'Barbarism is the natural state of mankind,' the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. 'Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.'

-Robert E. Howard
Beyond The Black River

Corrupt Cliffs

Corrupt Cliffs
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Monday, January 18, 2016

Song of Blades and Heros.

The store is planning on having some painting days in January and February and then our actual first games after that.  Several people were more gung-ho and met a few times to play a few games.  This is the second meeting and the first one I could make it to.  We had 5 people show up in the end and so played a 4-way with our fifth member acting as a ref as he had already played one of the games.

As we are still new, not everyone had figures or had painted figures, but we had enough to go around.  The following photos are from my perspective as the Orcs.  On my right was a group of elves and on my left a group of rat men.  Kitty corner from me was a band of goblins lead by two minotaurs.  The game's goal was to get into the tower, get a crate and exit the board.  

Our initial layout moving into the game.  Orcs are set and read to do some killing.

The Orcs and Elves advance but a failed quality roll leaves my troll behind.

Elves move up to the tower building as my Orcs attempt to re-form their unit.  The rats move up against the low wall.

The first elves enter the building and set up a firing position so that the remaining elves can get the treasure.

Orcs move into the doorway as the first minotaur comes around the corner to harass the remaining elves that have no climbed into the building.




The elves continue to move up and into the tower.  The rats use this opportunity to come scurrying out of the ruined building and attack the Orcs.  In a bloody battle several rats are killed including a rank and file swordsorc getting lucky and killing their rat ogre.  One of the minotaurs enters the ground floor of the building.

The elves continue to climb up and grab the treasure mostly un harassed while the Orcs and rats fight a bloody battle outside the building.

Finally after an intense battle the Orcs cause the rats to flee in panic, but it is all too late as the elves make it out of the building with the treasure and can not be stopped before reaching the table edge.

More Bones.

I am primarily into Science Fiction but do stray towards Fantasy a little now and again. 

Recently the big local games store started a "Skirmish Gaming Club" that planned on initially using A Song of Blades and Heroes as it's initial rule set.  I like a lot about the rules and this seemed like a great way to get in some games without needed many figures.

For my first warband I chose orcs.  I have almost always played humans in wargames, so I thought I would try something a little different for me.  I also didn't want boring green orcs......


I picked up a bunch of Reaper Bones models.  I haven't painted bones before and in fact I haven't painted anything above 15mm since I was maybe 20.

I got the first 3 rank and file orcs painted up on the weekend and thought I would share the initial paint jobs, even though the bases still need finishing.





I have a few more of this size to do with bows and then 3 larger hero orcs plus a troll and a goblin.  Should be a fun band once they are finished.

To be continued.......

The Growing Storm

I didn't get a lot of painting done this weekend, but I did get my Orc Chieftan painted up.

Still using Reaper bones models.  The following is my process.

1) Glue model to base.  In this case I am using slightly larger than 1" fender washers.  These add weight to the light models and can be secured for travel using a magnetic sheet.

2) Add 2 part putty to even out base.

3) Wash figure and give it a quick scrub with soap and toothbrush.

4) Hot glue base to a craft paint bottle, giving me something to hold.


5) Prime figure using air brush

6) Now on to painting.  I am using a #2 brush.


7) Base colors

8) Localized washes.  Skin tones, black lines, browns.

9) Highlights on skin.

10) Army painter soft tone across model.

11) Final highlights and dry brushing

12) Eyes.

MORE NOT SCIFI! MORE NOT 15MM! Orcs again!

We are Orcs.  Do not judge our motivations.  Perhaps you are the evil ones?


Got some more models painted up....  Three basic archers to go with the three basic swordsorcs.

Also thought I would share the current iteration of my Song of Blades and Heros unit cards.  One of my standard Orc warriors.  Stats are just fillers.  Points cost in the upper left, Combat of 3 and a Quality of 4+.  I can never remember what occurs on the even/odd rolls so I included a quick reference on the bottom to remind me.

 This card is a 3x5" word document.  But I will normally print them out to a .PDF and then print them on a multiple pages on a sheet and then print on card stock.



Sunday, November 1, 2015

Bones for Terrain.

Recently I came across a few cool pieces of terrain that features large exposed skeletons.  It reminded me of something from Star Wars or the bone yard from Pitch Black.  I wanted to build some terrain that features large bones.

I was planning on going local to pick up something at Michaels.  Before I did I hit the internet, and came across the following item:

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B013DISYEE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

$10.99... Canadian.  Free shipping?  I gave them a shot and they arrived quickly.

I haven't built anything with them yet, but I thought I would post a few photos so you could all see them in scale with a 15mm as well as see how they take paint.


The packaging they come shipped in is minimal.  Just the packing box and plastic bones in the bags. Nothing special, nothing to add to the cost.
The scale of these is large.  Dinos are big, yes, but these will do the job at 15mm of being extra large.  Here is a Rebel Minis Sahadeen trooper standing on the rib cage of the Triceratops skeleton.
Close up the skull.  It is split in two, like the rib cage.  This will allow you to potentially build twice as many skeletons.  Also note the cool cracked texture, this is on all of the bones.
This will be my painting test piece.  I plan on just giving it a quick wash and then dry brushing it.
The bone with the initial wash.  The wash brought out the cracks decently, but also identified a solid mold line that will need to be cleaned off.  Not a big deal, I just hadn't noticed it till the wash.
Finished with the drybrush, next to an unpainted.  I think, I would use a darker wash next time, but overall the extra detail provided by the cracks are a nice touch.

Overall for a random bunch of plastic bones for $11, I am pretty happy with the product.  If you are looking to incorporate a long dead monster in your sci-fi or even fantasy terrain, I think these are a pretty decent place to start.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

FallCon 2015: 15mm Tomorrow's War. RESD vs Cyber Threat

This was a refresher game using two equivalent sides.  TL2, standard troops

Rigel II:  New Mohi

A fledgling colony established on the edge of known space.  Colonists establishing the first settlements stumbled across an artifact of unknown origin and technology.  It's importance was clear and a FTL message dispatch was sent to Terra.

A small force of the Royal Exo-planetary Strike and Defense was sent to hold the position.  Unfortunately the transmission was intercepted by the Cyber Threat, a race of intelligent robots who have decided the tech should belong to them.

The small unit of RESD troopers was divided into 3 fire teams.  One held the artifacts position while 2 other fire teams went out to scout the area to prevent unknown attacks.

When the Cyber Threat appeared the main colony was protected by a small force, knowing they had to survive while three squads of machines approached out of the mist.
The Colony of New Mohi, a new small colony on the fringes of human space.

RESD team 1 holds the area around the artifact while the Cyber Threat approaches the compound.

RESD Team 1 knows Team 2 and Team 3 are scheduled to return, and so hold out and stay mostly out of site while the robots approach.

RESD Team 1 takes cover expecting to be caught in the fire of the Cyber Threat soon.  On the left side RESD Team 2 returns from scouting and approached through the forest, causing the Cyber Threat to funnel their forces more down throat of the compound.  Unfortunately heavy cover makes firing lanes rare and hard to come by.

As expected the central element of the Cyber Threat comes around the corner of a colony building and opens up on Team 1.  Team 1 presses into cover and begins to return fire as one of their riflemen fall.  In the chaos their fire impacts uselessly against the compound walls, missing the robots.

During the firefight the reinforcing element of RESD Team 2 moves forward to the edge of the forest in order to be able to lay down fire, trying to hold the second element of the Cyber Threat at bay.  On the right side the robots see an opening and dash between the tanker and main colony building hoping to out flank the RESD and catch team 1 in a cross fire.

Just when it looks very bad for the humans, RESD Team 3 returns through the forest on the right, forcing the Cyber Threat to hold position and re-evaluate.

As the fire fight rages across the main colony road, the left element of Cyber Threat dashes across to lend support to their central element.

RESD Team 2 moves up and opens fire on the Cyber Threat central element with Team 1.  Their plasma rifles are strike home and knock several of the robots down, damaging some severely.
Aftermath of the firefight, 2 severly damaged robots, and one lightly damaged.  The fire from the robots falls around the troops but does no damage, the massive damage pins the robots where they are for now.

As battles ebb and flow the left element of the Cyber Threat moves up into a firing position in the trees, their combined fire down on the RESD this time cause massive damage knocking troopers into the mud.  One stays down permanently. One takes serious damage, his armor holed through the lower body.  On the right the Cyber Threat enters the main colony complex hoping to use the cover of the door to finally dislodge RESD Team 1 from the artifact's building.

From their position in the building the Cyber Threat right element exchanges fire with RESD team one, ammunition strikes true on both sides, as warriors from both factions are knocked to the ground.  RESD Team 3 moves along the forest edge and sets up a firing line, preventing the right element from crossing to the artifact.

Team 1 and the Right Cyber Threat feeling their firefight heating up and their companions knocked down with serious injuries continue to take as much cover as they can and continue to fire across the road at each other.  The damaged central element falls back, to remove the damaged units freeing them to fight more effectively.  Their left element comes down the hill and enters a colony building

The battle continues to rage.  A war of attrition on both sides.  At the point the artifact is still in the human's control, and barring a stroke of bad luck, both sides will continue to wear themselves down little by little until the colony is left a smoking battlefield with not enough men or machines to retrieve the artifact.............

Monday, October 19, 2015

Rocky Outcropping

In an effort to increase my scatter terrain collection to help cut down LoS for games I set out to build some new pieces.  This is the first of the pieces I completed for use in a Tomorrow's War game.


Materials:

Old CD
Rocks
Styrofoam
Flocking
Caulk
White glue
Hot glue
Paint

Basic layout.  White foam sealed and primed glued to the base with hot glue with a few rocks to make it more interesting.

Base built up a little with caulk to make it less smooth.  Then flocking applied; sand in some places and a tea mix in others.
After another black primer to cover everything, the base green color is added to the grassy areas.
Grey base color added to rocks, and then areas are highlighted via dry brush with a lighter color.
Finally some browns are applied to show some extra dirt around the base and some moss glued in place for bushes.