Update - Hail Caesar, Blood Angel stuff, and me being... somewhere

So, where on earth have I been? Well, not really anywhere, to be entirely honest. In all honesty, I just haven't gotten around to posting on here as nothing particularly special has happened as of late. Over the weekend however, I did actually achieve a few tabletop related things, so I have something to talk about! Hurray!

First off, a friend and I did a little practice game of Hail Caesar, a game which we've both been very interested in starting proper, but both lacking the necessary funds to do so meaning we've been unable to do little more than read the rules, hypothesize, and window shop to no end. We did, however, crack out some old Warmaster Ancients stuff, a few bits of scenery, and have a bit of a kick-about game.

English troops assault the French-held castle... apparently.

Image quality isn't amazing, as always, but don't fear! I've got that covered! (hopefully!)

This seems to be the only picture I actually took of the entire battle, although judging by my hungover state the following morning, it seems I did rather well remembering more or less what actually happened...

We quickly decided on two fairly similar forces; for me, 2 units of medium infantry with spear, a unit of archers, a heavy cavalry unit, and a small skirmisher unit, and for him, two more units of spear, an archer unit, another light unit with crossbows, and a unit of light cavalry.

Getting first turn, I firstly commanded all my units except my archers to advance through the treeline, to the position they hold in the picture. After that, I had the archers shoot at his equivalents, managing to inflict a casualty despite needing 6's for range and cover.

After that, the French shot at my two spear units, but otherwise held formation, biding their time. My turn again, I seized the initiative and committed my flanks to the fight, attempting a double pincer whilst moving my archers closer (I think) and holding my centre line against his whithering volleys of arrows and bolts. This quickly turned out to be a partially successful plan; the light cavalry counter-charged my skirmishers and forced them to break, killing them the following turn. On the other hand, my heavy cavalry successfully flanked his medium spears on the other flank and tied them up for a couple of rounds, before finally running them into the castle walls and destroying them. 

In the centre, my spear units took heavy losses and retreated, before rallying and leading a vicious assault on the French ranged units, and with my archer support totally destroying the bow unit and forcing the crossbows to retreat, where they were subsequently charged by the heavy cavalry and finished off. After that, the French spears showed impressive resilience and courage by attacking both of my spear units, breaking for a second time the rightmost unit and severely damaging my entire right flank.

Thankfully, my archers pulled through and managed to force his horses back, allowing my spears some breathing room to regroup and counter-assault the French incursion into my lines. One spear unit turned to face the new push from the French infantry, and managed to push them back with aid from the archers, whilst the other spears valiantly battled the light cavalry but were quickly repelled.

Things were now fairly close, with the English forces consisting of a heavy cavalry unit well out of position, two fully fatigued spear units, and a unit of bowmen, and the French side consisting of a soon-to-be-dead crossbow unit, a fully fatigued spear unit and another less damaged one, and a fairly-intact unit of light cavalry that had thus far been annoyingly resilient to most any attack I had levelled at it.

Another turn saw a gritty fight between a French and English spear unit, both fully fatigued and fighting for their lives, a miraculous three-move charge from the heavy cavalry into the rear of the other spear unit, and the combined onslaught of my second medium infantry unit and the archers not only break the French horses, but entirely destroy them!

After that, we called game, as it was getting on for 2am, and I'm not sure either of us really knew what we were doing any more. And so, as with all battles between the English and the French, we both claimed a decisive victory for our own army and went home.

After the game (two days after, to be precise) we both agreed that, despite omitting some of the more advanced rules and caveats, the core mechanics worked really well, and Hail Caesar is definitely a game I look forward to playing some more of in the near future! But, aside from the fun and games, I have actually been getting on with some proper wargaming work as well. As I'm sure many of you know by now, this month has been Games Workshop's month for releasing updates for an army very dear to my heart - the noble Blood Angels!

Over the course of the month, I've been assembling the various wondrous bits from my copy of Deathstorm - a fantastic value boxed set, especially by GW standards - and flicking through (the very last!!) set of datacards my store had left on the day of release. Although I haven't had a chance to personally ponder over the codex itself (and am therefore keeping all speculations to myself until such time as they may have proper basis) so far what I've read is very promising. That, and the new models - both released and those that will be released this coming weekend -  look FANTASTIC. I'm especially in love with the new Blood Angel specific terminator set - something the BA's have never had before - and I'm constantly considering expanding my 1st Company forces as well as the rest of my Blood Angels collection.

I'll be sure to get up some images of the stuff I've gotten done Blood Angels-wise in a following post, as it's far too dark to take any pictures of any quality at all, but rest assured I've been kept very busy so far! I've built up the Deathstorm stuff as per the datasheets provided, so that I can use the formation if I so choose - it seemed fairly useful at the very least - and I have more than enough Death Company to field less exotic squad loadouts the rest of the time. I had a great deal of fun building these guys, but that's all I'll be saying on them for now! But, until then, happy gaming!

-Mike

Call of Cthulhu | Characters - Enter the Frenchman

"Je vous remercie pour votre hospitalité, mon ami"

And with that, the Frenchman drew his revolver, and shot his host in the back of the head. He turned and walked through the door of that accursed cabin in the woods, never to return again to the site of horrors that even a hardened Chasseur Alpins could scarce bear.

Alois was a well-built man of average height, with a short, well-kept beard covering his rounded chin. A scar reached from below his left eye across his cheek to the back of his jaw, earned during a bloody charge on a German trench during the Great War. He had followed his father and become one of the elite Chasseurs Alpins since 1903, when he was a mere 19 years old, inheriting his father's old Chassepot rifle. In combat, he had proved himself as a cold and calculated fighter. He was a born leader of men, with a cunning mind for almost-suicidal tactics, executed with minute detail which resulted in devastating attacks, both in terms of physical enemy casualties as well as heavy tolls on their morale. By the end of the war, he'd reached the rank of Capitaine in the Chasseurs, and was renowned for his quick wit and even quicker blade.

Because he couldn't bear to see his homeland so badly decimated by war, Alois left his beloved France in 1921. Catching a ship to America with Boston in his sights, he had arranged to meet an American friend he had met during the war, by the name of Frankie Greenberg. However, upon reaching the address he'd been given through written communication, he found little but charred rubble. After enquiring at the local police station, he was woe to learn that just a week prior there had been a terrible fire at the building, which had regrettably claimed the life of his poor friend Mr. Greenberg. Explaining that Frankie's apartment had been the only place he could stay, the officer at the desk simply apologised but said that there was nothing he could do to help.

By 1925, Alois was a man down on his luck, living in the seedy part of Boston, and finding work where he could. Although not particularly tall, his otherwise-imposing frame lent itself well to petty gang-land activities, and he quickly gained the trust of several small-time gangs, as well as one of the Mafia families, The Saliaros, operating illegal liquor operations in and around Boston. He steadily took on more jobs for the Saliaro family, however as the Boston Police Department began to crack down more aggressively on bootlegging the work available to him steadily decreased.

It was the 15th of October, 1925, when Alois was almost arrested in a large-scale raid on the Saliaros' main distillery, orchestrated by the Boston PD working in tandem with federal agents from the US Department of Justice Bureau of Prohibition. Many of the Saliaro family members were killed, including the Don's brother and son, Agostino and Dino respectively. Posing as an undercover federal agent, he lead a small group of officers into a disused part of the distillery before suggesting he split up to search an area, and promptly making good his escape. Knowing he would be easily recognised, he left Boston and travelled to Arkham in an attempt to escape the law.

3 months later, Alois was captured by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and spent the next few weeks - in a cell, in an undisclosed building, in an undisclosed location - being interrogated for information pertaining to the Saliaro family. Only Alois and his interrogators know what was said and done in that room, but at the end of it, he was given a simple choice; take on work for the Bureau, or spend the rest of the Century in Boston High Security Prison.

It's now the middle of 1926, and already Alois has worked on several cases and taken part in multiple raids. Even though he's usually only contacted when the Bureau needs expendable field agents, he has quickly earned the trust of fellow agents, especially those in similar situations as himself. Lastly, although the Bureau isn't usually prone to accept refusals from their agents, they have wisely avoided employing Alois on cases related to the Saliaro family, as they are well aware he remains in regular contact with certain members. Perhaps they're just waiting for a better opportunity to take them on, and don't wish to burn any possible bridges they may later wish to make use of.

But wherever the Chasseur steps, trusty Chassepot bayonet in hand, crime and law alike shudders at the number of lives that sixty year-old blade has ended, because no matter who Alois works for, his only real loyalty is to France herself.

Well, I was a little bored and had some time on my hands, so I thought I'd combine two of my favourite pastimes - descriptive writing and creating characters. Alois is a character I thought up a few days ago, and have since idly expanded him and his background into what you see here. I was considering creating the appropriate Call of Cthulhu character to fit his background as, despite my great affection for the eclectic and eccentric Englishman, Lt. Tiddles, he's the only CoC character I have ever played as, and I'm considering introducing a new character into the group. (Well, another new one, we already have one new member to the group and someone else has started playing again, replacing a couple of regular players who are taking a break from roleplaying for a while.)

I hope this was an interesting read, and perhaps if the mood takes me I'll do more, or possibly expand a little more on Alois' life and history. But until then, happy gaming!

-Mike

Dungeons and Dragons | 3.5e - The Mystery of Aberdeen

Where we last left off, the party was just leaving the relative safety of their home village, Stonehouse, on an important errand for the chieftain Ural.

Travelling Northward, up the fairly beaten path to Aberdeen that runs alongside the river, the party encounter very little. Stopping to spend the first night about half way to their destination, they refill their waterskins from the fresh riverwater, and the druid notices something in the foliage at the side of the road. Upon investigating, he finds the thing that caught his eye - strangely, he discovers a glass bottle, with the words ABERDEEN BREWERY on the side, which he decides to keep as a useful container.

The rest of the trip to Aberdeen is uneventful, until finally the group reach the hill lying on the edge of the town. Upon it lies a small guard's hut... or at least should lie a guardhouse. The party arrives to find the hut inexplicably missing, nothing but the footprint of a building and a stone slab for an entrance to what once stood there. investigating the site a little more, the group turns up what appear to be two clues - a small bundle of primitive-looking flint headed arrows, and another glass bottle - this one with the words SERCTON ALE on the glass. Keeping the arrows and bottle, the party then looks down the hill toward the area where Aberdeen should lie, only to find it has suffered the same peculiar fate as it's little guardhouse - the entirety of the village is simply gone, leaving only the North-South road, with another road at it's centre heading West, and the imprints of places where buildings laid up until very recently.

With that, the group ventures into the town proper. After thoroughly combing the area, they find very little of any use; discovering only an entire lock mechanism from a large door with it's key, and small and delicately carved wooden box, and, much the the party's ire, yet another glass bottle. This glass bottle differs from the others in that it is stoppered and sealed, and is around half full of a pale blue liquid, and has the words FARROWGATE WINERY stamped on the side. Lastly, the party notice on the forested edge of the village a small shed which still stands.

Einki quickly recognises the locking mechanism as the craft of his father, and recalls that up until recently he had received several orders for mundane metalwork items from Aberdeen. Klaus decided to try and detect any local magic in the area, and is surprised when the lock, the shed, and the wooden box all glow dimly with magical energy - this being how the party discovered the latter two objects. Intrigued, they collect  the small carven box before heading over to investigate the shed. However, their examination is swiftly halted when they find the door firmly locked. Even Yal, with his mighty strength, is unable to force the door or break it's hinges. Meanwhile, Einki idly plays with his father's handiwork whilst mulling over the clues they have collected so far, and in doing so turns the key in the lock - to which the party hears two soft clicks.

Quickly opening the now-unlocked door, Klaus finds only more questions. The shed is filled with old, rusted tools, and is covered in a thick layer of dust denoting what must be a lack of use for decades at least. In fact, all the contents of the shed seem unsettlingly ancient. Just about to leave, he notices a small folded piece of paper impaled on a twisted old pitchfork, which he takes. Unfolding it reveals a troubling note -

"A sign of bigger things to come

Drink well my friends"

This sends a feeling of discomfort through all the party members, and they quickly retreat from the creepy shed, though not before closing and relocking the door using Einki's lock mechanism - from which he quickly removes the key. With that, the party finally look at the small carved box. Engraved by a master artisan, the box shows exquisite workmanship and must have been owned by someone of great wealth. This is further reinforced by the word carefully carved into the apparent lid of the box - Farrowgate. The same word as featured on the latest bottle the party found, the group quickly realises that this is the capital of the entire local region, a great and rich city much removed from the pitiful villages that encompass it's surrounding cities. Removing the lid reveals a miniature diorama, painstakingly constructed of tin and wire, of a tiny brewery. This is clearly a small piece designed to sit on it's side, with lid removed, to serve as a small artwork of some sort. However, it's discovery unsettles the entire party, as if it's presence is some kind of mocking joke. Whilst the rest of the party try to digest the wealth of information they have received and find a suitable location to make camp, Einki looks on in amazement at the tiny scene.

And as he stares in wonderment, an odd thought enters his mind. Because as he watches the small figures go about the work at the miniature brewery, he suddenly becomes disquietingly aware the those tiny workers appear to actually be moving, and working at their brewery.

And with that, the session ended, everyone around the table clearly forming ideas of some great conspiracy afoot, and I collected in the character sheets and other paraphernalia. And that's also where I'll leave this post - for the next D&D post will bring events up to date with the session due tomorrow night. Until then, happy gaming!

-Mike

A Tabletop Update!

So, once again I've failed to post much at all, although this time it hasn't been so much due to time constraints as content issues; insofar as I don't actually have anything to post about. This week, I haven't managed to get any games of... anything in, really, I ended up postponing the (probably penultimate) Dungeons and Dragons session I had planned on Wednesday, and I wasn't able to get to my gaming group for Friday for our Call of Cthulhu game in the evening. Furthermore,I've had some fairly bad luck with eBay sellers in that three out of four lots I've purchased this month have failed to materialise meaning I haven't even had much stuff to model.

I might be able to get a game or two in tomorrow, but as it stands I won't have a whole lot to talk about until next week. But now for the good news! Firstly, I have next week's D&D session planned, and it's going to take a lot to prevent me from running it after the distractions I've had for the past few weeks. This'll prompt me to make another post getting the story up-to-date so that by the next session, the blog is up to speed on the happenings so far. Secondly, I've got a couple of projects planned at the moment with tentative beginnings already, and despite the aforementioned setbacks due to evilBay, I'm still going to be going ahead with all of them. And finally, there is now a high possibility that I'll be getting an actual real life camera that works for Christmas, meaning that I can actually do nice looking battle-reports whenever I get games in! Huzzah!

Until then, that's it for now! I aim to get up at least one more post before Wednesday in the form of a D&D story update, and possibly more depending on what I have to talk about. But until then, happy gaming!

-Mike

Dungeons and Dragons | 3.5e - The Adventure Begins!

As the adventure stands, the party is in a bit of a tight spot at this particular moment in time. But more on that later, because for now, we have some catching up to do!

The adventure begins with our somewhat-intrepid heroes being corralled into the centre hall of their village, Stonehouse. As they are pointed out to a large, long table towards the back of the hall, they notice there is another table already populated by four others. Taking their seats at the indicated table, they begin to chat to one another, and Einki and Klaus grab themselves flagons of mead from the bar area at the back end of the hall. As they finish catching up, and making introductions as needed, the great chieftain Ural storms in, a look of anger upon him.

"You may wonder why I have gathered you all here at this particular moment, when you could instead be going about your normal business. Well, I've had you all deposited before me because I have a... task that requires completing, and you are the most suitable candidates for doing so. As some of you will probably already know, recently we lost contact with the town to the North, Aberdeen.
"Trade caravans due to come from there never arrived, and we heard no word from any messenger about the mystery. So, I took it upon myself to personally dispatch a trusted scout to visit Aberdeen and find out what he could about it's situation. The information he came back with was... more troubling than I had expected. He informed me that Aberdeen was no longer there. It has simply vanished."

Both tables were highly startled at this news, and a the Elf sat at the other table demanded that, if this were true, something had to be done about it. The others at his table nodded in agreement, whilst the party's table remained fairly quiet, intent on hearing out Ural more fully.

"Silence!
"Now, while I have no reason to believe that the information my scout has delivered is false, I want a party to head out and travel to Aberdeen. It's a mere 2 days from here as you well know. If my scout proves correct, and the village has indeed disappeared, your job is to find the people who belong to it. My scout didn't report any signs of battle or even bloody murder, so it seems that the inhabitants of the village were alive when they left the area.
"At this point, some of you may be wondering why there are two groups of you. Well, now would be a very good time for me to mention that there is a bounty out for whoever finds either the village or it's owners. That bounty is One Thousand gold pieces. Each. More than many of you will earn over several years of your lives. However, this Stonehouse isn't made of money, and therefore there is only one bounty that can be claimed by one group. Consider it a little... friendly competition.
"For those of you who have never been to Aberdeen, you simply follow the road North alongside the river. Even a brain-dead kobold could manage such a trip. So, you all have your task, I recommend you buy anything you may need from the town general store, and then get out of my sight! I don't want to see any of you again until you have some worthwhile news for me."

And with that, Ural left the great stone hall, as the two groups began discussing their plans for completing the task before them. As the other table got up to leave, Klaus sneakily cast a Grease spell at the front door, which resulted in the two Humans of the party slipping over as their Dwarf poorly disguised a chuckle, and the Elf glared at the party's table as if trying to discern the cause of this immediate mockery. For their part, the party simply sat and laughed as the others picked themselves up and left.

Not wanting to walk out through the now-Greasy door at risk of ending up like the others, the party instead decided to break and climb out one of the windows (???) by having Yal throw Einki through it. This resulted in:
- A very upset barkeep witnessing one of his windows getting completely smashed to pieces by a Dwarf-cannonball.
- Yal rolling a crit to make sure he didn't miss the window when throwing Einki through it, ending in the Dwarf being thrown so hard he sailed clean through the window and straight into another building on the other side, giving him a minor concussion.
- Klaus and the Druid following Einki and climbing out of the window after him, much to the chagrin of the now-bemused barkeeper.
-Yal then looking towards the back of the hall, noticing the back door, and leaving through that, leaving a highly confused barkeep and a small, unnecessary mess behind him.

With that, the party headed to the store to stock up on provisions, rations and the like, before finally leaving Stonehouse and heading North, with Aberdeen firmly in their sights!

As I'm not a fan of overly-long posts, I'm going to leave it at that and finish the catch-up in the next D&D post, leaving the post after that free for the latest action as it unfolds! Until then, take care, and happy gaming!

-Mike

Call Of Cthulhu - A trip to New Mexico!

Intrepid adventurers, eccentric scientists, and brave soldiers, all men probably willing to dive head-first into a world beneath the one we perceive as normal. However, more often than not, it isn't these such people who find themselves thrust into the eldritch unknown, but more likely just the incredibly naive or unlucky, those who have displeased the gods that be so much that they are karmically punished with exposure to the things that most of mankind is blissfully unaware of. Many such people are often drawn in entirely unknowingly, usually due to investigating something comparatively innocent, or even in some cases "normal."

One of these such investigators is the charming-yet-slightly-bonkers Lt. Tiddles Kenneth Alexander Hamilton II. An Antiquarian and collector of questionable heritage, and a tall but somewhat-slender man of 34, he is never seen in anything less than a fitted suit and his trademark bowler hat. Originally having owned an antique shop in a small town somewhere in Yorkshire which had, amongst other historical pieces, a large amount of militaria - this being the area of antiques in which he shows the most interest, his education shows he possesses a degree in Ancient Occult from Oxford University, although any information on his earlier life he chooses not to disclose. He was called up during the Great War, and served for 3 years firstly as a supplies transporter, and then as a frontlinesman where he quickly gained distinction and promotion, and fought with valour for his country. As his apparent interest in militaria may suggest, he is a great collector of firearms of every ilk - the more unusual and rare, the better. 

This pattern of collecting has continued even after the apparent arson of his antique shop during his investigation of local rumours of hoodlums in the local graveyard in connection with the then-recent attacks and murders of lone individuals in the night. After meeting several like-minded individuals during the investigation, and unearthing, and indeed experiencing, evidence the likes of which the mind boggles to comprehend, and of course the burning down of his shop to boot, he decided to end his career as a full time antiquarian and instead turn his attentions to investigation and removal of all things that may threaten the sanity of those less mentally sturdy than himself.

The ex-Lieutenant now has several cases under his belt, each somewhat more harrowing and dark than the last. He has taken to wearing a specially-tailored overcoat to hold the many handguns he carries, which are partly for comfort and partly as he enjoys marvelling at the rare side-arms he is able to employ. Whilst most of his inquests have taken place in England, and indeed mostly near his birthplace of Yorkshire, his line of work has inevitably taken him to several exotic places. Most recently he travelled with his fellow investigators to a small Italian island, to aid the Duke of said island in resolving an issue he was having in which many of the vessels travelling to and from it were inexplicably lost at sea. At this current point in time, he finds himself deep in the wilderness of New Mexico in a small mining town, investigating the apparent murder of an associate's friend of a friend. Having met this long time pen-pal correspondent at Miskatonic University beforehand, and formed a fast friendship with him, they have all travelled down to the fairly isolated town in order to inquire into recent events that may have some relation to the most recent untimely death.

That's where I'll leave it for today, a quick biography of my CoC character and a teaser for the adventure that we are currently a few sessions in to so far. I'll continue this series with a catch-up on the events as they stand in the current adventure over the weekend, after our next session. Until then, happy gaming!

-Mike

P.S. Sorry for the long time between posts so far. I've been very busy with a big upcoming deadline for my college work, however as of this weekend I will be done with it and free to post a lot more, as I had originally intended. Peace!

40k | Dark Eldar - More raiders for Commorragh!

Finding myself heavily burdened with work the past couple of weeks, this weekend I decided to spend some of my spare time sitting down and getting some models assembled. This is probably my favourite part of the hobby for me, perhaps even in front of gaming itself - I find it highly relaxing to sit back in a comfy chair and hack my fingers to bits with a sharp knife, inevitably spilling poly cement everywhere, and somehow end up with half decent models at the end.

First of all, as I already talked about, I've started working on some Ancient Germans for use in various historical tabletop systems. Whilst they aren't the most detailed plastics I've ever seen, they are definitely enjoyable to assemble while watching some rubbish or other on the computer. I'll make a full post (with maybe a bit of a review on the models themselves) once I've gotten them all built and have the time to look them over properly - for now, I'm just modelling them as a means to unwind from stress.

Secondly, I finally got around to assembling some of the final dregs of my current Dark Eldar collection. This consisted of a box of Wyches, 5 Hellion Riders (their skyboards have long been used rider-less) A finecast Lelith Hesperax, and a couple of kitbashed Succubi. Again, I apologise for the poor picture quality - I'm definitely going to be investing in a decent camera after Christmas (assuming I don't get one for the event itself)

The pair of Succubi are made quite simply from the venom crew (the ones that hold on to the wings) given various arms from my bits box - two Scourge arms, a Raider crew weapon, and a converted Archite Glaive using a Hellglaive and a Razorflail arm - and then balanced on a piece of leftover sprue which will end up being part of a bunch of rubble on the base.

Next post will likely be about Call of Cthulhu (our last Friday session was sadly cancelled at the last minute) so be sure to stay tuned for that! Until then, happy gaming!

-Mike

Update time - one hectic week later!

Well, it's certainly been a busy week for me, and one in which I just haven't found the time to blog, or even partake in the hobby itself all that much. However, after a long week of work, I've finally gotten the time to sit down and write.

So, what have I been up to this week? Well, I've managed to get some Dark Eldar guys built for my army, got a couple of games of Saga in on Wednesday, and have had both D&D and CoC cancelled on me. I was hoping to post up a battle report for the second Saga game, but sadly due to time constraints and a very angry phone that didn't want to upload pictures, it never happened. I might attempt to upload the pictures again tomorrow when I have the time as it was a cracking game, so we'll see!

Tonight, in order to unwind after a fairly stressful week, I've gotten my mitts on some Wargames Factory Ancient Germans that I'm going to spend the evening assembling whilst watching some batreps on the good old internet. I picked Ancient Germans as they will work equally well for Saga and Hail Caesar - being included in the starter set of the latter - so expect to see them fairly often once I've gotten them built (and perhaps requisitioned myself a superior camera!)

Until then, happy gaming!

-Mike

40k | Deathwing - A new army, for a variety of reasons

So, I haven't really talked about wargaming much at all so far on this blog, which is somewhat ironic as that's the reason I started it in the first place. So in this post, I'm going to talk a bit about my newest current project - a Warhammer 40k Deathwing army.

About a fortnight ago, I decided that I really needed to get my painting into gear. Like many other wargamers, the number of unpainted models I own far outweighs the number of painted ones, however my collection is a little worse than most others in that regard. You see, I actually dislike painting a great deal, and from a gameplay perspective I find no problem in fielding the classic grey plastic or spray undercoated armies that I've become fairly well known for locally. But deep down, my vast collection of unpainted minis has always troubled me. And so it was that I decided that something had to be done about it.

And so in step the Deathwing. An army based on (very) low model count, like the Grey Knights, and with a paint scheme that - while not overly complicated - is fairly easy to mess up. Count in the fact that I can pick up a Deathwing Terminator squad from Dark Vengeance for a mere £9 off eBay - as opposed to the 35 quid that Games Workshop sells the boxes for - and as a result I find I've come upon the perfect army to finally flex my underused painting muscles without bankrupting myself, and at the end of it having a pretty good army that I can use fairly effectively and most importantly have fun with.

Not only will they be serving as my painting impetus, the Deathwing are also going to be acting as my crash-course in magnetising models. It's not something I've done before, as I haven't really found the need to do so - big models like Dreadnoughts have arm tabs to push the arms on to, and I know what I want from Tactical Marines and the like in terms of equipment so I've built them with the wargear I always give them. However, the Terminator-armoured warriors of the 1st company offer me a good opportunity with which to experiment, both with wargear combinations and of course with magnetising such items on the models.

On the tabletop front, I've had a couple of proxy games with them so far, and I like their playstyle; turn 1 appear in the enemy's deployment whilst your mate asks why you bothered setting up a full 6x4 table for the battle. It's not a tactic that always works, but then again, what tactic does? I'm not looking for a super competitive army - my Chaos boys have that covered, an army with which I've only ever lost 2 games since 7th edition came in.

And so, I have myself a shopping list, which currently stands as
- 3x 5 man Deathwing Terminator squad - DV models most likely.
- 3x Deathwing Terminator boxes - from which I'll be making a Command squad, 8 Deathwing Knights, a Terminator Librarian and, of course, Belial himself.
- 3x Venerable Dreadnoughts along with;
- 3x Drop Pods - both of which will be for practising vehicle painting techniques, and also because Dreadnoughts are fun and offer some variety from Terminator-only lists.
- Appropriate paints - I've read/watched quite a few painting tutorials, and I have a pretty solid paint scheme planned out for the Deathwing guys, although the vehicles will require a little more improvisation.

I also have a couple of DV Terminators which I'll probably be using for test models, along with a very old and fairly haggard plastic Dreadnought which probably needs retiring from my Blood Angels by now. The next update for these guys will probably come when I have enough models in the process of building to show off! Until then, happy gaming!

-Mike

Dungeons and Dragons | 3.5e - Post one

I'd like to start off by first of all apologising for the abysmal name of this post. Would it not be better to name it after the campaign I'm currently running, as that's what this series will be about? Well, I don't have a name for it yet. What about the world in which it takes place? Nope, still not got anything suitable for that either. If there's one thing I'm completely dreadful at, it's coming up with names. This is most likely due to my general inability to make decisions or be decisive in any way, as I want any name I come up with to be the absolute perfect name, and won't accept anything else unless it's been literally months, and I'm still stuck for a name for something that desperately needs one.

But, I digress. With that out of the way, let me get to the core point of this post - introducing the aforementioned D&D campaign, the characters currently within it, and I may in later posts divulge some of the rich history of the world - history that I usually to end up completely fabricating on the spot.

The starting location for the whole thing, and also the residence of the majority of the PC's, is the small, quaint, bit-of-a-dump backwater fishing village that the players quickly named as Stonehouse - a name that, sadly, stuck immediately. Made up of a scattering of hovels, a blacksmith's, and a general goods shop, in the centre of Stonehouse lies it's namesake - a large stone mead hall that pre-dates the rest of the village, the history of which none seem to know. The whole village lies on the Western bank of a large, slow-flowing river running from South to North. The responsibility of running the village falls to a man known as Ural - a towering bear of a man, standing at a full 6'3" and built like a Orc chieftain, although his parentage is indisputably human.

It is in this village that four unlikely heroes show themselves - or rather get manhandled into completing a very simple chore for Ural, with the assurance of an almost unimaginable reward upon it's completion.
First of all is the village blacksmith - a stout dwarf with a bad sense of humour and an even worse drinking problem, Einki Loderr inherited his father's smithy in Stonehouse and has worked there ever since, making tools and arms not only for Stonehouse itself, but also for a couple of the nearby villages and even the nearby town of Sercton, the capital of the locale.
Next, there is the somewhat-Germanic Elven sorcerer Klaus - Einki's drinking partner and local annoyance, often using his many cantrip spells to confuse the other poor residents of Stonehouse, and never beyond using others for his own gain.
Then there's the dimwitted but well-meaning half-Orc, Yal-Grob-Shaft - the person most centred on the current objective of the quest, whilst ironically also the most stupid and the one who most often causes plans to go awry. He's also a favoured target of Klaus' devious tricks and pranks, much to his annoyance.
Finally, the party is rounded off by a Druid - another Elf, but one who lives a much more solitary life in the thick woods bordering Stonehouse, living off the land and well known for his incense and smoking herbs which he can bring up from the very earth itself.

That is the party as it stands - a fairly motley crew of fools who thus far have done very little save manage to get themselves caught up inside an Orcish stronghold - but that is a story for another post, in which I will explain the actual adventure the party finds itself on!

Until then, take care, and happy gaming!

-Mike

Roleplaying - The winter, a time for late night gaming, and the basics for running roleplaying adventures.

So, it's fast coming to that time again, the clocks have gone back, the nights are longer and colder, and people tend to be feeling a bit more... "meh." So, what better a way to occupy your nights than to have a few friends over, find some clear space, and roll some dice? It's easy to shut yourself away over the long winter evenings, but it's always good to socialise, whether you're wargaming, roleplaying, or even just sitting and chatting.

For me, that's what winter is all about. Recently, my roleplaying group has decided to get back together after a half-year break and we'll be commencing with a Call of Cthulhu adventure - a group favourite - in order to get back into the swing of things. I'm also currently running a D&D 3.5e adventure for a few friends at my local wargaming club, which thus far has gone very well, much to my relief, as I haven't DM'ed for quite some time!

I'll be giving out the backstory of our CoC group in a later post, and then probably posting updates when interesting things happen in our current adventure, which officially starts tomorrow night. My next post will likely be addressing my current Dungeons and Dragons adventure, what the party has encountered so far, and thereafter probably session-by-session updates, most likely out late Wednesday evening once the game is over for the night and it's all still fresh in my head!

And that leads me quite nicely into the second part of this post - A few basic tips and ideas for would-be DM's who want to run an adventure but perhaps aren't totally sure how.

Firstly, tackle working out who your Player Characters are. In my opinion, this should be done BEFORE your get to your first allotted play session - rolling up characters can often take up far more time than you'd expect, and it's best to work in backstories when you're creating characters with your players so that you know who they are just as well as they do. Backstories aren't always necessary, and some players will simply omit them, but that's alright. All they do is give you more things to work into the narrative of your story, and therefore help your present better encounters to your players.

Secondly, introducing the PC's to one another can often be a pain, and can easily lead to boring, crowbarred-in meetings or awkward sessions where the Player Characters feel they don't know anyone. Normally, I find that it's best to force the players together for one reason or another, and then let them do the legwork in deciding how they know one another - or whether they know each other at all! For example, in the D&D adventure I'm currently running, all of the PC's were new characters, and therefore didn't have any adventures done with each other. I decided to introduce them by having them all invited (read: told to go by the guards) into the main hall of their village, and then plonked on a table together and allowed them to decide how they knew each other whilst I prepared the actual start of the adventure. As it was, the village blacksmith worked out that he probably knew everyone, whereas the druid ended up just passing through town and accidentally ending up in the main hall, and hence didn't know any of the others but decided to adventure with them after they all introduced themselves.

Finally, work out what the actual adventure is, and what the PC's incentive is to attempt it. Incentive can often be as simple as moral obligation or material reward, but you can be as creative as your want here - your players are unlikely to completely decline the adventure since they've taken the time to create characters and come to the first session, and will probably just attempt to haggle a better outcome/prize/whatever out of the quest giver before embarking upon their enterprise. The adventure is essentially what you have planned out for the party to do. The overall adventure needn't be incredibly complicated - for new players it's often best to have a "Go here and clear out the goblin raiders attacking our village" type quest so that both they and the DM can get to grips with the system as well as the other party members - just make sure they don't get killed! However, if your quest does indeed have a great plot twist or something of the sort - be sure to keep it a secret, and don't make it apparent until it's happening! That way your players will hopefully be swept up in your cunningly crafted adventure, and a good time will be had by all!

I hope this will be of some assistance to any budding DM's out there, and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to leave a comment below, and I'll either reply, or tackle it in a later post on the subject! Happy gaming!

-Mike

An introduction to the blog - for you, the reader, and me, the blogger.

So, I suppose first of all, some introductions are in order. Sadly, I'm not too good at this sort of thing, so this may be a little on the short side. 
I'm a 19 year-old college student in the United Kingdom, studying Interactive Games Design. During most of my spare time - and indeed most of the time when I should be working - I tend to be looking at shiny models and spending my imaginary money, reading through whatever book has currently taken my fancy, or writing something that tends to be completely irrelevant to my current assigned work.

More often than not, however, I'll be sat around with some mates pushing small plastic soldiers around a table and throwing dice at each another, and this is where I find myself most at home. This is what the focus of this blog will be about, although I'm sure I'll inevitably digress at some point. 

The tabletop games that I'm playing at the moment are:
- Warhammer 40k
- Saga
- Bolt Action
- Dungeons and Dragons 3.5e
- Call of Cthulhu
- Hail Caesar (still learning)

These are the games I'm most likely to be talking about in future posts, although I'll rule nothing out as I like to at least try a few games of a system before I decide whether I like it or not. I'm also an avid modeller and a still-learning painter, so expect to see plenty of pictures of both my own work, and various battle reports. I'm hoping to pick up a new camera fairly soon, so the earliest pictures may be a little dodgy, but bear with me!

So, if you're a fan of any of these systems, or just want to follow a new blog, feel free to stick around! I'll probably make another proper post either tonight or tomorrow, or maybe even both, so keep 'em peeled, and welcome to Another Haphazard Tabletop Blog!

-Mike