Star Mogul: Ruins of an Empire

Hi!

I've found myself with a little bit of enforced free time due to coming down with the lurgy and having to take a couple of days off work. 

While I'm feeling entirely too grotty with the man flu to do much hobby related stuff, I did sit and begin to read my way through my copy of Star Mogul: Ruins of an Empire by Alphaforge Games.

Released back in 2006 it was a really interesting game featuring rival salvage teams of blue collar types duking it out on the frontier of space and I was quite a fan of it back in the day and it's been a long time member of my Forgotten Games collection and I've posted about it before, even posting a battle report way back in the day.

What has got me thinking is my decision to try and play more games in 2026 than in the last few years and while I'd love to collect and paint up all the original stuff, for many games in my collection, its either difficult, impossible or ruinously expensive so I've had to do a bit of head scratching and have settled on a rather cheap and affordable alternative:

Tiny Troops!

I know from experience that I can churn out a few small warbands of scratch built miniatures in a relatively short time and with a microscopic budget too and I figure that this will allow me to try out a lot of games in my collection over the course of a year without breaking the bank and if I do find myself enjoying said games, I can then focus on them with proper miniatures in the future.

With that in mind, I have a weeks holiday coming up at the end of the month and I hope to be able to get two rival Salvage Crews built up along with stompy robots, vehicles and even some small terrain features between now and then so my holiday week will hopefully see a few battle reports as I reacquaint myself with the rules and how the game plays.

I'll also be posting progress up here as I go and hopefully it will inspire folks to have a try at something similar and if it goes well, I've got a host of other games I'm itching to try out!

My next update will be on the 14th where I hope to have a bit of a tutorial on how to make the figures and a bit of background to the setting as well as introducing the crews I've made...

In the meantime, I'll be consuming vast amounts of Lemsip and trying to not cough up a lung. 

All the best!

Spruequest: The Greyguard of Herakium

Hi!

So here we are in 2026 and I've finished my first Spruequest project in the form of a warband of guards made from a mixture of Frostgrave soldiers and some Gripping Beast Dark Age Saxon gubbins as well as a pair of Vikings from Victrix that I had lying around.

The Greyguard of Herakium

To make things a bit more interesting, I used some of my Rory's Story dice and an Ultimate RPG worldbuilding deck that I picked up at work to give me some prompts. I also used some Pokemon energy cards to give me the colour palette that I'd be working with.

I must admit that I'd not happened across the RPG worldbuilding deck before and hadn't been sure to expect when I ordered it but its quite an interesting concept. Essentially there are five different themes to give you everything from peoples to institutions, place to history and even rumours. Each card has further prompts and suggestions which actually give some interesting combinations and my initial draw gave me the following:

I have a security force who is after an assassin who committed a crime in a place of rest and they are superstitious bunch. The Pokemon card gave me a grey palette and I rolled a happy, a sad and tome dice.

Thus the grey wardens of lost and forgotten Harakium were born!

The Greyguard are an organisation tasked with defending the once great city of Herakium. This coastal city was flooded and partially destroyed during the catastrophic events of The Death and much of the inhabitants lost their lives or fled east towards the Dwarven holds in the Axeblade mountains but some remained bound by vows to their ancestors or simply because they had nowhere else to go.

The Greyguard, though much reduced still hold to these vows to keep the assorted cults, grave robbers or forces of the Fallen from the ancient subterranean tombs of the Elven Dragonlords. Fearless and used to navigating the endless grey depths beneath the sundered city, they fight a grim and possibly futile war against the Fallen and their servants.

Of late, they have run into a cult of assassins who seek to loot the vaults beneath the city in search of cursed weapons, rare spell ingredients or other valuable and arcane gear. 

The Greyguard have girded themselves for battle once again and armed with cold steel, defensive magical tags and spell lanterns and descend into the depths to defeat this latest incursion.

Herakium Arcane Statue

As part of the Spruequest project I also needed to make some suitable scenic elements to give each warband I create something to tie them into the terrain. Handily my wife is collecting Naruto figures and had some doubles that she didn't need os I've painted up one as an arcane statue. I added a little bit of chipping to the soft PVC sculpt before priming black and then drybrushing vigorously. I also added some arcane tags using some scraps of card and greenstuff nails to add a bit of interest to the statue.

I plan on adding to the statue after each game the Greyguard plays with small trophies, shields of defeated foes or memorials for lost colleagues.

I also recently finished some other bits and bobs that were considerably less fun to paint than my Greyguard:

First up there's a chaos sorcerer type who has been sitting half painted for at least five or six years and I figured I'd best finish it off.

Not only is it a pig to paint, it appears to be a pig to photograph too! I don't know what it it is about this figure but it was absolutely horrid to paint and I almost gave up on it but persevered and finally finished it. I'm not really happy with the finish but it's done and can get bunged in the cabinet!

I also painted up some Temu sourced mushroom figures. They cost about £3.00 and as my Arcadian adventurers turned out surprisingly nicely I decided to order them in. When they arrived I discovered they were very cheaply 3d printed and had very visible print lines too. Lesson learned, I then primed them and slapped some paint on and figured they'd do for scenic additions, even if they're not great.

I'm quite pleased that I've got off to a good start with painting in 2026 as well as painting up my first Spruequest project successfully and will see what I can get done next!

In the meantime, All the best!

2025 Review

 Hi!

Well it's been a bit of a year of it with all sorts of real life shenanigans taking centre stage and my hobby being very much crushed into the dirt beneath it for most of 2025 but I seem to be ending on a bit of a high so I thought I'd post my year in review and ponder on some possible challenges for the new year to get my back on track again!

Figures Painted

First up, I managed to paint 116 things ranging from 2mm up to 1:32 and everything from fantasy to Sci-Fi to Historical and Steampunk which is actually surprising considering how naff of a year it's been hobby wise.

While I got stuck in the doldrums in the middle of the year, the last month or so has seen more enthusiasm and success with painting than I've had in ages, even if I've not had much chance post about it so I'm going to take it as a bit of a win.

I've begun my Spruequest challenge and have rather enjoyed putting together the first little warband which seems to have had another figure added to it which had sat unpainted but built in a box for at least the last 12 months! I'll post a complete breakdown of the project as I get the chance as well as the thinking and process behind it but that's a post for another day!

Looking at the painted total, a fair whack of them are small scale but I'll take it as a win none the less at this point so won't complain. Sadly quite a few of the bits and bobs I've painted thus far haven't made it to the point of being photographed but hopefully I'll get chance to remedy this in the new year as I crack on.

Speaking of the new year, I have a few bits and bobs sitting that I'm keen to try painting up but I need to finish my last two Frostrgave soldiers first before I embark on getting them painted up.

Games Played

Sadly I only managed a piddly seven games from three systems this year and they were very hurried sorts of affairs that I threw together on the occasions I had a moment to spare but they're an improvement on 2024 so Huzzah for small wins!

A large part of the problem has been that our spare room has been out of action for a mancave over the year with the spare bed meaning my gaming table was unavailable for extended periods but we have a plan that should see the room emptied and turned into a more usable space in the new year which is very exciting and will hopefully allow me to keep my table up all year and play a lot more games too!

We've also reorganised our living room fairly drastically this year which has allowed me to finally get a small painting desk up and it's been really making its impact known as I can now get up and paint with a proper light first thing for an hour before work rather than while trying to sit on our sofa in the evenings too.

I've also begun working on organising my rulebooks and having a look through the dauntingly large collection of old and largely forgotten games and plan on doing something about breathing some life into them in the new year too with some possibly daft but also fun ideas!

Plans for 2026

Now I had hoped to make a go of 2025 for the year of Leviathan and various other obsessions but it turned out to be a year of not much at all so I'm not wanting to make too much of a fuss about planning ahead but will just potter on painting whatever I find interesting and trying to get back into the swing of things rather than having any great plan and then not managing to make it turn into anything!

Instead I think I'm going to try to just have a bit of fun and paint what I want and aim to beat this year's miniatures painted and games played total and will take it as a win if I do.

In the meantime, thank you to the 178 blog followers, occasional visitors and random passers by who have taken time to read my nonsense! Its lovely to hear from you and thank you for all the support and kind words over a challenging 2025!

All the best!

Richard

Arcadian Adventurers

 Hi!

We've had a busy November which has resulted in a decided lack of posts as work has been busy and we've been working on our flat to get it finally sorted out how we want it (its only taken a decade!) but on the upside, I now have a dedicated workspace in the form of a small desk with all my paints, rulebooks and art materials nearby and have spent the month painting up some anthropomorphic figures my wife kindly picked up for my birthday in October.

Arcadian Adventurers

They're from a well known Chinese website and are 3d printed and I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised on how much fun I had painting them all. They stand on 25mm scale bases and simply ooze character and charm and may have changed my opinion on 3d designed and printed figures.

Mighty Eagle and Leopold

I plan on using the figures as part of my GARDENS OF ARCADY setting that I'd been footling about with earlier in the year as I love the rather whimsical nature of the sculpts and think it might be rather fun to paint up some equally strange and charming opposition for them to face off against in the endless gardens, woods and greenhouses of Arcady.

Hannibal and Pooh the Honey Knight

I must admit that before I started painting them I was rather doubtful on ever getting the whole nine done as they're totally different from my usual stuff but by using a limited palette of colours and rather a lot of washes, I found myself really enjoying the process and each seemed to spring to life as I worked on them exuding a charm that I'd really not expected from 3d prints.

Raynard and Typhon

Before I knew it, I'd completed all nine and realised I was looking forward to adding to the collection with more animal adventurers, strange denizens and quirky dangers for them to face. Unexpectedly I seem to have fallen into a mini project that will have some real possibilities for keeping me engaged throughout 2026 which is really exciting and just goes to show that taking a break, picking up something completely different and not stressing about it can really work!

Sir Hootsalot and Snappy Jack

Rules wise, I suspect I'll use Brutal Quest or a slightly modified version of Song of Blades and the games I have planned for them may not all be blood and guts battles but exploration of the world, gathering herbs and dealing with pesky Outlanders.

Bastian the Fieldmouse

I think I'll be putting together a page on the blog dedicated to Arcady too so watch this space... Until then, All the best!

SprueQuest

 Hi!

So I've been having a bit of a rummage as we finally get round to clearing out a decade worth of junk from the flat and I have found a plethora of sprues which has given me a bit of an idea for a project for 2026 which will not only clear up some of the stuff I have kicking around but will also hopefully give me some interesting gaming opportunities!

The plan is to rummage out all the sprues I have and over the course of each month construct and paint one of them. Further I want to create a warband or squad using just the stuff I have and then stat them up for either Brutalquest or Planet 28, create a small character bio and then hopefully play some games with them (once our spare room/library/mancave is fixed up!).

I think this could be a fun little project to do with low quantities of figures, next to no expenditure, at least initially, and it also means I can start clearing out the surprising numbers of bits and bobs I've got kicking around that I've not done anything with thus far.

To get the ball rolling, I will be painting up a sprue of Frostgrave Soldiers, of which I still have a couple:

Earlier this year I actually painted several of these chaps to use in my Longmyre setting which sadly kind of stalled out but hopefully I'll be able to kick things into gear with a bit of a mini challenge over December and into January 2026!

Longmyre Militia

I'm interested to see how things go with the project as it's got lots of random components from different genres and theres also the option of doing some converting and kitbashing too as the random bits I have left over get used up too.

Longmyre Militia Art

In other news, my previous post mentioned a Weird Western project I've been contemplating and its still going to go ahead but in 28mm rather than 15mm scale as I was saddened to realise it will actually be more cost effective to work in the larger scale than in the smaller one!

Instead of stressing about it, I plan on picking up a couple of the Gunfighter sprues produced by Great Escape Games and adding them into my Spruequest.

As an added bit of incentive to play some games, I also hope to produce a piece of scatter terrain each month that will eventually add to my collection and make for some interesting games.

Hopefully the low model count and lack of focus on any single subject or genre will get me 

Hunting the Haunted

 Hi!

As promised, I've been having a proper think about what project I want to focus on for the start of next year and have settled on a small scale one that I should be able to do both cheaply and indeed quickly to get a bit of a win under the hobby belt for 2026!

The plan is to use some Western miniatures to play out a mini campaign set in an alternative late 19th century America where strange things are happening requiring daring hunters to enter the effected areas, search for clues and bring the fight to the forces of evil.

Imagine Hunt Showdown meets Silver Bayonet meets Dracula's America.

At present I'm planning on going full on 15mm for the project as it ticks a lot of boxes, namely I can use a 2'x2' or 2'x3' board to play a decent size encounter, I'll also be able to sculpt a lot of the antagonists myself as the scale is pretty forgiving, also it's much better for storage and pretty cheap too!

A few years back, I eventually got round to painting up the Peter Pig western gubbins that I'd had kicking about for at least a decade (if not closer to two!) and they were lovely little figures to work on. 

I originally painted and based them with a more mass combat or large warband skirmish in mind but for this project, I will be basing things individually and plan placing a small order when I get the chance to give me enough figures for several warbands (warbands will be something like 3-10 figures strong). 

Rules wise, I'll be using my trusty Planet 28/Brutalquest mash up as they're still the best rules that I've tried out over the years and they're super flexible to boot!

With all that said, I may yet end up using 28mm figures as they are both easier to get and have more convertibility into the random gubbins that I'm pondering but the terrain that goes with it will take up a much larger amount of space that is already at a premium!

We'll see how things pan out but I think I need to try making a few sample pieces of terrain to see how I get on but in the meantime, All the best!

A Return to Basics

 Hi!

I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated the blog! Its been a busy wee while as we get closer to the festive season and I must admit that hobbying has had to take a back seat. 

Looking back at the year, I must admit that its been a pretty naff year for my hobby with pretty much any project that I have decided to work on having been without fail utter failures which has been incredibly frustrating and left me dreading even thinking about a hobby thats supposed to be relaxing.

I've had this sort of thing happen to me before so I have taken a break and rethought what I want to do as the whole point of my hobby is that I should enjoy it but as the month went on I just couldn't summon up any real enthusiasm to explore the options.

With that said, I do think I'm going to aim towards a project that will be easy to complete for next year but I am still settling on what exactly it will be...

There are a few ideas I've got swirling around in my head at present but I do need to bear in mind that it requires to be quick and easy, small in scale and not take up much space as my gaming table is currently packed away so my gaming surface is going to be limited to one of my mini pinboards.

I'm currently leaning towards some 15mm scale bits and bobs as it is a scale that got me back into gaming back at uni in 2007 and I have a hankering to play some really small scale skirmishes but we shall see what I can come up with.