Grotfang, a Warboss for Orctober (2)

A bit of progress on Grotfang.
I had a dilemma about how actually to model him. My original plan was to cut off the metal legs and glue the torso to the legs that are moulded onto the plastic boar. However, looking at the drawing, the metal model doesn’t much resemble the picture. Only the choppa bears much similarity. So I debated building the plastic orc and using the metal right arm (or part of it) to create Grotfang.
In the end I went with my original plan. Mainly because the metal is some classic Brian Nelson Orc goodness and will look great on a beefed up (ho-ho) boar.

 Big gap at the bottom of the boar's kneck

 Leg still not matching up

Speaking of the boar, the model really is a “pig” to put together. The two sides just don’t fit at all well. Having assembled one of these before I knew that was the case, but even so I was surprised at how poorly it fits, with big gaps appearing despite quite a bit of work with file and knife.

Anyway, he’s part way there. The pig needs some greenstuffing to hide the joins, and Grotfang needs a chainmail skirt creating from greenstuff to hide the join a bit. I’d like to get the modelling finished before the weekend, but I fear a couple of days working in Belfast will interfere with that.

A game of Song of Blades and Heroes

Saturday, and with the current Mrs TTS on shore leave for the weekend, I was entertaining the two offspring. So we decided to get the soldiers out. I’ve been looking at the Ganesha Games stable with a view to using Song of Drums and Shakos for some Napoleonics and thought I’d combine entertaining the boys with getting the hang of the Song of … engine by digging out my old PDF of Song of Blades and Heroes.
Smallest boy wanted to be Chaos Warriors and eldest chose Dwarfs – I had intended to referee, but both insisted I play, so out came the Orcs.
We had just over two hundred points each or around five or six models. The Chaos warriors were given the human profile (which wasn’t hard enough but I couldn’t see a substitute) and we each had a leader and some troops. The Dwarfs also included a crossbow armed fellow. We started equally spaced out on a 4x4 table and went at it. This naturally resulted in a scrum in the centre of the board with not much subtlety involved.

 Clan Groznog enter the field

 Mutants from the Chaos Wastes

 Waaagh Gruzzkup's ladz

 'Ere we go, 'ere we go...

 After some C&C issues the forces finally close

 Ooof!

 The Groznog boys start handing it out

 Now the Chaos lads get in on the action

 Orcs down all over the shop

 Fights in all directions

 The Dwarf commander shows who is the hardest

After several bloody rounds of combat the Dwarfs were left in control of the field and the bad guys slunk off to lick their wounds.

 

Thoughts

I like the activation system, giving a lack of definite control, something I always enjoy in a war game.
The rules are simple and straightforward, we all picked them up pretty quickly.
The combat system seems a bit too simplistic, and means it’s hard for a lesser warrior to ever beat a better one. Maybe we need some more practice to get the hang of ganging up and picking fights.
Quality 3, and Fighting 4 made a huge difference and the dwarfs just seemed altogether much harder. We just seemed to bounce off them quite a lot.
There’s a Cat Warrior profile in the book, which is a bit tougher and probably about right for the Chaos Warriors next time.
Shooting seems unlikely (excepting very poor dice rolls by the defender) to kill anyone. The odd push back, or maybe knock down, but full on kill will be very rare.
Morale is odd. I failed some tests and as a result stood up without having to pass a test to do so, so ended up better off. Also after fleeing for a turn you can just turn around and get stuck back in? Seems a bit odd.
We didn’t use any of the group moving or shooting rules. I imagine they’ll be more useful in the Napoleonic version
It lacks a bit of depth, really. I suppose the rich background of WFB (however derivative it may be) has spoiled me, but it felt a bit generic and bland. I suppose investment in the system and running the campaign may add something to this.
So overall I was a bit disappointed. Be interesting to see what Drums and Shakos has to offer over and above this.
The boys however, both said they enjoyed it and want to play again

Grotfang, a Warboss for Orctober

Stephen and I are about to embark on the Idol of Gork campaign (if we can ever get our fun* packed diaries to coincide).
In addition Erny is running his Orctober idea again.
Last year it prompted me to do a Painting Orc Skin guide, so I fancied getting involved again and thought maybe I could make the two things combine in a series of moderately interesting** posts.

One of the characters is an Orc warboss named Grotfang who rides into battle astride a huge Warboar.
When the campaign pack first came out a model was issued to represent this mighty warrior and, as luck would have it, I have this model in my lead pile.

OOP MiB Orc Warboss

Unfortunately the warboars of the time were somewhat small and puny compared with the modern ones, so an alternate mount will be in order, lest he looks like a man on a tricycle riding in the Tour de France when placed with his confreres.

Big Orc, small boar. Overcompensating with huge choppa.

 

Fortunately, right next to my lead pile is my plastic pile. Which yielded up the much more recent plastic warboss kit, which includes a mounted option on a much more massive pig.

So the plan is to "cut and shut" or kitbash, as I believe the youngsters have it, these two disparate kits together to create a resplendent warboss for Idol of Gork and Orctober.

Meanwhile, whilst furtling around in the lead pile I also came across this blister

More MiB OOP Citadel greenskins

 

This appears to contain Oddgit, the night goblin shaman who also features in the Idol of Gork campaign pack. 

 

So I'll be adding him to the painting queue too

*work

**interestingness can go up as well as down

British Napoleonics for Song of Drums and Shakos

Somewhere on the Peninsular 1812 a selection of cut-throats, ne'er-do-wells and thugs is on the prowl, looking for Frenchies.

So here's the finished force.
A officer, a sergeant a drummer and a selection of riflemen.

They're a mixture of Perry (nice) and Victrix (not so much) 28mm plastics.
They're painted over white primer with some basic basecoats, then they've been "dipped" with Wilkinsons woodstain.
They're a bit crude and grubby (and nothing like as nice as what they'll be facing) but it's got me a small force together.
Hoping for a game of Drums and Shakos next week.

More Perry British Napoleonics

Finished these off . Simple dip over the basecoats and then some basing.

I took some single shots too.

They're a bit "grubby", but then, that's the dip for you. Were I a proper hobbyist I'd go back and add highlights, but if I were to do that, I'd rather use washes than the dip.

Another group shot

Now I need to get a shot of all the painted ones together.
Then it'll be time for war!

Distraction

I recently picked up Lion Rampant. Partly because it's by Dan Mersey, who I've played soldiers with once before and who writes really nice rulesets - Dux Bellorum being one I'm dabbling with at the moment - and partly because Nick at Northstar had them on offer when they came out, so I was able to get them at a very reasonable fee without funding any large tax-dodging online retailers.

Anyway, I got them without any real plans. Chum Stephen has a fondness for War of the Roses, but I'm familiar enough with myself to know I'm never going to paint a proper army of medieavals, no matter how nice the Perry range is. So I thought that maybe this would inspire some skirmishing type behaviour that would scratch his Roses itch.

But then I started reading the rules, and I remembered that I had an unopened Warhammer 5th edition boxed set in my loft (a legacy of working for GW Mail Order) which contains 24 (two units in Lion Rampant terms) of quite nice and reasonably historical looking archers. Together with some rather more fantastical looking knights.

So anyway I ventured in to the loft, ripped off the cellophane and retrieved 12 of said archers. They've been glued to 2p pieces (plenty of glue on Brenda's face) along with a smattering of (unused) cat litter. The coins are all magnetic, in hope that I can eventually store and transport them in a container lined with magnetic sheet.

Just need to decide on some colours for them.

Perry British Napoleonics

A week in Swindon during which I spent more time in the very jolly Gluepot pub than I did hobbying.
However, pushed on by my chum's picture of his dirty Frenchies I did at least manage to get the basecoats on these final three Perry British Napoleonics. A drummer, a sergeant and one more rifleman. I think this will bring me up to twelve models, which seems a reasonable size for a first game.

I'll dip them tonight and spray them on Sunday. Then its all go for a game of Song of Drums and Shakos.