Something for the Pigeons

Further progress on the statues shown in the previous post.  I decided to have a go at applying a verdigris layer in the form of a wash of very tinned paint (white with a little green and blue):

I shall have to try a little more detail to get the look quite right.

On the Workbench - More Andreivian Stuff

A trip over to Merseyside at the weekend yielded nothing useful from the Wargames Store in Brimstage but I did get over the the model shop in Birkenhead where I picked up some air support for the Andreivian Armenians:

Following my recent test of the available urban terrain for Tcherbevan I've decided I need some bits of decoration to make the spaces between the buildings look like real streets.  Some 40mm tall architect's models and a piece of plastic packaging are on their way towards making one of those uninspiring pieces of public art so beloved of eastern bloc town planners.

Mediterranean Barn

This 20mm scale barn is the latest of my ventures into foamcore architecture.  I originally envisaged it being used for games of Sharp Practice but I reckon it will probably see use in Andreivia too.

The walls are foamcore with the exposed edges covered with tilegrout and then the whole painted with exterior masonry paint for texture.  The tiles are Wills textured plasticard.

 

The base is thin MDF.  The uprights are bamboo barbecue skewers smoothed to an approximately square profile and the beam along the front edge of the roof is a strip of balsa.

As per my usual policy, the building was designed to fit an available storage box - in this case one of the sturdy cardboard boxes our pay slips arrive in from the outsourced payroll contractor!

Downtown Tcherbevan test

Having completed the batch of middle eastern houses I was working on, I thought I'd have a go at laying out a possible configuration for the sector of Tcherbevan I'm building for the big Crisis Point game in April next year.

The plan is to portray a central boulevard lined with more or less ruined buildings.  Among others I'll be using the Museum Miniatures resin buildings seen in the foreground and middle distance above for this purpose.

Either side of this central no-man's-land will be the Turkish Quarter (background above) and the Armenian Quarter (not in these photos as I didn't have time to set up a 6' wide sector).

The left side of the picture above shows the Turkish Quarter as it exists so far.  Bottom left is The Old Fort - I have the model so it seems reasonable for Tcherbevan to have one.

The Andreivian Turks' Hs-126 flies over Tcherbevan as a Government
Type 61 tank trundles onto Culture Ministry Boulevard.

Andreivian-Turk militia with a technical move up to the front line.

Looks like the Turkish militia have set up a "Dushka" on the roof
of the Old Fort's main tower.

Government A-4 over Tcherbevan.

Type 61 with Andreivian Paras - the elite of the Government army.

That's not Rufferto...

... that's Mulch!

This isn't going to make much sense to those of you who aren't familiar with Groo the Wanderer.  Sorry!

Among the treasures lurking in Tim Gow's second box of delights were some Groo miniatures produced some years ago by Dark Horse Miniatures.

In theory the set includes Groo, Chakaal, the Sage, the Minstrel and Groo's dog Rufferto.  And very nice they are too except that Rufferto doesn't quite capture the original's mongrel look.

And the answer is, that's because it isn't Rufferto...

... it's Mulch, the Sage's dog.

"What does 'mulch' mean?" being a running joke in the Groo comics.

I've started painting the figures with a view to turning them into a somewhat off-the-wall Pulp Alley league or Song of Blades and Heroes warband but it looks like I'll have to sculpt my own Rufferto.

Expedition to Moria Rules

Here are the rules for the Expedition to Moria dungeon crawl.  They should be fairly self-explanatory.

Expedition to Moria

Each player starts with four figures.

Determine first player randomly then proceed clockwise around the table.

Each player may make two actions:

• Move (6”)
• Fight
• Charge (move then fight)
• Search (not if you’re fighting)
• Heal (not if you’re fighting)

Sequence of play

1st Action

Check for wandering monsters if rounding corner or entering room

2nd Action

Check for wandering monsters who charge if unengaged

Fighting

Roll 1d6 for each side. Add number of figures (Dwarves or men) Add half number of figures (Orcs)

Score < opponents Lose one figure

Score < 1/2 opponents Lose two figures (Dwarves/Men), Rout (Orcs)

Searching

Roll 1d6:

1 Secret door

2 Nothing (Secret door if you have the Helm of Clear Sight)

3 Nothing

4 Nothing

5 Treasure

6 Treasure

Healing

Roll 1d6:

5 or 6 heals a casualty

Traps

Costs one action to escape. Roll 1d6:

Anything but a 1 allows you to escape.  

Wandering Monsters

Present on 3-6, roll again for type:

1-4 2d3 Orcs

5 Trap

6 Cave Troll (counts as four Dwarves)

Expedition to Moria

Jamie and I ran another game for the kids at Millie's school last night.  The idea was to do a fast-paced game of slaughtering orcs and amassing treasure.

We based the scenario on the period after The Return of the King when, with Aragorn settled on the throne of Minas Tirith, the good folk of Middle Earth settle down to slaughter those who followed Sauron.

Parties, each of four Dwarves, are making their way into Moria.  The winning player will be the one who gets out with most treasure!

They have a Cave Troll!  Things look bad for George A's Dwarves.

The figures are all from Jamie's collection.  The tunnels of Moria are built from foamcore.

An excited player looks on as Jamie prepares to deploy yet more Orcs.

Our winner receives the Golden Warrior award

The event was a great success.  We had nine different players over the two hours and several of them came back two or three times to play again.