Normal Service Will Be Restored ASAP

Photobucket have decided to disable 3rd party hosting of images, unless I upgrade my account and pay silly money.

Therefore, Photobucket can take a running jump!

Please bear with me while I move my images onto another hosting site and re-link everything on the blog.

Creepy Critters

When I told my good lady wife that I'd been given a small bonus at work, she uttered the magic words "well you make sure you spend it on something you want, not on us."
To the internet!

A few clicks later and I'd ordered some creepy critters to help fill out my Frostgrave menagerie. Within a couple of days the minis had arrived - thanks for the great service CP Models and Mighty Lancer Games - and, with this glorious weather, were soon primed and ready to paint.

First off some Reaper Bones spider swarms from Mighty Lancer; a great UK source of Reaper stuff. I'd also ordered some bigger models but they're still in the painting queue. I'll use these swarms as ice spider proxies (I already have two spiders, but one of the Ulterior Motive cards calls for four).

Now a pair of little trilobites from CP Models, which I'm going to use as Amplipedes from the Into the Breeding Pits expansion. I've painted them in my skin tone method, as Amplipedes are supposed to centipede-type creatures descended from rats and so I reasoned they could be flesh coloured.

Some more CP Models goodness in the form of these little buggers. These are very much multi-use minis and can stand in for anything from imps and ice toads to thieves and demonic servants. The little chap in the yellow I'll also use as a child should I draw that appropriate card from the Ulterior Motives pack. The Brown Jenkin figure will also see use as a Vaplorhine (e.g. demonic monkey creature) from the Breeding Pits.

Not so little, but just as creepy, is this Nosferatuesque vampire from CP Models. I already have a vampire model, but looking at the Ravages of Time scenarios in the Frostgrave Folio, I'll need some more.

The rough 'n' ready Dwarven tomb was knocked up as an experiment to see if EPE foam packaging would take No More Nails glue. It does, which leads me on to my next scatter terrain project...

Escape the Dark Castle Kickstarter

"A simple, co-operative tabletop game for 1-4 players, with a stylish design inspired by 80s fantasy nostalgia."
Well that's me sold!

This is a new (but delightfully retro) game that's being funded via Kickstarter (here's the link) that looks suitably fun enough for me to back (thus popping my Kickstarter cherry - now I can enter the gaming world a man!)

Basically you start off as a rag-tag bunch of prisoners trying to escape the eponymous dark castle. As you make your way through the gloomy corridors and shadowy chambers, you flip cards to reveal the perils within, fighting those who would stand in your way by rolling special dice.

If you prevail, you can pick up items, from mouldy bread to two-handed axes, to aid your escape. However, at the end of your ordeal is the boss card - the big bad - who stands between you and freedom...

The project is already funded, and at the time of writing there's only 3 days left to go, so if you're intrigued, don't hang about and check it out (if only for the hilarious promotional video!)

(Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with this in anyway and take no responsibility for the success or failure of the project)

Massacre at Longreach

Thaddeus Daemoncall stared hard at the Grimoire of Lichdom. “Damn you…” he muttered.

Nothing had gone right since that evil tome had been discovered; potions turned to sludge in the cauldron, scraps of paper failed to give up their secrets and demons frolicked mockingly in the summoning circle before fading out of existence. Even the roaring fire in his room had taken an age to light.

It was clear that the book must be destroyed...

Suddenly the door to his chambers crashed open to reveal his apprentice Oddleigh, red-faced and panting from exertion.

“My lord, I have news!”

The Summoner hurriedly threw the black cloth covering over the book. “Well spit it out then boy.”

“I heard it at the trading post – the Lich Lord has discovered the fabled House of Longreach and has dispatched his minions! What's more, that Sigilist is also on his way there right now!”

Thaddeus frowned, instinctively clutching his damaged arm. “Then we must also go. Assemble the men, quickly!”

Oddleigh nodded and thumped down the stairs as Thaddeus reached for the forbidden grimoire. “And as for you…”

He tossed the book into the flames before stalking out of the room.

Events had conspired against me ‘n’ Giles, so we only had time for one game of Frostgrave this time around, namely the next scenario in the Lich Lord campaign: the House of Longreach.

After fluffing practically every out of game spell (with the exception of raising a skeleton), I set up the table – the usual 3’x3’ mat with six magical archways and a 1’x1’ treasure room, complete with treasures and Frost Wraiths to guard them.

Thaddeus deployed on one side of the board, demon-less and, after a string of failed out of game spells, was not exactly brimming with confidence. At least he had an extra soldier in the shape of a skeleton to hopefully nip forward and grab a treasure.

Holbron the Sigilist arrived opposite with his warband, including the infamous Green Knight and a very capable captain. Thaddeus’ first act was to cast beauty on himself, having to spend precious health to get it off. Holbron replied by casting draining word on the bonedart spell. Oddleigh the apprentice managed to conjure up an elemental ball and sent it in the midst of the Green Knight and captain, but it failed to do any damage.

One of the Sigilist’s archers made for a magic archway and straight away found himself on the threshold of the treasure room. Thaddeus also stepped through an archway, but simply lost 2 health points and went nowhere.

Holbron tried his luck with a magic archway and found himself manifesting right in front of a startled Thaddeus! Recovering his wits, the Summoner managed to cast bonedart despite the draining word. He sent it flying into his target, severely wounding the Sigilist.

Things were looking up as a grabbed treasure attracted the attention of a ghoul, right behind Holbron’s lines. Meanwhile Thaddeus’ warband cautiously advanced. On the left, Oddleigh commanded a treasure hunter, barbarian and knight. On the right, the rest of the band moved up. The appearance of the Sigilist gave them a nice target to gang up on.

However they were to be denied their prize. Hurrying to the rescue with a pair of rangers, the enemy apprentice cast a wall spell to cut them off from their quarry. My marksman and archer were also now screened off from any targets.

On the left flank, the treasure hunter was wounded by the enemy knight, supported by a warhound. My own knight raced to the rescue and slayed the dog, but could see the enemy captain bearing down on him. Any extra support from the barbarian was not forthcoming as he was busy dragging treasure away.

Halfinch the Hobbit thief, having downed an invisibility potion, now tried his luck with an archway and made it to the treasure room! Standing at the threshold he waited for his moment to sneak in as the enemy archer braved the wrath of the frost wraiths.

Thaddeus cackled and prepared to cast another bone dart at the stricken Sigilist, but Holbron had a trick up his sleeve – in the shape of a grenade! The projectile landed at the Summoner’s feet and exploded! The smoke cleared to reveal Thaddeus’ crumpled form on the cold ground…

(Note that I had forgotten to ask Giles to make a will test against my beauty score – d’oh!)

Deciding not to push his luck any more, the wounded Sigilist stepped back through the arch and found himself at the treasure room. He joined Halfinch at the threshold, deciding his next move.

On the right flank, my warband was trying to force their way through a narrow gap between the magical wall and the terrain, but the rangers beat them back, downing a treasure hunter.

An enemy archer also had better success than mine by shooting my skeleton and leaving one more treasure ripe for the picking. My dice rolls were pathetically low for most of these combats.

This run of bad luck continued on the left, where Sir Pierre the Knight fell under the captain’s blows. The wounded treasure hunter did not last much longer.

It was only turn 3 and yet most of my warband were out of action! Would the arrival of the Lich Lord’s cultists and their pet zombie troll change the balance? These fanatics quickly made for the nearest archway.

The nearest two went straight into the treasure room, thanks to the Lich Lord’s evil magic. Halfinch and Holborn watched as they advanced on the hapless archer. While they were occupied, the Sigilist nipped in and then out of the room (we’d forgotten that he was wounded and could thus take only one action) in order to gain some experience.

Giles rolled to see where he which archway he’d reappear at, causing him to teleport to the one next to the remainder of the Lich Lord’s gang! He was in no condition to face the zombie troll and so beat a hasty retreat.

Meanwhile the remainder of my band on the right finally got around the wall and attacked the rangers, with my warhound managing to savage one of them.

It was then however a depressing return to form as my infantrymen failed to tackle the other ranger, with one of them falling in combat.

Meanwhile the Sigilist’s archer and captain scooped up the treasure dropped by my skeleton. Oddleigh just about managed to summon an imp in a vain attempt to stop them, but it was too late.

Warhound and infantryman ganged up on the remaining ranger as the hungry ghoul, after a few turns of wandering about aimlessly, caught scent of the battle and moved in to see what the fuss was all about.

Back in the treasure room, Halfinch was still prevaricating, but with the defeat of the enemy archer by the combined might of the frost wraiths and cultists, decided that it wasn’t worth venturing into the chamber.

By now we were running out of our limited gaming time. With my wizard out of action and most of my warband following him there was no chance of me getting the special treasure in the treasure room – indeed any more treasure at all. Thus I threw in the towel, conceding the rest of the treasure on the main board to Giles. Holbron also decided to withdraw, being menaced by a zombie troll whilst wounded no doubt making up his mind.

Pretty much a complete failure for me – mostly due to the Dice Gods deciding that the day was not to be my day (I can’t complain really, considering how kind they’ve been in recent games). The Sigilist’s grenade spell, cast when his back was against the wall, was just the thing to alter swing the game in his favour, and the wall spell did a great job of shielding him – bravo.

Whilst I can’t take the blame for my poor dice rolls, I did make the mistake of not getting into the treasure room sooner. The invisibility potion would have kept Halfinch free from the attentions of the frost wraiths, at least until he picked up the special treasure, and the creatures could have been kept busy if I attempted to spam the room with other soldiers ASAP. Ah well – the game was still good fun and at least I kept smiling!

Giles' triumphant version of events can be read on his blog, starting at part 1 here.

By the time Thaddeus staggered out of the Sarcophagus of Healing, his burns and scars had faded, but the burning sense of shame had not. He swept past his subdued warband and locked himself in his chambers.

There he sat, watching gloomily as the chimney draught whipped up the ashes in the barren fireplace.

"That damned book… It’s all my fault… I should have burned the accursed thing straight away… The Gods were punishing me alright – I shouldn’t have started reading it…”

The Warrior and the Maidens

Phew! It's too hot to be creative today, so here are some miniatures I recently finished without, alas, the usual nonsense I would usually write to go with them.

First off a Mystic Warrior, kitbashed from a Fireforge man-at-arms body and Mongol head, with arms from the Northstar barbarian kit. He's about to unleash the dreaded two-finger eye poke, a move that took years to master at a secret monastery hidden within the triple peaks of the Three Stuges Mountains. I'm not sure I pulled off the glowing hands look, but hey ho.

Next a pair of Sigilists, which came as an extra in the Forgotten Pacts 'Nickstarter'. I was originally put off painting these, especially the detail on the wizard figure, but I'm actually really pleased with how they came out. I knew I wanted to go for a black and white nun's habit look, and am pleased how the whites don't look dirty and the blacks don't look dusty, which they normally do when I paint them.

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know!

No-one knows from whence the mighty Kornovik, scourge of the barbarian tribes, came – in fact it did not really matter, for all one had to know was that the huge lumbering brute was danger and evil personified.

The powerfully-built outcast lived for carnage, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake as he raged his way across the Northern Wastes. Some tribes knew him as the’ hurricane’, others the ‘earthquake’. To many he was the ‘rhino’, after his penchant for lowering his spiked skull and charging into battle head-first.

It was said that no man could withstand this assault, or a sweep of his mighty club, and the best way to survive an encounter with this oft-cursed brute was to clamber up as high as possible, for Kornovik’s only weak spot was his inability to climb. However even this was no guarantee of safety, for his aim was sure and although the bow he used may have looked comically small in his massive paws, his shooting was deadly.

Shudder then at the mention of his name, for he has ceased whatever dark deeds he has been perpetrating up north and has arrived in the frozen city. Be afraid my friends, be afraid.

Here’s my take on barbarian outcast and all-round bad guy, Kornovik. Now Northstar sells a fantastic model of this guy, riding his bad-tempered woolly rhino, but I had this plastic Battle Masters ogre knocking around (another find from the LAF sprue exchange – I donated plenty of stuff in return, honest!)

So I decided that my version of Kornovik would be an outcast ogre. He fits most of the brief – his horned helm giving him the ‘horned’ trait of the character and his bulk accounting for the ‘limited climb’. As Kornovik is also armed with a bow, I quickly glued one into his fist. It looks stupidly small, but I quite like the idea of him carefully selecting an arrow before daintily drawing back the bowstring with his thumb and little finger! (and if nothing else it saves me twenty five quid!)

Game of Throne (or Dais ex Machina)

Sir Gwyllaim the Virtuous gripped his two handed axe as he edged into the dark chamber. Judging by the deep echoes created by his metal sabatons clicking on the flagstones, the room must have been huge. He cursed the noise his armour was making, for it would not be long before the shadowy creatures he had so far managed to evade would zero in on the sound.

Undeterred, the templar stalked out of the passageway and into the chamber. Strange luminous fungi plastered the walls, giving off just enough light to see by – and be seen… He strained his eyes: what was that in the distance? Something large and white? Could it be…? The hairs on the back of Sir Gwyllaim’s neck stood on end as something skittered behind him. It was now or never.

He raced forward as fast as his armour would allow, careless of the clatters that shattered the eerie silence. He squinted… yes! It was the thing he sought – Gods be praised! Before him, raised on a circular stone dais, was the legendary Pale Throne of Jogdusu, said to imbue it’s incumbent with the power of teleportation. In short it was his only ticket out of this hellish place.

He reached the dais just as the creatures poured forth from numerous dark portals that ringed the chamber. Screeching and howling they bounded towards the platform just as Sir Gwyllaim reached the throne, grasping the foul smelling cloth that had been placed on it’s seat. Part of his mind, separate from the bit currently calculating the likelihood of his demise, wondered what kind of creature had claimed the throne as it’s own.

His query was answered in short order as a huge bulk fell roaring from the dark recesses of the ceiling and landed next to the noble warrior, sending him sprawling back off the dais. He struggled to his feet, groping for his axe as the filthy tide of inhumanity engulfed him…

I’ve been looking for a suitable model throne for the Lair of the Ghoul King scenario – one of the next games in our Thaw of the Lich Lord campaign. As luck would have it I found some sort of plastic clip or bracket lying broken on the floor at work which I thought looked vaguely throne-shaped. I also knew that some circular bits of plastic had recently been thrown away, so I salvaged one of these too.

A quick bit of filling, distressing and painting later and I now have a throne and dais for the scenario and of course for general scatter terrain. I tried to scratch some runic shapes on the dais but they haven’t come out very well, and I’ve not been very successful in painting the pink marble look I wanted for the throne, but for a bit of trash-bashing they’re ok.

The figure is a GW High Elf White Lions warrior that I took from the LAF sprue exchange programme, so thanks to whoever donated him!

Berserkers!

With a drunken roar and stagger they blundered into the throng. Otherwise brave and hardened warriors stood back in awe, for they were infamous, dangerous and unpredictable. They were the berserkers.

While others contented tested their mettle in the unending cycle of tribal squabbling, these restless warriors of renown had gone south as soon as the spires of the ancient city began to peek forth from the ice. Such was their love of battle that they had hired themselves out to the foreign bands that ventured into the frozen ruins.

While their paymasters desired gold and treasure, they fought for glory and adventure. However they had now returned to the tribal lands, for even the most manic berserker, blood-crazed and gore-ridden, had heard the call through the red mist.

And so the barbarian clans had gathered, sharpening their weapons and boasting of great deeds to come as the shamen sang songs of the promises they must keep and the gods they must honour. Now they were ready and so, by instinct rather than by command, the horde went south to the frozen city.

Some more barbarians from the Northstar plastic box set (give or take the occasional piece from other sprues) in the form of berserkers (the barbarian version of the barbarian troop type, if that makes sense!)

I’ve had more fun painting these than other plastics, which says a lot for the kits, and have plans to knock up some archers in the future. However for now I have all the barbarians I need for the Forgotten Pacts supplement, when I eventually get around to playing it!