COOL STUFF: "Imagining The Undead" (30 November 2007)

.

TOP: The undead hordes cover the land in darkness...

Hi All,

All gamers have quirks, and among the gaming masses, two groups have particularly fertile, perhaps over-fertile, imaginations: RPG gamers & miniatures wargamers. We get caught up on a theme and just go bonkers with it. My buddy Nils does. My Junkworld buddy Mark does. Cacique Caribe from TMP does. And I certainly do! I've been stuck on the undead for some time now...

TOP: "Liber Necris: The Book Of Death In the Old World"

And I finally got ahold of a copy of the Black Library Publication "Liber Necris: The Book Of Death In the Old World," which has been a fun read. Essentially the Liber Necris, is a compilation of all the wonderful background on the undead from the Warhammer Fantasy Battles setting. And the story after almost two decades of short stories and fiction is a rich one... from the rise of the first Necromancer Nagash to the the depredations of the Von Carstein Vampire lineage... However, what really got my imagination going was a discussion of the components of the undead as discussed from a quasi-alchemical, wizardly perspective:

The Seven Prime
Physio-aethyric Components of the Undead:

Kha
The physical or mortal shell. The body. Corpse.

Ka
Ego, reason, and abstract thought.

Ba
The subconscious self and emotion.

Ab
The conscious or ethical awareness.
Also thought to be the freedom of choice.

Sekhem
Life force itself; soul-fire or aethyric energy.

Ren
One’s true name.
The notion or idea of a particular individual.

Khaibit
The shadow. Proof of mortality.

And that prompted me to create a table of the undead components, which I haven't figured out how to port over to Blogger yet.

And that got me to start thinking of all the types of undead I could recall... from fairy tales, legends, miniatures games, board games, novels, short stories, RPGs, etc. ...which led me to the below list:

CHARACTERS:
- Demiliche (wizard)
- Dracoliche (dragon + wizard)
- Liche (wizard)
- Liche Master (wizard)
- Master Necromancer (wizard)
- Mummy Lord (warrior + wizard)
- Necromancer (wizard)
- Vampire: Blood Dragon (Traditional Eastern European Drakul Warrior Type)
- Vampire: Eastern Cathay (Mastermind / Sorcerer / Scholar Type)
- Vampire: Lahmian (Seductress Type)
- Vampire: Necrarch (Necromancer Type)
- Vampire: Southern (Earth Beast Vampire Type)
- Vampire: Strigoi (Wild Beast Vampire Type)
- Vampire: Von Carstein (Traditional Gothic Horror Dracula Type)
- Vampire Count (warrior)
- Vampire Lord (warrior)
- Vampire Thrall (warrior)
- Werewolf (beast + warrior)
- Wight Lord (warrior)
- Wraith Lord (warrior)

CORE-UNDEAD:
- Baneguard
- Carrion Flyer
- Corpseguard
- Deadites
- Direguard
- Grave Guard
- Leiberian Skeleton
- Skeletal or Zombie Beasts
- Skeletal or Zombie Wolves
- Skeletons
- Wights
- Zombies

CORE-MUNDANE:
- Bats (beast)
- Ghast (beast + man)
- Ghoul (beast + man)
- Gypsies (man)
- Peasants (man)
- Rats (beast)
- Villagers (man)
- Vultures (beast)
- Wolves (beast)

SPECIAL-CORPOREAL:
- Black Knights
- Chupacabra
- Corpse Gatherer (Animated Graveyard)
- Death knights
- Frankenstein
- Golem
- Grim Reaper
- Horseman Of the Apocalypse
- Mummies
- Nephilim
- Nightshade
- Revenant
- Skeletal Centaurs
- Skeletal Ogre, Troll, etc.
- Undead Chariot
- Undead Elite
- Zombie Ogre, Troll, etc.

SPECIAL-INCORPOREAL:
- Banshee
- Barrow Wight
- Ghost
- Nightmare
- Phantom
- Poltergeist
- Ringwraith
- Shade
- Shadow
- Spectre
- Spirit Host
- Will O' the Wisp
- Wraith

RARE:
- The Black Coach
- Bog or Fen Beast
- Skeletal Dragon or Wyrme
- Zombie Dragon or Wyrme

Hope you enjoyed my convoluted thought patterns!

Have a great Friday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: "Chain Reaction Rules For FREE!" (18 November 2007)

.

TOP: Chain Reaction 2.0, now FREE!

Hi All,

Two Hour Wargames and all of their rule sets have become an icon in the gaming industry... relatively simply, fast-playing rules that play well. And, even better, they're pretty near universally liked. At least, I like them and nearly everyone I game with also has good things to say about them.

And the cool news is now, Two Hour Wargames, is offering their rules for FREE! News below:

CHAIN REACTION 2.0 FOR FREE?!

What the...? But that's a new game ain't it? You're kidding, right?
Yep it is and no we're not kidding.

Then what am I missing and why is it free???!!!
Simple. When CR 2.0 came out it was great for generic gaming in lots of periods. Well, now there's loads of games that deal with specific periods. 5150, All Things Zombies, NUTS!, FNG...

So to get you into the current THW system we decided to give it away. Because if you like it then you'll check out the others.

So what's the catch?
No catch. We just want to provide gamers with a free sample of what Two Hour Wargames is currently about.

What about figures, do we have to use yours?
Heck no. In fact, with all rules from Two Hour Wargames you can use any figures that you want. Even those cool ones from that other set of rules that ended up in your closet. Just dig them out and put them to use.

Well what if I like them and want to check out more Two Hour Wargames?
Simple. Just download CR 2.0 and give it a try. Join the THW Yahoo Group by following the link and ask questions. Once you feel comfortable check out the rest of the THW site and see if anything is interesting. So what are you waiting for?

Lastly:
Before we get on with the freebees, a reminder about the Two Hour Wargames Yahoo group! - If you have ANY questions about ANY Two Hour Wargames, including the freebies, then head to the group where you'll find around 2000 gamers, as well as the THW authors, ready to answer any questions you might have, no matter how silly they sound!

One of the other things I can say about Ed Teixeira and the Two Hour Wargames (THW) online community is that they are an exceptionally friendly and helpful group. A friend recommended that I E-mail Ed awhile back when I was looking for advice on creating my own rule set and I did, to which Ed E-mailed me back and was exceptionally friendly and helpful. The THW Yahoo group is just as good with plenty of obliging folks.

I guess all I can say now is: Go check out THW!

And here are a few links:

Two Hour Wargames web site:
http://www.angelfire.com/az3/twohourwargames/freecr2.html

Two Hour Wargames Yahoo Discussion E-group:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/twohourwargames/

TMP news announcement:
http://theminiaturespage.com/news/457620/

TMP discussion thread about this news:
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=125054

And I owe a vote of thanks to my buddy Nils for sharing this news with me:

Thanks, Nils!

Have a great Sunday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: "Wonders of 28mm Paper Pulp!" (5 November 2007)

.

TOP: It has that awesome B&W feel, only it's in 28mm Pulp Nils-O-Vision!

Hi All,

It was just a month or so ago that I attended ConQuest San Francisco 2007 and this year was a breakthrough for me in finally seeing the incredible value one can get with paper scenery. My buddy Nils ran an awesome set of three linked 28mm pulp games and the paper scenery he used was nothing short of amazing. I had helped him playtest some of the games early on... before he assembled his paper scenery. My last major experience with paper scenery was the paper castle that came in a Dragon Magazine back in the 1980s... and what a change has come over paper scenery since then. Nils has all sorts of awesome paper scenery goodies: a loading dock, a mad scientist's headquarters complete with a giant ray gun and much more!

My other semi-recent experience with paper scenery came from a buddy who has since moved back East and has played with making paper models. I'm including one of Chuck's links below so you can check out the awesome Eldar grav tank he designed.

Link to my buddy Chuck's site with a cool paper model of an Eldar grav tank:
http://www.brothersdigital.com/portfolio/GrabBag.html

TOP: 28mm pulp G-men with wooden Walmart trucks!

Nils is a master of cheap materials... his wooden trucks came from Walmart and he often posts at TMP under his stage name of Black Cavalier. A coat or so of paint and the Walmart trucks went from OK to looking pretty snazzy. Nils does wonders with his minis.

And his experimentation with paper scenery prompted me to see what's out here. I'm including a link below to a great round-up article on 28mm paper scenery manufacturers.

Link here:
http://www.tabletop-terrain.com/archives/2006/03/08/522/

TOP: Awesome paper scenery with accessories!

Crates from Wartorn Worlds!

TOP: Awesome 28mm paper scenery.

When I eventually work up some 28mm modern zombies, I think I'm going to go with paper scenery despite having witnessed the awesome 3D splendor of the Zombie Town games. It's a heck of a lot less expensive to go with paper scenery and even when you consider assembly time, it's easier to print, cut, and glue paper models than having to do the same with non-paper miniatures scenery made of resin, plastic, or other materials which require cleaning, preparation, assembly, and painting. Being able to skip the painting step really saves on time. At any rate, I was very impressed with the 28mm pulp paper scenery I saw at ConQuest San Francisco 2007!

Link to Zombie Town games:
http://www.recon-in-force.com/Skank/index.html

Link to Wartorn Worlds, maker of fine scenery made of innovative materials:
http://www.wartornworlds.com/

Link here to World Works Games, makers of fine 28mm paper scenery:
http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/

Update (5 November 2007 at roughly 9:30am):
Nils wrote in to make sure that the manufacturer of the terrain he used gets proper credit. Nils used paper terrain from the The Mean Sets made by The Virtual Armchair General. Thanks, Nils!

Link here:
http://fauxtoys.com/tvag/620-Mean-Sets.htm

Update (5 November 2007 at roughly 1:00pm):
Nils updated his blog with a snazzy battle report and better photos of the game.

Link here to Nil's Intro:
http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/2007/11/northern-california-pulp-project-intro.html

Link here to Nil's "Building the Board" article:
http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/2007/11/virtual-generals-warehouse-unmodified.html

Have a great Monday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: "28mm Undead Roman Legions On the March!" (3 November 2007)

.
TOP: Box art for Zvezda Set #8801 Cursed Legion

Hi All,

I've spent some time the last few days working on the 28mm Undead Hordes of Master Necromancer Maksimok. My strategy for building this army has been a little unorthodox... way back at the end of 2006, my buddy Nils invited me to join his gaming group's Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WHFB) camapign, and I decided to allow myself to do so bacuase I've always wanted to build a 28mm undead fantasy army. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s I used to salivate over all of the cool undead lines that companies like Ral Partha, Grenadier and others used to manufacture. Those figures were so inspiring. And roughly twenty years later, this was my chance.

But I digress, my strategy in building this army was to buy no more than 10% of it new... everything else would come from buying used collections. And I have. And the result of that has been a very gnarly mismatched collections of figures. And, at that, I've ended up with a vast variety of undead figure genres as well. I had originally only intended to build an undead Vampire Counts army with a Gothic Horror theme, but now I have much more. Here are the current plans of which armies to make out of my figure stocks:

1. A 28mm Undead Pirate army along the lines of "Pirates of the Caribbean." Most of the figures are Reaper from a discount bin. I'm not sure whether I should try to form them into a Lustrian army with Count Harkon & the Zombie Pirates or a more conventional Vampire Counts army. I'm going to let this army sit while I finish the Vampire Counts one first.

2. Despite trying to select used lots for a Gothic Horror army, I have a strong nucleus of a Tomb Kings army. I have a ton of chariots, mummies, undead giants, and other goodies with an undead Egyptian theme. I'm also going to let this army sit while I finish the Vampire Counts one.

3. My pride and joy is the nearly 2,000 points of Vampire Counts that I now have nearly 100% assembled AND painted. The current army is almost all skeletons and, as time permits, I'll be experimenting with the more exotic units on the Vampire Counts roster... I have an undead dragon, giant vampire bats, a Black Coach, and plenty of undead cavalry among other undead goodies.

And one of the other things I've been experimenting with is building themed undead units to function as infantry blocks. Each will be twenty to thirty figures strong when I'm done with them. They've all been built to suit the Gothic Horror theme and here's what I am working on:

A. A block of Halloween themed units comprised of pumpkin heads and scarecrows.

B. A block of Undead Asian Warriors: ninjas, Samurai, and plenty of lacquer-armored infantrymen.

C. A block of Wights or Ring Wraiths. All of them have robes and hand weapons.

D. A block of Strigoi Bestial Ghouls. I've mixed in some cheap bitz bin Orky figures that have been zom-bi-fied.

E. An extra-beefy Grave Guard block made with larger undead warrior miniatures based on 25mm squares. The old GW wights were too large to mount on conventional 20mm squares. They look far better on 25mm ones.

F. A block of Drakenhoff Crossbowmen, mostly zombies and skeletons to work with a Sylvanian list.

G. A block of Drakenhof Guard, all heavily-armored wights with polearms to work with a Sylvanian list.

H. An Undead Demi-human Infantry block modelled along the lines of GW's The Cursed Company.

I. A Female Lahmian Infantry block.

But my favorite unit is a block of undead Roman Legionnaires and they are the topic of this post.

Where does one find 28mm undead Roman Legionnaires?

Zvezda is the first source. There are five Zvezda undead sets currently available:

8801 Cursed Legion
8803 Necromancer

8807 Return of the Cursed Legion
8815 Artillery of the Cursed Legion
8822 Cursed Cavalry
8829 Zombies

Zvezda main site here (Site in Russian & English):

http://www.ringofrule.ru/main.php?lng=eng

The Zvezda zombie box looks very interesting, but I haven't been able to locate any photos of them yet Frothers had a set up, but they were taken down shortly after. The guys at TMP found some great links for the Cursed Legion set, but didn't have any for the zombie set either.

Here's the best Zvezda link I've found yet, a comparison of the GW 28mm plastic skeletons and the Zvezda ones:

http://www.dungeoncrawlers.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=65&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

TOP: Box art for Zvezda Set #8829 Zombies

And here are two links for some photo galleries of Zvezda 28mm fantasy figures:

Gallery with Zvezda 28mm Cursed Legion minis:

http://www.ringrule.narod.ru/galery/gal_clg.html

Gallery with Zvezda 28mm Cursed Cavalry minis among others:

http://www.ringrule.narod.ru/user_galery/gal_hovrashok.html

TOP: Box art for Zvezda Set #8807 Return of the Cursed Legion.

Eureka Miniatures is the second source. Nic over at Eureka Miniatures in Australia also makes a fine undead Roman Legionnaire, which isn't listed in his catalogue yet, but if you make an inquiry, he can send a few to you. He also makes some fine undead Greek Warriors and the finest undead horses on the 28mm market.

Eureka web site here:

http://www.eurekamin.com.au/

I owe Nic many thanks for being kind enough to send me a sample of the 28mm undead Roman Legionnaire figure.

Thanks, Nic!

TOP: Box art for Zvezda Set #8815 Artillery of the Cursed Legion

And the third source is from assorted companies. Some other companies make a few figures that could pass for 28mm undead Roman Legionnaires, but they are few and far between. However, one company that makes a large number of figures with horsehead plumes on their helms, Lorica-type armor, and Roman-like weapons that could pass for undead Roman soldiers is RAFM.

RAFM link here:

http://www.rafm.com/

Update (4 November 2007 at roughly 7:30am):

My TMP reader Cornelius found a source that I neglected to mention: Ghastly & Company. Thanks, Cornelius!

Link here:

http://www.ghastlyco.com/

Update (4 November 2007 at roughly 8:00am):
An anonymous Frothers donor found yet another source that I neglected to mention: Alionis Miniatures. Thanks, Anonymous Donor!

Link here:
http://www.alionas.com/

Have a great Saturday!
And a Gut Shabbos to my Jewish readers!

Shabbat Shalom,

Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: "Storming The Beaches of Norse-mandy"

.

The undead face off the Beastmen-Norse at the beaches of "Norse-mandy!"

Hi All,

The boring news is that my job has been keeping me very busy... it's been hard to post the last few days. The good news is that Nils and I have been having a good time playing 28mm Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WHFB). The following two linked short stories are his narrative masterpieces of our very enjoyable game. I hope that you enjoy them as well.

Part 1 of the story follows:

"Storming the Beaches of Norse-mandy - The Omens!"

By: Warlord Nils Fahrvegnugen the Raging Rylehmeister.

As the Godi cast the runes on the deck of the largest longship, Torvald Isulfson eagerly looked on. The longship lay just off the shore of the jungle land that would make them all rich. They were so far south, the Winds of Chaos were hardly a breeze here, so Torvald was hoping for any good omen to encourage his army.

Torvald still cursed those traitorous Norsca back at Skeggi. He'd assumed his force would have been welcomed by their distant cousins, but the greedy whelps refused to allow his ships to land. They felt the owned the whole jungle. Well, he'd show them and plunder the jungle's gold right out from under their noses. So, instead of making an easy landing where there should have been welcoming wenches and ale, his army was having to make a mad dash up the beach and into the jungle. His army was used to fighting like that, but Torvald at least had enough sense to realize that a beach landing on a unknown continent would be tougher than the normal fleecing they gave Imperial sheep.

An Ungor-Viking Hird is caught by a mass of skeletons at the rocky passes!

He'd decided to land his army on the only shallow beach near Skeggi in the gentle moonlight. The fact that there were skeletal totems all along the beach made no difference to him. It kind of made it look a little like home. Some peasant's illegitimate son was always sticking a cow or wolf's skull on a stick back in Norsca. Once the army was landed and had defensively drawn out to contest any possible enemies, he'd land the supplies in a small inlet nearby that would have been too hard to defend otherwise. Torvald would ensure the supplies were landed, while one of his sub-chieftains, Valgard Stonecleaver, would lead the army.

Returning his attention to the runes, the Godi's divination said that much that was hidden would be revealed. The army cheered, believing that meant they would find piles of gold and other treasures. But, as Torvald let the blood of the final sacrificial victim flow into the ocean in thanks for a safe journey, he realized this Godi's readings had always been particularly vague and decided to send him along with Stonecleaver to share in whatever vague fate he had foreseen.

And here's Part 2 of the story:

"Storming the Beaches of Norse-mandy - The Battle!"
By: Warlord Nils Fahrvegnugen the Raging Rylehmeister.

They hit the surf running. The longships beached just long enough to disgorge the army and then oarsmen pulled them back into the ocean. The terrain got progressively thick as they pushed in from the shore: first the open beach, then a bunch of undergrowth culminating in light jungle and finally dense, thick jungle of the nearly impenetrable type. Luckily, although thick it was very much like the forests of the crew's native Norsca, so the army would have no problem maneuvering through that morass. But, unlike the forests of Norsca, the heat and humidity were so oppressive that it felt like they had to swim through the air (Game result: Excessive Humidity: -1" movement to Bestigors ). On the other hand, the surprise landings seemed to have worked since he could see vaguely human shapes still trying to form ranks (Game result: Monkey Run: Norse got +1 to the die roll for determining who goes first).

Stonecleaver had positioned himself in the center, leading the unit of Valkyrie (Bestigors) that had the gods had blessed them with. To the right was one of the large Hirds, followed by a small Hird, the Norse Dwarf Mountain Goat Cavalry who were drunk once again (Centigors), and finally a small unit of wolves (chaos hounds). To the left were Musta Krakish, the Werewolf Lord, and his giant Werekin (minotaurs), the other large Hird, and the other unit of Dwarf cavalry.

Stonecleaver prayed to the gods that the solitary longship that left the fleet would have successfully landed the small ambush force further up the beach. He was worried though. Even if the ambushing force showed up, the army's orders were to penetrate as far into the jungle as possible. So once behind the enemy, the ambushers might feel it better to hang back in the dense jungle and not actually come out to reinforce the rest of the Norscans.

Beastmen-Viking ambushers close in on the undead battleline... from behind!

Even though he still couldn't completely make out the enemies, he could see they had finally formed up into four blocks, pretty much equally aligned on his center. The army surged forward with the surf, eager to meet whatever the vile jungle spat out at them. The Werekin got tangled up in the undergrowth and ended up being out of position for most of the battle (I misread the rules and initially thought you could march move through difficult terrain). But, three of the four ambush groups, one small Hird and both units of wolves, successfully navigated the dense jungle and came out behind the enemy. The fourth could be seen wandering up behind the Norscans' own lines.

As the two armies approached each other, Stonecleaver finally realized what they were fighting: skeletons! And four HUGE blocks of skeletons, most of them twice the size of his largest Hirds. Some of the skeletons looked to have been Norscans from Skeggi at one point, based on the tatters of clothes hanging from their bleached bones. The idea of being denied a place Valhalla and instead being forced to fight in this cursed jungle for all eternity froze Valgard and his army in their tracks.

The outer flanking forces were able to continue to maneuver forward, but the Valkyries and both large Hirds stopped dead. Valgard tried to get his warriors to charge, but they stayed put and were surprised by a sudden uncharacteristic burst of speed from the skeletons (Maksim thought the skeletons' charge move was only 4" until someone wandered by and told him it was 8". He then promptly charged me when I thought I'd have another turn to try to charge.). Two of the skeletal blocks rushed forward to crash into the lead Hirds while a third contacted the Dwarves in a bloody meeting along the right flank. All of the Norscans were sent running. Fortunately the skeletons lining up against Stonecleaver and the Valkyries didn't quite reach the Norscans, so they had a moment's reprieve.

And even more fortunately, the Valkyries and the giant werewolves were able to hold the Norscan line while all others around them fled. But, the Dwarves took a unit of wolves with them. Stonecleaver knew this was a crucial moment, so he had the Valkyries call out to the fleeing warriors, reminding them of the prize of Valhalla, and all the fleeing units miraculously rallied, except for a Hird of wolves who fled into the jungle (...not any magic ability, just narrative of almost all the units rallying).

Seeing the danger of being caught standing, Valgard led the Valkyries into the mass of skeletons in front of them. Meanwhile the Godi finally found his land legs and stepped up to help out. Suddenly a flock of otherworldly crows appeared from his fingers and pecked the remaining juicy morsels off of a number of skeletons (I had completely forgotten about the shaman and hadn't even rolled his spell, but got 9 deaths out of 2d6 possible for first shot, and a later shot inflicted eight more "deaths" on the undead unit... before they cut him down.). Unfortunately, the giant werewolves were still fumbling through the undergrowth, and the ambushing wolves were unable to overcome their fear to charge the skeletons in the rear, so the Valkyries went in unsupported.

Valgard valiantly held his own, accepting single combat against the whirling blades of the Blood Dragon Wight Lord, and the Valkyries for the first time inflicted more casualties than the hordes of skeletons, but as to be expected, the weight of the huge block of skeletons overwhelmed the Valkyries and they fled. They received a temporary reprieve since skeletons were unmoved by their victory. But then skeletons were rallied by dark powers and with another burst of speed (a charge), contacted the fleeing Valkyries and destroyed them before they had a chance to rally, tragically cutting down Stonecleaver.

The undead bands slay the Beastmen-Viking leadership!
And drive off the remaining mundanes...

He realized that it was the skeletons in the dark jungle that were "much hidden" in the Godi's readings and they had definitely now been revealed. As the life left Valgard's eyes, he sent one final prayer to the gods, pleading not to be reanimated and thus denied Valhalla. Another block of skeletons caught the Godi out in the open and he went down too. A shudder when through the now leaderless Norscan army. The loss of their leaders sent it into a fury and it charged almost as a whole. The Dwarf cavalry on the left flank charged a block of skeletons and almost completely wiped out their entire first and second ranks. Stunned by this sudden turn of events, the Blood Dragon Thrall did little in return and the Dwarves won their first battle.

Another round of combat saw similar results and finally as the giant werewolves charging their flank, the skeletons fell to pieces along with the undead General, who was believed to have been slain... or was he... or it. While the battle was not fully complete, a strange call floated throughout the jungle (the game store was closing), so the skeletons melted back into the jungle and the shaken and much bloodied Norscans claimed the gruesome battle as a victory. And the beaches near Skeggi faded calmly back into the twilight as Norscan torches moved on.

You can check out all of Nils' posts here at his blog:

http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/

To see the battle report from this game (...and more photos), please see this link:
http://6mm-minis.blogspot.com/2007/07/gaming-news-photos-from-28mm-whfb-game.html

To read another short story from a game in this campaign, please see this link:
http://6mm-minis.blogspot.com/2007/06/gaming-news-tale-from-new-world-of.html

To see photos of the 28mm Vampire Counts army being built, please see this link:
http://6mm-minis.blogspot.com/2007/06/gaming-news-28mm-undead-invade-my-work.html

If you'd like to see the rest of the photos from this battle, please follow this link:

http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/WHFB-Nils_6-30-2007/

And as was previously mentioned, Nils won the game.

Mazel Tov again, Nils!

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,

Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

FOOD: The Serenity Flies Again! ...And Then Gets Eaten!

.

Hey Kimbo! Cool game cake, huh?

Hi All,

That crazy Nils... I've never quite figured out what he really does for a living, but I figure that in the end of ends, he's gotten some kind of government grant to surf the Internet everyday as a "study." I say that because he always find this wacky, but intensely amusing stuff...

So, somehow we get to "E-chatting" about cakes one day and what does he come up with but these:

Any Browncoat (Firefly/Serenity fan) would love this masterpiece!

Dun, dun, dun, duh, dun, dun, dun, duh, dun... In a galaxy...

They're not cheap at five-hundred smackers a pop for starters, but they SHORE are cool!

I think if I ever bought one, I'd have to encase it in carbonite or something...

And the chef's name is REALLY Chef Duff! How cool is that?


His name reminds me of Crime Dog McGruff!

"Take a bite out of crime! And Charm City Cakes!"

Crime Dog McGruff even has his own web site.

Check it out here:
http://www.mcgruff-tid.com/

And, oh yeah, here's the Charm City Cakes web site:
http://www.charmcitycakes.com/

Have a great Tuesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
I have another theory that Nils is the webmaster for the Elder Gods from the Chthulhu mythos... but I have less evidence of that than the government grant theory... I can picture him chanting around a circle of black candles and applying Chthulhu bumper stickers to his car though.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: Photos from 28mm WHFB Game With Nils Uploaded!

.ABOVE: Two Vampire Counts companies beat the heck out of Warlord Nils' line.

Hi All,

A weekend or so ago my friend Nils and I headed off to our local gaming shop and played an enjoyable games of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WHFB). We have a mutual set of reinds and have been playing a campaign although, in reality, the campaign is more of an excuse to motivate us to build and paint our lead armies and get together to have a good time. Both Nils and I are "scavenger mini-gamers" meaning that neither of us are "brand-name miniatures purists" and both of our armies are largely "scavenged" from whatever miniature figure sources we could find.

This thread is mostly to introduce us and our armies as well as to show off the photos I took from out game. Nils wrote some great short fiction / battle reports, which I'll post here in the near future as I have the opportunity.

I have Nils' blog linked on the sidebar. He often goes by his nickname the Black Cavalier. His blog has photos from some zombie hunter games as well as some WHFB game fiction for the time being although Nils plays ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! He keeps trying to drag me into Warmaster, but I resist. I have enough crud already!

Just in case, here's a link to his blog:
http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/

So without futher ado, here's Nils' army, a 28mm Beasts of Chaos army run with a Norse theme:

ABOVE: Warlord Nils Fahrvegnugen the Raging Rylehmeister.

ABOVE: Nils had these strange beasties stand in for minotaurs.

ABOVE: Most of Nils' units were Ungor bands disguised as Vikings.

ABOVE: And you can't have a Beasts of Chaos army without beasts, right?

And here's my gnarly 28mm Vampire Counts army:

ABOVE: Master Necromancer, Maksimok the Mirthless.

ABOVE: My general, a vampire thrall, led this skeleton unit.

ABOVE: A wight lord led the unit of Grave Guard.

ABOVE: A second vampire thrall led another unit of skeletons.

ABOVE: And these zombies were really skeletons - nifty magic, no?

If you'd like to see the rest of the photos, please follow this link:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/WHFB-Nils_6-30-2007/

Nils won the game, by the way. Mazel Tov, Nils!

Have a great Monday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: 28mm Sneaky Gitz!

."Sneaky gitz, ain't they?"

Hi All,

I've never liked those weeks where you're slammed by work all day every day at work. And this has been one of those weeks for me. All day, every day! Ack! I came into work today thinking that if I put in a hard day's work, I might even get caught up, but it was not to be... My boss called me and I went in and reported the good news that I might get caught up and she told me right there on the spot to forget about that and handed me an assignment that has much in common with that old movie "The Neverending Story" ...and that's my life.

At any rate, I've been plugging away at the big ugly neverending report when one of my buddies sent me the above image = instant excuse to take a short break and clack out this post. Life is still good.

Thanks, Thomas for being so cool!

Thomas wrote:

Thomas: Lots of 40K being played at work- and this got sent around. Pretty brilliant Orky know-whats!

To which the always-clever Nils responded with one of my favorite quotes EVAH! :

"No, we're not Ninjas, we're a hedge. Move along." - The Tick

I hope your day at work is going better than mine...

Have a great Tuesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
I have no idea to whom to credit the image, but if it's yours, please give a holler!

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: A Tale From The New World of Lustria!

.A view from the endless jungles and swamps of Lustria.

Hi All,

My latest gaming enjoyment has come from a Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WHFB) / Mordheim / Warhammer Fantasy Skirmish gaming campaign I’ve been playing with guys from the local DodT club… it’s been a blast. And, of course, we’re only about a year late and a few Dollars short since GW ran their Lustria campaign season AT LEAST a year ago, but what the heck! We’re having a good time! One of the little joys from the campaign has been to read some pretty fantastic short fiction written in the form of battle reports from our campaign.

Here’s a gem that I really enjoyed:

“First Blood: A Story From One Of the Empire’s Conquistadors”
By: Mr. Thomas Foss Esquire the Third

Defender of the Realm, Drinker of Fine Beer & Clown-o-phobe.

It was hot - dreadfully hot. It reminded Captain Jan Carlos Flikker of standing next to the Heretic fires with his mother, back in his homeland of Castillia. Now he was wading through jungles and swamps halfway across the world, scouting for an elector count and trying to earn enough gold to get back his commission and form a new regiment of pistoliers. To do that, you curry favor of the Count - and that means gold and weird stone - and lots of it. And everyone knows that both are flowing out of the New World known as Lustria!

“Captain - we have found some ruins!” called out one of his swordsmen.

Flikker’s small but able scout party, like his own bloodline, was a mix of Castillian and Marienburger soldiers. Hire the best swordsmen and the best marksmen, and you get a war band that can deal with most anything.

As the group of ten soldiers fanned out into the clearing, the scouting party could see two temples, one about the size of a house, the other the size of a small church. Between them in the center was a large rectangular stone pool. It actually looked clean enough to be inviting. One of his three marksmen pointed his musket towards the opposite edge of the jungle. Movement - lots of it.

Like a lancer at full gallop, half dozen brightly colored lizards sprang from the jungle and dove into the pool with barely a splash. To both left and right larger lizard creatures, one with a brilliant red fan crest, bounded and skittered towards the warriors, using the jungle’s edge for cover. With professional ease, Flikker ordered his three gunners to shoot the creatures swimming towards them in the pool, the angle of fire was difficult, affecting no hits. The rest of the party fanned out to both sides, pistols, axes and swords ready.

Franz, one of the champions, was hit by an arrow but it glanced off of his armor and only knocked him down. A hail of small arrows erupted from the pool raining down on a gunner that did not make it to cover in time; he fell with an arrow through his throat.

Two large lizards broke out on the right flank and charged the Castillian swordsmen, who managed to hold them off and return blows. Firing his pistol into the pool at the swarm of small lizards who were the cause of the bow fire, Flikker and two of his heroes ran to the aid of the swordsmen, only to be knocked down and stunned by another hail of arrows. At the same time a swordsman ran his blade clean through a big lizard.

Franz, halberd in hand got the attention of the lizards in the pool by standing alone at the edge and taunting them. The small lizards stopped their firing for a moment and looked up at him, giving the marksmen just enough time to draw bead and drop two of them. Blood started mixing with the water.

On the Left flank, held only by an archer and the champion Carl, who was also knocked down by bow fire, came three man-sized lizards - one of them appearing to cast spells. Before they could get too close, Carl fired his pistol dropping one on the ground with a huge hole it it’s chest. A loud bellow rang from the Lizard with the red crest- his throat expanded into a large ball, reminding Flikker of a frog, or that Nurgling that exploded when he shot it, a few campaigns ago. All the lizards heard it too - and just as quickly as they closed in on the war band, they skittered away and into the jungle, leaving one of their own floating in the pool.

Carl helped revive one of his swordsmen who got clobbered by a large stone club. The hand gunner was not so fortunate, having bled out from the neck wound. After securing the perimeter and chastising one of the marksmen for even asking if the lizards were good eating, Flikker sat down, took off his boots and dangled his feet in the water. “Go search the temple, lads. Anything shiny belongs to us!”

It was going to be a long campaign, but after this skirmish the coffers were much fuller. Now to see about replacements - luckily the army has plenty of hand gunners.

And here’s a short and very probably incomplete list of our players with their armies and “action film” names:

The Dagger Brothers
Aron C. – Vampire Counts
“Ritchie Dagger”
Nils – Beast of Chaos
“Harry Dagger”
Thomas F. – Empire
“Perry Dagger”

The Butz Brothers
John R. – Lizardmen
“Seymour Butz”
Peter G. – Wood Elves
“Harry Butz”
Rob B. - Lizardmen
"Lakshmi Butz"

The Other Brothers
John S. – Slann
“Johnny Sunnyside”
Maksim-Smelchak –
Vampire Counts
“Ezer Shtuyot”
(Hebrew for "What rubbish!")
R-Cap - Skaven
“Mike Rotch”

And the story itself was written by none other than the infamous Thomas Foss, one of the proprietors of Flagship Games, one of the most fun game companies around and the creators of Pirates!, Gunfight! and a number of other well-loved gaming rule sets.

You can learn more about Flagship Games here:
http://www.flagshipgames.com/

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
Hi Rod & Karly!

P.S.S.
I’m going to Rivercats baseball game tonight so I’m excited – my first professional baseball game ever! Peanuts and Cracker Jacks and all that!

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

FUN VIDEOS: Orky Peace Protest!

.

Mordheim Orc Pacifist Warband

Hi Everyone,

This is what happens when Orkz and Goblinz protest violence very pinkishly to a Shania Twayne beat... very progressive of them!

Quick definitions for those not initiated into the ways of "bad" GW fantasy:

ORKZ: The large green-skinned ones without pointy hats in the video.
GOBLINZ: The small green-skinned ones with pointy hoods in the video.
SQUIGZ: The pink critters in the video.

They're all characters in the fantasy universe created by "The Evil Empire" or GW... and, in turn, based upon the fantasy archtypes created by the magnificent J.R.R. Tolkien, who most certainly never imagined pacifist Orkz (...who speak with really bad Cockney accents and can't spell).

See? GW really has brought something to the fantasy genre!

Oh, and by the way, many compliments to Thoumas in Austria who created the video and... I'm guessing the lovely pacifist Orkz as well!

Peace out, brutha!

Shabbat Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
Hat tip to Nils... again.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

HUMOUR: Kirk, Nils & WHAT!@$%&*!?

. Kirk must love "improvised weaponry."

Hi Everyone,

My buddy Nils rocks! He sends out alot of E-mails, but somehow he always manages to send funny ones. He sent this one out earlier with the title:

For The Sci fi Geeks Among Us!

Kirk is holding a “stalactite” that he ripped off the ceiling of the cave. I wonder how many times they had to shoot this one to keep everybody from cracking up???

Enjoy the chuckles!

By the way, stalactites are the ones that grow from the ceiling down and stalagmites the ones that grow from the floor up.

Check out the entries here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalactite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalagmite

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
And that is definitely the weapon he should have used to take on the Gorn, not that silly homemade blackpowder contraption... could have really given the Gorn a piece of his mind with that "object."

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: MWSS Session Report (10 March 2007)

.

Jarrod, Mike W. and Mike O. having a great time hunting zombies!

Hi Everyone,

Well, I finally got around to writing the battle report for the 10 March 2007 meeting of the MWSS (Miniatures Wargaming Society of Sacramento) gaming club. It was a fun meeting with lots of attendees during a very busy weekend. I didn’t keep track of victories this time… only who played. Without further ado, here’s what happened:

Dick and Mark chuckling as the zombies ran wild.

Attendance:

1. Andrew
2. Anthony
3. Charles
4. Connor
5. Dave S.
6. Don
7. Chris
8. Dick
9. George
10. Greg
11. Jarrod
12. Joe B.
13. Joe R.
14. Keith
15. Ken
16. Maksim
17. Mark C.
18. Mike O.
19. Mike W.
20. Randy
21. Mystery Guest #1
22. Mystery Guest #2 (Improved model)

Game (miniatures) #1:
Armati (15mm ancients historical game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10266

Gauls (Germans) vs. Romans
(Hosted by Chris) 15mm Roman and Gaulish lines mix it up.

Gauls (Germans):
- Don
- Joe R.
Romans:
- Chris
- Randy

- In a fairly standard game of Armati, the Gauls were trounced by a more devious pair of Roman commanders, Randy Randulous and Christophero Christophicus. The poor Gaul commanders were more like Hanz & Franz from the 1980s Saturday Night Live television show than fearsome hulking Germans from ancient times! You can't win them all and Armati does have a learning curve...

Game (miniatures) #2:
Gaslight (15mm Victorian Science Fiction game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/7071

Prussians vs. Confederacy vs. Mercenary Spanish vs. Cruel World
(Hosted by Mark C.)

A huge 15mm British VSF vehicular contraption overuns a smaller brother.

Prussians:
- Dick
- Maksim
Confederacy (Tinkertons):
- Anthony
- Charles
- George
American Adventurers
- Greg
Spanish Mercenaries led by an Insane British Lord & Arab Allies
- Mike O.

- This was definitely a wildy and wooly game. Mark specializes in writing colorful and funny background stories as well as creating wacky special rules that often don't come into play. For instance, one of the Confederate characters was a mad scientist with a "pig zapper" gun/device that literally turned its targets into... PIGS! Mark also built a number of scratch items for the game including all of the vehicles and scenery pieces. It was a great game and we all had a blast playing it!

A 15mm Mad Sheik fights an Indiana Jones-like American adventurer.

- As a side note, I have detailed notes of this game and will create a separate battle report for it in the near future.

A beautiful scratchbuilt 15mm VSF robot, the "Firebelly," made by Mark C.

Game (miniatures) #3:
Xtreme Zombie Hunter (28mm Sci-fi)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/20901

Zombie Hunters vs. Zombies
(Hosted by Nils)

A 28mm "chainsaw chick" is surrounded by marauding zombies.

Zombie Hunters:
- Connor
- Dick
- Jarrod
- Maks
- Mark C.
- Mike O.
- Mike W.
Zombies:
- Nils (The gamemaster)

- This amusing game of commercialized zombie hunting had all the best zombie themes: rednecks, store clerks, hopping zombie legs, crawling torsos, hot chicks, etc. We all had a good time hunting down the zombies and spouting one-liners... think of a mix of Duke Nuke'em and The Running Man!

An apprehensive Connor doesn't like what Nils is pointing out...

Game (board) #4:
Battlecry (Civil War Board Game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/551
Connor (North) vs. Mike W. (South)
(Hosted by Mike W.)

Another scratchbuilt 15mm robot built by Mark C.

Game (board) #5:
Iliad (Ancients Card Game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/21654
(Hosted by Dick)
Players Unknown

Two 28mm "redneck brothers," a crik savvy zombie hunting team.

Game (board) #6+:
- A number of board games were played after I left early.

MWSS Meeting Outcome:
- It was a great day… plenty of folks showed up! We had three major miniatures games hosted and all three were great fun. I played in two of them, the VSF adventure and the Zombie Hunting thriller! Everyone was a great sport and with the exception of a little vendetta between two players (…solved on the field of zombie hunting), we all got on fabulously. A special thanks to Mark C. and Nils who both put a tremendous amount of effort into their gaming set-ups!

Thanks again, Mark and Nils!

Joe Riddle showed off some of his finely painted 15mm HOTT Fantasy figures.

I took lots of photos of the session and they can be found here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/MWS_3-10-2007/

Nils has his own blog here:
http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/

And Mark C. keeps a gallery here:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j213/MACarper/

The 15mm British roller tanks were particularly effective at running over infantry.

Have a great Tuesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

WEIRD NEWS: Quirky Star Wars Viewpoints!

.I think we ALL wish we were Han Solo at one time or another...

I wonder... do Wookies get hairballs?

Hi Everyone,

Got a few posts in the works, but thought I'd drop off a few fun graphics (the one above and below) for your perusal:
.

Darth Vader - "Truther" Conspiracy Theory Nut: "Need $$$ to build Deathstar!"

And to top that Darth Beggar photo off, check out this amusing "truther perspective" of how the Deathstar was really destroyed:

http://www.websurdity.com/2007/02/28/uncomfortable-questions-was-the-death-star-attack-an-inside-job/

Yeah, right!

------

I have a great weekend planned:

SATURDAY:

- Visit a bunch of friends at the MWS meeting and play games.

- Link to MWS Yahoo E-group:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/M_W_S/

- My old buddy Mark should be there who I haven't seen in awhile. Should be lots of fun.

- Mark is hosting a VSF (Victorian Science Fiction) game.

- A link to Mark's photo album (gaming miniatures):

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j213/MACarper/
- Nils will also be hosting a zombie game.

- Check out his blog (lots of photos) here:

http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/

- Wish my bro-in-law Vince happy birthday!

- Chill out and work out.

SUNDAY:

- Go see the new movie "The 300" with a group of friends on an IMAX screen.
- Official "The 300" web site:

http://300themovie.warnerbros.com/

- The real historical Battle of Thermopylae that inspired the movie:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

- A Wiki page for the comic book of "The 300":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_%28comic_book%29

- A movie review by Debbie Schlussel of "The 300":

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/03/weekend_box_off_43.html

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/03/300_not_an_anti.html

- Possibly go pick up a new bed mattress from an old neighbor.
- Chill out and work out. It should be good.

I have mixed feelings about seeing "The 300." On one hand, I love the history of The Battle of Thermopylae, but on the other hand, the previous film "Sin City" was WAY TOO gory for me. Very tasteless, it was. On the other hand, my buddy Vynnie of RIF (Recon In Force) invited me and he should be there with a number of our other friends... and we get to see it on the giant IMAX screen... so, I guess, if nothing else, the company should trump the film if it's really bad.

Vynnie's web site:

http://www.recon-in-force.com/index.html

*** Any good weekend plans yourself? ***

Have a great Friday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.

Haven't posted a "gratuitous babe" in awhile so here goes:

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).