Dodger Joins The Party

Hello again.

The "Dickens Street Runners" made their debut within these "pages" a few weeks ago and they were always set to increase their numbers in short order, once I had done a bit of research on suitable nefarious types from the works of that Victorian scribe Mr Charles Dickens, esquire.

Well, one obvious addition is Dodger, artful or otherwise, so here he is in all his grimy, backstreets of London sort of manner, relocated to a fictional, northern English town akin to Eoferwic/ Jorvik/ York for use in games of "Burrows & Badgers".

Dodger in the flesh. If the picking of pockets goes amiss, he can always bump them over the head with the club or slice open a belly with his knife. Not at all the cheeky, melodious chappy of the musical then...

A little light armour can also go some way to keeping our Dodger in the fight for a while longer.

And the "FEARLESS" skill possessed of all weasels in the "B&B" game, together with a determined, almost menacing look in that eye, will help intimidate a few opponents.

You may recall seeing this figure before. The same casting appears in my Pirate warband (see previous posts). I mistakenly bought two, although not at the same time, and this second one languished in the lead pimple for a while until I came up with the notion of the "Dickens Street Runners". However, as you can clearly see, he has crawled and clambered his way out of the pimple, onto the painting table and into the blog. Therefore, he is very much ready and able to take his place on a tabletop sometime, somewhere, very soon!

And remember..."You've got to pick a pocket or two."

Or just smack 'em over the head, rob the very bones of the poor blighter and leave 'em for dead. Which ever is easier or more desirable at the time really.

G

Alumwell Loot

Hello again.

It is now a very busy two weeks since the WMMS show, aka Alumwell, held last 10th March at the Aldersley Leisure Centre near Wolverhampton in the UK.

I went with a plan. Definite purchases were to include some steel paper, some magnetic sheet and some more textured paint, Basetex Dark Earth to be precise and, do you know what, that plan actually survived meeting contact with the enemy! I bought all three in short order.

Vaguer plans involved something to contend the field with my as yet unpainted 10mm Sassanids and perhaps some additions to my also as yet unpainted, and largely forgotten, French Wars of Religion proposal, ideally in the form of some Reiter cavalry. Well, 19 Reiter for £2 each from Tiger Miniatures saw to the latter and Pendraken and Magister Militum saw to the former in the form of an Arab Conquest army. The choice for opponents for the Sassanids had devolved down to either Middle Imperial Roman, Late Imperial Roman or Arabs and the Arabs simply provided something that bit different. Maurikian Byzantine may well follow, but only after I have painted up the Sassanids and Arabs, whenever that may be.

The show was, I felt, more populous than recent years (especially last, held in the midst of a Siberian flourish to early Spring) and there were some good looking games on show, but arguably a diminished trade presence. Unfortunately, I forgot both my camera and my phone, so got no photos, but I can recommend this show to anyone in the area the second weekend of March next year and I will hopefully catch some of the games again later this year.

There were a couple of good looking AWI games amongst others, but a Peninsular War encounter and a Japanese vs Dutch in the Eat Indies WW2 affair were probably my favourites. I especially liked the terrain in the former and the three-engine Dutch seaplane in the latter.

So, to conclude, just a few quick photos of the best parts of the loot from the show.

G

The newly-acquired Arab army, with relevant bases and some tents for colour, courtesy of Pendraken and Magister Militum.

A long-held but largely unfulfilled interest of mine is the Austrian Empire and the wars of the mid-19th Century, so this offering form Helion was a welcome find.

Likewise this small tome, which I had seen advertised in Wargames Illustrated, I think, and my mind went wandering to the Wyrley Retinue game based on Malta 1565 that did the rounds a few years back. I still have the Turks, some at least of the terrain and enough unpainted mid- to late-17th Century figures to paint up some Venetians and Allies for a game. Venetian amphibious operations against Turk-held Aegean islands anyone? Another find at Helion's stall.

What The Dickens!

Hello again.

One of the great things I like about "Burrows & Badgers" is that it has inspired to come up with all sorts of ideas for scenarios, campaigns, characters both nefarious and otherwise and various warband ideas. This is not just a wizard and his followers or a knight and his retinue, but a more rounded, every has a name sort of thing. My latest is inspired by a couple of of the Oathsworn Miniatures range of figures for the game, two figures I bought in my first ever order to them and, in truth, two figures I was unsure what to do with until that inspiration broke through.

The first figure is the wildcat with the axe and battered top hat. It is not a soldier, nor a magician. It is clearly a civilian with an axe, a top hat, a waistcoat and overcoat. The second figure is a Siamese Cat, dressed in oriental robes, with a fan and a little, pillbox-style hat. Again, not a soldier, she is a magician. In my thoughts about pirates, Military Orders, Witch Hunters and similar bands, these two just did not feature.

Then, the light bulb came on!

Oliver Reed and Shani Wallace!!! Sorry, (Bill) Sykes and Nancy!

My acquaintance with Charles Dickens' works is minimal at best, but surely everyone has seen "Oliver!" or knows the Oliver Twist story. Others will also know of "A Christmas Carol" and possibly even "Great Expectations". Some of us may have sat through one or other of Dickens' works at school, college or university. All I know is that, for me, Oliver Twist features some of the finest villains and other characters in Victorian literature and, Dickens created quite a few others I gather in his wider works.

So, I had a fit for my two figures and they are the basis of my Dickens Street Runners criminal gang. For the record, I now have Sykes the Wildcat, Nan-Si the Siamese Cat and Fagin has become a Fox Rogue. Dodger is not far from being finished either, in the form of a Weasel Rogue. I will need a few more to fill out the group, so am forced into some research into Dickensian villains, but that chore will be all the more welcome and less onerous by the conclusion of the idea.

Sykes the Wildcat. You see where I got the Dickensian vibe from?

That heavy moleskin or leather coat is surely worth claiming light armour for.



That axe will need no further claims made for it however!



Nan-Si in all her mysterious glory. She could not be just plain, old Nancy from Whitechapel now could she?

My attempt at an embroidered dragon on her robe looks a bit more like a lizard or dinosaur, but I think at least helps with the oriental theme.

And there is a dragon chasing a ball on her fan. What? The dragon is eating the sun?! Oh...

And piercing blue eyes to add to the Siamese Cat vibe. I see a lot of use made of poisons as well as magic when she finally hits the tabletop.

 

Fagin was a wily, old fox in the book, so becomes a wily, old fox in the game too.

Skulking around looking for an easy shot, this pose I think epitomises what I want from my East London villain.

And the contents of many a picked pocket will fit nicely into that pack.



And the three of them together will make a fine addition to my collection to date and the foundation for the "Dickens Street Runners".

I mentioned the B&B game promoting my campaign and character ideas and Nan-Si is no exception. I see her too becoming the mistress of a dark, criminal underworld of rats and other ne'er-do'wells, but think, when that day comes, she will become Su Manchu, arch-enemy of the Royalist cause in Northymbra. When that day comes, that is.

G

It's Show Time!

Hello again.

Just a brief reminder, to anyone who might need one, that the annual West Midlands Modelling Show is to be held tomorrow, 10th March, at the Aldersley Leisure Centre in Wolverhampton. Known to us "old hands" as the Alumwell Show, from its former venue, this show is traditionally my first of the year and I am very much looking forward to trotting along, checking out the numerous traders and games on show and trying to keep my wallet shut...

Check out www.AlumwellWargames.co.uk for a full list of traders, directions to the show if you need them and so forth.

I always find way too much to spend my money on at this show and the weather is looking like it will be a tad better than last year, when the snow deterred many a gamer and trader. Although not demo-ing this year, I will be there as a punter and will undoubtedly return home the proud owner of some additions to my lead mountain, something I had not even contemplated buying when I arrived at the show and with my Bank Manager reaching for the valium in whatever dark room he inhabits when he looks at my finances.

G

Foxy Lady

Hello again.

To be honest, "Hey Joe" is my favourite Jimi Hendrix song, but it certainly would not fit the bill for this post and probably not too many others either...

I have not tried painting a fox before in my seemingly ever-growing "Burrows & Badgers" collection, but, with a number of the species featuring in the Oathsworn Miniatures range, it was probably inevitable that I would get around to one sooner or later.

Fitting her into one of my existing groups is a bit tricky, as I simply do not know where she would fit in, but with "Burrows & Badgers" being such an inclusive set of rules, where owls can happily play nicely with mice and foxes with rabbits, I am probably overthinking it!

She would fit my Witch Hunters best of all, I guess, and, with the aforementioned ever-growing nature of the project, I will no doubt find her a suitable home at some point.

Anyway, here she is in all her glory. I have given her no name as yet (Robina Hood? Emilia Fox?) but something vaguely amusing will come to me I'm sure.

G

The foxy lady in all her toxophilite glory. I like the simple, natural colours of her clothing and fur, which I think entirely appropriate both on an aesthetic level and for her role - she is obviously a ranger or hunter by trade, the figure being marketed as a "Fox Huntress".

Simple clothing done relatively simply.

And simple equipment too. She seems to be missing a sidearm, however.

Saturday Knight's Alright (for Fighting)

Hello again.

Yet another play on a famous lyric to title this post, though I am thinking more the WASP version of the song, not a certain Reg Dwight and his Steinway Baby Grand.

The Knights of the Order of The Lavender Garden have acquired a couple more recruits, if "recruits" is the right word. Surely knights pledge their allegiance to a cause and are not recruited!

First up is Sir Horace de Bone. A medium hound in "Burrows & Badgers" terms, a Border Terrier by birth and persuasion, Sir Horace has, in my mind's eye, seen a campaign to many during his long life to date and the grey hair around his face points to that reality. Well equipped with mail armour, a shield, his trusty sword and a crossbow (again, as with Sir Robert de Leveret, why?), he is not as tough as Sir Robert, but, given some suitable skills and a cause, will no doubt give a good account of himself. I know Nephew Nick has this figure in his "Florentines" and has used him against me in the guise of Sir Henry Wooffington and he usually performs well - aided, of course, by Nick's jammy dice!

Sir Horace de Bone, resplendent in the halved argent et purpure surcoat of the Order of the Lavender Garden and sporting the Order's purple lily badge on his shield, Sir Horace is a veteran of many of scuffle and his greying muzzle is starting to betray his life experience.

Heavy armour and a shield will help him live a little longer in the world of "Burrows & Badgers".

And a crossbow...all the knights in the Oathsworn Miniatures range with the lily badge seem to have one. A less knightly weapon it would be hard to find!

Next up is Sir Thomas Mousingham who, not surprisingly, is a mouse by birth. Having faced his alter ego in Nephew Nick's "Florentines", he too can perform well despite his diminutive stature and low (-ish) statline and regularly performs the thankless task of "Speed Bump in Chief", preventing my characters joining more crucial fights...Heavy armour, a trusty sword, a shield and...yes, a crossbow...give him a suitable knightly attire.

Sir Thomas Mousingham is a determined soul and is not at all given to bouts of |Napoleon Syndrome...

He too carries plenty of extra kit to survive his time away from Castle Lavender chasing baddies on behalf of the Royalist cause.

And a crossbow...

And then there were three, if I may quote the title of possibly my favourite Genesis album. I could use a few more lowly, soldiering types to escort their worthinesses on campaign, so am seeking out some suitable types to join the lower ranks of the Lavender Order.

Watch this space!

G