Mounted Bretonnian Sorceress

One of my painting accomplishments last year was this Mounted Bretonnian Sorceress from fifth edition Warhammer Fantasy.

I haven't played that game; however, she worked great as a mounted human spellcaster for my first Oathmark army.

I enjoyed painting up the Lady Monique de Ville, and I used her in many Oathmark battles, where her Sieze the Initiative spell helped my kingdom triumph against their foes.

I accquired this figure a few years back secondhand, from a vendor at MillenniumCon. 

I could have kept her in the blister pack as a collectible or for resale, but where's the fun in that?

She belongs on the tabletop, as do all the miniatures I've bought over the years--and these days, some of them are actually seeing action!

I know it's not perfect close-up, but on the tabletop against my oponents, this casting looks great!

Loot from MillenniumCon

As always, part of the fun of going to a game convention is getting stuff: Buying new products, receiving prizes for playing in games, and scoring bargains at the flea market. MillenniumCon was no different:

For playing an introductory game of Frostgrave, I received these playing aids, a couple of figures, and some terrain. More importantly, I met some local players who have a weekly game at Dragon's Lair:

From a vendor with tables stacked high with old Citadel Minis, I tracked down some additions to my Oldhammer skellies and some Halfling mercenaries to join my Bretonnians:

 

At Ed the THW Guy's table, I bought a couple of rules to try out, and for inspiration in my own designs:

At the flea market on Sunday, I couldn't resist this Star Wars diecast spaceship for one buck:

Also at the flea market, I found some more Bretonnians for my Oldhammer project, as well as Kings of War (and other games):

The same guy also had some movement trays, templates, and tokens:

Finally, another flea market vendor had some Warhammer 5th edition sourcebooks, which will provide inspiration:

Lots to keep me busy over the next few months.

More Oldhammer goodness

Once again, I had an opportunity to buy this Warhammer Armies book for WHFB 3rd edition, but I left it on the shelf. Months later, I was in the same game store, and of course it had vanished from where I last saw it. I lamented the fact that I had let this old-school find slip through my fingers.

So imagine my delight when I found this very volume a few shelves over. I took that as a sign that the purchase was meant to be, and I snagged this. Now to get an army put together and find an opponent to play some Oldhammer.

Another Oldhammer find

Is fifth-edition Warhammer considered Oldhammer? It's from two decades ago, so I'm gonna say yes.

I found this Warhammer Battle Book from the fifth edition boxed set at Half Price Books recently. I'm a little surprised that I am interested in the background from this era of the game (I have the Lizardmen and Bretonnia army books), but it is pretty interesting reading.

The Battle Book includes brief overviews (and lotsa photos) of the various forces of the Warhammer world. It also has rules and stats for many of the races, beasts, and monsters. There's also a short section on running campaigns, which can be adapted to other games as well. Who else has scored something vintage from a used book store recently?

Warhammer buildings

Well, it only took three-and-a-half years from the time I purchased the box to assemble the cardboard buildings that came with the fifth edition Warhammer boxed set.

Here you can see the results, pictured with the commander from the Nightmare Legion for scale. These aren't diorama models, but they will do nicely for wargames.

In addition to the tower, there is a large house or inn as well as a small shed. I would like to find some more old Warhammer scenery like this, but this type of thing is relatively rare and expensive on eBay.

The buildings were relatively straightforward to assemble--just punch out each die-cut section and use some white glue to fasten it. I also used scotch tape on the inside to ensure the pieces stayed together. Pro tip: line the edges of each piece with an appropriately colored permanent marker to make it look less like paper and more like a building.

These three structures will make a nice area to fight over or around once I have some Oldhammer forces to put on the table. They will also go well as terrain for Song of Blades and Heroes games, or even Book of War.

Lizardman hero for Oldhammer

I've decided to build an Oldhammer army. OK, several armies. One of them is Lizardmen, since I got a whole bunch of them really cheap one time. And while I have plenty of rank-and-file, I needed a suitable hero figure. I didn't want to pay premium prices for a Games Workshop model, and browsing my local game store I came across this guy:

He's a Lizardman Warrior from the Reaper Bones line of minis, and I think he fits in nicely with the GW plastics. Here he is posing with a Skink and a Saurus:

Suitably imposing, as a hero figure should be, and he fits in style-wise to me. Once they are all painted, they should look good as a cohesive force on the tabletop.

Starting an Oldhammer army

Now that I have my Warhammer Fantasy Battle third edition rulebook, I need to think about the miniatures I will use.  To me, the Oldhammer ethos doesn't necessarily involve vintage figures, but instead revolves around using minis to build the army you want.  That said, I still have a ton of old GW plastics from their Skeleton Army boxed set.  I can use these to build two or three units with the minimum number of figures.  (I still have plenty of metal castings as well, but most of those are destined to expand my Nightmare Legion army for Hordes of the Things.)

Besides, I think it will be fun to build an army using all these plastics.  In addition to the foot soldiers, I have enough skeletal riders for a cavalry unit, as well as a chariot or two.  My plan is to keep this army as simple as possible, attaching banners to indicate leaders, unless I want to include a metal mini as champion or general.  Since they're skeletons, they're pretty easy to paint, and detailing should be simple as well.

This will be a long-term project, however.  I have a move to get through next week, and then I'm concentrating on finishing the terrain and miniatures for an Ogre scenario I'm running at MillenniumCon this November. But after that, I plan to start on this army and find me some opponents for some third edition Warhammer.  Who wants to join me?

Oldhammer in the house!

After several months, I finally scored a copy of Third Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle.  I've been reading about the Oldhammer movement, and it's philosophy is similar to that of the Old School Renaissance: a do-it-yourself vibe, with heavy reliance on a referee instead of a rulebook.  The book has some wear, but it isn't falling apart.

This is the edition that got me started in fantasy gaming back in the late 1980s.  Although I'd been playing D&D for  quite awhile, when it came to wargaming I was sci-fi only--Ogre, Battletech, and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, which eventually led me around to Warhammer Fantasy Battle. 

Since I worked in a game store around this time, my employee discount resulted in the acquisition of  a whole bunch of undead miniatures (that being my favorite army).  However, I never really got to use them on the battlefield until I started playing Hordes of the Things.  However, the idea of quickly painting up a couple of units and a champion or two for a quick battle has me excited.  And now I have the rules, so I can get those skellies on the table for some Oldhammer!

The Pathetic Aesthetic ...

... or Oldhammer and the OSR.

Because I don't have enough gaming projects, I'm thinking about getting into Oldhammer (using older versions of the Warhammer rules to play games for fun instead of with a tournament mindset).  I'd say it's the minis equivalent of the OSR.

This is from last year, but Andy Bartlett's post on The Pathetic Aesthetic from the blog Known World, Old World encapsulates a lot of great points about the OSR and the Oldhammer movement.  A very thoughtful article that I urge you to check out.  And see robotforaday's post with similar thoughts on Going Old School at Where the Sea Pours Out.

My day at GuadaComaCon

As I mentioned over the weekend, turnout for the convention was better than ever.  I got to play in a couple of games and ran a session of the game I co-wrote, 5150: Star Navy.  And there was plenty going on all day.  I hope to come back with some more detailed posts regarding the games I participated in or ran, but for now here's my overview of GuadaComaCon:

The morning started out with a couple of roleplaying games.  Game designer Dennis Sustare ran a game of Swords & Wizardry, a retroclone of the original D&D rules.

Meanwhile, author/illustrator Jeff Dee refereed Béthorm: The Plane of Tékumel, an RPG based on the setting from the famous Empire of the Petal Throne.

At the same time, Chip was conducting a game of Axles & Alloys, a vehicle combat game using mechanics from Full Thrust.  I played in the first round, getting my driver killed at the end of the game.

In addition, Kerstan and Tom, a couple of New Braunfels locals, put on a 2000-point game of Warhammer 40,0000--Tyranids versus Space Marines.  Several other NB gamers stopped by to watch and chat.

For the afternoon session, my game of 5150: Star Navy drew a half-dozen players.  I think one person had played it before; but the rest of the group easily picked up the rules.

Blake had brought enough armies (repurposed Warhammer figures) and terrain to host an entire Hordes of the Things tournament for 12 players, but unfortunately he ended up just having three or four gamers actually play some HotT.

In addition that afternoon, Joe put on a Flames of War scenario.  The battle was Germans against Soviets in Budapest, 1945.

Also during this time slot Jeff's wife, Talzhemir, ran Cavemaster, the role-playing game that cavemen played.

After that, only one evening game took place: the Battle of Hoth using FUBAR rules.  Coach K and his son drove an hour-and-a-half, bringing their large, illuminated setup that drew onlookers from a charity event in the convention center's ballroom.  I'm glad I got to play this scenario, as they're retiring it in favor of Helm's Deep for the next convention.

I was a little disappointed that we didn't have more evening games; I guess everyone was tired after two sessions of rolling dice and moving miniatures.  Still, my thanks to everyone who ran a game, as well as those who came out to play.  See you next August!

Two more skellies

I picked up a pair of Warhammer minis for a song on ebay recently.  I don't need another skull chucker catapult crewmember like the guy on the right, but that Nightmare Legion figure on the left will allow me to round out one more stand of skeletal halberdiers, expanding my undead army for Hordes of the Things.  Now to actually start painting all this metal I've accumulated.

 

The quest is complete

At last!  I finally tracked down a copy of the mid-'90s Bretonnia army book for Warhammer.  I've been trying to score one of these since late last year, when I landed a Lizardmen supplement buy just missed out on the Bretonnia book offered by the same buyer. 

Since I landed a boxed WFB set with dozens of plastic feudal warriors and their reptilian opponents (all for use as armies for Hordes of the Things) some time ago, I have been struggling with how I'm gonna paint the knight and bowmen models.  I've seen several copies of the Bretonnia supplement on ebay, but until now I had always been outbid.

I'm thrilled to have this tome in my hands now.  Something about the bright, primary colors used in the heraldry and livery for these figures attracts me.  I don't know if I'll be able to do them justice, but at least now I have a starting point for some possible color schemes.  Rule Bretonnia!

Golden Oldies

These are some robots from the first edition days of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.  I bought them to use with my Imperial Army, but they never actually appeared on the table.  For some reason I thought they would look good painted in metallic gold.

I remember the rules for robots back in the early days of 40K were kind of convoluted--you had to assign programs to each figure, and they could function only according to their software.  Anyone else have these models (and actually use them), or even remember what they're called?

From the vault

In the spirit of Oldhammer, I thought I'd trot out some venerable figures of mine that I bought some twenty-mumble years ago--back when Games Workshop was fresh on the shores of the USA and everything Citadel was new and wonderful.

These are a couple of Blood Bowl ogres, but since at the time I didn't play Blood Bowl but was building a large Imperial Army for 40K, I decided to convert these for use as a squad of Ogryn, which were part of the Army list at the time (this was in the days before Codexes (Codeci?).

I never fielded these on the game table; hell, I never even finished painting them--but I am happy with how the boltguns look in their hands, with the Ogryn holding those weapons like pistols.  I'm not sure: should I ebay these guys, or figure out how to use them in my current gaming?  What would you do?

Wacky Warhammer

Over at the awesome Realm of Chaos: An 80s Warhammer Enthusiast Blog, Orlygg posted about some of the whacky and whimsical little-known gems of the Oldhammer world.  He compiled a top-10 list of his favorite humorous and/or odd figures that Games Workshop/Citadel Miniatures produced back in the day (before they got all grimdark serious and skullz!!!1!!), such as the Dwarf with an Inferiority Complex, the Wizard with Machine Gun, and the Chaos Toilet(!).

He asked readers if he'd left any minis off his list, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite less-than-serious skeleton models.  I've always been a big fan of the Warhammer skellies, and here are a few figures I own that make me smile:

The Anarchist:

Clad in a floppy hat and cloak, this Guy Fawkes-like figure clutches a bomb (in the shape of a skull, no less) with sputtering fuse.  I plan on using him in a Shooters element for Hordes of the Things.

Bag O' Bones:

My wife calls this figure the skeletons' medic, seeing how he's walking around with a sackful of spare parts.  Once he's painted, I'll affix him to my existing HotT Magician stand as an assistant to the necromancer.

Rambones:

A headband-clad skeleton with an M-16 and modern pineapple hand grenade!  What's not to love?  I actually have two copies of this figure, and they will comprise another stand of Shooters once they're finished.

So to ask the question that Orlygg asked, what old Warhammer figures appeal to your sense of whimsy?