Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (undead warband for Mordheim)

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, both!

Here's an ancient lump of lead - a two-headed broo from the old Citadel range. He's a curious creature, with his heads alone combining elements of antelope, crocodile and wolf. I've gone for "antelope" as the dominant element in the colour scheme.

[Mo!]

Wow  what great stuff!!!

[Hobgoblin]

Cheers!

Here's something that could be an unusual broo, or a god, or a time-traveller trapped in some Hyborian tower ...

(Horrible photo as ever - I'll try to get him in daylight tomorrow).

[Hobgoblin]

Here's the growing broo gang - plus their more modern equivalents.

[Hobgoblin]

And, for good measure, some of the goblins the broo may be facing in a game of SoBH this evening.

The green-armoured goblin on the far left (from the old Dungeon Monster box set) is one of my favourites of this lot, especially the face. But I can never get him to come out decently in a photograph, alas ...

[Vermis]

That's a funky elephant-man! I can imagine it in a tower, having a chat with an itinerent barbarian. Nice work on that.

[King Arthur]

Thanks, both!

Here's an ancient lump of lead - a two-headed broo from the old Citadel range. He's a curious creature, with his heads alone combining elements of antelope, crocodile and wolf. I've gone for "antelope" as the dominant element in the colour scheme.

 

Damn, do you know how rare the 2 Headed Broo is!!!! I have never seen one painted nor have I ever seen an example outside of the Collecting Citadel Miniatures wiki! What a treasure you have 

[manic _miner]

 A great collection you have there and very well painted too.

 Spotted two of the old Broo in my display case and two Ducks.

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks!

King Arthur, I have the four-armed broo (a better figure, I think) on the painting table at the moment ...

From memory, the two-headed broo from the "Attack of the Broo" boxed set was in wider circulation. There was also a Trish Morrison beastman with a flattened head that used the body of the two-headed broo.

[Hobgoblin]

My kids and I played a game of ASoBH last night, pitting a beastman gang against a pack of orcs for control of a hill on which grew a malevolent, sentient pumpkin, pulsing with the raw stuff of chaos.

I wanted to try two warbands from extremes of the spectrum, so the beastmen/broo were close-combat monsters (and all Personalities under ASoBH rules - normally limited to half the total points), while the orcs were mainly rabble (the Rabble trait in SoBH means that you are put out of action/killed if you are beaten on a dice roll, rather than being knocked down or pushed back) but with four crossbowmen.

The sides were as follows:

Beastmen
Elephant Man: Q3; C4; Leader, Tough (100 points)
Hyena Man: Q4; C4; Heavy Weapon, Savage (41 points)
Two-headed Broo: Q3; C3; Combat Master (50 points)
Broo with Mace: Q3; C3; Block, Bludgeon (48 points)
Goat Man: 27; Q4; C3; Savage (27 points)
Minotaur: Q4; C4; Big, Dashing, Group Fighter, Savage (48 points)
Total: 314 points

Orcs
Orc Leader: Q3; C3; Leader, Heavily Armoured, Expert Block (78 points)
Bugbear: Q4; C4; Big, Bludgeon, Block (48 points)
6 x Orc Rabble: Q4, C3; Rabble (@15, so 90 points)
4 x Orc Crossbowmen: Q4, C3; Rabble, Crossbow (@26, so 104 points)
Total: 320 points

The game was terrifically entertaining. I know that some dislike the ASoBH reaction rule, but I think it does wonders for keeping everyone involved in the game and - more importantly - for simulating simultaneous action. In that respect, I really like the fact  that the "reactions" needn't have anything to do with the characters that roll failures (so you might roll a failure when activating someone on your baseline, which leads to a character advancing on the far side of the table); it's simply a neat mechanism for breaking up the turn sequence.

A big change from basic SoBH is that certain missile weapons are much more powerful - crossbows in particular. My son's beastmen paid the price for being contemptuous of the orc crossbowmen as they advanced, with the result that the two-headed broo was pin-cushioned before he could put his Combat Master trait to use. I split the orcs into a combat group with the bugbear and the crossbowmen. I kept the leader dashing between the two to give orders. The beastmen, now wary of the crossbowmen, charged into the orc fighters - but this allowed the crossbowmen to kill the other broo and the goatman by outflanking them.

As the fighting grew fiercer and the orc rabble began to crumble, the leader scuttled off to join the crossbowmen in the centre of the table. By this point, only the minotaur and the elephant man were left standing on the other side (after shrugging off various morale checks), but the bugbear and six orc rabble were slain. The surviving orcs had been scattered by morale tests following the loss of more than half their number, but regrouped and began to reload.

We then had a very tense moment when the minotaur broke from behind the cover of the ruins to charge the orc leader. The leader was a fair distance away, but the minotaur was armed with the Dashing trait, which gives a free attack after a charge. So if he could get there in three moves, he could still attack. But a failure would give a chance for a shot or for the leader to retreat. In the event, three successes allowed him to charge in, giving a Dashing attack on the leader, along with the +1 Ambush bonus. Sadly for the minotaur, though, he only managed to knock the orc leader down. Next turn, the leader stood and issued a group action, which allowed the minotaur to be swarmed with more orcs than his Group Fighter ability could deal with. Outnumbered four to one, he was struck down by one of the rabble crossbowmen - an ignominious end!

His elephantine leader advanced to avenge him, but the numbers were now overwhelming. Not even the Tough trait could save the betrunked chaotic from what would otherwise have been a Gruesome Kill but was merely a game-clinching out-of-action result.

[Hobgoblin]

My orc-variegation project continues. After the blue devils of a few weeks back, I thought I'd swallow my pride and try a green one. After all, these aren't Tolkien's orcs. (That said, this chap could probably just about pass for "sallow" - but then there's his height, size and - horror of horrors - crossbow!)

[Argonor]

I seem to have missed this thread until now.

Very nice collection, and also very refreshing to see your choice of colours!

[beefcake]

Great work. Still loving watching this thread (despite my lack of responses )

[Reed]

It's not a radiactive green, so we will forgive you. But the crossbow is a totally different matter.

[DeafNala]

You've added some BEAUTIFUL pieces since last I visited your thread...all are done in your SPLENDID style. VERY WELL DONEas always!