tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1380426205605568242024-03-04T22:10:40.790-08:00The Lead MountaineerEarly Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-36348546177962144562018-11-30T02:00:00.000-08:002018-11-30T02:00:12.092-08:00Arnor Lives! Plus of course some rambling...With the weather (only slightly) curtailing my wanderings in the Great Outdoors, I have been back at my painting desk feverishly churning through my army of Arnor for <em>Dragon</em> <em>Rampant</em>, plus a couple of units for Angmar. I'm relieved to report that they are now complete! Next year I'll be looking to Rohan and Isengard and the Battle at the Fords of Isen, and then it's on to Mirkwood...<br />
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I'm still getting in regular gaming of course- though my tastes (and those of at least one of my gaming groups) are leaning more towards RPGs of late- the ubiquitous D&D (3.5 edition) of course, but also Call of Cthulhu, with the new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play waiting in the wings...<br />
My favourite type of miniature wargaming has always featured strong narrative elements (take <em>Dracula's</em> <em>America</em>, for example!), but I feel that this aspect is dominating my gaming more and more, and will likely become the focus of my miniature collecting/painting going forward- expect more 'stories' rather than 'battle-reports' on here in the future...<br />
On this subject, I recently discovered the fantastic 'Nightfolk' range of miniatures by <strong>Northumbrian</strong> <strong>Tin Soldier</strong>- brilliant, whimsical figures with an old-school feel that evoke the influences of my childhood- films like <em>Labyrinth</em>, <em>Dark</em> <em>Crystal,</em> and the art of Brian Froud! Taking advantage of the recent sales, I picked up Sly Ralf's Boys and the Foggy Peak Goblingtons sets- who knows where this will end?<br />
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On the game design front I'm tinkering away on a few RPG systems of my own- who knows if they will ever see the light of day beyond my circle of gaming friends, but I'm enjoying the process regardless- and that, my friends, is all that matters!<br />
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I'll leave you for now with a few photos of a clash between Arnor and Angmar, somewhere on the North Downs- and as always, apologies for the fuzzy camera-phone photos! I am also thinking of making a more suitable backdrop for my photos- my living-room doesn't quite evoke Middle Earth, does it?!<br />
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<em>The battle lines close-in...</em></div>
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<em>Plucky Hobbit archers harass the barbarians of Carn Dum from the flanks!</em></div>
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<em>Riders of Arnor intercept Wargs trying to outflank the Arthedainian shield-wall.</em></div>
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<em>The Orcish hordes!</em></div>
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<em>King Arvedui and Malbeth the Seer face down the Witch King himself and his fell spirits.</em></div>
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Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-13487387948443720732018-08-12T01:23:00.001-07:002018-08-12T01:23:34.868-07:00Return to Dracula's America, Part 3- Louder Than WordsHere we are with the last in this little 'mini-series' of Posts giving you new rules to try out in your games of <em>Dracula's America</em>.<br />
This time we will be looking at some new rules for Actions, to give your models some additional, dynamic options during play.<br />
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The usual disclaimer applies here- these are not yet 'official' amendments to the rules, so you should always agree to their use with your opponents beforehand. Please do give them a go, though, and see what you think- any feedback can be shared with me either here or on the Lead Adventure Forum (I don't have Facebook so won't be able to keep track of things on the Player's Page!).<br />
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Let's get to it:<br />
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<strong>SPRINT.</strong><br />
Once per Activation, an unengaged model that is on foot may Sprint instead of making a normal Move Action.<br />
For the duration of that Move, the model adds +2" to it's Move Rate (so typically giving a total movement of 6"). However, this Move must be made in a straight line- choose the direction you will Sprint before making the Action.<br />
You can use Sprint to Charge or engage an enemy.<br />
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<strong>SNAP-FIRE.</strong><br />
Once per Activation, a model may Snap-Fire instead of making a normal Shoot Action.<br />
This Action must always be made against the closest visible Target, and the Shooter makes a 1 Die Shooting Test that can never be modified in any way.<br />
If a Hit is scored, then the Target must make a 1 Die Nerve Test- if Successful, they are unaffected. If they Fail this Test they are marked as Done (think of them as pinned-down by the wild incoming fire).<br />
As soon as the Snap-Fire is resolved, the Shooter's Action ends immediately- using a Skill or Weapon (such as a Repeater Rifle) does not allow you to make any additional shots in the same Action!<br />
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<strong>BLIND-FIRE.</strong><br />
Once per Activation, a model may Blind-Fire instead of making a normal Shoot Action.<br />
Resolve a Snap-Fire attack using the rules above (this counts as your Snap-Fire for that Activation), but treat the shot as being made from a position 1" away and in LOS of the Shooter. This must be a position that would be accessible to the Shooter, and allows you to represent things like a model quickly ducking from around a corner to get in a hasty shot, before ducking back into cover.<br />
In this way, you can potentially avoid triggering an enemy model on Lookout.<br />
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<strong>LIE PRONE.</strong><br />
An unengaged model on foot may Lie Prone at the end of any Move Action. Lie the model on it's side and give it a Prone marker to show this (and to differentiate it from Downed models).<br />
A Prone model can stand back up, but this takes up an entire Action. Until then it may be harder to see, counts as being in Cover against Shooting (even if in the open), may Move up to 2", may not Charge or otherwise engage an enemy, cannot hold a Bystander and suffers a -1 Die Modifier in a Fight. It may still Shoot or Cast Arcane Powers.<br />
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So far I've found these options to be good fun, and that they serve to make the game even more cinematic; but let me know what you think after giving them a go!<br />
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I'll be back in the near future with some more Drac.Am painting...Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-85702334395109718772018-08-10T09:43:00.000-07:002018-08-10T09:43:15.545-07:00Return to Dracula's America, Part 2- Regarding Summoning, and the Gentle Art of Hitting Things.Hello, folks!<br />
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Here is the second batch of optional rules for <em>Drac.Am</em> for you to take a look at- as before, please give them a try and let me know what you think, but remember that these<strong> aren't</strong> official new rules; simply some 'work in progress' options for you to try out ahead of a future errata/FAQ...<br />
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Don't forget to spread the word- the more people we have testing them out, the better!<br />
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First up, Fighting- I know that some people find this a little underwhelming compared to shooting, and this was deliberate since I wanted this to be a game about close-range fire-fights rather than a face-to-face slugging match! But for those who favour fisticuffs, here are some new rules to try out:<br />
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<strong><u>FIGHTING.</u></strong><br />
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<li>When you Strike your opponent, their Save is determined by the<strong> total</strong> Successes you scored, rather than the difference between your totals.</li>
<li>Shoving works exactly as before- you push your opponent away a number of inches equal to the difference between totals.</li>
<li>If the Defender wins the Fight, they will <strong>not</strong> Strike their Attacker. Instead, they may either remain engaged or Shove their opponent away.</li>
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Now here's an alternate idea for Summoning in the game- some players feel that this can get a little out of control (especially with an optimised Crossroads Cult Posse!), so here is one possible solution to this:<br />
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<strong><u>SUMMONING.</u></strong><br />
If your Posse has the ability to Summon other models during play, you will generate a 'Pool' of 4 Summoning Points (SP) at the start of each game.<br />
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SP are expended whenever you Summon a model during that game- whenever you successfully Summon a creature, reduce your Pool by the corresponding amount of SP shown below. <br />
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Use a piece of spare paper to track the number of Points you have available during play, and ensure you keep your opponents updated on how many SP you have remaining as the game progresses!<br />
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<li><strong>Lesser Entities</strong> cost 1/2 an SP each.</li>
<li><strong>Minor Entities</strong> cost 1 SP each.</li>
<li><strong>Major Entities</strong> cost 2 SP each.</li>
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<em>For example, I successfully Summon a Behemoth- this costs me 2 SP. I now have 2 SP remaining in my Pool. Later that game, I Summon a Lesser Entity- this costs me 1/2 an SP. I now have 1 and-a-half SP remaining in my Pool!</em><br />
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<strong><u></u></strong>Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-17680385135478248782018-08-10T03:56:00.000-07:002018-08-10T03:56:17.715-07:00Return to Dracula's America. Part 1- 'Tis But A Scratch!Time to blow the cobwebs off this Blog...<br />
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While my gaming time has been limited due to me taking advantage of the dry weather (though my Church of Dagon Posse is coming along nicely), I haven't been idle behind the scenes- between myself, Northstar Miniatures and Osprey Games you will hopefully start to see a gradual release of additional material for players of <em>Drac.Am</em> over the coming months!<br />
While I can't give too much away right now, expect new rules for Twilight Order and Red Hand players, new Factions, new Hired Guns and Mercenary Drifters, rules for setting your games and campaigns in a new environment, and extended background dealing with the aftermath of <em>Forbidden Power- </em>even a look into the origins of Dracula and vampirism. I'm also working on a 'choose your own adventure' style 'branching narrative campaign' to tie it all together...<br />
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Hopefully we can round it all off with an Errata/FAQ, and a few optional or updated rules- in that spirit, I thought I'd share an idea for new Injury Tables with you here, so you can have a crack at them and maybe even give me some feedback! I intended the existing Injury system to be pretty unforgiving, to represent the dangers of living in a world populated by monsters (human and otherwise), but I'm aware that it can be a little too 'rich' for some- here, then, are a set of (slightly) more forgiving Injury Tables for the faint of heart!<br />
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<strong><u>INJURY TABLE.</u></strong><br />
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<strong>1 = Dead!</strong><br />
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<strong>2-4 = Lasting Injury.</strong> Roll a D5 on the Table below.<br />
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<strong>5-9 = Close Call.</strong> No effect; the model is unharmed.<br />
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<strong>10 = True Grit!</strong><br />
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<strong><u>LASTING INJURY TABLE.</u></strong><br />
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<strong>1 =</strong> <strong>Old Wound.</strong><br />
<strong>2 = One-Eyed.</strong><br />
<strong>3 = Limp.</strong><br />
<strong>4 = Weakened.</strong><br />
<strong>5 = Laid-Up. </strong>You may pay $5 for medical treatment at this point to treat this as a Close Call.<br />
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Please feel free to share this on the Players Facebook Page, or discuss it with me via the Lead Adventure Forum- the more folks that give it a try, the better! Let me also just reiterate that these are still WIP and are not 'official' amendments to the existing rules- as usual, both you and your opponent/s must agree to their use beforehand!<br />
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Next up, some options for Summoning...Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-19900059995646063792018-06-15T06:58:00.003-07:002018-06-15T06:58:45.530-07:00A Shameless Plug...What with there being a period of unseasonable weather (sunshine in <em>June</em>?! The world has gone mad, I tell you!), things have been pretty quiet on the gaming front this last month or so- hence the dearth of Posts here. Though I've still managed to flap my hobby-butterfly wings, and started a <em>Gangs of Rome</em> project- more on that very soon, I promise!<br />
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But I digress... Here is the titular Shameless Plug, to let you know that Northstar Figures have just started their 'Nickstarter' pre-order programme for <em>Dracula's America: Forbidden Power</em>- there is money to be saved, and free miniatures (plus some very nice acrylic tokens) to be had if enough people jump aboard! The link is below:<br />
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<a href="http://nstarmagazine.com/DRACULA_SHADOWS_OF_THE_WEST_FORBIDDEN_POWER.htm">http://nstarmagazine.com/DRACULA_SHADOWS_OF_THE_WEST_FORBIDDEN_POWER.htm</a><br />
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And now back to our regularly-scheduled programming...<br />
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Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-67484046197285824832018-05-11T03:48:00.002-07:002018-05-11T03:48:25.123-07:00The Clouds Burst, Part 2Well that last Post was a bit long-winded!<br />
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So let's move on to Scenario 2- in this, the Free Folk have fallen back towards the lower slopes of Erebor as the armies of Bolg pursue them. This game was played across the table diagonally, with the Gates of Erebor off-table to the Free Folk's left and the lower slopes behind them.<br />
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Serried ranks of spearmen- Dwarf, Elf and Man alike- presented a wall of glittering points towards the enemy. Unperturbed, the forces of Evil came on in a great rush- accompanied by a Troll!<br />
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Rather predictably, there wasn't too much manoeuver from the Free Folk in the early game as they assumed their Wall of Spears in the centre and on the left, while Mirkwood Archers stood on the right with arrows nocked...<br />
The Goblins charged forwards en masse, with the Troll lumbering up behind them and Wargs once more prowling on the flanks.<br />
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<em>*The Free Folk nervously stare down the onrushing horde...</em></div>
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With the distance closing, white-fletched Elven arrows began to fall amongst the packed ranks of Goblins and casualties began to mount- one Unit of cowardly scum even fled in tatters before the deadly rain of Elf-Shot! This had the effect of driving the bulk of the Evil force away from the Elves- straight towards the Dwarves on the left flank...<br />
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At that moment, a great cry of horror went up as yet more Goblins suddenly appeared behind the Free Folk, clambering over and down the lower slopes of Erebor to catch the defenders in a deadly pincer move!<br />
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<em>*It's a trap!</em></div>
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Denied any targets, the Elven Archers now turned smoothly and let fly at the ambushing Goblins- once again they proved deadly accurate, and countless foul creatures tumbled from their vantage point with despairing cries- the remainder routing in panic. Under cover of this lethal bow-fire, the Elven Spearmen marched up to confront the surviving Goblin ambushers as they descended.<br />
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Meanwhile, a few desultory skirmishes were fought on the left- the Goblins and Wargs had the worst of it, but even so many brave Dwarves would never see the Iron Hills again. Repeated waves of attackers battered the Dwarven lines relentlessly, as the forces of Evil played for time and the Troll loomed ever-closer...<br />
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<em>*Can the Dwarves kill enough Goblins before the Troll reaches them? Errr...</em></div>
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A great groan of dismay went up from the Free Folk as once again the relentless pressure of Goblin wave attacks bore fruit as the Dwarf Warriors on the left collapsed and were over-run by howling Wargs, which began to rampage through the backline, hoping to link up with the Goblins coming down the mountainside. The spear-armed Dwarves finally managed to destroy the Goblins they were facing but it was too late, as the ominous shadow of the Troll fell across them...<br />
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When things seemed to be at their bleakest, another shout rose above the din of battle- this time accompanied by the thunder of falling masonry as Thorin, the King Under the Mountain and his Company sallied forth! Smashing into the Goblin ambushers like a thunderbolt, they trampled the surprised creatures and continued on into the Wargs prowling the rear of the Free Folk lines. Wiping dark blood from their weapons, and mourning the loss of Bombur, Bofur, Bifur, Nori, Dori, and Nori they turned to face the Troll as it enthusiastically tore through the beleaguered Dwarf Spears...<br />
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<em>*...And cue the dramatic theme music- Thorin takes charge of the situation!</em></div>
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But the sixth Battle Turn had now ended (and it was getting late!), so it was time to determine the winner of the Scenario- though they had blunted the Goblin attack, the Free Folk had fewer surviving Units in play and so the Shadow was once again triumphant- though only just!<br />
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Next week will see us play the final Scenario, as the ragged survivors of the Free Folk confront Bolg and his minions- will Beorn and the Eagles turn up in time? Will we be able to squeak a Pyrrhic Victory by killing the Goblin King? With my dice rolling, who knows!..<br />
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Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-80882230554632590642018-05-11T02:53:00.001-07:002018-05-11T02:55:20.007-07:00The Clouds Burst, Part 1Last night, I finally got to use my Battle of Five Armies collection in a game- two games, in fact! In a happy coincidence we had five players- Tony and Tom would command the Wargs and Goblins respectively, while myself, John and Andy would take control of the Dwarves, Elves and Humans; with control of Gandalf being shared between us!<br />
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As I've mentioned briefly before, I had decided to break the events of the Battle into three Scenarios- each game would represent a smaller 'snapshot' of the larger struggle, and so a little 'Gamer's Licence' has been used! In general though, I hoped to represent the broad storyline of the conflict.<br />
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Before going any further, I will admit that I love the <em>Dragon Rampant</em> rules. They are quick to pick up and their unpredictability makes for some nice narrative moments. They allow you to be creative in the Units you field, and it's 'large skirmish' scale means you don't need to paint hundreds of models- for someone who gets easily distracted from one project to another, this is a real plus!<br />
Some will say it's not suited to larger battles, but with a little bit of imagination and flexibility I think they can still serve you well...<br />
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Having said that, a few changes were made for these Scenarios-<br />
<ul>
<li><strong>Battle Turns. </strong>Because these Scenarios called for certain events to happen at certain times, or to have a set time limit, we split each into 6 Battle Turns. In each Battle Turn, each side would get a Player Turn.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><strong>Proximity. </strong>We prefer a 1" minimum distance between Units as opposed to the usual 3". We also allow friendly Units to pass through one another, as long as neither is Battered.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><strong>Command Chits.</strong> In <em>DR,</em> failing to order a Unit ends your Turn immediately. This can be a little too random for some, so we decided that each side would roll a D6 at the start of every Battle Turn to determine how many Command Chits they would receive: <strong>1 = No Chits, 2-5 = one Chit, 6 = two Chits</strong>. Each Chit was basically an 'extra life' that allowed you to maintain the initiative following a failed Activation Test.</li>
</ul>
<strong>SCENARIO ONE.</strong><br />
The Elves, Men and Dwarves face off against each other while Gandalf (Bilbo in tow) strides between the rival forces and tries to defuse the situation! Meanwhile, the forces of Evil pour onto the battlefield, catching the Free Folk unprepared...<br />
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<em>*The set-up. Bickering Free Folk on the left and the hordes of Shadow on the right!</em></div>
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Evil went first, and the hordes of Goblins charged across the plain- meanwhile the Wargs held back a little and attempted to outflank the Elves. The Free Folk desperately tried to pull back into a battle-line, but the confusion caused by the sudden arrival of the ravening hordes meant they were slow to do so (all their Activation Tests suffered a -1 penalty in the first Battle Turn!).<br />
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The Bowmen of Esgaroth abandoned the rocky hill and fell back towards Gandalf. On their right flank, the Esgaroth Warriors formed up into a Wall of Spears just in time- the first wave of Goblins crashed into them, while the Elven Spearmen behind failed to Activate and stood watching the carnage as the Men repulsed the Goblins at terrible cost; only to be pounced upon by a pack of Wargs! Battered by this experience, the Men fell back with their defensive formation in tatters!<br />
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Meanwhile on our left flank, the Dwarf Warriors caught another mob of Goblins as they rounded the hill- great slaughter was inflicted on both sides (mainly because my dice rolling was so bad!), and their long hatred for one another saw both Units wiped out (In actual fact, both Units failed their Courage Tests and Routed, but our explanation is much more heroic)!<br />
Our left flank was now wide open, but thankfully only a few Goblin Archers were now present there and seemed reluctant to exploit the hole in our defences...<br />
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As yet more Goblins crested the hill and poured down into the valley, the Elves finally woke up and heroically interposed themselves between the onrushing hordes of Evil and the ragged Men of Esgaroth. Repulsing the Wargs harrying the retreating Men, they assumed a Wall of Spears in time to blunt another Goblin attack- routing the cowardly curs in a flurry of leaf-shaped spear-tips!<br />
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<em>*At the height of the fighting- the Free Folk are hard-pressed on all sides!</em></div>
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Nearby, Gandalf raised a hand and lightning flashed across the battlefield! It struck a mob of Goblins and caused terrible casualties, but somehow the fiends continued their rush and caught the Bowmen of Esgaroth. Despite the deaths of many comrades, the Men fell back Battered but unbowed.<br />
Shrieking in fury, the Goblins charged again and this time the Bowmen were cut down where they stood! As another wave of Goblins crested the hill, Gandalf's magic once again struck the Bowmen's killers and routed them- the craven survivors scurrying back to their lairs, now shrieking in terror!<br />
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<em>*The Elves and Men stand together as it appears the forces of Evil are faltering...</em></div>
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Meanwhile the Elves and surviving Men formed a wedge of bristling spear-points to meet the fresh Goblins coming down the hill, their grim resolve also keeping the circling Wargs at bay.<br />
At the last moment the Goblins changed direction as if driven by some dark will and started heading towards Gandalf, who looked a little exposed as he stood with Bilbo peering from behind the Wizard's cloak... Taking advantage of the confusion, the Wargs saw their opportunity and pounced on the Men of Esgaroth, having circled around the Mirkwood Spears while their pack-mates kept the Elves occupied to their front. The screams of dying Men were soon silenced by the triumphant howling of wolves!<br />
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<em>*Things look grim for the Grey Pilgrim...</em></div>
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With that last combat, the sixth Battle Turn ended and with it the Scenario- incredibly close, but Evil had won a narrow victory as the Free Folk fell back towards Erebor...<br />
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Part 2 on it's way!<br />
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<br />Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-42744532055930152862018-05-10T05:51:00.000-07:002018-05-10T05:51:12.607-07:00The Gathering of the Clouds, Part 5Just a quick Post today, to show you my finished Mirkwood Elves contingent!<br />
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These are the new, long-awaited <em>Oathmark</em> plastics and they are very nice indeed- understated (for Elves) and practically-attired for battle!<br />
No idea what the runic pectoral disc is about, but to my mind it helps to set the Elves apart as a unique culture with their own, alien aesthetic...<br />
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<em>*Mirkwood Spearmen form up for battle.</em></div>
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As I think I mentioned previously, I wasn't too keen on the shields you get with the kit as they were a bit too 'War-Hammery' for this project; the kite shields really do the job though.<br />
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Colour-wise I went for the predictable 'Wood Elf' palette of greens and browns, but decided to go for bronze on the helmets and armour trim- I'll save the silver for High Elves (if/when I get around to them)! <br />
Likewise I went for a selection of 'Celtic' hair colours, and used three different tones of green (though they don't really show up that well in the photos) to make them appear less uniform and a little 'Wilder, and less wise'...<br />
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<em>*It wouldn't be Elves without archers!</em></div>
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Tonight the Ingleton lads are coming over for a game- this will be more of a play-test of the first Scenario for the Battle of Five Armies, which I am breaking down into three Scenarios to better suit the smaller scale of the <em>Dragon Rampant</em> rules.<br />
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<em>*Another blatantly staged photo- Elves ambush Goblins along a forest road. Typical Elf propaganda!</em></div>
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Expect a report on how it went in the next couple of days!<br />
Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-20950724998843918322018-05-02T01:53:00.000-07:002018-05-02T01:53:11.226-07:00The Gathering of the Clouds, Part 4.The end is in sight!<br />
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Last week I managed to finish Thorin's Company and Bilbo Baggins; and over the weekend I got Bolg and his Guard completed as well- all that remains is for my <em>Oathmark</em> Elves to arrive, and that will be the last contingent for my Battle of Five Armies project!<br />
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Some of you may have already seen Thorin's lads over on the Lead Adventure Forum, but for everyone else here are a few shots- I went for fully armed and armoured figures to represent them as they might have looked during the Battle, and I also multi-based them as I'm classing them as Elite Foot rules-wise (such units are traditionally 6 models strong, hence six bases!); I have plans for individually based figures in hoods and travelling gear in the future...<br />
You might have noticed that every Dwarf also bears their 'hood colour' somewhere about their person, as noted in the Unexpected Party chapter of <em>The Hobbit!</em><br />
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<em>*Thorin (centre), Fili (L) and Kili (R) (all </em>Oathmark<em>).</em></div>
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<em>*L-R: Dwalin, Balin. Dori and Nori (</em>Oathmark<em> and </em>Conqueror Dark Age Dwarves<em>).</em></div>
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<em>*L-R: Bifur, Ori, Gloin, Oin (again, a mixture of </em>Oathmark<em> and </em>Conqueror<em> Dwarves).</em></div>
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<em>*L-R: Bilbo, Bombur and Bofur (</em>GW, Foundry Norse Dwarf <em>and </em>Oathmark<em> again!).</em></div>
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Opposing our brave Company of Dwarves we have Bolg and his Guard- these are all <em>Oathmark </em>Goblins! Again, these will count as Elite Foot during the game.</div>
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<em>*Couldn't resist staging this shot of Bolg's last moments! </em></div>
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<em>"Er, pointing at him won't do us much good, Chief!.."</em></div>
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I'm itching to get on with actually playing a game now- I happen to be off work next week, so hopefully I can rattle through the Elves and have an AAR to share in the next couple of weeks! </div>
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Meanwhile, I have a pile of stuff ready and waiting for the next phase of my Middle Earth project- Late Romans/Romano-British to represent the battered defenders of Arnor, GW Warriors of the Dead for various Evil Spirits, and some Ancient Britons as the men of Carn Dum- throw in the Goblins I already have, and that should give me a good cross-section of the Legions of Angmar!</div>
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Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-53531325800997935482018-04-18T11:10:00.000-07:002018-04-18T11:10:53.860-07:00The Gathering of the Clouds, Part 3.I'm back, with another update on my Battle of Five Armies project!<br />
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What with the improving weather, much of my spare time lately has been spent tramping the hills and dales around my house- but I've still managed to paint up some new stuff none-the-less...<br />
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First off was my Great Eagle- this thing is huge, but since it's a plastic kit it was nice and easy to build. You can actually make two Eagles from the GW boxed set, but for now the other remains on the shelf unpainted. I'm looking forward to seeing it swoop through the ranks of Gundabad very soon!<br />
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<em>*The Great Eagle crashes into a mob of Gundabad Orcs, while the Grey Pilgrim himself looks on.</em><br />
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Speaking of which, I've finally churned through the rest of my Goblins in the form of two Units of Warriors with various hand weapons- once again, these are the <em>Oathmark</em> plastics from Northstar!<br />
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<em>*The forces of the Shadow as they stand so far- this little lot should cover all my Goblin requirements for future Middle Earth projects...</em><br />
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Last of all was Gandalf himself- this is a re-paint/re-basing of an old GW model I had lying around, and I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out.<br />
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<em>*A closer look at my Great Eagle and good old Gandalf the Grey- probably my favourite Tolkien character!</em><br />
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This week the new plastic Elves for <em>Oathmark</em> went up for order, so I immediately bought a couple of boxes plus the metal character models for my Mirkwood contingent. The only thing I'm not so keen on in the kit are the shields, which look a little too<em> 'Warhammer'</em> for me- so I've ordered some kite shields from Gripping Beast to replace them. These have the benefit of giving that 'Dark Age' feel I'm after; plus they look a little bit like leaves, in keeping with the Elven aesthetic!<br />
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In the meantime I have Bolg and his guard plus Thorin's Company (and Bilbo!) assembled and ready for undercoating- after all that is completed I think it will finally be time for some games of <em>Dragon Rampant!</em><br />
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After that? Maybe a quick trip to Sub-Roman Britain via <em>Dux Bellorum</em> before it's back to Middle Earth for the Angmar/Arnor wars...Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-73326110613747850652018-03-28T11:40:00.000-07:002018-03-28T11:41:58.392-07:00The Gathering of the Clouds, Part 2.The Middle Earth project is going well so far- I've just finished the basing on my Iron Hills Dwarves and Wargs!<br />
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<em>*Dwarf warriors form-up around their Captain (Oathmark miniatures by Northstar) as Wargs (Otherworld Miniatures Wolves) burst from the trees!</em></div>
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<em>*Being quite a militaristic culture, I went for a fairly 'uniform' look to my Iron Hills Dwarves using a palette of red, black and off-white!</em></div>
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I know Tolkien mentions the Dwarves being armed mainly with two-handed mattocks in the battle- however the <em>Oathmark</em> Dwarves don't come with this option so for now I've gone for the good old fashioned spear and shield for one unit and sword/axe/hammer and shield for the other!<br />
After much searching, I came across an excellent range of 'Dark Age Dwarves' by Conqueror Miniatures- I ordered a pack of their Dwarves with two-handed hammers, and these have just arrived today (along with the models I will be using for Dain and his hangers-on), and they look like a great match scale-wise for the <em>Oathmark</em> plastics!<br />
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<em>*The Hound of Sauron surveys the battle (Otherworld Dire Wolf).</em></div>
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Right now I have a Great Eagle (the GW plastic kit) to finish off and then it's on to yet more <em>Oathmark</em> Goblins!..<br />
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<em>*The forces of the Free Folk so far (Hopefully not long now until the Oathmark Elves are out!)...</em></div>
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<em>*...And the army of the Shadow as it stands- soon to grow in numbers!</em></div>
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As always, cheers for reading! I'll be back with a finished Eagle in the near future, along with some musings on what figure ranges I'll be looking at for future Middle Earth painting!</div>
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Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-8262619347407485552018-03-25T12:27:00.003-07:002018-03-25T12:27:43.806-07:00The Gathering of the Clouds, Part 1.I mentioned a big new painting project in my last Post- this will be a Middle Earth collection, based on Tolkien's stories and the imagery in Cubicle 7's outstanding <em>The One Ring RPG</em> sourcebooks rather than the movies. This is something I've always wanted to do, and it seems like the time is now right!<br />
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So, throughout this Post you will see my collection so far- Men of Esgaroth plus Beorn, versus Goblins from Gundabad and a Troll. Following closely behind these in a later Post you will see my Iron Hills Dwarves and Wargs.<br />
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<em>*The forces clash over an outpost on the shores of the Long Lake!</em></div>
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Apart from the Old West, the Dark Ages is my favourite historical period to game in- so for figures I will be mainly looking at ranges from this era (plus a few Ancients where applicable!).<br />
Apart from this, I'll also be using Northstar's <em>Oathmark</em> plastic fantasy figures for much of the 'non-human' stuff, amongst others- in short, this will be an opportunity to pick and choose all kinds of interesting minis to suit the needs of the project!<br />
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<em>*Bard and his Bowmen hold the hill (Gripping Beast plastic Late Romans)...</em></div>
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I had a good think about scale and also which rules I would use- after much deliberation, I settled on 28mm (though 10 and 15mm were in the running) as the extra detail and character were a no-brainer! Rules-wise I will be using <em>Dragon Rampant</em> (with a couple of 'tweaks' for extra flavour) as it's fun and quick to play, while being sufficiently open-ended when it comes to designing units. As the figures are mainly individually based, I could also branch out into <em>Saga, Open Combat, Song of Blades and Heroes</em> or even GW's <em>Strategy Battle Game</em>!<br />
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<em>*...While a Goblin Shaman and his minions storm the lower slopes (Oathmark plastic Goblin Infantry)!</em></div>
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The downside of choosing DR is that it's not really intended to represent 'mass battles'- I reasoned that I could look at a given battle as described by Tolkien and break it down into several separate scenarios, with each being just one 'snapshot' of the larger battle- of course, a little gamer's licence could also come to the fore as required... For example each individual figure could actually represent several warriors. Broad brush-strokes will be the order of the day!<br />
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<em>*A clash of the titans (Reaper Bones Ogre, and a DeeZee- I think- cave bear).</em></div>
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To kick off the collection, I decided to focus on the Battle of Five Armies from <em>The Hobbit</em>- this would give me a nice spread of interesting troop types and characters as a foundation for later. I will also be looking at the wars between Arnor and Angmar, the Battles of the Fords of Isen and eventually work my way up to the 'big daddy'- Pelennor Fields!<br />
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<em>*Another shot of the forces of the Shadow...</em></div>
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<em>*...And another of the brave Men of Esgaroth (plus friend!).</em></div>
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Finally, I'll leave you with a quick question about Beorn- I like the model I'm using right now, but I wonder if he could be bigger still? Most of the artwork I've seen seems to shows Beorn towering over the other fighters- to this end, I picked up a pre-painted variant from Ebay. What do you think- is this fellow too big, or more appropriate?</div>
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Cheers!</div>
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Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-27081765259068029492018-03-22T12:32:00.001-07:002018-03-22T12:32:44.693-07:00Dracula's Painting Part 2- The Revenge!During my recent extended period of Internet 'downtime', I managed to get some more figures painted for my steadily-growing Dracula's America collection...<br />
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I may be bringing some of these along with me to the demo game at Partizan in May- I always feel nervous handling the fantastically painted 'official' miniatures!<br />
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First off, we have my Shadow Dragon Tong Posse:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosIwl5yWwchUoBMezA3T4Xbaa1Jnzmjym5yZGfXraeoT3_T_-Hq7poUxX7LRLz6JxmGQeSVTPFpRmgjwW6a4C38u7GqcIiUpxGTBaxqIIa3kGoq6u_p_SbNkCYcL9BdMRn2Qr_EBysG0L/s1600/IMG_2396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosIwl5yWwchUoBMezA3T4Xbaa1Jnzmjym5yZGfXraeoT3_T_-Hq7poUxX7LRLz6JxmGQeSVTPFpRmgjwW6a4C38u7GqcIiUpxGTBaxqIIa3kGoq6u_p_SbNkCYcL9BdMRn2Qr_EBysG0L/s320/IMG_2396.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<em>*I tried to give my two Guilao (the spearman on the left and the central swordsman) a 'ghostly' paint-effect on their arms to give the feel of them being partially ethereal- not sure how well it worked out, but it was an interesting experiment!</em><br />
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Followed by the second of the new Factions from <em>Hunting Grounds</em>- The Forsaken:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbu5qrgLJiotVsEutY0XcXccws1M-a8vtUX-1_UUZLoVP__045jeNCpoOZFWIObrhSwxzmVyepyBSwePm3yARffOzTl8U8Ib47nyePVf52WWlPtTyE3XD-X4fJThoxFCVpuFszdAa5zd2/s1600/IMG_2398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbu5qrgLJiotVsEutY0XcXccws1M-a8vtUX-1_UUZLoVP__045jeNCpoOZFWIObrhSwxzmVyepyBSwePm3yARffOzTl8U8Ib47nyePVf52WWlPtTyE3XD-X4fJThoxFCVpuFszdAa5zd2/s320/IMG_2398.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<em>*Not sure if the photo shows it very well, but I'm very pleased with the painted-on weathering- if you look closely you might see a few elbows and knees (even a few toes!) sticking out of the clothing- the fellow bottom left also has some tears in his sleeve... The Trooper on the far right has both a mounted and dismounted version.</em><br />
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Next, we have a rag-tag band of Hired Guns, including the <em>Wargames Illustrated</em> Django and his portable gatling gun (kept in the coffin when not in use, of course!). Getting to write rules for using him in DA was a real treat!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoLtAgDxFDziIurA3uJaSIfbsqx9jHK1s-ajJ5aZGNUN32hrBJqma8T1co-rI-k4PF6XdKHqMZeiBU30o3K9oCkrN1VzEHyL3SnzBeQXbTPQrIYrJma_soh_z8DhJjSvRItXzvUJtAVCw/s1600/IMG_2399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoLtAgDxFDziIurA3uJaSIfbsqx9jHK1s-ajJ5aZGNUN32hrBJqma8T1co-rI-k4PF6XdKHqMZeiBU30o3K9oCkrN1VzEHyL3SnzBeQXbTPQrIYrJma_soh_z8DhJjSvRItXzvUJtAVCw/s320/IMG_2399.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<em>*I'm particularly pleased with how the Stitch Doctor turned out- a deceptively simple miniature that was a joy to paint- I used several different skin tones on various parts of him to try and give him a 'patchwork' look, but again I suspect my camera-phone doesn't really show this very well!</em><br />
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And finally, my Unwelcome Guests. These were great fun to paint- especially the Jackalope, which I've been wanting to paint up for ages now! Thanks also to Ash at <em>Guerrilla Miniature Games</em> for the inspiration to paint the Hellhound up as a skinless monstrosity.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvK_KqLKr-emGCiL1qmmAcasNVr3BI4wtm75uQk4FFDs5MDV_oczVuG0rA85sLqn51HzNfsf2cRLZRcBpGEb6ITtspoy8VFLzMmU8ta4QPtXQ-MEIu0okchddmV8DrmyOFC_mOkBfmH9wA/s1600/IMG_2401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvK_KqLKr-emGCiL1qmmAcasNVr3BI4wtm75uQk4FFDs5MDV_oczVuG0rA85sLqn51HzNfsf2cRLZRcBpGEb6ITtspoy8VFLzMmU8ta4QPtXQ-MEIu0okchddmV8DrmyOFC_mOkBfmH9wA/s320/IMG_2401.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<em>*The only one of these critters that is not an 'official' DA figure is the Vampire Ancient on the right- this is a 'Vampire in Manbat form' by the excellent Heresy Miniatures!</em><br />
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So, that's everything new for now- I have some more Apaches close to finishing (to replace my tiny wee Foundry ones who are looking a little bit small compared to everybody else!), and then I'd like to turn my hand to the new Northstar Plains Skinwalker Posse...<br />
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I'll be back soon with the first offerings for what I hope will be my big painting project for this year- something I've been wanting to do for many years...<br />
Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-77589485665070142442018-03-22T00:32:00.000-07:002018-03-22T00:32:14.736-07:00Welcome To The JungleThe old ones are always the best, right?<br />
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Cliched Post-headings aside, what follows is a quick report of my first game of <em>Ghost Archipelago.</em><br />
I would be using my 'Sinbad-esque' Northstar Crew, versus Andy in command of my own Sohei warrior-monks (originally for Warlord Games' excellent <em>Test of Honour!</em>).<br />
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As this was a demo game, we played the basic scenario- a brief explanation of the differences between GA and <em>Frostgrave,</em> and we were off!<br />
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It began with both Crews predictably advancing towards the central treasure at the sacrificial pit- Andy's peasants having a little trouble crossing the water separating them from the 'mainland', and drawing the attentions of a shark! <br />
I split my Crew into two 'teams'- my Heritor Suladin leading one and his brother Omar (my Warden) leading the other. Omar's group split off and circled around the pyramid towards the treasures lying on some small islands, while Suladin forged on through the jungle towards the sacrificial pit.<br />
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Andy's Crew meanwhile advanced in force, with a 'firebase' of musket-men (counting as Crossbowmen) left behind to garrison some ruins that overlooked the treasure islands on his right flank.<br />
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One of my two Archers had a clear shot at the rival Crew as they made land-fall, but the enemy Heritor snatched the arrow out of the air!<br />
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Meanwhile, one of Andy's Infantrymen- afraid to cross the water surrounding his starting position- was ambushed by a venomous Snakeman! Perhaps embarrassed by his earlier hydrophobia, he took out his frustrations on the scaly creature and battered it to the ground over a couple of rounds of combat...<br />
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<em>|*Green D6 used to track the Snakeman's remaining health.</em></div>
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My other Archer (from Omar's team) had climbed the pyramid, and so now had commanding views over the whole battlefield. Unfortunately for me he did little but harass the enemy for the rest of the battle- until a pinpoint musket shot finally tumbled him from his precarious perch!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgKdgoRhR4Ywn317Bx3TSS_QLZu_xhyphenhyphenH-q9HGJXL6HqzaFW7k3UY3VsYW4F2V45PLhZcjT6sp-iR_VBDuB8MXYpaoaN3YLX-Ej4EcvNuVV6sFqxgnbG7aTKPu7k1s3vbBWlnHjTVB2CIc/s1600/IMG_2388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgKdgoRhR4Ywn317Bx3TSS_QLZu_xhyphenhyphenH-q9HGJXL6HqzaFW7k3UY3VsYW4F2V45PLhZcjT6sp-iR_VBDuB8MXYpaoaN3YLX-Ej4EcvNuVV6sFqxgnbG7aTKPu7k1s3vbBWlnHjTVB2CIc/s320/IMG_2388.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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With my missile support proving ineffective, Suladin ordered his men to fall back to the pyramid with their treasure while he attempted to hold back the encroaching foe- in his first close combat of the game he Sprinted into melee with Andy's other Infantryman and promptly Critted the poor soul! He would go on to take out the enemy Warden and another peasant... Heritors are great!<br />
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<em>*Natural 20 recorded here for posterity- it will never happen to me again...</em></div>
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While my Heritor got his hands dirty, I was playing it cagey on my left flank- the treasure was right there across the water, but Andy's formidable firebase of teppo-armed peasants was giving Omar and his lads pause... I buffed my Pearl Diver Tok with Omar's spells and then sent him on a daring amphibious assault mission- the water protecting him from the worst of the enemy fire and buying time for Omar and the others to make a mad dash across the water to the island!<br />
Tok even managed to reach land, outflank the peasants and shiv one with his obsidian blade before an Infantryman (with a natty new pair of snakeskin boots!) got involved and clubbed him to the ground unceremoniously!<br />
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Continuing the aquatic misadventures, one of Andy's Crewmen attempted to escape from the mainland with the golden idol he was carrying- he got halfway across the water and promptly failed his next swimming test! The hungry shark from before obviously had a taste for peasant as it took a chunk out of him in the Creature Phase- the fresh blood in the water attracting yet another shark! In his next turn, the unfortunate swimmer failed his test again and the two ravenous fish closed in and chewed him up in short order, the idol sinking down through the red waters...<br />
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<em>*Smile, you sonofa...Aarghh!</em></div>
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To cheer Andy up, his musket-men had recovered from Tok's surprise attack and opened up on Omar as he tried to reach the treasure on the small island- they had already downed his remaining Crewmate! Omar survived their fusillade (barely), and limped towards the water with treasure tucked under his arm. Slowed by his injuries and the weight of all that gold, he was caught by Andy's Heritor and (despite actually winning the first round!) cut down for his troubles, while his brother Suladin could only watch from the jungle, powerless to help!<br />
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And so the dust settled- both Crews had been mauled severely, but both had come away with a fair amount of loot! Even though this wasn't a Campaign game, we went through the after-game process just for fun. Everybody survived, and various magic weapons and herbs were discovered- I even managed to find a coveted map-stone with a roll of 20; you just know that I'll never manage that again when we play a proper Campaign!<br />
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Overall, GA is great fun- a nice change of environment from the dark ruins of Frostgrave and a chance to paint up some exotic characters and creatures! While<em> Frostgrave</em> is brilliant, GA really feels a little slicker! After playing, we had a long and enthusiastic discussion about ideas for Crews, and Andy went away with plans for a Spartan-inspired force. My next Crew is sat in the painting queue as I write this, and will be a band of greedy (and extremely sun-burnt) Vikings!<br />
Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-29097699255668208892018-03-12T00:02:00.004-07:002018-03-12T00:02:52.094-07:00I'm Still Alive!Howdo folks- just a quick Post to confirm that I'm still here! I've been having internet issues the last month or so which are now (hopefully) sorted- so all being well you can expect regular Posts here and on the good old LAF again! <br />
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Rest assured that I have been keeping busy on the gaming front during this period of radio silence...<br />
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Cheers!<br />
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JonathanEarly Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-38073544934207636122018-01-25T09:28:00.000-08:002018-01-25T09:30:20.756-08:00This Town...With <em>Hunting Grounds</em> being released into the wild this week, myself, Tony and Tom decided to revisit the first Scenario from the book- the Ghost Town.<br />
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I would be playing my Apache Posse- the Firemakers (using the Theme rules from HG); Tony would command the Dark Confederacy, and Tom would assume the mantle of the Twilight Order.<br />
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We would be playing on less urban terrain, so I set up a badlands ranch as the 'Ghost Town' surrounded by rock formations and cacti- as per the Scenario, the buildings would begin the game in the spirit realm; and so we used green glass counters to show this.<br />
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The game began with the Posses converging on the spectral buildings- the Twilight Order hanging back slightly to assume good firing positions (one rifleman by the name of Hank even clambering to the top of a precarious rock-spire), while the Confederates advanced behind their usual wall of expendable Revenants! The Firemakers, meanwhile, divided their forces- one half led by their Chief, Bodaway; the other led by the Shaman Taklishim. <br />
Bodaway's group would shift into the Hunting Grounds and attack from there, while Taklishim's braves would mount an assault in the physical realm. The cards were kind to me, and I got the necessary red suits to pull this two-pronged assault off!<br />
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<em>*The Firemakers cautiously advance on the ranch...</em></div>
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Careful fire-discipline in the early stages of the game saw the Order give the Confederates something to think about- first mowing down the Revenants and then opening up on the living behind, they managed to Shake the Necromancer- Tom knew that if he could drop the evil sorcerer, the Revenants would collapse and the Confederate numerical advantage would be neutered.<br />
Unfortunately, he couldn't quite capitalise on this and the Necromancer managed to slink into the Hunting Grounds, from where he eventually managed to heal himself. In fact, this game saw uncharacteristically bad luck on the part of Tom beyond the initial turns!<br />
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<em>*Hank takes up position atop a rock-spire to give covering fire to his comrades in the Order.</em></div>
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On the right flank, the Apaches ran into the Twilight Order's vanguard- a chaotic shootout ensued, during which Taklishim summoned a Wendigo- the beast screeched it's feral hunger most impressively; seconds before a silver bullet drilled it between the antlers and it dropped, physical form already unravelling. Meanwhile, the now-wounded Bodaway and his warriors were pinned behind the shack by a Confederate sniper atop the water-tower- with no red cards in my Hand to shift into the other realm, they were stuck for the moment... My cunning 'two-pronged assault' was already in tatters!<br />
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<em>*The Wendigo appears from the aether and assumes an intimidating pose...</em></div>
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<em>*... And an unimpressed Crusader of the Order guns it down without breaking stride!</em></div>
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Across the table, a mass brawl broke out in the yard between the Confederates and Twilight Order as they vied for control of the ghostly buildings and the loot within- both sides fed more and more fighters into the melee, but it soon appeared that the relentless undead (helped by Tom's atrocious luck!) had the upper hand...<br />
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<em>*Things get messy out in the yard!</em></div>
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Taking advantage of this distraction, the Firemakers rallied and grabbed two loot counters from under the noses of the enemy- Taklishim and his surviving men mopped up the Order's grunts that still opposed them and positioned themselves ready to join the big scrap as the game drew to a close!<br />
It didn't all go to plan, however- Bodaway (now in Wolf-Form) made a break from cover to draw attention away from his warrior who had the loot, and was gunned down by the Confederate sniper.<br />
The sharpshooter then shifted into the Hunting Grounds to take down the fleeing Apache in the final turn- only to realise too late that his vantage point existed in the physical realm. The structure beneath his feet faded into a spectral outline, and the man plummeted to his death- the lesson here is always pay attention to which Plane of Existence you are in, kids!<br />
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<em>*The Dark Confederacy secure the farmstead as the Skinwalkers melt away into the wilderness with their loot!</em></div>
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The game finally drew to it's bloody conclusion with the luckless Twilight Order wiped out to a man in the brutal melee and the Apaches making a fighting retreat against the relentless Confederates- both Posses reduced to a fraction of their former strength, and both holding two pieces of loot...<br />
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When the VP were counted up, the Confederates had squeaked a narrow victory thanks to the number of kills they had inflicted on the Order- a well deserved victory for Tony!<br />
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<br />Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-78613618327783660282018-01-21T05:18:00.002-08:002018-01-21T05:18:42.452-08:00Dracula's PaintingI've managed to get a fair bit of 'official' stuff painted for <em>Dracula's America</em> over the last few days, ready for next weekend's inaugural Ingleton Wargames Weekend (organised by my good friend Andy and the kind folks at the Wheatsheaf pub!).<br />
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This is just a quick Post while I try to figure out exactly what I'll be doing for the participation game of DA I'll be running on the Sunday...<br />
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<em>*My Congregation Posse, plus Unique Summons- I had a lot of fun paining these guys- lots of referencing snake-skin patterns! The Temple Snake (centre-right) was converted with a human skull-head to match how I originally envisaged the thing, and it's patterning is based on a diamondback rattlesnake! The Vessel (top left) was converted with twisted paperclips (inexpertly) sculpted over with greenstuff to try and give the impression of spiritual energy lifting him off the ground. I'm also particularly fond of the grassy tufts added to the back and shoulders of my Swamp </em>Baka <em>(centre-back); this was a last-minute idea that I think finished the model off nicely!</em><br />
<em>The rest of the Posse was painted in fairly muted, naturalistic colours to help them blend in with their swampy environs- apart from the bright white 'skeleton' paint on my </em>Houngan<em> Arcanist.</em><br />
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<em>*The finished new Wolf-Form Skinwalker (a Frostgrave Barbarian Warhound, I think!) faces off against a mob of Zombies (from Northstar's Horror Stories range).</em><br />
<em>I'm especially pleased with how the Wolf turned out- again, lots of referencing images of Grey Wolves from books !</em><br />
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Back soon with a DA Game Report!..Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-76120626739713035342018-01-18T01:14:00.000-08:002018-01-18T01:15:07.594-08:00Back in the Saddle...A belated happy 2018!<br />
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After a well-earned rest following the madness that is my job during the festive period, I finally managed to catch up on the far more important business of gaming.<br />
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I wasn't completely idle, however- managing to snatch an hour of painting here and there meant I made some headway on my <em>Ghost Archipelago</em> stuff, and I even did some extra work on my <em>Dracula's America</em> Posses- getting some more hapless mooks finished for the Twilight Order and Red Hand Coven, plus starting a new Wolf-Form Skinwalker model for my Apaches...<br />
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<em>*The new recruits.</em></div>
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<em>*Some WIP fresh blood on it's way to DA!</em></div>
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<em>*My Heritor Crew...</em></div>
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<em>*...And my GA menagerie so far...</em></div>
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<em>*...With more on the way!</em></div>
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During my break, I also got some extra rules material for <em>Dracula's America</em> under my belt so expect to see that in the future; either on the Osprey Games Blog or in magazines such as <em>Wargames Illustrated!</em><br />
I've also started a new, super-secret <em>Dracula's America</em>-related project that I'm very excited about, but I can't say much more as it's still extremely early days and it hasn't actually been officially green-lit by Osprey yet...<br />
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Er, looking back on what I just wrote, my break wasn't actually that much of a break really!<br />
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My first game of 2018 was an introductory game of the excellent <em>Lion / Dragon Rampant</em>- I've played both versions of this game many times over the last couple of years, and thought it was about time I introduced it to the Ingleton lads!<br />
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<em>*The Armies advance towards each other as some pigs look on from the fields!</em><br />
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We broke out our SAGA Warbands for use in this game, and didn't really worry overmuch about army composition or coming up with a fancy Scenario- we just picked rough 24 point Retinues of the models we fancied using and then got on with the business of killing each other!<br />
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<em>*My Viking Warlord and his Hearthguard (foreground) calls out his rival (on the left, waving his sword about) in the centre of the field.</em><br />
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As usual with <em>L/DR</em>, the game swung one way then the other; with both sides experiencing the highs and lows of dicing for activations- Team Awesome's legendary ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory saw us narrowly defeated in the first game. Since everybody was enjoying themselves, we pushed on and played a second game- this time, myself and Andy were utterly crushed in embarrassingly short order by Tony and Tom's much more decisive warriors.<br />
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<em>*My brave warriors take the farm from a handful of enemy archers in the first game. The pigs are ours!</em><br />
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<em>*In the second game, our warriors on the right flank are run down and massacred by enemy horsemen while our archers (and a few bemused cows) look on!</em><br />
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As the dust settled,<em> L/DR</em> was unanimously declared a great success by the Ingletonians- we will be playing more of it over the coming year, I'm sure (talk even turned to collecting <em>Game of Thrones</em> armies for it...).<br />
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Here's to a great new year of gaming!<br />
<br />Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-82557131336590293542017-12-12T10:45:00.003-08:002017-12-12T10:45:50.741-08:00Shattered Realm- The Campaign System!Here it is; the last piece of the <em>SR</em> puzzle- the Campaign rules!<br />
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As always, this is still an early draft copy; but it should give you a very good idea of where I'm going with it- if you ever give it a try then please let me know what you think!<br />
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/tcpguekozvmzdlx/SR%20Campaigns%20Doc.%20V.2.3.%20COPY.odt?dl=0">https://www.dropbox.com/s/tcpguekozvmzdlx/SR%20Campaigns%20Doc.%20V.2.3.%20COPY.odt?dl=0</a><br />
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You will also find blank Roster sheets and optional Character Cards at the end of the document- the Cards are something I'm also considering making as a resource for players of <em>Dracula's America </em>in the near future, as I've heard some folks say it can get a little 'token-heavy' for their tastes... Using these Cards will allow you to keep table-clutter to a minimum!Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-17417716982034312952017-12-10T05:40:00.001-08:002017-12-10T05:40:28.615-08:00...And Now For Something Completely Different.Bit of a non-gaming-related Post, but I went for a wander early yesterday morning on one of my favourite walks- going on long walks by myself in such beautiful landscapes really fires up my imagination and just generally refreshes me; so I thought I'd post a few pictures up here (if only to prove that I actually do have other interests besides pushing toy soldiers around a table-top!)...<br />
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<em>*Walking through the woods, well before first light.</em><br />
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<em>*Leaving the woods and heading further up into the hills, the sunlight is just starting to creep across the sky...</em><br />
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<em>*Following the track over the tops, you come across a trail of cairns and get some incredible views over towards Pen-Y-Ghent!</em><br />
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<em>*At this point, the sky lights up!</em><br />
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<em>*Walking the cliffs above the old whetstone mine, following the cairns towards the village of Austwick.</em><br />
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Eat your heart out, Middle Earth!</div>
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<br />Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-82898096383279600112017-12-06T23:38:00.001-08:002017-12-06T23:38:28.489-08:00Fog in the Barrowvales- a Solo Shattered Realm game!Here's the report of a test game for Shattered Realm I played recently using the Solo rules!<br />
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The young Dwarven noble Ranhulf Finehair and his Party, in self-imposed exile from his Father's realm, is travelling South in the direction of Gharzulgrint. Passing over the mountains into Fellmoor, they cross the bleak uplands and eventually find themselves traversing a series of mist-shrouded valleys. The tiny hamlets and isolated Crofter's huts of Fellmoor become fewer and fewer as they head West, and an oppressive feeling hangs heavy on each Dwarf. <br />
Soon, ancient burial mounds and stone monoliths begin to loom out of the fog on all sides, and not even the ever-present crows can be heard. An unnatural silence falls, and eerie whispers begin to echo all around as the Dwarves close ranks into a defensive formation.<br />
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The Party's scout, the self-proclaimed 'Handsome' Roldo, suddenly returns with a haunted expression on his face. He reports an especially large barrow dead ahead, topped by what seems to be a flickering green flame- even more disturbing, he speaks of ethereal figures drifting around the corpse-fire...<br />
Ranhulf grimly determines that to tarry here would be foolish. A grim expression on his face, he orders his companions to steel themselves and keep marching- they can forge a path straight through the Barrowvales; but speed will be of the essence!<br />
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As the Dwarves trudge on through the gloom, the fog seems to thicken. Ahead, they can only make out an ethereal green glow that marks their destination. Weapons are drawn and readied, while torch and lantern-bearers move to the flanks to provide what illumination they can.<br />
Hollow laughter rings out as the hazy outline of the barrow emerges from the mist ahead, and eerie figures begin to drift down towards the Dwarves with spectral claws outstretched!<br />
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With a bellowed oath, the impetuous Ranhulf leads his men from the front and hurls himself into combat with the first Wraith- but is dismayed to find his finely-crafted heirloom blade passing harmlessly through the undead creature's form!<br />
Seeing his liege-lord in peril, 'Red' Gutrikk (a veteran of the Draugr-Wars in far-off Shieldmark) charges selflessly into combat with the creature- he has fought such ethereal undead before, and knows that timing is critical when facing a Wraith. Between the two Dwarves, they dispatch the foul entity easily- Ranhulf dealing the final blow as the Wraith's form briefly solidifies to strike at Gutrikk!<br />
But there is no time for congratulations, as yet more Wraiths close in on our heroes. Meanwhile, atop the burial mound and lit by the green flames of the corpse-fire, the Lord of the Barrow surveys the interlopers and stretches forth a withered talon... Opposite him, the Ranger Agbert feels himself drawn towards the cloaked figure against his will. When he regains his senses, he is stood alone and cut-off from his comrades on one flank- yet the flickering torch in his hand gives him courage, even as yet another Wraith coalesces out of the mist behind him...<br />
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Meanwhile, the fighting in the centre is growing desperate- the Dwarves are skillful fighters compared to their undead foes, but many otherwise-lethal blows are having no effect on the cursed creatures. <br />
To the dismay of the Party, Ranhulf himself suddenly falls with an anguished cry- the freezing claws of a Wraith sliding past armour and flesh as if they weren't there to rend his very spirit!<br />
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Standing over their lord's unconscious form, the rest of the Dwarves grimly fight on- determined to avenge their liege. Gutrikk takes command of the situation, and orchestrates a determined counter-attack. Slowly, inch by inch, they begin to push the Wraiths back up the side of the barrow towards the flame burning at the top. Even young Snorri gives a good account of himself, despite this being his first encounter with the fell undead!<br />
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Now the Dwarves have the measure of their opponents, and Wraiths begin to fall all around- yet for each one destroyed, another coalesces from out of the surrounding mists. Seeing these interlopers trespassing upon his sanctuary, the Barrow-Lord begins hissing fell incantations and bolts of pure shadow leap from his outstretched fingers to strike the Dwarves- yet they grimly endure this punishment, their eyes fixed upon their prize as they crest the barrow's summit and plunge into combat. Roldo takes advantage of the chaos and kicks dirt over the corpse-fire. The ethereal flames flicker and die out, and abruptly the undead seem to diminish and shrink back from the Dwarves in what looks like dismay! Still dragging the unmoving Ranhulf with him, Gutrikk yells for his friends to finish this...</div>
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Surrounded and bereft of the magical power of the corpse-fire, the Barrow-Lord's form becomes solid. It's ancient blade whirls and parries with supernatural skill, but the Dwarven numbers are too much and it is soon overwhelmed. With a ghastly shriek that echoes around the barrow's summit, it's physical form becomes wind-blown tatters on the breeze, that quickly melt away along with the unnatural mists. With the undead curse lifted, Ranhulf's eyes flicker and he rises to a sitting position with a groan. Mercifully he appears unharmed, despite his ordeal!</div>
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From their vantage-point, the Dwarves can now make out the path through the valley- beyond this lies the road to Gharzulgrint, fame and fortune!.. </div>
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Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-10561240022219171132017-12-05T23:35:00.000-08:002017-12-05T23:35:03.043-08:00Goodbye to the Frozen City...Last week, we managed to squeeze in a final game of our current <em>Frostgrave</em> Campaign! This was simply due to my day-job getting crazy this time of year- in the new year we will be starting a new one (though I do have a plan in that regard...)!<br />
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I've just finished (and thoroughly enjoyed!) the <em>Frostgrave</em> novel <em>Second Chances</em> by Matthew Ward, and the climactic scene provided the inspiration for the Scenario we used.<br />
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The aim was to recover the four Treasures- interfering with a Treasure in any way (via Telekenesis or just picking it up) awoke the spirit of a long-dead Wizard that would appear as a Wraith in the central tower. These Wraiths once formed an evil cabal determined to cheat death by devouring the life-force of all living creatures in the City. These followed the rules for the Lich Lord in the <em>Thaw of the Lich Lord</em> expansion, but with only one HP each. Once all four Wraiths were defeated, their Master would himself appear in the central tower (again, using the Lich Lord stats but with only half his HP)- destroying him would end the game.<br />
A tall order indeed!<br />
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Knowing this was to be the final game, we all spent every bit of gold we had on better Soldiers.<br />
Herr Doktor Schreck (now recovered) would finally get to use his Ring of Power, Dregg and Grubb my surviving Goblin Thieves were upgraded to Treasure Hunters, and Mungo went from Infantryman to Barbarian. Most exciting of all, I purchased a Captain- the infamous Raggedy Bill, the murder-scarecrow!<br />
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<em>*The Plague Doktors skulk in the trees. In the foreground we have Mungo, Raggedy-Bill (who is apparently so evil that snow melts wherever his wooden feet tread!), Dregg, the Apprentice, Igor; the Thug Fritz and the Archer Ivan.</em><br />
<em>Well ahead of them we have the rest of the Warband including Doktor Schreck himself (being uncharacteristically aggressive). Looming to their right we have the forbidding wall of the ruined tower.</em><br />
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Tony's Warband headed straight for the central tower with their characteristic aggression, and his Telekinesis-happy Spellcasters summoned the first two Wraiths. <br />
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<em>*The first Wraith materialises. Below it, under the wooden plank, you can see Tony's Warband (Treasure in tow) cautiously entering the ancient tower...</em><br />
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So began a ranged duel between his many Rangers and the undead Wizards. Initially the Wraiths had the upper-hand, but soon the sheer number of incoming arrows began to tell and the first one fell with a hellish shriek! The other Warbands breathed a collective sigh of relief- we had all been on the wrong end of his formidable 'bowline' this Campaign, so it was nice to see it put to use on something other than ourselves!<br />
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As the rest of the Treasures were gathered up with gleeful haste, the remaining Wraiths appeared and things got decidedly heated for Tony (we were all secretly hoping that his mob would be overwhelmed by the combined magical onslaught of the Wraiths!). It looked like our scheme might work until Andy, his blood up, charged into the tower to get to grips with the undead! Caught between two Warbands, the Wraiths began to fall one by one...<br />
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<em>*Another Wraith (centre) is caught in a doorway between Tony and Andy's Soldiers, high on the walls of the tower!</em><br />
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While this unlikely- yet noble- alliance fought to preserve Frostgrave's living inhabitants on the walls of the storm-wracked tower, the Plague Doktors skulked in the trees near the main gates, waiting to see the outcome before getting involved. It was at this point that they spied Tom's Warband, led by the hated Sigillist that had betrayed Doktor Schreck in the Breeding Pits weeks earlier, making their way to the gates. Self-proclaimed 'Man of Science' he may be, but the good Doktor could not let such a chance for vengeance pass him by! The ragged mob of desperate scum and villainy came screaming out of the treeline just as the Sigillist himself was in the open- surrounded on all sides by misshapen Goblins, deranged lepers and a big dumb brute with a rusty scythe, the hated Wizard was cut down!<br />
Seeing his employer shanked to death, one of Tom's (several) noble Templars charged forth to exact vengeance- but with a wave of Doktor Schreck's hand, his mighty greatsword crumbled to dust in his grasp and the unarmed man was quickly pulled down by the unwashed mass. The taste of vengeance sweet in their collective snaggle-toothed mouths, my Warband set about the reeling Sigillists. Raggedy Bill and Mungo subsequently made a nourishing gruel out of the Sigillist Apprentice, a Knight and a further Templar, before Tom's troops rallied and counter-attacked. The snows before the courtyard ran red, but predictably my own underlings soon began to suffer heavy casualties and started to slink away into the gathering darkness leaving their dead (including Doktor Schreck!) lying where they fell... Igor rubbed his gloved hands in glee; now he would be Wizard instead of the Wizard!<br />
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<em>*Bloody mayhem before the tower gates between my Plague Doktors and Tom's surprised Sigillists.</em><br />
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While the screams and bellows of the vicious fight below echoed upwards, Tony and Andy continued the good fight atop the tower. With the final Wraith vanquished, the Overlord of the cabal appeared to unleash magical death upon the impertinent mortals. However, some poor dice rolling on his part saw his grand entrance become something of a farce- in fact, if he hadn't been ethereal he would most probably have tripped on his robe and tumbled down the stairs!<br />
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Seizing their chance, our heroes made one last charge and in a flurry of weapons the undead fiend was no more- a lingering shriek carried on the cold breeze all that remained of the anticlimactic revenant!<br />
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...And so, our tale draws to a close. Ancient evil turned out to be not as evil as we expected, and the Plague Doktors, now led by a power-drunk Igor, have slunk off into the night to plot new experiments.<br />
New Warbands are being planned for the first Campaign of 2018- I am leaning towards taking my Barbarians, led by the Elementalist Tor Stormbrand.<br />
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However, it is rumoured that the Ghost Archipelago has returned to the Southern ocean, and crews are being hired to set sail in search of the mythical Crystal Pool...<br />
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<em>*My Ghost Archipelago terrain- needs more jungle trees, but it's looking good so far- now I need to build and paint a Heritor and crew, and convince the other guys to do the same! Shouldn't be too hard...</em>Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-21930445293812745292017-12-04T22:50:00.001-08:002017-12-04T22:50:19.437-08:00Shattered Realm- Advanced RulesI'm very happy to report that it seems a fair few people have had a look at the Shattered Realm stuff so far, so here's a link to the Advanced Rules for those interested:<br />
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/m8rqize0v0gur59/SR%20Advanced%20Rules%20Doc%20V.2.5%20COPY..odt?dl=0">https://www.dropbox.com/s/m8rqize0v0gur59/SR%20Advanced%20Rules%20Doc%20V.2.5%20COPY..odt?dl=0</a><br />
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This smaller document adds Break Points, Visibility rules (for representing the darkness of the caverns below or even eerie mist on the surface), Mounts, Magic (of which there are two kinds!), and some basic rules for Solo Play.<br />
Last night I found myself with a little time on my hands, and so played a small Solo battle- I'll put a report up on here very soon...<br />
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As always, this is still very early days and things may very well change down the line- if you have any feedback from playing SR yourselves, then please do drop a comment here or over on the LAF!<br />
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Cheers!Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-21383348506483528822017-11-29T11:58:00.002-08:002017-11-29T12:15:25.978-08:00Shattered Realm- The Core Rules!Since I'm in such a good mood right now (see previous Post), I thought I'd jump ahead of schedule a bit and post up a link so you can take a look at the <em>Shattered Realm</em> core rules via Dropbox!<br />
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/36ew4xaizx61t8e/SR%20Core%20Rules%20Doc%20V.2.5%20COPY..odt?dl=0">https://www.dropbox.com/s/36ew4xaizx61t8e/SR%20Core%20Rules%20Doc%20V.2.5%20COPY..odt?dl=0</a><br />
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Please note that this is still a fairly early (and definitely not pretty!) draft, but I thought it might be good to let folks have a read and maybe even give it a go themselves- it takes the basic <em>Dracula's America</em> rules, and expands on them a fair bit...<br />
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If anyone ever gives it a try at some point then please let me know how you get on- maybe we could start a discussion over on the Lead Adventure Forum (where I go by Fenrir, by the way)!<br />
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Oh, and next week I'll be putting up the Advanced Rules (including mounts, rules for light-levels and tentative Solo play rules!). <br />
I'm also in the process of painting up some spectral adversaries for my plucky Dwarves, ready for a Solo-play game report in the (hopefully) near future...<br />
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Cheers!Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138042620560556824.post-66305518303784805832017-11-29T10:06:00.000-08:002017-11-29T22:47:53.120-08:00Something Wicked This Way Comes...Exciting times today- I got home after work to find this little beauty sat on my doormat...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq134O_9okceWcRVvWEBon_jYFRhx7hLb9q9oPT2mctCeLtx6O-I92hMTHLiTFTLUSBhK8DoL-mCRWeTc1kmMKzsMYdChZr1QGgofJ7OhOKyPcHhaHYSWFUblBWHGtJlyjB7Tf0plCi-lB/s1600/IMG_2138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq134O_9okceWcRVvWEBon_jYFRhx7hLb9q9oPT2mctCeLtx6O-I92hMTHLiTFTLUSBhK8DoL-mCRWeTc1kmMKzsMYdChZr1QGgofJ7OhOKyPcHhaHYSWFUblBWHGtJlyjB7Tf0plCi-lB/s320/IMG_2138.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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That's right; one of the first hard copies of book 2 for Dracula's America! I suspect I may have made a small, high-pitched mew of joy at that point...<br />
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A nice, glossy, 96-page softback- heftier than I was expecting, but then I did get carried away writing it!<br />
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Ah, but it gets better- on the back page there was this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rYL4q9h2eO5uR9HRzW1lPXUsl24ON-HCSwJ286UFWTWZZVUMtRDeSmEhvL3RaYBr8Gbv0wDYIEiVAgV0NwUDOtM8EBHWOjCbQc1QQcic1pucBhehNgm_o1LW0jWDYzmrNimQaPJoiD1c/s1600/IMG_2137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rYL4q9h2eO5uR9HRzW1lPXUsl24ON-HCSwJ286UFWTWZZVUMtRDeSmEhvL3RaYBr8Gbv0wDYIEiVAgV0NwUDOtM8EBHWOjCbQc1QQcic1pucBhehNgm_o1LW0jWDYzmrNimQaPJoiD1c/s320/IMG_2137.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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Better finish the play-testing then, eh?!Early Riserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397816539490460540noreply@blogger.com7