Is Age Of Sigmar Off Topic For Oldhammer?

The Oldhammer Facebook groups are fine places for talk about gaming of yesteryear and for trading or selling off old lead. Just don't mention what Games Workshop are up to today, as it makes people utterly displeased.

The Age Of Sigmar has arrived and I for one and very glad to welcome it. I've played older rulesets and 8th edition WFB, as well as other systems, like Songs of Blades and Heroes. I really hoped that Age Of Sigmar would be something different and all the rumours and signs running up to the big reveal indicated that it would be.

Then the rules dropped - all four pages of them - for free, and the gaming world stayed up late trying to figure out what it all means for them, scrolling through... well, Warscrolls. Tourney types were outraged by the lack of points and immediately started working out how to achieve 'balance' through wound counts or some other metric. Casual gamers rejoiced at the potential for swift and satisfying games. Narrative gamers began dreaming of the possibilities for scenarios and campaigns.

Oldhammerers... well.

Although the Oldhammer Facebook community is clearly aimed at sharing people's enjoyment of a certain set of games circa the late '80s and early '90s (and fills this niche very well), I've always been troubled by how all newness is broadly treated as anathema. While this may not be a majority view in 'real life,' it certainly comes through in plenty of anti-plastic, anti-contemporary rhetoric in posts and comments.

Today, all talk of Age Of Sigmar was deemed off limits, with the threat of removal from the group. This astonished me.

Perhaps I missed a batch of particularly nasty and idiotic comments somewhere. Maybe someone was having a bad day. It could even be that this is a backbreaking straw for the camel, the final point in a trend of 'off topic' commentaries that is bending the remit of the group. Whatever the reality of it all, the response seemed pretty extreme.

I simply commented (and I strongly believe this) that the Oldhammer group should be a place to have some sort of discussion about how this new rule set - so radically different from what went before (i.e. 8th, 7th...) - compares to the games of our youth. I would like to share in this discussion with fellow 'veterans'. To me, that is eminently 'on topic.'

I am not alone in noticing that in trying to invigorate their fantasy line, GW have given the world a system that looks to hit all the sweet spots for Oldhammer-types. It genuinely is a play-it-your-way game, built around cooperation between players. You don't have to like the high-fantasy models to appreciate this is a good thing.

I'm going to embrace it and I'm going to do this for several reasons:

1. It's a new game that seems to capture all the ethos of gaming that I enjoy. In sum, it's a game that's storied.

2. Round bases offer better modelling opportunities and as I spend 98% of my time modelling and painting, that suits me.

3. Crucially, this is a system that will scale very well for different solo gaming opportunities - I want something to occupy me at the dining room table while my wife looks over occasionally and sighs...

4. I can easily teach my children how to play as they grow up, and it'll be the same game at each level.

5. It's an excuse to buy new models and I like the current line.

These aspects then made it a done deal for me. Points 1-3 will be a new focus for this blog (along with all the 40k stuff I've been up to... more to follow on that).

It's time to discover and explore the nine realms.

Is Marienburg Gone?

I've been busy lately and blogging has fallen victim of this. Oh well. Now I'm back.

But what's this? It seems that in my absence Marienburg - along with the rest of the Old World - has been destroyed by Chaos. Oops.

Although some of the larger models in the range look stupidly gorgeous - others simply stupid - the End Times thing in fantasy has rather passed me by. I'll have to catch up with the story at some point. Yes, I have seen all the endless chatter on social media, and I've even clicked through to look at some of the comments by older gamers lamenting the end of everything they hold dear. I'm not sure why they're complaining as most of them don't buy new models or play current rules anyway.

3rd edition lives on chaps.

I though, am quite interested in what 9th edition holds in store. A skirmish game with round bases would suit my collecting, painting and gaming habits very well. Either way, I am waiting for the new beginning with more of a sense of possibility than many other old farts.

I'll keep the Marienburg name for now... even though I seem to be publishing in exile...

Tasty Fantasy Rumour, Or, Wild Optimism... Brets And Beastmen In A New WFB Starter Set?

I don't often touch rumours because they're usually too flaky and ephemeral, but I am rather taken by news reported over at Faeit 212 that the army books for Brets, Beastmen and Skaven are being sent back to GW HQ. 

This might - might - be our first indication of something interesting happening with WFB, which, if I'm honest, has been a bit of a wasteland over the last couple of years. A few good kits have emerged, that is true, however, the game hasn't progressed at all from the horde-hammer of 8th edition. 

I'm inclined (as some good news would be most welcome) to take this as a sign that Brets and Beasties will be in the 9th edition starter set. Look... the sun is out, so a little wild optimism is surly forgivable?!

Time to dust off some of these bad boys?

Climbing Model Mountain: Beastmen

Rejoice! It's the next batch of dodgy photographs of an army in my collection. This time, Beastmen. 

As with everything I have, these are all works in progress at some stage or another. On the right you can see my Gors, which are based in a range of colours ready to be worked up with layers of highlights. I like the idea that these will all have a signature look built up on different shades of bases that will show through to some extent. On the left are my Ungors, recently obtained and dressed in bright white. To the rear, you can get a glimpse of my Harpies - I'm hoping to do some work on these soon so they'll stay out of the limelight for now. And yes, that's an Avatars of War hero and a Hordes Shaman at the front there.

Just to the front in this astonishingly well taken photo are my mostly hidden Spider Centaurs. Again, these haven't changed since earlier posts, so I'll work on them a little more soon and then share. At the rear are the big guys - Minotaurs from Scibor and Mierce. The Scibor guys are a good indication of where all this lot are going stylistically.

Finally, a trio of hero/lord models, with little done to them. Missing are my Bestigors, who also feature in my Nurgle 40k army as Plague Zombies. Thinking about it, I might focus on this Brayherd in the next month as my first project at my home-away-from-home in Oxford. Hmmm...

Dark Elf Recruits For The Realm Of Chaos Slaanesh Army

These pictures are from... well, they're all over the place. Roll on Saturday when the official previous go up. These are the models that will be on my Christmas list.

Zombie Week: Day One

Day One... Warm weather through the evening means undercoating couldn't go smoother right now. The zombies were duly bathed in Army Painter Necrotic Flesh last night and came out with a perfect common colour that will allow me to do my ideal necromantic glow. 

It also gave me a chance to experiment a little with a bottle of Amry Painter Dark Tone Ink that I picked up recently out of curiosity. This ink is basically a good quality black wash. As such, it needs to be more carefully controlled than you might've initially thought (given the quick splash solution that Army Painter use for their Dark Tone proper), but it does have a very strong pigment, meaning deep crevasses can be granted truly satisfying darkness. The undead troll here has had some Dark Tone, followed by Athonian Camoshade, and Waywatcher Green glaze.

Zippy work for me with all the zombies now at this stage.

Zombie Week: Day Zero

Day Zero... The dead are rising from their resting place, deep in the darkest corners of my hobby cabinet. I need a quick fix that can only be gained from a completed project (too many slow burners at the moment). Zombies will be the first to give me that pleasure of completeness.

If zombies are raised from the field of battle, then shouldn't there be some non-humans in the mix? Thanks to Titan Forge, there are zomblins and undead trolls!

I've had these undead knocking around for a while and it was by chance that I remembered the plan I had to give them a very simple but effective paint job: quick undercoat, shade, highlight, shade, highlight, bang in a couple of signature touches... done. 

I've always like the idea of doing undead as if they are glowing with necromantic energies, which is the only thing giving them any coherency. The rules support this, so why not the paint job? Let's see if I can achieve a necrotic-bile green glow across the whole army.

Welcome To Davenheim! A Fantasy Medieval Town Plagued By Misfortunate

Being a fan of narratives in gaming I've decided to extend this in some small part to my scenery. I'm going through a construction phase at the moment, with buildings popping up all over the place, so why not give this place a name and perhaps a bit of a story? And Davenheim was born! 

Davenheim is idilic in many respects, although - as residents will tell you - it has the misfortune to be plagued by armed conflicts. Oddly, no matter which armies are facing off, they always seem to clash in the surrounds of Davenheim. This really impacts on property values.

So far I have a chapel, watchtower, and the beginnings of Davenheim Castle, which is incorporating parts from several GW kits and is waiting for a Citadel Fortress that I bought from eBay to arrive so that I can finish the basic construction. This is a really fun project that's giving me a little 'constructive space' to think about how to paint my other summer projects - also, my wife actually admitted she was quite interested in the buildings, so that's a supplementary minor victory!

Oldhammer - Paul's Khorne Army WIP

So for the Oldhammer event later in the summer I'm going to be locking horns with my brother Paul. Being a busy fellow, Paul doesn't blog (although he reads plenty) so I'm going to proxy blog for him on the Gazette. This way fellow Oldhammerers and others who are interested can see the development of both of armies in the run up to the big bash at Foundry. Here then, is Paul's WIP Khorne army:

As you can see, Paul's rather like me in his miniature tastes. Plenty of new plastics and resin here. Of course he's following the appropriate way of configuring his units around the Khornate number: eight. This lends itself very well to what is a fine looking army in the making, I'm sure you'll agree. In the coming weeks we'll focus on some selected units as the paint gets slapped on and I hope Paul will follow my example and create a narrative for his army centred on his champions and their retinues. 

Oldhammer - Davey's Slaanesh Army WIP

Well folks here it is, my current pride and joy, my little chaotic children, spawn of my alliance with the Dark Prince; behold, my Realm of Chaos Slaanesh Army. Here it is in all it's WIP goodness. 

Over the last couple of weeks I've been putting the final additions into place and base coating as much as possible with Slaanesh Grey to achieve a cohesive look from the outset. The next stage will be to do all the bases. This kind of army production technique is a departure from my usual ambling approach to miniatures, but it's the best way to ensure that everything is ready for Oldhammer at Foundry in August.

The basic background narrative for the army is that they're a force loyal to a chaotically corrupted Marienburg nobleman turned Chaos Champion, who has become a recluse in his heavily fortified mansion. In the grounds of his estate, the by-products of his sorcerous experimenting are animated trees - Slaaneshi Beastmen carved from flora. Three are Minotaur-sized and form the Champion's Warband. The greatest, most ancient tree, has mutated into a beast akin in power to a Chimera - a monstrous host.

In the catacombs below, mutated Witch Elves and Chaos Centaurs partake in debauched rituals, served by Chaos Goblins and attended by Human Chaos Cultists, and overseen by a twisted Wizard; the followers of two other Champions: a Sorcerer and a Dark Elf. A dim-witted but mighty Troll completes these warbands.

Chaos Marauders and Warriors - all publicly nobles and covertly skilled fighters - make up the elites; some Marauders riding Mounts of Slaanesh. While the remainder of the army is comprised of Dark Elves: some corrupted Sea Elf traders, others devious and twisted Corsairs, and still others raiders riding Cold Ones who dwell in the Wasteland. 

Everything here is a currently available miniature, or a kitbash from current parts. As I've said before, the Oldhammer ethos is what's important for me, and as you can see, the army units (and most of the warband units too) are in multiples of six. Over the coming weeks I'll chart the development of this army AND the opponents it will face in a show down 25 years in the making... my brother's Khorne army, which I'll unveil tomorrow.

Warriors Of Chaos Coming In Feb!

Well take a look at this lot! Picture from Faeit 212.

Darklands (BaneBeasts) Minotaurs - Out Of The Box

I've finally got my hands on part of an order from the now-sunk Maelstrom Games. These are the minotaur lord and standard bearer. I've been anticipating these because the plan is that they'll be central to my beastmen army. 

The standard of the resin on these guys is pretty good although they're not without a few problems. The standard bearer body and head is very crisp and detailed but the standard has a great deal of flashing - so much so that it verges on a mis-cast in a few prominent places.

The lord is much better. There is a major flaw though, as the above photo illustrates. The shaft of his great weapon is extremely flimsy and I managed to snap it simply getting out of the packaging - and I assure you I have a soft touch!

Here they are in a size comparison shot with one of the Scibor minotaurs. The Darklands offerings are noticeably shorter, which makes me wonder whether they could be fielded in the same unit. Perhaps with a similar paint job and scenic bases they'll blend in? We'll see. 

Above you can see that it was simple enough to replace the broken shaft with a plastic one from the standard in the GW Gor set. Overall I'm pleased with these guys but there is a bit of a dampener on things due to their marginally smaller scale when compared to the Scibor models. They're still great miniatures. 

Warhammer Forge Mourngul

It's the end of the working week so that means it's time to spin the Forge World wheel and see where she stops... And it's a very pleasant surprise this week in the shape of the Mourngul. As with all their stuff I have no use for this at all, but it would look so very good in an undead army that I'll make some space for it once other projects are nearer completion. I love the sculpting on this model; such a neat solution to getting a highly dynamic, almost flying monster, without the need for a flying stand. Now that my week is full of 'real job' rather than the academic bumbling that was previously my forte I do appreciate being pleasantly teased with new toys that tempt me to part with my hard-earned!

Of Beastmen And Gardening Leave

Today I received the wonderful 'real world' news that I've landed a new job. As I'm virtually at the end of my current fixed contract I can now indulge in some 'gardening leave' while I see out my notice. So it's time for a bit of a painting challenge.

My aim is to fully cultivate 2000 points of my beastmen menagerie during October. This won't cover everything that I've got - a handful of large monsters and characters will be held in reserve - but it will mean that I'll finally have a completed, fully painted, playable force.

Here's the list I'm going to work with:

Lords

Beastlord with additional weapon, heavy armour, on tuskgor chariot

Great Bray Shaman

Core

22 Gors inc. full command + additional weapons

5 Chaos warhounds

10 Centigors inc. Warhoof + full command

Special 

3 Minotaurs inc. Bloodkine + additional weapons

Razorgor

10 Harpies

Rare

Ghorgon 

Jabberslythe

Total
Just a shade under 2000 points

Climbing Sprue Mountain #4 - Marienburg

Ah, Marienburg, sweet Marienburg. The very inspiration for the start of this blog. It was around about a year ago that I read Marienburg: Sold Down The River for WFRP and got hooked on the idea of a human fantasy army to face up to all the grizzly and ghoulish nightmares of the Warhammer world. Since then I've played around with a whole host of ideas, bashed around a fair few minis, and found myself down numerous dead ends. Such is hobby life.

I've finally settled on a way forward though and it's really down to having a solid bash at climbing sprue mountain. As you'll see when I talk about my Genestealer Cult, I've found good uses for almost all the GW Empire figures as cult members (more on that tomorrow). I'm now set on making my Marienburg army completely from non-GW minis, specifically those that fit a more 'realistic' or 'historical' 25/28mm scale. This will make it entirely different from anything else I'm working on and thereby add some spicy variety to my time whittling.

To that end, the population of Marienburg has been stripped back to the swashbucklers and seadogs from Foundry and Black Scorpion, and a handful of LotR hobbits. From here on in I'm going to build a real/historic scale army that can be fielded in historical wargames as well as fantasy. The fantasy elements - a few halflings, elves, ogres and dwarfs scattered through the rank and file - can be added or omitted as seems fit. So, in an odd turn of events, while everyone has been going batty over Dark Vengeance I've been browsing Pike and Shotte box sets and dropping by the Perry Miniatures site.

A couple of salty fellows from the Foundry range accompanied by Pirate Long John from Freebooters Fate

These seafarers from Black Scorpion seem to be on the look out for something...

Hobbitses

Climbing Sprue Mountain #3 - Beastmen

Rather a different type of picture today, isn't it? Yes, as we reach the half way camp on our climb up the west face of sprue mountain, we've reached the first proper looking army - and none of it is actually on the sprue. Result! Welcome to the massed brayherd on my hobby shelves of doom. Everything here is a work-in-progress because I simply cannot help but work on tens of models simultaneously. My beastmen are the only army that I'm giving scenic bases. I'm not that keen on them as they can detract rather too much from the actual model, but enough of these guys arrived with flashy plinths to make it a theme throughout the herd. I'm going to try and get all of this polished off before the new year so that I can justify a glass-fronted display case on my Christmas list...  

It's really great to look at an army-in-progress and realise that I don't have to buy anything else for it - my wife sighs with relief as I tell her I've just typed that!

Multi-purpose fantasy wolves... from space!

The minotaurs advance, sandwiched between the spider centaurs to the front and the giant and ghorgon to the rear - you just know this is going to end in all shades of bloody carnage.

The 'big guys' of the army - very unlikely to make it together into any kind of 'legal' list, but then again I don't really tend to play that kind of game.

Climbing Sprue Mountain #2 - Vampire Counts

It's the second day of the ascent of sprue mountain and it's time to take a look at my Vampire Counts. As you can see from the photo, I'm using models from several ranges and I've assembled maybe a quarter of everything in the box - a box that, sharp eyed punters will notice, initially housed the Mantic undead army deal.

The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty thousand years. And grizzly ghouls from every tomb are closing in to seal your doom (maniacal laugh...)

The Mantic rank and file undead are great value and pretty good minis too. Given that a Vampire Counts army can't escape being formed as a shambling horde, Mantic provide a cost effective way of achieving this. I've added Lords and Heroes from the GW range of plastics and finecast, along with some of the Mantic undead characters. In addition I have a few more GW figures to add to the mix, including some grave guard and a few of the excellent LotR miniatures. The Titan Forge Flesh Reapers will stand in for crypt horrors, while I'll be using a range of minis (including the female ogre from Foundry pictured on the left of the sheet of paper) as spirit hosts.

Although I've started to paint a few of the grave guard I'm currently giving the whole paint scheme a rethink. I want to do something different for each of my armies so that I get the maximum challenge, interest and enjoyment from the hobby. For the undead I'm thinking of how I can get them looking as if they've swathed in the glow of foul necromantic sorcery. A mixture of that effect alongside a good dose of rot and decay should fit the bill nicely. Overall I'm going for something quick that will look striking on the tabletop - should make for a good few winter evenings of work! 

The 'RazorMaw' (Beastmen Razorgor Substitute)

A break from all things genestealer today and a brief return to the depths of the forests of the Old World for the beginning of August. I call this fearsome beast the 'Razormaw' and I'll be using it as a Razorgor substitute with my beastie boys. The sharp eyed among you will recognise that this is a converted Dire Troll Blitzer from Hordes. I simply swapped the little goblin chap with his machine gun for a properly chaotic trophy rack. I based in blue and purple and have been building up flesh shades over the top - I'm really pleased with the effect this has produced and will have to find a place for this across a whole army at some point. I'm just started the process of characteristically stark white highlighting and more careful glazes and washes.

Beastmen Spider Centaur Conversions #1

A trio of 'just the plastic' conversion photos today - I wanted to share these ladies with you because I'm so pleased with how they're working out. I decided to make the spider centaurs first as the clipped-off legs would be needed for the genestealer first generation hybrids. I'm most satisfied with the repositioned legs on the spider bodies, which I simply clipped off at the joints and reattached. A little greenstuff is required to smooth out the daemonette/spider transition where the mandibles/fangs have been removed. 

A Month Of Over-Ambitious Conversions

I think I may have been overly ambitious in planning this, but fortune favours the brave. Here's a picture of what I'm talking about...  

I think I've worked myself into the perfect storm of conversions - here we have Daemonettes, Flagellants, and Ghouls, along with the spiders from the Goblin Spider Riders in a complex interchanging conversion diagram. From this lot I'm going to be making:

1. Genestealer second and third generation hybrids using flagellant bodies and ghoul arms (also Empire pistols from the militia set)

2. Genestealer first generation hybrids using ghoul bodies, Daemonette legs, arms from old purestrain 'stealers (not pictured) and heads from the current ones (also in the top bag).

3. Spider Centaurs for my Beastmen using the Daemonette bodies and arms together with the spiders. 

I feel a bit of an idiot for planning all this, but now I have all the pieces and sets I really have to complete them all. June will be a very interesting month...