20th October - Finished Kings of War Abyssal Half-breeds

I'm doing a bit of a push to get this army finished now that I've got my ticket for the Australian Clash of Kings on a Cancon. The Brother's going to be having a bash himself so we're looking at getting a couple of practice games in over the next couple of months. I've got a list worked out based on what I picked up in the Kickstarter plus the few bits I picked up last week from Mantic. Once I see how it plays I may end up picking up a few Dragon Ogres to use as Abyssal Grotesques or trying something using a few extra Ironcasters.

I've got another troop of Lesser and a single Greater Obsidian Golems glued up now waiting for a prime coat. I've also been working on my Frostgrave plastic kits so I can get to work on them once I've cleared the Abyssal Dwarves.

13th October - 12th October Frostgrave vs The Youngest

Once again my youngest Arwen stepped up to the table and helped me get a game in. We decided on another game of Frostgrave so worked on a scenario together. This ended up with a small camp of demon worshiping cultists with three summoned Imp 'guard dogs'. The Cultists wouldn't activate until after a round of combat within the confines of their camp or some one moving either within an 8" direct line from the doorways or moving anywhere withing 2" of a building. We also added a few extra triggered monster spawns for flavour.

Christian the Humble, Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire began his advance on the camp with a quickly cast Fog spell shielding his soldiers from the watchful eyes of the Imp. Arwen, Maker of Puddles attempted a more aggressive approach, but met with a series of errors as her crossbowman missed the demonic target and her attempt to channel demonic energies into her War-hound failing to materialize. Christian's apprentice moved forward on the other side of the centre casting Shield on the nearby Infantryman as they went. On her other flank the apprentice Elementalist successfully cast an Enchant Armour spell on her War-hound who along with the support of an Infantryman barreled into the third Imp pulling the twisted creature down. The Thaumaturge's archers were the last to take action with one killing an Imp despite it's rocky cover and the other moving up to flank the opposing warband. The final Imp charged into Arwen's Man-at-Arms but the combatants failed to wound each other.

As the warband reached the edge of the encampment Christian's focus switched to enhancing his soldiers, but his Enchant Weapon spell failed and the Knight's sword remained ordinary. Seeing her apprentice managing to cast Arwen tried to enchant her War-hound's armour but again failed to get her spell to fire. The Imp managed to pierce the War-hounds fur, but the Man-at-Arms took advantage of the lesser demons distraction and put down the last of the fiends. Christian's apprentice brought the rest of the warband up to the edge of the encampment and summoned more whirling mist, bringing forth a second wall of Fog obscuring the camp from the distant Elementalist's sight. Meanwhile Arwen's apprentice and her attendant hirelings stormed into the camp with another Enchant Armour spell enhancing the Infantryman's defences. The flanking archer came round the corner taking a shot at the apprentice but his arrow went wide of it's target. Two of the cultists seeing the War-hound just outside their doorway rush out to engage the beast but it's savagery was enough to leave both men bleeding. On the other side of camp the Knight found himself engaged by a second pair of demon worshipers. Suddenly the smell of sulphur filled the air and with a loud tearing sound two Minor Demons appeared ready to defend the camp from their attackers.

Arwen, Maker of Puddles fumbled yet another spell and decided to take advantage of the Fog to huddle down prepare to assault the final building. The Man-at-Arms in the employ of the Thaumaturge was sent to assist the Knight against the cultists and their sudden demonic reinforcements. Christian the Humble sent a Blinding Light spell out against the trainee Elementalist but the young man's training was sufficient for him to gather his will and resist the spell. The young wizard to be then moved further into camp looking to deny the archer a second shot and enhancing the Templar's defences with yet a third Enchant Armour spell. Christian's Infantryman charged into the fray cutting down the cultist with a single mighty blow. The now un-engaged Knight stepped forward taking the fight to the second cultist but the soldier was met with a solid blow, but the apprentice was quick to step forward and cast Heal and after a few seconds new pink skin was formed beneath the bloody rent in the mail. Arwen's Templar and Infantryman make short work of the Cultists in front of them, while Christian's archers launch arrows into the camp. Again the apprentice manages to avoid the missle but the Templar proves to be a little slow and take a wound. The remaining Cultist engaged with Christian's soldiers manages to fight them to a stalemate while the two Minor Demons move to combat the Man-at-Arms and despite being outnumbered by the hell-beasts the brave man leaves them both dripping ichor and bellowing in pain. The final two Cultists alerted by the sounds of fighting in the camp came rushing through the doorway bringing the fight to Arwen, Maker of Puddles and her attendant troops.

The War-hound and Man-at-Arms both take wounds from the savage blows of the Cultist but the Crossbowman managed to kill the second evil man showing up the man and beast. Seeing the Man-at-Arms surrounded by demonic foes the two Thugs are sent into assist him and the street toughs manage to kill one of the scaly beasts. Christian the Humble, Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire then summoned a mystical Glow around the opposed Templar but the soldier managed to avoid the arrow sent his way from the nearby archer. Seeing the great Thaumaturge alone in the field Arwen's apprentice orders her men in to bring down the rival wizard but in a explosion of whirling wood both the Templar and War-hound are left lying at his feet and the Infantryman is barely escapes himself as he is forced back barely on his feet. The young Elementalist in an attempt to gain some sort of retribution for his fallen men begins to summon a ball of raw elemental energy but anger made his concentration slip and the force blows up in his face leaving the man bloodied. The combined arms of the Infantryman and Knight made short work of the Cultist as the apprentice Thaumaturge blinded the remaining Demon. Seeing his foe casting it's head about blindly the Man-at-Arms quickly took out the disabled beast. The remaining archer continued his chase of the apprentice following the man around the corner but once again his shot went wide. Arwen's Man-at-Arms managed to push the final cultist back giving himself some breathing room. Suddenly the ground trembled and with a spray of molten rock and the distant sounds of howling a Major Demon clawed it's way out of nothingness ready to defend the sorely pressed cultist camp.

The Man-at-Arms is sent for the chest and the wizard casts Blinding Light on the Infantryman who dared to attack him. Sensing an 'easy' kill the two Thugs move to attack the blinded soldier but his wild flailing almost killed one of the men. Finally through a combination of quarrel, dog bite and axe the final cultist is left dying on the ground. Spreading his men out in case of a successful Elemental Ball the apprentice moved in to heal the wounded Thug but this time his spell failed and the wound was left open. The Archer took a shot at the Major Demon while this was happening and managed to pierce it's hide. Deciding discretion was the better part of valour Arwen's apprentice ran off into the distant Fog joining his teacher beyond the sight of both Demon and opposing warband. Which left the second archer with only one target and he too managed to wound the great beast. Barely materialized and already wounded the demonic entity spotting the ever so close blind Infantryman moved in for the kill but was not quite able to finish off the poor abandoned soldier.

Arwen, Maker of Puddles began her retreat having managed to secure one of the chests. Christian the Humble, Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire decided that it would be a mercy for the now able to see Infantryman to be killed by a more mortal foe and moved in granting the man peace and sending the Thugs in to engage the Major Demon. Arwen's apprentice moved into a rear guard position for what was left of the tattered force. Christian's apprentice decided to try his will against that of the Demon's and while his did manage to cast the spell the colossal willpower of the dark foe tore the Blinding Light spell to shreds. Setting his shoulders the Knight waded into the fray dealing an impressive amount of damage to the hellish creature but it wasn't until the Archer moved in and swung at the creature was it finally brought down to earth and the camp was finally still shortly after and the both warbands left the area, one celebrating their successes and the other licking their wounds.

I have to say that definitely had some of the most cinematic moments in a game of Frostgrave I've had yet and so many points when it really could have turned out so much worse for me than it did. Seriously who would have though my wizard would manage to fight off and kill three opponents despite their heavily stacked combat bonuses or that Arwen's apprentices first fail of the game would allow my warband to survive. I was dreading the roll as she went to cast remember the last game when it pretty much removed my wife's warband from the table. All I can say is that I can't wait for the next game :)

11th October - Rock Terrain Project

I saw the how to for these particular rocks on the Beasts of War site in a Hobby Lab bit and I've been meaning to have a go at them ever since. I felt like a bit of a palette cleanse from the Abyssal Half-breeds (although they're not too far from finished, depending on how I go might even get them done this week) so I grabbed the sponges and got cracking.

The first step which I didn't think to take a quick photo of was to super glue them down to some MDF bases I'd picked up from Miniature Scenery CNC Workshop. Then I shaped them with a mix of cutting and tearing to get some uneven lines and then a liberal coating of a cheap black acrylic mixed 50/50 with water so it could soak into the sponge. Then I grabbed a spray tin of Tamiya Grey Violet and gave it a good coating.

Then I gave them all a fairly heavy dry brush with Army Painter Ash Grey.








Followed by a lighter dry brush with Vallejo Model Color Stone Grey.








Then I used a mix a dry brushing on some of the overhangs and dabbing in some of the crevasses with Vallejo Model Colour Yellow Green.










The next step was to give the bases a coat with Army Painter Oak Brown and the edges a quick run over with Vallejo Model Colour Flat Green.







The final couple of steps were to give the bases a coat of watered down PVA and get some static grass down and then a little bit of flock spot glued here and there. I've still got to give them a final seal to give them a bit of durability but I really wanted to get them on a table to see what they looked like.

I was supposed to be getting that rescheduled game of Frostgrave in with Toby tonight but he had a few things come up so Arwen and I are planning to make use of the table tomorrow afternoon for another game ourselves. I've added a few more bits of pieces to the table since I took the photo and I've come up with a bit of a scenario so hopefully we get the game in with out too much hassle.

I'm planning to do another set soon but using a lighter shade of grey for the spray coat for a bit of variety. I've also begun to glue my remaining Guildball teams and players together (you can see them in the background of one of the photos), Arwen finally decided on which team she wants to begin with (Brewers) and testing a theory on saving shelf space and making it easier to knock down my painting backlog.

5th October - 3rd October Family Frostgrave Game

With Monday being a public holiday and the last day before school went back, I decided to set up a four person Frostgrave game. We all lined up our wizards and their warbands. I of course had Christian the Humble, Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire. My wife Jen took her now hopefully familiar Enchanter, Jenny Crafter of Trinkets. My eldest Theresa had her Necromancer; Theresa, Seducer of Corpses and my youngest Arwen brought her Elementalist; Arwen the Puddle Maker.

While Theresa started off slowly with one of her thieves taking out a skeleton. Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets manged to cast the only successful spell of the game but her skeletal target manged to avoid the explosively charged rock but her archer's managed to take out the undead creature. Arwen's warhounds worked together ripping apart one of the wandering skeletons then burying a few parts for later. One of my Thug's made it to the closet treasure piles ready to snatch up what he could in the following turn. My archer missed his shot at Theresa's archer while Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets managed an amazing back flip narrowly avoiding the bolt from Arwen's crossbowman. Jen finished off the first round charging her Infantrymen toward Arwen's Templar but the unfortunate man who closed the distance was cut down by the heavily armoured veteran warrior, while a skeleton mauled another of Theresa's thieves.

The second round began with a high note for Christian the Humble, Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire. His Thug grabbed some treasure and began heading back to camp, while his archer almost killed yet another thief employed by the Necromancer and he managed to successfully cast Blinding Light on the apprentice Puddle Maker. Arwen's attempt at an Elemental Bolt singed her own fingers so she just ordered her Templar into combat with the remaining Infantryman and he managed to wound the opposing soldier. Jenny's archer took out another skeleton while the Enchantress failed her own attempt at magic wincing as the backlash from the mud spell lanced through her. Theresa, Seducer of Corpses summoned an Imp over near her polar opposites lines in retaliation for the arrow in her thief. His apprentice attempted to summon a Wall of Fog between the suddenly present Imp and his masters hirelings but he failed the spell from the unfamiliar magical school, so was forced to merely redirect a nearby Thug to assist the Men-at-Arms. Jenny's apprentice took Theresa's distraction with Christian the Humble as an opportunity to hurl a grenade spell into the centre of the Necromancer's pack, and the sudden surge of magical energy took out her summoned zombie and an archer. The Necromancer herself didn't fair much better only barely escaping the inky blackness of unconsciousness herself. Her apprentice attempted to get some revenge but his Imp spell failed and left him pained. Jenny's remaining Infantryman fought back against the Templar and with a surge of adrenaline took the man out with a massive swing of her massive weapon. Theresa's thieves began to earn their upkeep as two of them grabbed chests and prepared to move it back to camp. Christian's Thug proved his worth taking out a Skeleton before turning and felling the oncoming summoned Imp in swift succession.

The Puddle Maker's apprentice finally found the willpower to shake off Christian the Humble's blinding light spell. Theresa pulled the stopper off the healing potion on her belt and soon felt her wounds healing. Christian the Humble, Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire cast a shield spell on his infantryman offering the man more protection before he made his attempt on one of the central chests. Arwen failed yet another offensive spell and had her crossbowman fall to one of Jenny's archers. Theresa's apprentice raised a new corpse to replace the recently exploded zombie while Christian's apprentice fumbled another spell and his archer missed one of Theresa's thieves allowing the man to continue securing the treasure. Jenny's apprentice tried to cast another grenade spell but his one blew up in his face wounding he young wizard. Yet another thief in the employ of the Necromancer grabbed a third chest for his employer. Followed by Christian's Infantryman also grabbing one, as well as Arwen's Man-at-Arms. A few quick whistles had Arwen's warhounds screening her treasure laden soldier.

Christian the Humble quickly conjured up a Wall of Fog between his infantryman and the skeletons scuttling out from the crypt obscuring his soldier from view. Seeing Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets muttering a healing spell, Arwen tried to send more aggressive magic her way but again the spell backfired into her face. Sensing a increase in Jenny's health Theresa tried to siphon some of it off for herself but the Enchantress's iron will foiled the Necromancers plan. Christian's apprentice tried to get a Glow spell onto one of Theresa's many chest carrying mercenaries but again the spell failed to go off. Despite this his nearby archer put an arrow through the thief causing him to drop the chest to the ground. Arwen's apprentice tried to send a bolt of elemental energy at Jenny's archer but again failed to control the destructive power of the elements. Jenny's apprentice managed to throw another successful grenade spell out towards Theresa's thieves but they easily manged to avoid the much smaller explosion this spell gave off. The warhounds serve their purpose as one of the hounds is killed but the skeletons are held back from Arwen's retreating Man-at-Arms.

Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets has her own attempt at a grenade spell dropping it right at the feet of Theresa's chest carrying thief wounding the man and one of her archers quickly follows up killing the man. A second thief quickly re-secures the haul as the Necromancer attempts to cover his retreat only to have a bone dart spell back fire on her. Arwen the Puddle Maker finally manages to control the elemental power at her disposal sending a large ball of energy smashing through Jenny's line leaving one archer on the ground while severely wounding the rest of the warband but for the archer who had just secured a nearby pile of treasure. Jenny's warband immediately begins to retreat, sensing they'd just used up all the luck they had for the day, but seeing weakness Theresa's apprentice sends a bone dart toward the young enchanter in training and Jenny's apprentice falls never again to rise. Arwen's apprentice stays true to form failing yet another spell as the final warhound is pulled to the ground by a skeletal horde.

Another ball of energy knocks Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets to the ground and her warband is broken with the few solders that remain streaming back to camp. Theresa, Seducer of Corpses attempts another health siphon on a fleeing crossbowman but again the spell is resisted, but while her attention is focused on the fleeing men her apprentice is stuck down by a well placed arrow from Christian the Humble's archer. Arwen's apprentice continues with yet another failed spell, while the apprentice Thaumaturge manages to blind the Necromancer. Taking advantage of the now blind caster Christian's Man-at-Arms moves to take out one of the treasure laden thieves, and Arwen the Puddle Maker finds herself surrounded by skeletons and wounded.

Theresa, Seducer of Corpses shakes off the blinding lights and seeing the Man-at-Arms challenging her recovery of the loot she kills the man with a well placed Bone Dart. Christian the Humble, Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire decides that he has enough loot for one day and withdraws back to camp to see what he'd secured. Arwen and her apprentice after finishing off the skeletons follow suit and what was so recently a heated battle ground returns to the unnatural silence that reigned before the treasure seeking wizards had appeared.

It was a great game and the aftermath had a few soldiers out for the next game to recover, but Jen did lose her apprentice and Arwen her Templar. I think the girls are going to try to get a game in between themselves soon, and I'm ready for my next one, having spent some money on upgrading my base and hiring a Knight to my bulk out my roster.