A Grand Day Out

 Hi!

Apologies for the lack of updates recently but work has been properly busy! Coupled with a manic day of culture, museums, food and monster trucks in Glasgow last week I've been utterly shattered which has resulted in complete lack of hobby time.

Nice bit of Rennie Mackintosh

While the enforced lack of hobby has been kind of frustrating, it was brilliant to get out about and run all over Glasgow and indeed ride their underground system followed by an evening of Monster Jam, a most exciting show with monster trucks, motorbikes and a wall of sound!

Windswept and Bearded, Just Like Me!

By the end of it, I looked a bit like the chap above but it was a really great day. I also picked up a couple of RPGs in Forbidden Planet including the new edition of Colostle which was really nice to see and I do hope to get chance to delve into them at some point, possibly the end of October when I finally have some much needed hols!

Stunning artworks have been perused, all the while having an organ recital in the background which was pretty novel and rather fun too and I wish we'd have a bit more time to really enjoy the Kelvingrove as we had to kind of rush from one room to the next while trying to take in as much as we could in the time we had.

I thoroughly recommend Koko House, an amazing Japanese cafe which serves Souffle pancakes which were absolutely amazing and worth the trip just to eat there! Behold my Souffle Pancake below:

Japanese Souffle Pancakes

After a full day of running around, we ended up at Monster Jam, possibly the noisiest thing I've ever experienced. Imagine six massive monster trucks hammering around a stadium revving their engines, jumping ramps and doing donuts! Mad but brilliant fun!

Monster Jam!

Now while the Glasgow trip was great fun, I do realise that I've not been blogging or in fact doing much, if any wargaming, painting, sculpting or the usual stuff that I would do for much of this year which is pretty sad as I really enjoy it but with Real Life, work and whatnot, I've just not had much of a gaming year.

I've gone through several gaming slumps over the last few years, and it seems that this year is probably the biggest of the lot. With this in mind, I plan on taking a small break to refocus and try to get a small project done and finished.

I've got so many ideas floating around but a total lack of focus on which one to concentrate on actually getting done that it's making my head spin but I think that I want to focus on a small one that I can complete with relative ease.

We shall see what I end up coming up with but I have a hankering for something that I can make myself and have a bit of an idea of what I'd like to do!

Hopefully I'll be able to post an update in the next few days but I'm back at work tomorrow and will no doubt be running about like an idiot!

In the meantime, All the best!

Pondering Arcady

 Hi!

We're off on our holidays for the week and we went off to the rather wonderful Erddig yesterday and while wandering the magical grounds it got me thinking of a new setting to investigate, namely Arcady, a strange, endless grand garden inhabited by strange and wonderful beings.

Surrounded by high red brick walls, doorways that lead to nowhere or further gardens, hidden nooks or mysterious and long forgotten potting sheds, Arcady is a seemingly endless land of grand gardens, orchards, hedge mazes and greenhouses.

The land itself seems largely uninhabited but strange beings stalk the land, topiary beasts roam the terraces, rare intelligent plants grow in abundance while statues move and fae creatures flit between the hedges.

The human inhabitants of the land are the Royal Order of Gardeners, a brave adventuring bunch who are tasked with maintaining the land, controlling pests and exploring its constantly shifting landscape. Wielding spade, trowel and garden fork, they roam the land searching for rare plants, managing the wild flora and getting rid of pesky Outlanders from beyond the Wall who seek to despoil the beauty and peace of the garden.

Wicker Bee and The Sleeping Lady

Beyond the Great Outer wall, lies the Wild, a great forest that teems with life, wild and untamed. The Wild is largely unexplored but who knows what new and unknown things could be discovered by those Gardeners brave enough to venture into its green depths?

Garden Wall and Rose Triffid!

Its a rather whimsical sort of a setting and would require me to make a board that is very different from my usual wargaming terrain, not to mention the figures I'd need to use would be pretty unusual too with bands of Gardeners armed with agricultural tools fighting strange vegetation or other worldly beings!

We'll be coming back up north on Sunday before getting back to work on Monday but I may yet return to the setting and expand some of the random ideas that I've found myself pondering on!

In the meantime, All the Best!

In the Land of the Sundering Flood - Review

 Hi!

As long term followers of this blog may be aware, I'm a massive fan of Nic Evans of Mammoth Miniatures and his assorted rulesets. I've embraced Planet 28 and Brutalquest as my go to for Sci-Fi and Fantasy gaming and recently backed his newest endeavour, In the Land of the Sundering Flood.

The Rulebook

Handily the Kickstarter shipped the other day and my copy arrived Wednesday so I thought it was high time I actually read through it and posted my thoughts.

I backed to get the game, the map and the measuring device and they arrived in a sturdy envelope which our postman managed not to mangle as he usually does with post and my initial impressions were excellent as the game is very much a love letter to William Morris but in the style of Nic.

The Map

The game itself is described as a miniature adventure game rather than a wargame which I do like: "Unlike a full scale wargame or a traditional role playing game, a miniature adventure encourages you to think and act as your characters may think and act, whilst still focusing on the movements and actions of the miniatures on the tabletop".

This is a really lovely element to the game that I'm a big fan of, its immersive, storytelling approach with simple rules that allows for a fascinating story driven narrative but with plenty of opportunities for action, adventure and villainy!

The rules of the game are quite simple but elegant remind me of a blend of Song of Blades and Brutalquest which is a big plus for me. 

The game is alternating action with players taking turns to activate a model in their force, performing two actions be it to move, shot, fight a combat or use a skill. Nic has given a rather lovely illustrated bestiary of characters, denizens and monsters which inhabit the land of the sundering flood and they each have their own skills and special rules which add to their character and make each properly unique in their own way.

Special note must be made of Nic's lovely artwork too as it's absolutely a treat to peruse the book and I think the best illustration of the whole thing is the wolf pictured above!

Characters are separated into three broad categories, Fair, Fae or Foul and within that there are limitations to how many of certain ones that you can take, be it the named unique characters, the doughty companions or the more numerous followers and I do love the fact the Fae can fight on the side of Fair or Foul which is pretty representative of the classic myths of Britain that Morris drew from when he wrote the book in the 1890's as part of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Along with rules for combat, magical shenanigans and whatnot, the game comes with four narrative scenarios which can be interlinked to provide a campaign to play as well as a guide to the land itself, its inhabitants and its ways. Unlike Nics other rules, there is no guide to character creation which is a bit of a shame but with a wide array of character choices, its a minor quibble and the setting is so unique, it feels like there isn't really a need for it as the settings very nature means that creating characters that might not fit the aesthetic would feel somehow wrong.

I must admit that I'm keen to have a go at the game as it looks just my cup of tea and I do have a weeks holiday coming up but inkeeping with the Arts and Crafts movement that Morris was a member of and Nic is paying homage to, I think I'll be sculpting all the figures I'll be using myself so I suspect it may be a while before I get chance to properly play it but it will give me a focus for the next few months!

While the game may be a bit niche, it is a brilliant addition to Nic's portfolio of quirky, innovative and fun games and I look forward to delving into the Land of the Sundering flood. I do hope to see more games of this sort where the story and adventure is more important than simply lining up your forces and crushing your foes. 

Narrative, scenario driven games are such a pleasure to play, especially when compared to the rather soulless stuff that GW is churning out at present that it feels that Nic has done the memory of Morris proud with this lovely little game and has embraced the very thing that the Arts and Crafts movement embodied.

According to Nic's recent post on Instagram that there is a supplement on the way which is really exciting too!

Hopefully I'll get chance to get a figure or two started tomorrow but we're off out for the day to enjoy a much needed day off work so until next time, All the best!

Tiny Goblin Raiders

 Hi!

I've had some tiny Goblins half built for ages and finally finished them off over the last couple of days.

Adventurers Ambushed by Gobbo's!

Made from some small balls of sculpey for heads and a cube for bodies, the detail is made from EVA foam which has proved to be surprisingly versatile in several of my projects over the last year or so.

Thus far I've got a dozen of the little Guys and Gals made with a mixture of swords and clubs and will need to make more with bows, some hero and leader types but I'm quite pleased with how they've turned out.

The figures are tiny, standing less than 15mm to the top of their heads and are mounted on small buttons so when zoomed in, the detail is pretty ropey but from table distance, they're pretty much perfect.

I plan on using them for Five Leagues from the Borderlands or similar skirmish games where I need warbands quickly and don't want to go purchasing lots of stuff that doesn't see regular use.

I must admit that getting these little fellows finished has been really fun and will need to make some more of them and build up the project a wee bit too but until next time, All the best!

Gunbot

 Hi!

Every so often, i will take a commission for making one of my Rusty Robots and this little chap is now winging his way off to his new owner in the States:

I really pushed the boat out with this little guy, trying nee materials and techniques on him. I'm quite pleased with how he turned out and its got me kind of hankering to make some more. 

It took quite a bit of time to get him right but I'm pleaded with the end result as the effort was worth it.

Standing roughly five inches tall and made from a mixture of sculpey, greenstuff, foamclay, wire and beads and painted with acrylics, Its the first robot I've made in some time now but its good to see him come together over the course of the weeks i spent making him between work and real life shenanigans.

I'm now thinking of making some more tiny figures so i can get my Five Leagues campaign going, I've been doodling out ideas for the region of Longmyre along with the assorted denziens who make it their home so expect some updates in the not too distant future. 

Until then, All the best!

Back To Work!

 Well after a weeks much needed but not very restful holiday, I'm back at work! 

Its been really busy but i have managed to sneak in a couple of small skirmishes of an evening.

With most of my terrain and miniatures still packed away following the guests visiting, I didn't have much to hand but threw what I could find onto the table.

The isolated mining outpost of Sigma 12 lies in the slime forest that girds Farpoints equatorial region like a smelly green belt. The miners extract valuable Promethium and Chobite from the slimy terrain while fighting off bands of outlaws, mutants and Orks, not to mention the scaly denizens of the slime forests. Unfortunately many of these outposts are unregistered and unscrupulous corporations have been squeezing many of the independent outfits so they can get a monopoly on the region. 

Combined with the shaky political situation in Freeport City where the new Governor General Laars von Dorn is still trying to wrest power from the disgraced former ruler, Alexandr Vosk and the crime cartel led by Lucius Goldburg, the boondocks of the Slime Forest have become a low level battleground between mining teams and corporate goons.

Now a corporate asset stripping outfit has arrived at Sigma 12 to make the yokels an offer they cannot refuse.

Bauhaus Asset Retention Team

The corporate goons are well armed and equipped and in theory should make short work of the poorly armed and equipped miners (one of whom is wielding a crossbow for pities sake) but will the miners doughty resolve and determination to keep their mine hold out against the might of corporate greed?

Gunderwick Mining crew

I didn't manage to take many pictures of the action unfortunately, simply enjoying playing a fin little game but surprisingly the miners trounced the corporate goon squad.

The goons, over confident rather brashly marched into the heart of the mining camp only to be ambushed from three sides.

The ensuing gun battle saw the miner with the crossbow go down but only after he'd managed to stalk and kill two of his opponents. Seeing they're facing stiffer resistance than expected, the goons withdraw under the cover of their heavy stubber. Surprised by the result, i played the game a second time and the same thing happened, the guy with the lowest tech weapon killed two opponents, this time my rock miner got blasted into rubble by the goons heavy but the miners still held their camp.

Brilliant fun and so good to be back to wargaming after an enforced break!

Hopefully I'll get chance to play some more games in the coming month but until then, All the best!