Empire Demigryph Knights

Finally finished.  I admit, they were a bit of a slog at times - lots of details, and I made my life hard by deciding to paint all the detailed decoration. Pretty pleased with the end result though.

Hunting Party

Frankly, Governor Balten had been hoping that the monstrous corpses the mercenary squat team had brought in would be an end to the trouble. He had enough on his plate with complaints from the Moss Guilds about the independent lichen farmers.  But rumours continue to persist about ‘creatures’ lurking in the jungles.

So he did what any Imperial Governor would do.  Declared everything sorted and banned anyone from talking about it. Although he couldn’t shake a sense of unease at the hysterical reaction one of his advisers had on seeing the corpses, shrieking about the ‘Great Devourer’ or some such nonsense.  Poor chap had spent decades in the Guard, clearly left him unhinged; he’d had to be put on permanent ‘gardening’ leave.

But still the stories persist…

Out in the settlements, moonshine and bravado combine, and a group of lichen farmers are determined to see if the stories are true, and perhaps bag a trophy.

Left to right, Old Pete, Patch, Hank and Cletus, and the Cyber Mastiff, F1D0.

The hunters split into pairs to cover more ground, Hank and Cletus taking F1D0 with them.

As the farmers pushed through the dense brush, something else was already stalking them. 

Out of sight of the others for a moment, the creature struck at Cletus before vanishing again into the jungle.

Rushing to the sound of screams, the others found their friend laying still and bloodied on the ground, with no sign of his attacker.  But F1D0 had a scent now, and Hank released him the flush out the beast.

By now the creature had worked its way behind the hapless hunters, and revealed itself, hoping to make short work of the four legged creature hunting it. Hank got a snap shot off as it charged, but the rounds just bounced off the creature’s hardened exterior.

Despite the furious strikes of its terrifying claws, the plucky cyber hound held on.  Taking the risk of hitting their canine companion, the remaining three hunters opened fire, frantically spraying the creature in front of them.  This time the hard rounds found its weak spots, and it fell with an inhuman shriek.

Surprisingly, the hunters found Cletus sat up - dazed and badly injured, but definitely alive, complaining of thirst, and apparently completely unable to recall anything about what had just happened.  Clearly too much to drink, or perhaps not enough!

Either way, they had one heck of a trophy…

Big, Angry Lizards

 A handful of ‘90’s vintage Saurus Warriors, to provide some proper muscle to back up their skink cousins. Just a quick ‘table ready’ paint job.

I think a skirmish scenario in the jungles of Lustria beckons.

Now, where did I hide those Amazons…

Tiny, Angry Lizards

I should be painting Griffins, but I’ve always been easily sidetracked.

A tidying the washing machine cupboard (don’t ask) unearthed a load of Foundry Conquistadors and a handful of old, unpainted lizard men, including some skinks, I picked up from somewhere on a whim.

A quick, rather than careful, paint job.  Still plenty of satisfaction in getting something table ready though.

Some Estalian explorers about to get a nasty surprise 

A few Saurus Warriors may follow.

Now, about those Griffins…

Who’s a Good (Robo) Boy?

Yet another freebie model courtesy of Miniature Wargames Magazine, a Robo Mastiff from the Wild West Exodus range.  This has been sitting around so long I’d forgotten about it, but it was the perfect quick break from Empire Demigryphs.

Assembly was easy, no instructions needed, but the sprue was in a pretty horrible orange plastic, which took a few coats of paint to hide.  There’s a reason most manufacturers use a simple grey.

Straightforward paint job.  Liberal washes and some sponge chipping to give it a worn look.

I’m sure I can find a good use for him.

Robo dog’s not scared of anything!

“Fetch!”

 

Fur, Feathers, Beaks and Claws

It’s not featured in any posts recently but I have, inevitably, got into Warhammer the Old World.  I’ve just had the one game so far, though overall it seems to be shaping up to be a pretty good edition.

I’m taking the opportunity to revisit my Empire army, and add a few things I never got around to back when they were available.  I was also given some vouchers by my lovely work colleagues for my 50th birthday last August, and decided they should go towards a nice big modelling project.

And so, arriving freshly assembled and primed with Colour Forge Ghoul Grey, are a lot of beaks, feathers and claws - in the form of an Imperial Griffin and some Demigryph Knights.  I’ve kept the Griffin heads separate, and assembled all the riders, so I can swap the out.  That said, I’m mostly aiming for a Karl Franz on Deathclaw look.

I’ll try to remember to update as I go.

Oh, and I also have a War wagon coming at some point ;-)

PS, the buildings are from Dave Graffam.

Just a dwarf…

 … playing a flute.  And why not?

Marauder Miniatures originally (before any recent re-releases).

I think my eyesight is getting too poor to do painted eyes that stand up to close scrutiny!

Untold Goose Tale - a tale of Robin Hood

“Ah, ‘tis you. Come in!  It’s a raw night out there, so shut the door and come join me.  We’ve a fire in the grate, a flagon of the goodwife’s best ale, and one of the landlord’s famous meat pies fresh from the oven (just don’t ask where the meat’s from, we don’t want a visit from the King’s Foresters).  I was just about to tell all another tale of the famous Robin Hood, and his outlaw band.  A tale of foul play over fowl…

It was a winter’s night much like this one, and Little John and Will Scarlet (in disguise of course) were taking an ale or two in a house at the foot of the castle rock in old Nottingham. Christmas was on the way and the Yule logs had been cut, and thoughts were turning, as they do at this time of year, to feasting and merriment.

Now it happened that one of the Sheriff’s men was also in that night, and well into his cups already. Telling all who would listen how his master had heard that farmer Oswald had the finest geese in the county, and how the Sheriff was partial to goose and had declared that he would have those geese on his table come what may.  Now that farm rightly belonged to Sir William, as fair a landlord as you’d find in those parts, but the Sheriff claimed it should be his, and had caused poor Sir William much grief over it.

“Well”, say Little John to Will, “this does sound a most fine chance to tweak the Sheriff’s nose!” And so, bearing a fresh flagon of ale over to the Sheriff’s man, they set about finding out all they can, before returning to Sherwood and Robin, to lay their plans…”

This Untold Tale was originally intended as a pre Christmas game, but we weren’t quite ready in time.  The Sheriff’s men had to try and drive the geese off their table edge, while the outlaws had to get them into the woods.  This could be done by chasing the geese or physical picking them up (although the geese would fight back).  The geese would also move randomly every turn, and we added some goose specific random event cards (such as ‘feather up nose’, ‘slip on goose poo’ and ‘very angry goose’).  The Not So Little Miniature (NSLM) took the outlaws, and I was the Sheriff’s men.

Some of the geese headed straight for the pond, as if they knew something was up!

Both leaders initially hung back as their fellows tried to round up the awkward fowl.

While a herd of sheep held up a frustrated Guy of Gisborne.

First goose to the outlaws, driven off into Sherwood.

A fair old skirmish develops in the middle centre over a group of geese

Tuck distracts one of the Sheriff’s men, “can I talk to you about our saviour, Jesus Christ?”

One of the soldiers about to get his goose

Until the traitorous bird runs to Little John.  A frustrated Sheriff decides to take matters into his own hands.

Having lost his goose, the soldier decides an outlaw head is the next best thing.  It doesn’t end well for him…

Gisborne has more success, cutting down a (not so) Merry Man.

But meanwhile, Friar Tuck saves another goose from the Sheriff’s table.

Gisborne corners Robin himself, and a frantic duel ensues.  Although on paper the better swordsman, luck is on the hero’s side and he manages to defeat the overconfident knight!

Is that another goose in the hands of the outlaws?

With most of his men defeated or captured, his Christmas feast now looking gooseless, and losing to a smelly outlaw, the Sheriff plays the only card he can!

A resounding victory for Robin Hood and the Merry Men!

All in all, we had a great time.  Rosa enjoyed it, and really got into character, as well as getting involved in ideas on how to tweak and refine the game.  For example, rather than rolling the same result in a fight resulting in a draw, she decided that the drawn dice should be rolled off again until we get a result -  which feels much more like a back and forth duel and far more appropriate. 

It look as if the next game will involve some sort of trade for the captured Gisborne.  Watch this space for another tale…