Warhammer Quest Barbarian

I painted this guy almost exclusively with Citadel Contrast Paints (I also used some Vallejo Old Gold + Agrax Earthshade, Citadel Chainmail + Badab Black, and Citadel Gryphonne Sepia).

Not a great paintjob, but very passable for the tabletop. I think I might redo the skulls; the sepia turned out too brownish in my opinion.

As I plan to play some Sellswords & Spellslingers with Emil very soon (if possible somewhen during this next week), I needed to cater for his taste for large men with humongous swords (instead of using a skinny Elf), and I am going to paint a Frostgrave Barbarian for his party, but I had to finish something quickly, and I've had this guy standing around primed with Wraithbone for quite a while, so it was a no-brainer to use him for Contrast Paints practice.

I just realized that I forgot about the banding/sleeves on his braids.
I shall have to revisit those.

Yes, the base edge got damaged when I removed him from the cork
I use for painting handle. I shall look into that, too,

Sellswords & Spellslingers: New Set of Cards

I have simply NO idea where I have put my SS&SS card set and 3D-printed deck holder, and as I plan to play a game with Emil quite soonish, I had to print, laminate, and cut out a second set (this time it is going to be stored in the games gear box!)

My printer is not currently running, so I built a deck holder/card shoe from LEGO. It is not as swaggy as a printed one, but it will have to do for now.

Skeleton Guards for WoE (Oathmark Revenants)

'Tomorrow' became 'the day after tomorrow', because, real life, but here they are.

I experimented a lot with Citadel Contrast Paints on these, had to highlight the purple with a drybrush and shade the 'skin' and a few details with Agrax Earthshade, but all in all a relatively quick and easy paintjob.

The metal parts are Agraxed Vallejo Old Gold; works a charm for bronze!

I shall have to build and paint five more of these to max out the Skeleton Guard unit for Warlords of Erehwon, but right now my butterfly mind has set itself on getting some LotR stuff ready, and preparing for some Sellswords & Spellslingers (I have to make a new set of cards, as I cannot for the life of me remember where I've put the set I made years ago - AND the printed deckholder 😒 )

Skeleton Crew 2/3

I finished Screaming Skull Catapult crew #2 (still not done with the actual catapults). With those finished I can focus on getting my 'Skeleton Guard' (Oathmark Revenants) off the pain(t) station, and I expect to show them off tomorrow.

More Skeleton Archers

I don't know why the pic is partly unfocussed, but, well ...

I finished painting the four archers today (I did not paint the leader, he was already painted when I purchased the job lot back then, so I have only rebased him), and all in all this is now a valid minimum unit for WoE.

As my Undead warband is licking its wounds somewhere in the Northern Wilderness, I have time to reconfigure it a bit before Emil and I can meet up for another tussle.

I expect to field Archers and Skeleton Guards along with a Giant Scorpion next time we play, but I am still pondering what opposing force to build - maybe Elven reinforcements have arrived from the Capitol, or some Wood Elf tribes are gathering in support of the Allies.

Skeleton Crew

I have had these guys in my possession for more than 30 years, so I think it was about time they got painted and saw some action (well, actually, being dead they probably didn't notice, anyway ...).

It is the crew for one of my three Screaming Skull Catapults (of which one is missing a vital part, namely the (literal) arm), and they have already been fielded a couple of times in WoE games, but the first time I had not completely finished the paintjob on the operator (some mail and the fur edge on his expensive rags had to be drybrushed).

But, here they are in all their Undead splendor. I have another crew in the painting queue at the moment, but they will have to wait until the next archer group has been shifted.

An Archer Unit for Argonor's Undead Host

I have felt the need to field some additional ranged firepower in my Warlord's og Erehwon games (a small catapult just doesn't cut it against Vikings and Dwarves with a lot of bows and javelins).

I worked on this group as an 'unofficial' left hand job in between other hobby tasks - and, lo and behold, all of a sudden I had a new unit ready for the table, without any actual effort (or so it seemed).

A lot of bone, gold, and red, and a generous amount of Agrax Earthshade, and Bob's your uncle!

The picky observer will have noticed some moldlines, and, yes, these were part of a second-hand lot I acquired a couple of years ago, they were already assembled and primed, and rather than going over all those thin limbs with a sharp X-Acto, then having to give them a second coat of primer, I opted to just go with the flow (although it hurt every time I put a brush to one of those moldlines).

I rebased them them on 20mm washers and did my usual filler, sand, paint, and flock job on them, so that they will fit in with the rest of the army.

I already have another unit in the works, going 'on the side' like this one (my 'official' task right now is to paint up some Oathmark Revenants to use as Skeleton Guards in WoE (for now), but they are partially on hold because of the need for more headstones for my Halloween display on the 'Sideboard' (I think it's called in English). Pics will follow, when it is finished in all it's glory.

Warlords of Erehwon Campaign - Another Table Set

Played another game with Emil today, but I have not had the time to sort out the pictures, yet, as I have been busy constructing the warbands and the table for tomorrow, when Kevin will be joining me for an introduction to the game.

As usual, I have taken pics of the table.

BTW, have you noticed something in the pics of the other tables?

 

Warlords of Erehwon Campaign - Table Ready for the Next Game

After the defeat at the ancient watchtower the surviving Elves fell back into the Northern Province, and the next encounter will happen on the border of civilization.

As usual, I have set the table for the next game well in advance (I set it earlier today, before Emil had responded to my text message about when to have another game), as we are not going to play before Tuesday.

I have taken pics from all four corners, like the last time.

In the meantime, danger lurks everywhere.

Reinforcements Have Arrived!

Last weekend I ordered these two items from Miniaturicum in Germany, and they arrived during today's game.

Ten of the the Revenants are destined to become 'Skeleton Guard' for Warlords of Erehwon (they wear some kind of ancient armour) - among other purposes along the way.

I already washed the sprues and started cleaning up the first five, so that I can get a minimum sized unit ready for use as soon as possible, although I shall probably not get them done in time for Wednesday

'Oathbreakers' is necessary for using Undead forces in Oathmark, and I haven't completely given up on that game, although I find that it plays a bit too slowly for massed battles.

I look forward to reading the rules and get an impression of how the Undead work in the game, and maybe try out a smaller solo game to get a hands-on experience.

Warlords of Erehwon - Setting the Table

I have been busy painting a handful of minis for the next installment of my WoE narrative campaign, and today I set the table for tomorrow's game, where Emil is going to take control of the Elven defenders of the Northern Province.

I've built slightly smaller forces (at 1100 points) for a quicker game, but if we don't finish tomorrow, I'll play the remainder solo during the weekend.

I took pics from all four corners, and you can see the opposing warbands lined up with their Order Dice ready.

Emil is joining me around noon tomorrow, and I expect us to have a jolly good time with a beer or two during the game.

Some Fireforge Stuff Arrived

Today, I received these two boxes directly from Fireforge Games.

I orderred them to make some peasant survivors and zombies for Rangers of the Shadow Deep (my tweaked version of it, anyway), and I hope to be able to make zombie versions of the peasants, but I shall not dive right into it, as I am busy painting Pirates for Åcon later this month.

Hello, There!

Another hiatus coming to an end. Actually, I have been slowly restarting the furnaces of the hobby room over the latest couple of months, ordering some rulebooks, and printing some stuff for the table (more about that in later posts).

My latest acquisition is the fantasy battle game Oathmark, published by Osprey in collaboration with North Star Military Figures.

When first I learned that McCullough was the author of Oathmark, I was somewhat disappointed. McCullough is, as many will be aware of, the author of Frostgrave and Rangers of the Shadow Deep, and I am absolutely no fan of the very random combat system sported by both of them, so it was with no high expectations I followed the news stream from North Star regarding Oathmark.

The combat system in Oathmark, though, is very different from the opposed d20 random mayhem that is Frostgrave and RotSD. Oathmark uses d10s, and when attacking/fighting an enemy unit, the target number to hit is variable, depending on your unit's Fight value, the Defence value of the enemy, and some modifiers, the most important one being extra full ranks - simulating the impetus of a large body of men.

I am yet to play a test game, but I have a relatively good gut feeling about this set of rules. It is relatively simple, maybe even simpler than God of Battles, while still giving that 'old school' feeling from Chainmail, AD&D Battlesystem, and early versions of Warhammer.

The 'world' of Oathmark is relatively 'low' fantasy - a bit like a Dark Ages setting with fantastic races and some monsters. Magic is present, and all races have access to battle mages and some artefacts, but emphasis seems to be on rank-and-file.

The game currently has only four races: Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs/Goblins. There are no restrictions on army composition - actually, the built in campaign system is designed to make each player's 'kingdom' a motley conglomerate of any or all races.

As this may seem strange at first glance, think of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and the various armies fighting for dominance of good and evil. Saruman's force of Half-orcs, evil Men, and Dunlendings. Mordor's armies composed of Orcs, and Men from the east and south (even Dwarves reportedly fought for Sauron at some point, I think). The Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

I, for one, am going to use my Middle-Earth forces for this game - although I am also eagerly awaiting the supplement Oathbreakers, reportedly bringing rules for Undead to the Oathmark world late autumn (although it may be delayed, due to all this pandemic business).

LotR: Frodo's Quest - Invisible Frodo

I dug this out for a little project I have going on.

It is kind of a side project, only requiring a fistful of minis, but I may become the start of a linked series of LotR-mania, only time will tell...

I have no idea what the NIB value would have been on the collectors' market, and I really do not care the slightest - I bought this to game with it, and now I am finally putting it to its intended use!

So, out of the blister it came, and in the meantime, I have begun basing it - at the same time as a set of second hand Fellowship Frodo and Samwise that I also have to get ready for this, for now, little side quest.

I an going to paint them with Citadel Contrast Paints (metal Frodo and Sam, that is), to learn how they behave (the Contrast Paints, that is) - I can always strip and repaint them when I have some 'properly' painted versions ready for the table.

I expect to have an update on this project one of the next days; I have a gaming session tomorrow afternoon, so I am not sure whether I shall have time for reporting any progress, but I plan to apply the kaizen principles to it, so that it does not get bogged down.

I have not yet decided which ruleset to use - I may even go back and apply the actual LotR/Hobbit/Middle-Earth SBG rules with some house rules added, but that is yet to be seen.

Cave Troll Rebased

I also managed to get Tiny's base finished for tomorrow's game.

I expect him to be found in the midst of the action, probably taking on Boromir and/or the Knight of Dol Amroth, and it will be interesting to see how he fares against those Human heroes!

In about 12 hours, Emil and I should be stooped over the Age of Fantasy Skirmish table in Argonor's Attic, rolling dice and probably enjoying a beer or two, and with 250 points a side, a game probably lasts for between one and two hours, which would give us time for a re-match if we feel like it.

But that is for tomorrow - now I shall soon be turning in for the night to get some sleep and be fit for tomorrow's ordeal!

Rebasing a Mordor Troll WIP

I did not paint this big fella; he was part of one of the big lots I bought several years ago, but now that we are playing Age of Fantasy Skirmish, he is likely to see some action with my Mordor Orcs, so I thought it wise to get him based on a large washer for added transportability (stability when transported in a box with a magnetic sheet at the bottom).

Moria Goblin Warband WIP

As mentioned, I am re-basing some Moria Goblins for an Age of Fantasy Skirmish hunting party.

This metal gobbo (not painted by myself) is going to be the Boss of the party, while the spear wielding pests shown below are 1/3 of the rabble I am going to have in the warband (I painted the three clad in brown rags, not the other ones).

There will be another group of spear warriors, two groups of sword warriors, and one group of archers, in addition to the Cave Troll I posted yesterday.

The Boss and the Cave Troll are probably the only figures I shall have more or less ready for Thursday, but I have plenty of painted goblins still on slottas to fill the ranks of the troglodytes for now.

They Have a Cave Troll!

For Thursday, when I have an appointment with Emil for playing Age of Fantasy Skirmish, I am re-basing this Cave Troll to use as support for my Moria Goblins.

Emil is going to command a Gondor patrol lead by Boromir, so I thought I might need to pack a bit of punch for the encounter, as Boromir and the Knight of Dol Amroth would otherwise surely just cut a swathe through the Goblin ranks.

I may not be able to finish the process in time, as I have to attend classes the next couple of days, but I think I should be able to at least get the base base-coated and covered in sand, so it will have to do as it is for that particular game.

I am also re-basing some Goblins, but I do not expect to use other than the Boss (metal) Goblin - the rest of the hunting party must stay on their slottas for now, while I work on another batch to take their place.

SAGA: Age of Magic and Anglo-Saxon Stand-ins WIP

Here is some of the stuff I have been working on this week. Metal galore!

After a long hiatus induced by stress caused by the news of my workplace shutting down this spring, thus leaving me unemployed if I cannot secure one of the fewer jobs offered by the replacement for the 'asylum' I was watching at night, I have decided to pull myself together and get back into some fantasy and historical gaming.

About a year ago, I prepped and based the first of these Royal Guards to paint up for my Rohan/Anglo-Saxon SAGA warband, and I am now aiming to get them painted up before the summer holidays (garden/work/job-search permitting).

Eight Guards give me two points of Hearthguard for SAGAj, and as soon as I add two leaders and two standard bearers, I have two units for God of Battles (and three points of Hearthguard).

I expect to use my Rohan warband, both for 'historical' games, using 1st Ed., and fantasy games to which end, yesterday I ordered SAGA 2nd Ed. and the Age of Magic 'worldbook' from North Star.

I am also contemplating to have a look at Warlords of Erehwon, as a possible transition point between SAGA and God of Battles; it seems to be playable with forces from about the size of SAGA warbands and larger.

When I have completed the Rohan warband for Age of Magic (and I do intend to add some riders), including painting a Gandalf to act as their Sorceror, I think I shall have a go at some Haradrim - Ulolkish also has some of those, and we could join up to get a playable warband ready within a relatively short time (I already painted a warband for Battle Companies years back, and I can build on that).

Well, as usual my head is spinning with plans when I start up (or reboot) a project, but at least this time I do not start from scratch, and that increases the probability for success.

This time, though, I can promise that the blog updates will come a bit more frequently over the next couple of months than has been the case since Christmas. As I am actually making progress, I now have something to write about, so stay tuned for more of my ramblings!

Vanguard - Another Set of Rules for the Collection

I received the Vanguard rulebook with TWD: Prelude to Woodbury, and I was a bit miffed to learn that I need special dice to play the game.

When preordering TWD: Here's Negan, I added a couple of Vanguard Power Dice packs to the order, so now I should be able to actually play the game...

I have not yet read the entire ruleset, but I hope to have time for it during the holidays (the coming weekend is already booked up with julefrokost, getting a tree for Christmas, baking æbleskiver, and making cassoulet, as well as reading the rules for TWD: Here's Negan!