

Pre-fabbed Paint Stations

Searching around the ‘net, I found two pre-fabbed paint racks that I liked.

Silicon Dragons offers a nice wooden paint rack. It only holds Vallejo Paints, though. There are five rows of nine bottles for a total of 45 stored paint colors. The construction looks solid, and it holds a lot of paint for the small size (about a foot square).

The rack costs $35. There’s also a cheaper option, made with MDF instead of plywood, for $20. I’d say that’s a fair price – although I’d prefer to spend $20 instead of $30-40.

Unfortunately, this won’t do for me. My local gaming store stopped carrying Vallejo paints so I’m going to be slowly transitioning to Citadel. In the long run, I will definitely need a paint rack that holds Citadel sized paint bottles. I’d also like something that could accomodate the entire range of paints and washes (minus the foundation paints) – 55 paint bottles.

The other option I’ve found is from CNC Workshop. It looks like it’s made from balsa or basswood. It’s got a stadium seating type of layout, which looks cool and effective. It also holds both Citadel and Vallejo sized paints.

However, it only holds 33 paints. I’d need to buy at least two of these. The stadium layout also poses a problem, since I’d like something that fits up against the back of my desk’s hutch – above the existing paint station.

The rack is $32.00 Australian Dollars, which is a little over $20 American. It’s a nice paint rack for the price, but it just isn’t going to fit my needs.

The DIY Paint Rack

What do you do when you can’t find something that fits your needs? Build it yourself!

I’m envisioning a large paint rack that sits flush against the desk’s hutch. It’ll be about 1′ tall by 2′ wide (just as wide as the painting station).

In order to be more space efficient, I’m only going to build it to hold Citadel size paints. Chances of me going back to Vallejo paints are pretty slim if they don’t sell them locally, so I think that’s a safe bet.

With those dimensions, I can fit six shelves that are each about 2″ high. I’m going to add a spacer every 1 3/8″ to demarcate the space for each bottle (and so that I can easily go back and label where the bottles go).

That’ll make room for 90 paints – far more than I need. I’m guessing I’ll fill up 55 slots with the GW stock and then use some of the empty spots for custom mixes (or new GW paints down the road).

Now I just need to figure out exactly how I want to put this together, so that it doesn’t fall apart…

Once I get the order of craft plywood, I’ll draw up some more specific plans and post them here. If all goes according to plan, this will be a very cheap project ($10 of wood), so it should be a viable option for anyone looking for a paint rack.

At that point, the group will be starting to look like an army. There’s just one problem. I need movement trays.

Pre-Fab Options

There are, of course, some pre-fab options available.

I don’t like the standard plastic movement trays that GW produces. They look cheap to me, even when you paint and flock them.

The textured movement trays are a better option. They look very nice when painted and flocked. The only problem is… they come in one size. For a unit of Chaos Warriors – typically four columns and three to four ranks – they are the perfect size. For a cavalry unit (5-6 models wide) or a unit of 15 Warriors (5×3), they just won’t cut it.

I’ve used them in the past, especially as scenic bases for war machines. I might snag a few for my Chaos warriors, but they won’t be able to fulfill all my movement tray needs for this army.

I’ve also used the Gale Force 9 movement trays. They come in just about any shape/size you could want, and they’re pretty good quality. Too bad they’re $10 a pop. Even if I get my old discount at the store, I’m not sure I want to order a whole new round of these.

Do-It-Yourself – Balsa Wood

That leaves one option: DIY.

I’ve built some trays in the past, and I used to have a collection of balsa wood for that task. I spent $30 to order a bunch of wood, and it was a seemingly endless supply of boards and borders.

Too bad I threw all that out after I stopped playing a couple years back. I was cleaning and figured I’d never need the balsa wood for anything. So… now I need to find some more.

I didn’t have much luck last time with local craft stores, so I’m looking around the internet again. I’m also going to try something a little bit different.

Instead of sheets of balsa wood, I’m going to use sheets of craft plywood. It’s thin plywood made out of birch, usually with two or three plys pressed together. Plain sheets of balsa wood tend to warp over time, and I’m hoping that the craft plywood won’t have that problem. It also seems to be a similar material to what GF9 uses (because they definitely use a type of plywood, not regular balsa or basswood sheets).

I found two retailers I’m going to check out: MisterArt and AMainHobbies. They each sell Midwest balsa wood and craft plywood at pretty good prices.

I haven’t decided on the size boards that I want, but I think I might opt for the big 12 in x 24 in boards. Each board ought to be enough to make 8+ infantry bases and 3-4 cavalry bases. If I get the smaller boards (like 6 in x 12 in), I might not have enough left over to make cavalry bases – and a lot of wood will go to waste.

Plus the larger boards are much cheaper per sq. in. than the smaller boards. The 12 in x 24 in board is approximately $3.60, while 4 x 6 in x 12 in. boards (the equivalent square inchage) would cost about $5.25.

Once I order the stuff, I’ll post a recap of what I ordered, how much it cost, and about how many movement trays I think it’ll make. I’ll probably also write up an illustrated tutorial on creating movement trays – because there aren’t enough of those on the ‘net.