DFW 40k Tournament April 25th

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April 25^th, 2010 Warhammer 40k Tournament

Presented by TGR and thewraithgate.com

I am happy to announce that I will be hosting a tournament at The Gamer’s Realm on April 25^th for Warhammer 40k. The tournament will follow rules as detailed below:

• 1,750 points
• Normal Force Organization
• Only current Codices are allowed

The tournament will be open to 12 players (going to 16 if there is enough interest and space). To participate, please make a purchase of at least $15 and sign up at The Gamer’s Realm before the tournament.

If all 12 slots are filled, please feel free to sign up as an alternate. You may make your purchase on the day of the tournament if a spot becomes available.

Scoring:

Sportsmanship: 5 points are available for Sportsmanship Scores and will be averaged throughout all 3 games:

• 2 points – Was your opponent reasonably knowledgeable of the basic rules?
• 2 points - Was your opponent courteous and civil?
• 1 point - Even if you got destroyed, did you enjoy the game?

Painting: A large part of the 40k hobby is painting your miniatures, and playing with or against a great looking army can add a great deal to the game. 10 points are available for Painting Scores:

• 2 points – Is your army completely WYSIWYG?
• 1 point – No bare metal or plastic
• 2 points – A minimum of 3 colors painted to table top quality. (No single brush strokes of colors.)
• 1 point – Detailing (eyes, guns, blood, etc.)
• 1 point – Flocked or finished bases (rocks, grass, paint, etc.)
• 1 point – “Cohesive” look or theme
• 1 point – “Above and Beyond”

Battle Points: 30 points are available for Battle Points. You will receive points for winning, drawing, losing, and for completing Secondary Objectives:

• 7 points – Completing the Primary Objective
• 5 points – Neither you or your opponent completing the Primary Objective
• 3 points – Your opponent completing the Primary Objective
• 3 points – Will be awarded based on Secondary Objectives for each mission

Bonus Points:

• 1 point – For receiving 5 Sportsmanship Points from each opponent
• 1 point – For receiving Best Painted Army
• 1 point – Completing all of the Primary Objectives
• 1 point – Completing all of the Secondary Objectives
• 1 point – Completing both Primary and Secondary Objectives in all battles

Awards:

All awards will be based on points received throughout the tournament. Please note that each participant may win only one award. If a participant is eligible for multiple awards, he will be awarded the highest award, and the next eligible participant will receive the other award.

• Best Painted: Is eligible to armies receiving at least 8 points in the Painting Bracket and will be decided by the judges.

• Best General: Is awarded to the participant that receives the most points in the Battle Points bracket.

• Best Overall: Is awarded to the Participant with the most combined points throughout all of the brackets.

Tournament Schedule:

11:00 a.m. Turn in Army Lists and Prepare to have some fun.

11:15 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Battle 1

1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Lunch (Please leave armies out for painting judging)

1:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Battle 2

3:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Battle 3

5:45 p.m. Awards

Tournament Style:

The Tournament will be bracket style, with random players starting the first battle. (Exceptions may be made if buddies are pitted against each other in the first round.)

If you have any questions about the tournament, playable armies, or rules, please feel free to contact me at thewraithgate@gmail.com.

Updated 40k Reference Sheets

Are you always asking your opponent the stats on his guys. Well if you visit the Reference section on GWs site you can now download and print all the reference sheets on all of the armies.

Just click here.

Chaos Daemons FAQ now Up

The Chaos Daemons FAQ is now up and running, click here to see it.

What are the Grey Knights

Grey Knights are the last stand against the greatest enemy of the emporium, Chaos. Rumored to have the Geneseed of the Emperor himself, these warriors are without a doubt the greatest of all the Space Marines. And yet in all of there greatness mankind knows nothing of them for they are the fighting force, the defenders of the Inquisition, Ordo Malleus.

Like many Space Marine chapters the Grey Knights recruit from other worlds, to be trained to fight the Spawns of Chaos. But unlike other chapters the every Grey Knight is a psyker, this ability being the strongest defense against Chaos. Through rigurous training all Grey Knights have there minds wiped of all of there memories and experiences before reaching Knighthood and receiving the sacred power armor.

What does it mean to be a Grey Knight? It means that you are the only and last defense against the fall of the Empire. It means that no matter the odds you can not, and will not fail in your duties. It means that the sacrifice of yourself or a brother at arm to defend mankind is the greatest thing you will ever do.

On paper a Grey Knight should be stronger, tougher, better, and of course more expensive then any other chapter out there. A Grey Knight smiles and laughs in the face of the Daemons that would make other Chapter Marines wet there armor. Blood Angels ask their Chaplains to check the closet before they go to bed. Grey Knights spit in the closet and yell "Come get SOME!"

Seeing as how most of all the other chapters have received some updating, I thought it would be fun to put out there what I think a Grey Knight should look like on paper.

Grey Knights

________________Pts.__ WS_ BS_ S_ T_ W_ I_ A_ Ld__ Sv
Grey Knight _______45___ 5___ 4_ 5_ 5__ 2_ 5_ 2__ 9__ 3+
Grey Knight Justicar_ 75___ 6___ 4_ 5_ 5__ 2_ 5_ 3__ 10_ 3+

Number/Squad: 1 Grey Knight Justicar and 4-9 Grey Knights

Weapons: Storm bolter and nemesis force weapon

Options: Up to two models may replace there weapons for a psycannon for +25 points, or an incenerator at +10 points.

Special Rules
Fearless

Feel no Pain

True Grit - Storm Bolters counts as a single handed close combat weapon.

The Aegis - The armor worn by Grey Knights is inscribed in prayers before each battle to protect the wearer from the psychic abilities of chaos. Any power that would affect a Grey Knight may be ignored on a d6 roll of 4+.

The Shrouding - The combined psychic prayers of Grey Knights are focussed in battle to constantly confuse and wrong-foot their enemies, blinding their corrupted senses with the shining light of their faith and resolution. All enemies wishing to target Grey Knights must roll 2d6 and multiply the results by 2. Use the results to determine the maximum distance the enemy can see for targeting the Grey Knights.

The Shrouding also confers protection in close combat as the prayers of the Grey Knights will hinder enemies as they become dazed and confused. Count each model with The Shrouding ability as having Assault and Defensive Grenades.

Rites of Exorcism - The very presence of the Grey Knights brings the presence of the God Emperor himself to the battlefield. Any enemy psykers making a psychic test must do so at -1 to there Leadership.

Nemesis Force Weapons - In close combat these weapons add +2 to the Strength of the model bearing it. Justicars also treat theirs as Power Weapons.

Magnetizing your Landraider

Hey everyone, today we're going to talk about magnetizing your Landraider so that you can get all of the variants out of it. This is really my first time magnetizing anything to this extreme, and I spent a bit of time thinking about it, while slicing open my thumb, but I believe I've actually come across the easiest way (at least for me) to magnetize the landraider with out having to do to much extra work other then gluing some magnets in place.


So first thing first, I wanted to be able to swap out the weapon sponsons on my landraider. Now I had been thinking about green stuffing an inset that would fit in the holes and putting a magnet in that, but first molding it so it had some design on it, yadda yadda yadda. And as I was watching my finger bleed I kept going wow that's way to much work, and I've got quite a few models I need to work on today. And that's when it hit me, how my poor Eldar with there magnetized bases keep getting stuck to each other sideways.

That's what I ended up doing here. I placed a single 1/8 x 1/16 magnet at the top of the inner hull. Which I would then use as my anchor point. Knowing that all I have to do is have enough resistance to keep the sponson from sliding out, because it will actually be resting inside the hole.


I then put two magnets at the top of the of the sponson, making sure to test out the polarities before gluing (always sucks having your magnets glued the wrong way). Once again using the 1/8 by 1/16. I found that it would work with one magnet here, but that if you held it upside down it would fall out, but with two magnets you can hold it upside down and do the hokey pokey and everything is fine.


Now here's the tricky thing. With the side hatch doors you would think that you would want the magnets going the same way as you do on the weapon sponsons, and that's what I thought too... until I glued it in place, and tried to put in it there, turns out that because it is much more shallow then the weapon sponsons they actually repel each other.

That is why you must remember to flip the polarity on the door hatches, if you do this they will stay in there amazingly.


And here are the two pieces being held into place by the magics of magnetism. Now if you have the bits (or have bought the bits) to make the other sponsons you can freely change your landraider between all three variants.


So now that you can change the variants, what about those weapon upgrades, well I ended up gluing two 1/4 by 1/16 magnets to the bottom of the top hull pieces of the landraider.


I then did a slight bit of stratch building to get a 1/8 x 1/16 magnet on the bottom of the Storm Bolter and Hunter Killer weapon ungrades.


And again, with those magical magnets you can place both upgrades on the landraider, and pull them off when you do not have them purchased, or with the Hunter Killer Missile, once it is used you can simply pull it off without any problems.


Now lastly, we can't forget about those Frag Launchers that help out our dear poor Terminators who for some reason can't hurl a grenade. (Don't ask me, I'd just build them into the armor personally)


So once again I glued a couple 1/4 x 1/16 magnets to the bottom of both of the pieces, using the larger magnets to get more pull here.

With both pieces magnetized, you can now swap the Frag Launchers on and off for the variants that use them.

Now remember as you're working to double check before you glue that everything continues to fits and is in the right spot.

Another thing you'll want to keep in mind is that you should keep all the polarities the same on items you want to be able to share spots with. It'll do you no good if you can't swap between spots because you have the polarities reversed and they are repelling each other. ;)

-CKR

Shaping Bent Resin

So I don't know how many people have ordered pieces from other companies but every once in a while you'll get something that's a little bent out of shape, like the Grey Knight Land Raider Door here.

The easiest way to bend it back into place is to simply throw it in some boiling water.



Here you can see the door floating in boiling water. You don't really have to worry about it melting as it floats and the bubbles keep it off the hot metal sides for the most part. I left it in there for a couple of minutes while working on a few other doors at the same time.



After using some tongs to get it out of the water, I then over so gently bent it back into place. That is until I was a little less gentle on the stubs that slide into the tank and let you open and close the doors.

But as you can see it is way straighter then it was about 5 minutes before hand.



With it straightened out and a little glue for repairs I started building my Land Raider, and as you can see here boiling the piece straight worked like a charm.

-CKR

TGR Escalation League - Scenario 2

Warhammer 40k Escalation League Scenario 2: Survival

(Cycle 2 – 750 points)

Background: Having established a beach head on the planet, reinforcements begin to bolster these forces. However, the planet itself seems to be taking exception to the arrival of so many newcomers and the very terrain begins to turn against the armies. Now, not only are there unknown enemies lurking at every turn trying to kill them, but the very ground upon which each faction moves is attacking them as well.

Reports are finally beginning to come in as to where the Rogue Trader may have gone. Also there are hints of something strange about the planet beyond its bizarre architecture. As each faction struggles to survive, the soldiers on the ground notice the planet trying to herd them away from certain areas.

Each faction must struggle against both enemy and planet as they begin to pierce the veil of secrecy around what is happening. The only question remaining is can they survive long enough to get answers?

Set-Up: A 4’ x 4’ table is used in this scenario. A total of 2d6 +3 pieces of terrain should be placed on the table by the players, alternating back and forth between the selected items. Players should agree on the type of each terrain piece before game play begins.

Force Organization: The standard force organization rules are used with the following modifications:
- Headquarters: Players must take 1 choice
- Troops: Players are only required to have 1 choice

Mission Objective: The object is to survive with the greatest amount of points intact.

Special Rules: All terrain is considered dangerous terrain. The rules for Dangerous Terrain on page 14 of the rulebook apply. For vehicles, see the rules on page 57 under Terrain Effects.

Deployment: Special. The board is divided diagonally and opposite corners selected as deployment zones. The far corner of each deployment zone has a 12” square that cannot be used for deployment. There is also a 12” strip down the diagonal – 6” on either side of the midline – that cannot be used for deployment. (See the picture below.)


Victory Conditions: The game lasts the standard length (5 turns with checks to see if it runs to 7). At the conclusion of the last turn, each side counts the number of points left alive in their army. (For scoring purposes immobilized vehicles and fleeing troops are not considered alive.) The player with the highest number of points left is the winner. If both players have the same number of points left, then the player with the most units left is the winner. If both players have the same number of units, then the player with the highest single point model remaining is the winner. If there is a tie once more, the player who went first is the winner.

Previous Winner Advantages: Any player who is a ‘member’ of the winning team* from Cycle 1 enjoys the following advantages during the game:
Prior to deployment, but after sides have been selected, a single piece of terrain can be moved anywhere on the board. If both players are on the winning team then the player who is designated to go first in the game moves the first piece of terrain and then the second player moves a piece.

Any player who is considered to be a winner from Cycle 1 has the following advantages:
Once per turn, a single unit may re-roll a dangerous terrain test. If a re-roll is used, all models in the unit re-roll and the second roll is used even if the results are worse.

* The teams are:
Team 1: Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Witch Hunters
Team 2: Chaos Space Marines, Dark Eldar, Orks
Team 3: Daemonhunters, Eldar, Tau
Team 4: Chaos Daemons, Necrons, Tyranids

TGR Escalation League - Army Background Contest

As Cycle 2 of the Escalation League begins, The Gamers Realm is happy to announce the second contest of the league – an Army Background Writing Contest. A lot of people develop a back story for their force – whether it is a unique army or a representation of a standard army. No matter which road you travel, we want to read about your army.

The contest starts with Cycle 2, 21 March, and runs through 01 May. This gives you six weeks to work on your background.

For more information go here.

My "Mighty Beast" The Lord of Change

Hey Everyone, I present to you my "Mighty Beast" 40k Entry for the Hobby Town painting contest. As you can see it's a dreaded Chaos Daemon, the Lord of Change bursting forth from the body of a Tzeentch Chaos Lord. This model was a blast to work on, and I'm sure there are still hours that I could spend on it, but at this point I'm calling it done. For my sanity and because I purchased a miniataur a couple weeks ago for the same contest and it's still laying in little plastic pieces.



I think the hardest thing about this model was getting all of the base colors down on it. I have always found throwing base colors on models to be very tedious and boring and with this model it was no different. After trying out one color scheme on the wings, I decided that I didn't quite have the talent to pull it off and ended up priming over it and starting over again. Luckily things went rather smoothly after that but it still took about 3 nights to actually base color.



With the base colors down, I took a heavy black ink and inked the entire model, everything that was blur, grey, green and so on. I did not black in the flesh tones or the white canvas but instead used a regal blue paint, thinned it greatly in water and used it as an ink, and did the same with a couple different browns on the skin until I got it a color I was happy with.



With the ink down, I then gradually started working on dry brushing the rest of the model. Working with Light Greys and Up, and then Light Blues and up. It was interesting how difficult it was to plan out where to work with this model as Dry Brushing the stones meant I'd get grey on the primordial chaos of the ground and vise versa. I ended up getting it worked out and continued on my way.



With all of the dry brushing done it was time to add the small details, the stones, the silver trim on the garments, the eyes, mouth, teeth, and talons. The entire model probably ended up taking me 40-60 hours to complete over a three week period of time. I could have probably gotten in done in about a week and a half, but with the learning curve of green stuff and waiting for items to dry it just took a while.

I hope you guys enjoy the model, and like everyone entering the contest I'm hoping to pull off a win ;)

But with this one done, it's time to start working on my fantasy entry as it's due this weekend... hurry hurry... luckily it won't be as extravagant as this one.

-CKR

TGR Escalation League - Week 2

So things are in full swing, we've had about 12 out of 28 or so players report games during the first week. Games were played throughout all of last week and over the weekend. Some people only got one game in but it looks like the majority played 3 or more games (only the first 3 counted). Personally I played CoolKidRoc for my first game and I was like his 6th opponent for the day.

All things considered things seem to be moving along quite well with the league. Even had a couple late sign ups on Thursday and they got in a game then as well. Everyone seems to be having a good time and enjoying the league's first scenario. Speaking of which Scenario 2 is posted for the 750 point scale.

I do urge the players to make sure they note their wins/loss at the front counter. I know we had a couple people play that doesn't appear to have made it on the score sheet. So make sure that gets done and in order.

Glad everyone is having fun and hope to continue this into week 3 and beyond. Stay tuned for more of my escalation army build up. Also check out www.thegamersrealm.com for more up to date info and also Jack Salva's Army build up.

My "Mighty Beast" Teaser

So here it is, the Mighty Beast I've been working on. No not my Kantor Conversion but that giant tzeentch turkey. Hehe... so you can see this was the rough starting stage. Everything is pinned together, and I do mean everything. I had the unfortunant accident of tipping it over when I had simply glued it and it shattered. So I then spent the next day pinning the entire model so that I could throw it against a wall and walk away with it still in one piece.

The entire model has a single electrical wire running through it. This wire is very strong and does not bend very easily making it the perfect option for connecting all of the pieces together and using it to build up on.

As usual feel free to click on a picture to see it larger ;)



I then started to green stuff the chaos power coming out from the ground. This was really my first experience with working with green stuff as a modeling medium.



A closer image showing the chaos power twirling up around out of the ground about to burst through the chaos lords body.



Here you can see some of that energy escaping from the powerfist and forming a chaos spawns arm as the raw power of Chaos rips out from the ground.



Here you can see the larger image, I also ended up green stuffing around the wings to fill in the gaps.



Here that chaos power is bursting from the chaos lord and wrapping around the leg of the Lord of Change, from which the lord of change is actually being formed.



Another picture, with some of the chest plate being ripped open to let the powers of chaos out.



A closer up picture, showing the powers of chaos. I found that the key to working with green stuff was keeping a bowl of water next to you and constantly re-wetting your hands, tools and the green stuff to keep it from sticking.



With the model being so tall it was very top heavy with a very low center of gravity causing it to tip over constantly. So I went and got a bunch of fish weights, snipped them in half and used a hammer to squish them down enough to fit the base. It helps alot.



I then used some cement spackle to add even more wait to the bottom of the model. With this down the center of gravity is actually over halfway up the model making it much more stable.



Here's an Image of it primed. I was very excited to get to this point as it was almost a week getting there. I used new Krylon Primer, and found that you have to shake it very very very well before using otherwise it leaves little strings of paint. Luckily I found this out on a test model and not this one ;) But the primer worked better then GWs white and was not grainy at all.



So with it primed I've started painting. I'm hoping to get it done this weekend and I'll have more pictures once it's done. And then I still have the miniataur I'm going to paint for the contest. It's going to be a busy week but I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

-CKR

'Mighty Beast' Modeling Contest! - Reminder

Hey everyone just a reminder that this contest is coming close to an end. If you've not started your painting for the entry, get down there and do so.

* * *

HobbytownUSA Dallas announces it's 'Mighty Beast' Modeling Contest! With the latest releases in their game systems all centering around the monsters of the Warhammer, 40K and Lord of the Rings universes--Tyranids, Beastmen, Fell Beasts, et al--Games Workshop has made it a great time to model the monstrous, and HTUD wants to see your best efforts!

Hobbyists may enter one 'beastly' model in each category (Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K and Lord of the Rings). The model must be primarily a Citadel miniature (conversions are encouraged from that base), must be purchased from HTUD, and must be assembled/converted/painted by the submitting participant.

It is up to that hobbyist how they define a 'mighty beast:' while this certainly includes Monstrous Creatures, Dragons, Giants, Minotaurs, Ogres (and Rat-Ogres), Hydras, Trolls, Stegadons, etc, it could as easily be something Daemonic, or a less-enormous but equally 'beastly' character model, such as a bray-shaman, ethereal or saurus-lord; you choose to submit what you consider *your* mightiest beast!

Submissions may begin immediately and are welcome for display in the glass cabinet in the games section at the front of the store, but *must* be brought to HTUD by end-of-business Sunday, March 21, 2010, where they will be displayed until the end of the month. Prizes will be awarded for 'Mighty Beast' in each category noted, as well as a 'Youngbeast' and a Best Overall 'Mightiest Beast!'

The Hivemind calls; the Brayhorn sounds; the Witch King summons! The time of the Mighty Beasts is at hand--at HobbytownUSA Dallas!

Battle Missions

So yesterday I had my first chance to see inside the book and play a couple missions.

First off there are 33 missions in the book, 3 for each race and 3 special missions. They are all different in slight ways be it deployment, special rules or something else.

But what I like the most is the flavor of the missions fit very well with the race they are to represent, be it chaos raids or Tyranids crawling out from the wood works.

We ended up going for complete randomness just to get into the book. Just so happened to be a Tyranid Mission and I was facing them with my Eldar. The mission was First Contact. Basically the non nid player has to randomly place all of his army on the board which has been divided into 6ths. And the center of each 2x2 section is an objective.

From there the nids randomly come on from the edges of these 2x2 sections and the game commenses. It was great fun, not lining up and facing off but actually having to play fluidly.

The second mission was the Space Marine mission All Round Defense - it's one objective, smack dab in the middle, and the player gets to put everything there and you have to beat your way into it. Well turned out I was the attack and Nids the defender. So I reserved my entire army... to keep them off the board as long as possible, and then stayed along the edges drawing him out to me. And then turn 5 rolled around and I went screaming for the objective. Only problem was the game didn't end lol... So sixth turn was him trying to beat his way back into the center, but with everything moving flat out he wasn't able to do so and the game ended that turn.

Once again, a very original game and took a much different play style then you on one side and me on the other as all the board edges where both players board edge.

If you've not picked it up, and you're considering it, go to your LGS and borrow a copy and play a game. You'll have a blast, so then you'll need to pick it up and play it at home.

-CKR

Blood Angels Ready for Pre-Order

If you've not heard already, Blood Angels are now Available for Pre-Order. This army is looking pretty wicked, from the rumors and just the models themselves. With many of the rumors already verified including the new "Flying Landraider" this army will be one to beat. I can't wait to see them across the table and have my chance at taking them down.



I'll be stopping at GW today to get myself a little peak at this book. Many have said GW already has there store copies and I just want to verify some of the rumors myself. That and I'll be putting the baby on pre-order, with the way the fluff and shear power of the new codices are I'm sure it'll be a fun, yet painful read when I compare them to my now very much aging armies.



Astorath the Grim is the Blood Angels' High Chaplain and Redeemer of the Lost. He is a true Angel of Death, a legend of destruction who fights like a man possessed and brings with him the twin gifts of death and redemption.



Gabriel Seth is the Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers. Fully aware that he cannot curtail the bloodlust that runs through the veins of his Battle-Brothers, Seth has resolved to lead his Chapter in an unrelenting campaign against the Emperor's enemies, in the hope that the Flesh Tearers will one day regain their place among the Imperium's pantheon of honoured defenders.



The Sanguinor is a golden angel of vengeance who descends from the heavens only in times of the Blood Angels' greatest need. To most he is a myth, but those few who have seen him cut a bloody path through the Blood Angels' enemies and blaze across the battlefield like a hot and angry wind know different.



Chaplain Lemartes is the warden of the Death Company and never have they been such a potent force as under his guidance. Though Lemartes himself is afflicted by the accursed Black Rage, his formidable willpower has allowed him to remain in control of his actions, leaving him free to lead the Death Company in glorious charges that eclipse all the deeds of legend.



A Blood Angel who serves with distinction will one day be elevated to the hallowed ranks of the Chapter's Veteran Company. Members of the company are living exemplars to their Battle-Brothers, true masters of the many weapons a Space Marine can be called upon to employ, and famed for the devastation they have brought upon the Emperor's foes.



The Warriors of the Death Company seek only one thing - death in battle - and they are sent forth to their final fight with great honour. Consumed by the Black Rage, members of the Death Company fight completely without fear and are impervious to wounds that would kill other Space Marines. Many of the Blood Angels' greatest victories have followed a shattering assault by the Death Company. There are few enemies who can hope to stay the onset of such maddened warriors.



The Sanguinary Guard are the uttermost elite of the Blood Angels. They fight with wrist-mounted Angelus boltguns that leave both hands free for the wielding of crackling power glaives. The Sanguinary Guard are a brotherhood of mortals-become-gods and their deeds the stuff of legends.



The Baal Predator is a specialised variant of the Predator design. The Baals weapon load-out is far more closely suited to the close range fire fights favoured by the Blood Angels, employing twin-assault cannons to shred enemy formations. Furthermore, equipped with a turret mounted flamestrom cannon it is capable of swiftly clearing bunkers and barricades.



Tactical squads are the most numerous in a chapter and form the backbone of a fighting force. As their name suggests they are highly flexible having the tactical adaptability to deal with virtually any foe. Armed primarily with the holy bolter, some squad members carry more specialised weapons such as the plasma or meltagun.



Space Marines who excel in the fury of close combat are organised into Assault squads and equipped with jump packs that allow them to take the fight to the enemy in brutal close-quarter fighting. Armed with a mixture of pistols and swords, they are terrifying foes in battle, dropping from above like flaming angels of death.