Still no painting and gaming mojo

I am still missing the gaming and making mojo - just not quite feeling at the moment - which is annoying as I have the Epic warpath kickstarter now. I have watched the rules play through and actually read the rules - looks like a fun game. But total inactivity in regards to getting it, or anything else for that matter up and playing. 

I have been think about it recently to see if I can work out the issue … for the 28mm fantasy stuff I think it is some confusion about basing … sabots or fixed bases and having to make a decision. When I moved over to HotT in the early 90’s it was a not brainer … this time I am having major issues making a decision.

The Viking and Saxons are staying individually based for SAGA games … like I have played lots of that …

Also I have been considering the 40k stuff - the major mission creep on the Ad Mech and Marines in particular well beyond the skirmish/Kill teams that I originally planned … so do I review this set up??

Obviously it hasn’t stopped me picking up some Mantic Ork marauders to make up a Kill Team … they were a bargain, but now I am looking for some GW spare bits. 

More thinking to do …

Morts 

Been out for a walk

On Sunday I when for a walk out on Exmoor with some old geezers. 

The day started drizzly and over the course of the day got a little bit better, before hammering it down for the last half an hour of the walk. But it was a pleasant day out in the countryside. 

In other areas I have finished (well still needing varnish and basing) 5 more of the Voidscarred Corsairs (5 to go) - I’ll post a picture sometime. Obviously GW has released a new edition of Kill Team … which has invalidated all the compendium teams I have … I am not sure I can keep up with the edition schedule they have, just as I get there, bring out a new set. That’s why Maurice is good - one edition play with what you have - simples. I have also started the 3d print tanks I picked up recently, so should be interesting painting them. 

Morts

A Rampant Retinue or Warband DONE ..................... Well nearly

Well started the new year off with completing by fantasy human army- well warband apart from he basing. 

The whole force - mainly the old Harlequin Lord of the Rings figures (still available from Scotia Grendel) with the cavalry supplied by Essex miniatures. 

I would like to get a unit of Rangers/scouts and possibly some artillery. 

The army points for various rule sets. 

There would be a wizard(s) as well but I haven't included them in the lists. 

General          68 pts WH. 120 pts KoW. 

Spear unit 1 114 pts WH. 120 pts KoW. Phalanx special rule. 

Spear unit 2 114 pts WH. 120 pts KoW. Phalanx special rule.

Archers        126 pts WH. 100 pts KoW.

Knights        159 pts WH. 195 pts KoW.

Dragon Rampant

Spear unit 1 - Heavy Foot 4 pts

Spear unit 2 - Heavy Foot 4 pts

Archers - Light Missiles 4 pts

Knights - Elite Riders 6 pts/Heavy Riders 4 pts 

Hordes of the Things

4 Spears

2 Bows

2 Knights

The general or King! An Essex Miniatures figure. 

A spear unit. Finished!

Archers- bases to finish. 

Another spear unit - basing to do. 

The knights or heavy horse. Essex miniatures with head and arm swaps. I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't move the standard bearer's arm over to the right more.  I also should have done a musician conversion.  Never mind. 

Morts

Got some painting done!

Finished off some archers for Warhammer and or Lion Rampant! Or for Dragon Rampant which is on order from Amazon with release date of the 20th December, but if I'd ordered from Northstar would be in my grubby mitts! Hey oh my fault for going with the global beast .....

There are 12 - but not in the picture. Just got to varnish and base.

Morts

ORC'S DRIFT - The outcome......

Well we finally got together and fought out the final battle at Orc's Drift. 

How did it go?  ..... There were some issues with the conversion of a 2nd Edition scenario park and 6th Edition rules - most were fudged but some just didn't seem to work. Probably because I didn't think about it enough! 

The compound at morning muster. 

Turn 1 - King F'yar and the Severed Hand Orcs arrive from Ashak Rise. 

Turn 2 - The Kwae Karr Orcs arrive fresh from Linden Way.

The Elves pepper the advancing orcs with arrows - but they pass the morale check

Excellent use of Mistress of the Marsh - on either side of the bridge really slowed the Kwae Karr Orcs!

King F'yar goes in for the kill...... Forgot the fear tests!

The wall makes it difficult for the orcs to land hits - but their unit strength, ranks mean they "win" the melee - but the special rules mean the defenders don't rout! I hadn't thought this through - I felt this poor bit of fudging by me turned the game into a bit of a dull grind fest. 

Approximately turn 7 - More Orcs arriving from Kachas Pass and more attack the outpost compound. 

Brommedir holds the Orcs back - this character had a poor game - I don't think he killed a single Orc with his bow! Using the skirmish rules the orcs would have been able to surround him!

Meanwhile King F'yar and Chardz battle it out - the use of the Beast Cowers made the Wyvern impotent in the combat....... The result was a see-saw fight which F'yar lost!

I should have made the orcs take morale checks at this point to see if the loss of their King would dishearten them ... Another error!

The distressed Wyvern defends F'yar's body! As more Orcs and Guthrum Mane (although he was too drunk to do anything this turn) attack to test the defenders resolve!

The mass of Orcs break into the compound - which is where I called time.

I have to say that I was disappointed with the way the game played out - it started well but didn't develop how I hoped it would. There were errors in my reading of the rules (and I should have used considered rules from the 6th Edition's  Skirmish and Seige Appendices, but I didn't think about it at the time). 

The key sticking point was the defenders not routing within the compound - so no break tests - but this meant the Orcs couldn't push the defenders off/away from the walls - I think playing the game as a Skirmish would have made a lot more sense - after all Warhammer Rules are basically large skirmish rules anyway. Or if the Orcs won allowing some over the wall, or pushing the defenders back 1" and the Orcs get over the wall ... The benefit of hindsight!

However there were some really cool parts it the game as well - the Druid being an Alcoholic which mean the defenders lost the ability to cast or defend magic - although when be was sober he made the Orc shaman Bagrash a little redundant with the disparity in levels. 

Hopefully Steedo and Snake-eyes (the defenders) and DK and Sylon (the attackers) enjoyed the game - which was also curtailed due to time constraints. As I have said the game didn't flow right for me and I made too many errors GMing - not sorting the "wall" issue, Wyvern and Giant fear tests and not making the Orcs take a morale check when F'yar was killed......

I am wondering about running this battle again, now that I know what to do or what might be more appropriate solutions.

Morts

ORC'S DRIFT - they are almost upon us ....

Been quiet recently - got a quick game of Star Trek Attack Wing (and an argument over the "cloaking" rules), a number of hands of Have At Thee and a few of Carcassone with my bro while he was over. 

But the weekend is the grand finale of Bloodbath at Orc's Drift so I thought I should muster the forces so that DK and Sylon know what they have and Steedo and Snake-eyes know what they face ....

Sorry for the picture quality and lightning....

Anyway 

King F'yar and his guard 

Now the Vile Rune Tribe fresh from Kachas Pass

The rich Severed Hand Orcs from Ashak Rise

The victorious Kwae Karr who stormed through Linden Way

Now the defenders of the outpost - Brommedir's Bows, Osrim Chardz Engineers and the Druid Snart and his patients ....

Good luck ......

Linden Way - Battle Report

We finally got together for scenario 3 Linden Way in the Orcs Drift campaign. 

DK was the orcs again and Steedo and Snake-eyes were the settlers and militia. 

Quick battle report and pictures.

The sleepy settlement of Linden Way just before the Orcs arrive!

The militia deploy to defend Linden Way buying time for the settlers to escape.

The Orcs approach! Out of picture the Orc archers and Shaman started shooting at some militia on the hill to the south. 

The main shieldwalls clash - this was always going to go the Orcs way!

The militia break and the Orcs swarm in!

The militia wiped out - apart from a few on the south road with some settlers. Orcs on their flank.

The mad wizard Old Barrachus emerges from the ruins and unleashes a fireball at the Orcs.

In desperation Mayor Leowine challenges Magyar Ironfist. It didn't go well for the mayor. 

In the end 5 settlers and 2 militia escaped the south. 

Now time to fest up and admit a mistake with the militia - they weren't supposed to Rout. A special rule for the scenario. 

Sorry Steedo and Snake-eyes. In an effort to redeem myself I fought out the militia shieldwall again from where the mistake occurred. As I commented on earlier the result was never in doubt but the militia did manage to kill two more Orcs. 

Overall a good game hopefully the boys enjoyed it.

Of all scenarios so far I felt this was the least balanced in objectives - I fudged the movement for the settlers so that the Orcs had a chance to catch some of them. Also the rules in the booklet for Old Barachus were difficult to get him to do anything, so they had to be fudged too.

Morts

Warhammer - Age of Sigmar. My thoughts.

So Warhammer is dead - as we know it. Well I don't actually.

First of all I have to admit the first wargame rules I bought were Warhammer 2nd edition in the red box way back in the mists of time. 

I played them and just used any figures I had generally in large skirmish games and I had a great time - then Ravening Hordes came out and the armies became more racially pure - a move away from my Tolkien inspired imagination of the battle of five armies (pre Peter Jackson). 

I think I played a couple of games with Ravening Hordes before moving off to the world of Hordes of the Things (HoTT) and Historical wargaming. I enjoy HoTT as I can get it to fit with MY prejudices. 

Anyhow I bought Warhammer 6th edition second hand while it was the current edition and managed to pick up the Ravening Hordes - getting you going army lists and the Warhammer annuals. 

I have played a number of enjoyable games with these rules and would say they are superior to the 2nd edition. In fact I am using them to fight out Orc's Drift. 

So I have watched 7th and 8th edition Warhammer come and go - I haven't played them. I have discussed with a friend the rising number of figures needed and bonkers pricing that Games Workshop  use to price people away from fantasy.

I have been watching the leaks and discussion about the release of Warhammer the Age of Sigmar with interest. So here are my thoughts on it.

It's free online so it is worth downloading and having a go with what figures you have got! I will be doing so and having a go - it could be fun :)

The apparent move back to a skirmish type game seems sensible and links back to how I used to play Warhammer. With any figures and not worrying about ranks and stuff. 

I don't really like the "Space Marine" Angels figures - just not my thing.

Keep playing with the edition of Warhammer you like - things don't need to be new and shiny - they have to be fun and enjoyable. I don't get the "I've been betrayed by GW and I'll never darken their doors again" rubbish some people have. I play games I enjoy.

Also painted

Finished these as an Warhammer/Lion Rampant unit. 

Just think if the flag needs a bit more .... Might see if there is a transfer lurking about to make it more interesting. 

Might be a new mayor Leowine for Linden Way ......

Morts

Basing - dealing with duplication Part 3

Well I finally got around to playing with the laser cutter at work!

The office now smells of burnt MDF! Pretty pleased with what I have produced 😃

Need to make a few more things but I think most things are covered.

Warlord sabot base for SAGA (probably not legal - an elipse 60mm by 48mm) with my Saxon warlord and standard bearer.

The rest of the "frames" are 80mm by 60mm, with various combinations of 25mm circles and 25mm by 50mm "pills". Suitable for SAGA, OGAM and making armies into HoTT forces 😃

Berserkers modelling a 4 figure base. 

Saxon Heathguard with axes (and 2 others) on a 6 figure 2 rank base.

Next up Gondorian/Numenorian Cavalry on "pill" bases.

I noticed an error in my design while getting the pictures ready - on the 2 rank infantry bases the "space" between the circles had been cut out due to the design. Initially I though this could be a problem for the aesthetics but unusually for me I saw an opportunity! 

Mixed cavalry and infantry bases - useful for Heroes (and their hangers-on) in HoTT.  

The plan is to have some "blanks" to put in. 

I also have frames to take 25mm by 25/50mm rectangular bases. 

I need to do a couple more types - 2 "pills" on a base (the same for rectangles) and 3/5 circles on a base for light troops/warbands. 

Hopefully I will get more use out on the stuff I have already painted - always good!

Morts

Linden Way musters!

First up the militia - 9 Spearmen, 11 with swords and 5 archers. Out front is Mayor Leofwine!

As already stated some of this lot are off to be a Lion Rampant retinue, while the Viking element will be off to join Saga warbands - just some touching up on getting a "uniform" styling on shields so that groups can easily be identified on the table (battlefield if you like). 

The mayor will become the Viking warlord - with the funky helmet! Don't care if it isn't historical. 

The people of Linden Way!

Back row from L to R: the Baker, the Busker, the Inn Keeper, the Inn Keeper's father, the Inn Keeper's daughter and the serving wench. 

Front row for L to R: the Storekeeper, the Storekeeper's wife, the Stable owner and the stable boy. 

Most of these are by Irregular Miniatures- not brilliant sculpts but fine for the job of civilians in game scenarios. Most are Greek/Roman/Celt - I do have some more civilians by Warlord to paint .. Sometime!

Been quiet for a while .....

Well it hasn't been quiet actually, hence not posting on the blog. Not that many read it. It is mainly written for my own egotistical benefit. As I am sure most blogs are.

There should be much to comment on such as the general election result - but I will save my ramblings to the pub it is easier to verbally spout my opinion rather than write it. 

Above my first attempt an making flags using Publisher - not bad will probably use the rest up on the rest of the "men of Anflas" Lion Rampant retinue/Warhammer warband. What to get this little dude painted ASAP.

I have put my pre-order in for Dragon Rampant on the mighty Amazon and I picked up a copy of the May Wargames Illustrated for the Dark Age rules. 

Next up will be a couple of Saga warbands - probably only 4 pointers ( some of the troops will be part of OGAM warbands). Trying to get the duplication to work in my favour. 

Should be having a game with Steedo on Friday - haven't decided what yet, but it does mean the blog will be updated fairly quickly.

Will try a Linden Way muster soon.  Unfortunately I don't think it will be getting to the table until the 3rd week in June due to the upcoming Village beer festival!