Re-Exploring Old Games: Leviathan

 Hi!

I seem to be getting a bit of a post hobby slump urge to look at old games again which is always exciting, until I realise the possibility of actually creating said project it decidedly marginal at best but this got me to thinking about ways I can actually incorporate the spirit of the old games I love into a more manageable format.

For todays update I'll be looking at Leviathan, possibly the game that has obsessed me the most over the years.

Released in 1995, I picked up this book in Mac's Models on the Royal Mile and was blown away by how awesome it looked. As with all things hobby related it then sat on a bookshelf for 20 years as I left the hobby and sold pretty much everything I had apart from a few old rulebooks that nobody wanted.

Skip forward to 2008 and I found myself at university as a mature student and for some reason I had taken my now old and battered copy of Leviathan with me and sat down to read it one evening. This reignited my obsession and over the next couple of years I set up and ran my Leviathan blog:

I initially attempted to collect and paint whole armies of massive resin monsters and vehicles as well as sourcing infantry as well as speaking to the original creators about any further material they had for Earthpower, the promised but never released supplement but the whole thing was too much to do while trying to study at uni as well as working part time with a long commute to boot so things basically ground to a halt.

Over the next decade I've periodically ventured back into the game, using cardboard counters or my own sculpts to allow me to play the game or at least skirmishes set in the world of Aeroth. 

I found the game was pretty playable using counters but lacked the visual appeal of actual miniatures and despite getting in at least one or two games a year using them, I've never really done much more with classic Leviathan as is.

This brings me to today where I once again find myself wanting to explore Leviathan again but to actually go into the miniature side of things a bit more. 

Before I go any further though I realise that I just cannot face collecting all the miniatures for a mass battle game, especially with all the massive resin warbeasts and engines of destruction that were required for Leviathan (it recommends one use an 8'x4' board which I most certainly do not have!).

Coupled with the fact that while I love the old sculpts, the range is showing its age and it also has an awful lot of stuff missing from even the core rulebook which surely makes any attempt to play the game a futile endeavour.

But then I got to thinking about a two prong approach. Was there a way of putting together an army in a smaller scale that would tick the visuals but also allow me to play a game without spending a fortune or needing a large space and is there a way of capturing the feel of Leviathan in a different game? The answer is kind of. The thing is Leviathan has a lot of unique figures that just don't have anything like them in other scales which is an issue that many of my old game collection has: they are unique for a reason and its getting increasingly difficult, not to mention expensive to get figures that fit the vibe. Similarly the post apocalyptic setting makes for a difficult choice for fantasy gaming.

Before throwing my hands in the air and admitting defeat, I decided to look through my rulebooks for other games systems that I could use to play skirmish games which are driven by an interesting narrative that I could port Leviathan and the world of Aeroth into and came up with the following:

My collection of random rules gave me the options of Rangers of Shadowdeep, Frostgrave and Brutal Quest. You may notice I've gone for primarily small skirmish games as that will allow me to focus on small warbands and a small playing area rather than having to spend a fortune on figures. 

Of these options, I must admit that Brutal Quest is a firm favourite as I've played it a load of times and feel its sandbox nature will lend itself to playing games really well in the grim post Death world of Aeroth. Similarly Rangers of Shadowdeep and Frostgrave allow for both interesting warbands and narrative driven play that I really enjoy so I find myself pondering on having a go. 

I'll need to see what I have in my collection but I figure I could easily start with Brutal Quest level warbands of 4-5 figures and expand the collection so I can play either Frostgrave or Rangers of Shadowdeep without too much stress.

But what about Leviathan? I really want to play the mad mass battle game that it is so I'm looking at putting together some of my Tiny Troops to build a couple of armies and see how I go.

While not super detailed, they do give the feel of a proper miniatures game and are really easy to make so literally anyone can build at least infantry that fits the aesthetics of Aeroth. If this works out, I'll post my progress here as usual and may end up using this approach to allow me to try out other games in my collection that I don't have the time or money to invest in collecting armies for.

With this two prong approach, I've some high hopes of playing out at least a small skirmish or two using Brutal Quest and hopefully a classic Leviathan session and if it goes well, I will use it as an opportunity to build upon any successes I have to keep the hobby mojo going!

Gosh! Looking back at this post makes me realise I've basically jabbered on about what I want to do in yet another project that may or may not take off, but I find laying out an idea and working on it does help get the creative juices flowing. Hopefully I'll have something to show for the weekend but in the meantime, All the best!

Still Alive and Personal Challenge Update

 Hi!

It's been a bit quiet here over the last month or so as I've been busy with all sorts of other things which has resulted in less hobby time than I'd like but I wanted to post a bit of an update on the state of Tales From Farpoint and some of my personal challenges that I've set myself!

First up, I've been beavering away drawing portraits for Planet 28 and have quite a stash of characters to work with and will be working on getting them all statted up for an upcoming campaign in the near future!

I have noticed that I need to source some generic low level goons and a few random encounter villains and NPC's but want to hang on for the moment as I am trying to put together the background to the campaign and am perusing my collection as well as the interwebs for suitable stuff but every time I think I've settled on something, a different idea comes to mind and I can't find the traction I need to settle on the figures I need to get and then sit and paint a small encounters worth of them.

I've also not been entirely idle with the 40k project that I've been waffling about for the last few months and have managed to pick up an incomplete 2nd edition boxed set for the princely sum of £2.99 which contained most of the ruins, books, templates and a smattering of other bits and bobs. I still need to replace my long lost 2nd edition rulebook and need to print out my own vehicle cards, wargear and whatnot but I am getting the classic cardboard ruins based up and looking a bit more presentable!

Once I've got them all done, I plan on posting up some pics but it's a bit slow going as the basing process isn't the most exciting thing to do but the finished pieces are looking a bit better than just loose stacks of card.

One project that I've not got any further with has been my Rangers of Shadowdeep SD scale stuff but I do hope to get back to it at some point once inspiration strikes again...

I've also got loads of other projects in various stages of advance but no doubt I'll flit back to them in the not too distant future as is my wont but I'm rather enjoying the sci-fi shenanigans at the moment and will be concentrating on that until something else strikes my fancy!

Hopefully I'll get back to a more regular update in the coming weeks but in the meantime, All the best!

Rangers of Shadowdeep Project Log Part 3: Zombies!

 Hi!

I've finished the last of the zombies I need for the first scenario of my Rangers of Shadowdeep project:

This gives me enough stuff to play out the scenario as I have a load of giant rats and spiders done already as well as some random civilians but looking at my heroes and characters I find myself wanting to make a more varied cast of figures to choose from rather than just heavily armoured Boar Company troopers and characters.

This may mean that I've got to put off playing the first game a wee bit but I think it's going to be worthwhile in the long run as I'm really enjoying sculpting and painting my own stuff!

Speaking of which, I have been soldiering through my lead and plastic pile painting whatever odds and ends I have needing done and for the most part it's been pretty fun but I picked up one of the multipart Orks with the intention of adding to my Goff Ork warband but I found the process incredibly tedious as the figures lack character and I almost gave up. 

I'll post pictures of the warband as it grows as I do want to finish off the rest of the handful of Boyz but the more of the stuff of my own that I make and paint, the more I tempt myself to have a go at just sculpting all my own figures. Sadly this is a somewhat slower process but rather rewarding so I'll see how I get on with the next of the leadpile figures and find out if I enjoy painting it more as it may just be the more modern figures that I find tedious.

I'll try and get some more pics of the other gubbins I've been working on up tomorrow but in the meantime, All the best!

Rangers of Shadowdeep Project Part 2

 Hi!

As part of my Rangers of Shadowdeep project I needed some zombies for the first scenario and have just finished the first trio!

I made them rather scabby, scarred and gribbly and really enjoyed working on the little guys and gave them a mixture of worn military and civilian attire to represent the unfortunates who have been afflicted with the gift of unlife by the Children of the Worm!

I also rummaged out another of my Boar Company troopers who had been sat primed and got him painted too!

Armed with a two handed flail, this little guy means business and adds some heavy hitting power to my Boar Company force. I actually have four of them all together so will be able to field a unit of them in larger games. 

Adventurers disturb a group of shambling Children of the Worm

I've got three more zombies to paint and will post another update in the next few days once they are done along with the intrepid rangers who will be exploring the Shadowdeep, or the wild frontier of Aeroth!

I've also got another post that I'm putting together with some musings about playing some other games that I've got lying around and one or two I'm contemplating picking up and having a bash at in the future but more on that next time as it doesn't really fit in with my Rangers project.

In the meantime, All the best!

Rogue Trader in 2022

Hi!

Just a quick post today. I managed to play my first game of 2022! 

I went for Rogue Trader and used my Orks and Inquisitorial Agents and it was utterly fantastic to get a game played after quite a few months. Instead of going for any sort of scenario I just went for a straight up battle which saw the Orks getting a bit of a beating from the forces of the Imperium. 

While the rules are a bit clunky and slow compared to more modern rulesets, Rogue Trader is such fun to play I always enjoy playing small skirmishes with a couple of squads and the odd character a side. I suspect that larger games with lots of characters and vehicles would slow things down massively.

The highlight of the game was my Ork warboss killing two Space Marines in close combat and almost breaking through the Imperial line before his small force got shredded and the lone Kommando sneaking within bolt pistol range of Inquisitor Fisher and managing to wound her before Glitterberry the Eldar shot him down with a burst of Shuriken Catapult fire.

I really need to paint up more Orky boyz as they need some decent sized mobs to soak up fire and still have enough bodies to pile into combat and want to add some more characters to my collection to give me more options for my games. 

For my Imperial forces, I want to get my ships crew up to a couple of full strength squads as they get squished in literally every single game they've been in as there just aren't enough of them!

I've got quite a few assorted odds and ends lying around that will need painting up for both forces over the coming months but I also have some Eldar in the works which should give me enough to use in small skirmishes using Rogue Trader and Planet 28!

In other news, my copy of Rangers of Shadowdeep has arrived and I got a copy of Supersystem on the cheap too which I'm keen to give a try at some point too. I've also been working on getting a couple of Worm Cultists finished for my Somewhere on the Border project and will share photos once they arrive. 

I've also got some more bases ordered up so I'll be able to get stuff based and painted in the coming weeks too which is handy.

Hopefully I'll get chance to play the first scenario for Rangers of Shadowdeep this month once I've got the odds and ends finished but will be posting the odd battle report for some other games and will be posting whatever random bits and bobs I manage to paint in the meantime. 

In the meantime, All the best!

January Project: Rangers of Shadowdeep Part 1

 Hi!

I've managed to pick up a fairly cheap copy of the new edition of Rangers of Shadowdeep from Ebay and am planning on using January as a challenge month to get myself the gubbins to play the campaign included in the book.

I've settled on using my own sculpts as I have loads of stuff to use for my Ranger and companions and assorted NPC's as well as Giant Spiders and Rats.

On top of the vermin, the scenario also calls for a minimum of six zombies so I've spent my last couple of days off sculpting some!

I need to sculpt a couple more to give me some flex in game and in the post apocalyptic Aeroth, they will be Children of the Worm, reanimated Revenants enslaved to the Great Devourer Worm, a gigantic bioengineered creature that inhabits the southern desert. It's worshippers give the gift of unlife to those desperate or unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches. By eating the flesh of the Worm, they become immune to disease and can withstand a terrific amount of punishment before being destroyed. Unfortunately the side effects can result in them devolving into a shambling zombielike creatures with only the bare minimum of intelligence!

Irksomely, I've run out of 20mm round bases so will need to pick up some more before I can get them painted but I'm going to crack on with getting my sculpting and will be adding a couple of Worm Cultists, a Worm Priest and a Blessed Hulk which will see use in both Brutal Quest and A Song of Blasters and several other games that I plan on playing during the course of the year! 

I'll be posting another update in a weeks time, hopefully with some painted figures or some built scenery but in the meantime, All the best!

Rangers Of Shadow Deep?

 Hi!

I've found myself perusing with interest some battle reports of Rangers of Shadow Deep and must admit that I'm finding myself rather tempted to have a bit at a bash at it in the new year once the festive season and all its business is over with.

I'd initially ignored the game but have recently watched Ash of Guerrilla Miniature Games campaign and it looks pretty interesting and actually reminded me of the old Simon R Green Forest Kingdom books, especially Blue Moon Rising and Blood and Honour.

They were cheesy, pulpy fantasy and as a teenager I absolutely loved them and for a while in the 90's Simon R Green was quite a popular author but as tastes change, he seems to have somewhat vanished from most bookshops and his books are largely out of print which is a bit of a shame as they're well worth a read but I digress!

What I'm finding myself tempted with is that if I was to embark on this project I have three different options. One is to use proper old school figures and slowly build a themed collection. This would be a great way for me to feed the need to collect some awesome old figures and paint them up and there's tons of brilliant stuff to choose from as the RPG lite sort of game that Rangers is allows one to put together some interesting options.

The downside to such a project is that I would need to spend an amount of cash to get the figures I needed and a lot of the old Citadel stuff I covet is getting to be silly prices on Ebay and while there are some really nice and characterful sculpts from modern producers, the amount of detail on may is off putting to say the least and I'm aware of the fact that I tend to start projects and not finish them!

The second option is to set the action in my world of Aeroth and sculpt my own figures. This has the added benefit of getting me more interesting stuff for my Boar Company to fight and quite a few folks have mentioned that they like seeing them in action.

I'm currently pretty drawn to this option as I really do want to flesh out the warbands I have access to and I do enjoy sculpting the little chaps but there is also a third option that may yet win out: 

Robots of Scrap Deep! Yes I'm thinking of pootling about with setting the action in a planet wide scrapyard and making the rangers and their foes robotic!

Goodness knows how things will go as there's not much I can do at the moment as work is pretty full on but in January I hope to lay out some goals for myself to work towards and it may be a fun project to work on!

Either way, I'm going to pick up the PDF and see what it's like and will see how things go from there but I'm leaving my options open for the time being as I genuinely don't know which approach I will end up going for. 

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 96: Narrative Fantasy Gaming

 Hi!

I was excited to see an email coming through informing me that my copy of Brutal Quest should be heading my way soon and I should have the PDF on Friday!

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the book as my recent sci-fi skirmishing has reignited my interest in playing fantasy too which got me onto thinking about what kind of game experience I want to play.

In years gone by I would have said either mass battle ala Warhammer or at least decent sized warband skirmishes like Chronopia or Leviathan but having watched a lot of videos of Mordheim, Frostgrave, Rangers of Shadowdeep and even Warhammer Quest (many thanks to GUERRILLA MINIATURE GAMES for putting on so many inspiring games over the years for us to enjoy!) I'm finding myself drawn ever more towards small skirmishes or even adventuring parties with heavily scenario driven and RPG or at least Fighting Fantasy style encounters which deliver a story not just a bloodbath.

Following my recent experience with sci-fi skirmishing, I'm finding the prospect of painting up a handful of adventurers and assorted villains an awful lot less intimidating than the prospect of painting a full on warband.

Coupled with the fact that I really do have the attention span of a goldfish and flit from project to project at the drop of a hat, such an endeavour isn't beyond even my feeble abilities at staying focused.

I'm really looking forward to giving Brutal Quest a run through as if it's anything like Planet 28, I'll be able to play a game in 30-45 minutes with two or three figures a side so we shall see how things go with it and I'm seriously contemplating picking up Rangers of Shadowdeep as it actually looks excellent. The only thing giving me pause at the moment is the price point. £35 for a hardback rulebook is pretty steep but if it plays as well as it appears to, it would be worth the expense.

I'm not planning on stopping the sci-fi skirmishing either as I have my old stuff from storage needing refreshing and pressing into service as well as the warbands I've painted during lockdown. I am noticing that I do have a few gaps in my collection that needs filling, mostly in the form of random encounters but also specific models or units but I can quite happily bodge along with what I've got as I slowly expand my forces.

I'll post a review of Brutal Quest as soon as I've had chance to read through it and will be posting up some pics of my newly reworked figures as I go but until then, All the best!