Another Reptile Army!

I just returned from Jutland with this box, containing another painted Lizardmen army, plus the odd bits and bobs, such as parts, paints, and basing material.

In case you wonder, it is not one of those flat 'bed rollers', but an approximately 35 cm deep plastic box.

I do not have time to unbox the army right now, but it will be added to my God of Battles Blood Gorged proxy army ASAP, which is going to be arrayed on one of the tables for Attic Attack IV.

Harlequin OOP Barbarian

Part of the last batch purchased, this OOP Barbarian Scout from Harlequin Miniatures (3110A) is not going to be permanent part of my collection.

I shall probably try to flog it on Facebook or LAF, but it will have to wait until after the summer holidays.

Should any of my readers fancy it, feel free to contact me - buyer pays postage and any price we can agree on.

Enjoy!

Skaw the Falconer - Without Falcons

Yet another recently purchased mini - this time a Wood Elf, who is going to form up with the Wardancers, first for Blood Eagle, then OGAM. and later Saga/Dragon Rampant, and other games.

When I purchased him, I was not aware that parts (the two falcons) were missing (I assumed he was some kind of magic-user, and the tetherings some kind of energy-outburst).

Well, now I am in the market for some falcons to attach to him, but I am not going to hold my breath while searching, as those parts are fairly small, and very easily lost, and thus it will probably require a fair amount of luck to find someone with the birds and willing to part with them.

High Elf Captain

Another one of my recently purchased secondhand minis, a High Elf Command Hero/Champion, who is going to be put in charge of my old mono-pose spearmen (and probably going to lead a Blood Eagle High Elf warband before then.

He has been through the paint-stripping process, although he did not sport much paint when I got him; I just wanted to get him completely clean before cleaning up mold-lines (which the model has in abundance).

Sadly, I shall not have time to start work on any High Elves within overseeable time, as I am still struggling with my Vikings, and am determined to finish them and get some Dark Ages civilians ready for the table, too, before shifting my focus elsewhere!

I also have to find a place to buy Instant Mold without paying exorbitant postage and/or customs charges, as I shall have to make a shield to go with this mini (and probably more, with all the second-hand stuff I am buying these days)

Unknown Goblin Piper

Part of the lot with which I bought the Eldar Avatar was this funny fellow.

I cleaned him in the ultrasonic cleaner with the rest of the lot (some old Wardancers and other Wood Elves, and a few other old minis of various kinds), and gave him a brush-down just after I finished work on the Avatar.

I have no idea about where this is from, but I am going to paint it up just for the sake of it, as soon as I can squeeze it into the queue.

Should any of my readers know the origin of the Gobbo, please do not hesitate to tell me in a comment to this post, as I would like to know if he has any companions I can hunt down and add to my collection.

OGAM: Eldar Avatar for the Elves.

I recently bought this 90's Eldar Avatar of the Bloody handed God, K(h)aela Mensha Khaine, and I am going to use it for leading Elves in OGAM (High or Wood or a mixture of both), and probaly also for Dragon Rampant

It was primed in black, but as I prefer cleaning up moldlines (and the primer was scratched and chipped), I put it in white spirit in my ultrasonic cleaner for some days, remembering to start the ultrasound now and then.

I brushed it off today, and this is the result: A miniature almost as new, and it did not set me back more than about £6.

First Game of Marco Polo...

...and probably my last.

The concept of the game is nice enough, but every move is governed by the compass-like 'wheel of fortune' on the board; you spin it, and it points to the number of spaces you may move your pawn - OR indicates that you have been assailed by bandits/pirates (in which case you don not get to move at all). and when you have spent 3-4 turns moving 1 space and/or fighting bandits (probably losing some of your precious trading goods along the way), all the while your opponents move freely across the board, amassing fortunes through trading, the game begins to feel a little dull.

If the game could be finished in less than an hour, I would not mind the randomness, but at this point we already played 2-3 hours, and were only about half way through (the players need to return to Venice with their amassed wealth after visiting Kublai Khan and carrying out a mission for him).

Well, at least the game requires players to read cards, and to do some simple math, which is good for the kids - especially Lea, at only 10.

The Four Raiders

I think I forgot to post the family photo of the Vikings finished so far.

And, no, I still have not done the clasps on the 'baldric'...

New Window Arrived!

The window I ordered for the garage attic a couple of months ago was delivered this week.

It is probably too late for hiring a carpenter to get it put in before August 12th, but at least I can now open the old window without it being a problem, should it not be possible to close it afterwards.

I just need to get it inside the garage for storage until the carpenter can put it in - and I expect that we can move with the use of a couple of skateboards under the pallet.

Muffins!

Vanilla Edition

When I got out of bed at about 3 p.m., I was met with the unmistakable scent of new pastry, and as I was about to find, Anna and Lea had been busy in the kitchen, baking banana muffins for the afternoon tea/coffee.

They also made some coloured sugar frosting, but as I am not very keen on the taste of that, I whipped up some cream for the muffin I was about to consume.

The girls also decorated the pastry with strawberries cut in half, and some mint leaves.

Muffin, anyone?

Dad Edition

Getting Ready for Marco Polo

All set for trying out the next of my recently purchased board games. It is a step up in complexity from Columbus, which is very simple, as Marco Polo includes trading, fighting bandits/pirates, accepting missions from Kublai Khan, and returning to Venice with a certain size of valuables.

Ancient Elves for Blood Eagle Sídhe

A couple of weeks ago, I got these for peanuts, and after some days in the ultrasonic cleaner (soaked in white spirit), almost all traces of paint has been removed.

Five of them are designated Wardancers, long OOP, and perfect for starting up a Sídhe warband for Blood Eagle.

I already have another copy of the guy with the big sword, another ancient Jes Goodwin sculpt, which is now listed as a Wardancer, too, but was in a blister labeled Wood Elf Warriors back when I bought him.

The first two in the top row are Scouts from a later edition of Warhamster, but I think the last one is also an ancient Jes Goodwin sculpt (the mail gives him away).

I shall go over these and remove any mold lines revealed by the paint-stripping, before I start fleshing out their profiles.

I have a few more - and an old Warhammer 40.000 Eldar Avatar - incoming. I intend to use the Avatar as a deity for OGAM, and then build up a warband of Elves around it, based on the Blood Eagle Sídhe - but that is currently a long-term project, as I have to get my Vikings done, and then paint up some Dark Ages civilians.

Potato Time...Sort of...

I have been a bit concerned about my potato harvest, as when the last time we had heavy rains, the potato plants were beaten down before they had had time to blossom.

When I dug up a few plants about 3 weeks ago, the yield was appallingly small, and I now feared that the tubers have not been able to get sufficient energy to grow.

As you can see to the right, the potato bed looks like a war zone (all the upright plants are mugworts, that have taken advantage of the potato plants not shadowing the area any more.

I dug up eight (8) plants, and the meager result can be seen below. The container is an old plastic paint bucket, slightly wider than your average household bucket, but still... I might be able to squeeze two meals out of these, but most likely they will be enough for only one meal, plus some lunch sandwiches (Danish style, black bread with cold cuts).

I need to get some 'King Edward' and/or 'Desirée' potatos for planting next year, as the 'Princess' sort does not seem suited for the rich soil in our garden.

More Reptiles

Last week, I purchased another small batch of Lizardmen - just enough for two Blood Gorged units in God of Battles.

The three Cold Ones can be stored for later use, should I get some riders without mounts, or they can be used to mark Unit Enhancements - we' shall see about that.

The front ten just need to be rebased and touched up a bit, while the ten at the back are basically just primed purple, so I shall have to put a bit more time and effort into those, but - heck - they were cheap, and I want my Blood Gorged Lizardmen army to be large!

The Brew that Just Went On and On...

Fifteen months ago, I put this batch of mead aside in the basement for long-time settling. About a moth ago, I carried it up into the kitchen, getting ready for bottling it - and then the fermentation process started up again!

Somehow, the yeast I thought long dead seems to have survived (at least some of it), and during the past month, the airlock has been blobbing away.

Now, the process has finally almost ceased. and I figured it wise to separate the mead from the sediments, siphoning it into a cleanr demi-john.

As you can see in the picture, I did so this afternoon - and the process left some residues that I filtered to get somewhere near half a bottle of mead, of which I am enjoying a glass as I write.

My de-carbonizer 'whip' needed a go in the dishwasher, so I am not going to get the last bubbles out of the brew until tomorrow - and then the batch is going into the basement for another month of settling, before I tap it into bottles.

BoardGame: Columbus

One of the second-hand games that arrived today is Columbus - a game about finding your way to the New World and be the first to get back to the Old World with the news.

Basically, it is about constructing a passable track, placing sea tiles that can be navigated, all the while trying to block the path of the other players by placing hazards and/or removing parts of their track.

This is a in-progress photo of our first game - both Lea, Anna, and I played, and Anna snatched victory right under the nose of both Lea and me.

We played another game, and although I managed to reach North America before both the girls, Anna made better use of the map features (some of the tiles allow you to move faster than normal, when starting your turn there), and, again, emerged victorious,

We all enjoyed the game, but I think it is best suited for 4-6 players, as more tiles will be placed in between every player's turns, thus opening up the map at a higher pace - and enabling more obstruction on the leading player.

Merchants & Marauders: First Game Finished

Lea and I finished our first game of M&M earlier today, and we called it a draw, as when I claimed victory by revealing my stashed Gold, Lea said that she was not aware of the Gold contributing to the Glory total, and that she was certain that she had sufficient Gold stashed away to reach 10 Glory before her first Captain died in an attack on Treasure Island.

I like the game very much - the option to earn Glory by trading, and not just by fighting, means that you can avoid the attention of the 4 powers' Naval Ships (and there is bound to be at least a couple of those patrolling the waters of the Caribbean early on with 16 of the Event Cards drawn at the beginning of every Game Turn bringing in a Frigate (or Man-o-War, should the owning nation be at war)).

Next time we play, we shall use the Glory Cards, and the special harbour rules (printed on the map), and, hopefully, persuade Anna to join the fray-

Chivalry: Test of the Jousting Rules

Back in April, Ulolkish/Duregar and I playtested the draft for my Chivalry jousting rules, and we used a mock-up 'jousting field', divided into two build-up areas and a presenting area (the middle-section).

We played through a full 'Round', consisting of three 'Passes', and in the third Pass. my marginally more experienced knight brought down his opponent, horse and all.

The losing knight was badly injured, and I may have to adjust the rules to avoid too many participants in a Tournée being forced to forfeit due to injuries.

I have not had time to do further work on the Chivalry project since April, as Blood Eagle has taken up most of my hobby time, and I need to figure out how and where to get iron/steel bases made to match two 25mm washers, but with straight side edges.

Board Games: Second-hand Deal!

I bought these games very cheaply on Facebook Sunday evening, and the kids and I are going to try them out over the next couple of days.

The forecast says it is going to be pouring down almost all days this week, so even though I start my 5-night work week Wednesday, we are going to have lots of time for indoor activities, as the girls ar well into their school holidays.

Åcon: Some Photos From Saturday

Some participants did not trust their tents to withstand the  hardships of Esbjerg summer nights...

A game of Valor & Steel & Flesh. I did not participate, just took a couple of pics.

Some Sci-Fi game. I do not recall having heard the name of the rules.

 In the evening, King of Tokyo was providing mayhem and mirth. 

Åcon: Friday Late Night Gaming

I did not play any more games Friday, apart from Nuclear War, of which I have not got any pics (it is a card-based game without much to show).

On another table, though, some Deadzone was played.

And some of the guys had a splatter-fest with Zombicide: Black Plague

Åcon: Dragon Rampant Game

I brought my Lizardmen and High Elf warbands for Dragon Rampant, and I played my first game ever against Spicker, who also had not played the game before.

I played the reptiles, while Spicker assumed the role as Prince Arodon. The light was not the best for photos, but as that is often the case at events, my esteemed readers are probably used to that...

We did not use any scenarios, just put the warbands on the table and got stuck in, in order to learn the rules.

The forces deployed for battle.

The Lizardmen moved steadily forward in cold blood. 

Most of the High Elves also advanced

(leaving Prince Arodon behind - his Griffon did not seem to care much for fighting)

The battle-lines close

The Illyrian Reavers, and the Lothern Sea Guards, picked off some Saurians on my right flank.

The Saurians and the Reavers clash just after this picture was taken 

Both units suffer casualties, and the Sea Guards keep shooting at the Saurians

The Temple Guards charge in and finish the Reavers

Meanwhile, my left flank closed in on the Ulthuans.

The Swordmasters charge into the Temple Guards led by Tzaxl himself...

...and are repelled, but at a high cost:

My leader is battered, and his unit at almost half strength!

The Saurians charge in to revenge their fallen comrades.

The Swordmasters are beaten back and battered.

The last Saurus Warriors on the right flank flee under arrow fire,

and the Temple Guards start moving towards the centre.

Prince Arodon makes a Wild Charge at Tlaxl's temple Guards.

A bloody fight breaks out

I tried to surround the remaining Swordmasters

While Arodon finishes off Tlaxl (ouch!),

the remaining Temple Guards try outflanking the Sea Guards.

The Skinks form Wall of Spears, and lure the Swordmasters into a Wild Charge

which results in their untimely demise.

But, alas, as my last unit of Saurus Warriors surged forward, they were sent fleeing by

the arrows of the Sea Guards, and with my Leader down,

and effectivly only the last Temple Guards posing a real threat,

I decided to throw in the towel, ceding the field to prince Arodon.

It felt like a closely fought battle, and the rules certainly flow well. I have some reservations about the 'sudden death' possibilty every time a unit has to check for courage, though. Especially a 12-man unit at almost full strength running away feels a bit harsh.

I shall definitely play again, trying out some of the scenarios in the book, but I do not think that Dragon Rampant will ever become my fantasy game of choice; it just has a bit too much randomness for my taste (both Activation Rolls, and the aforementioned Courage Tests), but as a quick pick-up game it works quite nicely.