Character spotlight, top 5 named characters in Warhammer

Well with a new project looming (very hush hush here) I really felt like doing a quick post on my favourite characters you can find strolling the tabletop, and no they are not all orcs. For me a great character needs to have some awesome fluff to back up what he can do, so a mix of combat effectiveness and back-story is going to play a role here. All righty then, where to start...

NUMBER 5

 

Heinrich Kemmler

The Lichemaster himself. What sort of a man could possibly warrant an entry in an army full of vampires? Heinrich can. A solid stat line (for a wizard), a monster dispel ability (he counts as a Level 5), loremaster, and the ability to resurrect Grave Guard with every kill he makes. To boot he has the most powerful Wight King in the world under his command and stands as equals in an alliance with the greatest vampire of the age. He can also be found as a villain in one of my favourite of the Gotrek and Felix saga. what's not to like?

NUMBER 4

Kholek Sun-eater

Badass levels are already increasing. Kholek is an underused but amazing Character. Sealing the doom of his race with oaths so foul that the sun itself turned away its face in disgust, Kholek now forever wanders the world under a perpetual tempest. as a monster, he has a nightmare of a stat line (WS8, S8, A7, W8, the list goes on), a 3+ armour save, multiple wound rule and the ability to hurl lightening bolts at his enemies. Sigmar preserve us!

NUMBER 3

The Sisters Of Twilight

what do the twin embodiments of a fractured elven psyche riding on top of a forest dragon account to, why the sisters of twilight that's what. Only the Everqueen now knows who the sisters Naestra and Arahan used to be, but who cares when it creates such an awesome Duo. Kind, compassionate Naestra has weapons to ensnare rather than kill, while cruel, capricious Arahan laughs at the carnage that she commits. with ranged attacks galore, a fearful combat profile (thanks to there dragon Ceithan-Har) and the ability to spring back to life unless both of them are killed in the same phase, the twins are a brilliant creation that has much better fluff than most of the other Wood Elf characters. though I have yet to verse the twins in a game, I know that I would rue the day if I don't have a cannon or two around to aid me...

NUMBER 2

Ungrim Ironfist

who are the biggest bad-asses in the Dwarven realm? The slayers of course. Who is the second best slayer in the world (behind you-know-who)? Why the king of the slayers of course! Ungrim, unfortunately, is the last in the line of the slayer kings of Karak Kadrin since his soon met his doom at the hands of the Chaos Giant he had just killed. Having beaten Chaos invasions, defeated Golgfag Maneater in single combat, smashed the army of Queek Headtaker, slain the dragon of Black Peak, and wiped out the Orc hoard of Gnashrak Badtooth, he is one of the Old Worlds greatest generals. In game he is a powerhouse, with the abilities of both a Dragon and Daemon slayer, the Axe of Drago and a cloak made from the skin of Fyrskar the dragon, Ungrim would be able to easily slaughter any character on this list. Well, if he can get to them that is (damn these stumpy legs!) 

And finally

NUMBER 1

Malekith the Deceiver

What more is there to say. Malekith is, well, Malekith. The greatest of the sons of Anerion. Cursed with Immortality, riven by hatred and consumed with the humiliation of his scaring. Malekith is by far and away the biggest, most evil bad-ass in all of Warhammer (on par with the devil himself, Archaon). Profile in excess of a combat lord: check. Power of the greatest of wizards: check. 2000 years of back story including, but not limited to; the orchestration of the war of the beard, wiping out an entire city that displeased him, the killing of a Phoenix King and fighting his way out of the Realm of Chaos: check, check, check, check. Oh, and Awesome weaponry and protective items: check. There is quite literally no fault in this Elf. It also helps that, due to a prophesy, he can only be killed by a male sorcerer. Definitely my number one pick.

I would just like to point out that this is in fact only my opinion. If you feel I have wronged a character by not putting him here do speak up, its always interesting how people rate there favourites.

If in doubt, send the marines!

Oi, Listen up you lout's. da real Admiral's back so e is, an' not too late ta get some bashin' done! Even managed to gets me a right handy li'll birdy ta carry me inta battle.

 I was havin' trouble naming da blasted thing, but since it et 'alf the stores onboard (as well as plenty of dem wippersnappers crawlin round da place) i decided to name him Right Bastard. 

speakin' of dem li'llens, da Marine core ain't comin along to bad neither. Wid a Bit more trainin' dey might even give dem hooligan's a run for dere money. Har Har Har.

Sad Passings

British comedy has felt a massive blow over the last two weeks with two of there veteran actors sadly passing away. Both Rik Mayall and Sam Kelly were parts of my childhood, with the young ones and Allo Allo helping form my love of comedy. Though these are tragedies for all comedy lovers, they are not the great loss this post is about.

taking a much loved machine to binary heaven

After a 7 year struggle with over heating and corruption, I must now say goodbye to my faithful laptop. That small bundle of silicone and plastic has served me faithfully through my formative years at university, where I first felt the pull of the warhammer tournament scene. It was older than 99% of the miniatures in my collection, it has survived earthquakes, floods, snow and rain (and I mean that quite literally, it has been impacted by all but shrugged it off).

Most notably however Toshi (yea I had a pet name for it, so what) was fundamental in the set up of this very Blog. it possessed a small, unregarded little hole in its chassis that would accommodate a memory card from my camera. Without it I am looking for new ways to bring the photos from my table to your screen. I must ask patience while I work through this difficult time.

Normal posts will hopefully return latter today with the (almost) complete Pirates.

this post is dedicated to Toshi the Toshiba, may the 8-bit angels sing you to your rest (though when I thought about that the only singing I could think of was the sound a fax machine makes. Computers might like it)

Toshi the Toshiba (2007-2014)

Where in the world is HMS. Distraction?

I never really think hard about the power of the internet, sending its tendrils out all over the world in a mass exodus of binary information. However this morning, as I was trying to reformat the blog to allow for a wider section to display the basic text of the blog I came across a page of viewing statistics. I was rather surprised. Naively thinking that most of the traffic perusing my whimsical ramblings must have been coming from the Australasian region where I, funnily enough, reside turned out to be totally and utterly false.

New Zealand is only THIRD in the line up (though still makes up the entirety of the subscriber base), behind the USA and Great Britain. Now upon thinking about it, this wouldn't be a huge realisation. New Zealand is a tiny country compared to the motherland and ol' uncle Sam, but it was the nations further down the list that sparked my interest. places like Turkey, Poland and Germany. Nations that I wouldn't have expected to be trawling English Wargaming blogs at all (well I know Poland and Germany both have pretty good wargaming scenes, but surely they have enough of there own blogs as it is) Even China rated higher on the list than Australia, which was the biggest surprise of the investigation.

I am now left wondering how many of these are just cursory glances over (maybe thinking it was a blog about sailing. Maybe) and how many of them are actually stopping, hitting translate, and reading through the musings of a 22 year old student from the deep (deep) south of the globe. Its interesting to muse on....