Orc's Drift - The Grand Finale

[Thantsants]

Never played citadel of chaos Erny! I'll take your word for it. You got the Lizard King ones right and the one you didn't know is the Trolltooth Wars - good read but its a novel rather than a gamebook.

Rob - think you're right about it being a niche market, although Otherworld's lizardmen and other D&D nasties have been getting rave reviews - just have to market them as general monsters!

[rob_alderman]

Hahahaha! I am no Paul bloody Muller though!!! 

[Thantsants]

Right next batch up - the Bowmen of the Linden Way militia - cheers for the halfling Rob, thought I'd include him for a laugh  (the dwarf you sent me has joined Chardz's engineers - more later!)

Rejigged the militia slightly - a few of the minis I procured from various places weren't peasanty enough so they represent a few regulars left behind as advisors and liaison officers with the emergency guard of citisens levied in nearby Meledir as the Linden Way garrison commander took the rest of the unit to meet the Goblin threat further south near Ortar.




















I'm afraid your old halfling has hung up his dungeoneering boots and joined up with the militia Rob! 

Next up more militia!

http://teasgettingcold.blogspot.com/2010/06/sixty-we-dropped-at-least-60-wouldnt.html

[phreedh]

Nice update! I really like the archer with the red hood.

[Delaney]

Me too.  Lovely stuff.

(I did mine in green, think I will have to pick up another and go red- however he is from Dungeonquest so sometimes is a bit expensive to grab on ebay!)


You know, I would love to see a long shot of your whole gaming table- it looks like you have some seriously cool scenery.

[Thantsants]

Thanks fellas!

Don't really have a gaming table setup as such at the moment its a bit of a moveable feast! These pics are little setups on my desktop using lots of freestanding terrain pieces and the mountain backdrop. When I come to finally play the damn thing I'll be using a big grass mat, the card buildings and the vacuum formed Amera hills and walls! Got some roads and rivers too but they need some work yet.

Took some shots of a larger setup with the gaming mat when I was painting up an old elf warband - should give you some idea of what I'm aiming at! Can't remember if I posted them here or on the blog before but here they are-











This was actually set up on the floor - disaster nearly struck when Branston, my 2 year old chocolate labrador decided he'd investigate!



I'll be doing a lot more of those little bushes - good for defining the boundaries of woods and breaking up the big expanses of bare grass and making terrain pieces blend in a bit more. Also got a load more trees to finish, fancy having a go at a wooden palisade for the Wood Elf garrison at Kachas Pass, need loads of mealie bag walls, hedges, and improvised barricades for Orc's Drift - so plenty more to come!

[rob_alderman]

Lovely stuff, I love what you've done with my Halfling adventurer! Good show.

Ace wood elves too. 

I wanna see my dwarf! 

[Thantsants]

Cheers Rob - afraid you'll have to wait for the dwarf - got 20 more militia to paint up first - Mayor Leofwine has no-one to shout at! 

[dinohunterpoa]

Thanks Dinohunter - I have the card buildings ready (cheers for the tip though) and waiting plus a few ideas for some makeshift barricades and mealie bag walls at Orc's Drift - would be nice to have some more substantial buildings with interiors (to recreate the invasion of the hospital possibly!). I'll just have to see how the budget is going by then!

Believe me, you're going to need the big hospital building with the interior; things get really ugly and bloody when the orcs start smashing thorught the windows! And don't forget the pacients!

 
Currently painting up the archers for the Linden Way militia as I'm waiting for the last few levies to wend their way through the post...

I've already seem them, great job! And I also liked the militia's storyline you've put toghether, and the halfling farmer of course!

 
Looking at getting hold of the 2nd ed rules - can you remember how you modified them?!

We added the skills and potions from WFRP (1st Ed, of course) and put some more detail into the combat rules (such as weapons details and TO HIT modifiers) ending up with a ruleset much like a "Mordheim RPG". 

In the big hospital final fight (yep, we had a very big hospital model) the WFRP Movement rules from the "Oldenhaller Contract" scenario (from the rulebook) were very handy for a memorable rooftop chase!

   

[Thantsants]

That sounds brilliant! I can see it now - the defenders desperately dragging their comatose comrades from room to room fending off orcs and trying to escape the blazing fire that is consuming the building!

So WFRP 1st ed goes on the shopping list! Probably need to read properly through the Mordheim ruleset before I go spending more money!! 

I do like the idea of zooming into key moments of the battle and doing them in more detail. Looks like I'll have to do a bit more reading...

One idea for room to room combat I've had is to make a little base for the card buildings with a bit of furniture inside and position of doors and windows marked, so once combat moves inside I can lift the card building off, revealing said base/floorplan for a clear view of the action.

[dinohunterpoa]

That sounds brilliant! I can see it now - the defenders desperately dragging their comatose comrades from room to room fending off orcs and trying to escape the blazing fire that is consuming the building!

You can made your own house rules for models carrying their injured fellows! As a modelling project, take a look at http://www.bugmansbrewery.com/topic/27961-dwarf-stretcher-bearer-conversion/
for inspiration (much like the OOP Citadel FTD14 Dwarf Stretcher Party)

I remember that we used simple "card stretchers" at that time with great results as well! 

So WFRP 1st ed goes on the shopping list! Probably need to read properly through the Mordheim ruleset before I go spending more money!! 

I do like the idea of zooming into key moments of the battle and doing them in more detail. Looks like I'll have to do a bit more reading...

I think that the more time you spent planning and preparing your games, the more fun you have in the end! Being able to give more details to key moments of the battle are very important for the players that really like to roleplay their characters, and it also seems more fair in some situations. In BBAOD game with had 10 players around the table (and it was GREAT FUN!) 

One idea for room to room combat I've had is to make a little base for the card buildings with a bit of furniture inside and position of doors and windows marked, so once combat moves inside I can lift the card building off, revealing said base/floorplan for a clear view of the action.

Yep, this works. But for my taste, nothing beats a 3D model! Scratchbuilng your own hospital from card and foamcore is not very complicated and can be VERY rewarding (and addictive as well, be warned!) You can use the card buildings as templates, or just cut the walls segments and glue them in the foamcore (making the buildings sturdier); interior walls can either be done with foamcore or with heavier card. Check this out for inspiration: http://www.hourofwolves.org/?view=articles&which=buildingThePony
(the gallery is just great!)

Like this guy form the above link, we like to make the bases/floorplans of our buildings in 1" grids to make inside movement easier; this can be achieved by the disposition of the floor slabs/plankings. Take a look at a WorldWorks Games set called "Pubbs & Inns" for simple but effective paper inside walls, floors and furniture!     

[dinohunterpoa]

Scroll down to the bottom of this page for a nice OOP Citadel peasant militia and civilians (from "Blood In The Streets")

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169601&page=8

[Luckyjoe]

More great stuff! I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Luckyjoe

[Thantsants]

Cheers Joe!

Thanks for all the great links Dinohunter - like the sound of your stretchers I'll check the dwarfs out when  I've a bit more time - got two carts for Ferndale to transport his wards to safety on but hadn't thought of stretchers - they were going to be dragged unceremoniously!  Been sourcing some casualty minis to join this fellow -he was dead but I converted him to alcoholism!



Definitely agree with you on the planning - its been in the back of my mind that after all this hard grind the fun gamey bit is going to last a very short time comparatively - anything that will spin it out in an enjoyable manner has got to good!

Mind you I need some like-minded souls to play with - this is fast getting past the stage where I could get the wife to humour me and play a few quick scenarios! Must check out my local club or should I go down to my local GW store and see if I cn give anyone a history lesson! 

As for building projects - I do have some foamboard or whatever its called from a stalled Dr Who project - it was going to be a factory but antenociti's workshop seemed to be out of stock of brick textured sheets to clad it with so it never got built...

The 1" grid system sounds good - you've given me a lot of food for thought! 

[dinohunterpoa]

you've given me a lot of food for thought! 

That's the idea! 

Please, keep is informed - with lots of pictures, of course!