Summer is Coming!

And Summer means outdoor activities. Last Autumn I discovered a Family LARP group in Svendborg, and started participating in their 'Vatnua' campaign, taking place in a Forgotten Realms inspired setting.

I have a lot of LARP gear from the time around the start of the millennium when I arranged an indoor fantasy campaign for young people, and as I quickly fell in love with the 'Family LARP' concept, I decided to start up a project utilizing our rather large garden/yard (more than 4000 sq.m. with various levels, lots of big trees and hazel bushes, a camp fire hut and two additional camp fire sites).

Today I have prepaired some 'gold coins' (Gylden), and earlier I have been doing some 'copper' and 'silver' pieces (Shillinger and Thalere).

I also got this little thing for the Human Faction. The old King is dead, and the throne is vacant (yes, I'm also preparing a throne).

Well. that's all for today. Stay safe out there!

Cadians for Warlords of the 41st Millennium

My latest acquisition: 59 (I think) Cadians, and one Commissar. Almost enough fairly OK painted dudes for two squads.

I need to get some profiles done for these!

Soon, I shall get on with my first test game, but I have been very busy in the garden (cutting trees down to let the Sun in our vegetable garden) and re-familiarizing myself with Blood Bowl (3rd Ed. - more about that later).

Dark Eldar for Warlords of the 41st Millennium

I've been buying a lot of second-hand minis, lately, and although I already got a handful of Dark Eldar, I bid on a few lots last week. As the interest for the auction was quite low, I procured them at a very fair price.

The plastic bags contain quite a few NOS Darrk Eldar, and I also got a Skiff (Raider, I think).

Now' I have to find a 5th Ed. Dark Eldar Codex, and I am almost set to field those dreaded pirates!

Another Great Haul

I won a few minis in a second-hand auction, and they should come in handy later in my Warlords of the 41st Millennium project.

Of course, the flying thingamadoo needs a small repair, and the Assault Marines need to be assembled and painted, but apart from that, I'm pretty pleased with this batch.

The Orks can be used as is, and so can the Techmarine, the Servitors, and the Chaplain, while the hooded Marine is actually a Dark Angel (Cypher? I'll have to investigate further ... dispatch the Interrogator Chaplain!), and the Psyker is a Grey Knight. Both the latter need some colour changes.

The Bikers and the Land Speeder will have to get gradually repainted for my Ravenwing, and the Gun-toting mini-gunship-thingy. too.

Return of the Lichemaster

I finally managed to pull myself together after a long period with absolutely NO energy and initiative, due to a mystical ailment making my stomach hurt after each meal, and preventing me from getting more than 3-4 hours of sleep per night.

I have been in a programme at 'Center for Functional Diseases' in Vejle, and am now in medical treatment, which has helped me overcome the problems associated with eating (and that alone has helped my mood a LOT, as I am very fond of good, well cooked food), and a physiotherapist helped ne get off the couch and become more active - which has also given me more energy.

Summa Summarum, I think I am almost back in the saddle, I have played a couple of games and I have been buying quite a few things - and promise to start posting pics here!

The last week I have been unpacking and sorting two small crates and two large boxes worth of assorted purchases. A lot of it is now taking up all the space I currently have available for it in the living room, and I am in sore need of some boxes to store the goodies in!

As you can see, I have been purchasing both terrain and minis ...

... and as you can also see, Lyra, the Terror of the Lichemaster, would very much like to get up there and push everything over the edge ...

That guy is HUGE! 

Quite a few biggies, actually, 

The yellow school bus! I've been wanting to get one for my Scoobycalypse Walking Dead project (which has been on hold for quite a while). Fred and Daphne are both sitting on one of my Hammers-invented cork-handle faquir-beds, awaiting further attention.

I've got painted minis for several Deadzone factions (at least Enforcers, Asterians, Forge Fathers, Rebels, Plague, maybe Marauders), and unpainted minis for GCPS Troopers and Veer-Myn.

I own a copy of that game, so I am very happy about having acquired those!

I also got a lot of painted and nearly painted Necrons, along with a bunch of Adeptus Mechanicus Scitarii Vanguard/Rangers (hmmm) and as I am just creating Space Marine and Eldar profiles for 'Warlords of the 41st Millennium' (W41M) - my own adaption of Warlords of Erehwon/Bolt Action rules for the Grimdark Universe, I couldn't get a better motivation for pressing on with that project!

I promise to get better pics of the various groups and Items when I get started putting them away in some nice sturdy boxes (I need to procure some shoe boxes or the likes, until I can get enough priter paper boxes).

For now: May Your Dice Favour You!

Reinforcements Have Arrived!

Last weekend I ordered these two items from Miniaturicum in Germany, and they arrived during today's game.

Ten of the the Revenants are destined to become 'Skeleton Guard' for Warlords of Erehwon (they wear some kind of ancient armour) - among other purposes along the way.

I already washed the sprues and started cleaning up the first five, so that I can get a minimum sized unit ready for use as soon as possible, although I shall probably not get them done in time for Wednesday

'Oathbreakers' is necessary for using Undead forces in Oathmark, and I haven't completely given up on that game, although I find that it plays a bit too slowly for massed battles.

I look forward to reading the rules and get an impression of how the Undead work in the game, and maybe try out a smaller solo game to get a hands-on experience.

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy...

I finally succeeded in getting my hands on a Star Wars Legion Clone Wars core set. It had eluded me for ages, so I am quite happy to have secured a copy.

I have absolutely NO hobby time to spend at the moment, but I think that when I do I shall start playing some smaller skirmishes, using the Fistful of Lead Galactic Heroes rules, so that I can paint and use single minis without the need for completing an entire squad each time I want to use new models.

I am beginning to have hobby withdrawal symptoms, but I have to keep working on getting the house and garden ready for Lea's covid-delayed confirmation celebration, even though I really want to start using the new painting desk.

My BIG Summer Project

I am finally (almost) done renovating the driveway.

This project has been running over three years, with most of the workload (and cost) this summer.

Phase 1: The asphalt ramp.
Done two years ago.

Phase 2: Filling out the hollow.
Last summer I got access to removing a lot of beach stones from a garden elsewhere in town, and this spring I helped a single mom emptying a large sand box.

Phase 3: Spreading granite chippings on the parking part of the driveway.
Late spring this year. While doing this, I decided to make some sort of edge on the two 'naked' sides of the part going to become a sun patio to keep the chippings in place and grass and weeds out.
Shortly after, someone in town wanted to get rid of a bunch of old 55cm x 55cm cement tiles.

Phase 4: Getting rid of the hedge.
My firewood pusher knows guys, and he has access to a mini excavator. My neighbour suggested  removing the hedge entirely instead of just digging a trench for the tile edge.

Phase 5: The cement tile edges.
This was really hard labour. Those tiles are heavy as hell, and difficult to handle for aligning.

Phase 6: Raising the driving lane to the back yard with earth.
As the local water plant has two wells in the far end of our back yard, they have right to access the back yard with their trucks for maintenance. Thus, I had to make sure that the tile edge is flush with the surface, otherwise the tiles may break when passed by a heavy vehicle.
The girls and I moved 8 m3 earth during last and this week.

Phase 7: Placing the granite post/column, and spreading granite chippings in the rest of the driveway. 
This was done today. Anna helped me getting the granite post placed and secured. After covering the last part of the driveway in chippings, I enjoyed a well-deserved can of beer on my new sun patio!

Phase 8: Filling up the sun patio part with granite chippings.
The final phase will stretch over the next couple of years, as granite chippings are not the cheapest material.
I have about ½ m3 left to spread out before pausing this project for now. I shall probably do that tomorrow.

All in all, I think I have spent about DKK 12,500 on the driveway, plus time, and petrol for driving a lot of trailer loads of stones and sand.

I think I have earned the right to a nice summer vacation, now!

More for the Plastic and Lead Alps

Earlier today, I received my June order from North Star Military Figures. The Gnolls are (primarily) for my 'remixed' version of Rangers of the Shadow Deep, the Goblins for mixing in with my LotR Orcs (and providing extra archer arms for the Gnolls), and the Halflings are for my 'Frodo's Quest' Shire spin-off (more about it in a later post).

The Hell Crows are for RotSD (some kind of Crows, the name eludes me right now), and the Frostgrave Barbarian with the two-hander is for Emil's Sellswords & Spellslingers warband.

The Magmites and the Thief are just bonuses, but I shall probably find some use for them.

The Garden this Spring

The sewers all over thown are being renovated this summer, and the contractors asked for permission to use our backyard for redirecting soms drainage water while parts of the system were beinng worked on..

You do not see steam erupting from sewers every day!

We have an abundance of Forget-me-Nots behing the house and garage.

I got a load of cobblestones to finish (I hope) the lawn edging project this summer - but I also got some granite chippings for the driveway beside the garage, and that project kind of escalated, so I have not yet begun laying down the cobbles.

The driveway/parking space after spreading the first load of chippings.

Because of the blasted slugs and birds, we decided to put our strawberries in raised beds with nets. The slugs also killed(!) my horse radishes by constantly eating all the green parts of the plants, so we have gotten some new plants and planted them in a raised bed beside the veggie garden (to be seen in a later post).

Lea's confirmation was postponed to August, due to the Corona pandemic. We decided to give her one of her gifts in advance, as it would be a bit pointless to get a garden trampoline just in time for winter.

Some Fireforge Stuff Arrived

Today, I received these two boxes directly from Fireforge Games.

I orderred them to make some peasant survivors and zombies for Rangers of the Shadow Deep (my tweaked version of it, anyway), and I hope to be able to make zombie versions of the peasants, but I shall not dive right into it, as I am busy painting Pirates for Åcon later this month.

Alea Empti Sunt!

Warlord Games rather quickly went back into business during the Blockdown, so as I had to get some Bolt Action Order Dice for Warlords of Erehwon, I was not late to get an order in.

I also ordered two sets of D10 to go with them as both WoE and Oathmark use those.

If I can get my historically inclined gaming buddy (Michael) on board for it, I may also have a go at Bolt Action at some point - I know he has a lot of  1/72 WWII British, so I could get some German stuff from Plastic Soldier Company or the likes.

Hello, There!

Another hiatus coming to an end. Actually, I have been slowly restarting the furnaces of the hobby room over the latest couple of months, ordering some rulebooks, and printing some stuff for the table (more about that in later posts).

My latest acquisition is the fantasy battle game Oathmark, published by Osprey in collaboration with North Star Military Figures.

When first I learned that McCullough was the author of Oathmark, I was somewhat disappointed. McCullough is, as many will be aware of, the author of Frostgrave and Rangers of the Shadow Deep, and I am absolutely no fan of the very random combat system sported by both of them, so it was with no high expectations I followed the news stream from North Star regarding Oathmark.

The combat system in Oathmark, though, is very different from the opposed d20 random mayhem that is Frostgrave and RotSD. Oathmark uses d10s, and when attacking/fighting an enemy unit, the target number to hit is variable, depending on your unit's Fight value, the Defence value of the enemy, and some modifiers, the most important one being extra full ranks - simulating the impetus of a large body of men.

I am yet to play a test game, but I have a relatively good gut feeling about this set of rules. It is relatively simple, maybe even simpler than God of Battles, while still giving that 'old school' feeling from Chainmail, AD&D Battlesystem, and early versions of Warhammer.

The 'world' of Oathmark is relatively 'low' fantasy - a bit like a Dark Ages setting with fantastic races and some monsters. Magic is present, and all races have access to battle mages and some artefacts, but emphasis seems to be on rank-and-file.

The game currently has only four races: Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs/Goblins. There are no restrictions on army composition - actually, the built in campaign system is designed to make each player's 'kingdom' a motley conglomerate of any or all races.

As this may seem strange at first glance, think of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and the various armies fighting for dominance of good and evil. Saruman's force of Half-orcs, evil Men, and Dunlendings. Mordor's armies composed of Orcs, and Men from the east and south (even Dwarves reportedly fought for Sauron at some point, I think). The Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

I, for one, am going to use my Middle-Earth forces for this game - although I am also eagerly awaiting the supplement Oathbreakers, reportedly bringing rules for Undead to the Oathmark world late autumn (although it may be delayed, due to all this pandemic business).

Shopping a Bit

I went into Faraos Cigarer (Cigars of the Pharaoh) in Odense today, and I bought a ton of Citadel Contrast Paints.

Sadly, a few of the colours were missing in the rack, as well as the white contrast undercoat, and the staff could not tell me when they would get the full range.

At least I can get started using them for army painting, but I really wanted Black Templar for Warriors of Minas Tirith, and Apothecary White for Star Wars Imperial Storm Troopers. Well, I shall have to keep an eye out for them now and them or simply buy them online.

Second Hand Find: Hasbro 2004 Millennium Falcon

We just returned from our annual camping trip through Europe, and while staying some days at Camping Les Terrasses du Périgord *** the son of the owner held an outdoor used toys sale, and I could not help noticing the Falcon sitting prominently on the table. I got it for €40 as it is missing some pieces (but that's what 3D printers are for, right? 👀)

The Imperial Assault Hera Syndulla is there for size comparison.

The model has access to some of the interior, and it should be possible to put some bits and bobs in there fitting 28/30mm models (I definitely have to lower that gaming table a tad).

The Belgian roads had shaken this piece loose, and I found it when unwrapping the Falcon from the carpet that protected it on the trip from Périgord to Denmark. At first I had no clue what it is, but watching a couple of presentation videos made it clear that it is the 'dashboard', meant to sit inside the cockpit canopy, and I managed to get it 'clicked' in place without any damage done.

I am quite happy with the purchase, as this Corellian freighter should make a great piece on the table when I get the exteriors properly fitted (and I have not yet tried putting batteries in it to find out if the lights and sounds still work).

Fistful of Lead: Galactic Heroes & Horse and Musket Rules

I got these two sets of rules in the mail today, purchased them at OSHIRO Models in the UK.

Galactic Heroes is destined to form the basis for some small scale skirmishes in the Star Wars and Retro Raygun universes, and Horse And Musket I got mainly for Napoleonics.

I do not think that I shall find time for getting either on the table before the summer holidays, but at least I now have them readily at hand, and they may help me find motivation for painting some models.

SAGA: Age of Magic Dice

Today, I received a parcel from Lenton, UK. This time 11 days from dispatch to arrival (with one day being a Holiday), still is not bad, considering the domestic delivery times of PostNord.

I ordered two of each set of the Age of Magic Dice, so that I can cater for both sides, no matter whar factions are played.

I have been working slowly and steadily on the Skeleton Archers, but now I think it is about time I get some of them - preferably at least eight - ready for the table!

Tomorrow, we shall be visiting my mother-in-law, so I shall not get much hobby time in, but Sunday I should be able to splash some paint on the deadites (unless, of course, the weather suddenly decides to become agreeable, in which case I shall have to do some work in the garden).

I have to take some classes Monday and Tuesday, so this week I shall not be able to make gaming appointments those two days. Hopefully Thursday, I can get an appointment with Emil for some Age of Fantasy, and then perhaps SAGA or Grimdark Firefight with Ulolkish Friday (I shall be at work Fri-Sat-Sun nights), but we shall see about that, he may have other plans, I only got my schedule for the week two days ago.

My Newest Tool

This photo was taken with the wrong light settings - but as it is not meant to show off my meagre painting skills, it is of no dire consequences.

I recently bought the Citadel Assembly Handle, as I am to embark on a fairly extensive project, rebasing plastic Riders of Rohan with their idiotic singular-point-of-contact horses, and I expect to have to apply support to the horses while the glue sets. If this turns out to work nicely for that purpose, I may actually purchase a some more of the handles, so that I can have more than one horse glued in a setting.

The above Skeleton snapped off the plastic base while I was cutting away some of it (the base), and as Poly Cement does not dry very quickly, I felt it was time to get some use out of the handle - and it seems to do the job very nicely!

As you can see, I have not put the clamps to use, as that paticular mini is mostly painted, and I do not want to damage the paint, if it can be avoided, but the arms provide sufficient support to hold a man-sized 28mm mini in place.

I wonder how well the strength of the arms will hold up to metal and/or resin horses, but that time that worry.

SAGA 2nd Edition and Age of Magic

I ordered these two from North Star on May 1th, and they arrived here on May 8th!

I have been wanting to play some SAGA Fantasy for quite a while, but I have not been able to convince anybody of playing A Fantastic SAGA with me, although I think that fan-powered project is quite remarkable.

I have also been holding off buying 2nd Edition as I like 1st Ed. a lot, and I have almost everything for it, but with Age of Magic coming out, I had to take the plunge...

I have been reading a lot since Wednesday, and that is the reason why I have not yet started painting the Rohan Royal Guards, and also did not yet find the time to assemble the Renedra Saxon Tents.

I have no firm grasp of the rules, yet, but Age of Magic seems to bring back strongly flavoured Battleboards, which has been a thing complained about missing from 2nd Edition.

Tomorrow, the weather should be dry and sunny, and I shall probably have to spend some time in the garden, but I hope to also start rebasing some Skeletons I dug out of a box in the garage attic yesterday.

Another Ruleset: KoW - Vanguard

When I received The Walking Dead, Prelude to Woodbury, Vanguard also arrived.

I was a bit disappointed to learn that I cannot play the game with the rule book alone, but need some special dice called Power Dice - which I shall have to order from Mantic, as nobody carries their products anywhere near me - IF I decide to play the game after reading the rules, that is.

I have only sniffed the rules for now, as The Walking Dead is more appealing to me at the moment (I only need to paint a single model to start playing the solo scenarios), but I would be surprised if I do not find the time to read Vanguard during some of the many cold dark winter evenings to come.