Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 96: Narrative Fantasy Gaming

 Hi!

I was excited to see an email coming through informing me that my copy of Brutal Quest should be heading my way soon and I should have the PDF on Friday!

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the book as my recent sci-fi skirmishing has reignited my interest in playing fantasy too which got me onto thinking about what kind of game experience I want to play.

In years gone by I would have said either mass battle ala Warhammer or at least decent sized warband skirmishes like Chronopia or Leviathan but having watched a lot of videos of Mordheim, Frostgrave, Rangers of Shadowdeep and even Warhammer Quest (many thanks to GUERRILLA MINIATURE GAMES for putting on so many inspiring games over the years for us to enjoy!) I'm finding myself drawn ever more towards small skirmishes or even adventuring parties with heavily scenario driven and RPG or at least Fighting Fantasy style encounters which deliver a story not just a bloodbath.

Following my recent experience with sci-fi skirmishing, I'm finding the prospect of painting up a handful of adventurers and assorted villains an awful lot less intimidating than the prospect of painting a full on warband.

Coupled with the fact that I really do have the attention span of a goldfish and flit from project to project at the drop of a hat, such an endeavour isn't beyond even my feeble abilities at staying focused.

I'm really looking forward to giving Brutal Quest a run through as if it's anything like Planet 28, I'll be able to play a game in 30-45 minutes with two or three figures a side so we shall see how things go with it and I'm seriously contemplating picking up Rangers of Shadowdeep as it actually looks excellent. The only thing giving me pause at the moment is the price point. £35 for a hardback rulebook is pretty steep but if it plays as well as it appears to, it would be worth the expense.

I'm not planning on stopping the sci-fi skirmishing either as I have my old stuff from storage needing refreshing and pressing into service as well as the warbands I've painted during lockdown. I am noticing that I do have a few gaps in my collection that needs filling, mostly in the form of random encounters but also specific models or units but I can quite happily bodge along with what I've got as I slowly expand my forces.

I'll post a review of Brutal Quest as soon as I've had chance to read through it and will be posting up some pics of my newly reworked figures as I go but until then, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Day 56: Supplemental Scenery Progress

 Hi!

Well I've got the basic shape for my rebuild sci-fi structure done and when all the glues dried I'll remove the last pins and fasten the upper storey on.

Once the basics are finished, I'll be getting onto the most fun part, namely detailing the whole thing! I am going to alter things a wee bit from the original as I plan on adding a raised walkway and more refined doorways and windows. I also plan on adding a railing around the structure as it's a bit odd having accessible rooftops without a means to stop folks from plunging off of them, or maybe the far future doesn't have a health and safety team...

Its shaping up to be a rather large structure which will make a good settlement op-centre once it's finished and alongside the other odds and ends of scenery I've got done over the last few weeks, I'm going to have a really nice, dense sci-fi board.

In other news, I've got the Red Building finished for Mordheim, its another basic structure but will do for gaming and I'll need to make some ladders to allow access to the upper levels. I'm also planning on making some boxes and stuff to add interest to the interiors and am contemplating adding on some graffiti and wanted posters.

The two buildings side by side are looking alright but I must admit that the first one I made is a better construction as the windows on the new one are a bit big and the thicker cardboard I used for wooden planking and whatnot is a bit more believable so I may go back to the Red House to add some more detailing.

Finally, I picked up a 60cmx40cm pinboard from Home Bargains for the princely sum of £1.99 today and used a sheet of patterned vinyl that I'd picked up from Poundland when I was at uni but never used to give it an interesting finish. I plan on using this for a small scale skirmish board and the other side will have a green Javis grass sheet for 6mm fantasy.

Rummaging my materials, I've realised that I have a grey vinyl sheet lying around which will get used on a second board at some point in the future for an urban board!

Hopefully tomorrow will see some more miniatures finished as I've been working on my 15mm scale Humies today and am really enjoying working on them too and I've got enough to allow me to try out several small games and will post updates as I go.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 53: Chaos War Priest and Mordheim Terrain (and Chronopia too!)

Hi!

I've been working on some Mordheim themed stuff today and have finished a few odds and ends in the form of a Chaos War Priest and some terrain!

First up, there's Dieter, a scabrous sort of a fellow and self styled Bishop of the Wizened Hand.

Armed with a stick with a blacked and mummified hand on the end, Dieter is a crotchety old geezer who uses the Wizened Hand to thrash non-believers with. Unsurprisingly he's not a popular sort in the settlements around the ruined city but has recruited a small band of equally unhinged followers of the less salubrious sort and has entered Mordheim in search of his destiny.

Originally a Bishop of Chaos from the Ral Partha Chaos Imperium range, I replaced his original staff with some plastic gubbins as I didn't really like his war crook thingy. I also attempted to go for a really limited palette for him and quite like how he turned out. I do need to do a bit more to his base, possibly adding some slimy gribble to give that really run down look but he'll do for the moment. I think I have a couple more figures from the pack lying around somewhere and will need to get them painted too.

Next up, there's some more terrain in the form of a ubiquitous ruin for Mordheim or any other skirmishy type of game I find appealing:

It was a quick and messy build, more intended to give me some terrain quickly but I quite like how it's turned out. I've got another two primed and ready to paint and will post some pics of them when I've got them finished.

Made from Foamcore and cardboard, it was a bit of a learning experience for me as it's the first time I've used Foamcore and after a bit of fuming about how long PVA was taking to dry I used hot glue which speeded up things considerably. I followed the guidelines from Nigel Stillman's Mordheim architecture article from an old White Dwarf but used mounting board for the base as it's a bit sturdier and less likely to bend when I put a bit of glue on it.

I'm hoping to make a few more odds and ends in the coming days to build up the terrain collection as I go!

In other news, I've rebased my 15mm scale Dwarves and prefer the finish of the browns to the lurid green I had originally. This is something I still don't really like about the original Old/Middlehammer style as I just cannot seem to get it to look right.

Finally, there seems to be some rumblings on Chronopia getting a re-release!

This rather enigmatic post got put up on facebook today and there looks like there's a new logo and some digital sculpts too. Alas there's no information other than there's going to be an announcement in March. 

Now if 2021 is seeing both Warzone and Chronopia making a comeback I'm super excited as both settings and games are fantastic but we shall have to wait and see what further news makes an appearance but I'm finding myself really hoping to be able to get some of my favourite games back into print in some form or the other!

We shall have to see how things develop but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 47: Tempted by Warhammer

 Hi!

I'm taking a bit of a break from all the sci-fi again to have a bit of a ponder about some fantasy, specifically Warhammerish fantasy.

Now, I must admit that I'm finding myself tempted by the call of Warhammer but have thus far resisted the call as I don't have the space for such a large undertaking but I do wonder about trying out some smaller scale shenanigans, namely either Warhammer Quest or Mordheim.

I've recently been watching the Lets Play Warhammer Quest series by Guerrilla Miniature Games over on Youtube and really enjoyed them and fondly remember playing the game to bits back at high school as my friend had all the expansions, new characters and whatnot. Sadly it's long out of production and ruinously expensive to pick up all the odds and ends second hand. Annoyingly I did actually have the core game and quite a few extra cards but it got sold off when I went off to uni. 

Saying that, there is a really passionate community for the game so with a bit of patience and a lot of printing out, I could bodge something together and make the board sections myself so it's an option. 

Secondly, there's Mordheim which would be a good opportunity to play around with some painting experiments and make lots of interesting scenery. It's also long out of print but the Mordheim community is very active and there's a living edition of the rules and all sorts of interesting stuff to add in so it's another real possibility.

I'll need to have a bit of a think about either option and there's nothing to stop me from playing both as I just need to put together an assortment of random miniatures and off we go or I could just use the rules and change the setting to something completely different, be it a lost city teeming with danger and waiting to be plundered in the lost continent of Crucible or the decaying remains of an Elven Obelisk from Leviathan...

I'll wait for my foamcore to arrive and see what I can come up with but I must admit that if I had the space and cash, I'd be sorely tempted by some Warhammer, specifically 6th edition. I know everyone waxes lyrical about 3rd but it was before my time and the sheer number of cards, tokens and random guff you needed for 4th and 5th was a bit off putting but the miniatures from the late 80s to late 90's were rather fantastic. Combined with the fact that I played a lot of 6th edition and remember really enjoying it, I suspect I'd go for that version of the game over any other.

Maybe I could just challenge myself to painting up a single group of figures and getting it out of my system!

Either which way, it's something for another day and I need to get some painting done for tomorrows update so for the time being, All the best!