Armies of Evil

Finished the Necromancer & Started on Some Goblins

So, I managed to get some sessions in this week and finished off Vonatar the necromancer, evil villain and poster boy of the second Lone Wolf gamebook - Fire on the Water. After deciding to paint him up using the  paint scheme in Gary Chalk's drawing, I decided he would need a base to match. i.e. wooden decking of a death hulk. This proved to be a bit more complicated than I was planning because he is mounted on a solid base and I had to shave down the planks to fit around him and sit nicely around his robes. However, once started you got finish. Now I still need to make a 40mm base for him but since the 20mm is the deck of a ship then 40mm one will have to be the same...

Anyway, attention for the moment has turned to finishing a group of 20 goblins for my Midgard armies project. Now, these minis are mix of Oldhammer C13 goblins, Oakbound ones from the 2024 calendar and a few other randoms. 

Since I enjoyed the first pack, I bought some more for a Friday nights entertainment.

Rob 

The Other Necromancer Arrives

With Age Appropriate Friends

Time for Lone Wolf to spring into action!

While I was away on work, Vonatar  turned up. So, I just had to get him unwrapped and for a over forty year mini he is in great condition. I have already decided he should be painted up to match the Lone Wolf cover art by the excellent Gary Chalk. And be mounted on a 20mm base which fits on a larger 40mm base. So, he can join the forces of Midgard as either a lowly minion or a as a powerful commander. 

Plenty of opportunity try some nice strong beers while I was away... 

Rob 

The Other Necromancer

It was an Honest Mistake!

So, I deliberately have not bought any minis to build out the Midgard armies as I reckon I have already got mostly finished armies already. However, I did plan to get a new Necromancer mini to lead the undead army  as I have had my eye of an alternative version of Heinrich Kemmler by Knucklebones minis. 

The excellent mini by Knucklebones minis

I really like the original Citadel version but they are of course going for silly money and the Knucklebones version is a very nice alternative. I have seen him available on eBay, so I decided it was time to get one. But as I looked for looked for the Knucklebones mini, I came across a different necromancer which I wasn't expecting. 

The necromancer Vonatar from Lone Wolf, part of the classic 80s Citadel Lone Wolf range. Which edges me closer to completing the Lone Wolf set (only three left to get, guard*, guard captain* and the helghast) . Since these minis go for really silly money, I had sort of given up completing the set. But just goes to show it is worth the time to keep looking. 

*both of which I had until the early 2000s - Doh!

Now do I still need the Heinrich mini? 😉

Rob 

First Battle of Midgard

Hold the Hill 

As is tradition, I managed to meet up with a couple of long-term friends for a wargame between Christmas and new year. This year it was Midgard, as friend Jas had just got a copy and was keen to play. None of us had played Midgard before but Jas was familiar with the rules and had organised the forces. 

Not Jason's copy obviously

The Game

In terms of the game, the elves and fae were holding the high ground against an undead & orc horde. A third of the elves & fae were held in reserve until turn four and on turn four each side gained an extra victory (reputation) point for control of each of the three standing stones at the top of the hill. 

The undead and orcs opted to place their low value undead and orcs at the front of the horde to soak up the inevitable elf bowfire. However, the elven archers were clearly having a bit of an off day and most of the orcs and undead survived to contact the enemy. 

This then created a bit of problem in that the best orc and undead units were now all still behind the rabble. Whilst the elven spears and tree men* happily chewed up the front units. And reputation (victory) points of the elves and fae were beginning to rack up. 

*The tree men (large and small) had the brutal trait which meant they wounded on 4+ instead of the standard 5+ which did indeed make them brutal!

The giant treeman taking down the first undead unit

And the second

Before finally meeting his doom against the trolls

It wasn’t all going the elves’ way as the giant treeman had taken down several units of undead but was now surrounded by trolls and the ghouls in the centre were proving surprisingly tough even when faced with an elven spear unit supported by three heroes. 

But the tide had clearly turned and as both the black orc and second troll unit failed to make their charge rolls in the last turn. The elves and fae were then able to break the enemy force before these elite units could make the difference. 

Two heroes face off

And victory went to the elven and fae alliance. 

After the Battle

It was the first game of Midgard for all of us, but we quickly got into the swing of the game. And Jas did a grand job as rules master. Fortunately, he had a large number of movement trays otherwise it would have been a massive pain to move the units. 

And I have already put an order in with Warbases to rectify this situation for future games. And I am now looking to rebase some of the earlier minis fit in with these units. 

Oh and happy new year for tomorrow 😁.

Rob 

The Zombie Horde

Now Up to Seventy

Finished the few last Kings of war zombies miniatures. Including a few revenant bodyguards for the emissaries of life and death. 

Rob 

Home Improvement - The Reveal

One Barrow Upgraded

After a generous amount of scatter and grass tufts, the barrow entrance looks a lot better. I also gave it a couple of skull entrance poles to give it the homely look. 

Rob 

Home Improvement

Fog on the Barrow Downs

I built four of these barrow entrances a couple of years ago when I was in a very minimalist painting phase* in order to play the MESBG Fog on the Barrow Downs. The one where the four hobbits are chased by the Barrow wights and rescued by Tom Bombadil. Anyway I decided I needed one for a Hawk the Slayer scenario. And after gap of  4-5 years, its now time to do some actual painting on this one. 

*The stones in walls are actually rock textured wallpaper stuck onto foam card. I didn't even paint the edges. I told you it was a very minimalist painting phase!

 

Rob

Undead Army Quick Challenge

I Found an Army (sort of) 

As what started as an idle Sunday morning thought last week, given all of the zombies I painted this year. Did I have enough minis for a legit WFB 3rd Ed. 1000pts. So, I put together a quick army list and the short answer was no. 

I was missing the unit of Grim Reapers (skeletons armed with 2-handed weapons). So, given I had box of Oathmark revenants sitting on the shelf. I decided to put  together a unit of ten revenants with 2-handed weapons to make up the minimum requirements. Given the minis come with light armour, I sort had to include this in the army list. 

It is probably a bit of a cheat to call the zombie dragon a Carrion but it doesn't really fit into the army list proper and is such a great mini so I had to fit it in somehow.  Now, I do have quite a few more characters and another unit of twenty skeletons. So, could probably stretch to 1500-2000pts without going nuts on characters. But to be fair a level 25 vampire is 690 points on his own with out any equipment let alone magical items. 

The extra ten undead warriors.

The 1000pts in all its glory. 

Now, I am not saying this is the most competitive army list but the minimum points requirements are quite heavy and this was trying to use what I already had. 

 Rob

Walking like a zombie, like a zombie*

 Have I Finished?

So, I thought when I got to fifty, I was done but I couldn't quite stop this project. I think, I am done at sixty but then hundred sounds like a nice round number but then I would need to get another box...

* Jamie T - Zombie

Love, she sees apart from me

Possessed behind the eyes

Apart from the frighting

The moaning the biting

He seemed to be a nice guy

And I know what she thinks when she looks at me

When she looks with such despair

You're not the only one around here who needs a bit of fresh air

Cause I'm a sad sad post teen

Caught up in the love machine

No dream, come clean

Walking like a zombie, like a zombie

Ok this one I get you might not be familiar with but it is still a classic in my book. 

Anyway finished the extra six zombies and the scenic base with the Death Elemental. In a way the Banshee makes an interesting alternative to 'Official' Oldhammer life elemental. 

Rob

Death & the Fae

And Hell followed with him

This 1980s Death Elemental has a real Oldhammer vibe about him and he painted up very easily. He is the second of the special characters for the (ever increasing) zombie horde. Like the first one, he will be mounted on a 40mm base along with some other zombies so they can be ranked up properly. I must admit I did wince at the price when I pressed the 'Buy It Now' button on eBay. But compared to modern GW  figures he isn't any more expensive than modern figures its just that his original price was £1.25 (originally sold for £2.50 with the Life Elemental who is even more expensive nowadays!). 

"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts

And I looked and behold, a pale horse

And his name that sat on him was Death

And Hell followed with him"

The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash*

*I hope didn't have to tell you that!

Dryad

Now this is one of those genius or awful ideas. After (re)painting this Reaper Dryad with a fairly regular army standard paint job. I decided she needed something extra. So, I added a whirlwind of leaves around her. Quite simply a metal frame was bent around her with a paperclip and then I stuck a load of birch tree seeds as leaves onto the frame. Overall I am quite pleased with the effect. I did then dump plenty of PVA glue over the top of the leaves to cement them in place. 

Rob