Artefacts From my Gaming Past - Initiative Tracker and Game Board

These don't look particularly exciting, but they were an important part of my roleplaying, including the long-running D&D 4E campaign. 

Game board and Initiative Markers

The little name tiles were used to track initiative.  They are magnetic and we used a metal note board, changing the order each combat, and sometimes during combat as folk delayed and similar. 

Whilst fairly humble, this board and the tiles were present every session from Winterhaven onwards.

The surviving names are Fyodor (NPC bard, briefly run as a PC and finally retired in favour of Switch, halfling rogue), Kathra (dwarf fighter with a complicated life and death story arc), and Ozzie (multiple resurrected wizard and school founder).  The red edged tiles originally simply read Creature 1 etc.

If the initiative tracker has been around for years, then the board is even older. 

I made it from one of the fold out paper mats that came with the first D&D Miniatures Game Starter Sets back in 2003.  It's similar to the card sheet included in an early Adventurer Magazine.

I glued it to 3 mm thick card salvaged from the skip at work and covered the surface with clear sticky back plastic. It handles both dry erase and wet erase markers.

The total size is 22 inches by 34 inches and it folds down to a quarter that size. 

It saw use in the Miniatures Game as well as during my 3/3.5 edition days and well in to 4th edition. Although I was printing out floor plans - I remember one of a wizards' tower from B10 Night's Dark Shadow (an excellent adventure), designed on Dundjinni, and printed out on many sheets and with lots of ink - but for most play this board did the job, and even provided the battle ground for the siege in the first chapter of B10.

It's real strength lay in the ease of sketching out an encounter area or battle-map on the fly, which helps avoid the DM's feeling of wasted effort if the players avoid an encounter with ready made floorplans.  It's quite liberating.

As always, this artefact post is really more about the memories than any actual value of the artefacts. These remind me of the fun I've had playing role playing games over the past many years.

Do you have any gaming related stuff that you've used over many years?

*EDIT* I just found a couple more trackers,  soon I'll have the full party.

Artefacts From My Gaming Past; Early Miniatures on Film

This old photograph turned up the other day.  I'm pretty sure it dates from the mid 80's.  At the time I was experimenting with photographing my painted minis, and this is one of the results, perhaps the only surviving picture.  At the time I was getting a lot of Photography help from a good friend (the owner of Kerwyn) and also from one of the photographers at work.  We tried all sorts; extension tubes, filters (actual physical things, not software effects).  The main limiting factor was the cost of having the film developed.

Horde of Goblins and Orcs

The minis are a mixed bunch.  The wargs and goblin rider are from the old Minifigs Mythical Earth range, the grey skinned orc on the left is a Citadel Fantasy Tribes orc, and I think the tall yellow skinned goblin might be Ral Partha, as is the standard bearer.

There's a Minifigs Dungeons and Dragons goblin just peeping out on the right, and a couple more of his friends behind the front rows.  Just visible at the back is the head and scimitar of a Mythical Earth orc.

The background looks like artwork of Sauron, probably taken from a calendar.  The minis are resting on a copy of The Silmarillion.

Wallowing in Nostalgia

Whilst there's not a lot to say about this, it tugs the nostalgia strings for me.  It's a good example of my painting from around 40 years ago, and it shows that I was experimenting with different skin colours for my various orcs and goblins.  In fact, not a single bit of green skin anywhere!  There's even an attempt at shading on the chap front right.

Also, a pleasing mix of manufacturers, something I've gone back to recently, but once I started playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles, I pretty much side-lined all the non Citadel stuff.

Well I hope you enjoyed this little dip into my old memories.  Perhaps you also have something to remind you of your gaming youth.

Artefacts From my Gaming Past - Aquila Lite-Man

All the RPGaDAY stuff got me thinking back to my early gaming days. This coincided with me finding an old mini from the seventies.

There's not a lot to say about this mini itself, except that it's probably one of the oldest minis that I still own.  I don't know why I painted it purple either, but it seems to suit the rather unearthly look of the thing.

It's from the Minifigs Science Fiction range and Lost Minis Wiki identifies it as SF 18 Aquila Lite-Man from the mid 1970s (it appears in the 1975 catalogue). 

I can't remember why I bought it, though it might have been some sort of wraith in early D&D (which would date my purchase to around '77-78) but it brought memories flooding back, and that's what these Artefacts posts are all about.

Way Back in the Mists of Last Century (provide your own wibbly-wobbly SFX)

I bought a few of this range back in the seventies on rare and much anticipated trips to the Model Railway Supermarket in Bradford. There was no plan to buying them, I just got minis I liked the look of.

Back then, shops selling minis were rare, and often the minis were just a small section among other hobbies, such as plastic kits, model planes and railways (much later Something Wicked was also like this). 

I always found model soldiers fascinating, going right back to plastic Britain's soldiers, but the opportunity to buy the smaller lead ones was very rare. 

I do have vague memories of a shop in Scarborough where I bought some Highlanders, and there was a shop in Howarth called, appropriately, Land of Gondal*, which had a good selection of historical stuff.  I remember them having a table of small cardboard boxes, each with a code for the particular mini and the relevant mini inside.  Very trusting. 

My first trips to the shop in Bradford were true expeditions. A bus to Bradford, then a long walk (well, to my young legs; it was over a mile and a half each way) to the shop. We later worked out which bus to take, but it still felt special.

I first went there to buy some of the Minifigs Mythical Earth range, and my remaining handful have the title of oldest minis still owned, but they are for another post.  I even remember seeing small books with the words "Dungeons and Dragons" on them, but I ignored them, I was there for the lead.

There would have been a good number of cabinets of historical minis, and a few of the then new fantasy minis.  I remember some of the ranges even now.  Minifigs produced Mythical Earth, the Science Fiction range and a Sword and sorcery range that were to Conan what the Mythical Earth minis were to The Lord of the Rings.

As I moved from Middle Earth wargaming to D&D the trips became more focused on RPG minis (hence Aquila Lite-Man).  I was no longer making the expedition with my parents but with the gaming group from college.  They were rather raucous journeys!

Enough misty-eyed memories.  Now I'll have to think of something to do with the Aquila Lite-Man.

*That's right, Gondal, not Gondor.  A no-prize (or possibly a self-administered pat on the back) if you comment why it's appropriate.

Artefacts From My Gaming Past 6

Another couple of finds that reflect my hobby past. These came out of an old Filofax (remember those?) from 1989.

Something Wicked This Way Comes was my local games shop. I first popped in very soon after it opened, I'd guess around 1985 or so? They sold model railway stuff (the owner ran a model rail accessory company, Knightwing) plastic kits and roleplaying and wargames stuff. With the rise of Games Workshop those products began to dominate, but they always stocked other manufacturers as well, and I regularly bought Grenadier minis from them. More recently they stocked Ral Partha Europe ranges. I spent many a lunch hour chatting to the staff, and became good friends with some of them. Indeed, this is where I met T'Other One.

The only real lack at the shop was a gaming table to demonstrate games to potential customers.

Sadly the shop closed down a few years ago, although other games shops have opened up in the area. 

My association with the KMM&GS goes back even further, to the seventies. I joined in 1978, shortly after starting sixth form. One of the wargamers at the college showed us this amazing game he'd tried at the club. The game was, of course Dungeons and Dragons, and I was hooked before even joining the club.

The club produced some well known names in gaming history, especially connected to TSR UK and Games Workshop. But to me it will always be a place where me and my slightly odd friends fitted in.

So here's to you if any of this is familiar, and please, leave a comment with your reminiscences.

If not, I hope you too have happy hobby memories wherever and whenever they are from.

Artefacts From My Gaming Past 5 - Even More Orc's Drift

I don't just find old minis or games as I tidy through my accumulated 'stuff'. I recently found more photos taken when we played the multiplayer Bloodbath at Orc's Drift campaign may years ago.  You can find a bit more about that here.

These photos were taken at the first session, where we played the first three scenarios on three separate tables.  

Kachas Pass

The aim here is for the elves to hold off the orcs long enough to escape, helped, hopefully, by reinforcements from the woods.  The lovely stockade was provided by Bodvoc.

The Orcs advance on the Kachas Pass outpost

Nearly at the gate

The Rock Giant Guthrum Mane leads the assault, in the compound the defenders have to deal with an escaped half orc spy

Ashak Rise

Meanwhile, the dwarven outpost of Ashak Rise is gripped with gold fever.  No heroics here, when the orcs appear the dwarves just want to load up their gold and go.  The building is the 'Rough Inn' from the Tragedy of McDeath pack, I still have it, it's overdue a bit of restoration and a better paint job.

Orcs on the horizon, and Hobhounds at the river bank

The dwarves and their mules flee down the road

Linden Way

The garrison at Linden Way must hold out long enough for the villagers to escape.  I still have two of the buildings.

Guards in the watchtower nervously look out on the advancing orcs

The action moves into the village

Orcs attacking the villagers

Sadly I can't remember what the outcome of any of the games was.  If I had to guess, I'd suggest that the elves at Kachas Pass successfully held out, it's difficult to shift elven archers from a defended position.  The dwarves at Ashak Rise look to be escorting their gold off, but it doesn't look good for the villagers of Linden Way in the last picture.

If you want to see some pictures of the final battle at Orc's Drift, you can find them here and here.

I hope you found this nostalgia trip interesting, it certainly brought back memories for me.

Artefacts From My Gaming Past 4 - More Orc's Drift Pictures

While doing some long-overdue clearing out today, I found a couple of photos from a long ago game.

The photos weren't in great condition, but I've scanned them as best I can, and they are fun.  At least, they bring back fun memories to me.

Orcs assault the barricade, stout dwarven defenders try to hold them back

The orcs force their way forwards and into the compound

Now I'm not completely sure, but I think they are from the final Orc's Drift game I had with Bodvoc (then Merlin) and his gaming group.  I've posted a couple of pictures of the game before.  I think these are later in the action, it doesn't look good for the dwarves!

Artefacts from my Gaming Past - 3 - Card Counters

I found some more bits from early games today while sorting out my gaming stash.

These are photocopies of the card counters from Bloodbath at Orc's Drift. They aren't that interesting in themselves, but it got me thinking about the role of counters in miniatures games 

Dwarves from Orc's Drift

I mentioned these counters in my post about the scenario pack, check it out if you want to see my thoughts on the set as a whole.  The card counters were an excellent idea, and they were present in most of the early Warhammer Fantasy products essentially allowing you to play the battle without miniatures.  Even the scenarios in the Journal and Compendium had them,  I remember one in particular, The Dolgan Raiders I believe, which not only had counters for the minis, but cut out and build wagons.  Citadel even produced metal wheels to allow you to build sturdier models.  

Some of the counters were coloured, which helped with paint schemes. They were even supposed to represent specific models. You may recognise the bottom left counter as C06/08 Decrepit Wizard (you can see the actual mini here).  Of course, being a miniatures manufacturer, Citadel hoped that you would go out and buy the minis eventually. I wonder how many gamers back in the day used them? If you did, why not leave a comment with your thoughts.

Even the new Warhammer 40,000 rules had counters for the Battle At The Farm to copy or cut out in the back of the book.  These are more generic than the Warhammer ones tended to be, and most, though recognisable, bear little resemblance to actual minis.

Enough Marines and Orks for The Battle At The Farm.  Those Orks are going to struggle

Whilst it's tempting to comment on how GW used to provide a more complete gaming experience, don't forget that the early starter sets included many of the miniatures needed for any scenarios inside. And here we find the spiritual successor to the card counters, standees.

Fourth edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles contained multiple sprues of monopose High Elves and Goblins, but as the set was supposed to recreate Grom the Paunch's invasion of the High Elves they also included standees for the special characters.

High Elf Bolt Thrower from the fourth edition starter set

Many years later, GW included standees in their collaboration on the excellent Strategy Battle Games in Middle Earth part work. These were intended to provide stand-ins for minis that would be available in later issues.  Again, the idea was to allow play before the collection was complete. As they were photos of actual painted minis, they were also good painting guides. 

I'm not aware of any more recent examples of GW including card substitutes for minis, though I've been out of the Games Workshop loop for many years now.

Artefacts from my Gaming Past: 2

I've been sorting through my stuff in the loft of shame and came across this chap.

He's an Asgard dwarf (FD3 Dwarf Thief, according to Lost Minis), and may not look much; little detail and poor paint job, neither helped by years of abuse at the bottom of a lead pile

But to me he's my first character mini, Flosi the dwarven thief.

Flosi was my first ever D&D character from my first ever game (I got the mini a few weeks later, from a games show in Manchester, where fantasy minis were rare).  I turned up at the long defunct Kirklees Modelling and Gaming Club at Huddersfield Sports Centre one Monday evening in 1977, after one of my college chums persuaded me that I had to try this new game.  I was led through the character generation process by the DM, (Johnny, I think) largely by being told what to roll, then being told what my character was best suited for.  

I was instantly hooked.

Flosi survived to third level, he controversially died in The Licheway, a White Dwarf dungeon, run by Tom Kirby (yes, that Tom Kirby), killed by a throat leech, a monster that lurks in drinks and attacks from the inside.  Poor Flosi was only having a dip, according to the inscription "bathe Sandlander, and ease your cares".

Anyway, his mini, now painted with Humbrol enamels, did duty as Flosi's replacement, and even spent some time in a small army of Asgard dwarves in my early Warhammer days.

He used to have a sword in his right hand, and a dagger, actually a pin (ouch!) in his left.  I may repaint him, though there's not a lot of detail on him.  Still, it would be fun, though I can't ever see me using him in any game.  

Talking of repainting old minis, I also found this, an old Citadel Miniatures bard with sword and lute.  I liked him because it was unusual to find a mini back then with a musical instrument, even though it does look more like a crossbreed between a lute and a mandolin.  

Unlike Flosi, the bard was definitely in the character minis box I showed in my first Artefacts post.  I wonder what other old lead I'll turn up in my delving?

Now if only I could find 'Wreckless' Eric Harminion, my longest lasting character, a 14th level human fighter.

Artefacts from my Gaming Past

I've been doing a big clear out of my parents' house recently and I found a box of stuff from my youth.

Apart from some slightly damaged Star Wars kits (they'll come in nicely for the 28mm Star Wars games, probably as wrecks/terrain pieces) I also found these.

They are the tins I used to keep my collection of D&D miniatures in when I went off to uni (1979). Gosh, my collection has grown since then.

Recently I've been watching a few YouTube videos showing GMing travel sets. It does make me wonder how little I could manage with and if I should slim down my collection.  I doubt I'd manage the sort of games I've been running with only this amount of minis though.