Monday 27 February 2012

Auction Find!

Hi!

Well I was at a local auction last night to drop off a load of tat for my girlfriends mum and while there I spotted a big box of old White Dwarf magazines and managed to pick them up for £3.30 all told!

They will be making their way onto ebay at some point but in the meantime I will be having a good read as quite a few come from back when I started in the hobby in the early 90s and have some nice articles in them!


Some of the Haul!

I also found it contained a couple of books, namely Giggamob and How To Make Wargames Terrain which will also be getting sold off to help fund my projects!

I also spotted that Steve Blease has set up an OLDE SKOOL WARHAMMER blog with some really nice pictures of his old Goblin army and is well worth a peek. Having read through his posts I was struck to realise that all this time I've been rabbiting on about trying to keep in the spirit of fun but obsessing about needing to use old and often expensive miniatures, primarily from Citadel which is in fact missing to point of having fun!

As Steve says its more about having fun and enjoying yourself than slavishly sticking to a certain manufacturer or era. Its also not just about collecting set units or points costs. Just get what you like and enjoy painting!

Taking this advice on board I think I will be able to save considerable amounts of pennies and enjoying my hobby all the more!

All the best!

More Demonworld Releases!

Hi!

RAL PARTHA EUROPE have just released even more of the Demonworld range, this time completing the Orc range and adding some new units to the Dwarves!


All the best!

Saturday 25 February 2012

Fantasy Aerial Combat Revisited

Hi!

Looking at my blog stats I see that by far and away the most popular post has been the one I wrote on fantasy aerial combat. Ive recently been reading Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding and it's got some rather nice ideas in it along with a rather good story.

Essentially its based in a world where air power is more important than land based transport and is pleasingly steampunk with a good dose of fantasy too. Throw in some sky pirates, otherworldly ghouls and lots of derring do and you get the general idea.

As I've already lamented, I don't have a gaming budget but am looking to go through my existing collection to see what i can find thats suitable and have found some of the em4 miniatures plastic fighters and have been wondering if I can press them into service for some aerial combat using Aeronef rules. I also have a couple of bigger vessels and bits and bobs kicking around so will see what I can come up with!

Once I've sorted through it I will post a bit more of an update. In other news Ive got the first few members of my barbarian warband finished and will be trying to add to their numbers over the next week or so until I have a couple of units done. I am also looking at converting some old GW plastic warboars into some sort of Wartower to give them something a bit more impressive.

I must admit painting them has been a bit of a chore as they aren't the most detailed models but I shall persevere as they look ok once finished!

All the best!

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Crucible Map

Our settlement of Kingsford has been established for over a year now and our settlers have discovered a series of ruins which must date back to the old races and predate even the thrice cursed elves. Unfortunately our exploration has been hampered by the savage Orcs who inhabit the land. They see the ruins as holy places and their shamans have turned them against us and now we must fight off hordes of the creatures.

Twice now Kingsford itself has been threatened by the Orc regiments and it has only been held at great cost with fully half the garrison now dead or injured. We have dispatched a strong flotilla containing enough reinforcements to not only hold the settlement but to drive the local tribes from the vicinity so we can explore the ruins free from interference.

Please find contained a map of the land as we know it with the settlements and landscape we have thus far identified.

Thastius Malkarn, Master Militant, Kingsford

The Land of Crucible

Kingsford

Kingsford has been the first port of call for the human settlers who are trickling into Crucible to escape the chaos following the Death. It is a sizeable settlement with a strong stockade surrounding it. Following recent attacks by the Orcish tribes, it has been heavily fortified but still shows the scars of the recent conflict. The town itself is obviously a frontier settlement comprising of many houses thrown up in different styles and made from all sorts of materials ranging from wooden shacks to sturdy stone.

Situated at the head of the Crucible river, Kingsford lies in a protective curve of the river in a highly defensible position and provides a sheltered anchorage for the ships that make the hazardous voyage over the Sea of Storms. From here the forces of the Knights of the Eternal Light sally forth to explore the surrounding lands.

Kharnog Trading Post

The Trading Post of Kharnog marks the landing point of the Dwarven Airfleet. It is a small fortified settlement, easily identified by its landing pads and mooring rigs. Despite its understated appearance, the Trading Post is heavily fortified with a strong garrison and the post actually extends a considerable distance underground as the Dwarves slowly build a new hold to give them a toe hold in the new continent.

Now airships arrive at the post every month and the post has retained its own small airship to give some much needed mobility to the inhabitants. Of late Kharnog Gravelgut, the posts Guildchief has retained the services of a dedicated squadron of gyrocopters to provide protection for the incoming vessels after several were attacked by Elven freebooters.

The Dwarves have also opened up a trade route between the town of Kingsford in the south and Jomsholm in the north. They have also been trading with the local Orcish tribes and have even recruited some of the local tribes to aid in defence and unusually even field local levies in battle.

Jomsholm

Despite being a barbarous lot, the Northmen have made their way to the shores of Crucible and have set up the port of Jomsholm. The inhabitants are an independent minded lot and have thus far retained their position against all comers and have begun heading inland in search of plunder, much to the outrage of the the Orcish tribes of the region.

Jomsholm itself is a haven for many Northerners who have left the frozen lands of the North in search of new land to colonise and it can field a considerable fleet of longships. To the south lies the Cold river which has allowed the barbarians to explore far inland up to the borders of the great redwood forests of the north.

Hansons Point

Hansons Point marks the furthest inland that humanity has ventured into the interior of Crucible. Sadly it was one of the first casualties of the increased hostilities between the settlers and the native Orcs and was raised to the ground by a combined assault by three whole tribes.

Snargs Landing

The Pirate stronghold of Snargs Landing was not much more than a collection of shacks mounted on an outcrop of rock inhabited by the dregs of the races. What marks it out from some of the more temporary settlements that cropped up on the coastline was the discovery of an abandoned Ortec temple in the nearby jungle. Since then the settlement has spread inland to inhabit this natural fortress.

This has come to the attention of the Ortec emperor and his legions have been dispatched to reclaim the temple. Unfortunately for him, the temples new inhabitants have a sizeable force of their own and even recruited from some of the more disgruntled subject races of the Ortecs.

At any one time the Landing has at least half a dozen vessels at anchor while their crews carouse the dubious delights of the settlement and the corsairs have proved increasingly problematical for any vessel attempting to cross the Sea of Storms.

Shalhazaar

It did not take long for the Elves to send an expedition to Crucible. The grim flotilla of skyships crossed the Sea of Storms without incident and disappeared into the interior. They landed near an Orcish Kraal and systematically enslaved or slaughtered the inhabitants. The pitiful survivors were forced to construct a new obelisk and now reside in its dread dungeons awaiting the inevitable death that awaits them at the alters of their masters.

The obelisk stands alone in a swath of dead grass and the ruins of the Orcish Kraal. Now the Elves are moving to raid nearby settlements for slaves and for the sheer cruel fun of it but are meeting stiff resistance from nearby Kraals.

Ortiscoatl

Deep in the great Ortec Jungle lies the mighty city of Ortiscoatl, a massive temple complex surrounded by countless homes of the Ortec emperors subjects. The empire of the Ortecs is founded on blood sacrifice and the Emperors regiments regularly raid surrounding settlements for victims. Many races have become subjects to the Ortec and willingly provide sacrifices to their overlords rather than face their wrath.

The Ortec worship a great beast called the Coatl, a massive winged snake formed from living stone who resides in the mightiest of the stepped pyramids in the centre of the city. Scholars are currently debating if it is in fact one of the princes of the Fallen but without more evidence no one is sure. Several expeditions of Templars have been dispatched to find out but most are never heard from again.

Thursday 16 February 2012

A Guide to the Lands of Crucible

The mists that have shrouded the shores of Crucible for untold centuries have lifted and now the races of Aeroth have dispatched expeditions to claim this strange new land as their own.

The first settlers were dispatched from the Knights of the Eternal Light from Sunpeak and have created a fortified settlement called Kingsford. Situated on the edge of a great savannah, Kingsford is the last outpost of civilisation for thousands of miles.

A View From Kingsford

The settlers have found this new world inhabited and of all things inhabited by Orcs. They are a strange race quite unlike their Eastern cousins as their skin is green in colour and they have formed a powerful civilisation of their own consisting of a large number of interlinked settlements called Kraals and can field considerable military might. Initial contact was rather unfortunate and the settlers of Kingsford have more than once had to fight off waves of howling Orcsh warriors.

To the South lies an unending expanse of rainforest from which few expeditions have returned and those who have are riddled with diseases and make claims of weird and ancient civilisations lying deep within the interior. These are not the ravings of madmen, for deep within the forest, the Ortek pyramids rise towards the heavens and their disciplined orcish regiments issue forth to raid the surrounding lands for slaves and sacrifices.

Jungle of the Ortek Civilisation

Other races have now landed upon Crucibles shores, the Elves have sent forth a sky barque with an elite expeditionary force, the Dwarves have arrived in great airships and even the barbarous northmen have set up camps far to the north in search of booty. Sadly the Fallen have also been sighted and the old enemy from Aeroth may well soon be a common sight upon Crucible too.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Warhammer 3rd Edition Musings

Hi!

Well I was sat waiting on a parcel arriving yesterday and stuck in the house so I thought I would have a rummage through my copy of Warhammer 3rd edition and came across some interesting concepts, especially from a company which is currently so stringent on getting folks to buy more figures and codexes.

In the main rules it says if you cant find a rule or you dont like the existing one, then ignore it and make up your own. Furthermore it even encourages you to think out of the box and have fun and at one point even goes as far as to say you dont need to follow army lists, just use what you have!

The rules themselves are familiar to anyone who has played Warhammer but with a decent level of complexity rather than the tasteless offerings of the newest edition and I think its really going to lend itself to some nice scenario based games.

The only thing its missing really is a custom model generator to allow you to field anything you want. Saying that I have my copy of Rogue Trader to hand which contains a breakdown of points cost so bodging something together shouldn't be too complex.

I am going to try out the basic rules with some counters until I get hold of some suitable miniatures and sort out what force I want to start off with. In all honesty I am stumped at present as theres so much to choose from ranging from Technomancer Dwarves to Slann and even Twisted Elves.

I must admit that I have always been a fan of the Dwarves so think I might make a start with a Dwarven expeditionary force which can be used either on the frontiers of Aeroth or exploring the interior of Crucible.

Boar Company Dwarves

The Boar Company will be making an appearance too, possibly with a large Wildling grunting in their midst and I am going to try and make a few hand casts of them this time so I can bulk out their numbers into a full scale force!

Looking at the Warhammer Armies book it looks like I should need 20 Crossbowmen and 40 Warriors along with some command figures but I think I might start out with 15 Warriors and 10 Crossbowmen and see how I go!

All the best!

Tuesday 14 February 2012

A Tale Of One Gamer Part 1

Hi!

Well I have settled on a new mini project that should tie in all the bits and bobs I have been working on over the last few months. I am going to collect and paint up an army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd Edition.

Why you might ask, when I have been running a blog dedicated to all things Leviathan for the last three years? I must admit I do love the Leviathan setting more than the game itself. The rules have some nice mechanics but really should have had some more playtesting done to them before release and the Earthpower supplement has been lost for good.

I have really enjoyed playing skirmishes using Song of Blades but want some larger scale battles so am going to use Warhammer for the time being until I find anything more suitable.

Why Warhammer in general and an edition thats been out of print for decades? I put it down to reading some other players thoughts on Warhammer that convinced me to take a look at 3rd edition. Its got more of a sense of fun than tournament or power game to it which I like and I think I will enjoy using it, especially for specific scenarios rather than the more usual line up and smash that happens so often these days.

I am also going to be combining and converting backgrounds and settings to include elements of Leviathan, Crucible, Conquest of the Final Realm and even a touch of the New World of Warhammer to give me a setting thats a bit more interesting than the usual and will allow me to fight battles in the parched Eastern Continent of Aeroth and the lush unexplored land to the West, Crucible.

This will not just be a mass battle setting, there will be plenty of opportunities for skirmishing
on the frontiers and exploring the warped world!

Hopefully I will be able to crack on with getting my first regiment sorted within the next month but will also be sculpting some new bits to give these units some real variation. I also hope to post some background articles on the world as I go!

All the best!

Monday 13 February 2012

Brilliant Terrain!

Hi!

I've been keeping a keen eye on QALPHA'S BLOG for some time now as it features lots of really inspirational stuff, especially his terrain:

Qalphas Terrain WIP

More of Qalphas Terrain!

Its still a work in progress but its well worth taking a peek as theres some really fantastic stuff being developed there!

I especially like the use of semi submerged terrain as its a really unusual idea that I've not seen elsewhere and the cork tile islands are looking brilliant too!

All the best!

Sunday 12 February 2012

Warhammer 3rd Editon

Hi!

I've been reading with great interest the goings on over on Somewhere the Teas Getting Cold and Warhammer for Adults as there's some really rather good battle reports getting posted along with some thoughts on this old edition of the eponymous fantasy wargame.


Warhammer 3rd Edition

It's got me to thinking that maybe I could have a go at something similar. I must admit I don't have the budget to collect all those lovely old school miniatures but in 15mm scale all things are possible!

With the rerelease of the Demonworld miniatures range by Ral Partha, and the lovely bits and bobs from other ranges, I reckon it's now possible to collect a good looking force that's full of character for even less than the folks who originally played Warhammer back in the 80s did. Taking a look at the forces in my old and battered copy of Warhammer Armies, I see several that I fancy having a bash at so shall see what I can come up with!

All the best!

Saturday 11 February 2012

New Demonworld Releases

Hi!

RAL PARTHA EUROPE have releases some new Demonworld miniatures in the form of some Dark Elves!




I must admit I like the eastern flavour of their armour and it's got me thinking about the possibility of collecting a 15mm scale old school Warhammer 3rd edition army but I digress....

Hopefully we will see some more quality figures being re-released from them soon as the Demonworld range had some fantastic stuff in it!

All the best!

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Hobby Musings!

Hi!

Well I've had a bit of a think about what I want to do with my hobby. I've decided that for the time being I am going to hold onto my miniatures as folks have already pointed out I am sure that I will regret it in the not too distant future, something I must admit I have found before much to my chagrin!

I still need to reorganise my projects and rethink where I'm going with them but initially I am going to investigate the following:

Fantasy: 28mm scale

I think I am going to just continue painting up what I have and enjoying it! I don't know what setting I will use, if any, but I do enjoy painting larger scale stuff. Big resin war beasts and stuff is going to be mothballed for the moment as I just don't have the space for it so it's going into a box for some future time when I can get back to it!

Fantasy: 15mm scale

Leviathan is going to continue getting some love in this scale but I also want to develop my own range of figures so a new setting is being developed!

Sci-Fi

I've got a fair amout of bits and bobs kicking around for sci-fi and it's a bit all over the place at present and I think I will be working on some Stainless Steel Rat stuff from time to time as I love the setting so much and spent many a happy hour playing scenarios. I also have the void stuff to finish but it may also be taking a back seat for the foreseeable future so I can concentrate on my other projects!

It's been rather cathartic to sit down and actually think about what I am going to do with my hobby. I think tomorrow I am going to go through my miniatures to see what I want to keep handy and what will b getting boxed up and put out of mind for the moment!

All the best!

Gaming in Difficult Times

Hi!

Well I've come to the sad realisation that as things stand I just cant afford a gaming budget so am thinking about ways to continue my hobby as cheaply as possible.

The move to 15mm scale has seen two distinct advantages, I can now collect a decent sized force for very little money and store them in a small space too! Still I find that even this approach is not immune to the fact that I don't have money to spend on my hobby that I used to.

Therefore I've decided to go through all my wargaming stuff and ruthlessly cull it. I have had lots of projects that have been started over the last year or three and never been finished and its time to clear out and have a fresh start.

For example I have some Battletech, Void, Imperial Guard, 6mm sci-fi and fantasy and an assortment of Leviathan resin miniatures that I just cant do anything with at present. Some like my Void stuff will be getting completed as soon as I've finished the great tidy but others are just cluttering up the place and never going to get much done to them if I'm honest. Therefore they will be getting sorted through and ebayed as soon as possible.

Also my Leviathan project in 28mm scale will be getting sold off entirely as I just don't have the space for it or the inclination to paint the remainder if I am honest. I think I've done all I can for Leviathan in 28mm and my 15mm scale stuff is more usable.

I must admit that I have been in a bit of a painting and hobby slump over the last few months as I just cant seem to get myself into the mood for it. Maybe its been the move of house to the new far smaller space and general lack of hobby space or just a bit of a burnout but I do hope to be able to get out of it but at present I am feeling more than a little frustrated.

Hopefully I will be able to shake myself out of it soon and get back to my long hoped for campaign in the Axeblades. In the meantime I do apologise for the lack of any decent posts!

All the best!

Sunday 5 February 2012

Warmachine Colossals

Hi!

I spotted that Privateer Press are planning on releasing some absolutely massive warmachines called Colossals:

Khador Colossal!

I must admit they got me thinking that they got me thinking that Warmachine has some really interesting models and that I could even be tempted to have a bash at collecting a force. This mad thought lasted until I saw just how expensive the models all are! Even the regular infantry are really rather pricey!

With the size of the beasts they could even do with going for 15mm scale!

All the best!