Stuff From the Leadpile 2

Hi!

Heres the latest batch of figures I have finished for an assortment of projects.

First up theres a couple of members of two of the retinues I have been working on for some 2nd edition 40k and Necromunda type skirmishes!

The Catachans have a scout for their kill team. Admittedly he's a crew member for a heavy weapon but I like the pose and expression of the guy and with a little warpaint and tattoos he looks rather decent.

 Catachan Kill Team Scout

Next up theres a pit slave for my Adeptus Mechanicus. She's another of the Ramshackle Games miniatures I have had kicking around for a while and although the sculpting and proportions are a bit rough, she's got loads of character and is a perfect addition to the retinue of Mechanicus.

Adeptus Mechanicus Pit Slave 

Next up I have been rummaging out some Dwarves and Gobbo's so I can get some skirmishes played in Farpoint too! I have a few older figures kicking around and will be painting them up as and when I get chance. I dont have the funds to collect entire armies of old school goodness but I can still stretch to betting one or two as and when I can!

First up theres an old Heartbreaker Dwarf Crossbowman. I have a real fondness for this guy as he's the same sculpt as one of the first figures that ever had!

 Dwarven Crossbowman

Next up theres one of the old Fantasy regiments plastic Goblins. Its odd but they are better sculpts than many of the newer plastic figures out there! I usually paint my Orcs and Goblins brown or yellow but for the proper old school vibe, I've gone for the traditional Green!

Goblin Archer

I have found that painting some 28mm scale figures incredibly relaxing, especially after a very stressful few months in real life. Its been rather therapeutic to say the least and I think I will be carrying on with it as it seems to be about the only thing keeping me sane at present!

I should have a few more bits and bobs finished over the next few days including a couple more Adeptus Mechanicus figures and some Dwarves and possibly even the genesis of a Cybertronic force!

I've been following a rather interesting thread over on LEAD ADVENTURE about Warzone and I've been wondering about doing something similar myself as the Warzone factions would make a brilliant addition to a campaign using Inquisimunda or In the Emperors Name. Imagine an Inquisitorial investigation team featuring some Brotherhood figures or a Megacorp raiding team or even a Dark Legion cell!

I have a fair number of figures from a number of manufacturers in my bits box which would do for several different forces and once I have got everything painted I can always pick up a few more bits and bobs whenever I feel the need. I have come to the opinion that I am unsuited to choosing a single project and better off just painting what I enjoy. Its something I have done from my earliest days of gaming and its been a bit of a trip down memory lane as I reacquaint myself with some of the miniatures I had when I was but a youth!

As I have been enjoying the process so much I have decided to try and try and pick up some of the old figures I have sold off (rather stupidly) over the years. Fortunately most of these figures are still in production or available cheaply online so its not going to cost too much.

All the best!

40k Type Skirmish Games!

Hi!

I've been taking a look for some decent skirmish games to use my 2nd edition 40k miniatures with.

Theres the usual offerings from GW like Necromunda, Gorkamorka and even Inquisitor but I want to try out and have found the two following rules:

IN THE EMPERORS NAME

In the Emperors Name is a new, simple ruleset that allows one to field small forces from both the Imperium and assorted aliens. The rules are very streamlined and looks like it could work really well for quick games in the style of Song of Blades.

It does away with lots of charts and tables for the sake of simplicity and playability and is well worth a peek!

Heres a link to the IN THE EMPERORS NAME FORUM. Its a bit quiet at present but it would be good for folks to take a look, try the rules and even join the forum!

INQUISIMUNDA

Inquisimunda is a combination of Inquisitor and Necromunda which allows players to field pretty much any force or race from the 40k universe and is fairly complex, allowing for all sorts of equipment and abilities for ones models and uses the hybrid 2nd edition 40k mechanics which many players will be used to.

Its perfect for campaign games and has a good level of indepth gameplay that really allows ones warbands to gain lots of character and includes all sorts of excellent little rules that add that extra something to the game including assassinating ones foes and personalising weaponry.

Heres a link to the INQUISIMUNDA FORUM. Again its a bit quiet so please take a look at the rules and forum!

I know theres other rulesets out there but I am going to try both these rulesets out and post a few battle reports and a bit of a review of each with its strengths and weaknesses and it also gives me the excuse to finish off some more miniatures from the lead pile!

All the best!

Stuff From the Leadpile

Hi!

In keeping with my attempts to clear my leadpile I have just finished painting up this fellow:

Mechanicus

Hes actually a resin figure from Ramshackle Games but I painted him up as an Adeptus Mechanicus chappy so I can use him for games of Inquisimunda or In the Emperors Name!

Heres a picture with him next to a gun servitor:

Mechanicus Troops!

I've really enjoyed painting him up and used a different method for priming him, going for a white primer with a brown wash which turned out rather well!

I have a few more figures to paint to add to the force, mainly i-Kore Syntha troops who will make for a somewhat more high tech looking Mechanicus force but I prefer the look than the gothic grimness of GW (not to mention the price difference!)

Next up some fantasy in the form of Dwarves and Goblins!

All the best!

Somewhere on the Border

High in the Firepeak Mountains lie the Dwarf Holds, mighty fortified citadels ruled by powerful clans.  The foothills of these mighty mountains marks the edge of the Dwarves territory and the start of the wild lands of the Sundered Plains and the Red Mesa ruled by warring tribes of Orc and Goblins.

The Border Country

Firepeak Mountains

The Firepeaks are a huge chain of almost impassable mountains which cut through the northern highlands of Farpoint. They are a wild and untamed and home to all manner of strange creatures but the Dwarves have survived and prospered even in this harsh environment.

They have dug deeply into the mountains, sinking their holds into the very living rock and mine its mineral wealth to feed the mighty forges in their subterranean cities to produce all manner of weapons and goods which they trade with some of the other races in return for foodstuffs and other supplies which are difficult to obtain in their mountain fastnesses.

The Firepeaks

The Firepeaks get their name from the mighty volcanos that sit at their heart. These mighty cauldrons of fiery magma belch plumes of ash far into the atmosphere and are revered as holy sites by the Dwarves who believe their ancestors dwell their still, turned to stone from age and the violent eruptions are caused by these ancients striking their anvils as they work and producing the seams of ore which their descendants dig to uncover.

A volcanic eruption viewed from the Firepeaks

The Dwarves have several settlements and keeps scattered along the Eastern slopes of the Firepeaks and from here they send forth expeditions to explore the Sundered Lands for traces of ore, gold and silver not to mention to keep the savage Goblin tribes at bay and off the Road, the Dwarves main trade route to the Endless sea and the Human and Elven settlements that border it. 

It is a dangerous journey and Dwarven caravans are always well protected and heavily armed as the thousands of leagues they must travel are wrought with perils ranging from hostile tribes to terrible wild animals and bandits.

Southpaw Mountains

The Iron Pass marks the split between the Firepeaks and the Southpaw Mountains. The Southpaws are a wild and lawless place but a less harsh environment to live so are inhabited by all manner of races, not least of which are the Dwarves who have constructed the outpost of Mar Vek right onto the cliff face of the Iron Pass. 

The Southpaw Mountains

The Southpaws are currently something of a battleground as the Dwarves seek to drive several Harpie Eyries out of the highest peaks. In return the Harpies are raiding the Holds supply convoys and butchering whatever travellers they come across. 

View of the Southpaw Mountains

Iron Pass

Iron Pass is a steep sided cut that marks the southern tip of the Firepeaks and the northern range of the Southpaws. It was cut by the Iron River, a deep and broad river that has carved its way through the mountains over millennia. The pass also allows access to the Western half of the continent and as such has ben the cause of much contention over the last few hundred years as Orc and Goblin tribes have sought to push west towards the mighty forest that lies beyond the mountains.

Not wanting to face incursions into their territory in the Firepeaks, the Dwarves have built the fortress of Mar Vek to hold the pass against the wilder races and in a trade agreement with the Fae Elven court to the west they have agreed to build and man a mighty wall that will protect the ancient forests from the unsightly presence of the Orc and Goblin tribes.

A View from within the great Iron Pass

Iron River

The Iron River flows from the Firepeaks all the way to the Endless Sea in the east and marks the boundary between the Red Mesa in the south and the Sundered Plains to the north. It provides a much needed source of water to these arid regions and the land bordering it is lush and verdant and has been settled for centuries by several Orc and Goblin tribes along with Dwarven prospectors and even the occasional human adventurer.

The Iron River

Another view of the Iron River high in the Firepeaks

Bear River

The Bear River emerges from its subterranean flow near the Dwarven Hold of Tor Barak which takes its name from the river. It is a narrow but fast flowing river which winds its way through the foothills of the Firepeaks through several mighty falls and treacherous rapids before joining the mighty Iron River.

Headwaters of the Bear River

The Dwarves make great use of this river at points damming it to provide both water and power for their holds. Despite this the river still flows at some depth as the Dwarves know of its importance further downriver.

Sundered Plains

The Sundered Plains is a vast rolling landscape of grassland punctuated by rocky outcrops, twisting streams and and small forests. It is also riven by mighty magical storms resulting in some rather unusual landscapes.

Northern tip of the Sundered Plains

The plains are home to many tribes of nomadic Goblins, Orcs and other creatures and is a dangerous place to live, especially as the magical storms that frequently strike the region can warp both the terrain and its inhabitants.

It is not an uncommon sight to find strange structures, massive statues or piles of rusting machinery cast upon the plain following these storms and as such they attract all manner of adventurers and even small armed expeditions seeking to salvage what they can from these strange deposits.

Warp Wood stand in the Sundered Plains

Naturally these incursions into their territory angers the natives who will often attack these excursions as they see the deposited materials both as somewhere to live and as holy relics delivered by their savage gods to their faithful followers.

Red Mesa

Stretching for thousands of square miles south of the Iron river lies the Red Mesa, a dry desert like land strewn with canyons, mesas, and hoodoos making traversing it a somewhat difficult prospect.

The Red Mesa viewed from the Southpaws

Hopefully this will give a little bit of an overview of the setting! I will be posting some more information on the various settlements and civilisations that occupy it soon!

All the best!

Kings of War

Hi!

I've been taking a peek at the Kings of War rules by Mantic and its looking quite promising.

Handily the figure basing and basic unit types in the game will be suitable to cross over into Warhammer Fantasy too and despite initial misgivings about the Dwarves, I have seen some really rather nicely painted over at HOUR OF WOLVES:

Dwarves by Hour of Wolves

Hopefully my small order will arrive early next week so I can have a bash at putting them together and will post a bit of a review of them too!

I am planning on converting the Dwarves I get to represent something akin to the Clans from Chronopia which should be fairly straightforward with the addition of some boar tusks or horns to their helmets or some feathered plumes. This will also mean that they can double for a Chronopia force too if I should decide to do anything with it too...

Depending on how things go I think I may end up collecting a few more of Mantics Dwarves but no matter what I will be re-working some small elements of them, especially their faces and beards. They look fine for Imperial Dwarves from the Warhammer world with finely tailored beards but for proper Dwarves they are a tad too neat looking and could do with a bit of converting!

The other thing I will be changing is to give them different shields as I do think that round shields suit Dwarves better and will add a bit of individuality and character to different units. 

This brings me onto the background for the force I am planning! The unit will represent one of the regiments of the great Dwarf hold of Kareth Dul which guards one of the only passes through the Firepeak Mountains. Further regiments will be raised, both from the Hold and from some of the outlying settlements as the Dwarven King Gunnar Orinsson seeks to hold onto his territories from marauding bands of Orcs and Goblins.

The army will of course feature the Boar Company acting as a Ranger company and there will be plenty of opportunities for their arch enemy, the rogue sorcerer Rubik Goldhelm to muddy the waters by leading his skeletal legions against them!

The location of the game will be transposed from Aeroth (the setting of the Leviathan game) to Farpoint and the mountainous frontier of the Dwarven empire in the Firepeak Mountains. 

Farpoint is a world driven by magic, wild and ancient and its landscape is constantly changing due to the effect of magical storms. The Dwarven empire lies in the mountainous central region of Farpoint which has survived much of the chaos caused by the storms and is therefore much sought after by the other races who inhabit the world.

Over the coming week or so I will try and outline the history of the planet along with a guide to its inhabitants and civilisations so keep an eye open!

All the best!

Progress Report

Hi!

Well I have been busily working away on a couple of commissions so hobby time has been seriously limited over the last few days but I have managed to get a few bits and bobs done.

The 15mm scale Goffs are all undercoated and the Warboss is just needing his base finishing and he will be ready to be photographed in the morning and the rest should be done by the end of the day too.

Sadly I seem to have run into something of a brick wall with my Warhammer 40k 2nd edition project. I have almost finished stripping a load of plastic Ork arms and got another guardsman ready to be photographed but my enthusiasm for the project has been rapidly eroding. I think the problem is that its not a fantasy project.

As odd as it may sound, I have always preferred fantasy to sci-fi and think this may have had something to do with my inability to concentrate on any of my recent projects which happen to be all sci-fi in scope. Therefore I am going to set them aside for the moment as I dont want to force myself to finish them as painting figures should be an enjoyable experience rather than a stressful one or even worse, a chore!

I am instead moving onto a fantasy one; to paint up a unit of 20 Mantic Games Dwarves that I got cheaply from eBay. I want to see what the quality of them is like and what they are like to paint and if all goes well I may even pick up one or two more!

I am also going to begin development on the setting of Farpoint and try to flesh it out a bit as I have some good ideas but really want to develop them a bit. I am also going to be stepping up my sculpting a bit as I have had an idea (more on that later) and want to run with it to see how it develops!

Its strange that I set up this blog to replace my old Leviathan one as I had become disillusioned with my attempts to keep Leviathan in the public eye end even develop the setting and I find myself in almost the exact same situation only a few months later with a different project. Hopefully my new idea will get me going a bit!

All the best!

A Profusion of Projects

Hi!

Well I seem to be getting a little carried away with different projects again!

I've got all the 6mm scale stuff that I have painted and am slowly working my way through my lead pile too which is real progress!

My 2nd edition 40k project is progressing nicely too as I now have enough figures to represent a decent Imperial Guard platoon and an opposing Ork Goff warband. I've discovered Inquisimunda and In the Emperors Name which will allow me to work on some small skirmish warbands along with Necromunda, Gorkamorka and even Rogue Trader and 2nd edition.

I've spent the last few days stripping paint off Orks and Guard so I can crack on with painting them and should have some progress to show in the next day or so.

I have been pondering investigating the new edition of 40k when it is released later this month but for the time I think I will be avoiding the game as I have the horrible suspicion that it just wont live up to the older editions and will be a bit of a money pit!

Next up theres the 15mm scale stuff I have been working on and once again I have actually done something for it in the form of the first half dozen Goffs. I am hoping to have them painted up in the morning and will post some pictures of the complete squad once they are done.

Finally I have been exploring the possibility of using Mantic Games plastics to cheaply collect a fantasy army. Once I have got some stuff sorted out I will be trying to play a few games using a variety of systems ranging from 2nd and 3rd edition fantasy battle to Kings of War and even Crucible and Leviathan!

I must admit although I have been flitting between projects I have really enjoyed getting back into gaming again and will be trying to catch up with some painting too so that I have some playable forces to go along with it.

Instead of simply concentrating on a single project I will be splitting my time between the following:

Imperial Guard Kill Team

As already mentioned I have enough figures to represent a full platoon of Catachans but will for the time being at least be attempting to get a kill team put together so I can try out some of the 40k inspired skirmish rules but ditching much of the Grimdark setting as its just a bit too gloomy. Instead the action will be taking place in a setting of my own creation (more of which later)

The platoon will eventually consist of 2 squads of Catachans, a Platoon Command and a veteran squad converted to be wearing mesh armour along with a vehicle or two.

Goff Ork Warband

As the classic metals are just so expensive these days I have made do with mostly plastic Orks dating from the old multi part plastics and the 2nd edition box set along with one or two metal figures to act as leaders. I will be painting them up as a raiding force for my Guard to fight against.

15mm Scale Gorkamorka

A slight detour has resulted in me sculpting up a few 15mm scale Orks which I will be using to play Gorkamorka in a smaller and more compact scale. I still need to get a few more sculpted up to round out the first warband along with a couple of 15mm scale vehicles to give me some transports and an excuse to either convert an existing vehicle or sculpt something entirely new.

Fantasy Battle

This has been a project I have had on the backburner for some years now, ever since I first worked on my old Leviathan project and I have now got the impetus to actually do something with it!

At present the plan is to collect a regiment of Dwarves and paint them up before working on some foes for them to fight and alternating between them until I have two small armies! I had been thinking of doing this project in 15mm or even 6mm scale but have settled on 28mm scale using Mantic Games figures as they are reassuringly inexpensive while retaining a decent amount of detail.

Looking at the list I realise I have plenty to keep me going for some time to come but I do feel that I want to do something constructive with my hobby time which has been neer non existant over the last 6 or 7 months.

The next few months should be interesting and hopefully will result in me actually playing some games too!

All the best!