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.

The Mules Of Ashak Rise

(Almost) The final Minis for Ashak Rise

Apart from orcs, hobhounds and dwarves, there are three mules at Ashak Rise.  Their job is to help the dwarves escape with the gold.  Thus they have an important role in this game, so I can't ignore them.

Mule Train!

When I played the game back in the nineties,  I used plastic toy donkeys made for farm sets.  These are now hard to find (I believe Britains are no longer in business) so I need another alternative

The 1999 playthrough with plastic farm donkeys

This time I wanted to find some suitable minis and paint them up. After all they'll make great objective markers in other games as well. 

Searching through my various piles of minis turned up one donkey. I believe it is still made by Wargames Foundry, along with other suitable beasts of burden.  But I was sure I had other minis. Among them an old Citadel Bill the Pony*.

Well I found a very mangled horse and another one laden with equipment.  They did look very much like small riding horses though, not beasts of burden. 

Two small horses

But a bit of putty later, and I think they'll do.  I sculpted various sacks, bags and blanket rolls, and even had a go at a wooden box**. To finish them off I added some bits from my bits box (mostly stuff from the ever useful North Star Frostgrave sprues).

Painting was straightforward though I took a long time trying to decide how to paint the various bits of baggage. 

The completed baggage section

Plus One Dwarf 

When I showed the last four dwarves I did mention that for Warlords of Erehwon I'd need an extra. When I found this chap in the lead pile I knew it had to be him. After all, the dwarves at Ashak Rise are panning for gold.

He's a D7 Dwarf Villager (Prospector, 86 - 12) sculpted by Trish Carden.  A small range that, like the human and orc villagers I appreciate a lot more now than back in the day when I had a lot more of them.  I think he's a great mini, his eager expression (I deliberately tried to give him a wide eyed look) as he gazes at his golden nugget and his buck teeth really give him character.

As with the beasts of burden, he took longer than I expected.  But this time it was because I was enjoying painting him so much that I didn't want to stop.

"Gold, its all mine I tell you"

So that's the dwarves for Ashak Rise actually finished***. 

What's Next?

Well there's the hobhounds to complete the Severed Hands.  They are all based and primed, so they shouldn't take long.

Then there's the terrain to look at.  I've already repaired the bridge, but there's a hut plus a river, road, hills and woods.

And perhaps even a better playing surface?
Fortunately, Dave Stone runs a terrain challenge over summer, so I think some of this will be done for that.

Beyond that, I've already started looking at the next scenario, Linden Way, and my favourite of the preliminary games.

*Sadly,  my memory was faulty. The equine in question was actually a mount, possibly for Tom Bombadil?  What's more, it's an imperfect cast, missing the end of it's nose. 

** Why not go all out with the bits or model things, eg with tissue and thread? Well I wanted to see what I could sculpt.

There are some things that didn't work, which is why the wooden box is mostly covered with a shield and some rope, but I'm generally pleased with the results. 

*** I'm prone to getting side-tracked, as the prospector shows, but I might actually be able to stop for the Dwarves of Ashak Rise now.

Orc's Drift Terrain: Bridge and Outhouse Restoration

I've struggled to get any painting done recently. Lots of real world stuff getting in the way, and what hobby time I can grab seems to have coincided with the hottest part of the day, and paint just dries too quickly. 

But I am sorting through terrain for Orc's Drift, and recently found my original bridge model. 

As with most of my stuff,  it's suffered over the years, but it's easily fixed. 

I've also got the outhouse, which needs a few bits sorting and updating. 

Painting may be off the table, but this kind of terrain work is fine, in fact, the faster drying time helps when gluing tiles on rooves.

Dwarves test out the new facilities

The Bridge Over the River Canis

Bridges are always useful.  They can be objectives and they provide interesting movement choices. Quite apart from it's place in the Orc's Drift campaign,  it's a very useful terrain piece to have in the collection. 

The underside of the bridge, showing construction and damage

The top of the bridge

I originally built the bridge from a card photocopy of the original, reinforced underneath with the thick card that I used to get from my job in printing.  Thinner card (about 1mm) forms the coping stones and filler gives the rest of the surfaces some texture. 

Over the years one side has broken and is hanging off, help in place only by some of the coping stones. 

To repair it I ran a bead of hot glue underneath to hold together and strengthen the internal joints. PVA glue was then used to repair the broken pieces of card coping.  

A quick touch up of paint brought the bridge back to full working condition, although I'm not sure if I should add a base.  I'm waiting until I've made some river sections before deciding what to do.

The fixed bridge from below

and as seen on the battlefield

The Outhouse 

Although an outhouse isn't really appropriate for a humano-centric pseudo-Medieval setting, it plays an important role in the inspiration material for Orc's Drift, so it's a must for the game. 

The Outhouse, currently vacant

That tired looking tiled roof

The model was built on a core of that lovely thick card again.  The walls were clad in wooden spills. These were the 80s hobbyist's equivalent of coffee stir sticks, sold in tobacconists (the 80s equivalent of Vape Shops) for lighting pipes (the 80s equivalent of... sorry, I'll stop now). 

The roof was tiled with thin card, and looks a bit tired. So I replaced it, using slightly thicker card (mail order card envelopes) this time around. To match the wooden construction I tried to give the effect of wooden shingles by scribing lines to texture the card like wood.  You can be the judge of how effective it is.

The updated outhouse, engaged

The Outhouse definitely needs a small base but I'll probably base a number of the buildings at once to keep them consistent. 

Both models got a bit of ink staining, Vallejo Game Ink Dark Green, to give an aged look and accentuate some of the textures.

So that's a couple of my old models renovated, and more terrain for the Orc's Drift project, and beyond that, for gaming in general.  I'm going to have to build some of the Orc's Drift terrain again, but I've at least one more building that I might be able to restore, though it's in far worse condition than the bridge.

Painted Dwarves at Ashak Rise

I've finished the last four dwarves for the Ashak Rise scenario, and here they are.  

Borinn, Snorinn and two followers

Borinn* Fimbul

Dwarf Veteran is the recommended mini for Borinn, but I don't have him, and he's a bit on the expensive side on evilbay at the moment, due to his association with Orc's Drift.

I do have a Ghost Miniatures halberd armed dwarf who long ago lost his halberd. He's wearing a cloak and has a similar passive pose. I replaced his halberd staff with an axe (actually, I tried just adding a plastic axe head first, but it didn't look right) and added a pipe made from a bent piece of wire and a blob of superglue with baking soda added. Bending the wire reminded me of helping my dad make crooks for large recorders, which was a nice moment.

This is what I was trying to match. Gary Chalk's lovely illustration, and yes, I did spill tea over it long ago.

I used the card counter as a guide for Borinn's colour scheme. It's certainly not a perfect copy of the recommended mini, but I hope it's got the same feeling; hooded and cloaked,  axe at rest and with a pipe.

Snorinn* Fimbul 

This is the authentic mini, I mentioned getting him, under his original name, a few weeks ago.

Again, I used the card counter as inspiration for his painting, though frustratingly, the counter doesn't show his shield design, so I've made something up. The visible shield designs show axes, so I went with a red axe.  I'm not happy with this, so may repaint it some time.

Other Ranks

The other two dwarves are MM 10 Marauder Miniatures, from the haul of Old School goodies I recently got. These two are unshielded, and look like they could have just turned up with their hammers, following rumours of gold.

DW18, Dwarf with hammer 

Another gambeson, but simply giving it blue piping has made a difference. I'm aware that the canvas cover could be dyed, but I painted the first one with memories of the ones on display in the archer's barracks in Bolton Castle, North Yorkshire, and once I'd done one like that, changing them would have looked odd.

Otherwise, I think he looks quite dashing with his blond locks.

DW07 Dwarf with hammer and hat 

This chap fits well with a lot of the 'Swiss style' Marauder dwarves, albeit not as fancy. I think it's the scalloped collar. I like the style, and there were quite a few in my haul of dwarves. Marauder did it whole regiment of 'slash and puff' dwarves with long spears, and they are lovely. More recently, manufacturers such as The Assault Group have continued the theme.

I like my fantasy earlier, more High Medieval in style, but I'm starting to appreciate this style more. Certainly this chap fits right in.

I really enjoyed these, They might not be my best painting, but I'm really proud of them.  They took a long time to do, partly because I've been very busy, but also because I didn't want to finish them, they were so much fun to do.  Contrast this with the previous batch that just seemed to drag on.  Ah well.

The Dwarves At Ashak Rise

And here they all are; Borinn and Snorrin Fimbul and the eleven dwarves who followed them. I like their fairly random look.  these aren't a military unit, they are a group of deserters brought together out of greed.

All done?

Actually, if I'm using Warlords of Erehwon, I'll need at least one more dwarf to stick to the rules; faction leaders are accompanied by at least two bodyguards. The rules don't allow characters to join up with units, and the attack economy makes individuals somewhat vulnerable to multiple units. I'll probably take another mini from my already painted dwarves.

I still need to finish the mules who help carry the gold, I've got some minis ready, but they needed a bit of conversion and repair work before painting.

* The named dwarves are pronounced Boring and Snoring. An example of the type of puns with which Orc's Drift is rife. I've no idea why these dwarves are particularly tedious,  it could be a studio in joke? If anyone knows,  please leave a comment. 

More Oldhammer Dwarves

More for Ashak Rise

With the Severed Hand Orcs painted (barring 6 hobhounds) I've been working on their opposition. I can use some of the dwarves I painted ages ago, but I need a few more.

These are a rag tag bunch of dwarves, drawn to Ashak Rise by the lure of gold. As such, there's no attempt at a uniform look for them. If I'm sticking to the Command Sheets, they should all be unshielded, and most of my dwarves do carry shields, unless they have crossbows or similar. I'm sure I can find enough though, and they should look suitably irregular*.

Four Dwarves

I began these four last year, but they kept getting put to one side. They were becoming what Orlyyg of Realm of Chaos 80s calls Moriarty Miniatures.

But with the end of the Paint What You Got Challenge, I set myself the task of doing some finishing off of part done minis. These dwarves seemed ideal.

I'll be honest, I struggled with these. I'm still not completely happy with them, but they are done now and bring me closer to having the dwarves I need for Ashak Rise. Just four more to go, and they are already primed and on painting handles.

Part of the issue was colour choice. There's a lot of leather and wood, both areas that I start from a base coat of Vallejo Game Color Scorched Brown, so for a long time they all looked very 'samey'. I'm not sure that off white is the right choice for the gambesons. They've been grey, bright white and in one case, blue and white before settling on this off white, and I'm still not completely happy with it. 

Three of them are Citadel Imperial Dwarves designed by the Perry Twins, the remaining one is a Ral Partha Dwarf Warrior (18007). 

L to R; Grimboar, Bardin, Hargir and Dwarf Warrior

D5 (16) Grimboar

Grimboar is, perhaps, the worst for the colour choices,  as they are all armour and equipment,  with just a little flesh showing.  I realised later that I could have added a bit of blue as piping around the armour (I might return to the mini and do this). I like to have some blue on all my dwarves,  and currently all they have are the fletchings on the ammunition. 

Random thought; it must get hot in that padded jacket. 

D5 (05) Bardin

Bardin has been in the wars (aka been rattling around in the bottom of a box for years).  Some of the detail has been lost, you can see the mail on his right arm is now worn smooth. The left tip of the crossbow is also deformed,  but it's not as obvious. 

Still, he's the dwarf I'm happiest with out of this lot.

C06 (ID-07) Hargir the Cautious 

Hargir is less prone to overheating, with their arms unprotected.  This gave me the opportunity to paint their tunic sleeves blue. 

Ral Partha Dwarf Warrior (18007)

The dwarf warrior is a nice, cleanly cast miniature.  I don't know who sculpted it, but it was originally for Das Schwarte Auge (Roleplaying game?). Detail is a little finer than the Citadel dwarves, and he's certainly more slender,  but I don't think he looks too out of place. 

Looking at him now, I could have made more of the canteen on his belt, maybe a nice red leather? Another thing to go back to.

So, four more dwarves ready to fight for that gold, or at least try and escape with it. 

The GW dwarves have a humour to them that I find lacking in the Ral Partha dwarf, particularly the gambeson wearing warriors with just their noses poking out. As they have no visible beards, perhaps they are female warriors?

*If we look at the card counters provided in the scenario pack (I talked about them back in November 2022), some of the dwarves do have shields.  It looks as if the dwarf counters provided are intended for use both at Ashak Rise, and at Orc's Drift.

Painted Hobhound and Birthday Dwarves

Another Hobhound

When I first discussed what to use for the Severed Hands' Hobhound pack, and even when I showed my painted suggestions,  I was resigned to only having one of the official minis. 

Well Bodvoc managed to acquire me a second one,  and in a different pose too.

Painting

Painting was pretty straightforward,  I used Vallejo Game Color Khaki as the basecoat for most of the fur, and VMC Scorched Brown for the mane. Then highlight with VGC Bleached Bone or Leather Brown before giving everything a wash with Marine Juice (or Sonic Tonic). Finally,  a bit of extra highlighting then the usual varnishing and basing. 

The new hobhound

Both 'official' hobhounds

More Dwarves

I didn't think one Hobhound merited a post on its own,  so here are my latest acquisitions, funded with some recent birthday money. 

They were all picked up on evilbay under their original catalogue names; Tribesman, Retainer and Clan Chief from the C06 range of Dwarves from the mid 1980s.

Dwarves by Other Names

But for collectors of the minis from the second edition scenario packs, they are better known as Beli, and Snorinn Fimbul from Bloodbath at Orc's Drift and Arka Zargull from the Tragedy of McDeath. 

Picking them up under their original names does mean quite a saving, some of the prices for minis with scenario connections are staggering.  Orc's Drift only had two brand new minis; Osrim Chardz, the dwarf leader in the final battle, and Hagar Sheol, the Severed Hands chieftain.  Brommedir and Erdolas do have their names on the tabs, but they were originally available in the C08 Elf range. I wonder if more minis were cast to meet demand, with the new names on the tab?

Snorrin is the son of the Dwarf leader at Ashak Rise, and will probably end up facing the Hobhound above.  I don't have his father, the mini is available, but so far I've only seen him as Borinn, rather than just a C06 Veteran. I do have plans for an alternative mini, more on that later.

Beli is one of the patients at the hospital at Orc's Drift.  The poor chap has suffered a head wound, and is subject to some of the Psychology rules that were part of the fun of second edition.  He is a companion to Gymlet (C06 Decrepit Wizard), who I painted up a while ago.

Arka Zargull is the leader of the Dwarven miners in one of the McDeath scenarios, and also a punning reference to the leader of the National Union of Mineworkers during the Miner's Strike.  As this was 40 years ago, it seemed relevant to get him, bringing my total of McDeath minis up to 2.75 (approximately).

Painted Hobhounds; Various Options

A Hobhound is for Life...

I realised that I never posted my first four painted Hobhounds. Back in July I spent a while trying to decide what to use for the Severed Hand's four pawed contingent. Here are painted examples of some of the options I mentioned. I'm trying to decide what works for me.

A Hobhound, two demons and a Blink Dog walk into a bar...

Actual Hobhound model 

Blink Dog 

Karmanthi demons 

These are two of the three poses in the pack.  They are available from Ral Partha Europe.  

I don't have any more Hobhounds, but I've got seven more of the demons and four more Blink Dogs. I've also got a selection of other dog models from various manufacturers. 

All the minis were painted to suggest actual dog breeds, maybe not very well, but the intention was there. The Blink Dog got a standard 25mm round base, as this was an AD&D mini, it would originally have been a hex base, but round fits in with the rest of my old school collection. Hobhounds were classed as cavalry, so gets an oval base. These are from Fluid 3D workshop, and I put magnets in for storage/multi basing.

Further thoughts and choices 

On reflection I'm not going down the Blink Dog route. I do need to keep the original Hobhound mini, after all, it's official, but the rest of the unit will be the nine demons. This fits well with my long ago belief that Hobhounds were something a bit more sinister and fae than just big dogs.

The Blink Dogs will come in useful for guard dogs or similar, indeed, one of the set is the official mini for Fritzi, the Bogels' dog in the Terror of the Lichemaster scenario pack (annoyingly, I can't find that particular pose).

So the decision is made; one original Hobhound and nine Karmanthi Demons. I just need to get the remaining seven done then the Severed Hand will be scenario ready!