WIP - A Certain Drow Rogue

So I've posted a couple of times about Sch'yyrk Revan'tyl - well I've finally started with a fig for him (which I will also use as an Assassin in Frostgrave). The model came in the Nickstarter for the Barbarian expansion for Frostgrave and I've converted to be a bloke and also to be holding a shortsword rather than a wand. Still needs washes and highlighting as well as basing but here it is so far,

The mottled cloak with wolf pelt above - may have overdone the dry brushing on the pelt - or it might be the picture

I might repaint the under layers a darker colour - maybe even black. The sword will also be darkened when I apply some gunmetal.

I'm going to go through my Frostgrave/DnD minis and see if I have enough for a couple of 4 point warbands for SAGA - me and JT are really enjoying The Last Kingdom; Episode 3 really was epic - and it might be an excuse to get her into something different.

I've also completed a couple of Grenzer skirmish stands - more are following as well as Hungarians and Grenadiers.

Banal Grenzers

Austrians so far

This Sunday is the first league game for Morecambe Bay Storm, hopefully (signal permitting) you should be able to follow the score here.

Frostgrave - Standard Deployment (2)

Got some laser cut mdf building ruins in a bundle and we gave our Frostgrave warband another run out. We decided to just do another throw down game (although I'm determined to play some alternative scenarios considering I know have them all printed and put in a folder). Again the game was close although repeated use of telekinesis, teleport and leap really mixed it up.

Set Up

I really need to get some better pictures taken - also need a grey sheet or something. Anyhow this game really was a mad dash to run for the treasure, spells were going off left right and centre, although I've agreed to let JT rechoose her spells as shes currently got no offensive spells and far too many out of game spells (which we both forgot about). Before this I had purchased a tracker (as I had one painted), and having closer to parity on numbers really helped.

All in all I think we're both still enjoying it although I think we might give the Dark Alchemy campaign a go or maybe the new Ambronnax Campaign from the Forgotten Pacts book.

Roughing it out for the last few treasures

After all of that we both got 3 treasures, although Jade was a lot luckier with KO results having no ongoing effects compared to me losing my archer as well as a badly wounded Apprentice.

Blue Sapphire (Update)

Wizard Romanoff Apprentice Zito - KO (Recovered)Elgiva the Archer - KO (Recovered)Gerard the Crossbowman - KO (Recovered)Guy the Infantryman - KO (Recovered)Etheldreda the ThiefFaramond the ThugAnsger the ThugSedemay the Treasure Hunter - KO (Recovered)Osgyth the War Hound - KO (Recovered)

Cast 6 Spells and Carried off 3 Treasure = 210 XP (460 XP)200 GC2 Grimoires - Steal Health, Elemental ShieldMagical Weapon/Armour - Magical Shield (+1)Base: InnL4 (increased 2 levels) (increase ?and?) 
Purchased 1 Archer (-50GC) = Current Gold 360GC

Gronn Flamme

Wizard Heimr
Apprentice Baldr - KO (Badly Wounded)
Aylwin the Archer - KO (DEAD)
Walburga the Infantryman
Wulfhild the Infantryman
Goldwin the Infantryman
Bathsheba the Man-At-Arms- KO (Recovered)
Diggory the Thug

Aslak the Tracker

Cast 8 Spells, Carried off 3 Treasure, 1 Kill by Wizard) = 270 XP (590 XP)
450 GC
3 Scrolls - (Plague of Insects, Imp, Spell Eater)
Magical Item - Ring of Protection (+1)
L5 (increased 2 levels) (increase ?and?)

Purchased 1 Archer (-50GC) + Recovered Apprentice (-100GC) = Current Gold 400GC

On a side note it also turns out that model ruins are great to get the eldest interested. Maybe not but can but hope :p

Frostgrave - Standard Deployment

So me and the missus played a throw down game of Frostgrave; half the minis are unpainted, the other half need the bases doing, some scenery is built but part painted and we found didn't have nearly enough - so might just buy a few bits to tie me over (just not enough time to do everything I want to!).

Anyway my Gronn Flamme boys took on JT's lads in a free for all - 6 treasure in the buildings and see what happens.

I can report (as I did after the game I played at the club) that the mindset has to be different to a traditional wargame mind (especially one like mine which tends to play larger scale games). Its a raid - get what you want and get out. This mindset was there for Jade and she managed to quickly get the 3 on her side of the table. Meanwhile my apprentice (with half of my smaller warband) took up position on a small hill with a great field of fire - unfortunately not really covering any tokens and only really good if enemy were coming to attack me. Eventually the removal of thugs to carry off her treasure whittled her strength down and I was able to cause some casualties with my better quality soldiers including my wizard laying the smackdown on her wizard.

I promise next time to have some pictures of the game but here are the results (for housekeeping if nothing else). Can I say although I was lucky in game with some of my combat rolls, JT rolled incredibly for recovery.

Blue Sapphire (Update)

Wizard Romanoff - KO (Recovered)
Apprentice Zito
Elgiva the Archer
Gerard the Crossbowman - KO (Recovered)
Guy the Infantryman - KO (Recovered)
Etheldreda the Thief
Faramond the Thug
Ansger the Thug
Sedemay the Treasure Hunter
Osgyth the War Hound - KO (Recovered)

Cast 4 Spells and Carried off 4 Treasure = 250 XP
210 GC
Magic Weapon/Armour - Mail Armour
Magical Item - Horn of Destruction
3 Scrolls - (Leap, Furious Quill, Illusionary Soldier)
L2 (increase Fight and Health)

Gronn Flamme

Wizard Heimr
Apprentice Baldr
Aylwin the Archer
Walburga the Infantryman
Wulfhild the Infantryman
Goldwin the Infantryman
Bathsheba the Man-At-Arms
Diggory the Thug

Cast 3 Spells, Carried off 2 Treasure, 1 Kill by Wizard, Wizard killed Wizard = 320 XP
180 GC
3 Potions - (Teleportation, Invisibility x2)
Grimoire - (Enchant Armour)
L3 (increase Fight and Health, Learn Enchant Armour from Grimoire)

Needs for next game; Choose Base of Operations, Reinforcements (Paint), Get more scenery, Make Spell Cards, Make Quick Reference Sheets (I've got some somewhere)

28mm!

You might have noticed but all my finished models are small - either 6mm or 10mm. I've tried bigger before but never got a good result so I've never really committed to it.

Well with Frostgrave I have every intention of fielding a properly painted warband - besides I'll only need a few models for me and missus.

So I stepped into the breach with one of my Man-At-Arms and here is the (nearly) finished result - I'm going to colour code our warbands so for my force there will be light green. I haven't decided on the bases yet so I'll post more pictures when I've done a few.

Thor Rune on Shield

My force is based upon a Nordic force with an Enchanter Wizard so I have picked those with this style helmet and each model with a shield will get a nordic rune symbol.

Blade

The difference that a wash makes - picking up the details within the cloak.

Rear View

I am undecided as to how to base them - snow limits them for other settings, grass and mud looks out of place in  Felstad and the tunnels beneath - also looks out of place if using in D&D setting in a dungeon. So I've got 3 choices:

1. Standard mud and grass
2. Snow and rubble
3. Cityscape

Choices, choices.

The Lost Mines of Phandelver - Part 1

So it began. Finally got BM, CC, MS, JT and a substitute for EK to come around and start to play D&D. On a cold Friday night, we gathered around the table and played for a while.

Started off with explaining characters, looking at sheets for each player, picking spells, ordering food and picking minis. Characters are so much simpler than 4e and the new more brutal combat hopefully should lead to more imaginative ways to get around obstacles.

Sword Coast (© Wizards of the Coast)

So we set out with Gendrick the Dwarf Cleric, Vida the Elf Wizard, Benjamin the Human Noble Fighter, Laretia (Larry) the Human Folk Hero Fighter and Kaley the Halfling Rogue, escorting a wagon to the town of Phandalin from Neverwinter on behalf of a Dwarf named Gundar who has set off ahead with his escort Sundar.

Shortly after turning off the main coast road, the company spot two dead horses on the road and 4 goblins jump out plugging a few of our heroes with arrows. A brief skirmish ensues in which most of our heroes do.. well nothing. Larry plugged two with her own longbow (+7 to attack rolls helps) and Benjamin javelins one before slapping the final goblin into unconsciousness.

Benjamin in Victory (Technically should have a Greataxe)

Upon interrogating the Goblin the party discovered that whilst Gundar had been taken to the Goblin King, the huuuman was being held in the "eating cave". Another threat led to the goblin promising to show the party the way along a path hidden behind a thicket.

A short break ensued wherein our party hid the ox and cart, healed up, and whilst Vida, Kaley and Larry were out of the room, Benjamin gutted the goblin to the horror of the others (Lawful Good?).

Our session ended with the party finding the cave (after narrowly avoiding traps along the way), springing the goblin ambush at the entrance when Benjamin started singing whilst crossing the river. Unfortunately in the ensuing melee, Kaley was knocked unconscious.

So what will happen next; will our adventurers find Sildar, what awaits us in Phandalin, will Kaley survive (or indeed be renamed)?!?

A Sign of Things to Come

Having two children under the age of 2 is proving to be very restrictive in terms of painting time - especially now that the boy is old enough to get bored in his play pen and both of them are ill.
However I am hosting a D&D game on Friday (using the 5e Starter Box) with MS, CC, JT, BM and EK (Initials used to kind of hide identity) for which I really need to get a few minis at least made if not painted fully.

I'm using a combination of D&D minis as well as my Frostgrave stuff and even some donkeys from my Vietnam War Stuff but for the baddies I need to get a few bits and bobs glued together (and preferably sprayed). So that is my mission this week. Work, care for sick kiddies/clean house, put boy to bed, paint. Somewhere in there I need to do some training up for American Football Rookie Day too (sit ups and baby bench press).

All of this whilst eating cheap and healthy...

A Song of Fire and Ice - Concept Part 3 (Targaryens)

Targaryen Emblem

Part 3 is a bit trickier. Having not appeared as yet on the TV series, we've not really seen the Targaryen Forces. For now I will take the ideas used by "Mount and Blade" mods and base it on this. If this doesn't work for DW then I'll try again. Suggestions for this one are requested please.

Targaryen Sergeant - "Mount and Blade"

All of the mods seem to use kite shields. Again a rough orbat would be more preferable to work out exactly what is wanted but for now I'm going to suggest the European Mid Medieval Spearmen for the infantry.

Spearmen

For light cavalry could use European Late Medieval Hobilars which match the infantry.

Hobilars

I have been asked to make the knights a bit heavier and "fancier". So I was thinking maybe some Roman Clibinarii. This is obviously personal taste so take it as you will.

Heavy Cavalry

I think the heavy cavalry may be taste dependent so I'll leave that out there. Finally, the army would potentially need Dragons (period dependent) which Pendraken do do some of.

Flame Breathing Dragon

A Song of Fire and Ice - Concept Part 1 (Starks)

Been discussing this with my friend DW and wanted people's opinion (as well as somewhere to collect thoughts). Have discussed how we could play a Game of Thrones wargame (probably in the Robert's Rebellion period) in 10mm with forces that look right.

So to start off with using Pendraken miniatures I'm going to take a look at the Stark armies. Unlike the other forces, although they are spread over a large area, they all appear to come under the same uniform/banner.

Stark Soldier

Basically, the colour for the Starks will be murky brown, grey, (maybe gunmetal) with rounded helmets and round shields. For the foot soldiers, the Viking range from Pendraken seems ideal.

Norse Bondi

For the cavalry, its a similar uniform and could be done by using the Irish Cavalry from the European Late Mediaeval Range.

Irish Cavalry

All in all fairly simple - the only other thing that may need modelling is a Ned Stark model with Ice. You could use one of the models I've shown with some Green Stuff or a Fantasy Barbarian Chieftain.

Sean Bean

On a side note, if we were to do the War of Five Kings then we'd need a Direwolf for Robb - how about a Giant Warwolf.

Grey Wind?

So I think this is a good start - anyone with any other ideas - or indeed rule sets to use please comment.

Frostgrave - Game 1 (The Keep)

So I finally got a game of Frostgrave at the club. Really enjoyed the game despite the apparent randomness of the scenario. Sorry about the slightly weird finish to the images - new tablets camera isn't great.

I don't have the warband lists available but mine was made up as such;

The Keep

Baldr the Enchanter
Hjalgrim (His apprentice)
Tracker
Archer
Crossbowman
Infantryman
Thug x 2
Thief
Warhound

Advancing through the ruins.

I figured that with no-one boosted up etc it would be best to go for quantity rather than quality and then using my ranged fighters combined with the Grenade spell I'd sit back and see how it went. With "The Keep" scenario dictating there would only be 6 treasure on the table I also figured that I'd just try and keep the treasure on table whilst other warbands were whittled down whilst I tried to learn my spells and abilities. My Man of the Match was definitely my Infantryman - despite being blinded he managed to get his treasure off table and with random swings of his Halberd decapitated 2 enemy soldiers!

It kind of worked - I mean I had few casualties (except for my wizard who was glowing and hit by many arrows and spells). And both him and my wiped out thug fully recovered. And I got a treasure off.

To be honest I would make a few changes to how we played. I think the long range sniping and some of the horrendous area effect attacks would be reduced in potency if we really made it claustrophobic - narrow streets and ruins really closed up - I think this would also add to the usefulness of the more subtle magic schools.

I also think players need to more play it as the game intends - its a raid to get as much treasure and knowledge as possible - NOT a wargame to defeat the opposition in battle per say.

My warband was intact after rolling, I'd gained 140 exp, 50gc, 2 Scrolls. I've decided not to purchase anything for now and my level up has been used to improve my grenade spell by 1 (as its my only offensive spell).

Alternative perspective from Roger (who played an Illusionist) as well as his results:

"My warband was well beaten up. Most of the casualties came from archery and elemental balls, but ultimately I only lost one dead thug. In compensation, my wizard gained 80 experience, 40gc and some Boots of Speed.

I’m still pondering my insights, but there is a definite trade-off between keeping your warband together for efficiency of activation and vulnerability to area-effect spells. Elemental Ball was particularly devastating, taking out my apprentice who was completely hidden from the caster behind a building at the time. After that, my ability to respond to events was severely curtailed.

Also, multiple players makes for a very chaotic and brutal game. With four warbands in such a small space it was so long between phases that it was almost impossible to develop any strategy other than simply reacting to events, and quite possible to be simply overwhelmed without having any chance to respond.  No problem with that per se, but if we were playing a long campaign I wouldn’t want most of the games to be like that.

But I enjoyed it as a first time out, and will certainly come back for more!"

Eldritch Horror, And General Update

So still haven't got internet at home .... grrrr! SO still no pictures. However I'm going to try and remedy this soon. Last night 5 of us had a go at Eldritch Horror at Lancaster Wargames Club. I've played Elder Sign loads, and I own Arkham Horror (although I've still not dared to give it a go tbh) as well as a copy of the Necronomicon.
Was good - the mechanics worked really well and it was a good fun game mixed in with discussions of Frostgrave (game report in a couple of weeks). We were facing Azathoth and although we ran out of time had nearly completed 2 of the 3 challenges to defeat him. Love the condition cards - especially when I flipped an agreement condition to discover that another player was dead - no save - just dead, handily dropping all her items right next to me.

Definitely one I will consider getting myself in the future.

Next week will be another practice game of Savage Worlds and I will try to get some pictures up.

Frostgrave Models

As I've said previously, I play boardgames with my girlfriend (she really likes Pandemic, Lords of Waterdeep, Carcassonne) but I've never really interested her in miniature gaming. Then last month I read in Wargames Illustrated about Frostgrave. And after irritating her until she read the article, she seemed genuinely excited.

So I took the plunge and ordered a few bits and pieces to flesh out our forces. Initially I ordered the rules, 3 wizard packs (Enchanter, Witch and Summoner) and the soldier pack to build up the warbands. I've not got any 28mm models so this was a first step and I had nothing already painted to fill out gaps unfortunately.

Even more unfortunately, upon this lot arriving, we went about putting together our lists only for JT to demand a warhound! So I may have "had to" order some more and in turn ordered the warhound/tracker pack, demons, wolves, constructs and snow leopard/ice toad pack.

So just a little to paint up. So far I've been fairly productively putting together warband members (whilst planning a Tour of Darkness campaign and watching Supernatural from the beginning - for inspiration).

Shooters (without heads)

Thieves

Infantrymen (without heads)

Men-at-arms/Knights 

Thugs

Barbarian

Treasure Hunter

Heads/Spare Arms/Other Equipment

Sorry for quality of pictures, wanted to get an idea of where I was up to but camera though otherwise. As I said before this is going at a reasonable pace and excited to play it.

Also if theres anyone in Lancaster area who wants to be involved in my Tour of Darkness Campaign let me know - I'll get pictures on here of these figures soon too.

News of a Savage Nature

So for those in the know, I've just moved house - not been to the club in a while - but I'm back tonight. And finally have somewhere to paint! And arrange games.

First of all I've finally finished the commission I started a long time ago for a WW2 US Marine Regiment for Tarawa, really disappointed its taken so long but glad I can finally deliver it. Looking forward to games involving these in future.

For myself I  have three project running concurrently. Firstly I have fallen for Frostgrave hard! I've got a few wizards, the soldiers pack and the rules and these are starting to be put together. Its the first miniatures game I've been able to get the other half to be involved in so very excited to have some games of this.

Secondly, I have my ongoing 10mm WW2 collection growing and I'm determined to get my German Cavalry Division completed to play some early war games supporting Panzer thrusts or flexible defence through the Pripet Marshes.

And finally I have got more 28mm to paint in form of some US Grunts and Viet Cong/NVA to play Savage Worlds (/Tour of Darkness).

So, all exciting and I'll do my best to get WIP pictures on here ASAP!

Fighting Dragon Temeraire

Been reading a few different books - expanding the horizons etc :). The one I really am enjoying at the moment is Temeraire by Naomi Novik; http://www.temeraire.org/his-majestys-dragon/. Now I've only just started reading these but the combination of "history" especially Napoleonics alongside Fantasy especially Dragons.

Now heres what I'm thinking - could this series be converted for use in a wargame. Napoleonic rulesets especially naval are numerous but the miniatures combining the rigging of napoleonic ships alongside dragons just sounds like a fantastic opportunity. So does anyone know - has anyone done any rules for this or if not are there any rules which could cover this?