30 June 2013

res nova

A "new thing" indeed! Not only is this the start of a new type of game for me to play (Roman gladiators), but it is literally a new game... this is the first public playtest for Furt on the LAF's new game, Blood on the Sands. A while back I picked up the em4 prepainted gladiators game, but in the box they've stayed as the rules didn't grab me and I knew that Blood on the Sands was in the pipeline. Yesterday evening I re-stickered my blank dice that I'd made for Quest (now that it has been superseded by Goblinquest I had no need for them) and made a good start on chopping up tokens:






More to come soon, I hope.

Rab

27 June 2013

Colouring in

Much to my wife's bemusement, I have settled down in front of whatever medieval documentary she has chosen over the last week or so (apart from the evening where mini-Rab #2 had to go and get his leg x-rayed after over-exuberant bubble-chasing - don't ask!) complete with painting tray. To be fair, it is quite a while since I did any and am rather in the grip of a painting frenzy. Well, frenzied by my standards: I've painted seven figures in the last ten days! This takes my annual total to.... nine.

I was going to split them between two or three posts, just to make me feel like I'm achieving some blogging as well, but that seemed a bit naff, especially as they're all for my chivalric gaming: SBH, Goblinquest and what I hope will be a workable set of house rules to play Dux Brit but with knights in shining armour and goblins.

So, to the "hastily snapped on my phone up against an impromptu background of polystyrene" pictures! First up, a couple more of the old Citadel, now Foundry Feudal knights I picked up from Meyer over on the LAF.



I was pleased with the face of the green chap and the blue and white quartering looks pretty good in the lead.

Here is a group shot of all my knights completed so far, most of which have appeared on here at some point already:


I also painted up the first four of my Curtey's Miniatures spearmen as retainers for the central knight above, the one with the yellow and blue quartering and red cadence mark:



There are four more of these to come, with mail shirts so they should paint up even quicker. I have to admit I'd already started this quartet, blocking out their gambesons and getting the bloody fiddly spears to stay on. Have a gratuitous close-up at my first attempt to do eyes using a micro pen, just to make you feel better about your own brushwork:

Joking aside, I'm pretty pleased with their faces - I can recommend Curtey's as being really nice to paint.

And then, all ready to be oppressed and witness at first hand the violence inherent in the system, my peasant. I'm actually ludicrously proud of the way he turned out, especially his face, even though it has acquired a rather peculiar orange tinge in the photo. Very odd, considering that the other colours are almost spot on with how they look in Real Life (tm)...

I love this figure. He has a great "Get orf moi laaand" look about him.
So, there you go. More recruits for my medieval-themed madness. Oh, and I also received a luvverly, heavy box of resin buildings from PMC Games, full of thatched huts, a blacksmith, a church and other stuff. They're still in their bubblewrap but will form the basis of my next post. Also in the near future, I've got involved in playtesting "Blood on the Sands", a Roman gladiator game by Furt over on the LAF which, on a first readthrough, looks excellent.

Happy geeking,
Rab

4 June 2013

Purple kniggit

Wotcha, chaps!

It turns out that moving house, laying two floors (cellar and loft), building cupboards and shelves and stuff takes quite a while, which is why it's been so dreadfully quiet on the blogging front for the last couple of months. Fear not loyal readers, for I have been spending money on geeking to make up for having all  my stuff in boxes and inaccessible.

First, I backed the Itar's Workshop kickstarter at the Basic Dungeon set which gives me a whacking 70-odd bits of resin dungeon for $65 delivered to the UK. Now I'm just dithering over whether to extend my pledge to get more corridors, treasure chests etc. They should ship in October this year. Expect 2nd edition Goblinquest to be in 3d!

This is the "before the stretch goals" set - I'll be getting twice as many pieces but in unpainted grey resin

I also got carried away looking at the pre-painted resin thatched buildings from pmc games on ebay and bought a whole village worth, including blacksmith, church and peel tower. I shall use them for Song of Blades and Heroes as well as for the tinkering I'm doing with Two Fat Lardies' Dux Brittaniarum to turn it into a mythical high-medieval ruleset (knights and peasants in the main, but dealing with goblins and other nasties from the Arthurian myths). Yes, this will allow me to use my SBH/Goblinquest figures again. Nifty, eh?

As my first miniature at my newly established painting desk (in the cellar, of course, away from all the civilised parts of the house that visitors might see...), I've slapped some paint on this chappy below. He's an old Citadel Feudal miniature, now back in production again via Wargames Foundry, but this particular figure (and the other half dozen I picked up from Heyer on the Lead Adventure Forum) dates back to the 80s. Fun to paint, even if the GW purple wash I used to blend in his surcoat has given it a rather visceral glossiness. I might go back and neaten up the star on his shield if I get time, but given my slow progress generally (only my second figure this year), I don't see that happening any time soon.

He has the usual hex-base that I'm partial to, but this time cut from 3mm mdf using the laser-cutter I have occasional access to. I've also cut some slightly larger hexagonal sections, but that's for another post.

Look at me! I've got a poorly painted freehand shield!

It's good to be back in the saddle, painting and posting again.

Happy geeking,
Rab