Fantasy Flight: Citadel Adventurers and Nolzur's Giant Spiders

It's great to get back into the fantasy painting thing after taking a bit of a break. The impetus is a new game that's just come out - Rangers of Shadow Deep. This is a cooperative tabletop miniatures game that's essentially "role-playing lite." And since I've been trying to work up my nerve to run an RPG game for some friends who are anxious to try it, I thought that Rangers would be a great way to get back into the DM mindset.

ANYWAY... first up on the painting desk was this amazing set of Citadel Adventurers. I found the box on eBay from a seller in Vancouver, complete except for the "stout Dwarf warrior." Said Dwarf warrior was duly procured from an eBayer in the UK, and I set about painting the set.

This fighter was really the model that sold me on this set. I just love this figure! While I painted most of the models in the colours shown on the box illustration, I already have a bunch of blue-and-yellow liveried fighters, so I opted for red and white. The gryphon decals are from a sheet I got for my Howling Griffons. 





How's this for a magic user? Just a great sculpt, down to the snake-headed staff.





What's an adventuring party without  gnome fighter? Nothing, that's what.











One class of PC that's often hard to find a model for is the good old reliable cleric. Citadel's come through nicely here with a southpaw clergyperson wielding an unfeasibly large war club.

 









The box set even includes a pack mule, laden with all sorts of adventuring supplies.

There's a starting-out fighter included in the set, too.

Stout dwarf warrior checking in. The fact that some of these models come carrying packs and pouches is great, and underlines that these are adventurers, dammit!

Lastly we have the Dwarf thief, another great figure.

While these Citadel models were released nearly 35 years ago (!) I think that the sculpting has really held up to the test of time. What hasn't, unfortunately, is their scale... these are much more "true 25s" and are somewhat smaller than modern fantasy models like those produced by the likes of Otherworld. A shame, but these are definitely still useable when segregated in a party of like-sized figures. 

Also in preparation for Rangers of Shadow Deep, I picked up two packs of giant spiders. These are the pre-primed models from Wizkids' "Nolzur's" range. They're inexpensive (a pack of three spiders goes for $6.49 CAD) but the material they're made from is not the best... it's a semi-bendy plastic which gave some hassle on these spiders...



The sculpts are quite nice and scary, but some of the legs were all over the place and bendy. Fortunately these responded well to running under hot water, rebending, and immediately soaking in cold water to set the plastic.



Each blister of three spiders came with a "victims" piece which is pretty cool also.



All in all the spiders are nice and represent good value - a must for the discriminating dungeon designer!



GASLANDS at Legions Maxximus!

One of our usual Conscript activities is running games at local tabletop wargaming conventions (or "shows" for our UK readers). This year is no exception as Conscripts Greg, Dave and I ran games at the recent "Legions Maxximus" show.

This time out I ran a game of one of our new favourites, GASLANDS. I've blogged about the game before, but suffice to say that this game of vehicular combat and mayhem is some of the most fun we've had in awhile. It's super-easy to design your cars, the rules are fast-paced and straightforward without being simplistic, and best of all, the barrier to entry on the model side is very low - the game is designed for regular Hot Wheels and Matchbox toy cars, albeit converted with armor and GUNZ!!!

I set up a standard arena battle using my Disney Pixar "Cars" fence sets and billboards from TTCombat. Six players joined the game (including a charming father-son duo) and we were off!

As the Duke of Wellington famously quipped, "The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance." So it goes with a game of Gaslands. I won't even try to describe it!

I think everyone had a good time (they said they did anyway) and the game provided me (the GM) some good learnings for next time I run it at a convention - that will be at Prairiecon in June. Looking forward to it!

Final Painting Challenge Submission - IDF Tiran 5 MBTs

Tiran 5 MBTs in 15mm - models from Battlefront.

The ninth edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has concluded! As the hours count down, participants try to get a bunch of submissions in at the last minute in order to boost their total productivity, and I was no exception.  For the last submission, I did something a little different - some Israeli Tiran 5 tanks in 15mm.  The models are from Battlefront, part of their "Fate of A Nation" range.

The silhouette of these tanks may seem oddly familiar to cold war gamers...well the Tiran-5 is actually a Soviet T-55 tank.  The IDF captured a large number of T-55s during the Six Day War in 1967, and they were not going to waste these assets.  They took the captured tanks and replaced the engine, switched out the main gun (to a 105mm gun) and made other changes, and put them into the battle line, for use against their previous owners.

T-55 MBT with new engine, new main gun.

During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, an armoured brigade equipped with Tiran tanks fought in the Sinai against the Egyptian assault across the Suez Canal.  Later I believe Tiran tanks saw service in Lebanon.

I love the decals from Battlefront...

When I was first diving into gaming the Yom Kippur War many years ago, I learned of the Tirans and I thought it would be really cool to do a unit of these tanks.  Old Glory had a model available in 15mm, but the quality of the casting was poor, so I only painted one of the vehicles.  Once Battlefront came into the period with T-55s, I wrote them asking to see if I could order some bits separately to create these tanks myself...I was told I couldn't get the bits! Well then...

Notorious for their cramped interiors, the IDF added extra storage on the exterior for the crew to use.

Fast forward to 2018, and I see that "Fate Of A Nation" has been re-issued (to match up with the newer "Team Yankee" rules), and that a model has been released of the Tiran-5s! I couldn't wait to get a company of them painted up to clash with Dallas' Egyptians in some games set in the Sinai in 1973.

Lots of MGs on the cupola...

Trying to paint a company of these things is exactly the sort of project I would slot in my mind for Curt's Painting Challenge. I had planned to paint 10 of these during this edition...and yet...well, again, you can see why I don't try to "plan" too much with my painting, particularly during the Painting Challenge.  I didn't finish the company, but I did finish these first three test models, enough to get the unit started, to refresh the memory on painting IDF vehicles. 

And the Painting Challenge has concluded - I exceeded my "points target", which I was pleased about.  While it is a "Challenge", you are really only racing against yourself, as you get to set your own target. The motivation you get participating with others in different parts of the world is very helpful. I hope you have an opportunity to check out some of the submissions - including a number from Byron and MikeF. 

Thanks for visiting - have a great day!

Painting Challenge Submission 16 - Legio Mortis Warhound Titan for "Adeptus Titanicus"

A Warhound "scout" titan from Legio Mortis, ready to hunt for hope and change...

The diversion from historical painting subjects and into the grim darkness of the far future and GW's re-booted "Adeptus Titanicus" continues.  Having added some God-engines to the delusional "loyalist" faction, I naturally needed to balance things out for the side of hope and change, the Warmaster! So here is one more Warhound class titan.

Vulcan mega-bolter on the left "arm" mount.

This Titan is painted in the colours and markings of Legio Mortis, the charming "Death Heads".  Many Titan Legions supported the Warmaster's noble rebellion against the tyranny of the Imperium, but Legio Mortis was front-and-centre, foremost among Horus' ranks, even leading the assault on the Imperial Palace on Terra itself. 

Turbo-lasers on the right "arm" mount.

The weapon load-out includes a set of "turbo lasers" on one arm, and a "vulcan-mega bolter" on the other.  On its own, this engine is a limited threat, but paired with the other Warhound in the maniple, the mega-bolters can knock down the void shields on enemy engines and either move in for a kill at short range with their own energy weapons, or let the more heavily-equipped Reavers and Warlord strike final blows.

View of the detailing on the rear and top of the Titan.

With this little guy completed, my Legio Mortis forces now have a complete "Axiom Battle Line" maniple, ready to face the toe-chewing loyalists who cling to their pathetic so-called "Emperor".  The "Axiom Battle Line" is one of the basic core force-types for the Titan Legions. It is comprised of one Warlord titan, two Reaver titans and two Warhound titans.  

By using different Maniple formations in the game, players can access some different bonuses for command, firing etc.  The "Axiom Battle Line" is a middle-of-the-road type formation, able to deal with anything that comes up, and gets every different class of titan on to the table, which I enjoy.

A view of the new Titan with his colleagues.

Two complete Titan maniples now sitting on the shelf!

All of these toys got to see some action this past weekend at a local gaming even here in Winnipeg. Challenge participant Byron came out to play the game, and also brought some excellent buildings from the game "Dropzone Commander" along, which is wonderful, as those larger buildings look great while also being big enough to block the lines of fire of the bigger Warlord titans. So a big "thank you" to Byron!

An Imperial city waits for "agressive urban development"...

Loyalist battle group moves out...

The god engines of the noble Warmaster deploy...

During the game, Dallas ran the loyalist battlegroup, while Dave V and Byron ran the rebel battlegroup.  While no Titans cooked off, the rebels were pretty shot up - the Legio Mortis Warlord in particular had two weapons blown off and had taken some serious hits to the body and critical damage to the legs...it was great fun to get these monsters on the table again. 

This edition of Curt's Painting Challenge is winding down...I think I might have one or two submissions left, we'll see...thanks for visiting, and have a great day!

Painting Challenge Submission 15 - Loyalist Titans for "Adeptus Titanicus"

Imperial Titans, ready to move out in support of some doomed cause in the name of the so-called "Emperor"...

My next submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was a marked change in terms of painting focus.  I left horses and muskets behind and ripped 30,000 years into the grim darkness of the far future with two titans from GW's rebooted game "Adeptus Titanicus." 

"Let's go for a walk!"

These are both plastic kits from the new line of models GW has released to support the re-booted version of the game.

Reaver class titan.

"Adeptus Titanicus" was re-launched by GW last fall - if you want to know more about that, and see how GW handled the whole thing like the pack of s***-eating gnarled c***s that they are, see here.  I painted a few of the new Titans right after the game came out, but haven't really touched any of the kits since last year. That needed to change, as I was helping to run an "Adeptus Titanicus" demonstration game at an event here in Winnipeg this past weekend. I wanted to add some reinforcements - and also try some of the newer weapons which have been released for the Reaver class Titans.

There are two classes of Titan represented here, both in the colours of Legio Gryphonicus, the "War Griffons", a Titan Legio who fought on the side of the loyalists in the Horus Heresy.

Rear detail on the Reaver model...really nice model.

The Reaver model has, as I said, some of the newer weapon sprues GW released in February of this year.  It is sporting a "volcano cannon" on one arm, a "laser blaster" on the other, and another "laser blaster" up on the carapace mounting - overall, this engine is configured to deliver knock-out kills on enemy engines which have already lost, or nearly lost, their void shields.  Other Titans in the maniple will have to focus on knocking out the void shields of the enemy machines so this one can make some engine-kills.

Detail on the carapace plate.

The "volcano cannon" in particular is very powerful, but tricky to manage, as it puts pressure on the Titan's plasma reactor.  The Reaver has less reactor capacity, so the Princeps commanding this Reaver will need to manage that carefully in a game. 

I also used an alternate head that came with the kit...I liked how this version had so many optical lenses in the "eyes".  With a weapon load-out primed for making "kill shots", it seemed to me this crew would want all the targeting assistance it can get...

The Warhound up close.

View of the engine detail.

View from the turbo-laser side...

The smaller Titan is a "Warhound" class "scout" (ROFL) titan. I mean, this thing is still much larger than even the largest Space Marine super-heavy tank, but it's all relative, right? As the smallest Titan, the Warhound does move ahead of its larger companions, and is much more manoeuvrable, with lighter weapons, and so in this sense it is a "scout".  This particular Warhound is equipped with a "vulcan mega-bolter" and a "turbo-laser" - these weapons on their own don't do much damage to other titans, but the "mega-bolter" is very useful for knocking out void shields.  So if this Warhound can take out some shields, his bigger cousin can deliver a kill shot...

Scale creep anyone? You can see how the old Reaver and Warhound castings stack up to the new model kits - a Space Marine Fellblade super heavy tank is also in the photo to give you an idea of the size of the things.

The newer plastic kits from GW are very nice, and as you can see in the photo, they have re-scaled them to a fairly radical extent compared to the old models once used for this game. Because of this, and the eye-watering prices for the models, "Adeptus Titanicus" will certainly remain a niche game - but the rules are excellent, the game itself is a lot of fun.  If you enjoy the 30k/Horus Heresy setting, you will certainly enjoy the game! Given the way GW manages these sorts of products, I suggest you act now to get the rules and models if you are interested...

"Family photo" - the War Griffon maniple, and allied Knights, together on the display shelf.

I'm excited to have these two engines finished, as I now have a complete "Axiom Battle Line" maniple for the Imperial side of my collection - one Warlord, two Reavers and two Warhounds. There is also a small banner of Knights available to provide some additional support.  Five God-Engines and a Knight banner is plenty to occupy the attention of several players - I would not imagine many "Adeptus Titanicus" games where more than this deploys for one side.

Of course, no project for me is ever truly "finished" - I can always "round out" every collection with a few more items! In this case the Knight banner could use some reinforcements, just to help them live a little longer on the table (a full banner of six Knights can be quite the pest!), and longer term I would like to get one more big-ass Warlord sporting some different weapon load-outs involved, but all of that will wait for a bit, as the rebel side of my Titan collection will need some further attention first...