Lady Land

The Temple of Rigg build rumbles on and the Lustrian Lady Land continues to slowly take shape...

Currently painting Amazons as I am at the moment and having finally gotten around to reading Zhu's latest delve into Amazonian Archeoideology, I thought I'd take a look at some possible alternative miniatures to expand the old Citadel range.

Get Well Soon!

Another LPL entry - Round 6 this time, and I couldn't resist diving in straight away and painting up Kev Adam's self portrait and the Snorklings! Thought it would make a nice virtual Get Well Soon card should Kev be a regular at the LAF.

As you can see these minis are bursting with character and good humour - I'll definitely have to invest in some more to increase my Snotling horde...

Space Hopper with attitude!

I decided to base the other Snorklings up in a similar style to my existing Snotlings - plus there was a vague culinary theme running through the various minis.

The chap at the back right came with nothing in his hands - a nice opportunity for some more 80's style miliput mushroom action!

And yes, that is a bottle of Tabasco's...

In case you couldn't make out what the characters with the kitchen utensils at the back were up to...

And Kev himself, modelling that classic combo of faded jeans, red converse sneakers, camo jacket and green beanie!

Say hello to my little friend!

Still not sure as to the significance of the voodoo mask and wooden pipe as I missed the original release of this mini - answers on a postcard please!

Oh and don't forget Goblin Aid - here's a few teaser shots of the packs that the Goblins will be sold in if you can't stretch to buying the whole lot.

Don't forget, little Kevin and his Snorklings are still available from Foundry!

Front Rank... Charge!

My Round 5 entry for the LPL saw me delving into the small pile of historical minis I have to meet the requirements for the Civil War theme. There were extra bonus points on offer for providing both sides of your chosen conflict so I plumped for the War of the Roses (not at all topical for a Lancastrian living in Yorkshire!) as it was a good opportunity for tackling some minis I'd had for hanging around for a while.

After a little research on uniforms and heraldry I decided to represent the Yorkist forces of Richard, Duke of York and for the Lancastrians, knights of the retinue of Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland. Both were present at the Battle of Wakefield and the fact that that was a Lancastrian victory didn't sway me at all! Of course both factions will eventually end up in my Old World Allied force - a mixture of veteran mercenaries hailing from the far reaches of the Empire, Bretonnia, Tilea and the Border Princes.

The pikemen were a purchase from a fellow LAF'er some time ago - I forget who but thanks anyway! Not sure if they're actually from the War of the Roses but their equipment looked about right. Leading them is a chap from the old Citadel fighters range.

These chaps received a fairly basic paint scheme - not only was I running out of time to get this entry finished but I was conscious that I have another 23 of them to paint up to complete the unit...

Now the Lancastrian knights are definitely from the War of the Roses - Front Rank's War of the Roses range in fact. These were an ebay bargain - something in the region of £6 or so!

In fact I may have to invest in some Front Rank minis as they scale up to old Citadel very nicely and there's a great range of Billmen, Halberdiers, Handgunners and Crossbowmen - not to mention the fact that they're about £1 a mini.

I think this unit could with rounding out to ten as well...

There are also some lighter armoured horsemen that come open handed so you have the option of equipping them with such things as crossbows - depending on your opinion of the aesthetics of open handed minis they could make good Kriegsritter?

 Being all metal these chaps also have a nice heft to them!

I've yet to decide who exactly these knights will be led by in my Old World Mercenary Army or what their background might be - a dispossessed noble and his retinue, a professional soldier who's rise through the ranks has been constrained by his low birth - followed nonetheless by a band of the disgraced sons of the Nobility...

Nice as it has been to delve into the Old World again - and I have many Men-at-Arms, foot knights and various knightly orders, including the Knights Panther and some old style (80's) Knights of the White Wolf, champing at the bit in the paint queue - I'll be sticking in the New World for now until my Lustrian adventure is finished...

Lost and Foundry...

Just a quick post this evening as I've a load of painting to get done for this week's LPL entry and I'm behind schedule yet again.

I mentioned earlier in the month that Foundry had lent their support to the Goblinaid cause by offering the excellent self portrait Kev did, along with a random assortment of Snorklings. These are great little minis which apparently Kev would sculpt out of the odds and ends of green stuff he had left at the end of the day during his time as a sculptor at Foundry.

I ordered a set a while back which seemed a long time in arriving. Anyhow after a couple of emails to Foundry lo and behold, a replacement set was dispatched forthwith and are now hogging the front of the painting queue. Many thanks to Matt at Foundry for the excellent service and should the lost pack ever turn up I'll be acting on his suggestion to paint them up and offer them for auction to raise a bit more for the cause.

Other exciting news is that the good folk at Foundry are planning to re-release all of Kev's stuff, including the 117 Snorklings he sculpted, at some point in the future. However, as they quite rightly say this won't be for a while as for one they don't want to tempt people away from the  imminent release of the pack of 40 or so Goblins sculpted for Goblinaid.

An Unexpected Find...

Had a nice break from the painting today - energy levels have been running low a little lately what with working flat out at school and spending my (late) evenings frantically getting the next LPL entry ready!

Elvington Air Museum has proven a popular destination with the kids previously and this weekend it was the venue for Battle Group North.

Despite the weather we had a great time admiring all the hardware, along with flying displays, the Dakota powering up its engines and most spectacularly fast taxi runs by the Buccaneer and Handley Page Victor K2, pictured below.

Anyway, imagine my surprise (and the wife's suspicion!) when, on entering one of the main hangers to take refuge from the rain, we found a goodly number of gaming tables running demo games of Bolt Action, Flames of War and various other WW2 games! What's more there were stands from various historical miniature and scenery companies and a good sized one from Foundry.

After a good mooch around admiring the games in progress (I could definitely be persuaded into a bit of WW2 gaming!), a decent chat with the Foundry staff and a good look at their ranges in the flesh (those Kodiak bears are huge!) I happened across another stall that harboured a veritable treasure trove.

Among many many blister packs of old Citadel miniatures including Space Fleet ships, Nurglings, and other delights - beyond the 4 blister packs for the price of 3 offer for Harlequin miniatures including many lovely Kev Adams Orcs, there were several of the old hard clear plastic Regiment of Renown box sets. Sadly finances are a little tight at the moment so I knew most of this loot was out of my reach, but I resolved to get me some RoR!

But what to choose - Maruader Orc regiment, Mengil's Manflayers or...

... the Avenging Knights of the Cleansing Flame!

A good day definitely had by me!

Bog Gobs - Armoured Division

Howdy folks - got another LPL entry for you.

I present the Testudo Tank, crewed by the finest Shell Shock Troops of the tribe!

More Amphibious Astronauts

... and false advertising!

 

Blood Bowl fever certainly seems the order of the day at the moment!

 

Here's the last few players to finish off the squad for my mixed team, the Slann in Spacer's - also my Round 3 entry for the LPL.

 

 



A bit of muscle - Dwarf Blitzers

 

 

Yes I know this model is a Lineman but what the hey!

Now some of you may be thinking that I'm playing a little fast and loose with the rules in terms of the make-up of the team - and you may be right to a certain extent! Certainly my choice of players was dictated somewhat by the vagaries of ebay and rather than collecting separate teams of Dwarves, Elves, Humans, etc, I gave the wallet a rest and combined my ill-gotten gains in one team.

Dwarf Kicker
 

Back in the good old days of 2nd edition (yes, pre-block dice, so I know it wasn't all roses!) you could field mixed teams, although you had to keep an eye on each race's dislikes and animosities.

Players of  races who dislike each other may play on the same team, however the problem comes when the issue of passing the ball arises. A D6 had to be rolled and on a 1-3 the pass/hand off could be made as normal, but on a 4-6 the player refuses to give the ball up and can either hold on to it or pass to a player of a race he doesn't dislike.

A few more Elves to add a little acrobatic grace to proceedings

Players suffering Animosity (different to the 3rd ed rule!) towards a particular race may not play on the same team.

Kicker

 

So where does this leave the Spacers?

Luckily Humans only dislike Chaos Humans and Dwarves, Goblinoids and Dark Elves, etc. The Treeman has similar feelings although other large monsters are included in that list. Halflings are happy playing with anyone as long as they are fed well - similarly Ogres seem particularly enlightened in terms of race relations and will play with anyone as long as they get to hit stuff! Dwarves suffer animosity towards Goblinoids and dislike Elves.

 

However the real problem are the Elves, who dislike all other races and suffer Animosity towards Ogres, Trolls, Minotaurs and all Goblinoids!

and Catcher

So where does that leave me in game terms? Potentially the Dwarves won't pass to the Elves, who in turn might not pass to anyone and refuse to be on the same pitch as the Ogre. The Treeman could end up refusing to pass to the Ogre, leaving only the Humans, Dwarves and Halfling who can be relied on to get on with each other!

 The solution - two different squads for facing off different opponents.

The whole team together 

Squad 1 - Humans, Dwarves, Halfling and Ogre - for taking on tougher teams and indulging in a bit of Halfling tossing!

Squad 2 - Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Halfling and Treeman - A flexible arrangement utilising Human and Dwarf muscle with their Blitzers (and Blockers, depending which edition I play) along with Elven catching abilities and higher agility. Plus I've always wanted to field a Treeman - either for throwing the Halfling or taking root in the opponents half and causing a nuisance there!

In other news - looks like the Spacers will be getting a game some time in the near future. Warlord Paul has laid down the gauntlet with his Greenback Gales...

Golden Boars Vs. Wasteland Wanderers

Some time ago, me and my good buddy Ollie played some Blood  Bowl. I'd assembled a motley crew of 2nd ed Dark Elves and he had some shiny new Human players. The game was a great one and not just because it was the first one for both of us with physical minis - I'd had one or two go's on the PC computer game before hand... 

During the game Ollie took notes and I took pics - here's the result!

Goooood morning, bowl fans! Coverage today is brought to you TODAY by RADIO ORCSHIRE! 

Welcome to the local Derby between the Golden Boars and the Wasteland Wanderers. 

There is certainly no love lost between theses two teams, both renowned for their brutality and sneaky tactics. 

The crowd seems well lubricated in hot Squigs and Fungal beer. Today promises to be a deadly match with a great deal of gratuitous violence!!!!