Cobbled battlemat - on the cheap!

Whilst building and consolidating my figure collection for fantasy skirmish, I've been getting closer to being ready to play. I've got a fair few buildings to allow me to play a nice town scene. The only thing missing was a suitable cobbled surface to play on. After lots of research there are many fantastic cobbled battle mats available to buy; but all of them come at a price. Searching for an alternative, I came up with the following...

A grey throw with some light grey flex. At less than 10 pounds, including postage, it's a cost effective alternative. For me, the only restriction is the fact that the flex follows in a linear pattern of the weave. Hopefully when I have several buildings and other terrain items sitting on the cloth, it will break up the pattern. For now, as it's just out of the wrapper, I thought a quick piccie session using some tables and figures would give a suitable impression. Any thoughts, let me know in the comments section.

 

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Looking at the bottom of the barrel

There are the glamorous, blindingly heroic soldiers..and then there are the rest! I've just revamped some old medieval / yokel minis. I believe they are early Citadel or Gripping Beast (correct me if I'm wrong). All I know is that they have been at the bottom of the draw for some time. They do however fill the niche of bored, uninspired and potentially nasty ribaulds waiting for their next job. Here are a few piccies. The tree, by the way, is from a horrorclix boxed set; an evil ent, if there is such a thing!

 

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Rattling through the paintbrushes

Finished touching up and rebasing some skeletons bought form EBay. A nice, round bunch of ten figures will complement my existing undead miniatures (which have also gone through a little touch up). I liked the fact that these models had pieces out of their skulls, giving that real feeling of age from the ancient past. They are not quite the 'children of the Hydra' from Jason and the Argonaunts, but they certainly have a similar appeal. The shield designs are suitably simple and decrepit with age, which only adds to their interest and theme.

 

 

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Arachnid additions

The painting treadmill is still producing at the moment. I've got a couple of Fantasy Flight's Descent games. They come packed with lots of interesting miniatures with lots of different themes; more on them in later posts. What we have here are the spiders from the collection.

A black undercoat and a red base of the abdomens started the paintjob well. Things took a dip when painting the legs. The miniatures are of the softer plastic type which means the detail can similarly be 'soft'. A couple of inks and heavy dry brushes brought the situation around. Because the miniatures are all the same, I thought a bit of variety could be made by detailing the abdomens. It's probably wrong, but I used a sharpy pen to outline the basic designs. The effect is solid in that the outlines were even. Then a little contrast was provided by using off-white highlights. And there you are! I'm going to look for a LOTR Shalob miniature to act as the spider coven mother, back to EBay...

 

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Usurpers for the Kingdom

It's been some time since I wrote about our Sunday games. They have still been happening, but I've either been busy with other posts, or just plain old too tired to record it. So, as a compromise, I have done a simple recording of today's family game...

Wills decided for us to have a go at Citadels. It suited everybody, as it's quick for me to set up, rules are easily remembered, and Wills enjoys the subterfuge! The early part of the game saw me being 'helped' by Lucy to a lag behind (we had some 'debate' as to wether the assassin should have been used before 'moneybags Wills'could get hold of his cash. Grandma went for a decisive strategy of building quickly. Wills and Grandad went for high value properties, whilst Lucy went for a balanced strategy of collecting money and steadily building.

Mid game saw the same strategies being followed, with less of a reliance on the thief and assassin characters, and more interesting play of the magician and the architect. Grandma was stalled for a couple of turns allowing Lucy to accumulate 6 locations to get close too. I managed to collect a few locations by generally retaining the King, allowing me to chose simple choices to build properties from money collected.

However, we could not stall enough; Grandma completed her eight locations, with careful use of the architect and magician. Grandma gained points for finishing first (4 points) and Lucy gained three points for having locations in the five different colours. The final count up was...

...very close, with only 4 points between first and fourth place (with me lagging a further three points back from fourth in last place). On reflection, Grandma did particularly well finishing first, as she was often last in the character selection phase, where the choice was limited to two cards only. Lucy was unlucky, missing out by a single point (probably due to a particularly damaging assassination by Will). Will and Grandad's purchase of high value locations kept them close; well, not much to say about me! Sensibly, having two poor rounds right at the start of the game meant I never really became a contender.

Yet again, a simple game providing a rapid, but thoughtful outcome. Citadels may not have all the bangs and whistles of high production components, it does have though, a level of mystery and second guessing which keeps all players involved. The fact that we came back to it, against piles of other choices, is a recommendation in itself.

Next time, I'll manage the assassin's guild!!!

 

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Long in the tooth

A quite like the variety of forms that fantasy allows. Whilst the human is the mainstay and foundation, the imagination can extend into other realms. I'm not a fan of the permanently heroic poses that GW uses, but I do like the variety and opportunity that fantasy brings (the next raid into my miniatures box will be for some medieval townsfolk)

I've got enough figures to put together a nice little pack of werewolves. I'd already got some wolves and a small lycanthrope from a D&D boardgame. They have now been supplemented with some Reaper Bones werewolves, which I have just finished painting in these pictures. When I have the other models re-based, I will show the 'pack' together. For now, meet these nightfolk...

A

 

 

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Brothers of the Bell of Saint Thomar - Roster

Here is the brother's roster. A brave, spiritually aware (sixth sense) leader supported by an acolyte carrying the Bell (shield of force). In the next ecclesiastical row are 5 followers (berserkers) full of religious zeal (rage). Finally, the group has brought along the monastery guards to protect their camp at night (5 war dogs).

What happens when moral fortitude meets experienced field craft; you will have to find out in my playtest...

 

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Relentless commitment, ringing the holy changes!

Here's the next 'band of brothers' to be ready for adventuring - following the Sacred Bell of Saint Thomar!

These committed fellows are a group of Mordheim miniatures bought in the early days of being a Newark Irregular. I remember we were trying to encourage a small group of young lads into the hobby, and Mordheim seemed a good cross-over. Like many adventuring parties, the young boys moved on to different lands and lures (you can fill this part in for yourself!). And so, the miniatures went into 'retreat'...

Now, re-invigorated with fresh zeal, the Brothers are back!

My imaginings for this party is of a small group of followers, after a long period of reflection, venturing from their monastery to ring forth their bell of rectitude. They are a slightly deranged bunch, mostly from their many hours of solemn solitude, however they are full of well meaning, holy vengeance! (Only to the unclean, of course).

It's time to kneel, bow, and show reverence to the following brothers...

Will now design the roster to share with you, and then try having a test skirmish.

 

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Force list for Les Basquinets

Remembered some of my basic French - 'les' for many, not 'le'. It's surprising how things come back to you; not that I enjoyed being in the French class much at school! Anyway, here's the Otherworldly force list for my returning band of archers. Should have another war and ready to include soon.

 

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Rise of the Kage kickstarter - unboxing part one

Finally received the parcel today. UPS lead me into a false sense of expectation when they gave an initial delivery day of Monday.well tit arrived today...and there's lots! I went for a red level pledge with a few extras. So I thought it would be sensible to do an unboxing over a couple of postings. The only initial disappointment was some bent spears, which hopefully I can straighten with some hot water. Here's a picture unboxing of the main game.

 

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