Fresh meat

[Ishalani Runespear]

Hello and thanks for stopping by.

I've never played WHFB before, but have been lured in by my flatmate who wants to start playing (skaven, most like). I knew I wanted to play an army with lots of big beasties so the Dark Elves seemed the natural choice. My ex-husband had a Dark Elf Blood Bowl team but that's as close to joining in as I'd come.

To complicate things a little more, I was knocked off my motorbike by a lorry in June and as such have lost the use of my dominant arm. Not only will I have to learn to paint with the wrong hand, I'll have to get my friend to assemble everything for me and find a way to hold the models safely but in a way I can rotate them.

I'll be getting the army book tomorrow but will hold off anything else until I've done my research. I love the big minsters, the new black dragons, cold ones and corsair so far.

Right, now I'm off to start reading through these enormous forums!

Ish

[direweasel]

Sorry to hear about your accident. I admire your willpower and persistence to fight through it.

I also will tell you that choosing dark elves is wise, in the sense that you will have fewer models to paint than your skaven-playing friend at a given points level. This is particularly true if you are going heavy on the monsters.

This place is a very useful resource for beginners and veterans alike, and I wish you well in your travels through our hobby.

[Red...]

I hope you got the Blood Bowl team in the settlement - those minis (presumably they were metal) go for very high prices these days! I have one perched on one of my Cold One chariots - they look great!

As someone who doesn't worry too much about paint jobs, I'd suggest the following if you find yourself struggling:
- Don't worry too much about quality. Yes, we would all love to play with miniatures that look like Michelangelo himself painted them, but it's not always realistic. Aim for good enough, achieve it, and be happy.
- In many cases it is uniformity rather than finery that matters. If you can paint all of your models in the same core designs and colors, that will look pretty awesome on the battlefield, even if the painting itself on each model is not precision perfect.
- Don't worry too much about playing with models that are not painted. It can be frustrating to wait for all of your models to be painted before playing, so why wait? As long as you have a sympathetic friend (and many folks are in the same boat when it comes to wanting to field a 3k army when they only have 250 points worth of models painted), you can happily play with unpainted or undercoated models in tandem to painting them over time.
- Metal models typically require less assembly than plastic ones, particularly older metal models. Ebay can be a great source for purchasing older metal models, as well as pre-assembled (and even pre-painted) models, if want to short-cut the assembly or painting process.

The above may not be useful or apply for you, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway, just in case.

Welcome to D.Net

[Calisson]

Welcome Ishalani Runespear to D.net.

Painting with only one hand is probably a challenge, but I'm sure you'll find in our P&M forum many helpful D.netters to provide you some advice.
In particular, I would expect some of them to try to use their own tools with a single hand and tell you how practical it can be.

- One or two Magnifying Glass Clamp can help you to handle models in awkward positions. The magnifier will help compensate for the loss of precision.
- Opening and closing paints is a pain even with two hands, I cannot imagine how it could become with a single hand. The Wet Palette Tutorial might help tremendously.

When you have the army book available, post on the Army List forum your first lists. Many helpful D.netters will explain how to improve your list and how best to play it.
Be sure to specify that you're a beginner, going to play against a Skaven beginner's army and you like lots of big beasties.
With the new erratum to the rules officially allowing up to 50% Lords, 50% Heroes (still with a minimum of 25% Core), the previous limits to a beasts army are gone.
Most likely, you will apreciate to get initially a Hydra; later on, a Kharibdyss; later, a second Hydra. They are not difficult to paint.
For characters, a Sorceress is a must-have, you can use Morathi model either as Morathi herself or as a non-specific Sorceress on Pegasus.
You will love the Dragon Lord, and the Manticore Beastmater.
For core troops, the usual complement to a monster heavy army is Dark Riders, with the additional advantage to have few models per points.
However, if you like corsairs, go for them, they should be good against Skaven.

[cultofkhaine]

- One or two Magnifying Glass Clamp can help you to handle models in awkward positions. The magnifier will help compensate for the loss of precision.
- Opening and closing paints is a pain even with two hands, I cannot imagine how it could become with a single hand. The Wet Palette Tutorial might help tremendously.

Excellent advice Calisson and welcome the Forum Ishalani, I look forward to seeing your progress in P&M

[T.D.]

Welcome

[Ishalani Runespear]

Hello everyone, thanks for the warm welcome!

I will definitely get one of those magnifying glass thingies, also looking at an engravers block, if you Google them you'll see straight away how useful they would be.

Thanks for the pm, TD; I haven't been here long enough to reply to a pm so here's the answer to your question:

4 broken ribs
punctured lung
flail chest
lacerated spleen
top of left foot torn off, skin graft
Laceration around left leg under the knee
Two fractures to the spine
brachial plexus injury to the left arm (all nerves that work the arm pulled off of the spinal column

Therapy: had the long nerves stripped out of the back of both of my legs and grafted into my arm. Hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and more drugs than the average chemists.

Still, could be worse ^^

Ish

[T.D.]

Thanks Ish,

Sorry to hear about the extent of things.

But glad that you are still with us!

[Amboadine]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Glad you have come through after that accident.

[Calisson]

Love your positive thinking ("Could be worse") along with your acute sense of humour ("Fresh meat" title to introduce yourself).

Well, as you're forced to become right-handed, welcome among "normal" people!
I'm sure you will enjoy the spirit from this community.

[Ishalani Runespear]

Cheers TD, sounds interesting, will look into it

It could definitely have been worse, I only lost an arm, could have been my life. It would be so easy to give up and play the martyr but life really is too short to waste it. You can do amazing things with the right outlook; it was only 5 months ago that I had to be spoonfed and bed bathed, now I'm back at uni and getting on with the rest of my life

[Ishalani Runespear]

Oh and left handers are totally the coolest, just putting it out there

[T.D.]

it was only 5 months ago that I had to be spoonfed and bed barred, now I'm back at uni and getting on with the rest of my life

Awesome

[Calisson]

Oh and left handers are totally the coolest, just putting it out there

Agree, I even married one!
But right handers are the norm nevertheless.

Anyway, you're changing already from chatting with us, your 'freshly captured' avatar vanished.

What kind of uni?

[Ishalani Runespear]

Learning to write with my wrong hand is 'interesting' to say the least! I used to be ambidextrous when I was a child but the local education authority decided all children should be taught to write with the right hand. Being the cantankerous little shiz I was I insisted I could only write with my left, and fell out of practice with my right. I bat and throw right-handed though.

Is it ok to keep chatting in here? I've bought the army book and a chap on a black dragon because dragons, but I'm a bit apprehensive about starting a plog just yet.

Oh missed the question about the DE Blood Bowl models; sadly no custody of the models, it all ended too rapidly for me to even tell him the truth about his painting skills (or lack thereof).

[Ishalani Runespear]

Oh - I'm at the Institute of Archaeology, part of University College London. I can still trowel with one hand, dammit

[Amboadine]

Certainly okay to keep chatting here, its your intro thread.
Good to get to know members of the forum.
As and when you get questions regarding army lists, tactics etc then post in the relevant subforums and you will likely get more responses however.

[Red...]

part of University College London.

UCL is a great school - I did my MSc there, a good few years ago now

[Ishalani Runespear]

It's great, love it here and they've been so good to me, they found me a room 5 mins from lectures so instead of my usual 150 mile round trip, I do maybe a mile all day I can have as many extensions as I need including for my dissertation. As a pride thing I'll try not to use them but it's good to know I have a safety net. And to think I only applied to UCL for a laugh, never thought I'd get in