The Albion Adventures: Oldhammer at the Wargames Foundry Photo Report

I had the good fortune to spend most of today (16th May 2015) at the Wargames Foundry, in the very good company of some fine Oldhammering fellows. Now the purpose of this post is not to give an in depth account of the excellent game of Third Edition we played, I shall leave that to those far better equipped to do the job, but should instead be seen as a photo report of the day.

However, before we begin it is important to thank all of those responsible for the event. Namely Paul Mitchell (for devising the scenario and running the game) and Bryan and Marcus Ansell, who kept us supplied with tea, coffee, cakes, crisps, sandwiches and a treasure trove of classic Citadel figures all day.

A mighty thank you is deserved! So THANK YOU. 

Paul's scenario had us returning to the politically infused land of Albion. This time it was all about democracy, with an amusing and fast moving game all about the need to escort voters to a polling booth. The puns flew so thick and fast that you had to duck. Here you can see the initial set up for the game - we were allowed to be bribed by potential candidates. Magic items can really tempt a man!

Another shot of the early stages of the game. As I remarked to my fellow enthusiasts - I really enjoy seeing lots of different painted miniatures on the table, especially when their paint jobs vary widely in style. Can you spot my nicely painted Lady McDeath?

My dragon turtle got a chance to chomp on a few unwary adventurers. Steve Casey's nicely painted barbarians can be seen emerging from the river on the left. 

The scenario saw us protecting voters on the way to the polling booth. Things didn't quite go to plan for this group of halflings as Spot the dog advances on them!

Some of Nik Dixon's elves tackle a large monster after crossing the rather rickety bridge. 

Richard Irvine positions his warband deep within the murky waters. He had brought with him a rather nice unit of dwarf miners and sappers. Long term readers may recognise this large table as the one we used for the Warbands game back in 2013. 

Living legend Bryan Ansell arrived after a few heated hours of gaming with a box of treasures to share with us. He had, among other things, all the latest pieces off Kev Adams' workbench. 

A here is a closer shot of Kev's genius. What can you see?

Here is a much better shot of the 'Warmonger' character model from the packaging material from the same range. He has a rather silly name that no one could remember. 

Bryan also brought in many of the beastmen models from his iconic Warhammer Armies force. Sadly, the Golden Demon sleeveless t-shirt was nowhere in sight. There was a rather fetching tea towel though. 

One of the first things we spotted on the tea towel was this converted ostrich man on horseback. The rider is of course Citadel, though the mount is by some unknown American manufacturer from the 1970s. Any guesses?

A Warmonger Orc Witch. My favourite new model from Kev Adams. I must remember to pester the Foundry to get this cast up ASAP. 

I am not sure what this actually is beyond the fact that its a WIP. 

This is an interesting gem. A 1974 Tony Ackland sculpt of a dinosaur that is finally going to see production. 

A distinct lack of Blu-Tak confounded Bryan's plans to display all of the greens for our viewing pleasure. 

Check out the detail on this Warmonger musician!

Once we had finished oggling the greens, we moved on to the box of classic minis in earnest. I took the opportunity to take some closer snaps of a number of these models, many of which pre-date Warhammer. 

Lots of different beastmen from Bryan's chaos army. These are so old that they seem strangely new - they are just so different to anything available today. Horseman, who was later produced as a slotta, can be seen third from right. 

The weird and the wonderful and the famous and infamous. The model on the left was converted by Bryan and painted by John Blanche. 

I am not sure about all of these miniatures, but the model on the far left is a 1987 beastman and the model on the far right is a Citadel chaos goblin. 

Ahh, back to my first love: Realm of Chaos era stuff. This model was one of the independent daemons in The Lost and the Damned. 

A nasty insect/man conversion. 

Anyone got any ideas about this one?

I am pretty sure that this model appears in several 1980s publications. Perhaps Heroes for Wargames? I was really exciting to handle this particular model as its been a favourite for decades. 

Twisted beastmen and broo. I love the way the brighter colours contrast with the greys of many of the models. 

Slugman (far right) and friends...

Here we have a work in progress two headed terrorbird with goblin rider. There is apparently a three headed version of this creature coming too....

Bryan was also keen to share some of his more recent concepts. Here we have an ogre with a face on his nose.

Concepts for the forthcoming Warmonger Beastmen range.

More beastmen concepts

Steve Casey noticed a similarity between these two models. It was certainly something we hadn't noticed before. Variant? Conversion?

As always, the Foundry display cabinets were full of classic Citadel gold. Here we can safely drool over some of the Judge Dredd range from the 1980s, as well as some Rogue Trooper pieces. 

The original Leman Russ with wolves, Rogue Trader adventurers (yes the ones from the original advert) and the space zoats. 

Rogue Trader scenery pieces and bits and bobs.

Classic Warhammer figures, many of which appeared in the Third Edition rulebook, Advanced Heroquest henchmen, Lords of Battle and so on. 

Warmonger Miniatures and Salute 2015

I like to keep a keen eye out on social media for things that readers of this blog would appreciate. And this is most definitely an image that Oldhammer fans are going to want to see - Bryan Ansell and Kev Adams working together on the Warmonger project!

The other chap is Steve Turton - an expert mould maker - if memory serves me correct. Now, if you haven't got Facebook you wouldn't yet know that Kev will be manning his own stand this year, ably supported by Steve 'The Citadel Collector' Casey. 

The Stand number is TB13.

There is an 'unofficial' Oldhammer meet up at the Foundry stand at 11am on Saturday. I have a feeling that Warmonger will be the first port of call. 

A sneaky look at some Warmonger WIP greens from Wargames Foundry

The Goblinmaster with his creation - The Oldhammer Goblin! He has the unofficial name of Boyldrick!

All hail the Leadheads and Oldhammerers! A bit of an exclusive for you today, a closer look at some of the greens produced by Kev Adams for Wargames Foundry: shared with you via Bryan 'Dark Winged' Ansell. As many of you who attended BOYL this year will know, Kev took time away from chasing the goblins only he can see and spent time chatting with fans as well as showing off many of his forthcoming greens. As some of you will know, Wargames Foundry are developing a new range called, Warmonger! This range deals with the many goblinoid sculpts that the Goblinmaster has done over the years as well as all of the new greens he has been producing of late. 

To quote the Mighty Avenger himself: "Kevin may have done a hundred heads so far: there's no stopping him now.  They are vaguely derived from the rough concepts that were knocking about last weekend."

None of these models should be considered complete and Bryan went on to tell me that many of them will receive additional layers of clothing and other gubbinz that orcs require to feel contented with their lot in life. 

Let's have a look then!

And now for something completely different...

In case you haven't seen this image on the Facebook group, here are the assembled Oldhammer Boyz on the Saturday afternoon. I am the plonker looking the wrong  way just left of the middle! 

Secrets of the Goblinmaster?

I had an email from Kev Adams the other day with a link to the Shadowkings blog. Tony Yates, a very fine gentleman himself and propriator of said blog, posted about his visit to the new Wargames Foundry site in Newark. During his visit, Tony Yates took the picture you can see above of Kev Adams back at work doing what he does best, sculpting miniatures for us to enjoy. 

I am sure that this picture will make many of Kev's fans pleased to see him looking so much better than last year, after his dreadful ordeal. But what is Kev working on? Obviously its top secret and the Goblinmaster told me that we will hear first all about this exciting Wargames Foundry project as soon as he is able too. But Tony's photograph does offer up a few exciting hints, if you zoom in a bit at his workstation and squint a bit. Once I got over the sheer number of tools that Kev uses to sculpt with, I quickly spotted the painted version of those lovely orcs and orclings that Kev did for Foundry quite a few years ago. And the greens look, unless I am very wrong, like similar greens in the same vein - more orcs for the Foundry!

Now this is just conjecture, but at Salute Wargames Foundry was busy promoting Warmonger Miniatures though there was little information beyond them being a Salute Special. Could Kev be working on additional models for that range?

Nude man fighting off equally nude (goblin?) opponents is an amusing symbol at the best of times and certainly fits in with the Goblinmaster's comedic touch with the green stuff. 

As you can see from these models, the range is everything you would expect from Wargames Foundry and Kevin Adams. Expertly crafted white metal models. I for one would like to see this range expanded on further. 

Fingers crossed!

Oh, and before I depart, here is a link to the wonderful interview that Kevin Adams did for me a few months ago. It seems to have got a bit lost in the ether, but that is my fault for not adding it to my sidebar. 

Orlygg. 

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