Nearly 40 Years in the Making - Grenadier Orc

Well... how to explain this post! This Grenadier Orc has been in my box of fantasy figures for almost 40 years, unpainted till last week. It was one of the couple-dozen figures I bought when I first started playing D&D in the late '70s/early '80s and it's really a corker innit?
 

Sculpted by Grenadier founder Andrew Chernak and bearing a copyright date of 1980, this model was one of my favourites as a kid. Unfortunately the axe hadn't entirely withstood the test of time, but I wisely retained the broken bit and was able to drill and pin it.

The model was available both as part of the "Orc's Lair" AD&D figure set and also by itself in a blister pack (or as I recall, a small header carded bag). It was in the latter packaging that I purchased it, likely at the Hobby Hut on 10th Street in Brandon :-)

Good stuff eh???

One of the best things about this model is how it stands up in size against today's scale-crept specimens. The old Grenadier Orc really looks like he could stick it to that Otherworld fighter!

Once I had this figure painted I went on a webcrawl to try and find some more similar sculpts. Unfortunately, though, I found that this appears to be the high point of Chernak's Orc sculpts as in my opinion the rest don't nearly measure up to the awesomeness of this one.

Perhaps I'll go back to the bin for more old stuff to paint! And stay tuned for more fantasy models from the old school...

Gaslands at Prairiecon XL, Plus More Gaslands Terrain!

Well, last weekend was the epic gaming event known as Prairiecon XL - yes, the fortieth (!) running of western Manitoba's oldest (and greatest) gaming convention. The Conscripts were well-represented there too, with Conscript Greg staging an amazing-looking Adeptus Titanicus game with an assist from founding Conscript Curt, Conscript Mike wheeling out his incredible "Walls of Terra" for a Horus Heresy 30K game, and yours truly debuting my Gaslands game, times two.
 

I have to say that my Saturday was not the best planned, as it comprised running a Gaslands game (9am-1pm), a stint on the registration desk (2-4pm), auctioneering in the famous Prairiecon game auction (7-9pm), and ANOTHER Gaslands game (9pm-12:30am). Wow! Although 15-year-old me would've licked Saturday and likely gone to a party afterwards, 40-something-year-old me was thoroughly beat after running 7 1/2 hours of games and volunteering for four more hours.

Murdercycle at top lines up another two-wheeler...

...and wipes him out with his Gatling MG. Good times!

Anyway, the first running of Gaslands at Prairiecon had seven players brand-new to the game, and I think they all had fun. The last man standing was Dan from Niagara Falls, Ontario (!), who took home a copy of the game, three Hot Wheels cars, and some guns and other bits courtesy of Winnipeg FLGS Maxx Collectibles. Thanks Garth!

Our 9pm session had another seven players, including Conscripts Mike and Greg. Again, all except the two Conscripts were new to the game but everyone picked it up quickly.

Eventual game-winner Kevan confabs with Prairiecon luminary Craig D.

Carnage was the name of this game in both the 9am and 9pm sessions.

Good sport Murray (for I think it was he) nabbed the booby prize (some Pixar "Cars" toys) for first player to have both cars eliminated from play. Attaboy!

Did I mention there was carnage? This is the aftermath of an out-of-control car careering into (and destroying) a pickup truck. Fun! 

 

You can see in the pics that I've added some new terrain - these are 3mm MDF Shipping Containers from Lasercraft Workshop.

They were a snap to assemble, and although they're designed to have opening doors, I ended up gluing them shut. They were designed without a "detente" to keep the doors from swinging backwards and it was just too much of a pain to fix that.
 

After assembly, I painted the containers in block colours, washed them with Nuln Oil, and did some sponge-chip weathering.

The branding was printed off from the Internet, cut out and applied with white glue. I lightly traced the "character lines" from the container onto the paper with Nuln Oil, just to give the impression that the logos were painted on. I think it worked OK.

Here's a pic with a typical Hot Wheels car, for scale.

The containers come eight to a pack, four large and four smaller ones.

In a pinch they might even do for 15mm games - here's a pic with Battlefront West Germans and a PSC Leopard 1.

The containers were a great hit, but Gaslands went over even better. It's the perfect convention game - visually impressive, easy to pick up, and fast playing. I'll definitely be adding it to the regular Prairiecon rotation!

Adeptus Titanicus at Prairiecon 2019

Loyalist Titans stalk the land at Prairiecon XL in Brandon, MB.

Did another Prairiecon just happen...? Why...yes, yes it did! It is indeed that time of year again, when a number of Conscripts travel to the lovely city of Brandon, Manitoba, to participate Prairiecon - Prairiecon XL, in fact! 40 years! That's just tremendous, what a fun tradition to take part in!

For 2019 there were a number of Conscript-involved games at the three-day event, and I'll share some photos of one of them in this post - a game of "Adeptus Titanicus", the re-boot version GW released last year.

View of the table, the opposing Titan battlegroups all lined up...

The scenario was a very basic clash, intended to show off a few models and the rules.  The fight involved an isolated station where the Warmaster, Horus Lupercal, kept a "summer home".  A loyalist battlegroup from Legio Gyphonicus wanted to secure this location so valuable intelligence could be gathered.  The rebel forces, comprised of a Legio Mortis battlegroup, were determined to stop them - after all, who wanted to be the one to explain to Horus that loyalists had captured his summer house???

A close-up of the objective...Horus Lupercal's "summer home".

As a wrinkle, the players were not allowed to deliberately fire on or destroy the buildings (again, the loyalists wanted to preserve the possible intelligence finds, while the rebels feared the consequences of Horus finding out any of his stuff was wrecked because their efforts were lacking...). Two buildings in the centre of the table were found to have strange, dark-age-of-technology shielding that blocked all fire - even indirect shots that would go above them - and so the opposing Titan commanders would have to maneuver with these restrictions in mind.

Warlord Titans anchor the loyalist battle line...Curt's awesome Lucius-Pattern model in the foreground.

The opposing battlegroups were identical and balanced, intended to give a general flavour of the game - two Warlords, one Reaver, one Warhound, and a full-strength banner of Knights on each side. Curt was kind enough to travel to Brandon for a visit and bring some of his amazing Adeptus Titanicus kit with him, including his awesome third-party Lucius Pattern Warlord, which looked amazing on the table.

The Legio Mortis engines move toward the centre of the table...

Reactors were powered, orders issued and battle joined! Over a few turns, the rebel side had the low-end of the luck with the dice...in particular, one of their Warlords had its shields blown out on the first turn, followed quickly with a number of serious blasts from opposing Volcano Cannons, blowing off arms, punching holes in the body and in the head. Yikes!

Heavy fighting in the centre of the table, Knight banners on both sides going head-to-head

Another view of the clash among the Knights.

As the fighting continued, the rebel Warhound was destroyed, its weapons blasting away randomly before it went critical and exploded.  The opposing Knight banners traded blows, with the loyalist side bearing the brunt of the losses in that confrontation...but overall, the Loyalists had the edge by the time we called the game - although one of the loyalist Warlords was nearing critical status on its reactor after heavy use of the volcano cannons - that might have been interesting if we played one more turn...

"What happened to my arms???" Things got rough for this Legio Mortis Warlord after its shields blew out...

What treats, we wonder, would the loyalists find in Horus' summer home? Might have to play a "Part 2" for this game sometime, maybe an Epic 30k game? We'll see!

Congratulations to Prairiecon for 40 years! That's quite an achievement.  Hopefully Dallas and Mike will post some more photos from their games over the weekend as well.  Thanks to everyone who attended, and to Dallas, Mike and Curt for making another trip to Brandon for some great gaming. It's a great tradition, and I wish the Prairiecon folks all the best for the next 40 years! 

More Knights for Adeptus Titanicus

A "banner" of rebel Knights prepares to depart the staging grounds of my kitchen and fight for Horus and the Warmaster!

The blogging pace has slowed as summer approaches in Canada. But I haven't stopped painting - honest! Work has been very busy (this is a good thing) and then there has even been a bit of nice weather here and there, so I haven't been painting as much, but I've still been painting.

Fusion cannon - very nasty at short range!

After a steady run of historical subjects on my painting table, I've turned my brushes once again to the grim darkness of the far future.  While GW hasn't exactly been killing it with support for their new game, I still have models in the "pending pile" I should take care of. Here are three more Knights for GW's re-booted "Adeptus Titanicus", the game featuring the clash of massive, city-crushing war machines during the (even) dark(er) days of the Horus Heresy.

The detail on these new plastic Knights is incredible - very clever little kits.

I find the story of the Knight Houses in 30k/40k to be utterly barmy - who cares about House Puffin-Humper (likely not an actual Knight Household, but that is what they all seem like to me). But the Knight models themselves are really nicely done, and the "Adeptus Titanicus" rules reflect their role in the Titan-filled battlefields of the grimdark future very well.  In the 30k/40k universe Knights are large war machines - much larger than you or me, than even Space Marines, their dreadnoughts or their heaviest super-heavy tanks.  But they are still the small fry when put in the context of the city-crushing Titans. With this in mind, the role of the Knights in the "Adeptus Titanicus" game emphasizes careful movement and harassing fire.

A view of some of the great detail on the rear of the Knights.

As the small fish in the big pond, the Knights are pretty vulnerable to the heavy weapons of the Titans. Their defence relies on speed and mobility, and the group application of their Ion shields.  The larger the "banner" of Knights, the better the shield protection they have. The basic "banner" size, of three Knights, doesn't leave much margin of error when a Volcano Cannon shot arrives.  By increasing the "banner" to a maximum size of six machines, the Knights' ability to survive increases materially. As a group the Knights can pose a serious threat to the big Titans, getting close, inside the void shields, and delivering heavy damage. The Princeps of the Titans ignore enemy Knights at their peril, and will rely on friendly Knights to keep them in the clear, so they can focus on the enemy's larger war engines.

The gatling cannon of the Knights is not super-useful in the "Adeptus Titanicus" game, but if nothing else, this fellow can serve as ablative armour when a Volcano Cannon shot arrives...

I have two "banners" of three Knights painted previously - one each for the loyalists and rebels.  I want to expand those to full six-Knight banners.  It will come as no surprise to anyone that the rebel side gets the first set of reinforcements...Horus for Hope! These three will join my growing rebel forces.

So things are slowing down, yes, but stay tuned for more painting and gaming as the summer approaches. Thanks for visiting, have a great day!

Great War Figures from Mutton Chop and Foundry!

A recent Great War game set in 1914 triggered me to dig out and paint some figures I'd had in the pipeline for some time. First up was this lot of early-war German command figures sculpted by the talented Paul Hicks for the Mutton Chop Miniatures imprint.

As anyone who's familiar with Paul's work well knows, his models are full of character and are anatomically and historically accurate to boot! Above we have an officer with Fahnentraeger and musician, from the regimental HQ.

Above, a couple of NCOs bellowing orders and a sabre-waving officer. I like how the German officers in this period carried packs and wore helmets just like the men under their command.

Rear view of the group.

Another view of that wonderful regimental standard. Thanks to Conscript Greg for coming through with that for me at short notice!

Paul also sculpted lots of nice early-war British for the Mutton Chop range. Pictured above are two Majors with a couple of guys who do the real heavy lifting - their Sergeants.

I used Citadel paints on these - uniforms are Mournfang Brown with Doombull Brown used for the leather gear, and Zandri Dust for the webbing, all washed with Agrax Earthshade of course.

Now onto a whole pile of models that had been hanging about the painting desk for ages - a small platoon of Foundry Highlanders.

Of course, the beauty of these models is that they can stand in for late-war gaming in a pinch, as well as serving in 1914-15. Of course in 1916 and later they should be wearing shrapnel helmets, but I like to imagine that Scottish bloody-mindedness might prevail and cause them to retain their Glengarries even at that time. I have a few command figures from Great War Miniatures on the way to make up the platoon HQ (or company HQ in a Warhammer: Great War game).

Paint is very similar to the Mutton Chop lads, but substituting Skrag Brown as the main uniform colour just for variety. The P08 webbing is Zandri Dust, with the kilt cover and spats being done in Zamesi Desert.

So there you have 'em - another long-outstanding project cleared off the desk and way made for something else. I think next up will probably be getting a couple more motorbikes painted for the Gaslands game at Prairiecon coming up in about three weeks' time - unless the Highlander command models get here first of course!

10mm FPW Again...This Time, French Hussars

10mm French Hussars for the Franco-Prussian War - figures from Pendraken.

More "small" progress from the painting table, a continued theme from recent posts - 10mm Franco-Prussian War figures.  These are French Hussars from the Franco-Prussian War, and as before, these are castings from Pendraken - and they are amazing quality sculpts and castings.

Lots of character and detail on these little fellows - fun to paint!

There are a number of different gaming options out there for this period, but consistent with my recent 10mm output for the period, these are intended for use with Bruce Weigle's "1871" rules. Each base would represent two squadrons of cavalry, so the two bases together would represent a French cavalry regiment in the game.

A charge in line...

These little fellows are wearing the light blue coats, kepis and red pants of the newer Hussar uniform that was still in the process of being issued in 1870.  Even though they are small little guys, the level of detail on the sculpts is incredible, and I love how Pendraken have given them an animated, dramatic look - charging forward, sabres drawn, for the glory of the French Empire (and, later, the French Republic).

Another view of the detail...

If you are curious about 10mm, you should give Pendraken a try...I'm blown away by the quality.

Together with the Chasseurs and Dragoons, I have close to a division's worth of French cavalry ready for a game of "1871".  But there is always more to do...I still need to get many more Prussians, and some Bavarians, painted up before we try these rules.  Summer is approaching (on the calendar, if not in the climate), so hopefully my summer painting will bring some more progress to share on more of these little fellows.

French mobilization continues in 10mm...

Thanks for visiting the Blog, have a great day!