Brutalquest Project: Hall of the Orc King

 Hi!

I have been footling about trying to settle on a suitable project to start the year and happened to be perusing Game in Perth when I spotted they had several boxes of Epic Encounters in their sale. 

A little pondering later I ended up picking up a copy of Hall of the Orc King for £25, reduced from almost £40.

Aimed more at the RPG crowd, it none the less has 20 chunky Orcish types along with a built in campaign that suits the sort of narrative driven approach that I'm trying to do.

The set comes with nine different sculpts which are of a decent quality, especially as they worked out at 80p each with a mixture of troop types, characters and even some rather nice cavalry to add a bit of spice to encounters.

You get four Orc cavalry mounted on bears and wielding bows and short stabbing spears. while each sculpt is identical, I plan on doing a wee bit of conversion work to them to give them a bit of individuality and they're surprisingly nice figures to boot.

You also get three archers and three spearmen. Fairly workmanlike poses and sculpt quality but should be fairly easy to either sculpt on a hat or do a head swap. I'd actually like to have had another basic troop type with something like a sword or axe but I can always add to the mix at some point in the future.

The first of the specialists are a bit odd, Orc Brewmasters with a barrel of Orc Ale on their backs and spiked tankards to thrash people with, the second specialist is a Gladiator who comes with a pair of swords and a bad attitude.

Next up are the heavies, a pair of half troll types with spikes growing out of them and heavy flails and two Orc Butchers who wouldn't look out of place as 15mm scale Ogres. These two sculpts are probably my favourites of the set as they've got tons of character and I'm really looking forward to painting them.

Finally you get the Orc King himself and a Shaman to back him up. Interestingly, for the key characters in the set, they're pretty dull but will give me some characters to lead my Orcs on Aeroth. I suspect I'll do a head swap on them and eventually upgrade them to something more interesting but as already mentioned, they cost 80p so I can't grumble too much.

As a whole the boxed set is well worth the cost and comes with a battle mat and campaign book too which is nice (although the infantry figures are based on 30mm rounds and the map is gridded for 25mm which seems a bit silly). 

The sculpts themselves are pretty nice and look like they'll lend themselves well to a coat of paint and the plastic they're made from is better quality than some manufacturers as none of them have wobbly bendy weapons and the sculpts have an interesting level of detail without being too busy.

I'm hoping to paint up some basic boys to act as villains and plan on chipping away at the set as a whole over the next few months until I get the lot done and if I add say a few Gobbos and an Ogre or Troll to the mix, I think I've got enough stuff for a nice campaign in the making.

I'm hoping to get a sample figure painted up in the coming weekend to see how I get on with them and will post an update when I've got it done but I'll be keeping my eye out to see if Game do any other sets in their sale (I'd been sorely tempted to pick up some Heroquest supplements they had in the sale but I've not got the core set yet so thought it may be a bit silly to get add ons rather than the basic game).

We shall see if this rather random addition to my collection helps in the hobby slump but I'm quite interested to see how I get on with them and would recommend folks take a peek in their local shops to see if there's any bargains to be had...

All the best!

2025 Planning of a Sort

 Hi!

So here we are in 2025 and I thought I'd post a bit of inspiration for myself.

First up, I'm going to have to face facts. There is no way I've got the time, space or indeed motivation for any big projects this year. I had hopes to finally make a decent attempt at Leviathan but until I have some more spare time and indeed space for gaming, I think I'm going to have to shelve that particular project for a while.

What I do think I can manage is something more modest. Namely some teeny warbands for Brutal Quest or Planet 28.

Both rulesets are wonderfully simple but fun and I've had a great deal of enjoyment from using them over the years, especially as I only need 2-3 figures a side and a small gaming space which really lends itself to narrative driven and character based projects which suits me more than a larger warband or army based project.

Now I immediately have a bit of a spanner in the works of getting gaming going in early January as our kitchen ceiling is finally getting fixed after a full twelve months of hassling the letting agent from upstairs whose previous tenant so kindly flooded our kitchen with their crappy washing machine on repeated occasions. I'm so relieved its finally getting done but it does mean that I'm expecting workmen wandering in and out for the best part of a week while the ceiling comes down and is replaced, plastered and painted.

While this gets done, the hobby time will be taking a back seat but I plan on using the time to continue fleshing out my Aeroth, Farpoint and Stump settings with a bit of a vague idea of creating a crib book for each which will be incorporated into my mini campaigns.

I have a lot of ideas I want to work on this year and I do have hopes that I'll be able to make a bit of a bash at getting them developed beyond nebulous planning and into something that will keep me entertained and motivated!

In the meantime, All the best!

2024 Year in Review: Meh!

 Hi!

Well here we are in the last few days of 2024 and it's high time for me to look back at the year, what progress I made, what games I played, figures painted and plans for next year.

Looking back at 2024, I must admit that its been a major disappointment hobby wise, with very little of any of the above. With a combination of repeatedly catching the lurgy, lots of real life shenanigans and some really bad cases of loss of hobby mojo, I have pretty much written off the year from a hobby standpoint having done less over the last year than I can remember in over a decade of running my blog.

I'd had big plans for Leviathan and Land Ironclads at the start of the year but our car having massive repair costs pretty much put the Kibosh to that and from there, I found my hobby retreat utterly uninspiring and what should have been a way to destress, doing the opposite and stressing me out to the point that I've not picked up brushes or miniatures in literally months.

I've managed to get a few odds and ends done this year but I think that I'm going to reexamine my hobby in 2025 and try to do some actually manageable and small projects to start the year and go from there.

With that in mind, I've got out my copies of Brutal Quest and Planet 28 as they are my favourite rulesets and have been scribbling some ideas for what I want to do.

Hopefully 2025 will see me playing some games and painting some stuff so fingers crossed!

Until then, All the best and thankyou to everyone who has read my ramblings and commented over the year and hope you all have a fantastic new year!

Richard

Not Dead!

 Hi!

Sorry for the lack of updates for the last couple of months folks but I've had a bit of a combination of work and the worst case of painters block that I can remember having in ages.

In what seems to be a reoccurring mantra, I seem to go through spells of almost manic activity followed by increased work and then creative doldrums but this time seems to have absolutely knocked me for six and been a bit of a slump that has lasted for most of 2024.

I'd started the year with great hopes of actually getting Leviathan as the core project I was going to work over the course of 12 months but almost immediately ground to a halt with unexpected car repairs which ate up almost the entire hobby budget for the year and various work stresses killing what little enthusiasm I had left.

I've posted about my struggles with loss of hobby mojo before but have always found a workaround that seems to do the trick but this year has been a bit of a wash out and I've not even wanted to pick up a brush for months, let alone play any games and with us entering the silly season, work is going to be manic and I'm already knackered after getting home so doubt I'm going to be much use for much of December and January is going to see the arrival of guests for much of the month which means the mancave is going to be out of commission.

While this sounds very much like a Woe is Me sort of gurn, I have been keeping some sort of hobby related bits and bobs going by using the dreaded AI art generators to help me visualise the world of Aeroth that I've had stuck in my head for so long.

While there is a lot of controversy over AI art, I must admit it has been incredibly helpful in the visualisation process and keeping me motivated. I've no real ability at drawing my own landscapes, being more interested in drawing characters so this sort of visualisation aid has been really handy.

Hopefully this will aid in getting the hobby mojo going again and next year will see me actually making some proper progress with some sort of Leviathan themed stuff but hopefully it won't be months before I actually post again.

In the meantime, All the best!

Imagi-Nation Wargaming

Hi!

As per usual, I find myself run off my feet with work with precious little time for anything else but something I've been pondering for a bit is to delve into Imagin-Nation wargaming.

This interest has partially sprung from following the AK-47 Republic group over on Facebook which has had all sorts of interesting bits and bobs posted but I'm not too keen to delve into historical gaming as I must admit I'm a bit uncomfortable with playing games set during actual conflicts. 

Boarhound Armoured Car

Instead I've been pondering more on my Farpoint setting and using some of the fantastic historical ranges out there to come up with my own imagi-national games as just look how cool the Boarhound British armoured car of WW2 looks! 

Looking back through my blog, here's some examples of Rdnrundt forces that I painted up years ago:

Count Cassitor and Henchmen

I'm still unsure as to what sort of basing to go for as the single figure style I've been using for years is perfect for small skirmishes but for slightly larger games, I'm not so sure and may go for a Flames of War or similar style but still can't decide.

Converted Civilian Armoured Car

Many moons ago, I picked up some vehicles from Peter Pig and in the ensuing years lost the turret and ended up bodging up Old Thunder here using a turret purloined from a Mechwarrior Dark Age clicky tank:

This is the sort of vibe I want to go for, low to medium tech level with a decided dieselpunk style to things! I've got some bits and bobs kicking around that I'm going to see if I can get a coat of paint on to see how I get on with this random side project.

Galactic League Peacekeepers

I don't know exactly what I've got lying around at the moment but I'll see what I can rummage out and in the meantime, All the best!

Grubby Adventurers

 Hi!

Just a quick post this evening with a sneaky peek at some adventurers that I put together from the Frostgrave plastic range.

I painted them with a mixture of my usual acrylics and some of the Army Painter Speed Paints 2.0 range and I must admit I'm really pleased with both the figures and the paints!

The Frostgrave miniatures go together well and are rather characterful with a good selection of grubby looking types for a great price and have enough options to ensure that no two are the same and have enough interesting accessories and details to be fun to paint without being fiddly. My only criticism of them is the cast on knives that the figures all have at their waists are a bit blobby but as they're mostly covered by arms its not really noticable.

 Similarly the detail on the entertainingly massive two handed sword hilt is a bit vague but it still paints up well but otherwise the figures are cracking and just what I needed to get out of the hobby slump and represent a bunch of suitably shady types for hire!

As I mentioned, I used a small selection of the Army Painter Speed Paints and I love them. Burnished Red applied by itself on a grey undercoat gives a rich dark brown that is easily highlighted while slightly watering it down and applying it over mid brown basecoat makes for a really nice wash. 

I've got a couple of other colours namely Red, Blue, Green and Yellow as well as Rosy Flesh and they're making painting fun and a relatively speedy experience again and while I'm probably not using them as intended, they are absolutely doing the job to the point I think I'm going to expand my collection in coming months!

I've still got another 15 miniatures from the original box to construct and paint and at present I'm not sure if I'm going to make them all blue themed or make a few different groups but the figures will come in handy for all manner of games which is why I went for a fairly neutral base with light texture and some washes of browns and orange.

While I've now got some goons, i want to paint up some heroes to do battle with them so I'll have a rummage in my bits box and pile of shame to see what I can find.

In the meantime, All the best!

Rumblings from Leviathan

 Hi!

Just a quick post this evening as I've decided to re-activate my old LEVIATHAN BLOG!

2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the game's original release and its been a bit of an obsession with me on and off for nearly that entire time. I had originally intended on getting a Leviathan project off the ground this year but had a bit of a hobby slump combined with real world getting in the way of things so it got shelved but I've decided to have another bash at least getting the blog up again without all the spam comments and having it as a reference to folks interested in the game, its development and what might have been.

The Old Horde (sadly mostly gone now!)

I've also tentatively decided on putting together some small warbands for at least the four original factions over the course of the year like a lunatic.

I have however decided to do something a wee bit different with it though as there's no way I have enough space for the required 4'x8' board and tons of resin and lead figures which I'd never get chance to actually paint, let alone get a game for so I've delved back into my notes from previous projects and have decided to make it a bit more doable.

While the original game was supposed to be clashes of large armies, during a brief conversation with Neil Dunlop, the original rules writer for the game mentioned that it had originally been intended to be a skirmish game and I'm going to lean into this and make something more akin to Mad Max with magic.

Orc Spearmen

Using a mixture of resin, metal and plastic figures as well as a bit of sculpting and conversion, I plan on playing something a bit more like Gorkamorka with small gangs roaming the wastelands of Aeroth in search of loot! 

Orc Necrodon

The whole premise of the setting is that a magical apocalypse has happened so the survivors must explore the wastelands with all its perils in order to scavenge supplies so I think a skirmish game along these lines is potentially rather fun and will make for an interesting and engaging project for the medium to long term.

Lesser Goblin Wartower

With this in mind, my Leviathan blog is going to delve into the setting, its factions, the development of the original game, its figures and whatnot as well as the forces as they begin to develop!

This blog will continue as usual with everything else that I ramble on with but as Leviathan has been such a part, not to mention obsession of my hobby, I think it deserves its own record of progress, especially as its been running even longer than this one!

I'll be posting an update a week going forward on the Leviathan blog, initially focussing on getting the old articles revamped and more legible before then moving onto a project log next year. It will hopefully help me focus on the driving force of my hobby that has been one of those things that just hasn't worked out over the years.

In other news, I'm hoping to get some pics of my latest painted stuff tomorrow (weather permitting!) so until then, All the best!

Richard