Rusty's Corner - Rivers and Churches for Warbands game at Oldhammer Weekend!

Well, been a weird week for me. Want to thank everyone for helping out a friend of mine. I know some of the items I listed up on the trading were a little new, but it was easy to grab and sell stuff. Also happy to say that I donated some stuff that sold, and one very nice gentleman called and matched what I was able to raise, so we covered two months and even had a little extra. So - solid thanks, to a great community. If we need to get him some more, he will now be able to take some time and sort and prepare. But thanks! Apart from one special package (you know who you are!) and the few bits I am bringing to Oldhammer Weekend for you guys, everything is now on its way!

Rusty has been very, very busy of late. But as we pass the one month to go mark, he has sent me some new pics of the final piece of the Warbands board, the River section and the monastery. These are some WIP shots, but I gotta say - I can NOT wait to play on this table with everyone! Get your warbands together, and get ready to throw down! I do have some pics I'll put up Wednesday of some more villagers, monks, and dignitaries. But on to Rusty's Boards!

The board begins. The river/stream is made with careful use of spray paint and digging with a knife. Then sand and texture is added. Glad this worked out so well for you Rusty, see a hobby mistake I made years and years ago paid off!

The interior of part of the monastery. Great construction!

Monastery joining to the wall section. I do think that the one in the third book that Rusty is basing this off was basically a version or modification of La Haye Sainte. Warlord make a great one of these. Rusty's is going to look more "Oldhammer" of course, and is scratch built. So what do you guys think? - Comment Below!

I'm wondering if anyone is going to clash in that space on the board! Or are you going to run into a monk coming out of that door? Get your warband ready - and get those names on the bases!

The Great Spined of Rusty's makes a return as he gets ready to go over the bridge.

Incredible use of the terrain stuff. Rusty is always good at mixing it in. Can you believe that is only part of a bridge kit? Rusty used just one part of a bridge and built it in with mounds and odds and ends of terrain materials. To me the bridge looks older and more worn in. And no, I don;t think that Jugger is gonna stop the Dragon - no matter how he is painted!

More - and note the water is not in the river yet. Rusty puts all this detail in and then adds the extra stuff. Layered detail like this makes your terrain seem more real to me.

Rusty's Warband is trying to steal the initiative on us all.

Ok, very WIP, this is the first layer of the Woodland Scenics water effects. Thin layers dry quicker and give you a bit more control on all of the effects (and you can even paint in details on the different layers. This probably won;t be deep enough, but I know the terrain guru at GW taught me that a long time ago.

So, that is the work up to about a week ago. He's making more progress, and waiting for the water effects to dry! If you haven't made your plans to get to Baltimore yet, this is the type of game you will miss out on!

Other notes - Orclord from Stuff of Legends is going to be hosting a BIG game - a siege. Was glad to talk to him on the phone the other night and he sorted out some of the details. Its going to be 10' by 20'! Lots of stuff, and he is basing more Empire to make it extra special! You are going to want to see this or play in this one - That means you BlueinVT ;)!

This is a Siege game that Stuff of Legends did at a Games Day event! You can read a bit more on it here. Stuff Of Legends Siege Game - The Siege of Karak Azul.Ours won't be Warmaster, and is being Gamemastered by Orclord himself. I know I'm going to spend a lot of time over there! Hope you do too!

I know it was mentioned before on Facebook and RealmofChaos80s, but I want to play it down until after BOYL 2014. But yes we are going to have the limited Event Oldhammer figure that Kev Adams, Foundry and the Ansell's have created and supplied. So if you are as jealous of me of the events in the UK - here is your chance to get something extra special from 2 incredible guys - Kev and Bryan. THANK YOU both - its been years of my life working on and enjoying your figures and the worlds you helped created or define. Martin at Foundry has confirmed that our Boyldrick models are on the way to us as we speak. Unless we get crazy numbers, we are going to have one for everyone. So make sure you get there to get yours!

As most of you know, Kev is also recovering from his treatment. I understand it will still be a while until he can get back to sculpting at the Foundry. Bryan has been sharing some incredible pictures and details on all of this, and I can not wait for them to become available! But here's hoping that you recover well and quickly Kev - We want more! And thanks again for the awesome Boyldrick!

I'll have my hobby update on Wednesday this week I hope. And next weekend I hope to have a bit more news and some more info on some special stuff at Oldhammer Weekend USA. Just know you do not want to miss this!

Oldhammer USA - Warband Game Update

So the local mall put in a new playground for kids, and it is Garfield Pirate themed, which suits my girls just fine. The oldest jumped in Garfield's boat, looked at other kids, and said, the "monster had the ship...Abandon Ship!", at the top of her lungs. ;) Kids jumped everywhere and we parents had a nice chuckle. Regardless, I don't do anything unless these girls are taken care of first......

This is my littlest one wrestling a shark! Of course her mother did not approve (she's afraid of sharks after watching Shark Week one too many times), but she and I had fun with it! This is why I figure these girls will be gamers!

My Oldest one surfing on a turtle - she called him Sheldon. While the youngest wrestles Odie this time....maybe I might have a bit of a problem with that ;)? Now Their older brothers are into DnD, Heroquest, and Warhammer. More of that later!

Alright, here is a hobby update for our warbands table. In our scenario several townsfolk, monks and others are going to be walking around and getting captured by our erstwhile warbands! Rusty is making several monks and villagers, and I am making monks and some other farmers.

I wanted to put up some early WIP shots from earlier so you can see the progress that I have made on these. A long time ago, a very much younger version of me started them off with a incredibly bright red. For my sensibilities now, I started much darker and worked my way up - still have more to go, but you can get the idea.

These were Simple Greened with a bunch of my Orcs and Gobbos. You can see some of the other projects I am working on in the background. I have another hobby update tonight on the start of the Wyvern project - an old-skool repair job! But here are some pics of the monks:

This was the look I was going for on these guys. One of my favorite images from the old school stuff. Making buildings like that was always one of my goals. First though, after Oldhammer Weekend, I'm going to try to recreate the statuary jsut to the right of this banner bearer.

This is the group - All WIP, and not done in these photos. I'll have more pics of them and their progress soon. I did notice look a bit too red still, despite starting off dark brown. Inks may have to save this bit.

Still trying to figure out the masks on these guys - Silver or Gold? Weapons silver and black, so which would be better?

Command type figures

Another group shot, but you can see the "additional projects" right behind these guys.

The lead figure, and what I was trying to base my standard on...

With My standard, I am going tan/bone color, more because without the backdrop it is just too much red. Kept red text though. The chain bit made it hard, but do you guys like it?

Anyway, so these are some of the figs for the Warband Game, sure hope you guys can make it!

Oldhammer Day Update - Rusty's Corner - Warband Table New Photos!

Well, Rusty has been hard at work on the Warbands table for Oldhammer Day! He sent along a few images to share, which is another section, another building, and a cornfield! He's also working on another part to this table which has the river and monastery - which I cannot wait to see! So It should give us a huge amount of space to see who is most favored by the chaos gods!

I got this a few days ago, just to tease!

And this one.....not bad, in fact would love to have this one......but for Rusty....

You just keep going.

Hoping sometime we can get a bit on the vegetation from Rusty. Look for a future Hobby Update - but after Oldhammer Day - hes busy right now ;)

Original Table with two sections - like I said, river and monastery are forthcoming!

Now we add the new building and the corn field - another thing we need a hobby update on!

Everything looks great in Warband Ville!

There has to be a story behind the hat.....

Now that is a huge battlefield - hope you are planning on throwing down with your warband.

Just about every gamers dream - can't wait to play and see it in person!

Of course, we should also thank Rusty's lovely wife, who not only puts up with late night calls from me, but also puts up with his hobby to this extent! So Thank You - we all greatly appreciate it! ;)

And another thing. As Rusty is out and about, when he is not building, he tried calling a current GW store (In Philly I think). Now that would normally not be a problem, as Rusty was checking on something, like could he bring his Oldhammer models to the store for an event. What he was told actually surprised him, and then upset him (and then me). He was actually told that while the staff would love to see it, and would even do pickup games with him, for the scheduled events, he had to use "only current models". When asked if that even meant old 6th edition spearmen from Empire were off limits, he was told again "only current models". I'm hoping they make exceptions for parts on new models, otherwise all of the creativity of the game would be gone.......oh wait. If you haven't go back and read one of my first posts here (just skip to the Epiphany part- we can wait)

Welcome back - so yeah. Another bit of the sameness taking over, is it any wonder that we are growing (more on that later) on the Oldhammer front. Just remember, try to post some pics of projects - not more stuff to sell (we do have a trading area for that!). Or even better, create your own blog (and let me or RealmofChaos80s know!) I have a large amount of them somewhere on the right side of this page - so visit them, get inspired and share more (and I can add your blog to the list)! One thing I need to add of course, to make mine an official blog will be battle reports. I'm going to have some from Oldhammer Day, but the 15 yr old sprog is working on some figs for a 3rd ed game (probably won't be until after soccer season....mhmm, wonder who in the premier league is willing to pay for a young goalie now ;) ). And I just can't take anymore on....with 4 kids, believe me I have enough! But I am going to make it my Before New Year's resolution to put up some cool Battle Reports (one each of Warhammer, Rogue Trader, and EPIC!).

I also just found out there were a group of guys in New York who did not know about our Oldhammer Day - and now looks like they are going to journey down, so there are still those out there who don't know we are all meeting up, just remember, the more you tell, the more that will show up for Trade and Auction night at the hotel! ;)

Once again, Thanks Rusty for the pictures, and the awesome work, and Thanks to Rusty's better half, we all know he wouldn't be half the man without you!

Rusty's Corner: Hobby Update - Warband and Spined Dragon!

I already showed off the warband, but wanted people to be able to find it as done by Rusty! Here is his warband:

And I know Rusty put up some of these photos on the FB group, but here is some cool looks of his Spined Dragon (and not shown on facebook, even a glimpse of Kegox!)

Don't you just hate him ;) Not to mention that huge score he just had of Oldhammer blisters, unopened! He's been working on the terrain as well, and hopefully we'll have an update just before we are all getting ready to leave for the big Weekend!

If you haven't yet, start up a blog, or just send me pics of your force that you are planning on taking to Oldhammer USA! Hoping to have another update soon!

How things grow, reunions, and some more from Rusty!

Well, think I have collected a ton of the BOYL pics, and am amazed at all the goodness, including those incredible metal Fortress and wall bits that Bryan Ansell brought out! And then they had to tease us with the painting wizards that were given away! But we have some great things going on for the Oldhammer USA day as well, and I'm just waiting to hear back from a few people to announce a ton of stuff. And I should have some pictures, and things for those who can not make it to this side of the pond...see we like to share ;)

But I have been quiet because while I was making the initial preparations for Oldhammer USA in Oct, my better half got a bug, and decided to host a reunion for her old gymnastics club. Now, I'm an old hand at sports, having played since I was 3 (soccer, or football to you non-americans) and through high school and into university (basketball). I also played rec leagues for years afterward. But my other half was an incredible Elite gymnast (think Olympic level). Her team (which was developed out of the club) won a state championship when we were in high school together (not to date her too much but - 1990!). She also went on to be on the national tumbling team, competing in Europe and Texas. So before I get into it, you have to understand that these girls were at least obsessed by gymnastics as we ever have been about gaming (before you disagree, realize they practiced 4-6 hours a day for years!). Basically, all the hard work they never show in those cool movies....

So they got together after 24 years, with most not seeing each other since then! They have gone on to be successful members of society (doctors, engineers, teachers, dentists, etc.) and lots of them have kids. It was a great weekend, and was incredibly good for all of them (they are already planning the next one).

So what do we care about (as I put it at the restaurant afterwards to embarrass her a bit) a bunch of "Old Chicks Who Used to Do Tricks"? Simple, the planning for this thing was mainly done by my girl, but could not have happened without a bunch of people lending a hand, time, or something. Same thing for our events. Looks like James initial run last year of Warbands, led to Erny and the gang doing an incredible Siege game there this year. I'm being joined by Rusty, Andy, and even Orclord from Stuff of Legends to get events run and games done - and even more! It is awesome, and I am just so excited to see it all. I even have a small update from Rusty....so expect to see this crew at Warbands time!

Rusty is almost done with these guys, shields and a bit more for the bases, and then they will be ready to take you on!

And speaking of guys who are helping, Vongamer is one of those running a Rogue Trader event. He recently put this up on the forums:

Greets All:
Just an update for the Rogue Trader 40K Game I'm planning on offering, and a bit about the journey to get there. I plan on a 4'x6' table, which I'll supply from my modular terrain. Pretty much an urban ruins fought over many times. My intention, for at least the first clash, is to provide all the miniatures,terrain,play aids,dice etc.

Mostly an infantry type encounter. Each force - ranging from 10 to about 20 figures - starts the game with a NEGATIVE points value - as I calculate from the RT book. So far I intend to offer various Space Marine Chapters, Pirates, Imperial Guard, Squats,a Genestealer Coven, Eldar Pirates, Chaos Marines,Orks...you get the picture. I can support as many players as wish to play.

As I am "tweaking" the individual profiles to make most figures unique in some way, including equipment (rad counters anyone?) forces will vary in original strength and capabilities. Thus the negative value. A stronger force will have to play more aggressively to gain victory. Each "kill" awards the winning force Victory Points based on the value of the defeated foe, double if eliminated in Close Combat. These points then reduce that negative starting value, shifting scores into positive territory as the game turns progress.

Additionally, players may opt to take on unique "missions" with points awarded for completion - less the longer it takes, or a penalty for failure. (Imperial Headquarters rewards success).
The table itself will also have GM controlled hazards and benefits. You can make/bust deals between players almost anytime. Victory judged at intermittent times during play.

I'm also thinking of introducing some "non-GW" forces for variety (I have a healthy collection of classic Dr. Who minis for example). I used this system at conventions etc in the past. I believe it works well. Walk ons can join without skewing the game. With lower forces it does allow picking up the game concepts easily. The profile sheets will also have the weapons capabilities listed as well. Not much "page flipping" that way. I do like a fast paced game so push decision making. Turn sequence (which player when) is random so no two turns are the same.

After this first game, I expect players to roll out the forces they brought, unless they just need a loaner force.

Some rules I'm using from the early publications:
1- Space Marines in Power Armor get a +1 bonus to hit in CC. Compilation Pg 27.
2- Various armor does slow movement.
3- Squads can start small or large as the player wishes.
4- Not all squad members must do the same thing - some can shoot, some can engage in CC. Just maintain coherency.

I've also found: Psychers - VERY expensive points wise. Equally VERY deadly.

I'll try to post some pictures soon of some of whats in store.
Hope this sounded interesting and fun.

Regards,
VonGamer

Lucky him, hes about 10 minutes from Dropzone, and is also looking for someone to try it out before Oldhammer Day; so drop him a note on the forums. Unfortunately I think it is about a 15 hour drive for some of us (maybe 16 to 17 if I take the girls ;( ) But I do plan on bringing some old Imperials and some Marines that I have in old chessex boxes (and I don't think they have seen a lick of paint since 1987-88!)

So big thanks to everyone giving a big hand in getting this thing off the ground. It will be a success I am sure, in spite of my planning, and due to all the hard work everyone is putting in, not to mention those incredible figs I expect to see there! Now my two weeks of reunion mess (and the clean up) are over, and I can make the final push for Oldhammer Day! Lots of painting still to do, but I'm sure that is the same for all of us. More to come soon!

Hobby Update: Rugluds see some color - finally!

Even though I have not been posting a lot, I have made some more progress on the hobby. Time has been short, as my other, better half has now lost two Aunts in a month. Basically funerals suck, even if they are more celebrations, and make you realize the important things. But here are some pics of my beastman, sans bases. So my warband is nearing completion as soon as some tufts arrive in the post! I also have to do the banners. Did anyone else see James's at the BOYL? Maybe not that large, but mine are going to have to be pretty special!

So are you guys ready to take this on?

Much earlier in my blog I showed some WIP shots of my Ruglud's unit. I'm painting them up for use with a large Orc and Goblin force that I plan on using at the Oldhammer event. Way too much work to do, and only two months or so. But at the time I was unhappy with how they were tunring out. So I got some advice from Andy Craig on the skin tone to make my orcs look old school. Large part is Windor & Newton Green Apple ink. Now, my skills are not anywhere close to 'Eavy Metal painters, but I am pretty happy with the tone of the skin. Even if some of my brush work is a bit overhanded or sloppy, this gives me a great point for my Orc flesh! What do you guys think?

Of course, these shots are all WIP, I still need to base them, I need to paint shields and their crossbows, but they are all headed in the right direction, I think. Also, on the facebook group, Omar has shown off his. Anyone else have shots of their Ruglud's? Yes, mine are not finished, but I am getting there, and 35 down.....look below for some of what I have to go!

Here is a shot of another old model, with the tone of the old method, not sure on these pics, but they look a lot better in person then this one.....

Of course, every step forward leads to steps back! while I was working on my Ruglud's I assembled a whole lot of my old Orcs and Goblins. I am building a proper Oldhammer army for my game in Oct, and I already am lucky enough to own tons of remarkable Kev Adams and other GW models. But know I'm having to make them match my new skin tone and Ruglud's and I have a lot of these with a horrible white primer. So into the Simple Green pot a lot of them went.

Here is what one batch got me at the end of the day.

And here is some of the units laid out for the army....lots of painting to do, but I am really excited to have a newly painted Oldhammer force. One other note, I have a bunch of old Grenadier Orcs and Gobbo wolf riders (by Nick Lund) and some other stuff that may also be there. And I have lead belchers, rock lobbers, bolt thrower, man manglers and more in another box. So it should be pretty cool when it is all done!