What is red, ...

...doesn't suffer fools gladly, has an incendiary love interest, has horns he has to keep filed down to stumps and is supposed to be a secret?

HELLBOY, of course!!!

Hello again.

As part of my frenzy of boxed game purchasing, I simply could not resist something I found lying around in the "Board in Brum" shop in sunny Walsall recently.

This is a side on view of the box, which is seven inches deep!

A cornucopia of content.

 I was "lucky" enough to find an open example of the game at the aforementioned "Board in Brum", which meant I could examine the contents. There are over 120 figures in the box!!! These range from a couple of different versions of Hellboy himself to his various companions to Nazia to monsters of different sorts and even a turkey! I can only assume that is for some sort of Christmas game based in the old cartoon series, "Stop the Pigeon!", (i.e. "Stop the Turkey!") but I may be wrong. That is all in addition to the bits of scenery, cards for the game, floor plans and the like. All the figures come in storage trays too, which means they are all self-contained within the box and I do not have to buy extra boxes or files to keep things in, just remember where each figure goes!



Floor plans and such for various scenarios within the game.

The uppermost tray of figures contains our heroes, the five, large gribblies, Rasputin (!), a couple of Lamias and some other bits.

Oodles top ogle at!!!

 


Our prime hero in three guises, including Hellboy kid with ice cream!

The five chief gribblies - ape monster, tentacle horror, large grub, fanged amphibian and dragon

Our prime hero's friends.

And a novel little set of busts of the main protagonists.

I have not played the game yet, but I am impressed by the variety and quantity of the contents. There is a little bit of flash to remove, but I look forward to eventually getting some of these figures painted and trying things out. I especially like the fact that several of the figures are useable in other games - Nazis are Nazis, right? And those Lamia figures are crying out to oppose some errant Greek hero in some fabled land as he quests for an artefact to save his home city state from a gorgon or kraken or some such. Did I also mention there are harpies in the set? And how about getting Hellboy trapped in a time loop following some nefarious enemy scheme that sees him taking on Martian tripods, a resurrected terracotta army, a zombie plague or whatever? The game was not cheap, at a little over the £100 mark, but WOW! There is also a Batman game out now, so I must keep saving. My favourite superhero and all that.

And, to top it all, "Hellboy 2; The Golden Army" is on TV tonight, and I am in need of a way to avoid that utter drivel that is the Eurovision Song "Contest". Sky One at 2115hrs anyone?

G

Weak as I am...

Hello again.

No, I am not starting a new blog aimed at celebrating Skunk Anansie lyrics, but my weakness for the unusual and for simply supporting my many and varied interests within the hobby has seen me succumb to a minor spend.

Last Sunday, 6th January, saw my visit to the Penkridge Tabletop Sale at the Memorial Hall in that aforementioned, Staffordshire village of Penkridge. I saw a lot of stuff - some excellent ready to use and ready to paint scenery items, masses of secondhand figures, painted or otherwise, and often at very decent-looking prices, a plethora of books and rules on all manner of subjects, Nephew Nick with his Sleeping Dragon Hobby Shop offering various paint and scenic materials, among other things, and I encountered a new trader in the form of "Board in Brum", who, I believe, operate out of a unit off Bloxwich Lane near Walsall. WS2 8TL is their post code if you fancy a visit. I even managed to catch up with a few old acquaintances.

But what did I buy???

Well, back on the 7th January 2012, I posted on this very blog a set of pictures covering my fledgling sci-fi collection, with which I want to concentrate on the sort of gritty, small scale, down and dirty sort of conflict. That post featured some Colonial Marine types and some dog-like humanoids called K'Hiff, made at one time by Denizen Miniatures. Are they still going? Well, it matters not, as, on the very first stall I looked at, I saw a little plastic box, priced at a princely £4, holding no fewer than 20 of the canine-types. I have long wanted to boost my numbers so I can build a couple of squads for the aforementioned dirty/ gritty/ small scale affairs, so they are now mine! 20p each for metal figures that can be considered rare is what I deem a BARGAIN!!!

I have enough figures for two squads of 8-10 figures plus a command squad plus a couple or three specialists, so more than enough for the sort of games I expected to be playing 7 years ago when I first stuck the K'Hiff on the blog!

The top row shows two figures with a sort of BAR-type light (semi-)automatic rifle and a single figure with a las-rifle for chewing up soft vehicle targets or similar. The second row has basic squaddies with rifle, the third basic squaddies with carbine. The final row has a set of specialists covering two with grenade launchers, two snipers and a figure with a RPG. No leader figure, but that just means the leader I have painted becomes a force commander rather than simply a squad commander.



I mentioned "Board in Brum" above and they tempted me with a box of Junkers 88's and another of Bristol Blenheims, but the main draw was the boxed game below. I first encountered "Carnevale" on offer at the "Wargamer" show a few years back, but did not dip in then as I had so much else to do. Now, nothing has changed on that front, but I simply could not resist this offering. However, I had to resist, because they were not taking cards and I had only a modest amount of cash on me!!! Not to be deterred however, I am now the proud owner of "Carnevale" as you can see form the photos below.

Apart from a bit of box damage, don't you think this artwork is a massive lure? Skullduggery and derring-do behind the mask of Venice at carnival time! Think Casanova meets Jack the Ripper and throw in some almost-Cthulhu elements.

And the game is chockfull of bits and pieces - figures for two factions, terrain boards, card buildings, rules, scenarios, game tools, dice and even a gondola!!! I cannot wait to get a more thorough look at this over the next couple of days, but it only came to me this morning, so I just took a couple of photos and here you are!

The premise is that a rift has appeared near late 18th Century Venice and some strange creatures are starting to appear within the canals and allies of the Maritime Republic, contesting the night with various gangs of robbers, thieves, smugglers and the like, whilst the authorities try to play down the strange sightings and the city tries to stay afloat and go about its business. I hope to give the game an outing soon.

So, I am already up and running and the boxed game quantity has already grown by one since the new year. Incorrigible? Hopeless? Yeah, I reckon I am both!!!

G

Eine kleine shopping trip

Hello again.

Yesterday saw your humble scribe out Christmas shopping, taking advantage of a day off work and no kids to chaperone to see what he could acquire for sundry individuals. Walsall was my centre of choice for two reasons:

1. I wanted a certain department store, for maximum gift choice options;
2. I fancied a look around Asgard Games. Just a look, you understand...

Having battered the plastic in said department store, I ventured up the hill to Asgard and was greeted with the jaunty ringing of the shop door bell as I entered, followed by a cheery "Hello!" from the proprietor, whose name I believe is Vince.

Asgard Games is an absolute mine of gaming joyfulness.

I went in with the intention of coming out with some Hurricanes (and possibly a corresponding squadron of German stuff) for "Blood Red Skies" and was prepared for a chance purchase or two in addition.

There were no hurricanes in stock.

BUT THERE WAS LOADS OF OTHER STUFF!!!

I have been eying this beauty for a little while now.

 "Strontium Dog". I saw the advert for the game a while back and was enthused. Now, bear with me, as my memory is starting to get suspect in some things (!), but is unusually hot in other areas...I have a very vague memory of a comic called "Star Lords" (I think) back in the late 70's. I have an equally vague memory of a certain Johnny Alpha appearing in that comic, which ran for all of about six issues. That first story saw Johnny shoot some perp and the shot fried all the flesh from the perp's bones, leaving just a skeleton. Johnny then attached a sort of beetle-shaped device to the skeleton and the chap re-appeared for questioning by our hero. Once that was done, Johnny flipped the device off and the perp' became a skeleton again. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! I am vague on where I saw the story, but believe my version to be true. Can anyone assist? This story had a massive impact on a kid used to "Look-In", "The Beano" and "Whizzer & Chips"! I should really have graduated from there to "2000AD", but went for "Match Weekly" and sometimes "Shoot!" to pursue my football interests instead...

Anyway, alongside such recent purchases as "Kill Team", "Necromunda", "Lord of The Rings", "WH40K" and various figures for different eras which are taking an age to get through as work and atmospheric conditions conspire against my painting time, Johnny has now joined the queue for brush attention. There are also other miniatures in the box, so I need to factor those into the schedule too.

Now this was always going to be on the cards at some point.

I have not played "Ghost Archipelago" yet, but remain enthused by the idea.

 Not having yet played "Ghost Archipelago", nor even "Frostgrave" for a good while, I am unsure exactly why I keep buying the different books. I like "Frostgrave" but, in truth, would probably have chosen "Ghost Archipelago" instead of it had it come out first. The reason for this is the lost tribes/ Conan Doyle-esque feel and, in gaming terms, lush and verdant is a lot easier and far more common than frozen wastes, so a one size fits all terrain option is a winner in this context.



This anthology of short stories also appealed.

I have not bought or read a short story anthology since picking up a copy of "The Collected Griselda" (as in the "Runequest" heroine and frequenter of "Pavis and the Big Rubble") many years ago. I read a lot of Conan stories even longer ago too, as well as a smidgeon of Lovecraft, but thought I would give this a go.



 



Another thing I like about "Ghost Archipelago" is the different creature options, with sea beasts, lost tribes and these fellows. I simply love the idea of snakemen. What more sinister mutation could a "human" have than to be crossed with a cold-blooded, non-mammalian creature with some seriously nasty inherent traits? Poison bite, anyone???

 

Finally, these were a freebie and I got three sets of them.

Yes, a FREEBIE!!! Vince approached me as I browsed and offered me the three sets free and gratis. They are one foot square terrain tiles, four per pack, so I have enough to do a 4x3 foot table. Now, the detail may be printed on them, but they are double-sided and will happily sit flat and have terrain pieces added onto them. Ideal for games such as "Burrows & Badgers" and "Ghost Archipelago" (though one or more of the various Africa games would fit, alongside numerous other options), they could well replace my two foot square terrain boards in future games of that ilk as they simply give far greater flexibility of use. They are technically for a game called "Golem Arcana", which Vince had in stock, so I may well return to pick up a copy as the artwork at least looks rather attractive...We shall see.

So, Christmas shopping partially done, shopping for myself a most welcome distraction, I shall depart and dodge the mercurial lighting to try and get some more figures completed, about which I will post as and when.

G

A Chance Buy For The Autumn Gloom

Hello again.

Even with a south-facing conservatory for a mancave, there are times, especially at this period of the year, when it is just too gloomy to see anything properly to be able to paint. Natural light is my preference, but there is not much around at the moment! So, I went on a recce for Christmas presents for the brood with my wife last weekend and we ended up in a place called "The Range", a sort of Hobbycraft and similar outlet if you do not know it. We were not looking for anything for me, but needless to say, I found a few things!

 

 

For the princely sum of £4, I bought these two Christmas decoration kits, which, as you can see stand around four to five inches high when built. I think you are supposed to build them, paint them, and then either hang them on your Christmas tree or put a tea light in them. BUT WE DON'T WANT TO DO THAT, DO WE!?!?!?

 

I did at least build one, but those awful tags had to come off...

...so off they came!

 At this point, you will obviously have gathered my reasoning. For that paltry £4 outlay, I wanted to investigate whether I could add to my terrain pool something unique after finishing my initial purchase of Sarissa Precision kits for "Burrows & Badgers" that I got from the Chillcon show last month.

So, with stage one complete, what now? Well, I could have drawn a plan of what I wanted to do, but that would be too technical! So I winged it.

Stage Two saw the building of an entrance lobby, a simple lean-to affair and I added one of the doors from the Doors Pack from Sarissa that I bought at Chillcon. We will overlook the fact that I had already added a floor at roof level to give added structure to the piece BEFORE I thought to glaze the upper windows...D'oh!

Stage Three saw me build up the living space. I decided on a sort of wrap around lower storey, knowing full well that the subsequent roof angles could be a total pain...

The end wall features another of the Sarissa Precision doors. I will add a shuttered window on that side too in the near future.

Stage Four saw the need to roof the lower storey. With some careful measuring from which I cut out paper templates, I was able to fit a pretty decent roof.

Et voila!

Stage Five saw me needing a chimney stack, which I fabricated from a scrap of 3mm MDF. The same material was used, along with some 2mm mounting card, to build the actual stack above roof level, topped off with some plastic tubes pots.

So that is the basic build.

 

It has taken me around four man hours to get this far, which is probably longer than the equivalent kit would have taken, but you obviously have to fabricate parts yourself without a kit. However, a self-built thing is unique.

I still have to tile the rooves and finish the body of the building with timber framing, rendering, brickwork, window sills and whatever, but the structure is built and sound in that it is not going to fall over any time soon. I will also base it for added stability and the idea of a vegetable garden is one I think I will pursue for this dwelling. I will finish this one as and when work, light and time allow. Then there is the little matter of the second building and what to do with that one...

G



"I love the smell of loot in the morning!"

Hello again.

On the basis that you cannot go to a wargames show or shop without spending some money, I thought I would again show what an acquisitive, little wargamer I really am.

Recent weeks have seen me take delivery of a couple of parcels, visit a tabletop sale, attend last weekend's Barrage Show in Stafford and visit "Questing Knight" games in Wellington, Shropshire, for the first time ever. Six weeks or so of inspiration, acquisition and contemplation, all inspired by the magnificent hobby we engage in with its plethora of figures, rules, games, kits and other paraphernalia.

So here goes the pictorial evidence of my customary purchasing excess. As I am utterly convinced I will live to be as old as Methusela, I have every confidence I will not only paint my loot as necessary but also play the various games and periods too!!!

My most expensive purchase, courtesy of Questing Knight in Wellington, Shropshire, was "GKR Heavy Hitters", a fun version of the ancient Battletech genre of giant, killer robots (hence GKR). Battletech was always too slow for my tastes, with players spending way too long calculating heat gain and not fighting, but this quick-fire affair showed a lot of promise when I played a gam at Barrage that I promptly went and bought it the following day! The fact that it can be played solo is a major plus! £100 from Questing Knight, not the £150 I have heard it is going for.

I hope you can see just how much you get for your money. I am looking forward to getting in a few sessions with this.

Going "all in" like all the best poker players, I also picked up the first expansion set, which adds extra options to the core game.

Again, I hope you can see what you get for your £75, again courtesy of Questing Knight.

A few weeks ago, I bought "Burrows & Badgers" from Asgard Games in Walsall, intrigued by the animals with swords vibe. Suitably inspired, I ordered vsome sample figures from Oathsworn and, lo and behold, was overjoyed to find them at Barrage, where I soon purchased a load more, especially those out of stock when I made my preliminary order. Check out the Oathsworn Miniatures website for something that bit different. A maximum purchase of 10 figures and the rules will see you home and hosed!

Roland Hynd, formerly Mr Stafford Games, has a new venture entitled Firepower Games. Keen on "By Fire & Sword", as well as military matters Austrian, I settled on a dainty rulebook (the original was HUGE!) and a boxed set of Imperialist cavalry and dragoons.

A little reading matter for the FIW and my growing Crimean War interests.

And the Penkridge Tabletop Sale yielded this little skirmish set, to add to "Muskets & Tomahawks" and "Sharp Practice 2" for my FIW fun. Worth a try at £5.99!

Another purchase from "Questing Knight" was this tome that took my eye in the wargames media when first advertised. I don't know why I didn't just get it from Warlord at Barrage...

Furthering my interest on Celtic myths, I bought a small warband lists booklet, a Myeri Clan box and a Fae Rade box to accompany the Spriggans I bought a while back. If you don't want the fantasy figures, just turn up with a dozen Ancient British/ Irish and you're away. This is all form Oakbound Studios.

Asgard Games of Walsall also sold me this starter set for the very interesting looking "Wold West Exodus" game. It was a purchase I made after getting a free Robodog on the cover of a recent "Miniature Wargames" issue which, together with an article inside said magazine really caught my eye.

Again, using the poker players' "all in" mantra, I took delivery of another parcel, this time from "PE2 Collectables", to widen my options somewhat.

And that is that.

I only went to Barrage to lay on a game and buy some Seven Years' War French and British cavalry!

I have a couple more units to do to expand my FIW range for the next outing of "The Relief of Fort Nummanmason", then it is skirmishes all the way I think, with some more 10mm Crimean War thrown in and no doubt a few other things (10mm Sassanids, some Dark Age skirmish action that is not SAGA, finally get my Anglo-Danes done for SAGA, etc...)

So, 36 French infantry - underway!
24 British infantry - ready and waiting.
A couple of themed warbands for "B&B" - ideas aplenty, figures bought!
Some Celtic stuff. Hm. Mists, mood and mischief!
The south will rise again with the "Confederate Rebellion". Yeehaw!!!
And some Giant Killer Robot carnage! And I do not even have to paint them, because they are already dome for me in the box!!!

Yeehaw some more!

G

Penkridge Tabletop Sale

Hello again and a very Happy New Year to all.

Last Sunday, 7th January, saw yours truly drive the five miles or so to the village of Penkridge in Staffordshire, England, to visit this inaugural wargaming "show" of the year. It is not really a show, I suppose, but was full of wargaming goodies and people I had not seen for a while.

As well as catching up with a number of notaries of my acquaintance, I no sooner walked through the door into the hall, which was free to enter (!!!), looked in the very first box on the very first table and promptly fished out 62 Mordor Orcs for the "Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game", bagged them up an handed over the princely sum of £20 for the privilege. A good start, at just over 30p per figure!

Moving on past sundry traders with assorted wares, I came to one worthy I know well and whose products I have bought in some number before, namely Walter Anstiss of Commission Figurines. He relieved me of £10 for four of his MDF figure storage trays, which should have cost me £12. Thanks again Walter.

Finally, rummaging through another box of Lord of the Rings "Evil" figures, I came across Gothmog the Mordor Orc, on foot and mounted on a warg, for the sum of £12. A total of £42 down, I left after more rummaging with a sizeable addition to my Mordor forces and something to store my burgeoning 10mm collection in. A quick visit to my local DIY store and I had a 9 litre plastic storage box to hold the four MDF trays once built. Job done.

I had gone to the sale looking for MDF bases and perhaps something to add to my Sci-Fi scenery for forthcoming intended games of "Necromunda", which I did not find, but was well happy with the stuff I did pick up.

A couple of hours well spent!

I believe there is another show at the same venue on the first Sunday in July, so get yourself along for a browse.

G

The pinkoes and peaceniks in society will no doubt baulk at the thought of a "war" gaming show being held at the "PEACE MEMORIAL HALL", but I just think it is indicative of how sad and deluded such people are to find offence at every turn simply for the sake of having something to shout at the world about. Obviously, and with due grace, the owners/ custodians of this facility are above such puerile and entirely spurious correlations.

The haul.

Derby Loot

Hello again.

After my belated post on the Derby Show, held on the weekend of 7th and 8th October, I thought I would muse on the things I went for, what I missed and what I bought from the show.

Perhaps unusual for me, I had actually made a definitive list of what I wanted. I reckoned I wanted two further regiments of French foot for the Seven Years' War in America/ French & Indian War. I also wanted another three British regiments for the same conflict. All five regiments, along with some half a dozen individual French figures, would come from Eagle Figures. I then planned on visiting Redoubt for some Highlanders and Light Infantry, together with a British gun or two. That would see me right for my FIW needs, I felt.

I also went with the express intention of boosting my 10mm Crimean War project, mostly with Russians, but I also wanted to check out Magister Militum's offerings in this arena, so that too was a definite. Most importantly in this project, I wanted the uniform book by Laurence Spring on the Russian Army, which Caliver Books had stocked at previous shows but I had not so far purchased a copy of.

I had planned to get the new "Ghost Archipelago" book, and possibly a few figures, new in from the "Frostgrave" people, but learned that it was not yet out (at the time of the show). Also, I wanted some Chinese Pulp-style characters for something I had in mind for the reasonably near future.

Anything else would be ad hoc.

So, what caused me to part with my money on the day?

A large selection of Eagle Figures SYW castings, which will bolster my FIW ranks considerably. I managed to get a whole single pack of British command from Redoubt too - their stocks were rather low, so I missed out on Highlanders, etc. The book looked interesting, so I picked it up from Paul Meekin Books.

A host of the desired Crimean War figures from both Pendraken and Magister Militum, along with a range of bargain books from Paul Meekin again. Almost £80 worth of books for less than half that! I now have a miniature British Light Brigade, the Heavy Brigade, the Guards Brigade, a Russian Light Cavalry Brigade, two brigades of Russian infantry and whatever the Pendraken packs hold. Quips that I want to host Balaklava in one-to-one scale are wholly unwarranted!

THE book I had set out to get, covering all aspects (I hoped) of the Russian army. A flick through showed just how much I did not know, such as Russian cavalry regiments having identically coloured horses within each regiment. I have started my first regiment of dragoons with their horses and had painted around half of them chestnut, with a view to doing the rest bay with the odd grey. NO!!! All chestnut now, which makes them either the Tsarevitch dragoons, Prince Emil of Hesse's dragoons...there are a few options! Flags are described too, so I can hopefully get them right as  well.

Related to my Crimean War interests, these two books were nice to have. The very new Osprey offering covers the Piedmontese but also other Italian forces in the unification struggles. Gringo 40's were at the show with some wonderful-looking troops for this conflict...The large, hardback book features loads of uniforms in colour for conflicts ranging from the Crimea to the Boer War (the 2nd one, featuring Spion Kop, etc). Ideal I felt not just for my Crimean interests, but also my latent ACW, 1859 and 1866 collections, all of which are awaiting their turn in the spotlight.

I have a passion for the Wargamers' Annual series, so this was a must-have. My currently dormant interest in the Thirty Years' War also meant I had to have the book on the Bavarian army too. Returning my 30YW figures to the tabletop is long overdue!

A hefty dose of whimsy! All looked interesting and "Bolt Action" may well see the light of day with my First World War figures, although I do have a 28mm Japanese army in the "To Do" pile...

And finally, more whimsy and necessity. I always need bases, but the Goblin Spider Rider and the two LOTR trolls were just "shiny".
 

So, I got a lot of what I went for, bought a lot of stuff on top of that, and still missed out on a few things.

1. No Highlanders or Light Infantry for the FIW.
2. No FIW British artillery.
3. No Fu Manchu or similar for Pulp games.
4. No "Ghost Archipelago".
5. Rather stupidly, I did not stock up on magnetic sheet and steel paper. I used the last of my supply of the latter yesterday! D'oh!

But, that was what I call a successful show overall. Whilst I felt there was too much crammed into the hall, some games not really "on the money" in my opinion and it was a bit of a pig to get to from where Nephew Nick and I live, the trade was lively, the money well spent and the Winter reading and projects well stacked up.

I really should take stock of the mass and bulk of my "To Do" list, however, and curtail my expenses going forwards. That may well mean I curtail one or two show visits for the next twelve months and Derby may well be one I miss next year. We shall see.

G