Sellswords & Spellslingers: Campaign Activity Period

I need to work through the Campaign Activities following my ill-fated introduction of Emil to Sellswords & Spellslingers, before I play a rescue scenario with Ulolkish tomorrow afternoon, so here it is:

NEW/UPDATED HOUSE RULE: Living Expenses and Treatment of Wounds

If an PC does not undertake a Campaign Activity that pays his/her living expenses, he/she must spend a minimum of 1 SP or lose 1 HP (in addition to any lost in the last scenario played).

A PC can only heal a maximum of 1 HP for each SP spent on living expenses/treatment between games.

Shaggram the Terrible

The Wizard earned 1 individual XP for picking up some jewelry, and is awarded an additional 1 XP from the Group XP Pool, bringing his total up to 36/25.

He decides to spend 10 XP to learn a level of Magic Mastery, and his total is now 36/35. Shaggram saves the remaining unspent XP for later.

He also barters with Argesïl, trading the found jewelry for the Magic Shield scroll the Rogue scavenged from the Troll slain by Leonides, just before the Barbarian succumbed to the onslaught of the Orcs.

Argesïl the Cunning

The Rogue also earned 1 Group XP, for a new total of 13/10.

He uses the excess XP on Pickpockets 2, leaving no XP for further advances for now, 13/13.

Instead of testing his newfound skills, he decides to sell off  some of his loot at the local market:

• 1 Ruby, (7d6 SP -> 27 SP)
• 1 piece of Jewelry (8 SP)
• 1 piece of Jewelry (3d6 SP -> 9 SP)

Argesïl Haggles, rolling a 15, thus increasing the price by 10% (46 SP + 10 % (4 SP) = 50 SP), so can add 50 SP to his already heavy purse.

He also buys a shield for Rhagador.

Rhagador the Righteous

The 2 remaining 2 Group XP go to the Cleric, as he saw most of the action. His new total is 23/21.

He spends some time at the temple, receiving treatment for his wounds, learning from the healers there, acquiring Healer 2, which may come in very handy when trying to recover his lost comrades, bringing his XP to balance 23/23.

He gives 10 SP to Argesïl for buying him a new shield, as the old one was shattered under the heavy blows of an Orc Brute, and then he spends hour upon hour at the temple, Worshiping his deity and praying for guidance in the task at hand (spending another 15 SP on sacrifices, incense, candles, and other such trappings). This earns him a +1 on all Activation Rolls during the next scenario, until fails to roll any Actions.

Finghal the Sober

Still no news of the stalwart Fighter, presumed in captivity.

SS&SS: 2nd Campaign Activity Period

Shaggram with his newly finished base
- some day I shall also paint him up nicely...

It has been more than a week, since Ulolkish and I played our co-op game, and I think it is about time I get my Characters' CAP sorted out.

The Scenario yielded 4xp per player, and this time I opt to distribute them evenly, bringing Shaggram and Rhagador up to 3xp each, Finghal and Argesïl 1xp each.

Shaggram spends his free time reading up on Magic Mastery, and he has to study for quite a while, yet, so does not spend any xp this CAP. He enlists in the local City Militia (a Fireball-wielding Wizard is always welcome in the ranks of armed peasantry) for a Salary of 6 SP (he rolls an '11' at the end of the CAP), and he does not have to pay for Living Expenses, so ends up with 12 SP, as he did not pick up anything during the game.

Finghal looted 4 SP and a Cheap Sword, so has a total of 10 SP. He hands the Cheap Sword to Rhagador, as the Cleric is going to trade some weapons at the market, anyway, and also enlists in the City Militia once more, earning him 6 SP (he rolls a '7' at the end of the CAP), for a total of 16 SP. To this he can add 5 SP form the sale of the Cheap Sword, and he is now holding 21 SP.

Argesïl looted 7 SP and a Cheap Sword, gives the Cheap Sword to Rhagador for him to sell at the market, while he goes Pickpocketing among the attendees himself. This time he rolls a '12', which is just enough for success! Unfortunately, the first d6 is only a '1´', but the second a '6', so he gets a meager harvest of only 6 SP bringing his total up to 13 SP. He spends 1 SP on Living Expenses, so has 12 SP left.
Rhagador pays him 5 SP after selling the Cheap Sword, and he can start his next adventure with a purse of 17 SP.

Rhagador decides to hone his socializing skills, and spends 2xp on Charisma Lvl 1, which may come in handy when he visits the market to sell the 2 Battleaxes he looted along with 10 SP, and the 2 Cheap Swords provided by his companions.
He finds a weapons trader, and starts to Haggle. He rolls a '20', and sells the Cheap Swords for 5 SP each, and the Battle-axes for 30 SP each.

• From now on, I shall only allow the Full Price on a perfect success (20) on the Haggle Roll, all other successes just giving the 10% bonus as per the Trade rules. I had forgotten that I should have a rule for a Perfect roll.

Rhagador gets 70 SP form trading, but gives 5 SP to each of Finghal and Argesïl, so adds only 60 SP to his own purse, for a total of 92 SP, from which he has to pay Living Expenses, and ends up with 91 SP.

The Party now has 141 SP among them, and I probably should have them buy some equipment, but I am not sure, what will be useful, yet, so I shall just let them hold on to their money for a little while longer.

Sellswords & Spellslingers: 1st Campaign Activity Period

The SS&SS rules state that each surviving PC may perform ONE of the listed Campaign Activities.

Trading is one of those, so Rhagador will sell the two Cheap Swords he collected from a couple of dead Orcs.

Now, in the Weapons section, under Weapons Found on Monsters, it is stated that weapons can be sold at half the listed price, and cheap weapons at a quarter of the listed price.

BUT, the Campaign Activity 'Trading' states that the PC may automatically sell loot at the listed price, and may try to Haggle for a 10% increase in price.

Hmmm...

I think that 'Trading' and 'Weapons Found on Monsters' contradict each other.

Because of that, and as weapons are not all that expensive, I shall rule that on a successful Haggle roll (DL13, adjusted by Charisma and Merchant), the PC is able to sell a weapon at full price (half price for cheap weapons). It may make it worthwhile to pick up stuff on the battlefield.

Rhagador rolls exactly 13 (yay!), and sells the two cheap swords for 5 SP each, bringing the contents of his purse up to a whoopin' 24 SP!

As the other three characters have nothing to sell, and cannot afford Gambling or other frivolous acts, Shaggram and Finghal both Enlist in the City Militia for a salary of 6 SP per Campaign Activity Period for each.

Argesïl, the Rogue, decides to put his skills in Pickpocketing to use. Pickpocket is a DL13, adjusted by Pickpockets (1), so Argesïl has to roll 12+ to succeed.

Alas, the result is '11', and has to live off the charity of his companions (whom he left hurriedly in the Badlands...)

So much for the Campaign Activities.

Under the paragraph Gaining Treasure it is suggested that treasure is divided evenly among a party, but I think I shall reserve that method for gained awards (for tasks well done), and larger hoards found or won by clearing out a Monster Lair. I like the storytelling motivation of small tension between the characters because of bad luck for some.

Experience
Through the Badlands gives 4 xp.
I could give one point to each member of the party, but given the way the scenario played out, I think it is most fair to give Shaggram and Rhagador 2 xp each. They did all the fighting and took all the risk, so that is how it is going to be! In future scenarios I shall strive to put all party members to good use - I was off to a somewhat nervous start, as I was uncertain as to how dangerous the Monsters are in this game.

Cost of Living
There are no rules regarding the costs of basic living, but I shall assume that to stay healthy and regain their strength, all characters need housing and sustenance between scenarios equaling the value of 1 SP per capita. Some Campaign Activities intrinsically provide the necessary means, others do not. I shall rule, that unless a character is either provided for, or him/herself pays 1 SP in living expenses, that character cannot heal battle damage between scenarios, and will loose 1 HP before the next scenario (in addition to any lost in the previous one).

Argesïl has no means to pay for himself, but of course the party's Cleric sees it as his duty to pay out of charity. For now. That Rogue might come in handy, if properly trained, after all...

Rhagador also has to pay for himself, ending up with 22 SP.

Shaggram and Finghal both are provided for by the City Militia while employed, so they end the CAP with 6 SP each.

With all this wrapped up, I shall now update character sheets in preparation for the next game (which I shall probably not get around to before next week, at the earliest).

Mighty Empires Multi-System Campaign

I am toying with the idea of starting up an ongoing multi-player Mighty Empires campaign with an un-traditional approach:

In ME each 'Banner' represents up to 1500 points of troops - traditionally chosen from a Warhammer army.

Instead of having 'Banners' represent a set number of points within a set games system, I plan to use the ME points system to show RELATIVE strenghts of armies clashing in battle. The exact compotion and strength of the fighting forces will be worked out by the players involved - AND with whatever scale of minis and game system they prefer (and can agree on). If the players can't agree on a scale and/or ruleset to use, the abstract ME battle rules will instead be used to resolve the conflict.

Let's say, a 500 points Banner and a 1500 points Banner meet up on a contested tile; the ratio between the armies must be 1:3, but the actual forces could be anything between small skirmishing warbands up to vast armies of thousands of 6mm or 2mm miniatures, as long as both players can field an appropriate force of the same scale.

I own about 6 sets of 1st Ed,. and it should be possible to construct a fairly interesting board from the many cardboard tiles.

A New Table - For PSZ!

I have begun making the table I'm going to use for my PSZ: Warhammer Apocalyse Z project:

I'm going to make 3 2'x4' (60cm x 240cm) for a total of a 4'x6' (240cm x 360cm)'standard' sized table, but I think I'm going to make several add-ons of various sizes and shapes to allow for all kinds of scenarios.

And the boards will be used for multiple other purposes, too, of course ;o) Funnily enough, it's the first time I do boards of this size, having focussed on smaller tables for skirmish gaming the last 10 years or so.

I expect to be ready for the first game just after the summer holidays!

LotR: Mines of Moria, Part 6. Just a little Family Photo

I promised Doomhippie over at the LAF a close-up of my Cave Troll, so I thought I'd better get it done ;o)

Chivalry, Part 6: Crossed Lances Foot Melée and Archery.

The second (and currently last) book in the Crossed Lances series deals with dismounted fighting, and archery, thus letting squires, gamekeepers, or other retainers grab a bow and participate actively in the tourney.

The Foot Melée.

This a different cup of tea than the previous tome; the language used is pretty clear and straight forward, and only the 'foul' result on the combat result table, for some reasom marked as minus results, seem a little weird (you won't actually bestow hit points back on your victim when making a foul hit, will you?) It seems the fouls beign 'minus' has carried over from the jousting table, where you count points scored instead of damage done, to both the Grand and Foot Melée - which again brings me back to the really poor editing done on these rules.

• The game uses a set of movement tiles similar to those used in the Grand Melée. I like that!
• It would seem that the authors have given up on the '1 Turn = 3 moves', and simply allow the combattants to play 1, 2, or 3 movement tiles per turn. I like that!
• The game introduces rolling an extra 'critical hit' die. I like that!
• As mentioned under the Grand Melée, In the Foot Melée one dice is attack, and one is defence (in effect, your sword and your shield). The rules state, that in order for your combat result to count on the table, you have to beat your opponent's defense with your attack. I like that!
  However, the example, fully in the style one has come to expect from these authors, shows Attack 5/Defense 5 vs Attack 4/Defense 3, and BOTH generating a result on the combat result table, although Attack 4 clearly does nor beat Defense 5!!
• The game uses the cards in the same way as the other two contests. I don't like that! I think the damage done should be a result of the combat dice roll +/- any modifiers.
• The game introduces hit points for shield and helmet, and the possibility of either to be destroyed (and replaced) or get lost (and picked up or replaced). I like this very much, and clearly, it belongs in the Grand Melée, too. However, the rules state that the lost item 'scatters' 1d6, and in a direction decided by a d12, and there is no clue as to HOW the d12 shows the direction. Now, I can make a template, or use my good old watch, but, again, remember that I paid £20 (plus postage) for these rules.

There sure is some good ideas in the Foot Melée rules, but as the authors cling to the same system as in the previous two contests, they are, sadly enough, poorly used.

This is NOT a complete game, though. The rules use the Lord/Personality cards, so far only found in the first volume, which makes selling the rules separately for £20 a complete rip-off in my book. The games component section contains some additional Lord/Personality (Champion) cards for use with the campaign rules, and you might use those instead, but they are all marked with a rather high bonus, and the differences won't be the same as when using the intended cards.

As with the previously reviewed rules, I'll have to change this into the game I want to playm, but I'll use much more elements from this section than from the other two.

Archery

In these rules, for the first time, the authors let the use of cards influence the dice roll, which, directly affects the result. It's a no-brainer, really, but this is the first time the cards make any real sense.

I won't write a lot about this section, as I think I'll have to try it out before forming an opinion; they actually look playable right out of the book:

You roll a d12 to determine which section of the target is hit, 2d6, then refer to the archery table to see which part of which 'ring' is hit, an extra 'critical' d6 to take the arrow further in or out on the target, and add or deduct the bonus/penalty of your archer card and skill card.

I do think, though, that I would like to give the player a bit more control over the skill cards, maybe allowing a 'hand' of cards to be used, and maybe the option to affect the performance of other participants (the idea came to me when thinking about the foot melée rules), but I'll have to tinker and try...

CONCLUSION:

Crossed Lances should never have been published in its current form (save, perhaps, the archery rules). The 2 tomes are not worth the paper they are printed on, and £20 for either is a rip-off not even GW would dare. They need a re-write, and some heavy editing and updating of the tables, and the second volume should contain the Lord/Personality cards to make it self-contained and not requiring an additional purchase to use properly.

Just about a month ago, the authors stated that the price of the rules was right, priced accordingly to other products, and that they would never consider lowering the price, nor offer a discount for a combined purchased - in their delusions of grandeur seemingly confident that they had a premium(!) product to offer. Just recently they made the 2 books available for £30, thus discounting 25%, so the huge public interest they claim when promoting this polished turd may not be as massive after all.

Here's a link to another review of the first tome:
http://colgar6.blogspot.dk/2014/04/crossed-lances-review.html

And I think that it speaks for itself that a vendor selling the game + scenery for it doesn't want to lend his name to an appraisal of the rules (he does give another explanation for it, but...):
http://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/Hobby-Pages/Crossed-Lances-Medieval-Jousting-Hobby-Page/Crossed-Lances-Rules-Review-Jousting

Chivalry, Part 5: Crossed Lances Grand Melée.

Well. I don't really know what to make of the second part of the first Crossed Lances rulebook.

As with the first part, this review is based solely on the assumption that I have understood the meaning of most sentences in this second part of the rules. I know for certain, that some I haven't understood. I'm pretty sure, some don't make any sense at all, but, please, prove me wrong!

I like the movement part, at least the use of the special movement hexes. However, I find it very strange, that a knight opting to make a charge in the first of 3 moves in a turn will have to be a sitting duck for the 2 reminding moves, having no more movement to spend, while the slower moving opponents can outmanouver him. Silly. Just silly.

Again, the (randomly chosen) shield/skill cards are not used to influence the results of the combat roll, but are, in conjunction with the lord/personality card, merely used to inflict some hit point damage. I have NO idea how this works, however, as the authors manage to give 3 (three) different explanations in as many pages.

1. In 'the sequence of play' it is stated that 'the difference in 2 points are awarded to the winner and scored against the opponent'. I have no idea what this sentence means. Can somebody please help me out??
2. In the 'Attain Strike' section, it is stated that: 'the winners scores 1 hit point for each +1 difference against his opponent'. Sounds as the logical solution?
3. In the 'scoring points in the 'attain melée' section, it says: 'the winner scores 2 hit points for the skills over the opponents, and any that are equal are shared 1 hit each.'

Either this is VERY bad form (and some of it bad English, too), or I must have sunken into dementia...

I could just chose one of these (one that makes sense), but, again, remember, I paid £20 for these rules. A bit of clarity isn't too much to ask for, methinks...?

The actual detailed beating in skulls happen with the usual 2d6. It works a bit different than in the jousting rules, in that one dice is attack, and the other defense. Interesting mechanic! Ah, no, wait, that's the foot melée rules in the second book (I'll get back to that in another post). But why the authors have decided to NOT use this - perhaps the nicest feature in the two books in their entirety - for the mounted melée as well as the unmounted, totally eludes me.

Again, the chord snaps, as two different explanations are given:

1. In the 'scoring points in the 'attain melée' section, it says that the highest roll scores 1 point, and then both results are checked on the attain melée table.
2. In the following example, though, the winner scores 2 hit ponts - and only the higher roll is checked on the table.

GO FIGURE!

Again, in my opinion, I shall have to make radical changes to the rules if they are to become playable.

• For instance, I need players to be able to play 1, 2, or 3 movement cards every time they move. I'll probably add a rule, that a horse that has charged is 'blown', and may not charge again this turn.
• Again, I also need more control over the skill cards, and have them influence the outcome of the dice roll.
• I'll probably use the attack/defense dice system of the foot melée rules.
• I'm not sure if I'll use the combat result tables at all, other than for the jousts. Maybe I'll create something based on the critical damage system of Strange Aeons.

It may well be that this game, being quite spectacular to look at when set up with spectator stands, tilts, archery range, et al, attracts a lot of players at conventions. It also very well may be that the players are having a good time when the authors are running tings, so they won't have to check any rules in the books.

I dare say though, that if the participants buy the rules and try to recreate the game at home, they'll have a really hard time doing so, as the rules are a real mess, badly writtten, hopelessly structured, and seem simply not edited at all.

I really regret having spent £40 (+ postage) on these two books, as it would probably have been much easier for me (and 40+ quid cheaper) to create my own rules from scratch, than to work these into something useable. But now I have them, and I'll see what I can do about it...

More Walking Dead

Finished the last 3 of this batch today.

And before anybody asks: Yes, I have given up painting eyes on WF plastic zeds. These have to finished in great numbers, so fiddly detail has no place; PJ needs to be fast, easy, and gory, and from now on I'll prime them white, to make the lighter colours cover better (I simply block out the colours and wash with Devlan Mud or the equivalent).

Chivalry, Part 4: Fireforge Plastics, and Status.

Finally received these in the mail today:

The Templar Knights box contain 2 sprues with heads, meaning there's duplicates of every head - and the Templar Infantry box has at least one sprue with the same heads. This is GREAT for my project, where I need to make 3 versions of the same knight(s) for use with the different competitions in Crossed Lances.

12, 24, and 48 minis, respectively, 84 in all. Not good for my painting tally, not good at all...

Chivalry so far:

Phase 1:

Goal 1:
Acquire rules and minis.
Completed!
Goal 2:
Read rules, and construct the necessary equipment/terrain for tournaments.
WIP
Goal 3:
Construct and paint at least 2 mtd knights with lances to try out jousting rules.
Work will commence later today.

Everything is moving  nicely along, although I'll have to change the jousting rules before playing. I won't have 2 knights painted until next weekend at the fastest, and probably not even then, as I have to clean and assemble them first - which reminds me, I should probably go wash the sprues in soap water right away!

Chivalry, Part 3: Crossed Lances Jousting Rules.

I finally received the Crossed Lances rulebooks.

Jousting and Grand Melée Rules
A4. Full colour, glossy paper. 46 pages, 21 pages actual rules, £20.00

I'm not impressed.

The first read-through left me completely baffled and bewildered; these are probably the worst written rules I've ever come across.

Not because of the mechanics, but because of the way they are presented.

Reading these books are NOT for the more faint-hearted lovers of the Queen's English. The authors seem to have completely failed to get someone without dyslexia to proof-read the text, and the reader is sometimes left wondering if they used one of those computer applications that translate the spoken word into text, instead of typing it in themselves. On several occations, almost homophonic words have been left in place for the proper term, even in large headlines ('Forward' for 'Foreword', 'or' for 'are'), and repeatedly very long sentences contain seemingly meaningless or misplaced words, making an attempt to grasp the mechanics of the game a rather painful experience.

As if the mere form of the text was not enough to confuse anyone daring enough to read it, the jousting rules over and over refer to components that are simply not contained within the book. Well, they are in the game component section, but a completely different term is used for them here (Shield Cards = Skill Cards, Personality Cards = Lord Cards). Until one realizes this, much time is spent browsing the component section, and going 'WTF do they MEAN?!'.

Yesterday, I spent about 2 hours transforming the jousting rules into a systematic form, going through each and every sentence in the chapter, writing everything in table form, so I can easily look up the conditions during a jousting run, and see what rules come into the equation. I shouldn't have to do that after paying £20 + postage...

This boiled down to 2½ pages (if including the one-page Attain Hit Table).

Well, so much for the FORM of the rules. Now for the actual mechanics.

DISCLAIMER:
THE FOLLOWING REVIEW IS MADE ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT I HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF THE RULES; THIS IS BY NO MEANS GUARANTEED, ALTHOUGH I HAVE MADE A THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF EACH SENTENCE WITH ANY CONTENT SEEMINGLY OF RELEVANCE TO THE GAME. Should you, in any way, feel that some of my points are wrong, please quote the rule in question and point out to me, what I have missed.

The authors very thoroughly have included a lot of factors and possible outcomes of a jousting run. Lot's of rules for scoring points for all kinds of little details, such as, whose horse runs fastest during the attain (actual clash), the actual hit, who is showing most skill, etc.

What really kind of ruins this whole setup for me is:

1. Almost every single point scored during a run depends on a single roll of 2d6. It decides how fast your horse goes (and thus whether you reach or overshoot the Attain Area), and how/where you hit your opponent (and whether or not you unseat him and/or split your lance, or make a foul).
2. Your Lord/Personality Card and your Skill/Shield Cards are only used to score 'skill points' (comparing their combined score to that of your opponent's; higher score wins and difference is scored). Your (skill!) cards have NO influence on how well you hit your opponent, that is decided solely by the 2d6 roll you make.

So, we have here a game with a set number of fields along the jousting tilt, a set number of fields at the middle of the tilt where you can make an attain, and one dice roll deciding both how far you go, and where you hit your opponent + 1 or 2 cards (played totally independently of the dice roll).

You can actually calculate which combined results will result in an attain, lesser attain, and/or no attain, and it would be possible to completely skip the miniatures and the tilt, making up a master table showing every possible outcome of the 2 players' dice rolls, because the only thing that affects the outcome of a jousting run is how the results of the 2 2d6 dice rolls relate; the (skill!) cards do not influence the result, but are merely used to define a few more points scored. You could just as well in turn draw 3 or 4 cards each from a normal card deck, counting the wins, letting the winner score the difference. Well, the only difference is, that your Lord/Personality Card (with a bonus or penaly) stays with you all through the tournament, so perhaps you should draw a card beforehand that you could decide to use instead of drawing from the deck, once per 3 runs...

So, per run, one dice roll, 1 or 2 cards played - and LOTS of calculations/book-keeping.

So, is this 'a game of skill and daring' as stated by one of the authors in the 'Opening Foreward' (geez!!)?

• Well, there's not much skill in rolling 2 dice (unless you're REALLY clumsy)
• The only things you control in the game is in which sequence you play your 3 randomly drawn Skill/Shiels Cards (and, as you have no idea what cards your opponent drew, it matters a horse's ass), and in which of the 3 runs you want to apply the bonus/penalty of your Lord/Personality Card (I suggest you always play your cards to even out the bonuses/penalties - you'll win some and lose some, but won't lose big, unless your opponent has drawn all maximum bonus cards, in which case you wouldn't win any points, anyway).

Need I write more...?

Do we get 'realistic outcomes, that are directly influenced by how you play your shield cards, and how the personality that you are controlling interacts in the game; by clever use of the personality cards'?

• If the author is talking about the final outcome of the tourney, well, yes, I guess you can say that it is realistic in that we find a winner. And as the shield and personality cards are scoring points, how you played them mattered. But clever use? After the first run of the tourney, all players will know the personality card of all other players, and there might be some guessing, what skill card a player augments with his personality card, and some bluffing may occur.
• If the author is talking of the outcomes of the jousting runs, the cards play absolutely NO deciding role, they only give a few extra points to the one or the other. You have NOTHING to say about the aim of your lance, NO INFLUENCE on your horse's speed, and NO WAY to decide to make fair or foul hits (fouls are just a result on the Attain Hit Table). 

CONCLUSION:

Crossed Lances (Jousting) is purely a game of chance - a game of Ludo requires more skill, and even some knowledge of probabilities; in Crossed Lances you don't even get to play the odds in any way - the dice roll decides everything regarding the joust, and the so-called 'skill' cards just adds points on the side without influencing anything regarding the lance (I keep pointing that out because I think it shouts 'stupid and utterly obsolete mechanic').

Had this game been published in 1980, it would have felt innovative. Today, with the trend towards ever simpler, faster flowing games, it feels a bit 'last century'.

I may have to re-invent the game; I don't think I'll be able to persuade many gamers to play this regularly.

I hope the rules for the Grand Melée, the Foot Melée, and Archery are a tiny bit more interesting - I'll be going over those, soonish, and I'll post my thoughts hereabouts...

LotR: Mines of Moria, Part 5.

Got a big second-hand lot of painted and unpainted lead and plastic (and even a couple of resin) minis today.

The painted stuff (and a single Mordor Uruk with a broken sword - needs a bit of glue):

As you can see, I have finished the boards, and the new Moria Goblins are more than plenty for swelling the ranks I need for this little project.

Next up. 'They have a Cave Troll!!'. Lotsa plastic Uruk-Hai (especially an abundance of engineers), and a based and almost assembled Fellowship form the MoM box. Saves me quite some time on this project!

More plastic, and a few metal bits: Warriors of the Last Alliance, Warriors of Minas Tirith, and some Rohan Riders:

A full set of Haradrim infantry (plus a rider), some Wargs/Warg Riders, and Orcs are back on the menu...

This is everything that needs mending; some broken bows and swords,  two Uruk-Hai with broken pikes, amd a few things that just fell apart. Not bad. Note the resin Saruman (top of staff broken, but present).

And, finally, the jewel of the crown: A whole bunch of metal, mostly characters, notably 2 copies of Aragorn the King Mounted, and a full Fellowship plus a few 'later versions' of some.

Oh, and there's two plastic gobbos in there as well...

Then there's a set with Haradrim Raiders (horsemen, and some sprues with bits and bobs for the Warg Riders.

Chivalry, Part 2.5: Heraldy for Chivalry!

I bought this online from an antiquarian, and received it today:

It's an old OOP book that I remembered having studied when I ran a D&D campaign about 25 years ago, and I'm going to use it as a source of inspiration for emblazoning the arms of my Feudal knights.

I have another package sent as a letter at the local post shop, but I cannot get it until Monday, as they cannot hand out 'letters' over the weekend (but parcels are OK..?!). Don't ask. It's complicated. Bureaucracy at its finest...

LotR: Mines of Moria, Part 4.

Drybrushed the boards today:

The dark spots are areas where I got overly zealous, and a few where some white paint plattered tiny dots on the surface when I stupidly opened a W&N bottle that had been sitting in over 30 degrees Celsius in the conservatory all day without any precautions.

A quick repaint with the 'German Grey' mix, and I'll go over it with the 'Codex Grey' mix tomorrow.

I also dug out my Moria Goblins, and the painted Cave Troll from the MoM set. Sorry for the crappy photo, it was taken with flash, without tripod, in an almost dark conservatory:

Some of the bases are a bit too bright, and I'll probably go over them with the proper colour combo.

As soon as I have the reinforcements from Gibby at the LAF, I'll have plenty painted of each type gobbo.

LotR: Mines of Moria, Part 3.

Basecoated the 2 small boards today. Mixed a colour very close to Vallejo Model Colour German Grey.

After painting, I mixed some paint to resemble Old Citadel Codex Grey - which I'll use for picking out the texture with a drybrush.

LotR: Mines of Moria, Part 2

Yesterday, I glued sand onto the two small boards I'm making for MoM: I covered the boards in unthinned white glue, and piled a think layer of sand on top. The whole shenanigan is situated in our 'conservatory' which becomes very hot when the sun is shining like it is presently.

Today, I removed the loose sand, and then covered the boards with thinned down white glue (milk-like cosistency), with a little wash-up liquid added.

The thinned glue seals the sand, and makes the surface very hard an durable.

Here are the boards, covered in wet glue:

LotR: Mines of Moria

Well, as stated in my previous post, I have decided to revisit LotR:SBG, for which I have numerous painted Battle Companies.

This time around, I'll focus on the Fellowship, and get minis ready for one scenario at a time.

I'll start with the simple ones from the boxed set The Mines of Moria, and as I have already several years ago painted the Cave Troll, and more than a dozen Moria Goblins, I shall have to start by cleaning and assembling the plastic Fellowship models from the box.

Earlier today I started making the 2 small boards required for the scenarios in the book to the left, cutting out chipboard in the required size, and I plan to glue sand onto them tomorrow morning (after serving pancakes for breakfast to get in the right Hobbit-mood).

The plastic terrain pieces from the box I also assembled and primed several years ago, so they just have to be painted - which in this case means successive drybrushes with a large brush.

It's a shame that the first scenario requires the full Fellowship - would have been nice to be able to paint a few minis, then game, then paint another few, but that's not the way it should be...

Chivalry, Part 2: Planning

This is what I think I'll be able to do this year (I have plenty of other projects to see to, you see):

Phase 1:
Goal 1: Acquire rules and minis. Almost check!
Goal 2: Read rules, and construct the necessary equipment/terrain for tournaments.
Goal 3: Construct and paint at least 2 mtd knights with lances to try out jousting rules.
Goal 4: Construct and paint at least 2 mtd knights with hand weapons to try out the mtd close combat rules
Goal 5: Construct and paint at least 2 foot knights with hand weapons to try out the foot close combat rules
Goal 6: Try out archery rules (I already have some painted archers)

Phase 2:
Goal 1: Construct the 'castle'
Goal 2: Acquire minis for the household. Paint them along the way.
Goal 3: Acquire or construct the first peasant hut.
Goal 4: Acquire and paint the first peasant family.
Goal 5: Make pigsti
Goal 6: Acquire and paint livestock

If I complete the list faster than expected, I'll add to it, but let's see about that...

Chivalry

My newest long-term project evolves around feudal knights and lords, thus 'Chivalry'.

I have ordered Crossed Lances from Sally 4th, ans some plastics from Fireforge Games (Templars Cavalry and Infantry, and Foot Sergeants), to make some early feudal knights for the game.

Crossed Lances is rules for knightly tournaments, with jousting, melee, and archery (for the squires)

Each character needs to be done in 3 versions:

1. Mounted, with Lance and Shield
2. Mounted, with Hand Weapon and Shield
3. Dismounted, with Hand Weapopn and Shield.

To make the knights useable for skirmish and/or battle games, too, I'll use the same gear and hand weapon for the mounted and dismounted versions.

I am presently looking for a solid ruleset to use for the games outside the tournament field, but I have some requirements that have to be met:

• Easy-to-learn, simple mechanics
• A minimum of record-keeping
• Minimum or no use of counters on the table
• Fast gameplay
• Some period flavour; I don't need the rules to reflect whether a warrior is using a sword or a mace, or whether he wears a full helmet or one with just a nose-guard, but rules for lance charges, longbows, crossbows, and the likes is a must!

Until further notice, I'll just use Song of Blades and Heroes, as it meets most of the above criteria, but I would like to find something made for historical gaming, instead of fantasy,

My main protagonist will start out as a newly knighted youngster who's been given a small hamlet to attend to by his feudal lord.

I am going to use this as an outline to build a small 'castle' consisting of just a stone house, and a courtyard surrounded by a wooden palisade. I'll then over time add a small hamlet, some fields, and the peasant familes to go with it. Over time, the hamlet should grow into a village, with a road inn, a mill, more houses, etc., etc.

The terrain will be used for games set around the knight, and, of course, for other settings, too.

I am going to build up an entourage of retainers over time, but I feel that the number of men-at-arms available to our knight should depend on the size and quality of his possessions.

Thus, depending on the ruleset chosen, I'll apply an upkeep allowance for each peasant hut/family, field, and other assets maintained by our hero.

Right now I'm fostering the idea to use some of the old sets of Mighty Empires I own to create a map of the area, but that is a future project.

As soon as I receive the Crossed Lances rules, I'll have to construct some jousting tills, some archery targets, and some enclosures for the close combat competitions, and parallel to that I'll get some knights assembled and painted.

This, of course, does not mean that I'm ditching my other ongoing projects, I'll just add this to the work I can switch between to avoid boredom.

And, really, having been ever a medieval afficionado, I think it was about time I started some 'real' medieval gaming...

The Coven Assembles!

Fillet of a fenny snake,   
In the cauldron boil and bake;   
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,   
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,   
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,   
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,   
For a charm of powerful trouble, 
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.   

     Double, double toil and trouble;   
     Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Got the cauldron prepped and assembled, and found the 2 versions of the Dark Sword 'The Summoner' (by Tom Meier) that I have had in my possession for several years.

Darkness is coming....