Historicon Game Report: The Dwarven Loot Train

     On Saturday night at Historicon, after I spent the day selling in Wally's Basement (the Flea Market) with my wife, Jennifer; I ran a game in the HAWKs room called, The Dwarven Loot Train, using the underdevelopment "Combat Patrol: Medieval & Fantasy" rules.

An overview of the table at the beginning of the game.

     While the game was sold out in preregistration, I only had two ticket holders show up.  I think the HMGS preregistration system needs an overhaul, or to be scrapped altogether.  Luckily, I was able to recruit my wife, Jennifer, and HAWK, Mike Thomas, to fill two of the empty spots.

The battle kicks off with one of the Dwarf units getting pin-cushioned by a Goblin archer unit that got 3 fire activations before the Dwarves got a chance to run for cover; which happened when they failed morale.

      The scenario involved a force of Dwarves that were escorting three loot wagons, and who were camped overnight in a small village.  the Orcs have caught wind of the loot, and have planned an early morning raid.  Whoever has control of two or more of the loot wagons at game's end is the winner.

The fear of the Goblin Archers resulted in two of the nearby Dwarf Units running for cover within a walled field, as the Orc troops advances.  

      The game started off poorly for the Dwarves when a unit on their far left got caught in the open by a unit of Goblin Archers who proceeded to pelt them with arrows for 3 activations, before the Dwarves broke and headed for cover.   A seesaw battle then developed in the middle, and it looked like a bold counter attack by the Dwarves might turn the tide and save the day, but the Orcs were eventually able to overpower them.  In the end, the Orcs were the clear dominant force on the table, but they had come nowhere near the loot carts; so while it was a technical Dwarf victory in scenario terms, the Orcs surely would have won in the long run.

The pieces are moved into place: on the left, as the Dwarves' allied Stone Giant advances, the Goblins start massing to attempt to overwhelm him with numbers. In the center the Dwarven Commander, mounted on her Warbear, commits herself  to battle to counter the Orcs' Swamp troll as it advances towards the walled field. A unit of Dwarves hops the wall to support her, as a unit of Orcs advances near the clump of brush near the field.

        I had a great time running the game, and players enjoyed themselves too.  The rules worked really well, and after a few turns the players were pretty much running the game themselves, with me simply flipping activation cards and answering questions.

The Goblins begin their wave attacks on the Giant.  They lose a soldier every attack, but with a hit here and a hit there, the wounds start to add up on the Giant.

The battle of the wall heats up, as Princess Snow and her Dwarf Miners charge over the wall.  The Dwarf Commander sends the Orc's SwampTroll reeling back to the woods from where it entered the battle, after it gets a bad morale result. 

The townsfolk spent the game guarding the loot wagons.

The beginning of the end; the hits are starting to added up on the Dwarf Commander, and she and her bear can only do so much.  The Orc archers have arrived and start to add their deadly shafts to the carnage.  Before the Cave Troll (foreground) can enter the fight, the Dwarf Commander falls, and panic sweeps the line. (All units become pinned when the commander dies.) Her bear continues heroically, but doesn't last long.

On the Dwarf right, the Giant falls in a final wave of Goblins attacks.

Combat Patrol: Fantasy- A Historicon Playtest

     At our club's meeting last Friday I had the chance to playtest the game I will be running at Historicon next month in Lancaster, PA.  It's a fantasy battle using a upcoming Dark Ages/Fantasy supplement for the Combat Patrol skirmish rules.   The scenario involves a Dwarven treasure caravan camped in a small hamlet for the night, which is attacked at dawn's light by by a group of Orcs, Goblins. and Trolls. Oh, My!
       Though the game was designed for 6 players (three on a side), we only had four players, so split each side into two commands.    Things went slowly at first as we all familiarized ourselves with the rules, but by game's end the action was humming along.

An overview of the battlefield. On the right is the small village where the Dwarves start, and the Orcs and their allies enter from the woods along the table edge on the left.

With the sound of Orc war-drums approaching, a unit of Dwarf Miners, and one of Dwarf Axemen, are roused from their breakfast and prepare a defense.

The Dwarf commander, feeling a bit invincible, charges upon her trusty bear-mount directly at a unit of Orc longbows.  She almost made it; but the first volley wounded the bear, which threw her and stunned her.  The second volley killed the bear and wounded her; and the third finished her off, as she struggled to make it to the safety of the nearby row of bushes.

On the Orc right, Goblins with short bows, Orcs, and a Cave Troll all advance as fast as possible...

...While on the Dwarf right, the allied Stone Giant wades into a unit of Orc Warriors and starts smashing heads.  The Orcs manage to slightly wound the giant in the leg, but ultimately the Orc survivors fail morale and run away 

Back on the Orc right, a unit of Goblins harasses the Dwarven Miners, as a  unit of Orc Warriors (in the foreground) run by the Dwarves and head for the treasure wagons.

The Orc's Marsh Troll moves to intercept the Giant.  Both creatures swing their mighty clubs and connect with their opponent simultaneously: the already wounded Giant falls dead,  and the troll ends up severely wounded, and one Endurance Point from death himself. 

The Orcs and Cave Troll on the right break through, and despite a noble defense by the Dwarves' Stone Golem, and a Dwarven Leader, continue to make headway.  The townsfolk, the last line of defense, prepare to face them in the streets.

    It was a great game!  In the end, the Orc left had collapsed under the weight of the Dwarven Handgunners and the Giant's rampage; while the Dwarven left had likewise fallen.  Since the Orc's on the Dwarven left were just inches from the wagons at the end, with nothing to stop them, we declared the game an Orc victory.

My New Crew for Our 2018 Ghost Archipelago Campaign

    These past few weeks I've been busy assembling my crew for this year's Ghost Archipelago campaign. The first game is Saturday!  I decided to go with an Elf crew for this first warband.

Heritor:  Lord Hytieral Fortrywn-   Retired from a lengthy military career to enjoy his wealth and his laurels. Powerful. Landholder. Doesn’t tolerate fools.  Not happy that his younger step-sister has out-maneuvered him into taking her daughter,  his niece, along with him to act as his Warden.  She says it will be good for the girl to have experience in the world; he finds the young magic-user barely tolerable, and the fact she isn’t a true wizard is an embarrassment.

Daze- 3
Evade-5
Stand Firm- 5
Surge- 5
Disarm-5

So I think the Daze is going to be interesting as the main ability.  Apparently this guy is so formidable looking as he twirls his sword around acrobatically, that enemies just kind of freeze up when they see him. The other abilities I think fall in nicely with someone who was a professional soldier.


Warden: Marnilyne Dewdrisane-  Young. Impetuous. Curious. Argumentative. Naïve. In awe of her uncle, and a little scared of him; but also terribly excited to be a part of the adventure ahead.

Brambles
Plant Walk
Warp Weapon
Water of Life

I chose Water of Life as my out-of-school spell, after the test game we played revealed that being able to patch up your Heritor during the game would be a big asset in this early phase of the campaign.

Hunter: Gwynwater Lighteye-  Elf.  At the peak of her abilities.  Served as a Captain of Archers under Lord Fortrywn for many years; now she manages the game on his main estate.  Competent and Loyal.  Prefers the out of doors and the company of animals to that of others of her kind.  An introvert that is often mistaken for arrogant.   She dreads the thought of weeks at sea, but eagerly awaits the chance to match her skills against beasts she has only heard about in legends.

Pearl Diver:  Salin-  Elf.   From the Southern Island Kingdoms.  Found by Lord Fortrywn’s ship on their voyage south; half dead after he spent weeks adrift at sea, alone in a small wooden canoe.  Apparently, the simple pearl hunter was the only survivor of a small island village wiped out in a raid.  His wife and children presumed dead or taken, he vows vengance. The Southern Elf agrees to sign on for the journey as payment for saving his life, and with the understanding that he will receive expert training in combat.  Lord Fortrywn can see no weakling could survive the harsh seas here alone for weeks without some skill in the water and an extreme will to live. And someone with swimming skills, who won’t give up easily, might be useful to the Lord’s purpose in the Archipelago.

Archer: Randilas Windway- Elf.  First on the short list of Archers that Gwynwater Lighteye sent for when Lord Fortrywn requested two to join his quest to the Archipelago. Once a member of Lighteye’s Company, the young archer had always been a disciplinary problem, but Captain Lighteye had always known he was the most skilled among the troop.  Since the company disbanded, he has roamed from one mercenary band to another, never lasting long.  Restless.  Egotistical.  He looks forward to the great adventure ahead and the chance to once again serve with the Captain, for whom he always carried a small flame.

Archer: Quinlere Silvervine- Elf.  Another expert Archer that Gwynwater sent for when Lord Fortwyn instructed her to hire two archers for the expedition.  He is vain and arrogant; often aggravating other because he actually has the talent to back it up.   Knows others have trouble getting along with him, and considers it part of the burden someone of his abilities must bear.  However, he’s a good soldier, level headed, follows orders, and can be counted on when the going gets hard.

 Standard Crewmen: Here are the four Standard Crewmen that are part of my crew: Arbyn, Vilkse, Lurlin, and Bry.

And here's the whole crew together.  Ready to set sail aboard The Silver Sword to high adventure on Saturday.   Stay tuned!

10mm Mind Eaters

   This past week, I completed a warband of 10mm Mind Eaters.  Recently, I painted up a pair of  Reaper 25mm Mind Eaters and mounted them  on a base for Bear Yourselves Valiantly to represent giant Mind Eaters.  You can see that post here.

    While working on these figures, I was struck by their passing resemblance to the adrenal/toxin sacs that come with various GW Tyranid sets; and I got the idea that some of these bits might make good in-scale 10mm Mind Eaters.  So I ordered a set of them off of Ebay, and painted them up.  I think they turned out pretty good.

    I statted them up so they have ranged attacks that do Morale results only, and gave them a modifier that penalizes any troops trying to close with them or stand against their charges.

Recent 10mm: A Hero, a Leader , and an Elemental

  I recently completed some 10mm fantasy figures which included a Lizardman Hero, A Fire Elemental, and a Cursed Knight Leader.
   I had a leftover Lizardman figure (I believe he was made by A.I.M.) and thought that he bared a striking resemblance to  a certain purple TV Dinosaur, so couldn't help but paint him up as the great Lizardman Hero, B'uar-Nee!

     Recently I painted three  28mm Barrow Wardens from Reaper's Bones line, and was really pleased with the results. So I thought I would experiment with a Warmaster Chaos Leader I had, to see if the rust effect I had used on the Barrow Wardens, would translate to 10mm.  I'm very pleased with the results, and think I will now paint a unit of Chaos Knights I have as this sort of "Cursed Knight" look.

    I don't know who made this figure.  I received  it in a short-lived birthday figure exchange I was part of a few years ago, and since it was 15mm (I think) I never did anything with it.  I came across it the other day; and not knowing what it was supposed to be, was struck by how the sculpted "fur" ?  looked a lot like flames on it.  So I decided to paint him up like a fire elemental.  I think the result is pretty good.

Dwarf War Machine Conversion: 25mm to 10mm

  While I was at Huzzah last month, I found this cool old Ral Partha Dwarf  "Steam Cannon" War Machine in the flea market.  It was missing it's crew, but that was fine with me, because when I saw it I immediately thought about it's possibilities as a 10mm Dwarven "Ogre" type vehicle for my Dwarven Army for "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" mass combat fantasy rules.  And the price was certainly right. :)

   The kit itself was easy to assemble.  I then raided my 10mm figures box for some spare Warmaster Dwarf Cannon crewmen to man the machine.  I test fit the Dwarf crew around the deck, and when satisfied, I glued the machine to a 3" x 3" metal base (BYV units have 3" frontage, and I needed the 3" depth to fit the model), and the crew I glued to a tongue depressor for ease of handling while panting.   I then sprayed the vehicle and crew with flat black primer.

        The painting itself was straightforward, and when complete I glued the crew onto the vehicle and then flocked the base.

    I'm really pleased with how this model came out.   For the most part, the parts of the vehicle are scale variable, so the 10mm crew doesn't look too out of place on the deck.

28mm Frog God Idols

  A few years ago, while on a trip, I found these little carved wood frog toys in a gift shop.  They came with a stick in their mouth, and when you rubbed the stick up and down their ridged back the frogs made a croaking sound.  I thought their primitive hand-carved style would be perfect for use with my 28mm Frog armies from Eureka.  However, I stuck them in a draw to be worked on at a later date and forgot about them.  I came across them this passed weekend, and thought it was about time I finished this languishing project.
    I had long since got rid of their rubbing sticks, but needed to deal with their large holes in their mouths where the sticks had been stored.  So, I used some epoxy putty to fill the holes and set them aside to dry.

You cans see one of  the large holes in the frog on the left.  The one of the right has been filled.

    I then cut a pair of old computer discs into rough oval shapes, and glued the frogs to them with Tacky glue.  When the glue was dry, I sprayed them with flat black spray paint.

    After the spray paint dried, I drybrushed the frogs in shades of gray paint.  When the paint was dry, I flocked the based, and then sprayed them with clear matte Krylon.

Shown with one of my 28mm Frog warriors from Eureka Miniatures

     I'm pleased with how these came out, and they were so quick and simple to finish up I'm mad I waited so long to get to them.  Surely, with the frog gods now on my side, my frog armies will be invincible!

10mm Giant Poison Dart Frog Swarms

     Over this past weekend I finished up a couple bases of giant poison dart frog swarms to accompany my 10mm Lizardman army for use with "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" mass combat fantasy rules.   The figures were from a pack I picked up in a flea market a while back and were made by Chariot (now sold by Magister Millitum) and intended for 15mm. I think they work fine for 10mm too.
   

Two bases and a command stand.

A close up.

Shown with some 10mm Pendraken Lizardmen for scale.

Recently Painted 10mm Fantasy: Trojan Rabbit, and Sea-Elf Wizard

    This weekend I finished up a couple 10mm stands for my "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" fantasy armies.  The first of these is a 10mm 3-D printed "Trojan Rabbit", purchased from Shapeways.  My friend, Buck Surdu, and I both got one of these; and in talking about it, we decided we'd treat it as a kind of self-propelled  armored personal carrier.  So, to enable the "self-propelled' part, I modified some extra War-of-the-Roses figures I had to become "pushers", and glued them on the base as if pushing the rabbit forward.

Un cadeau!

Let's hope they remembered to get inside this time!

   The other figure I completed this week was an Elf Wizard for my Sea-Elf army.  I used an extra GW High Elf Wizard I had, and painted him in my Sea-Elf army colors.  I tried to paint him as if standing upon a water spout, and casting some sort of water-based spell.

Sea-Elf Wizard

GW 28mm Lothern Skycutter to 10mm Elven Airboat Conversion

This week I completed a conversion project that I've been working on slowly over the past couple months, that involved converting a 28mm Games Workshop Warhammer "Lothern Skycutter" into a 10mm Elven Airboat.  I had purchased this model for a very reasonable price from a friend's flea market table at the BARRAGE gaming convention, with an eye to using the boat portion of the kit for my 10mm Elf fantasy army.

The kit's box

    I began by assembling the boat, and making a few modifications.   First, I trimmed and re-positioned the rudder handle, so it would sit low enough for a 10mm figure to use it.  Secondly, I took an old Games Workshop Warmaster Elf Repeating Bolt Thrower and cut it down so it would mount on the prow of the boat.  I gave a friend the large bird that was part of the Skycutter kit .

The assembled model.

  Instead of using the typical GW base that came with the kit, I glued the airboat's flight-stand to a 3"x 1.5" base suitable for use with the "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" mass-combat Fantasy rules.  I then went through my box of spare figures and selected some individually based 10mm Elves I had to use as a crew.

The finished airboat.

 I spray primed the boat and crew with flat black primer (I wish I had used white!) and painted the boat in a dark blue, white, and yellow scheme, and the crew in a light blue and white uniform.

The airboat shown flying over some 10mm Elven troops.

I painted the crew and boat separately; and after painting was complete, I glued the crew in the boat.  I added some scraps of lead, cut from a figure's base long ago, to the base of the boat to add stability, and blended them into the base with a little putty so they would resemble little hills.  Afterwards I flocked the base.

A close-up of the crew.

    I'm pleased with how this project came out.  It will add some powerful air support to my Elven forces.

A shot from the back angle.

10mm Dwarf Cavalry Battlegroup for "Bear Yourselves Valiantly"

This week I completed a Dwarf Cavalry Battlegroup of three Warbands for use with "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" mass-combat fantasy rules. My Battlegroup consists of a Leader mounted on a bear, two warbands of heavy bear-mounted troops, and one of lighter ram-mounted troops.  The figures are from Magister Militum's 10mm Fantasy line.
   I designed their banners, using this great free flag-designing website: Flag Designer