[15mm Fantasy] Enter, the Bugbear

As those who follow my Modeling Log will be aware, for the last couple of months I've been working on 25mm Science Fiction figures for my Traveller game. This little diversion was born out of a desire to have some suitable figures to hand for use when my players get themselves into the sort of trouble that requires a tactical map. Needless to say, with close to 50 figures now painted, I think that this little project is getting close to its end.

The 6mm Traveller campaign is still ticking over - I have been working out the Order of Battle for both the defenders and the attackers on the colony world of Auru, which has meant that I have had to look at Imperial and Geithurian Republic Star Fleets.The background design work is almost complete, and gives me the option to fight out fleet encounters as well as dirtside operations. I'm even looking at possibly using the Classic Traveller High Guard combat rules with the Trillion Credit Squadron updates for this side of the campaign.

Bugbear Shaman or Spellcaster

One of the members of the Facebook 15mm Fantasy Wargames Group posted some photos of a recent battle using the Kings of War rules from Mantic Games, but with 15mm figures. It looked like fun, the core rules are free, I have some Medieval/Renaissance 15mm armies that have been sitting in a box for too long, and a friend who is up for a game.

Bugbears and Human Warrior (also from Splintered Light)

The game is set for next weekend but, as it was a long weekend here this weekend, I cracked on with a party pack of Bugbears I bought from Splintered Light about a year ago. While 20mm scale from Splintered Light's small 20mm Fantasy range, the figures work well as large goblinoids in 15mm (I have not seen the current Bugbear pack in the Dungeon Crawl: Warbands range to compare sizes, but the 20mm figures definitely look large and chunky in comparison).

The 20mm Bugbears appear to have been on-sold to CP Models in the UK.

The players trialing Kings of War in 15mm are using WRG style basing (40mm x 20mm for Infantry, 40mm x 30mm for Cavalry) so they can use either historical figures, or figures based up for Hordes of the Things (WRG's Fantasy rules). With that in mind, I based up my 12 Bugbear warriors as four elements (3 figures to the element) of Infantry - the first basing I've done in this style for many years - and I was pleasantly pleased with the result.

Bugbear Warband with Shaman/Spell Caster

As the Shaman/Spellcaster is a Specialist, I decided to leave him on his round base.

The Kings of War rules look pretty straight forward, after one read through - the people using them say that there are a lot of tactical subtleties which, I guess, will come out in play.

The Army Lists have a very Warhammerish feel about them which makes me go slightly "meh", but them seem reasonably easy to customize. Currently, I'm thinking of a sort of Evil Alliance, led by a Sorcerer, with Dark Elves and Orcs. Support being provided by allies or mercenaries, such as the Bugbears, a band of Gnolls I still have to paint, some trolls and some Ogres. As I have more than enough single mounted figures for Dungeons and Dragons or Skirmish Gaming, I will quite enjoy basing up the rest on element bases.

[RRtK] Army Update

Foranimenagii Army

Since we came home from our Christmas break, I've been working on my Foranimenagii Army for my Orbis Terrarum Campaign. I finished the last unit this afternoon. From left to right, General (on round base), two units of arquebusiers, two units of crossbowmen, five units of Knights, a unit of Pikes, four units of spearmen, five units of crossbowmen.

This army actually needs a couple more units of Pike to finish it off.

And in other news, I picked the figure, below, up off eBay as a Walker for Captain Nemo's Company for In Her Majesty's Name. It's a Light Warjack from Warmachine.

[Ronin] Who's Got the Buddha?

In getting ready for our semi-regular Saturday night game, the discussion turned to playing Ronin - the Skirmish game from Osprey set in the Age of the Samurai. Jonathan and Chris expressed a preference for playing a Samurai Buntai and I mentioned that I had only painted a couple of samurai and monks, but that I had completed four Dixon bakemono. As Malcolm has a tengu Buntai he converted from Games Workshop Lord of the Rings Goblins and Wargames Factory Samurai bits, John suddenly had a cunning idea for a Ronin game with a twist. This is the email I received:

You and Malcolm are the Goblins! see the last tab [of the excell spreadsheet buntai-maker], and feel free to play with the numbers to a total of <400pts. Tengu have light armour so they can fly, other gobbos have warty-skin armour. The Tengu have Fly (in their case long wing-assisted hops), which gives the movement of a horse. They can cross high things like palisades and houses at half speed. Those circumstances that would lead to falling from a horse are crashing... The Goblins have possession of a gold-coated Buddha statue which they have concealed in a deserted village. They have heard a party of humans is coming to retrieve it..... Victory goes to the possessor of the statue at the end of the game. Getting the statue off the board is victory for the humans. The goblins cannot touch the statue (they got the peasants to hide it, before eating them). The human party think that bandits have taken the statue. Once the terrain is set up, the goblins can conceal themselves anywhere on the table (where there is cover, of course) or programme to come on any side on a set turn.

Happy Buddha is happy

Now, we've been playing Bushido and Land of the Rising Sun - two fine Roleplaying games - together, off and on, for years and the set-up was just like one of those games. As it happened, my wife gave me a little resin buddha she just happened to have and so, with a quick paint job, the object of the game was prepared.

John has given some thought to how magical creatures might be represented in Ronin and here is his thoughts on Tengu and Bakemono.

Class	Rank	CP	Initiative	Fight	Shoot	Armour	Base pts	Weapons	Options	Option pts	Attributes	Attribute pts	Total points	Qty	Line total
Bakemono-sho	1	2	2	2	1	Medium	18	Katana	weapon @3		Tough		18	2	36
Dai-Bakemono	3	3	3	3	2	Heavy	27	Katana + wakizashi	weapon @3	3	Tough Budo@3	3	33	2	66
Tengu	3	3	3	3	2	Light	37	Katana + wakizashi	Yari @3	3	Acrobatic, Kenjutsu, fly, acrobatic		40	6	240
O-dengu	5	5	4	5	3	Light	52	Katana + wakizashi	Yari @3		Commander, Acrobatic, Inexorable, intuition, kenjutsu, fly		52	1	52
															394

South-East-Happy-Village-47 - a deserted village.

Chris and Jonathan had charge of a Samurai buntai. The Local Magistrate informed them that a Golden Statue of the Buddha had been abducted from a religious procession by some impious bandits. Chris and Jonathan's buntai were to investigate South-East-Happy-Village-47 (an abandoned farming village) to see if the Bandits had hidden the statue of the Buddha in its environs.

South-East-Happy-Village-47 has hills to the west and north, an old orchard to the east, a swamp to the south and an abandoned paddy field to the south-east. The orchard, swamp and paddy field count as light cover while the peasant huts are heavy cover.

The four bakemono had been left in the large house by the tengu. The tengu, themselves, were roosting in the northern end of the orchard, where they had stashed the Buddha, while digesting their meal of peasant. The stage was set, and the trap was baited.

The Samurai enter from the west and from the east

Chris' buntai approached the village from the north-west, while Jonathan's group approached from the west. Meanwhile, John's buntai approached from the east. Much to our surprise, and amusement, part of his buntai came on at the middle of of the orchard. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't see through to the northern end of the orchard, where the tengu were.

"What's that strange noise .... <gak>?"

With a flutter of wings, strange shapes dropped out of the trees around John's men.

"Tengu!"

Hearing the ruckus, Chris and Jonathan's buntai rushed towards the village. Chris' ashigaru archers pass by the north of the red house while Jonathan's men check the small, south-western house. One poor ashigaru is sent to check the old paddy field for hidden buddhas.

"Hey, guys? Guys? What's happening in there?"

Two of John's ashigaru archers cautiously approached the southern end of the wood, just as everything went strangely quiet.

"Hah! Those Samurai weren't much chop!"

At about this time, just as Jonathan's samurai were approaching the large house, four horrific figures burst out of a side door.

Two bakemono with yari and tetsuebo.

And two Dai-bakemono with naginata and katana.

Throwing themselves at the approaching samurai, the battle was vicious, and short.

Meanwhile, the tengu began to cautiously emerge from the orchard.

Realizing that the stupid bakemono had got themselves into trouble, two tengu were dispatched to assist them.

The tengu were too late, the hatamoto and his boys had already dealt with the impetuous, and hapless, bakemono.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Eat Otherworld Yari, humi ... ow!

One tengu was swiftly overcome, the other used his acrobatics to avoid being double-teamed by the samurai but was eventually caught and slain.

"Dagnammit! I knew we should have studied kyujutsu."

The tengu in the orchard now found themselves a little bit trapped. With archers firing at them whenever they came near the edge of the orchard, they eventually charged the archers and the leader of the buntai on the slopes of the northern hill - hoping to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by taking him out.

Which goes to show that even the best laid plans of goblins and men can often go awry. Victory to the humans.

All in all, a fun scenario and a fun game.

[IHMN] In Which the Blogger Receives His Meridian Miniatures Kickstarter Figures

A couple of days ago, my long awaited figures from the Meridian Miniatures Kickstarter showed up in the post.

While not at the highest level of support, I chose two infantry sets and a specialist set.

I also ordered a separate set of energy rifles - these will be Model 1895 Higgs-Rothersey ARC rifles.

The specialist pack for my level of support contains two officers - I wanted the great coat clad officers and troopers as I really like the painted examples on the Meridian Miniatures Kickstarter site. You can also see the head sprues for my infantry sets.

The first head sprue has diving-helmet-like heads.

The second head sprue has these vaguely guards-like crested helmet with breather mask.

I ordered two body types for my infantry - firing line ...

... and skirmishers. I intend to mix the two body types together. I intend to end up with one squad of infantry with the diving-helmet heads - troopers for Captain Nemo - and one squad of infantry with guards-like helmets - Okhrana troopers to be commanded by either Olga Petronova or Feodor Sonavavich.

I will remove the base slottas on these figures and mount them directly on washers, my preferred basing style, as I have done with other slotta base figures.

[IHMN] King of the Castle

The stars aligned, John finished painting his Lord Curr's Company, and we convened for another game of In Her Majesty's Name.

We elected to play a King of the Castle scenario - one player's company  defends a central site while the other companies attempt to winkle him out.

We each had a 250 point company and we decided to trial Chris' Campaign Rules. In this case, taking out an enemy leader was worth 5 Victory Points, taking out one of his companions was worth 2 VP and holding the objective - in this case the keep of the derelict fort - was worth 20 VP. All casualties in one's own company would make a pluck roll after the battle, rejoining the company immediately if exceeding Pluck; being out of action for a battle if just making their Pluck Roll; and being deceased or otherwise unavailable if failing Pluck.   

Looking north from Poxly village towards the ruins of Poxly Manor

And so we see the fields outside of the little village of Poxly. Selous' Scouts (Chris) have learned that a copy of  Livingston's Concordium - an account of an ancient treasure Doctor Livingston discovered during his quest for the source of the Nile - was hidden in the ruined tower of Poxly Manor. Descending upon Poxly, the Scouts have been digging in and around the ancient fort but, unfortunately for them, their activities have been noted.

The tower and part of the walls of Poxly Manor are medieval, but the manor was heavily modified during the Civil War

The Thule Society (Jonathan) believes that Livingston's Concordium contains the location of occult artifacts and have determined to seize this book for the greater glory of Prussia. Approaching from the west, they take up position behind the wood to the left of the fort.

The Society of Thule approach the manor through the wood

Meanwhile, Lord Curr (John) and his Incorrigibles have been dispatched by the Ministry to prevent a valuable historical document from falling into foreign and/or unscrupulous hands. Approaching from the north-east, they deploy amongst the orchards on both sides of the Poxly Brook.

Lord Curr and some of his men in the orchard beyond the Poxly Brook

Representing the aforementioned unscrupulous hands, Doctor Cornelius and his Most Excellent Company (your humble correspondent) approach from the south-west, amidst the old maze and folly of the manor house (and beside the village water tower which seems to contain a rather flavorsome red).

Cornelius' Most Excellent Company approach the Manor through the old Maze

Selous' men took up positions within the manor ruin, attempting to cover the approaches, and soon came under a withering fire from both the woods to the west, and from the orchards.

Selous' Scouts prepare to defend Poxly Manor

As the firing grew heavier, and casualties began to mount, one of Selous' marksmen and his medic managed to break out through the south gate and take cover near Poxly Village to the south-east. Cornelius' Company, while approaching the manor from the south-west, lacked the long-range fire power to prevent Selous' withdrawal.

As the Scouts fell back, the Society of Thule burst into the ruined manor through the north gate, even as Doctor Cornelius' men were sprinting towards the south gate. When one of the Jaeger climbed the old tower, Maxim Destroyevsky brought him down with a well-aimed shot. To his alarm, the dead Jaeger lurched into life as a todh-truppen and rushed to block the south gate.

Plucky Coleman, one of the Rotten Row Drainers, attacked the todh-truppen while the not so plucky Seamus O'Tipple ran away, screaming like a little girl.

Cornelius' Company assault the south gate, defended by a todh-truppen. Seamus O'Tipple flees to the left.

Seamus was able to redeem himself by sneaking up the west side of the Manor and gunning down a Jaeger defending the north gate, and the Society's leader, Von Stroheim. As Doctor Kobalt leapt to Von Stroheim's aid, Maxim Destroyevsky nailed him with a superb long range shot.

The demise of Von Stroheim removed his force field projecktor. This meant that Selous' marksman, firing from the trees near Poxly, was able to fell the todh-truppen guarding the south gate. Sprinting across the court yard, Lofty scaled the tower where he was soon engaged with Lord Curr and another todh-truppen. The todh-truppen was swiftly dispatched and the tower remained contested between Lofty and Lord Curr as time ran out and the authorities arrived.

A tense end-of-battle, but as the objective was in contention at the end of turn 12, no one side could claim the Victory Points for it. A fun game, and Doctor Cornelius' Company performed a lot better this time. After all ganging up on Chris, we all turned on Jonathan as the Society of Thule looked set to take the game. That left John and myself to contest the tower at the end.

In Which The Blogger Ponders the Future of the Blog

It has been nearly two months since I last posted an update here.

We haven't actually played a game of In Her Majesty's Name since I completed my Selenites. Instead, we've played several games of Ronin, a new Skirmish game from Osprey set in Feudal Japan, and I've started painting up a Buntai (Ronin-speak for a company).

Also, I've discovered a set of Fantasy battle rules from Two Hour Wargames called Rally Round the King, which I really like. As I really can't see myself doing Fantasy gaming in either 25mm or 15mm, I've decided to branch out into 6mm. This is likely to be a solo project as I can't really see my group wanting to get into another period. Fortunately, Rally Round the King has solo play rules.

So, what is to become of this blog? I'm thinking of expanding my gaming coverage to cover all three systems as starting up extra blogs seems like a dispersion of resources. The Endoscope will continue, but there will be other elements in it.

In Which the Blogger Shows Off Some More Figures

I had better luck with lighting and focus when I took some pictures tonight.

Ephraim is a member of the Rotten Row Drainers - a street gang who often provide muscle for Doctor Cornelius' Most Excellent Company. He's from the Irish Brawlers set from Brigade Games.

This is the Invisible Man, being invisible, from the Parroom Victorian Science Fiction range, also available from Brigade Games. The Invisible Man is part of the Extraordinary Personages 3 set. I have shown Doctor Griffith Hugh previously, which is the Invisible Man with his clothes on.

Obidiah is another member of the Rotten Row Drainers, and another member of the Irish Brawlers set from Brigade Games. He is armed with an old hanger or falchion he seems to have picked up in his travels.

From Eureka Miniatures Pirate Range, this chap is the Turkish Pirate Captain. Originally, he was going to be the Turkish Ambassador - one of a number of international figures drawn into the orbit of Doctor Cornelius. After watching a documentary about late Victorian Stage Magicians, I have decided this character is now Swami Yami - Master of the Mystical Mind Arts of the Mysterious East. I have since found that Swami Yami actually exists - on the Internet, anyway.

I follow Scott Pyle's Four Color Figures Blog and recently he announced that he was releasing some Bug Warriors through his little figure company, Aegis Figures. I took one look at the bug warriors and thought "Selenites".

With two head types, and two body types, and eight arm/hand/weapon types, every Selenite can be unique.

I ended up painting the Selenites three different body colours, both for variety and to represent different Selenite castes or nests.

These are great figures and I'm really glad I got them.

And here's a shot to give you an idea as to how large the Selenite/Bug Warriors are in comparison to a standard 28mm figure.

Now, I just have to point them up for In Her Majesty's Name.

In Which the Blogger Plays a Second Game of 'In Her Majesty's Name" Part 2

Last Saturday night, Jonathan, Chris and I got together for a second game of In Her Majesty's Name. John, in spite of being stricken by the lurgy, managed to join us as well.

Chris fielded Selous' Scouts, while Jonathan fielded a modified Society of Thule Company. John deployed Lord Curr's Company while I used a modified version of Cornelius' Most Excellent Company - as posted in my previous post.

After some brainstorming, the following scenario for our encounter emerged:

Mr Singh waiting outside his house on Water Tower Hill.

Mister Amadeus Singh, renowned amateur astronomer, has detected something most singular in the heavens. To fund further research, he has indicated that he is willing to impart this information in return for a suitable gratuity and four Adventuring Companies are striving to gain the Professor's information.

Looking north from the canal towards Mr Singh's house.

Selous' Scouts entered the field from the south-west, docking their river boat beside the Boras Warehouse,

The Society of Thule emerge from the mists by the canal.

while the Society of Thule came out of the canal to the east of the crane.

Looking south towards the canal.

Lord Curr's Company near the north-west house.

Meanwhile, Lord Curr's Company entered the field by the north-west house, near the Park.

Cornelius' Company cross the Old Barrow.

While Cornelius' Company came on behind the old barrow to the north-east, beside the Old Abbey.

Selous' Scouts advance across the rail lines.

Selous' Scouts pushed forward across the railway line, while their machine gunner kept watch from the roof of the Boras Warehouse.

The Society of Thule advance on the Striker Building.

East of the Scouts, the Society of Thule moved up around the Striker Building.

While Curr's Company advanced into the Park beside the Linus Building.

Doctor Cornelius and his Company close in on Mr Singh.

Two of the velocepedes (random steam-powered vehicles) nearly collide outside Mr Singh's house.

Coleman and Roger, the Two Rotten Row Drainers, take up position beside the water tower.

Maxim Destroyanevsky, the Anarchist Marksman, slips into the copse beside the water tower. From there, he downs one of the Society of Thule's Jaegers beside the Striker building, only for the corpse to be re-animated as a todh-truppen.

Selous' Scouts had to scramble quickly across the open ground around the twin railway tracks.

The Scouts then had to dash up the ridge to the Linus Building, even as Lord Curr's Company managed to scramble onto the roof, ahead of them.

Eventually, Selous' Scouts managed to force their way around the western end of the Linus Building, and picked off Curr's men on the roof.

The unofficial truce between Lord Curr's Company and Doctor Cornelius' Company came to an end when Lord Curr attempted to abscond with Mr Singh.

Moving rapidly to Mr Singh's assistance, Doctor Cornelius and Lofty, his Man, confronted Curr, Two-Gun Tess and one of Curr's Minions.

Cornelius' Company were also coming under heavy fire from the Society of Thule around the Striker Building. Both Maxim Destroyanevsky and Seamus O'Tipple where swiftly brought down, even though Maxim was able to pin Von Stroeheim, himself, briefly.

The Society of Thule began to push forward, crossing the road as another velocepede rattled towards them. One of Cornelius' Rotten Row Drainers moved to engage them. Doctor Kobalt, the Society of Thule's Occult and Technical engineer, used the Eye of Odin to peer through the water tower and fire on the other Drainer with his Arc pistol.

A brief battle raged around Mr Singh's house. Lofty Terrified Two-gun Tess, causing her to flee. But he was too quick for her. As he attempted to seize her, Lord Curr and Doctor Cornelius exchanged blows. Their confrontation was quickly cut short by a burst of fire from the Society of Thule's machine gunner, firing from the railway yard. Curr, Cornelius and Mr Singh were cut down by the deadly volley.

Singh's demise pretty much ended the battle - a victory for the Society of Thule on points - with the survivors of Curr's and Cornelius' Companies slipping away into the night.

Here's another photo on the water tower - made by Chris from cardboard. A truly impressive model.

All photos taken by me on my tablet under available light.