Citadel Carrion Painted

I finished this lovely Oldhammer mini in December, but I've kept it secret until I could surprise Bodvoc with it in our first Dark Shadows game (more on this in an upcoming post).

Initially I thought the mini fairly dull.  To be honest, pretty much just all vulture feathers and flesh, and a black robed mini skelly didn't inspire me.  Looking for inspiration online showed lots of images of nearly black minis with very little else to grab the eye.  I dragged it out of the unpainted undead pile because I wanted something fast and flappy for my army.

As I looked closer I appreciated the details, its a nasty, rotting smelly corpse that still flies.  It has patches of wing missing any feathers, the leathery skin still allows flight.  There are areas where flesh and skin are missing completely, the neck is exposed down to the spine, and the head is mostly bare skull and beak.  Even the underneath has the organs exposed, along with a couple of ribs.

I don't think I've done it justice, but I've had fun trying.

Undead bird after your chips!

Flap flap flap

I'm sure those should be on the inside

I really enjoyed painting this beast, hopefully it was a pleasant surprise for Bodvoc as it strafed his dwarves, or tried to.

What Next?

I do have a few more secret projects for the campaign, expect them when they've had their first appearance on the table top.

Otherwise,  I'm in the middle of Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge,  so I'll be plugging away at that until February 26th. 

Bring Out Your Lead 2025

Last year was my first BOYL and I enjoyed it so much that I was back for more this year. 

Still just a day visitor,  maybe one day I'll pluck up the courage to join in something. 

There seemed to be more games running this time, and a greater variety too.

There was a lovely looking game of Man 'o War, a favourite of mine back in the 1980s. 

I was particularly impressed by the islands and the seascape,  and the fleets were very nicely painted. 

I must get my copy out sometime. 

The fleets assemble

The dwarf fleet, complete with aerial support 

Chaos dwarves, with funnels to match their hats, and orcs

The Empire 

There were also games of Heroquest, with a marvellous 3D board; Talisman 3rd Edition; Necromunda; Armagedon; Mordheim; Bomerz Over Da Sulpha River, and even a game of Hordes of the Things.

Necromunda, I think they were even using the original card terrain

Warhammer Fantasy Battles 

Unsurprisingly,  there were many games of Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40K.  

Classic style Warhammer board just before the battle starts

High Elves vs Orcs and Goblins 

This was even a game of second edition WFB (my favourite edition). A battle from the classic Tragedy of McDeath scenario pack

This table (previous two pictures) was great for playing 'spot the building'. There are versions of buildings from Orc's Drift and Terror of the Lichemaster. Even the Monastery of La Maisontaal.

The main marquee had two huge tables. One featured this awesome mega battle. There was an amazing mix of stuff, including whole regiments of repurposed Lord of the Rings minis, giants, Empire and allies and the fantastic airship 

The other large table was shared by this ruined city, which I think was Praag? and the Bomberz game (the sandy coloured bit at the back)

Warhammer 40 000

There were nearly as many games of 40K going on, with a good mix of armies and styles of terrain. I missed getting photos of the great looking Tyranid terrain on one table.

I think this was a game using the original Rogue Trader rules, though it includes some more modern minis 

Proper 40K spikey cacti 

An impromptu game set up on one of the tables in the courtyard. Great Battlewagon.

There was more, but I didn't get pictures of everything. Apologies if I missed your game here, but I certainly enjoyed everything I saw.

Next time I'll show you what I got, along with some photos of the cabinets.

Hobhounds for Ashak Rise Complete

Ashak Rise Minis Finally Finished*

I've finally finished the remaining Hobhounds for Ashak Rise.  I'd got six of the Ral Partha Karmanthi Demons left to bring the pack up to ten; with the two proper Hobhounds and the other two Demons already painted,  this finishes off the orc forces for the battle. 

The remaining six hobhounds

The Paint Scheme

I tried to match the painting to the earlier mini, though actually I think they look better.  Briefly,  they are painted all over with Vallejo Model Color Orange Brown, followed by a stripe of Vallejo Game Color Charred Brown along the spine.  Before this was completely dry, I used watered down VGC Charred Brown to extend the dark colour down the flanks, becoming less intense away from the spine.  Then a drybrush of VMC Sunny Skin Tone, especially on the undersides. To add shade, I gave them a good coat of  'Marine Juice/Sonic Tonic', then finished off by painting the various spikes etc in VGC Khaki, then highlight with VGC Bonewhite.  Eyes and nose are just Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Charcoal. 

The Finished Unit

So here's Hobhound handler Grashak Kra of the Severed Hand tribe, with his pack of beasts. 

I'll admit to being a little intimidated by six models all requiring similar paint jobs, but when I got round to it they were fast and fun to do.

So that's all the minis for Ashak Rise finished; Dwarves, Pack Beasts, Orcs and Hobhounds.

Of course, I still need to look at the terrain, but perhaps not quite yet?

* Yes, finished, really!

Though as I've mentioned before, I'll return to the Severed Hand and add more models, just not anything required for this scenario.

Trying Warlords of Erehwon. - Again

If you read my earlier post about my first ever game of Warlords or Erehwon, you may have gained the impression that I didn't like the rules.

Well, I was prepared to give them a second go, so Bodvoc drove down with some of his lovely Old School goblins to tackle a portion of my Severed Hand orcs.

Last game I felt overwhelmed with the options and all the different things going on, so I deliberately went for a small 500 point battle with straightforward goals and, on my side at least, no magic.

The background, briefly, was that the goblin leader, Kruk the Destroyer, urged on by his wizard, Gurk, decided to take advantage of the orcs' drubbing at the hands of the dwarves last time. Hopefully they would be weaker and easily beaten.

The field of battle (yes, lots of Middle Earth terrain, it's what I had to hand)

The Opening Stages

The battle began with both sides running forward to gain ground. The orc spears were so enthusiastic that they exhausted themselves.

The advance then slowed slightly, and the orc archers took up position (nicely exposed in the open, despite the ruins close by).

Goblins filled one of the woods and picked their way through.

The orc spears rested, but under the stern eye of Hagar Sheol they got ready for the coming action.

The orcs amass behind their hideous totem 

What's that coming over the hill, is it a monstrous goblin horde?

The two sides advance

Orc archers train their bows on a wood full of goblins 

The Middle Phase

As the goblin bows prepared to shoot, the orc archers snatched the advantage and loosed first. The goblins were better shots though, and killed two orcs for the loss of only one goblin.

On the other flank, a unit of goblins charged into the orc spears. One fell to a well thrown spear, which tipped the balance in the subsequent melee. As the remaining goblins staggered back, the orcs wiped them out.

The Goblin Guard then tried to finish off the depleted orc spears, but the larger unit of orc warriors were waiting for just such an opportunity, and smashed into them part way. Despite the Guard being elite, they were still only goblins, and the orc warriors killed all but their leader. Having taken some casualties, they decided not to press the fight, a decision they would later regret.

In response, Gurk gestured wildly, waved his arms and pointed at the warriors - to no effect.

(At this point I tried to use Hagar to Rally and remove the pins on the remaining orc spears, however, on close reading of the rules, it appears that this only works if the allied unit is actually Routing).

The orc spears then tried to rally, but despite being under the watchful eye of Hagar Sheol, they ended up Down again.

The End

The goblin bows continued to shoot at the remaining orc archers, killing two more, the remaining orc fled the scene.

The orc warriors charged into the goblin wizard, killing his ferocious pet Gobble-dogs. But they pulled down two of the orcs, and, with their earlier casualties, the orcs broke.

Hagar managed to stop their rout, but that stopped him participating in a fight.

Gurk's magic was more effective this time, and Grashak Kra was struck with doubt and fear. Kruk tried to take advantage of this, but Grashak retreated, and Kruk stayed his charge, snorting in disgust.

The orc spears remain hunkered down.

Kruk then charged the orc warriors, but they gave better than they got, and the goblins withdrew. 

The goblin bows turned their attention on poor Grashak Kra, felling him.

Hagar decided it was time he took a hand, charging Kruk and his depleted bodyguard. The frenzied orcs chopped their way through the bodyguard and gave Kruk pause. The two warchiefs snarled and prepared to continue their duel, but each, perhaps, saw something in the others' eyes. They lowered their weapons and nodded at each other with new-found respect. Why waste greenskin blood when they had mutual enemies?

The remains of the orc archers 

Wizard bashing, though surprisingly less effective than I thought it was going to be

After Battle Musings

Well, what a difference. I deliberately set out to try and learn the game and try and get some understanding of what tactics to use.

I'd say I succeeded, and had a great fun game too. Sadly, time ran out before we could run the follow on fight between the Warchiefs, so we called a draw (of course, both privately feeling that we'd have won if we'd played another turn).  The fact that the game was so close, and had moments when it swung one way or another, show, I think, that the rules are sound and that we will have a lot of fun with this going forward.

I'll do another post talking about the rules, but briefly, I did enjoy them this time around.  There are areas that we are still vague about (we occasionally forgot to take Order Tests for units with pins for example), and there are aspects of them that are odd or annoying, such as some of the naming conventions, but there is a depth of tactics that we are just starting to learn, and I look forward to more games, and, who knows? Maybe Warlords of Orc's Drift?

Orc Villager (0508) Orc Vivandiere*

Just a quick post to show my latest eBay purchase, this delightful orc villager sculpted by the talented Trish Carden.

Looks like meat's back on the menu

There were three orc villagers that I was interested in, but I missed out on the other two. That meant I felt I could go a little higher for this lovely lady.

She's missing her tab, and I'll definitely be giving her a new paint job (she's in the Dettol already), but I'm very pleased to add her to my Oldhammer orcs.

I'm starting to get a collection of the Orc villagers. They make great unit fillers. My Severed Hand orcs are mostly in units or multiples of ten, so the villagers are great to bump a unit up to twelve for Dragon Rampant. They'll also make good 'baggage', should that be relevant (it was a thing in third edition Warhammer).

In case you can't make out what's happening from my quick snaps, the orc is carrying a halfling under her arm. The halfling is desperately kicking his legs, while she waves a cleaver. I'll leave it to your imagination what happens next.

*The title Orc Vivandier is mine, Lost Minis Wiki just has her down as an orc villager.

The Severed Hand Progress

A short while ago I mentioned that I'd painted half the infantry for the Severed Hand tribe. Now I've finished half of the remaining minis, so three quarters of the way there.

These are a mixed bunch of command, spear armed orcs and sword or axe armed orcs and will bulk out existing units.

Another eight Severed Hand orcs

Grashak Kra or C15 (85 - 04)

This Perry Twins C15 Orc is named 'Warlord' in the catalogues, though his tab demotes him to Orc Officer.  To me he will always be Grashak Kra.

Grashak Kra is an independent hero and leads a pack of 'hobhounds'. I've still to decide exactly what I'll use for these, but I've got a few ideas. 

I gave him a colourful crest to his helmet, I may go back and add a little black lining to help it stand out.  He's wearing a tunic of the yellow and black fabric that a lot of his tribe wear.  I'll use this as a uniform when I come to paint some of the Good Force.

The Rhythm Section, ORC1 (C - 01) 

Drummer with hood is a Kev Adams mini from the command packs, he provides an important musical accompaniment for the unit, or at least a steady beat. 

He is one of three variant drummers, and there are also three gong players, such as Luglud, who I painted here.

Check out those feet nailed to the drum

A fun touch is the drum skin. If you look closely you can see a face at the front and feet at the back. He's used the flayed skin of a victim. A nice accompaniment to the quivers here.

Orc with axe and 0502/15, Kroglod Cleaver

I can't find an exact identification for the orc with the axe and helmet, but he looks like a variant of 0502/08, Hurt, in which case these are both Kev Adams sculpts.

They'll fill out the hand weapon armed unit here. I'm looking for a few more orcs with two handed weapons to eventually form their own unit. If they don't have shields, they can be part of any of the tribes. 

0502/09 Orbid and BDD" (09) Orc

Orbid is another Kev Adams orc, I don't know who sculpted the other orc.  

They are both destined to join the rest of the orc spears here.

When I started painting Orbid, I thought he was the same mini as Gubbut the Armpit. But he's a variant sculpt. I chose a paint scheme as different as possible, thinking they were the same. Now I rather wish I'd painted them as similar as possible, so that the differences in the models might stand out more.

Orbid and Gubbut

The other orc comes from the Dungeon Monsters box, back when GW produced official minis for D&D/AD&D.  While they didn't keep the old pig face design, the shield shape and hood are clearly based on the original AD&D Monster Manual illustration.

I thought the hood was like the traditional Hollywood version of a jester, so I painted it in bright colours.

4709/44 Spear 15 and ORC5 (10) Chopit

The imaginatively named Spear 15 is by Kev Adams, and Chopit is a Trish Carden Orc Villager (I've also seen him referred to online as 'burglar').

Spear 15 will join the rest of the spear orcs, while the villager will join the hand weapon orcs. Eventually Spear 15 may join in the two handed weapon unit, as he looks to be wielding a halberd. The villager is currently a filler while I paint more orcs.

A Unit of Spears

I now have ten spear armed orcs, enough for a unit (if I'm playing Dragon Rampant, I'll add a couple of villagers to bulk it up to twelve). 

Looking Ahead

Just eight more Severed Hand orcs to paint.  Plus ten hobhounds, once I've decided what to use.  Hopefully I'll get the rest of infantry finished soon-ish, in fact they are already on the painting table, primed, and ready for the metals.

First Game of Warlords of Erehwon

I recently tried Warlord Games' Warlords of Erehwon by Rick Priestly.  Bodvoc suggested it as an alternative for the size of games we normally use Dragon Rampant for.
The game is based on Bolt Action, a squad level WWII game, and Gates of Antares, a SciFi skirmish game, both from Warlord Games.  I'll admit, I was also looking for a rules system for Orc's Drift.

As an introduction, Bodvoc set up terrain for the first scenario in the book, essentially a straight forward clash.  To add a little extra interest he placed a dwarven statue in the middle of the table, with the intention that my orcs would try and deface it.

We both had just short of 700 points; my orcs vs Bodvoc's lovely Old School dwarves (many of them gifts from myself).

700 points of orcs 

700 points of dwarves 

The field of battle 

The orcs advance 

As do the dwarves

"What are those filthy orcs doing to our statue?"

The high point of the game for the orcs, their leader reaches the statue

The dwarves take back their hill 

This isn't intended to be a full battle report, but essentially, after reaching the hill at the end of the first turn, it all went wrong for my orcs.  I struggled to get through the tough dwarven armour, lacking much in the way of armour piercing weapons, and I never managed to bring superiority of numbers to bear.  

The dwarves, armed with Big Axes or Bloomin' Big Axes cut through the orc light armour like butter.  This was at least partly due to my absolutely appalling dice throwing. 

I eventually conceded after losing nearly three quarters of my army. Bodvoc had lost just five dwarves.  His account can be found here.

Whilst I had a lot of fun playing a game with Bodvoc for the first time in many may months, and it was great to get my orcs on the battlefield at last, I can't honestly say I actually enjoyed the game itself.

There were, of course, issues of not fully understanding the game or the tactics required.  Orcs seem to need a quite different way of handling in Warlords of Erewhon, the dwarves maybe less so?

I'm sure that it was my bad luck that was the reason behind my lack of enjoyment, and I'll certainly play at least one more game to see if it's the game for me.

I really hope it is; there are some great ideas in Warlords of Erehwon.  The book is a good read (something you can't say about a lot of rules books).  Concepts are well explained, and there are photographs of many different manufacturers'' miniatures.  The order dice, used to both determine sequence of play and indicate what actions a unit may perform, are an excellent idea (though we did find a couple of occasions where extra counters were required).  The army lists are comprehensive and army building is straight forward.  There are no super powerful troops, though at the time I thought the combination of well armoured dwarves with bloomin' big axes (its genuinely a term from the rule book, a bit much for my poor orcs.  I shall have to look hard at the lists and choose more wisely.

The armies cover most of the normal fantasy wargaming tropes.  There does seem to have been an effort to avoid some of the more egregiously OP units that may have cropped up in certain well known fantasy wargames, which is all to the good.  

Rick Priestley's website, This Gaming Life has a lot of supplementary material, including extra lists and a points calculator for those wanting to build their own troops from scratch.  The Facebook group also has additional resources and even more lists.

In conclusion, I really want to love this ruleset. At the moment I can't, and I don't know if that's simply because the first game went so much against me that I felt completely powerless, or because I'm noticing things that don't quite gel with what I'm looking for.

If you've any experience of Warlords of Erehwon, please leave a comment.

Only time (and more games) will tell.