Goblin Orderlies in Da House!

He he - they have arrived. Another fun project to keep me occupied. Couldn't wait to get at them.

The first interesting issue is the bases. There are no good joint spots for the goblins to grab the stretcher so having separate bases just was not going to work. The whole thing would need proper pinning or a single base - maybe both.

I dug around and found something suitable.

I think it is from the Dark Angels and probably for the bikes. As you can see the models are metal (unexpected - I really need to read the small print) and that makes them quite heavy so I needed to get them well and truly stuck into position. I cut down their metal tabs to form triangles under each foot and then followed a very careful measuring exercise.

I drilled out the plastic base to insert each triangle and then used glue and green stuff to get a really solid fixing.

It worked really well however we will have to wait and see if the stretcher is going to hold or will I need to get pinning. I am suspecting the later.

The models themselves are quite good fun and a little bigger than expected. They have 'mad' facial expressions.

They are definitely bigger than my other goblins and nearly the size of the pain boy. No doubt they picked the biggest goblins for their strength ;-)

I am looking forward to painting them up.

The next big game is on Saturday - it is a rematch between the Skaven and the Dark Elves. I could do with a win and am looking forward to it. Might get some paint on them by then.

Orc Painboy

I have been working on the Orc Painboy. It is a really cool model with lots and lots of detail. I think I will be working on it on and off for some time but he is coming along nicely.

I struggled to get a decent photo of him because of the position of the right arm. It casts half his body in shadow.

I love all the knives and scissors and various other 'medical' devices he has about his person.

I have gone with a white head piece and mask in the hope that it will tie in nicely with the goblin orderlies, when they arrive.

Da boyz are back in town

The postman came on Saturday with a delivery! Drummers!

I am building a band and its going to be loud.

Also a Lizard crew are about to emerge to do battle so I thought it only polite to use one of their skulls as a drum :-)

The troop are coming along nicely and will be a great addition to growing collection of Orc hangers on.

I am sure I have a pain boy somewhere ...... back to the garage for another rummage.

Orcland Raiders

An image to strike fear into very souls of the opposition. A new brand is born. (or is that franchise?)

The Orcland Raiders are here and very much in your face.

It has been a busy Christmas on the gaming front. The Blood Bowl has been first class entertainment. I have had great fun growing my squad of Orc's. They were only a few in the beginning. And they lacked colour and personality.

I added some reds and blues to the colour scheme and applied lots of 'wash' to give them that dirty, 'lived in' feel.

Next I paid a visit to ebay. I needed some more Blockers, Blitzers, and a Troll. Highly successful, I got an entire team for £16 including postage. A real bargain!

Da Boyz were starting to look like a team. I needed a goblin and a visit to my 'bits box' allowed me to scramble together what I needed to construct a suitable model. This got me thinking about the Orcs them selves. My team had three identical Blockers, it also had three identical Blitzers. It would be nice if they were different. I had a look around and discovered the Warhammer Savage Orc plastic box set. Fantastic models that oozed personality. I love the open mouth posing.

I am still working on the new Blitzers but overall a great gathering of orcs.

The team grew over the course of three games of Blood Bowl and this has allowed individual heroes to emerge. Yakstick the Goblin was the super star of game one. My Blitzer Karfu and Blocker Vultug made their names in game 2. And finally in game three Karfu became a rampaging beast, Vultug made an unbelievable interception and Blitzer Pergu, number 11, scored two touchdowns.

Thanks to the Dark Templar for the new Orcland Raider brand. I feel the need for cheerleaders and banner waving fans!!

2-0 but Da Gobo bites the bucket

Hi there Blood Bowl fans. Today saw the much awaited rematch between the Orcland Raiders and the Gravesend Gutchewers. What a day, what a day.

Had the Darktemplar managed to organise some coloured 'Block' dice? Would the god 'Nuffle' hamper his efforts? Would the goblin be 'Da Man'? Had the Black Orcs learned how to foul in true Orc'ish style? And would the Mummies be able to do their job, in spite of their tendency to trip over bandages? So many questions........ anticipation .......... and Blood Bowl mania.

The Gutchewers were in town.

The Dark Templar had painted up the MVP Zombie from game one and he was looking good. Couldn't resist the double skull in front of the Mummy - but surely it couldn't happen again? Could it?

Well the first thing to say is that a big thank you is due to the Dark Templar for his visit today - great fun indeed! A gent.

The game was much different to the first. We were both much more aware of tactics and the game reflected this.

The interesting thing is that the Undead seem incapable of picking up the ball. This is serious in terms of bringing any kind of predictability to the game. This proved a real problem at the beginning of game 2. I took advantage by Throwing Team-mate in the middle of the problem, very funny to have a goblin arrive where he is not wanted. I also applied some Blitzer pressure.

It felt so good to throw the goblin for the first time. Very orc'ish.

However it was tough for the Goblin. Old Yakstick Sticky Hand was bashed about a bit and finally the Gutchewers ganged up and badly fouled him. Foul ref, foul!!! The referee didn't see it and Yakstick ended up in the injury bin.

There was a certain amount of jubilation as a promise made on Dark Templar blog was delivered. 'The goblin was going home in a bucket!' I must admit to being somewhat dismayed.

But this was to ignore the 'Nuffle effect'. The Darktemplar has been in total fear of white dice for sooooooo many years. Every time he has tried to use them they have burnt him badly - I'm am being really serious about this. We joked beforehand because coloured 'Block Dice' had been ordered, from Australia but they had not arrived. We talked about the double, double skull and laughed .......

I kid you not - it happened again!!

The Gutchewers couldn't roll dice to save their lives, well they are undead. It was amazing. I felt for the Dark Templar. There was a plan but ......... Nuffle had intervened and did so regularly!

I got the ball and opened up the right hand side of the pitch.

The new Thrower 'Popeye' did the business, picked up the ball, carried, threw the ball and it was successfully caught. Touchdown Orcland Raiders!

Towards the end of the half the Gutchewers lost some players to successful Blocking and Fouling and so started the second half 2 men down. A big disadvantage.

The Raiders were also receiving! A good offence position. We suffered a Blitz at Kickoff. Wow - that was interesting. Puts you on the back foot a bit.

I had stood off the Gutchewers but the Blitz allowed them to get right in my face. A painful start to the the half. However I did manage a second Touchdown  to make it a 2-0 result.

The new look Orcland Raiders are now looking good.

I have some new skills, a Blitzer with Mighty Blow and a Blocker with Block. I also have a new team reroll. Getting stronger all the time.

The orcs remain the team to beat but I got to say that 'Nuffle' played a big part and I am eternally grateful. Thank you great god.

Official Team Photo

Well its official folks. Mr Bolgrot Ripper has passed the medical and donned the colours of the Orcland Raiders. Here he is leading out the team for practice. Starting to get a good feeling for the season ahead!

Bolgrot Ripper in da house

Star player Mr Bolgrot Ripper arrived this morning to a huge crowd of approving orcs. Well me anyway.

Obviously he had been in the wars and was in need of a period of recuperation. The Apothecaries got straight to work on an injured shoulder. They drilled into the damaged joint and added a pin which will make him positively bionic!!

Now all he needs is to climb into the team colours and he will be good to go.

He will need a goblin or two to throw around so I guess its back to ebay. This team is coming together nicely!

Christmas Gaming

Well Christmas is just around the corner and the recent Dark Templar posting has prompted a rummage in the garage. A trip back in time to when I first started playing. It was in the summer of 1988 when I first discovered 'The Orcs Nest' in London and my first Games Workshop models - the Game 'Blood Bowl'.

This is the second version of the game. The first is in the box at the back of the picture. I played a lot in the first flat that I stayed in. We had up to 15 people living in the house so no shortage of opponents!! Great fun. Then some years later when living in Tunbridge Wells we returned to the game. (Painting skills were dreadful - obviously!!)

In TWells there were 8 of us and we played for a few months and then drifted on to other things. As usual, towards the end of our playing cycle, I had just purchased some new models that never got any playing time.

My first team were the Dwarves.

I remember trying to paint the eyes - OMG! They became a bit dull to play though. Slow moving etc. I had just purchased the Deathroller before we stopped playing. Crying out for paint!!!

Orcs became my main team. Well I am an Orc at heart. They are versatile and can do some serious damage on the ground.

Got to love those Blockers and Blitzers. I even have a few unpainted models in the box but we can look at them another time.

I also have some Humans, Ratmen and Amazons - so much to remember ;-)

Christmas could be fun this year!!

Now where did I leave that Warhammer army - ah yes - I remember.......there was a bit of an accident.... my wife dropped the box they were stored in about 3 years ago. Carnage - do I dare open the box - I think I will get some more glue before taking on that challenge!!