26th September - 24th September Frostgrave vs The Wife

My Wife Jenny and I had the house to ourselves so we decided that we should do what all couples do when the kids are away for a few days and set up for a game of Frostgrave :).




I set up a pretty heavily populated Cultist outpost and the game was on.

We both began moving up towards the cultists casting buffing spells on our various soldiers. My apprentice manged to get a glow spell off on a nearby enemy. My nearby archer didn't manage to hit the man sized glowing target but his counterpart on the other left took out the cultist taking cover behind the window. Jen's crossbowmen attempted to take out some bow armed cultist on her side, wounding one but missing the other. The vile men advanced on the wizards' bands while their missile armed companions offered some covering fire, wounding a few of my soldiers and killing on the The Wife's archers.

Christian the Humble Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire quickly ran back chanting a Heal spell and bringing his almost unconscious archer back to his feet. My archer shot back at the cultist responsible for wounding him but merely winged the hooded man. One of my thugs took the opportunity to move up to grab one of awaiting piles of treasure. After one of her archers nailed an approaching cultist; Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets finished the man off with a well placed grenade spell. My man at arms engaged with another of the enemy horde while my apprentice used the distraction to blunder his attempt at a blinding light spell and took damage from the magical discharge. Jenny's apprentice also successfully cast a grenade spell but her targets both managed to avoid the blast. Her soldiers then moved in and engaged the men killing one but failing to pierce the amour on the second. Her crossbowmen also managed to kill one of the archers between them. A flurry of hostile action left one more cultist dead, at the cost of two of my warband (a thug and an archer) and both of Jenny's crossbowmen wounded.

Temporarily regretting his lack of damaging spells Christian the Humble cast blinding light leaving the man staggering around unable to use his weapon. Jenny wounded yet another cultist with another grenade while his archer hireling missed. The thaumaturge apprentice managed to cast his spell this time leaving the cultist crossbowman glowing, but the nearby archer failed again to hit his brightly lit target. The Wife's apprentice again threw a grenade spell this time wounded her target, and again the infantrymen waded in and took out their foe. My remaining thug picked up one of the cultist stashes and began to head back to camp to secure it. One of Jen's crossbowman was pulled down by her cultist foe and the other decided the odds were most definitely against him and pulled back to camp.

Both the wizards moved into better positions to support their warbands, Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets did it with a bit of a show, with yet another grenade spell and another dead cultist. Her apprentice also took the time to collect one of the other stockpiles. My man at arms finally managed to kill the cultist crossbowman and moved to support the infantryman who was being slowed beaten by his foe. The wife's infantryman had no such trouble and killed yet another man.

With less cultists left moving, the focus became mopping up the remaining few. Jen's archer began to exchange arrows with a distant man wounding him with a well placed shot. Meanwhile my Thug continued to move his haul back to camp. Christian the Humble, Worker of Miracles and Thaumaturge Extraordinaire was unfortunately unable to heal the infantryman engaged in combat. The Wife's apprentice also continued to secure treasure for her camp, while mine grabbed another lot of treasure while his archer moved to cover him and wounded the final cultist heading in his direction. The infantryman Jen had engaged with a cultist finally had his luck run out falling to the enemies blade despite being reinforced by a fellow soldier. My man at arms finished off the cultist that my infantryman was struggling with and moved off to engage the one threatening my apprentice and the wife's remaining infantryman took revenge for his fallen comrade killing his evil steeped opponent.

Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets began her advance into the centre of the contested area. With the infantryman finally standing still Christian the Humble bought his soldier back to full health and sent him off to handle the no longer blinded cultist. The remainder of the warbands began to secure the unguarded loot as two of the three remaining enemies were cut down.




Seeing she was now outnumbered and barely able to resist the blinding light cast on her by her counterpart, Jenny Crafter of Trinkets decided to take what she could and abandon the field.





Once the dust had settled both wizards had to deal with their wounded soldiers. Jenny, Crafter of Trinkets despite heavily injures walked away with no dead men, though one of her crossbowmen wouldn't be able to join the next mission into the ruins while he recovered. Unfortunately despite his best efforts Christian the Humble's thug succumbed to his wounds and passed away.

Painting wise I've made a fair bit of headway on the Abyssal Halfbreeds but I've been tied up at work a bit more this week so I've still got quite a way to go. On the gaming side my youngest wants to get a game in so we're looking at going Kings of War and I should be getting a game of Bolt Action in with Toby now I've got the second edition rulebook here ready to go.

20th September - 19th September Dropzone vs The Youngest

I had my Dropzone Commander Reconquest Phase Two rulebook turn up early last week and having a read through combined with the imminent arrival of mine and The Wife's Dropfleet pledges I was keen to get a game on. My youngest, Arwen stepped in to the rescue and decided it was time for her to learn the game.

We ended up getting two games, though the first one was more of a rule play through more than a real game. The second one was not a terrible game with Arwen managing to decimate most of my force but despite only have a couple of Marauders and a single Invader make it off the board with a loot counter. Unfortunately for her I'd managed to take out her Bear APCs and their attendant Condor so she was unable to get the single loot counter she'd found off the table giving me the win in the end. Luckily for me she really enjoyed the games so I might have to grab a few more vehicles for the UCM and I'm relatively sure she has now decided to claim the UCM components of our Dropfleet pledges.

I managed to get boots on the ground first thanks to the faster Scourge dropships, though I lost a Marauder and one of the carried Reapers to her AA fire.

Luckily I took out her Condor and one of her Bears before she decimated my vehicles.

Her troops also proceeded to demolish my squad in the largest building. I was waiting for her to move one of them in the remaining Bear to go for the third objective and somehow was lucky enough to blow it up before it could reach the distant goal.

Painting wise I've ended up on the Abyssal Halfbreeds and I've worked out what I want to finish off a two thousand point force. My military order Sergeant blister turned up today as well so I'll have to knock them over soon to finish off that initial Crescent and Crosses force.

13th September - Finished Saga Milites Christi Warband

It took me a few days longer than I was planning but these things will happen. I've painted them up as Hospitallers mostly due to my liking of the colour scheme than any other reasons. I've had them on the table one already before they were properly finished in a quick game against Toby's Anglo-Saxons (not an overly historic match up I know but thanks to the Saga rules one that was quite playable).

I blundered with them slightly at the start of the game as I have only played with the Vikings before under the rule set but by about turn three I felt like I had at least a basic understanding of the way they function and I'm looking forward to getting them out again. I did find one small hiccup with my warband setup seeing as I'm limited to a number of crossbow men equal to the hearthguard in the force, but I've ordered some more foot warriors and I'm considering a couple more units of mounted hearthguard for flexibility.

Warlord and Banner Bearer

Hearthguard

Heathguard

Warriors

Warriors

Warriors with Crossbow

Current Warband (Six Points)

Not too sure what I'm going get under a brush next. I'm thinking about entering the Clash of Kings next year at Cancon so I'll have to finished off a few more bits and pieces for my Abyssal Dwarves some time soon, but I'm not sure if I wanna to knock over a few random bits and pieces before I get stuck back into them.

25th August - Finished Frostgrave Cultists

Finished off my latest project this afternoon, so that's my Frostgrave Cultists done. They should make a nice addition to The Eldest's Necromancer for Frostgrave or some nice NPC opponents for some sort of suitable scenario. I haven't gone into too much shading or highlighting apart from a nice dark undercoat and some thinner coats as I worked it up.

I figured while I had the flock box out I'd do a little work on my Razorworms for Dropzone Commander, but I've still got to put a few finishing touches on the bases here and there.

I'm thinking I may do the Guildball Morticians I have here next and then onto finishing off my Abyssal Dwarves for Kings of War.

23rd August - Finished Pagan Priest for Saga and WIP Frostgrave Cultists

I actually finished this guy off last week, but it's taken a while to get decent photos and to organise myself to get them uploaded. I picked him up from War and Peace a few months back when The Youngest grabbed herself some Irish Levies and a Christian Priest for herself. It was a nice little mini to paint and I'm happy with the way he's turned out. On a side note finding a nice spot for the photos has resulted in about half a days labor in weeding the garden but I guess there's a price to pay for everything :).

 I've made a start on my Frostgrave Cultist plastic box set I picked up back when the expansion was "Nickstarted". I've had them and the original soldiers box glued for a while now, I just felt like it was time to get some out of the way and I've been feeling like trying to get in a game of Frostgrave again. I've had two brief sessions on them so far, but I'm thinking I'll do a bit of a push on them tomorrow.

I'm sticking with a darker colour scheme with these guys, though I'm thinking a few splashes of orange on the tunics just to contrast against the rest of the uniforms. I've also been slowly assembling my Military Order force for Saga Crescent and Cross, though that was stalled when I ran out of glue the other day. I've since fixed that issue and grabbed a banner man for the force as well so I'll be back to drilling out hands for spears any day now :).

12th August - Finished Legion of Everblight Starter Box

Finished off the Legion of Everblight stater box for Hordes this morning. Couldn't quite get the lighting right for the pictures but I'll post them up anyway.

Kryssa, Conviction of Everblight (Warlock)

Kryssa, Conviction of Everblight (Warlock)

Nephilim Bolt Thrower

Nephilim Bolt Thrower 

Shredders

Neraph

Starter Force

I picked up the old starter box cheap a few weeks back so I'll get that on the table soon, but I'm thinking about knocking over a couple of random single miniatures I've got kicking around downstairs. My pagan priest for Saga comes to mind after my game against The Youngest earlier this week.

11th August - 9th August Saga vs The Youngest

I got a game of Saga in with The Youngest on Tuesday night. We'd been trying to get it in for a while now but with my work and her assignments we had to reschedule a few times. She wanted to play a six point game after buying herself some levies (not that they've made it out of the blister yet but who hasn't got a painting pile at home :) ), so we pulled The Wife's warriors out for levies and I handed over a warrior group to make up her last point.

The forces were as follows:

Vikings

Warchief

2 units of 4 Hirdmen (Hearthguard)

1 unit of 4 Beserkers (Hearthguard)

2 units of 8 Bondi (Warriors)

1 unit of 12 Viking Archers (Levies)

Irish

Warchief

2 Curaidh (Champions)

1 unit of 6 Fianna (Hearthguard)

2 units of 8 Bonnachts (Warriors)

1 unit of 8 Dogs and Handler

1 unit of 12 Kerns (Levies)

We rolled up and got the Sacred Ground scenario. You have three terrain elements spread across the table and earn VP at the end of your opponents turn based on how many and which type of troop you have within the areas.

The Youngest won initiative and began deployment, so thanks to her larger spread of units I managed to win the first turn.

The Viking line steadily advanced toward the Irish sacred ground with a unit of Hearthguard rushing the main stone circle atop the nearby hill and a Warrior unit rushing into the forest. The Irish centre advanced led by their Warchief and his Curaidh. While none of the warband themselves made it to their hallowed places, some of the hidden 'Sons of Dana' managed to take out two of the Viking invaders in the forest.

Emboldened by the lack of Irish resistance the Vikings continue to advance in a steady line with more of the force reaching the objectives. This finally prompted a response from the Irish with their wolfhounds tearing into a unit of Viking warriors pushing the Norsemen back. Another volley from more hidden 'Sons of Dana' fell among the Viking Hearthguard but they were unable to drop a single armoured man. Finally the Kern's took up a holding position on the far hill.

The regrouped Bondi charged back into Irish dogs and their handler with calls to 'Frigg', taking their revenge and leaving the handler to calm his two remaining animals. The Viking Archers meanwhile open fire on the distant Kern killing three of the men. On the forest flank a group of Hirdmen slammed into the flank of unit of Bonnachts but the luck of the Irish came through on the day (five rolls of six on her rolls preventing all the wounds) and the veteran Viking unit was pushed back lacking one of their number. The 'Sons of Dana' open fire again from amongst the standing stones but this time they manage to fell one of the mailed warriors. The Bonnachts fired up after their victory over the Hirdmen crash into the Bondi trying to drive them from the sacred woods but the dug in Norse drive them back.


The Archers take their toll on the Kerns leaving another two men dying on the hilltop. The Bondi slam into the Bonnachts seeking 'Valhalla' with cries to 'Frigg' for the strength to swing their weapons..... but again the luck of the Irish shines through with none of the Irish men falling despite an abundance of heavy blows and the Vikings are driven back into the forest. With a bellowed warcry and a call to arms the Viking Warchief smashed into the Fianna with a unit of Hirdmen at his side. Killing two of the Irishmen and driving them out of the stone circle and off the hill. Again the 'Sons of Dana' take their toll on the Viking invaders dropping yet another Hirdman. The Fianna valiantly try to retake their sacred site but the ferocity of the Viking Warchief throws them back one more time although one of the brave Hirdman fell to their swords protecting his chief.

 The Viking Archers take a heavy toll on the Kerns with this volley killing five more Irishmen.The lone Hirdman attempts to take out the nearby Curaidh but despite his best efforts the Irishman's resilience keeps him not only on his feet but managing to drive the veteran back. Down at the forest the Hirdmen attack the Bonnacht again killing four Irish warriors at the cost of one of their own pushing the natives back out of the contested objective. A second group of Bonnachts move forward to strengthen the assault on the forest. While the Fianna pull their javelins out and leave the final Hirdman dead on the top of the hill.

Seeing the Warchief alone on the hill the Berserker's move up to support the lone Viking chief. With few targets left the remaining Kerns manage to avoid the Viking arrows. The remaining Hirdmen burst from the forest and smash into the Bonnachts' flank driving the startled Irish warriors back. The 'Sons of Dana' reappear in the forest killing one more Viking warrior. The smaller unit of Bonnacht make an attempt to push the Hirdmen out but despite a brave attempt a single man is left to pull back and mourn the rest of his squad. Seeing an opening the Curaidh attacks the Viking Warchief a series of ferocious attacks proves that the man truly sprang from the 'Seed of Ireland' but again the Warchief is saved by a loyal retainer this time a Berserker.




Finally getting the order they had been waiting for the Bondi once again charge in to the warhounds finishing them off, while at the same time the Kerns are finally cleared from the hill by the Viking Archers. Sensing the day slipping from them the Irishmen begin a last ditch attempt to re-secure their sacred ground pushing everything they have left forward to challenge the Viking invaders.





The Viking's hastily spread across the field pushing to get a presence in all the Irish sites, forming shield walls ready to throw back the Irishmen's last ditch effort. Yet another Viking warrior falls to the hidden 'Sons of Dana'. The Bonnacht giving up on melee pull their javelins and hurl them toward the Hirdmen, but they manage to avoid any casualties. Fired up by their lack of ranged success the enraged Irish soldiers charge the Viking veterans but this proves to be a mistake with half of them falling to the Norse weaponry and the rest being pushed back to the very edge of the forest. Finally one of the brave Curaidh charges the Berserkers killing them all but finally succumbing to his many wounds.

The game ended with a Viking victory but it was close all the way to the end of turn eight. I have to say The Youngest is definitely becoming quite the tactician.

On the painting front I've just got the basing left to go on the Legion of Everblight box, so with any luck I'll have them finished off tomorrow before I work.