Thistlewood - The First Warhammer Scenario

 So the Journey Begins...

Cover by Gary Ward

As is probably apparent from my blog I like to have multiple projects on the go and often have significant gaps between bursts of activity on a project. I came across the Thistlewood scenario in an old White Dwarf  (Issue 45 - September 1983) whilst looking for the Faerie articles in White Dwarf as background reading for my Fae army. As far as I can tell this was the first Warhammer scenario published in White Dwarf and before Tabletop Heroes was introduced (see previous blog article). Written by Joe Dever using Warhammer 1st edition rules. 

A picture of Joe Dever's figures in action
from the WD article. 

The scenario centres around a thief Foro Malas who stole the legendary golden chalice of Landemar  from King Amias. Suitably annoyed, King Amias gives chase with an elite portion of his army. The army catches up with him at Thistlewood but King Amias is not the only one looking for the chalice. So is Lord Vassago, a necromancer of ill repute plus his undead hordes and goblinoid lackeys. So the scene is set with both armies looking for Foro Malas at Thistlewood.

The scenario is set out so that it can be played at three different levels (Skirmish / Engagement  & Mass Battle)  depending on how many figures you have to use.

Before going any further, I must point out that this an attempt to get enough figures on a wargames table as soon as possible using mostly figures I already own to play this scenario. However if you go over to the Broadswords and Beast blog BROADSWORDS AND BEASTS. Springinsfeld has managed to collect all of the miniatures at the mass battle level using only figures available at the time of the article. A great achievement and a really enjoyable read as he charts his progress through a series of articles about collecting and painting these figures from a previous classic age. 

Wight Bodyguard, Ugrash-Ka, Lord Vassago,
N'aarsh & Skeletons

So first up is a quick check of the current collection. I am also happy to make a small number of substitutions. So the ghouls used by Lord Vassago as his bodyguard have been changed to wights (to continue the undead vibe). 

The Forces of Evil 

Character	Numbers	Collection
Lord Vassago	1/1	Marauder Vampire
N’aarsh	1/1	Mighty Zog
Ugrash-Ka	1/1	Dunderling Captain
Wyvern	0/1	TBC?
Trolls	3/3	C20 Trolls
Black Uruks	8/10	Ugezod’s Death Commandos plus support
Vile Rune Orcs	30/40	LotR Orcs plus a few random Uruk-Hai?
Black Sun Goblins	30/40	LotR Goblins
Skeletons	15/20	Skeleton Horde
Ghouls	10/10	Using wights for a suitably undead vibe.
Pack Wolves	18/20	Fae wolves
Total	117/147	80%

Rob 

Ultimate Oldhammer

Ultimate Oldhammer

Probably the ultimate in Oldhammer collecting, the 80s pre-slotta SS1 Chaos Warrior Uthmog Elvenblade a.k.a. Harry the Hammer (from the 1st edition box). 

He has been sitting waiting to be finished and now that I have finished the first 1000pts chaos army, I thought he would be a worthy addition. I decided to a scheme similar to the box art. 

In a duel with an 80's skeleton

Finished the base board but then couldn't find any of the photo back drops or much of scatter scenics - Doh! So hopefully some better photos later...

Rob 

Chaos Cultists & Bloody Skeletons Feet!

Bloody Skeleton's Feet

I bought a sprue of skeletons In order finish off one my skeleton units. The  sprue looks good with plenty options  and nice set of Greek themed weapons. However this is where the good news stops.  Each skeleton is made up with a completely unnecessary (and fiddley) number of components including separate feet, During the test build I managed in no particular order to lose one (so now I am one short), glue them on backwards, crawl around on my hands and knees (several times!) and say plenty of swear words when the bloody things did not fit into into position. I did finally manage to glue the feet on and then had to fiddle around adding the spine to the pelvis. 

Bloody Skeleton's feet

I have no idea why they decided to make it so overly complicated for no real benefit. But I will finish the test build and the now remaining four and a bit will now go into the bits box until I'm in a better mood. 

Alternative Disciple of the Red Redemption 

As mentioned on a previous post, I would like to add a unit of the Disciples of the Red Redemption to my Chaos horde put have been put off by the price. So after a bit of searching on the internet, I settled on the using the bodies of the Frostgrave Cultists with skeleton heads from the Citadel Skulls set. The Frostgrave sprue is excellent with plenty of different options and weapon choices. I like the hooded monk look of the Disciples so with bit of Green Stuff I decided to have a go at sculpting a hood. So one test build later....

First Test Build

Side shot plus even more skeleton bits

I chose a relatively large skull to give the impression of a mask over human face but I think it looks a bit oversized, so will go a more normal sized skull for the next one. But Overall it gives the look I am trying to achieve. I am sure more accomplished sculptors could get a finer finish but I think ranked up in a unit they will do the job. I have also sculpted  couple of shields which I will cast using a Blue Stuff mould so they will all be identical. I haven't decided which to use but one is plain and the other has a pattern (see below).

 

Patterned Shield design

The one problem (for me) with the the Frostgrave sprue is that because there is a wide variety of different weapons I can't build a unit with the same weapon. So I will have to build one if I want them to be all the same. 

More next time

Rob