As stated last time I am bulk finishing stuff for Horka so not much to show with regards to progress overall. I realised I am approaching the 100th blog posting and I thought I would make a little bit of a special going back to Saga and do something with regards to the new rules.
Basing in progress, followed by drybrushing, final detailing, flags and static grass. Getting there!
This is the plan, for the next 4 postings.
Blogpost 98, w.c 02-Apr-18.Some completed stuff for Horka 1708, this will be pictures of the completed Russian Infantry – the 64 bases required. I just need to complete the basing and add flags to the final ones in the next few days.
Blogpost 99, w.c. 09-Apr-18. – Gaslands in Microscale/6mm, this will have some shots from some games we have played and my impression of doing it with 50% measures.
Blogpost 100, w.c. 16-Apr-18. – Special about Saga 2 in 6mm, this will be some reflections, changes to rules and pictures from Gameplay with the new rules over the Easter Period.
Blogpost 101, w.c. 23-Apr-18. – My take on Salute on the 14th. Looking forward to see Michael Leck’s Stäket 1719 and Too Fat Lardies Demo game of What a Tanker!, to mention a few things. I also have a few things to pick up (some more Mutant 1984 stuff).
A little bit of progress on the Mutant 1984 stuff
I did put some paint on the Cabin I built and added some snow, I still have to do the doors and windows and a final fix of the snow cover but I think this will give an idea on how it will look in the end. There is a note on how I built the cabin from the Blog post two weeks ago (link here). (More on this overall project here)
I also finished some Snowmobiles I will use for the Mutant 1984 project for a little scenario involving a motorised chase scene. These were bases on some matchbox models I found whilst looking for some stuff for Gaslands – they are a different scale than the normal Matchbox stuff and work reasonably well with 28mm. I used some Warlord Plastic Americans that I cut up a little bit (e.g. legs and hands) that allowed me to create something resembling drivers for these cool vehicles.
Got two of these. They are called the “Snow Hopper”. I liked the look of them and they had some detail that could be utilised in a repaint.Add some Plastic Americans (later I added some filler here and there) and we were good to go. Later I skipped the wind screen as this was in blue plastic and I liked the look without. I guess I should have got heads with googles but I did not have any. And if you ask about the thin clothing I will pretend you did not.“I just light my Cigar then we get going mate!”Simple, but I like the way they turned out and a good deal at £1 each. Yes they have to stretch a little bit to be able to Steer but I think the fit is close enough. Yes I can also see the blue foam, but it will be dealt with!
Following on from previous discussions with regards to replaying some of the Scenarios for the Mutant roleplaying game I have been doing some further thinking and practical work. Link here for a better background (with more stuff here, here and here).
The Mutant game this relates to is the Swedish game from 1984. This is my stain and rustless first love and the game is the forefather of the current fantastic Mutant – Year One game, by Swedish company Free League published by the British company Modiphius, link here. [The Mutant 1984 version was set in year 108!] The team also publish the eminent Tales of the Loop – Roleplaying in the 1980s that never was that is one of the most beautifully looking gaming books I have ever seen. The artwork by Simon Stålenhag is amazing (if you do not know what I am talking about, check out his homepage here!). You should check out both these excellent games!
Tales of the loop – Roleplaying in the 1980s that never was
The landscape was full of machines and scrap metal connected to the facility in one way or another. Always present on the horizon were the colossal cooling towers, with their green obstruction lights. If you put your ear to the ground, you could hear the heartbeat of the Loop – the purring of the Gravitron, the central piece of engineering magic that was the focus of the Loop’s experiments. The facility was the largest of its kind in the world, and it was said that its forces could bend space-time itself.
Scifi artist Simon Stålenhag’s paintings of Swedish 1980s suburbia, populated by fantastic machines and strange beasts, have won global acclaim. Now, you can step into the amazing world of the Loop.
In this roleplaying game in the vein of E.T. and Stranger Things, you’ll play teenagers solving mysteries connected to the Loop. The game rules are based on Mutant: Year Zero, which was awarded with a Silver ENnie for Best Rules at Gencon 2015.
…goes back to the origins of the Mutant franchise: role-playing after the Apocalypse. In this game, you play as one of The People – heavily mutated humans living in The Ark, a small and isolated settlement in a sea of chaos. The outside world is unknown to you, and so is your origin.
Mutant: Year Zero has two major game environments, each with its own style of play:
The Ark, your home in the dawnworld. A nest of intrigue and Lord of the Flies-style power struggles, it’s far from a safe haven. But it’s the only home you know, and just maybe the cradle of a new civilization. The game rules let you improve and develop the Ark in the areas of Warfare, Food Supply, Technology, and Culture. It is up to you, the players, to decide which projects to embark on.
The Zone, wastelands outside the Ark. You will venture into the Zone in search of food, artifacts, other mutants, and knowledge – not least about The People’s own origin. The game includes two maps of example Zones; London and New York and a plethora of tables and other tools to let the GM populate its sectors with mutants, deadly monsters and bizarre phenomena.
Having debated on how I will play the scenarios, I have decided that I will use the Original 1984 rules with some inspiration from the Mutant 2 expansion (produced 1986) and also some inspiration from early Runequest as I really loved the grouping of skill categories and individual bonuses based on characteristics.
Mutant 2 had an interesting combat system with segments and a high dexterity character acted more often than a low dexterity character. This Mutant 1984 2.0 project wants to be a simple as possible and therefore fatties (like myself) can act as often as anyone else – however we may be less efficient when we do so.
I have devised a character sheet that should be not too unfamiliar for anyone who have played Runequest or Call of Cthulhu – the characteristics range in general between 3 and 18 and all skills are percentages. This is still work in progress and I will finalised these shortly (and the Mutant Logo is scanned from the original 1984 cover – I have not rights to this one whatsoever. However I hope this tongue-in-cheek project gets the right owners blessing as opposed to its cursing).
First page – including personal information like name, class (this ranges from non-mutated humans to mentally mutated animals), birth environment (e.g. big town or wilderness), social status (from underclass to the more unlikely high nobility), occupation, etc. It also states summary traits (the idea here are four traits that summarises the person, e.g. energetic, reckless, generous, rude, this was not part of the original rules), Characteristics and Bonuses, mutations and equipment and space for a portrait of the character.
Second page – this is dominated by the skills, weapon information and other notes. This in a nutshell is an early Runequest homage – 100%. The skills are a mixture of the original ones, additional ones from Mutant 2 as well as some Runequest inspiration with skill categories with bonuses.
For the purpose of playing the set events more like “skirmish wargame scenarios” I will need to devise some simple rules – so far 7TV (from Crooked Dice, link here) looks promising and it also has a nice campaign feel for connected scenarios, or should that be shows.
Building the cabin – Part 1
From the earlier posting you may recall the cabin I need for one of the events in the first scenario (see here).
I suppose this would require the Cabin itself – and the set-up will be so that it allows action inside and outside.
Floor plan and picture taken from Nekropolis – Den Grå Döden by Äventyrspel 1985.
Based on the floor plan I sketched the cabin on a piece of paper and used some figures to make sure the would work in the setting – no point spending time on a building that does not work for the purpose of playing in it.
With the original dimensions. Note that the large bear (the Officer) looks like he is in a tight spot.
I made some modifications to the layout and the final layout became a square cabin with two of the small rooms being combined to a large one and a new one created. I decided to build the cabin on a piece of Polystyrene (Blue Foam) I had laying around. This piece was a 20mm thick piece and I will utilise this for the detailing I will do later.
Next I drew the floorplan on top of the blue foam and used some balsa wood dowels (5mm diameter) and set out the shape in one direction (glued them down, make sure they overshoot with about 1 cm at this time) and then cladded each room (glued down) with some cut out pieces of coffee stirrers (you know the ones they have in coffee shops). I varied the direction of the planks for each room.
The base is set – note the cuts. I also left a little hole for where the fireplace will go but more about that later.
The idea is that we need to make cuts where the timbers crosses to allow the characteristic look of a log cabin. You need to make some cuts and then slightly file it down (I just used the rough part of the Exacto knife I have – as balsa wood is really soft).
Basically cut down a v shape and then rub the rough part until you have a round groove half the depth of the dowel diameter.
If you are using hard wood dowels you have my sympathies and this would take even longer than the pain I had in using the balsa wood.
Just continue doing a layer in each direction – cut, glue and then I used dressmakers here and there to make the construction sturdier. Be careful and go slow – balsa is a very soft material indeed. The models are Soldiers of the Pyri Commonwealth, any similarities to Napoleonic British Riflemen are just incidental.
and more layers… then cut out some windows (at this stage I have no idea how I will finish them).
Then after a few sessions
I cut out something resembling a fire place and made a roof from a 6mm thick piece of floor insulation board (polystyrene foam). I then made a roof from the same material and cladded the sides (the roof will be mainly full of snow so most of the insulation foam will be covered with this.
Then I added a porch on the front, some chimneys (6mm foam using a pen to make a stone build effect), a few planks to make the illusion that the whole roof is made of wood (i.e. where the snow will not go), did a first layer of builders caulk on the roof.
Wait a moment are those columns actually chopsticks?
Very happy so far with the Cabin (working title “Overkill”) I will probably detail the surroundings and paint it before I:
Add some LEDs to create a flickering fire effect in the fireplace (like I did in a recent trial, shown here)
Do the windows and doors
Add some further detailing like furniture but without making it to busy.
Do flagpole with the flag of Ulvriket – a white wolfhead on a black background.
But that is next time,
/ Hope that was of some interest, if not I blame Dirk of the Grognard Files for ongoing, constant and brilliant inspiration on gaming in a 1980s that damn surely was! Check the Files out by clicking here and enjoy!
Some progress on the Towards Moscow Trilogy Project with some Swedish Horse done for Horka 1708 and some further progress on the Mutant 1984 project.
Swedish Horse for the Horka 1708 Battle
As I have promised myself I finally did another push on the Towards Moscow project and finalised another batch of Swedish cavalry (30 bases). More background on this project here. Most facts from the book “The Great Northern War 1700-1721 – Colours and Uniforms”, by Lars-Eric Höglund and Åke Sallnäs. That concludes the Swedish cavalry needed for the Project (a total of 66) – next I will “attack” the Swedish Infantry.
Dückers Dragonregemente
Dückers Dragonregemente, also known as the Preussiska (Prussian) dragonregemente. Colonel/Överste Karl Gustav Dücker. Raised in 1704, recruits from Bremen, Pomerania, Livland and Courland. 1000 men at the Battle of Horka. Captured at Poltava 1709 and not raised again.
Gyllenstierna Dragonregemente
Gyllenstiernas Dragoonregemente formed of six companies (750 man) in 1707 when the Gortz regiment was divided into two smaller regiments. Captured at Poltava and never raised again.
Stenbocks Dragonregemente
Stenbocks Dragonregemente, enlisted regiment formed by Magnus Stenbock in 1704 through enlistments. Colonel for the Horka Battle is N. Hielm. Captured at Poltava and never raised again. 1000 men (initially 600 but increased in size in 1707).
Meierfelts Dragonregemente
Meierfelts Dragonregemente, enlisted regiment since 1703. Colonel Meierfeldt, 1250 man since 1707, initially 600 men. Captured at Poltava and never raised again.
Skånska Ståndsdragonregementet
Skånska Ståndsdragonregementet was a temporary regiment that was raised from the households from the clergy, persons or rank and the well situated in Southern Sweden. The Colonel of the Regiment was the Prince of Würtemberg, and 1,250 man strong at the time of the Horka Battle. Captured after Poltava. Raised again in 1712 and then broken up in 1721.
Taube Dragonregemente
Taubes Dragonregemente (also known as the Schlesiska Dragonregementet). enlisted regiment with recruits from Bremen, Pomerania, Livland and Courland. Established in 1704, captured at Poltava and was not raised again. Originally 600 but 1000 man strong at the time of the Battle. Colonel G.A. Taube.
Upplands (Livregementet och Östgöta) Tremänningsregemente till Häst
Temporary cavalry regiment raised in 1700 from regions in central Sweden. Colonel at the time C.G.Kruse and 834 man strong. Captured at Poltava and reestablished in 1712.
Adelsfanan in Sweden and Finland
This was a very old unit at the time of the Great Northern War and had its origins from the feudal times when the nobility needed to provides Knights in service of the crown. Adelsfanan can be translated as the Cavalry Corps of the Nobility and all officers were of Noble birth. The regiment was 600 man strong at the time and the Colonel was A. Ramsvärd.
Nekropolis Bunker Guard Unit and Scientists
I also managed to get some time to do some of the miniatures I need for the Mutant 1984 project (see here). This time some soldiers for the bunker. Basic models are Warlord American Infantry Plastics (see here – although I got a very good deal from eBay). These models require some assembly that is great for this project as I wanted to do some headswaps and specials – I used Tamya Extra thin cement for this (apart from the metal bits with a glued with gel superglue) and it works very well (here is a review about it).
This product made me drop the hate in my previous love hate relationship to the hard plastic miniature stuff.
It also fills my bit box with some cool stuff that can be used for other things (bazookas, backpacks, smgs, pistols, rifles, etc).
The only direct description we have from the original scenario book are that the uniforms were green and the trousers have red stripes. Did these in a sitting – wargames standard I suppose and happy overall. I think I will make the Bunker floor grey concrete but not sure yet – so maybe I will change the base colour later. (Note to self: Uniform bronze green with german field grey).
Oberstløjtnant Hintz and Major Rantzau (I used two of the Scientist heads from Crooked dice – see here).
Another Scientist head was used for Sekondløjtnant Tamyia Sand, and for the Baboon soldiers head I do not remember were I got it from.
I glued some extra legs on a guy and added a rams head to another (again some old miniature I had lying around got brutalised) – this is Chefsergent Niels Laudrups team.
Some more soldiers, I think my favourite is the guy with four arms and two rifles.
I also painted the 4 scientists, these are from Crooked dice and are fantastic models.
You can find the first 3 models here and the other one here.
I also update the write-up page (here) with this one as well for the soldiers in the border cabin (after snow basing them).
A lot of things going on at the moment with limited relevance to any hobby related matters – so not much progress lately. They only thing I did do was to do some work on the mutated bear I talked about in one of the blogs last time around (see further background here). This is a character to be used for one of the protagonists for my Mutant 1984 project – a miniature games/rpg hybrid kind of idea! Not great modelling but perfectly adequate for my needs.
1980s Post apocalyptic rpgs on the tabletop, may be acquired taste but I absolutely love this little project!
Lt. Knud Storebjørn
This guy is a mutated bear and also an officer in charge of a small border guard unit. I wanted him to look like he has been caught off duty perhaps listening to a tape of the 1812 Overture on his Sony Walkman – that he found in the forbidden zone in the Aarhusse region, when he served as a close combat specialist in a Zone Hunter Unit.
His sharp and clever mind, physical strength combined with his immunity to radioactivity, diseases and poisons meant he had survived situations were other soldiers had perished. His many exploits and successful missions were the foundation of the legendary status he had obtained within the Zone Hunter Unit. The unit specialises in operations deep in the forbidden zones to fight back the never ending threat from its inhabitants to the more civilised part of the peninsula. He had quickly climbed up the ranks and was appointed as the chief of the Aarhusse Zone Hunter Guard Battalion with the rank of Major. Although mutants were allowed within Ulvrikets forces it was uncommon that they held any commissioned ranks.
However his bad temper and aggressive ways in which it manifested itself in his treatment of his men and his superiors caught up with him. When Knud had smashed in the face of a Colonel and proceeded to tear his arm off, the army could no longer tolerate his behaviour. Not even his status as a recipient of the 1st Order of the Wolf Medal could protect him from the Martial Court proceedings. It surprised him that he had not been sent to his death, as was common practice in the forces, but instead of the a firing squad he found a demotion to Lieutenant and a placement in the Border Guard units. Shortly afterwards he was made aware of the identity of his benefactor. He was approached by one of the General staffs external advisors, Thomas, who explained that he had great plans for the bear. What those plans involved he did not yet know. In the discussions with Thomas he had felt that he had met an equal in terms of logic and intellect – something he was not used to within the force he served. Thomas explained that he had to be patient and since then he had been sent to various postings and low level assignments. Knud is aware of the influence of the Advisors (or the Grey Brotherhood) and the positive impact they have had on the recent successes of the army on the battlefield. This on the surface seem to stem from the supply of military high technology but Knud believes the real impact is their support in training the officers. However he has not yet (as he would like to phrase it) been privileged to any more information, but hope to be accepted to such a training programme soon.
Knud spends most of his free and active time in the border cabin room listening to music, skimming military training manuals, reading from a selection of books he has collected over the years or playing chess on an electronic machine that Thomas has given to him (A Novag Chess Partner 2000). He has tried to control his anger by engaging in calm activities but every now and then his men literary wakes up the sleeping bear. In combat he is a cunning tactician, controlled and resourceful and will never give up and will fight his enemies until death. He is armed with a Submachine gun and a primitive high caliber one shot pistol. If cornered or heavily injured he will go into berserk mode, ignoring any effect of damage until death and attacking ruthlessly with his claws.
NOVAG CHESS CHAMPION CHESS PARTNER 2000
The NOVAG Chess Partner 2000 was launched in December 1980. It was the first sensory chess computer produced by both NOVAG and SCISYS. However it was not the first sensory chess computer that the world had seen as CHAFITZ was already selling their ARB Auto-Sensory Chess Board with their Boris 2.5 and Sargon 2.5 Chess Modules in the spring/ early summer of 1980. Fidelity had also followed CHAFITZ with their Fidelity Sensory 8 in June, 1980.
Chess Partner 2000 has eight levels of skill and per the manufacturer complies with international chess rules (automatic castling, pawn promotion/under-promotion and en passant). It also allows board corrections and square and piece verification. You can enter your own board positions to solve chess problems up to mate-in-2. Another neat feature is the MM (Multi-Move) sensory control square that enables you to enter your own choice of book opening before you start to play your game against the computer, from the position you had entered.
The chess pieces are stored in a compartment that is situated along the right side edge of the computer.
More about NOVAGs machines and Chess Computer in general here.
Sorry a way off from the short description this guy got in the original scenario but I wanted to have some motivation in getting him done.
The Model
I started with Reaper Bones model I bought off ebay. It is basically a bear that stands on his hindlegs only, holding a very large battleaxe.
I started by cutting away the axe, trimmed away the necklace, cut down the belt and tried to make it look like he was wearing trousers by cutting away the fur detailing on the legs. I then went on to add some putty to make it look like he was wearing a shirt, did some belt detailing, added a holster.
Next to a 28mm miniature to get an idea on scale!
I also added a SMG from the CP model range (link here) – I have no idea how he can use this weapon with his big paws? (I suppose some mods has been done to it). I then painted him up. The result is more of less the look I was looking for!
Frihamnen, Stockholm, 1985. The writer Michael Petersen and the illustrator Peter Johnsson have joined forces to discuss a synopsis for an adventure for the Basic Rules of Mutant [a fantastic Swedish Post-Apocalyptic Rpg, that I wrote more about here]- “Nekropolis”, the first part of two in the campaign “Den grå döden” [The Grey Death]. Michael: It is going to be an epic campaign!, the players have the future of the Pyri Commonwealth in their hands!” Peter: ”Will it be a spy story?. I have an idea about drawing agent rats in trenchcoats.” Michael: ”Yes, the adventurers will be chased by the agents of Ulvriket. Mutated rats sounds good.” Peter: ”Where is Ulvriket?” Michael: ”Denmark. But forget all about pils, sausages and rock festivals. It is more like the Easterlands in the Heart of Darkness [This was a setting from another of the Companies Rpgs, think Mordor]. Proper Evil.” Peter: “Do I need to draw ladies in bikinis with well proportioned attributes for this adventure too?” Michael: ”No, it is more older blokes in robes!”.
– Roughly translated from Swedish from Jakob Simonson blog (see here) with a few clarifications.
The cover of the scenario, with the all-terrain Rhino in the background and a seemingly odd bunch of adventurers. This was Mutant in a nutshell, apart from the lack of any form of weapons and improvised armour. Since I first got the book I have been wondering how the group did not spot the cabin when their vehicle gave up on the hill closer to it (but nevermind, I no longer let it stop me from going to sleep!)
I really enjoy the Grognard files podcast and the throwback to the good old days of 1980s roleplaying. If you have any interest in roleplaying games (rpgs), whether you were around then or not, this is a fantastic show and you should try it out (here is a link to get you started). Being of the somewhat mature nature (not old! – I still bloody play with toy soldiers, so I go for mature or perhaps in need of some maintenance, but never old!) for me this is a proper non-imaginary deja vu experience – I do not just feel like I did it, but I really did this before. I have played many of the games, back in the day, covered so far (often in multiple podcasts, and in addition podcasts have covered rpg magazines and fanzines):
Runequest
Call of Cthulhu
Traveller
Stormbringer
AD&D
Tunnels and Trolls
Top Secret
Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes
James Bond Rpg
Judge Dredd
Each game is thoroughly discussed, analyzed and reflected upon. Being a guest on the British Isles since the mid 90ies it is at a level of eccentricity that I recognise well and that is hard to find anywhere else. It is similar to the exploits of those Victorian chaps who invented industrial breakthroughs in their back garden sheds. I absolutely love the concept. Bravo to Dirk, Blythy, Ed and the rest of the crew (not forgetting the eminent Daily Dwarf, link here). I suggest you brew yourself a cup of tea and get a pack of hobnobs and sit down in your favourite chair and listen to the first episode on Runequest. The only thing that may prevent you from having a fantastic time is your ability in making a decent cup of tea!
We, my friends and I who grew up in a small Swedish provincial town, had a gaming group running for many years and we were also part of a local rpg club called Aut Vincere Aut Mori (translated from Latin as “either to conquer or to die”). We did play a lot of the games covered in the Grognard show but it was intertwined with some local (Swedish) produce including Mutant and Drakar and Demoner (literary meaning Dragons & Demons) – they were fine products and would be classified as belonging to the Basic Roleplaying family of systems – with “3d6” characteristics, percentage chance to succeed, and further not level based, i.e. a shot in the head is as deadly when it hits you whether you are a snotty teenager with an eagerness to see the world as when you have conquered it. Sorry, but I never got over the level and Hit Point thing or regimented bundle approach to progress in life! – although I had some great experiences playing games like Dungeons & Dragons in the day – but it was not the system but the GM who made it a fantastic experience. But I digress..
I have been thinking about my own Mutant 1984 project recently and how I will take this forward.
Basically following a deadly and incurable epidemic caused by samples from a mission to Mars the human civilization collapses. The survivors build enclaves and start experimentation on humans and animals, in effect creating mutants, to see how they will survive outside the enclaves. However conflicts arises between the enclaves and it leads to a nuclear war sealing the fate of the world.
Fast forward a few hundred years and the from the ashes new civilizations start to emerge with mutated humans and animals, some “pure” humans and even some mutants with mental powers. There are remnants of the old worlds scattered all around, and some androids/robots from the old days are still around. In addition there are certain areas where the effect of radiation has left some strange effects on the flora and fauna and these areas are called “Forbidden Zones”.
The game is set in Scandinavia, but not as we know it today, and the general level of new technology is equivalent to that of the 19th Century, give or take. There are steam engines, muskets and some emerging rifle like weapons, heliogram for communication, etc. Some of the old technology has survived but is rare.
When we played rpgs back in the day we very rarely used miniatures/flats when we played and when we did I am not sure it really enhanced the experience as we did not tend to plan it very well. I always felt it broke the spell of that wonderful world we all had in our heads that was built-up by narration and imagination.
The idea is that I will recreate some of the action scenes from some of the early Mutant Adventures starting with the Nekropolis scenario. In essence breaking the scenario down to a series of tabletop games, that can be used as part of playing the adventure or as an independent game. It was a relatively straightforward scenario, with a few Game Master leads to push events forward (if the players do not think of it, X will suggest so…). The scenario is long out of print and I am not aware of anywhere you could get hold of it nowadays and in addition you would need to be able to understand Swedish to get through it. I am still debating on what miniature rules to use, if you have any ideas comment on this page or send me a message through the site. There would be about 6 adventurers, with some supporting cast, against the rest of the world,
WARNING – what follows will contain spoilers.
I will try to stay true to the original story and the characters if possible but I will use some artistic freedom when I find something else more interesting or where there is a lack of suitable miniatures.
Scenes I will cover are presented below (with a note on the scene and then miniatures needed):
Border Cabin Commotion
Night attack at the Inn
Nekropolis HQ
Border Cabin Commotion
The Scene
I suppose this would require the Cabin itself – and the set-up will be so that it allows action inside and outside. In addition I would need Wintery terrain around, of which I have plenty of from the Winter War Project (that I am working on in other news). So a cabin needs to be built with enough room to allow miniatures on 2 pence coins to move around inside.
Zoom in on the Nekropolis cover and there is the little border cabin.
Miniatures
4 normal soldiers of the Ulvrikets army, I already have these. They are based on WW2 Americans to represent the relatively high tech army of Ulvriket.
Artizan Design WW2 Americans with German Officer, painted following the colour plates of Ospreys “Pyri-Samfundet: Regular Infantry Uniforms and Regalia” (if such a book existed). A few of them need to be winterized for the scenario. The officer is a WW2 German model.
A NCO (mutated dog originally, but I will use the mutated Ape NCO for this)
Artisan WW2 miniatures again, with headswaps from God knows what!
I added the picture below some time after the original blog entry (for completeness, this is the merry squad of soldiers, with Winter Bases)
The Commanding Officer – he is a mutated bear, it is a big guy with the mutation berserk. So I will base him off a Reaper Bones Werebear that I have ordered. Have to make him look a little more of an Officer of the Ulvriket army though, so some green stuff will be required.
Will have to get rid of the Axe and the Jewellery!
I did finish this one after the event and wrote about it (see link here), here is a picture of the final result.
Night Attack at the Inn
The Scene
The in(n)side of the Inn (parts of it) – maybe this would be done best by using foam core with printed on detail. I got inspired by listening to Jay on the Wargames Veteran podcast who discusses foamboard, to almost Grognardish level of detail – great show indeed, it is number 33 (link here).
Miniatures
6 Assassin Rats – done
6 normal soldiers – have these, see above or below!
Thin man with a Submachine Gun – I was looking around but could not find something to fit the bill. But then I stumbled on a Sherlock Holmes figure from CP models today and ordered it and CP Models also do some loose SMGs so a little bit of work and I have my man with an SMG. Pictures below from CP Models webpage (here and here).
Nekropolis HQ
The Scene
Nekropolis HQ – this is more of a Dungeon, sorry I meant Bunker, crawl. May do some foam core corridors or just play the final encounter scene. More thinking to be done.
Miniatures
14 soldiers (a few of them being mutants) and 2 officers – as these will be inside a heated bunker I am not sure the immersion works with greatcoated soldiers with Winterized bases! So I got myself some WW2 Americans from Warlord Games (here), that I will use a basis for these guys. It will also give me an abundance of loose weapons useful for converting other miniatures for this project.
2 mutated birds – not sure how I will use these in my take on the adventure. But I found these beauties from CP Models (link here). They were originally suppose to look a little bit pathetic than these mean looking birds. I did some modifications to them to make them less aggressive looking.
4 scientists – I have ordered some from Crooked Dice that have a nice selection, one of them with a little pet (a little bit more sinister than a cat, I suppose) pictures borrowed from their site – excellent miniatures overall, link (here and here).
2 Older blokes in robes – still looking for some perfect miniatures I know are hiding somewhere in the house. I think they were from Black Cat Bases but I can not reach their webpage at the moment.
Went for a Woman and Man for the two Grey Guys!
In summary not so much to do on the miniature front, but some builds to be done. The second installation of the mini-campaign (Bris Brygga), includes a scene with 20 airships to worry about. Have to think that part through a little bit more.
Progress will be slow as the next few months will be dedicated to this years Joy of Six battle. Anyway phase 1 completed – another £60 to add to the lead (and plastic) mountain.
The idea is that we need to make cuts where the timbers crosses to allow the characteristic look of a log cabin. You need to make some cuts and then slightly file it down (I just used the rough part of the Exacto knife I have – as balsa wood is really soft).
Roll a One - Wargaming Blog 