Ulther Deathfist and the Battle of the Burning Tower: Aftermath

Blandidir's dull eyes surveyed the near empty stock room with indifference. Soon the last of the coven's supplies would be loaded onto the wagons and thrashed south to the warband's new home. With many of their rivals disrupted, and the Deathfist to the east, there was little that could stand in the ways of their plans. It would be the simple, taxing chores of pretence for her in the coming days, as she acted in role as her master's savant and busied herself signing off the official papers that would see the large townhouse change hands once more. A fat, odious local butcher, heavy with coin after his financial success, had been more than eager to purchase the property and move his ever growing family within its handsome walls. 

The dark elf sniffed softly, letting the soporific the filled the dusty room, enhance her senses once again. Pushing open a oaken door, she passed through a dimly lit corridor into a dank cell originally constructed as a kennel for the households canines. The low ceiling caused its occupant to bend their heads forwards and frown uncomfortably in the halflight. Spreadeagled before her on a wooden table lay the bandaged remains of a powerfully built human whose forehead erupted with a single, fleshy horn. Sickly blood glistened through the yellowing strips of cloth that covered his wounds while a fevered sweat clung to his skin like a death shroud.

It was clear to even the most unschooled that this man did not have long in this word. 

The other occupants of the room bowed in respect as they caught sight of their priestess entrance. Silently, they watched her approach the wounded man and cast her cool gaze over his savaged body. 

"Where did you recover him?" She asked, her voice but an accented whisper in the tiny room. 

"Along the Forest Road, High One, alongside one other. He was dead. We found other bodies too, but none were worshippers of the True Gods." Came the quick response from one of the men.

"There was evidence of a small battle," his companion continued, "most likely undead from the amount of bone we found scattered. Whole ranks of them. We treated this one on the spot and brought him back her for you."

"You did well," Blandidir said. She raised her hands and placed them on the wounded man's chest. "let's found out what he knows," she said softly before plunging her fingers through the man's chest and deep into his heart...

As I mentioned last week, I had the pleasure of taking part in an excellent game of Warhammer Fantasy Battle at Slayer Gaming in Mansfield. Well, the scenario has been written up by Warlord Paul and can be seen here. 

http://warlordpauluk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-battle-of-burning-tower-14614.html

Its well worth a read. I have pinched a fair few pictures from his blog post but there are many, many more to enjoy via The Black Hole itself. So don't hesitate to visit when you have finished here. Here are the pics...

Chaos thugs and mutants in the service of the Deathfist skirmish with ogre near a tollbooth while a Black Orc looks on. 

Grimgrunt, one of the Deathfist's disciples, fells the ogre with a blade in the back as blood maddened beastmen advance.

Behold the unheavenly host of the Deathfist! 

Ulther Deathfist marches with his elite bodyguard beneath his sacred battlebanner! His newly recruited chaos dwarfs heft their artillery forwards in support.

Mastering their fear at last, the Warriors of Khorne clash with the undead legions.

The Seeress sat back and stilled her whirling eyes. Vassel had served his purpose once again and had informed her of what she needed to know to please her master. 

"They are on the move, Lord Deathfist, though to where I cannot yet fathom. Vassel does not yet know himself, but when he does we shall know too."

Ulther Deathfist sat back on his throne of skulls and flexed the massive gauntlets that served for his hands before looking down at his servant. She had read the bloodauger well and should be rewarded. Motioning with his hand, a beastman stepped forwards and scattered the red stones across the sand of his throne room. Gorestones! Prized pieces of Khorne's blood solidified by the aeons and the perfect foil for cowardly magic. 

As his followers roared with approval, the Deathfist contemplated the future. Soon it would be time to challenge that Dark Elf bitch properly. Until then, he planned to continue to build up his forces, something that would be made even easier as news of his victory over the weak dead ones spread through the Drakwald forest, and consolidate his position. 

Yes, soon... Perhaps even in time for Geheimsnisnacht! 

Underneath the chaos helm that made up his ravaged face the split lips curled into a smile. 

Yes!  Geheimsnisnacht! 

Oldhammer @ Slayer Gaming Mansfield

Getting together for a game of Third Edition (or indeed first or second) is getting easier and easier. As the Oldhammer Community expands, more and more enthusiasts are becoming involved. For the majority its simply a case of enjoying the output published continually on our many blogs, the Facebook groups and the forum. It is often the venue for a game that causes a little more difficulty.

Well, yesterday Nik Dixon, Steve Casey, Warlord Paul, Thantsants and myself converged on Slayer Gaming in Mansfield, near Nottingham for a narrative heavy game of Old School Warhammer. The battle reports, from differing points of view, will no doubt begin arriving on a blogsphere near you soon and the purpose of this post is not to discuss the game in any detail, but instead to comment on the venue itself. 

Grimgrunt, the Deathfist's Disciple, advances up the Old Forest Road.

As some of you will know, the Wargames Foundry are relocating to Newark and were unable to accommodate us. Slayer Gaming was recommended to Paul when he was scouting around for a different venue. They were highly recommended by other gamers and it is easy to see why after spending the day there. Situated on an industrial estate, Slayer Gaming are very easy to find and the parking is free and plentiful. Nor is it a difficult location to get to. I was travelling from Essex and it was simplicity itself to cruise up the M11 and A1. In truth, it was easier to get to Slayer than the old Wargames Foundry site. 

A skeleton chariot clashes with Khornegor during the height of the battle. 

The premises are clean and quite spacious. The lighting is also bright and the venue doesn't have the dank and smelly vibe that many similar gaming stores can have. As you would expect, the store front carries a range of products that will be familiar to all. Citadel plastic sets and paints, Army Painter resources and a range of other manufacturer's stuff. In addition to this, there is a small little painting area if you fancied blobbing some paints on your models away from the distractions that may plague you at home. 

The Carnivale's wagons observe the clash of forces as the battlelines prepare to engage.

A second room contains the gaming tables proper. These are all well made and sturdy surfaces that are raised to a good height, with a range of different styles on offer. Sci-fi themed tables predominate, as you would expect with 40k being the dominant game being played in clubs around the country, but there were large fantasy, modern and World War inspired tables too. The scenery was obviously well looked after and of good qaulity, mostly being laser-cut building products and Citadel plastics. 

World War 2 inspired gaming table.

The staff and other patrons were friendly, and rather curious, about what was going on during our game. Talking to a younger gamer (who was bemused to find that the models we were using were older than her) just showed how unfamiliar many players are with the style of play we advocate. Several grognards commented that the sight of WFB3 and Slaves to Darkness brought back many fond memories.

As I have said, Slayer Gaming provides plenty of space and tables to support your requirements.

Slayer Gaming have a small drinks machine and a selection of snacks on offer if you are feeling peckish in game, and recommended a little sandwich shop in quick walking distance, so all your eating needs are also covered. The shop serves hot and cold f

To conclude, Slayer are an excellent venue for anyone who wants to find a location for a game. From what  I saw they would easily be able to cater for all 28mm systems and offer a friendly and non-judgemental atmosphere. 

Do yourself a favour and follow this link to their Facebook page and give them a like. We hope to bring you larger Oldhammer events from here in the future, so what this space! 

Orlygg at Salute 2014

A pleasant spring sun welcomed me this morning as I prized myself from my bed to prepare for the annual trip to Salute in London. This year, I was making a new contact (and a rather local one at that) in the guise of Stuart Klatcheff who joined the Oldhammer Forum and the Facebook Community recently. He dwells in distant Great Leighs and I picked him up at 8:30. We arrived at about 10am and were confronted by the queues. They were easily the biggest I had ever seen and the Salute team had prepared a vast empty space for us to gather in. 

The top picture gives you some idea of that space and of the number of people preparing to enter the show. 

As always, we were entertained during the short walk around by the antics of the costumed Star Wars chaps. I quipped the ever-sharp jibe about the stormtrooper above being 'a little short' and was promptly told to 'move along' for my efforts. 

The costumes these enthusiasts dress up in are excellent, as this sand blaster trooper from Tatoonie goes to show and there were a great many others to see, including a rather scary Judge Dredd. Alas, I didn't witness him busting any perps!

My first port of call was the Foundry stand. As you can imagine it was packed out with punters stocking up on their excellent metal castings. However, this year they had brought along Kevin 'The Goblin-Master' Adams with his incredible model range, now called Warmonger. Kev was more than willing to chat (at great length) about his work and his recovery and I am pleased to announce that he has agreed to do a RoC80s interview about the old days in the very near future. So look out for that in the coming months! He was very pleased to be at the show, especially considering that the Ansells had put him up in a swanky hotel all expenses paid! He told me he still had one operation to go but he is back at work and very grateful for all the support he received from the community. 

Kev was also keen to show off his latest work and had a pocket full of castings. This were a new range of goblins for Midlam Miniatures which were brilliant and could have easily been a Citadel original from 1985. Sadly, not all the castings were for sale, including this topless 'gobliness' as the owner of Midlam didn't like the sculpt. 

Tony Hough dropped by with his daughter and I managed to capture the moment with a cheeky not quite selfie thanks to Paul Golgfag from the Oldhammer Forum. 

Meeting up with some Oldhammer stalwarts, we stopped for a quick lunch before exploring the trade stands. Here Leadpest listens to Golgfag's idea for his big game at the Oldhammer Weekend in August.

Leadpest, Stuart and Leadpest's brother enjoy a rather expensive Salute sandwich. Thanks to Leadpest, I am now the proud owner of Sgt. Kratz from the Death on the Reik range. A fine trade indeed, an old school piece of Citadel for a coffee! 

As you would expect, the quality of miniature painting on display was deeply impressive. This D&D beholder-type creature was my show favourite.

And yes, Dreadfleet is still on sale. £60 a copy for interested parties. Sadly, relegated to the bargin bins of the wargaming world. I felt that the miniatures and mechanics were fairly decent. 

As I said previously, many of the pieces that Kevin Adams did for Foundry all those years back are now becoming part of Warmonger miniatures. These were for sale as a special Salute only range and I bought up the Orcling Outriders to make a special unit of goblin cavalry. As you would expect, these are beautifully sculpted models full of charm and expertly cast. 

Much of the range that Bryan Ansell was promoting on eBay last year have been repackaged here. Including the famous 'Mercenary Orc' models. 

Kev's trademark faces are apparent on all of the models. They are a real pleasure to paint. As I said, I intend to create a little comical goblin cavalry unit complete with rules from WFB3 for a future scenario with these models. 

Kev had a pocket full of castings he had just finished work on. These were for Midlam Miniatures, a company I had not heard anything from before and he recommended that I checked out the range. They were brilliant and were very in-keeping with the old school ethos of Oldhammer. They had a very Citadel-vibe to them so I picked up a couple of models to try out. Two goblins, an archer and a captain, to paint up and compare. 

A quick close up shot of one of the Goblin Captain Kev did for Midlam. They are part of the Goblinvylle range that they have put out but there models don't stop with greenskins. There were plenty of other models on offer, inlcuding many townsfolk that reminded me of the old Citadel ones. 

I was also able to pick up the remaining ex-Citadel barbarians that I failed to get hold of the last time I was at the Foundry. Lots of nice models in here that will be part of my future Old School Norse army at some point. 

 All in all, another great show. Right, were is that paintbrush!

Orlygg

Oldhammer at Blog-Con: Photo Report

Yesterday, at the time of writing anyway, a large number of Oldhammer bloggers met up at the Foundry for a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Third Edition scenario. As you will now, I brought my Khorne army out for its first taste of the battlefield. I am sad to say that the Blood God will be most displeased at their performance. They were routed by the fell hordes of undeath, led by the Lichemaster himself, no doubt in return for some favour from Mum-Ho-Thep!

The battle was huge! If we had bothered to count up the points values, I reckon it would have been into the tens of thousands. There were hundreds of models, nearly exclusively old school, from ghosts to goblins, skeletons to minotaurs, scorpions to undead dragons! Quite how Warlord Paul managed to keep track of the game was anyone's guess, but he did and did sterling work as GM for the game. I spent most of the day locked in combat with Nik's undead, which had Steve Casey drooling over its hordes of quite rare, and shockingly expensive, Citadel classics from the Lichemaster scenario. As I said, I was utterly routed by the undead horde but I learnt a great deal about WFB3 that I didn't previously know, like the impact of chariots, long distance missile fire and the importance of rank bonuses. I also had quite a few thoughts about balancing forces for scenarios to ensure meaty, cinematic battles but that is a topic for discussion in another post.

It was fantastic to (finally) have a chat with Tony Yates, and see Warlord Paul, Golgfag, Harry, Norse, Robotforaday, Thantsants and meet Nik for the first time. Big thanks need to go to the Ansell family, as always, especially Diane who brought along the bar once again. Peroni and old school Citadel models is a lovely mix. 

Only one question remains! When can we do it again? I had to cut my trip short in the end and head home, but this proved that I am able to get to the Foundry and back for a game in a day, even from Essex. So if anyone is interested in another WFB game at the Wargames Foundry in the not to distant future, just drop me an email or message on Facebook. 

Onwards then to the photographs. I won't make any attempt to explain what went on on other parts of the battlefield, others with far more knowledge will do that shortly, but I shall share my snaps of the event with you here.

We used the large table as before with the RoC games, only this time we pretty much filled it! When has the floating Ziggarut and Harry's Khemi style scenery. 

My Khorne army with undead allies. They look splendid don't they? Sadly, it was not to last.

The Host of Ulthur Deathfist. A year's work really.

What Ulthur faced, the never ever ending forces of undeath. 

Ulthur's allies. Rank upon rank of Khorne and chaos forces. 

What faced Ulthur and his allies. The army of Mum-Ho-Thep. Plenty of old school miniatures here. What can you spot?

A close up of the ziggarut model. A great piece of kit but there just wasn't the space to do anything with it!

Harry begins the tape measure holding competition with a lovely finger splay. 

Robotforaday opts for a four inch Argentine Tango. Can you spot his fimir?

Thantsants smashes the competition with a remarkable parallel tape measure and finger pinch pose. A sure winner!

Norse negates the need for a tape measure and watches the endless horde of enemy models that surge towards him. 

The battle lines begin to meet as artillery and missile fire causes deaths aplenty. Chariots charge towards Golgfag's elves.

We even had units of Slaan on the table. Nice tape measure grab there from Norse, I believe!

All kinds of nasty monsters clash with Norse's Chaos Warriors. Robotforaday's Fimir advance towards the beleaguered beastmen. 

My Khorne army advances under heavy magic and artillery attack.

My Khorne army runs away under heavy magic and artillery attack. Not to mention rank bonuses.!