Orktober: Givin' my Wagon a Fixin'

So the last of the Runts have been fished out of the engine cowling, the Grots have used up the last of the paint squigs and famed Mekaniak, Nazzkar Kabrettah has hung up his oily rags. 

I'm finally done with painting this behemoth of a Battle Wagon!

Orktober: Truck or Treat!

Ah 'tis that hallowed time of year once more where all things green of skin are celebrated - Orktober! This year I have been distracted from all my other projects (the resurrection of Rigg's Shrine for next year's BOYL being the big one!) by Space Orks.

Having been dragging my hobby heels since August, it took one of Darrin Stephen's friendly competitions on the Emporium of Rogue Dreams Facebook group to pull my finger out. Great to see him and Thomas Grove at this year's BOYL by the way - some of you may remember me facing off against Thomas in a remote game hosted by Dreamfish and written up by Gaj some years ago!

BOYL 2017: Space Fleet Spectacular

Bloody hell - how did it get to be October?!

And I never got round to finishing off the last of my BOYL 2017 reports! Apologies to my most excellent gaming buddies Paul (of Golgfag fame on the Oldhammer forum) and JB Asslessman (Crosser of Channels and painter extroadinaire!) with whom I shared that last balmy Sunday afternoon engaged in a little fleet action!

The Only Good Bug is a Dead Bug... WH40K 2nd ed at BOYL 2017

Another day, another planet, another futile struggle against the overwhelming hordes of the Hive Mind!

Told you there was a bit of a theme for me this year!

It's an ugly planet - a Bug Planet!

As you will see from the next few posts there was a bit of a running theme for me at BOYL 2017 - Bugs!

Is this going to be a stand-up fight, sir, or another bug hunt? Space Fleet @ BOYL 2017

On to the Saturday at BOYL whihc kicked off very pleasurably with a game of Space Fleet with my old pal Paul. You may remember we tangled in the depths of space last year - a game which saw Paul masterfully commanding the Imperial fleet to victory!

This time Paul brought along a very impressive Tyranid fleet (and Eldar too - more of which in a later post) so I decided to defend the Imperium this time.

BOYL 2017 - The Trolltooth Wars

The Trolltooth Wars slowly rumble on! In fact it's been two years since myself and Paul played the first scenario - the Hill Goblin ambush on Marr's Cunnelwort caravan that started the war in the first place.

BOYL 2017 - A Tale of Two Gamers!

The first game I played at BOYL this year (other than the excellent Jetbike race on the Helsreach table) was the culmination of the Tale of Four Gamers: Nerves of Lead painting challenge myself and three other friends embarked on soon after last year's BOYL.

For various reasons two of our compadres had to drop out so that left me and Ashley to duke it out on the table top. To spice things up a bit we decided to introduce a simple scenario with a limited number of turns rather than just a line 'em up and knock 'em down style battle.

To this effect Ashley's Liche had taken possession of a cache of magical spices...

Bring Out Your Lead 2017

Siege Mentality...

Back to the Dwarven realms and the army of Bakraz Drakkenklad today. This time it's the heavy support that Dwarves do so well!

Shady Characters

Thought I'd make a change this month and get my quota for the Tale of Four Gamers challenge out of the way early - I only just got last month's entry posted on Facebook for adjudication at what must have been close to two minutes to midnight on the 28th Feb!

This month I've gone for a unit of 10 Shadows - Dark Elf scouts equipped with shields, hand weapons and repeating crossbows, weighing in at 180 points.

Saddle Saurian

Almost missed the deadline for this month's Tale of Four Gamers - a few too many Dwarves and Dr Who minis methinks! This month I tackled the remaining members of the Doomdrake unit

That's Snowman...

... It's a Yeti!

Another classic Who monster for the big game next month. Despite only appearing twice in their own stories (The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear) with the 2nd Doctor they do seem to be a favourite of many fans, my 8 year old son included! They are of course referenced by various characters in a number of other episodes and make an appearance in the Five Doctors too.

Nice Cold Ice Cold...

...Warriors!

Another bunch of Dr Who minis that never got photographed when I painted them last year. I've always had a soft spot for the Ice Warriors - they seemed a bit more complex than your average Dalek or Cyberman. From the first encounters with the 2nd Doctor when they were desperate invaders trying to escape their own dying world to the peace-keeping troops of the Galactic Federation during the 3rd Doctor's tenure, these Martian reptilians have kept the Doctor in his toes!

Resistance is futile. You Shall Be Like Us...

As my preparations for the big Dr Who game we have planned down at the Foundry in March continue I realised I hadn't photographed some of the stuff I painted last year. Last year I managed to expand my Invasion era Cyber-Army by acquiring a small force of Moonbase/Tomb era Cybermen. I've always liked this iteration of the cybermen - especially their creepy robo-voices and mouths that just slide open while they're talking!

Slay a little Troll for me...

Everyone always said that Bakraz Drakkenklad had a bit of slayer in him - hence the moniker Bakraz (Dwarven for nutter!). So it was certainly no surprise when his estranged brother turned up on the eve of battle with his merry band of lunatics and pariahs. 

Here be Dragons

Preparations for the big Dr Who game down at Foundry continue apace with just over five weeks to go! 

Hi Ho - It's off to War we go!

The ranks of Bakraz Drakkenklad's host swell as more Dwarves heed their Lord's call to arms! 

Cracking a Cold One

Or at least I will now these Cold One Riders are done!

Guardians of the Galaxy

Something a little different I have on the boil this evening. It's been a while since I posted up any Dr Who stuff on the blog but thanks to a combination of several Black Tree Design Sales that I couldn't resist and an excellent trade on one of the Dr Who Facebook groups I have a large amount of unpainted Who once more.

Oh and a big game at the end of March down at the Wargames Foundry near Newark at which I'm hoping to get most of my collection on the table!

Short but not so Sweet

Happy New Year one and all and it's good to be back in the swing of things after the yearly 2 week assault on kidneys, liver and circulatory system that is the festive period. Normal function has been resumed in most of my more important internal organs and I've even managed to paint some stuff up!