Longmyre Reinforcements and Dark Age Obsession

Hi!

I've managed to get my unit of Longmyre militia painted up and based so thought I'd post them up here with some ponderings on one of my other interests, namely the Dark Ages.

Before I head off on a tangent, here's my Longmyre Militiamen:

Longmyre Militia

Constructed from Frostgrave Soldiers, they're pleasingly characterful and suitably grubby for a small, poor and unimportant Duchy sitting on the frontier of the civilised world.

I had been thinking of bulking up their numbers to do a Dragon Rampant style army of them but feel that 28mm is currently better suited to smaller skirmish games so they'll be seeing action in games of Brutal Quest, Song of Blades and Heroes and the likes. I've sent off for some grass tufts as I wasn't 100% happy with the bases of my Orcs so there's still a little work to do to finish them off but we'll see how they look once their bases are complete.

Longmyre Militia clashing with Orcs on the Frontier.

With that out of the way, I thought I'd have a bit of a look at another project I'd started a couple of years ago and then promptly forgotten about, the mythical Dark Ages!

Dark Age Adventurers

Looking back at this stalled project, I had an absolute obsession, collecting books, sourcing miniatures and all sorts of other madness which saw me paint a couple of small bands and then real life got in the way and I immediately forgot about the project.

Now here I am, four years later and thinking about getting it back up and running but this led me to think about how I want to do it and realised I wasn't sure exactly what I was wanting to do with it. I've never been one who can stick to any sort of historical accuracy in wargaming, preferring fantasy and science fiction over historicals but I do find myself drawn to this fascinating period of history which saw the foundation of what would become England.

On the one hand, I'd love to have small skirmishes with bold warriors braving the wilds to face wild beasts from another age, marauding Norsemen or even the odd Fae incursion but at the same time the prospect of mass battles between warring kingdoms or trying to drive off raids from the Vikings also has real appeal!

But what to do! I don't have the amount of time, space, budget or frankly focus to paint up large armies of 28mm figures so a compromise may be required, namely scale. I do think I'll keep painting small 28mm scale warbands of up to maybe 10-12 figures but I want to make use of Lion Rampant to represent larger scale conflicts between raiders, norse and all manner of other stuff and my recent acquisition and painting of some 10mm Risk figures has got me thinking that maybe I can make some larger warbands in 10-15mm scale.

There are quite a few companies out there who produce lovely stuff in smaller scales and I love the appearance of larger numbers of figures (which happen to be cheaper and take up much less space and less time to paint!) on the battlefield.

I'm not going to go mad and buy a ton of stuff but I do think I'm going to dip my toe and pick up a pack or two of figures to see how I get on as I reckon I can make a Lion Rampant army for £25ish quid in 10mm scale which isn't too pricy and would allow me to build several different armies cheaply.

I've still got a bunch of plastic 28mm scale figures to paint up for skirmishes or incorporate into my Longmyre project but we'll see what I can come up with in the coming months!

In the meantime, All the best!

Orcish Reinforcements!

 Hi!

I've finally got round to taking some pictures of my slowly expanding Orcish horde with their newest addition, the Butcher!

Orc Butcher

As with the other figures in the warband he comes from the Hall of the Orc King box that I picked up earlier in the year and have slowly been painting my way through and alongside the big spiky chap from my earlier post, he's been the most fun to paint.

The Warband thus far

Of all the figures in the set thus far the Butcher has probably had the most details but was still a pleasure to paint and actually took less time to finish than the archers did. I've got a second one to paint but have been distracted by other mini projects that have struck my fancy over the last week or so.

Butcher, Gorath's Chosen and Brewmaster

I've been quite motivated hobbywide, despite having limited time and have just finished a 54mm scale Viking chappy who will need basing alongside my 10mm Risk stuff and the Longmyre militia who have been done for a while now.

While I've not managed to concentrate on any single project, I do seem to be making up for the lack of focus by just pelting through whatever catches my fancy at present which is keeping me from getting bogged down and losing interest.

I've also rummaged out my Stump conversions and am eying them up alongside the Dark Age Brutal Quest project I started the other year and am footling around with several other bits and bobs which seems to be my method for actually getting anything done. While it means that completing any single project in a timely fashion is not really working out, I am pleased with the fact that I'm blasting through all sorts of bits and bobs that have been sitting for ages!

I'm going to try and get my Longmyre dudes based up alongside my Viking this evening (if I can find a 40mm round base!) and will post pics tomorrow if all goes well but in the meantime, All the best!

Charity Shop Finds

 Hi!

Apologies for the lack of posts but I've been pretty busy over the last few weeks with the run up to World Book Day at work which has entailed entertaining 400+ kids in multiple classes and running nonstop author events too. It's been massive amounts of fun but massive amounts of work which has meant blogging has had to take a bit of a break!

This hasn't meant I've not been getting stuff done though! I've painted five more Longmyre militia who are awaiting basing and have also found a few bargains in the local charity shop which will make for a few fun side projects too.

Today we nipped into an upcycling centre and picked up an assortment of gubbins including these bad boys, a box of 12 1:32 Vikings from Emhar for the princely sum of £3.00!

I must admit that I'd had my eyes on this scale of figures for a while for a bit of a homage to the likes of Inquisitor but using Wild West figures but I spotted these guys and decided to have a bash at Brutal Quest but bigger!

I'll see about getting a test piece painted up over the next few days and seeing what they look like with a coat of paint but I'm quite excited to have a bash. The only issue I've got with them is that one had a broken sword which I'm fairly sure I'll be able to replace with a bit of wire and plasticard and the bow string for the archer has snapped but that should be a fairly easy fix.

In a previous expedition, I also found a copy of Risk for £3.50 which I immediately started painting up the tiny, roughly 10mm scale figures for use with Rebels and Patriots!

On top of that, I also found Chronicles of Narnia Risk for £3.00 which has four full armies of fauns and centaurs (irritatingly closer to 15mm scale but for that price, I can't complain too much!) It would have been nice to have one army of the baddies but beggars can't be choosers!

I suspect the boards will be recycled into another project while the now empty boxes will be discarded to recycling but I'm quite pleased with my assorted hauls and while its meaning my hobby year is kind of all over the place in scale and subject, its been really fun!

I've got the first twelve Risk musketeers painted and am rummaging around for suitable bases before getting pictures of them but I must admit I'm quite pleased with how they turned out and may be tempted to see if I can find more in the future.

Hopefully I'll source some bases soon so I can get them finished and will see about getting one of the Vikings cleaned up and primed and ready to paint!

I do like these random little projects that result in all manner of unexpected and interesting meanders and will see how I get on with the assorted bits and bobs but in the meantime, All the best!

Orc Reinforcements

 Hi!

Well we're rapidly approaching the end of February and I've got the second batch of Orcs finished and begun work on the third and as it's a lovely morning, I've managed to get some decent photos of them!

Orc Archer, Gladiator, Beermaster, Spearman

I've almost finished the low level stuff with a single archer to paint and have begun work on some of the character and boss type figures from the set.

The Warband thus far

The figures have been really nice to paint and I've actually surprised myself by not losing interest in the project but just keep chipping away at it and it's been really rewarding to see a decent sized Orc warband start to form. 

Beer Master

The character and boss type models are rather fun and I did have some interesting ideas for how I'm going to represent the Beer Master in games.

Beer Masters Barrel of Bugmans

Using a mixture of speedpaints to block in colours before highlighting and shading has sped up the process somewhat and brought the best out of the models themselves and hopefully I've managed to avoid leaving any mould lines on the figures as they're a real pain to clear off the soft plastic but despite this, they do paint up pretty well, if I do say so myself!

Speaking of which, my favourite figure thus far is the big mutated chaps, of which you get two in the set:

Gorath's Chosen

I've not quite finished his base yet but he's an intimidating figure and I spent quite a bit of time painting him but figured he's worth the extra effort.

Many washes were done on his skin and armour followed by a wee bit highlighting to give the impression of rusted and battered armour over his uncouth hide.

As you can see, he's a chunky guy who towers over the already large Orc infantry figures and will make for a fantastic boss type of character to really challenge opposing warbands.

Longmyre Militia about to have a very bad day.

Once I've got the big guy's base done, I'm moving onto an Orc Butcher figure who also has loads of character but think once he's done, I may take a break to paint something else as that will mark 50% of the box being complete and I want to try something else, possibly reinforcing the Longmyre militia with some extra troops as they're decidedly outnumbered at the moment.

I also want to start work on some characters, adventuring parties and whatnot so I can actually get the campaign up and running so we'll see how we get on in the coming weeks but until then, All the best!

Rank and File Fantasy Pondering

 Hi!

I've got my second batch of Orcs for Longmyre finished and ready to photograph and have started on some character models too but alas I've run out of daylight to get photos so I'll need to leave that particular update until my next day off!

My previous post has got me to thinking about the possibilities of a rank and file sort of fantasy project but this has left me with a bit of a quandary as I am fully aware that undertaking such a project is utter lunacy! 

I've got an absolute ton of wonderful wargaming rules that would make for a great basis for a mass battle style game and I've also got the options of going smaller scale be it 15mm, 10mm or 6mm which would save both time and a great deal of money but still the hankering for a bit of a blast from the past keeps raising its dreaded head and the urge to do a proper Oldhammer style army in full 28mm scale.

While I'd love to do a massive mental 4th edition Fantasy battle (or more likely 6th edition which is much more streamlined and less mental character wise), I do have some sense and am aware that such a project is impossible.

Similarly I've got a few much more original rulesets that would make for an exciting project in its own way but I still have the problem of the feasibility of such a project as the figures required are pretty unique and getting in some cases getting either hard to find or expensive (not to mention in the case of Leviathan, massive resin monsters!). While proxies are doable, they lack the originals uniqueness which is the very thing that draws one to the game!

One other option that I'm thinking of exploring is the generic games which would possibly be a nice compromise between the assorted bits and bobs I'd previously mentioned. Both Oathmark and Dragon Rampant tend to use smaller numbers of figures, be it regiment size or overall armies.

Similarly, the rules are pretty streamlined and modern which allows for games to be played quickly and keep me engaged while incorporating forces that wouldn't be out of place in the more niche, unique games that I love the setting of.

With this in mind, I am going to dip my toe in the waters in a decidedly limited way and possibly try to paint up a regiment of 10-12 figures and see how I get on. I think they'll be based in the growing unrest that is happening in Longmyre as part of my ongoing low fantasy campaign!

We'll see how it goes but if nothing else, I'll have some reinforcements for my skirmishes!

In the meantime, All the best!

Back from Holiday!

 Hi!

Well I'm back from my hols and been busy at work over the course of the week with no real opportunity to get much done for my Longmyre campaign other than getting some bases done for the new additions to my Orcish raider party which I hope to be able to showcase in the next couple of days once I've got the last one finished!

In other news, Nic Evans' In the Land of the Sundering Flood has successfully funded which is rather exciting and from the bits and bobs he's posted as updates, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on my copy too!

With all this fantasy shenanigans, I've also been looking through my assorted rulebook collection to see what other games would fit my low fantasy skirmish that I've bee slowly developing and I've found a few likely titles which I'll post about over the next few days along with some mini reviews of them too.

I've also been casting envious eyes at some other blogs to see what exciting stuff the authors are working on and it never ceases to amaze me how creative you all are! Apologies if I don't always post comments but I do love perusing folks gaming projects and speaking of which, I'm amazed to see how the new Old World Army Challenge is developing this year and it's giving me the mad hankering to try my hand at doing something a bit more than a handful of figures over the course of the year.

I'm trying to tamper my enthusiasm for such an insane project because I suspect I'll never get it done but still...

Hopefully I'll recover my senses but we shall see and hopefully tomorrow I'll get the 8th Orc for my painting challenge finished!

In the meantime, All the best!

Literary Distraction: Defoe 1666

Hi!

Just a quick post this morning as my holiday reaches its last day! We're going to be driving back to sunny Dundee tomorrow so today requires laziness to counterbalance it and I've been sat reading my way through Defoe 1666 volume 1 that I picked up in a charity shop in Shrewsbury yesterday.

Set following the Great Fire of London which sparked a zombie apocalypse, it follows the exploits of ex Leveller Titas Defoe who has been recruited as Charles II's Zombie Hunter General and embarks on a rather gruesome quest to deal with the menace.

As usual with Pat Mills and 2000AD, its peppered with lots of pop cultural references and pretty much every historical figure one can imagine from the latter 17th Century makes an appearance. Leigh Gallagher's artwork is suitably gritty and grim for the setting itself in which science has made a massive step forward in a world gone decidedly to the dogs.

If I didn't have a long term project, this would possibly be a great basis for a Mordheim style project where different gangs duke it out in a burnt out ruin of London.

Similarly it fits the Turnip 28 and Trench Crusade sort of vibe that is so popular these days but coupled with the grimness of Mordheim with guns and a mixture of Steampunk and Lacepunk technology which makes for a remarkably interesting sort of game.

Sadly I don't think there are too many miniatures out there that would properly fit the style so lots of conversion and possibly sculpting work would need to go into it but I do recommend folks pick up a copy of the graphic novel if they can as its a rather entertaining read with tons of bits and bobs that could easily be incorporated into any game with relative ease.

I do suspect some small elements may sneak into my fledgeling campaign but at present I'm not sure what!

In the meantime, All the best!