MINI WARGAMING: "Thinking About Your 2008 Hobby Plans?" (18 December 1007)

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TOP: The Heroes of Beni Hana Pass make a stand...

...from a game of 28mm Oriental Adventures earlier this year...

Hi All,

Lately I've been thinking about what sort of hobby resolution I'm going to make for 2008...

- 28mm WAB Saracen / Moor / Arab Army
- 28mm WAB Celt / Gaul / Arthurian Army
- Planning to learn WAB in 2008 and play in the local leagues...

- 28mm WHFB Undead army for me...
- Split part of undead army from Gothic Vampire Counts theme to Tomb Kings Egyptian theme...
- 28mm WHFB Empire army for my nephew Quinn
- 28mm WHFB Orc / Gobbo army for my other nephew Vincent
- Planning to play more WHFB this year and possibly participate in the local leagues...

TOP: 28mm Orc Shamans work a power totem...

- 28mm Pirate Ship
- 28mm Historical pirate crew
- 28mm Undead pirate crew
- 28mm Orc pirate crew

- 28mm fantasy scenery
- 28mm graveyard
- 28mm village buildings

- 10mm sci-fi armies
- Want to play ASQL in 2008.

- 10mm modern missile boats
- This project is nearing fruition... must get to it!

- 6mm sci-fi armies
- Command Horizon?
- Epic-Armageddon?
- Dirtside III?

- 6mm town for Kaiju Stomp'in
- I want to build a new mat for the city and lay out city zoning blocks.

TOP: Orc & Goblin Wolfriders were torn apart...

By katana and exotic magic...

And every year, I only make one hobby resolution and finish off that project. Sometimes I get more done, but I only hold myself to completing one project... After all, life is busy and we all have families, jobs, etc. that take us away from the fun stuff.

This year in 2007, I resolved to work on my 6mm kaiju set, but I switched streams early in the year and built my 28mm Vampire Counts army for Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WHFB) instead.

*** What are your 2008 hobby plans? ***

Ah, decisions!

Have a great Tuesday!

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: "New 28mm Vampire Counts Minis!" (13 December 2007)

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TOP: Awesome new Corpse Cart!

Hi All,

Quick post today: The other day ago or so some new teasrer shots of possibly new 28mm WHFB Vampire Counts figures. I'm impressed, for the most part, the sculpts are outstanding. All of the photos are reported to be from US White Dwarf 336.

TOP: Vlad has a new look...
TOP: So does Isabella!
TOP: A new skeletal standardbearer.
TOP: A new skeletal musician.
TOP: A new skeletal hero?
TOP: The whole shebang:

A new skeletal regiment.

I really like these skeleton sculpts. The skull sculpts are outstanding.

Warseer forum link:
http://warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117429

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).

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

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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: "Maksim's Workbench: Undead Today!" (25 November 2007)

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TOP: Some of the vast undead hordes of Maksimok the Mirthless!

Hi All,

Well, I needed to prove that I'm still working on models so these two photos are getting some blog time. The both came from the 20 October 2007 MWS meet, and only one of from me, but they still show how much progress I've made on my 28mm undead army, the undead hordes of Master Necromancer Maksimok the Mirthless. I now have at least 2,000 points painted by WHFB standards, of undead that I can field as a Vampire Counts army. That's been my big project this year... and I've really been enjoying the heck out of it.

You can see more of the minis from my collection here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/

TOP: Joe painted this 10mm Warmaster Tomb Kings army.

If you've never seen my buddy, Joe Riddle AKA Sukhmet's work, then you're really missing out. He's an incredibly talented miniatures artist. I'm a painter... he's an ARTISTE! At any rate, one of Joe's latest triumphs has been this 10mm Warmaster Tomb Kings army that he's painted on commission. Joe's also a great guy to game with, except if you put him in charge of the zombies... he lets out a "Bwwwaaaaiiinnns" that's downright spooky... maybe creepy is a better word.

Joe's Photobucket account:
http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa136/Sukhmet/WM%20Tomb%20Kings/

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).

HOLIDAYS: "Happy Thanksgiving 2007!"

.TOP: I often feel like those turkeys...

Hi All,

Another holiday has come, at least for Americans, so thank goodness for a day off on which to feast, get in a little hobby action, visit family, and be thankful for all of our blessing, of which I have many. I hope that you, all of my readers, do too!

I'm not sure about all of you, but tomorrow, I'm definitely planning on getting some gaming in. My two nephews have finally reached an age where they want to join me in gaming and it was a hard slog to get them interested. I first introduced them to board gaming and they're now wanting to take the next step and try out miniatures war gaming. They've been watching me build my 28mm undead Vampire Counts army and want to join me. Vincent will be slowly building up an Orcs & Gobbos army while Quinn works on the Empire! I'm pretty excited to help get them going!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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).

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

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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).

MINI WARGAMING: 28mm Converted Zombies! (4 October 2007)

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TOP: Alakazaam alakazoo! ...from 25mm fantasy fig garbage to ZOMBIES!

Hi All,

One of the things I really love about the undead is how easy it is to convert them... Take an old figure, preferably a cheap used one, lop the head off, replace it with a skull or zombie head and:

VOILA! New undead troops swell the ranks!

I have been buying a whole bunch of walking corpse figures (...used figures that others had cannibalized for arms, heads, legs, weapons, etc.) at swap meets and they're now picking up new zombie or skull heads, arms, and legs from my bitz box... I converted half a dozen new zombies for my undead army yesterday and have a bunch of other lead miniature wrecks of 25mm to 28mm fantasy figures awaiting the zombification process... MUWAHAHAHAHAHAH!

TOP: They're a not-so-pretty bunch, ain't they, sonny?

TOP: I love this convert from a puny stub of a 25mm fantasy fig...

...missing an arm and with a big gouge in his former head...

...to a fine looking zombie swordsman!

And this wouldn't be a Maksim-Smelchak post if I didn't share a link or two as is my wont:

Fat Goblin's ultra-cool Modern Zombie Guide:

http://fgminis.blogspot.com/2006/10/modern-day-zombies.html

Shelldrake's zombie wargame blog:

http://zombiewargame.blogspot.com/

Matakishi-Paul's awesome zombie pages:

http://www.matakishi.com/zombieinvasion2005.htm

And...

Papa Midnight's amazing Displaced Miniatures zombie galleries:

http://www.displacedminiatures.com/Pappa%20Midnight/images.html?galleryId=1388&from=Zombies

TOP: This is one of the few unconverted zombies I've recruited...

He's a classic Grenadier mini who was awaiting Master Necromancer Maksimok.

TOP: I love this pair...

They have that Fritz Leiber Fafhrd & Gray Mouser look!

...only zombie-style!

And two more links:

All about Fritz Leiber:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Leiber
And...
All about Fafhrd & Gray Mouser:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafhrd_and_the_Gray_Mouser

And at this rate, my dream of recreating the "Army of Darkness" skeleton army siege scene in 28mm might just yet happen!

Long "live" the Deadites!

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
A special shout out to Kai AKA FAT GOBLIN! Howdy, mate!

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 Return To My Workbench (3 October 2007)

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TOP: Another skeletal regiment ready for battle!

... except for a bit of texturing and painting of the bases!

Hi All,

I've been sick the last few days hence the paucity of posts, but I did take advantage of my sick day to do a little modelling... particularly on the 28mm undead army I've been working on. I'm rebasing all of my figs onto Litko bases from GW plastic ones. I like the look much better and, in the process, I'm adding metal bottoms so I can store my figures magnetically.

TOP: Skeletal crossbowmen, you can never have enough!

I have also been working on some conversions and have started experimenting with green stuff sculpting... the early experiments aren't very promising, but Rome wasn't built in a day either.

One of the things I really love about the undead is how easy it is to convert them... Take an old figure, preferably a cheap used one, lop the head off, replace it with a skull or zombie head and:

VOILA! New undead troops swell the ranks!

I have been buying a whole bunch of walking corpse figures (...used figures that others had cannibalized for arms, heads, legs, weapons, etc.) at swap meets and they're now picking up new zombie or skull heads, arms, and legs from my bitz box... I converted half a dozen new zombies for my undead army yesterday, but the piccies turned out like crud, so I'll have to share them later this week.

And at this rate, my lifelong dream of recreating "Army of Darkness" in 28mm just might yet happen! Long "live" the Deadites!

Have a great Wednesday!

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: The Undead Re-visit My Workbench (2 August 2007)

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TOP: My work bench is being overrun with the undead... and cactus!

Hi All,

My photo editing program finally went bad so I need to find a new one... if anyone has ideas which editing software is good or where I can find trial or free versions for downloading, please let me know! Many of these photos are overexposed, which is easily fixable with good editing software.

So, here goes with a few projects on my work bench:

TOP: I like these old Essex skeleton sculpts with over sized heads!

Mostly I've been working on my undead army, putting together new pieces, cleaning old ones, priming, base-texturing and the like. The above three undead fellows are Essex 28mm sculpts of which few photos exist. They are attractive sculpts although they have very oversize heads sort of like Adler figures in 6mm.

TOP: This is the "Gnarly Ancient Ones" undead company.

And I've made enough trade to have a really gnarly collection of very old 1970s and 1980s skeleton, zombie and assorted other undead sculpts (...vampires, ghouls, banshees, spirits, etc.) including some of the figures in the above photo. There are a few Grenadiers, an old Citadel or two, a Pewtercraft, some Ral Partha's, and several sculpts I can't seem to identify. I want to extend a special thanks to Matthew H. AKA Mr. Mysterioso from TMP who traded me several very cool old sculpts.

TOP: Some old Grendel Egyptian archaeological pieces along with a Reaper statue.

And the last project on my work bench is one for my mother... you see, she loves Egyptology and many years ago in the early 1990s, I bought her an Egyptian terrain set as a gift, which she recently re-discovered and would like to paint. The rub is she doesn't like gluing, pinning, or filling in gaps ...so I volunteered to get that done for her and then prime the pieces. Pretty cool stuff, almost tempting enough for me to want to get into the Egyptian theme... but I'll resist for now.

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

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

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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).

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).

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).

GAMING NEWS: 28mm Undead Invade My Work Bench!

. The 28mm Undead invade my work bench! Aaahhhh!

Hi All,

I worked on miniatures this past weekend as well some other activities such as visiting the local Rennaissance Faire, which wasn't all that exciting this year. Lots of cleavage in tight bodices, overly fried foods guaranteed to give indigestion, lots of folks speaking with fake-o British accents and you pretty much have the Faire summed up.

My work bench.
Gamers Union #1031 insists that the "cluttered look" is the ONLY way to go!

I don't think I'll have any problems fielding 1,500 or even 2,000 WHFB points... and maybe more.

My flocking section along with files. And, yes, I love that huge rusty file!

The collection is pretty gnarly... you could say I resurrected the remains of all sorts of undead toss-outs, bargain bin specials, and the accumulated left-overs of about half a year's worth of looking and E-bay scavenging. I have all sorts of GW, Grenadier, Ral Partha, Broadsword, Essex, Magnificent Egos, D&D Chainmail lead, D&D plastic collectible figs, Rackham Confrontation, Pewtercraft and only the good Lord has any idea who manufactured some of the rest of the figs.

Posters are important. I have CAV, Serenity, Monster Island, and a map of the Middle East!

Quite a few were conversion casualties I found in bitz bins and healed back up to fighting trim with the application of spare parts AKA bitz and generous amounts of vigor-restoring superglue.

The skeleton archer on the far right came headless...
So I gave him a spare Reaper demonic skull...

Many thanks to Nils and others who have generously contributed to The Mighty Necromancer Maksimok's shambling hordes...

Oy! I have ghouls loose among my glue and ink... bloody blighters!

I took these few snapshots to share with the gang and my blog visitors. I'm really looking forward to hauling the army out to play with Nils, the DotD gamers, Harry & Terry, and the rest of the Sacramento WHFB scene as time and the local DotD campaign allows. We're playing a Lustria campaign... a day late and a Dollar short.

The dismembered undead awaiting the elixir of glue while being guarded by zombies...

Uuunnnhhhh... BRAINS!

There are quite a few gnarly characters here... BOO!

Have a great Monday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
Litko rocks! I'm using Litko cut wooden bases with all of my figs. I have thin steel sheet under them so I can store my figs magnetically.

Link here:
http://www.litkoaero.com/products.php